The vast territory east of the Mississippi river, of which Ohio formed a part, was claimed and controlled by France, and was known as the “North-western Territory,” or “Louisiana”, by French traders and missionaries as early as 1658. In 1679, La Salle established a sailing vessel on Lake Erie, and trading posts were designated at favorable points, and missionary work found its way among the resident Indian tribes that occupied the portion of territory now called Ohio.
France was made aware of the beauty of the meager possession on this continent, and endeavored by means of the natives and their missionaries to keep the pre-emption warm until a title could be better recognized. In 1794, Major De Celoran, an officer of the French army, with a force of several hundred men (French and Indian) landed at a favorable point on Lake Erie, and carried their boats overland to Chautauqua Lake; from thence into the Alleghany and Ohio rivers. And on the way down the Ohio river, it is said this officer buried at numerous favorable points lead plates bearing the proclamation of Louis XIV, asserting the dominion of France over the territory on both sides of the Ohio river. The titles of France were but little better than the favorite grants and charters of James I, and the American colonies soon began the establishment of claims, which, in conflict, were settled only by the defeat of the French by the British at Quebec, and the treaty of Paris in 1763, by which this territory was all ceded to Great Britain; and the present good state was annexed to Canada, and by proclamation amenable to the government located at Quebec.
After the close of the War of Revolution, the United States found the rights to the territory of the great North-west in dispute between the Indians and the colonies; and congress attempted to settle the disputes by having the colonies abandon all claims by ceding the same to the United States as the common property of all. New York set the patriotic example, and gave up all her rights to a common cause and general good, and was soon followed by other colonies until the entire domain became vested in the United States, excepting an unsurrendered claim of Connecticut, in the northern part of the state known as the Western Reserve, about fifty miles wide and one hundred and twenty miles long.
The great North-west Territory, under the supervision of the government, was divided up and known under the following heads:
1. The Seven Ranges and Congress Lands.
2. United States Military Lands.
3. The Ohio Company’s Purchase.
4. The Connecticut Reserve and Fire Lands.
5. The Military Bounty Lands.
6. The Virginia Military Bounty Lands.
7. Symmes’s Purchase.
8. Special Grants, Donation Tract, Refugees’ Tract, French Grant, Dorhman’s Grant, Moravian and Lane’s Grants, Improvement Grants.
9. Canal, Turnpike, and Road Lands.
10. School, College and Ministerial Grants.
The Congress lands are those sold by officers of the Government. The Connecticut Reserve, consisting of about 3,800,000 acres, was a claim or grant made to the colony by Charles II in 1662. The “Fire Lands” were part of the grant, and were donated by the colony to reimburse losses sustained in property by the raids of Benedict Arnold during the Revolutionary War. The Fire Lands consisted of 500,000 acres, and were located chiefly in Erie county.
Connecticut sold her Ohio lands to a “land company for $1,200,000,” and placed it securely as an endowment fund for common schools; and the income from this source is still educating the children of that highly intelligent state.
The United States Military Lands, made such by act of Congress in 1796 to satisfy claims of officers and soldiers of the War of the Revolution. This tract embraced an area of 4,000 square miles in the counties of Morgan, Noble, Guernsey, Pickaway, Coshocton, Muskingum, Perry, Fairfield and Franklin. Donation Tract is 100,000 acres in the north part of Washington county, granted to the Ohio Company by Congress. The Symmes Tract of 311,682 acres was granted to John Cleves Symmes, of New Jersey, in 1794, for sixty-seven cents an acre. The land lies between the two Miami rivers. Mr. Symmes’s daughter married General Wm. Henry Harrison, and was the grandmother of ex-President Harrison the II.
The Refugee Lands is a grant of 100,000 acres. It lies along the Scioto river, and the city of Columbus stands upon this land, granted by Congress to be given to persons driven out of the British provinces during the Revolutionary War.
The French Grant consists of 24,000 acres in Scioto county, and given by Congress after the fashion of hush money.