Page:History of Richland County, Ohio.djvu/68

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��HISTOKY OF OHIO.

��into prominence as an important place. By some means, their expectations failed, and only the dilapidated village of Clarkesburg perpetuates their hopes.

The conquest of Clarke changed the face of affairs in relation to the whole country north of the Ohio River, which would, in all probability, have been made the boundary between Canada and the United States. When this was proposed, the strenuous arguments based on this conquest, by the American Commissioners, secured the present boundary line in negotiating the treaty of 1793.

Though Clarke had failed to capture Detroit, Congress saw the importance of the post, and resolved on securing it. Gren. McCosh, commander at Fort Pitt, was put in command, and $1,000,- 000 and 3,000 men placed at his disposal. By some dilatory means, he got no further than the Tuscarawas River, in Ohio, where a half-way house, called Fort Laurens, for the President of Congress, was built. It was too far out to be of practicable value, and was soon after abandoned.

Indian troubles and incursions by the British were the most absorbing themes in the West. The British went so far as Kentucky at a later date, while they intended reducing Fort Pitt, only abandoning it when learning of its strength. Expeditions against the Western Indians were led by Gren. Sullivan, Col. Daniel Broadhead, Col. Bowman and others, which, for awhile, silenced the natives and taught them the power of the Americans. They could not organize so readily as before, and began to attach themselves more closely to the British, or commit their depredations in bands, fleeing into the wilderness as soon as they struck a blow. In this way, several localities suffered, until the settlers became again exasper- ated ; other expeditions were formed, and a second chastisement given. In 1781, Col. Broadhead led an expedition against the Central Ohio Indians. It did not prove so successful, as the Indians were led by the noted chief Brant, who, though not cruel, was a foe to the Americans, and assisted the British greatly in their endeavors to secure the West.

Another class of events occurred now in the West, civil in their relations, yet destined to form an important part of its history — its land laws.

It must be borne in mind, that Virginia claimed the greater portion of the country north of the Ohio River, as well as a large part south. The other colonies claimed land also in the West under the old Crown grants, which extended to the South or Western Sea. To more complicate mat-

��ters, several land companies held proprietary rights to portions of these lands gained by grants from the Crown, or from the Colonial Assemblies. Others were based on land warrants issued in 1763; others on selection and > survey and still others on settlement. In this state of mixed affairs, it was difficult to say who held a secure claim. It was a question whether the old French grants were good or not, especially since the change in government, and the eminent pros- pect of still another change. To, in some way, aid in settling these claims, Virginia sent a com- mission to the West to sit as a court and determine the proprietorship of these claims. This court, though of as doubtful authority as the claims themselves, went to work in Kentucky and along the Ohio River in 1779, and, in the course of one year, granted over three thousand certificates. These were considered as good authority for a definite title, and were so regarded in after pur- chases. Under them, many pioneers, like Daniel Boone, lost their lands, as all were required to hold some kind of a patent, while others, who possessed no more principle than "land-sharks" of to-day, acquired large tracts of land by holding a patent the court was bound to accept. Of all the colonies, Virginia seemed to have the best title to the Northwest, save a few parcels, such as the Connecticut or Western Reserve and some similar tracts held by New York, Massachusetts and New Jersey. When the territory of the Northwest was ceded to the General Government, this was recognized, and that country was counted as a Virginia county.

The Spanish Government, holding the region west of the Mississippi, and a portion east toward its outlet, became an important but secret ally of the Americans. When the French revolt was suppressed by O'Reilly, and the Spanish assumed the government of Louisiana, both Upper and Lower, there was a large tract of country, known as Florida (East and West), claimed by England, and duly regarded as a part of her dominion. The boundaries had been settled when the French first occupied Lower Louisiana. The Spaniards adopted the patriarchal form of rule, as much as was consistent with their interests, and allowed the French full religious and civil liberty, save that all tribunals were after the Spanish fashion, and governed by Spanish rules. The Spaniards, long jealous of England's growing power, secretly sent the Governors of Louisiana word to aid the Americans in their strusrsrle for freedom. Though

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