CHAPTER II
" THE OLD NORTHWEST "
The Ordinance of 1787 and the Northwest Territory--Five New States--.Marvelous Growth Of the "Old Northwest--Greatness of Ohio--Under Which King?--Gen. George Rogers Clark--Clark's Expedition--Fall Of Kaskaskia and Vincennes--Treaty of Paris--Ownership Of the New Territory--Lands Taken from the Indians--The Wilderness Subdued
THE ORDINANCE OF 1787 AND THE NORTH\VEST TERRITORY.
No history of Marion County would be complete without a brief sketch of the "Old Northwest" The Ordinance of 1787 provided that the territory "northwest of the river Ohio" was to be divided into not less than three nor more than five States. By this Ordinance it was further provided that "whenever any of the said States shall have 60,000 free inhabitants therein, such States shall be admitted, by its delegates, into the Congress of the United States, on an equal footing with the original States in all respects whatever, and shall lie at liberty to form a permanent constitution and State government."
In compliance with this requirement Ohio became a State March 1 1803, and Indiana Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin were, in the order named, carved from the remaining territory. In one particular the terms of this great statute have been violated, for instead of forming five States only- that portion of Minnesota east of the Mississippi also is within its confines.
In one respect the Ordinance of 1787 was an experiment. It was the first territorial form of government, and how wisely it was drawn is today demonstrated, for it remains a model to this day upon which the territorial governments of the United States are constructed. It was not alone wise legislation that made the "Old Northwest." The greatest fresh-water lakes, the richest mine deposits, the most fertile soil, and the best watered of any like area in the world,--these advantages drew hither the sturdiest manhood of the original Colonies. Out of all the conditions imposed has come a citizenship that is among the most enlightened and progressive of the Union. Ohio alone has furnished the nation six Presidents, one Vice-President three Presidents of the Senate, two Speakers of the House, two chief justices. five associate justices and 22 cabinet officers.
It has been aptly said that "as the settlers' guide to the Northwest the Ordinance of 1787 was a cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night." In the concluding articles it was ordained that "there shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in the said territory, other\vise shall in the punishment of crimes whereof the party shall have been duly convicted." Another article provided that "re-
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ligion, morality, and knowledge, being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged." These were chief among, "the fundamental principles of civil and religious liberty, which form the
basis whereon these republics, their laws and constitutions, are erected." These provisions
drew hither from the States bordering, on the Atlantic many of those who had disapproved of the institution of slavery, and believed that good government is the result of intelligent citizenship. How fundamental these principles were held may be seen from the care with which they were incorporated into the State constitutions of 1802 and 1831.
To encourage education the 16th section of every township of 36 sections was set aside for the maintenance of common schools. This generous grant on the part of the general government gave to these five States 5,000,000 acres. From the sale of this land the schools have realized more than $20,000,000. The spirit of this wise provision spread to all the Western States and they now have magnificent school systems. Congress also gave to each prospective State one entire township for the maintenance of a university. In Ohio two townships in Athens County, containing 46,000 acres, were given, and Ohio University, at Athens, was chartered by the Territorial government and in 1804 by the State Legislature. It is the oldest university west of the Alleghany Mountains. Thus was laid the foundation of our excellent common-school system in Ohio, and truly it may be said of the statesmen who formed these laws that they have builded wiser than they knew.
UNDER WHICH KING?
Very early, both France and England laid claim to the vast wilderness area west of the Alleghanies. England at first based her claim on the discovery of the North American coast by Sebastian Cabot. France, with better right it seems, laid claim to this unbroken wilderness because of its early exploration by LaSalle, Joliet, Marquette and the many French religious
enthusiasts and enterprising fur traders. As early as 1701 Cadillac had established posts at Detroit and Fort Ponchartrain. The Frenchmen were pushing their fur trading expeditions Up the Sandusky and Little Sandusky rivrs, and carrying their frail barks across the narrow divide near the village of Morral, Marion County, Ohio, floated down the Scioto to the Ohio. It was a thrilling life which these French1 traders led.. Following the trader came the Jeusit. treading the wilderness in every direction, but making no permanent settlements within the present limits of Ohio. The first real attempt at a settlement was made in the Maumee Valley by the French in 1680. These early efforts on the part of the French were really nothing more than trading posts. Darkness obscures these early movements. Who the early white inhabitants were, whence theycame or where they lived is uncertain. Certain it is that the first white population and the first rule was French. This undisputed control, however was not long continued.
Hunters, surveyors and frontiersman from the English Colonies began to penetrate the country beyond the Blue Ridge as early as 1700. Chief of these hunters was Daniel Boone, who in 1769 first entered what is now Kentucky. They soon came to be known as the "Long hunters," because some of them remained in the Western wilderness for a year at a time, enduring many hardships. Frequently a band of these "long hunters" was surprised and captured by a band of savages from the Sandusky of Scioto country. In many such instances the captive would be adopted into the tribe, and only after many months of hardship would he, be stealth and thrilling adventure escape back to civilization.
Many glowing reports of the magnificent hills and valleys were carried back to the Colonies by these adventurers. As years went by, whole families moved westward. Companies for facilitating settlements and for speculative purposes were formed. Surveys were made and of course more accurate descriptions of the country were returned. On such a mission George Washington and William Crawford
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first penetrated the wilderness along the Ohio. The inevitable result of these movements on the part of the Frenchmen from the North and Englishmen from the East was a long and bitter contest. It first developed in the alliance of each with the border Indians. The English, after a week's conference with the principal sachems of the Five Nations, or Iroquois, at Albany, in July, 1701, obtained a deed transferring to the Governor of New York, as defender and protector, all the beaver hunting grounds to the west. This included all of Ohio. The Iroquois had conquered this territory 80 years before. The Eries had been exterminated. .The Hurons and Wyanclots had been driven along the south shore of Lake Erie to the westward around the west point of the lake and far up into Michigan and Canada. As the years rolled by, the Iroquois drew back eastward, the Wyandots sought new hunting grounds on the Sandusky River and the south shore of Lake Erie. The Shawanees and Delawares, a little later, entering this territory from the south and east, took up their new home on the Scioto River and its tributaries. With these tribes of Wyandots, Shawanees, and Delawares, the French made an alliance against their common foes--the English and Iroquois. It was a contest between savage hunters and fur traders on the one side and home seekers, frontiersmen and land speculators on the other. Raids by the savages on the border settlers beyond the Blue Ridge became more frequent from year to year, culminating at last in the French and Indian War. Braddock's defeat in 1755 was followed by years of ravage and desolation. Superior numbers at last won. The King of France ceded to the King of England all his dependencies east of the Mississippi River.
Following the treaty of peace, the King of England, by an order, known as the "King's Proclamation," on October 7, 1763, erected the new Province of Quebec. This proclamation declared "all the lands and territories lying westward of the sources of the rivers which fell into the sea from the west and northwest, to be reserved, under the king's sovereignty, protection and dominion, for the use of the Indians;" and all his subjects were strictly: forbidden, under pain of his displeasure, from making any purchases or settlements whatsoever, or taking possession of any of the lands so reserved, without his special leave and license for that purpose first obtained. This prohibition on the part of the king denying to the colonists the fruits of their labors, was a source of much discontent, ancl was one of the immediate causes of the American Revolution. This proclamation shows that the British authorities considered this territory as an acquisition by conquest. As a consequence the territory non embraced in Ohio became crown lands. It was so considered at the time of the breaking out of the Revolution.
GEN. GEORGE ROGERS CLARK
The history of the "Old Northwest' would be incomplete without relating the achievements of George Rogers Clark. This far-seeing and ambitious soul was born in Virginia in 1752, and was the brother of Capt. William Clark, whse great journey with Captain Meriwether Lewis and exploration of the extreme Northwest during President Jefferson's administration, a grateful nation in 1905 commemorated by a World's Fair at Portland, Oregon. George Rogers Clark was only no20 years old when he plunged into the unbroken wilderness of Ohio, as a soldier and surveyor of Lord Dunmore's expedition. He was an expert rifleman and skilled in all the knowledge of wood craft. As a soldier he was brave and manly; as a commander he was sagacious, patient and fearless. The Indians respected and feared him, and gave him and his men the title of "The Long Knives."
At the beginning of the Revolution, Clark was in Kentucky with Daniel Boone, through whose instrumentality the "bloody hunting grounds" south of the Ohio were first settled. He was chosen by the settlers to command the rude militia of his country. The country beyond the Ohio, unlike Kentucky, was the seat of the most powerful and warlike Indian tribes known in the American history. For years they had been trained in warfare by both
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French and English and plentifully supplied with rifles, ammunition and tomahawks. This country, to the Americans, was a part of Canada. The bold, fearless brain of Clark conceived the notion that its conquest would serve a double purpose. It would be a staggering blow to England and would at the same time bring to terms the wily savages. But who would furnish the sinews of war.
To solute the problem he returned to Virginia in the fall of 1777, laid his plans before Governor Patrick Henry, and very forcefully impressed Upon the Governor the needs of his people. With fiery enthusiasm he urged the necessity of immediate action. Henry quickly caught the inspiration of Clark's zeal, but at first could not see how Virginia could assist in the expedition owing to the exhausted condition of the Colony's resources. Finally he consented to lend Clark the weight of his name, and authorized him to raise seven companies of 50 men each, among the settlers west of the Alleghany Mountains, so as not to weaken the forces to the east in their struggle with the mother country. As an incentive each militiamen was promised 300 acres of land, to be selected from the richest valleys of the conquered territory. Thus originated the Virginia Military Lands, between the Scioto and Miami rivers, a part of which lie in Marion County, in the townships of Prospect, Green Camp and Bowling Green. Another reservation, now in the State of Indiana, was also set aside for Clark and his soldiers.
In May, 1778, Clark re-crossed the mountains and began recruiting his forces. Governor Henry had advanced him L1,200 and an order on the commandant at Fort Pitt for all the powder that he might need , together with boats and supplies. From this fort the little band of 150 volunteers and a number of adventurers and settlers embarked on flat boats. On May 27th his flotilla reached the Falls of the Ohio, where the settlers, who had accompanted the expedition, decided to remain and build their homes. On this site afterwards grew up a large city, named Louisville, in honor of our ally, the French King. Clark drilled his soldiers here, and then informed them of his secret instructions from Governor Henry to attack Kaskaskia, a British post one mile east of the Mississippi on the Kaskaskia River. The soldiers received this announcement with cheers. It was deemed prudent to make the journey by, land. After hiding the boats near the mouth of the Tennessee, the march was. begun through the tangled and melancholy Indian haunted forest. On the evening of the 4th of July he surprised and captured the fort and town, and shortly after mostly induced, to take the oath of allegiance to the United States. The garrison of Cahokia, a few miles up the Mississippi, and Vincennes on the Wabash, 240 miles distant, were in turn taken.
General Hamilton at Detroit, learning of Clark's movements, marched against Vincennes with a large body of regulars and Indian allies. The place was in the possession of Captain Helm and one soldier, having been deserted by the creole militia. At first Captain Helm refused to surrender, but finally the two Americans surrendered with the honors of' war and marched out between rows of British soldiers and Indian warriors. It was now the dead of winter and Hamilton was again in possession of the fort. The British general now decided to wait until spring before making an attack on Kaskaskia. Clark, however, being informed by his faithful Indian friend, Colonel Vigo, a wealthy fur merchant who loaned Clark nearly $20,000 to aid in this campaign, that Hamilton had sent most of his men to Detroit for the winter at once marched against Hamilton. It was a perilous march, owing to the almost impassable nature of the country at this time of the year. The streams were filled with floating ice. the prairies and valleys were full of water and in many places the ground was swampy and irregular. Often his men had to wade through water to their waists for four or five miles at a stretch. Food was scarce and his men hungry footsore and sick. ''Drenched, hungry and dispirited," his little band arrived on the 22nd of February, 1779, within the sight of Vincennes. They had gone without food for nearly two days, not daring to shoot game lest the noise arouse the
unsuspecting garrison. Here he waited on a small area of dry ground "until his men were rested and their rifles and powder dry." When night fell, Clark led his men in a bold rush upon the town. After some sharp fighting, continuing in a desultory way for almost two days, Hamilton made an unconditional surrender. The "Hair-Buyer General" and his garrison of 79 men in all surrendered as prisoners of war "to a set of uncivilized Virginia woodsmen armed with rifles." The American colors were again hoisted over "Old Vincennes," and the fort rechristened "Fort Patrick Henry. Thus ended one of the most daring exploits of the Revolution. But for the energy and boldness of this intrepid leader the whole country north and west of the Ohio to the Mississippi would have remained British territory, and the Ohio in all probability would have become the northern limit of the United States.
This successful campaign gave Clark control of the Illinois country, but the British still held Detroit and continued for years to incite the Indian tribes to bitter conflict with the white settlers.
TREATY OF PARIS
Some hold to the theory that by the Treaty of Paris, 1783, the United States acquired all the territory northwest of the Ohio by virtue of Clark's conquest. Clark's conquest undoubtedly furnished pretext for demands by the American commissioners. But Clark was not in possession of the entire Northwest. He had neither captured Detroit nor subdued the natives. For this reason the rule of uti possidetis, by. which, in international law, each party retains what is in his possession, could not apply. In the final analysis, the credit for saving the "Old Northwest" to the United States must be given to the insistence of John Adams, one of the American commissioners. The Ohio River was during the pendency of peace negotiations proposed as the western boundary of the United States. Mr. Adams, in carrying out the instructions of Congress, insisted upon the free navigation of the Mississippi River and contended that as an essential to the safety and independence of the United States, the same boundary to the westward must be named as in the treaty between Great Britain and France, at the close of the French and Indian War. By the Treaty of Paris the "Old Northwest" was transferred by Great Britain to the United States. All Americans, and especially those of the "Old Northwest," owe to George Rogers Clark an increasing debt of gratitude for the part he took in the American Revolution. Unfortunately, not so much can be said of his conduct in later years. He was suspected of complicity in Burr's movements to alienate the Western territory and died in 1818 in poverty and neglect.
OWNERSHIP OF THE NEW TERRITORY.
During all the years of the Revolution and for several years thereafter, it was doubtful to what State the Northwest belonged. Virginia, by reason of her assistance in the reduction of Kaskaskia and Vincennes, had an especially meritorious claim to this territory. New York, Massachusetts and Connecticut claimed title on the vague ground that the territory was included in their Colonial charters. New York claimed title in addition through the Six Nations or Iroquois Indians, who had asserted jurisdiction over it, and who by the treaty of Fort Stanwix in 1768 had placed themselves under the protection of New York.
Maryland refused to sign the Articles of Confederation, unless the territory beyond the Ohio, if wrested front England, by the common war should become the property, of the common Thirteen States. To overcome these objections, urged by Maryland, this territory was finally ceded the United States. New York in 1780 most generously ceded all her rights to the Western country. Soon after Connecticut ceded a long, narrow strip across Northern Ohio, Indiana and Illinois to the Mississippi River. Virginia followed in 1781. Finally in 1784 Massachusetts ceded what is now Wisconsin and Lower Michigan. In ceding their
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territory, Virginia and Connecticut each reserved a large tract of land. Connecticut retained about 3,000,000 acres for school purposes in what is now Northeastern Ohio, known as the Western Reserve. Virginia retained a large tract of land between the Scioto and Miami rivers to reimburse her for subduing the British posts and to provide bounties due to Col. George Rogers Clark. his officers and soldiers and the Continental troops of the Virginia line. As mentioned before this reserved territory by Virginia is known as the "Virginia Military Lands," a part of which lies between the limits of Marion County.. As a result, a considerable portion of the first settlers in Marion County was from the Old Dominion.
LANDS TAKEN FROM THE INDIANS.
It was many years, however, before the Indian titles to these lands were acquired by our nation. The first great cession of Indian lands was secured after the battle of the Fallen Timber by the Treaty of Greenville in 1795. In consideration of $20,000 in gifts and annuities of $9,500, the Indian tribes, in a treaty with Gen. Anthony Wayne at Greenville, yieldecl their right to all lands to the south and east of a line ever after known as the Indian boundary or Greenville Treaty Line. This line passer up the Cuyhoga and across the Tuscarawas portage to the forks of the Tuscarawas, near Fort Laurens, and then south of west to Loramie's Store; thence west by north to Fort Recovery, and thence southwesterly to the Ohio River. . This line runs through Marion County and forms part of the north boundary line of Waldo township and the south boundary line of Richland township. Rufus King pays this fitting tribute to General Wayne: "To the bold spirit of Pitt, Earl of Chatham, it is due presumably that the people of the Mississippi Valley are not to-day Canadian French. Next in honor with the people of the Northwest, as among their founders, might well be placed the lion-hearted Anthony Wayne, who opened the glorious gates of the Ohio to the tide of civilization so long shut off from its hills and valleys."
THE WILDERNESS SUBDUED.
With the Treaty of (Greenville, the flood gates were opened and the immigration of the sturdy pioneers flowed on in a never-ending stream. With the pioneer, sentimentalism had no place. The more stately the oak, the greater his pleasure was in felling it. He has been censured by almost every historian for dispossessing the Indian of his lands. But the final verdict must be that he who puts the soil to the best use must have the best right to it. Actuated by such a motive, with the spirit of individualism, the early pioneer plunged into the trackless forest. He was a law unto himself. Whether good or bad he was left in perfect freedom to follow to the farthest limits his own desires. His restless nature and indomitable will knew no bounds and with sturdy arm and untiring body he knew no rest until the land, was made to blossom with fruit and grain. He became his own blacksmith, manufacturer, carpenter and miller. Everyone worked. The times were hard and only men of strong fibre could endure them. Those of gentler mold shrank back from the hard and fearful task. The all-important part was to win the land. The methods employed by the harsh, practical and energetic pioneer should not be scrutinized too closely, for it must never be forgotten that theirs was the task of dispossessing the scattered tribes of savages, whose existence was little less ferocious than that of the wild beasts, which roamed the same forest. The stealthy, lurking savage, gliding out of the dark and trackless forest on his mission of pillage and death, was not the only foe of the early settler. The damp and luxuriant forest was a veritable breeding place of ague, malaria and milk sickness. But how little we know of the real pioneers! They were, that is all.
Dr. James Baldwin pays the following tribute to these unknown heroes: "No hero of history, no warrior patriot, ever served his
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country better or earned laurels more nobly. The world may forget what he suffered and itself. now the center of the what he accomplished, but his monument shall crowning remain as long as our country endures. What is his monument? It is the Old Northwest itself, now the center of the republic, and the crowning factor of our country's greatness."