Indiana State University - Sycamore Yearbook (Terre Haute, IN)

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granted for iin academy; and that a township ))e fiiven foi- a college. All of these school lands were yranted the state, on the condition tliat jMirchasers of public lands should be free from taxation on the land purchased for five years after tlie purchase. Saline lands (lands about salt wells), not to exceed thirty-six sec- tions, were grant( d the state, and four sections were granted the state for a site for a capital. ' The state boundiuw w;is extended ten miles farther north. SETTLEKS ' RIGHTS. One of the rea.-on given for asking as much as 7% of the iu-occim1s of the lanas was that the settlers had cndiin-d many dangers and hardships to found sell Icnicnts in this wilder- ness, as a ronseiiuence of which the gmcrnment lands were enhanced in value. It was thought that this fact would justify the settlers in ask- ing for a large per cent, of the sales. These settlers had ])olitical theories almost as acute as those of the French philosojjhers. although they were ncwr displayed unless the pi(.)neers tlionght their riglii were being interfered with. At the hitter part of 1815. some of the settlers and squatters thought the general government was interfering with their rights. For about seven years the boundary of the Indian eouiilry in Indiana had been stationary, but the fron- tier line of settlement had moved onward, and many squatters could be found on Indian soil. where they had no legal right to be. So. on December 1. ). Isl. . the United States executive, throngh the proper official, issued a proclama- tion ordering all such squatters to remove from such locations, and he gave the military officers orders to remove them. A storm of protests en- sued, but it seems that perha|)s a majority of the squatters did not take the proehnnation seriously. However, one editorial writer under the name of Farmers ' and Patriots ' Rights, vigorously asserted the rights of the squatters, and manifested the high patriotism ( ? ) shown by them as they kept in awe for the last three years, a savage foe, whose tomahawks and ' Western Smu Jan. 27, 1816. sealiiing knives would otherwise have glittered in our houses. Are they, he said, ••when danger has ceased to threaten, to l)e called Kiiiiiforvied or evil disjmsed and ordered off the land their presence alone has heretofore secured? This writer maintained that the pre-emjDtion laws passed at various times by congress were as surely violations of the law for preventing squatters from settling on In- dian lands as settling there was a violation. He argued further that the president had trans- cended his power in ap])lying the law. inas- much as the law re |uired thirty days notice lie- fore the settlers could be removed. He con- tinued: Can it be contended that when con- gress and the United States executive set an act at deHanee. that the people should not? His llnal argument was that such a policy of re- moval would injure the territory by weakening the frontier, by taking away those daring men who had been keeping back the Indians. Force is given the.se arguments when it is re- membered that because of the recent hostilities, many of the settlers could not pay the final or fourth annual installment on their farms which (hey had purchased from the government. Upon this failure to make the final iiayment, the st ' ttlers were obliged to forfeit their farms back to the government, thus losing what they hail already paid down. Such losses during the hostilities w-ere comparatively great, run- ning up to several thousand dollars. In 181; more than half as much land reverted to the government as was bought. The same persons who were obliged to lose money because of the hostilities were the men who had been engaged in jn-otecting the frontier — which protection emibled the government to sell the lands at bet- ter advantage. These losses helped to unify the settlers in their expression of what they called their rights. in SII TO THE WABASH, 181C. By the summer of 181() the lands along the Wabash (as far north as Clinton), and inland for manv miles east of the Wabash, were sur- Western Sun, Ja Feb. 23. 1S16.

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It took most of the first year to get a small clearing made. Even on prairie land, it was a great task to get the sod broken and the soil subdued for the planting. Labor was scarce, and there was little money to pay for that which was available. All of these factors, to- gether with many others, made the task of forming a new settlement a difficult one. The capital of the west was thus used up in getting started and in investments, so that there was little left to use in getting crops to a market. It was well that the territory made the taxes as light as possible. In the meantime the ferries across the Ohio, and the roads leadiiig north from them had not been idle. Kentuckians had been crossing the Ohio at Henderson, and settling in Posey and Warrick Counties, and the western part of Gibson County. Another road led toward the interior from the crossing at Rockport. Farther up the Ohio, another road led north from the crossing at Blue river, into Washington and Harrison Counties. By 1815 enough settlers had followed this route and other routes to ju.stify the formation of two new counties. Orange County was to consist of the territory from twelve miles west of the Prinrijial le- ridian to eiglit miles cast, and uorlli i)f Perry and Harrison Counties to tlie Imlian boundary line of 1809. Jackson County was to lie east of Orange, west of range eight east, and north of the Muskatatack. to the Indian country. Both of these counties were in the basin of East Wliite river. ' STATEHOOD. The legislature followed the suggestion of the governor, and petitioned congress to be al- lowed to pass into statehood. This petition stated that the inhabitants were principally composed of emigrants from every part of the union, and as various in their customs and sen- timents as in their persons. However. South- erners still predominated in numbers, especially in the southern and western parts. The petition asked for an enumeration, which was taken. This census showed a total popu- lation of 63,897— more than the 60,000 neces- sary to pass to statehood. This census also re- vealed the fact that the population was push- ing toward the interior, and away from the Ohio. In the Whitewater basin. VA ayne and Franklin Counties (see map) ; Randolph had not yet been erected), neither of which touched the Ohio, contained a larger population than Dearborn. Switzerland and Jefferson, by 30%. The three counties. Posey. Warrick and Perry, all on the Ohio (practically same territory as comprised Warrick in 1S13). did not have a combined population equal to any one of the interior counties. Of all the eight counties on the Ohio, only Clark and Harrison had a popu- lation equal to the interior counties. More than 71% of the population was east of the Second Principal Meridian. The line between ranges five and six east would have divided the population into two almost equal groups. About one-third of the population wa in the three counties. Clark. Harrison and Wasiiiiig- ton. In this i-riisiis the newly erected counties were counted as part of the original counties out of which they were formed. This census showed two regions more densely populated than any others — the upper Whitewater and the region west and northwest of Jeflersonville. about the new capital. Corvdon. The petition asking for statehood also asked that 7% of the moneys received for the sales of public lands be granted the new state to be used as it saw fit. When Ohio became a state it was provided that 2% of the sales should be devoted to the building of the National Eoad within the state, and 3% be given to internal imj rovements and education, but Indiana asked for more. However, she got only the 5%. It was also asked that Section 16 in each township be granted the state for school pur- poses; that in counties where Section 16 had already been disposed of, other lands be given instead: that township 2 S. of R. 11 W. be =»Census of 1S16, in Cockrum, Pioneer Hist., P. 390.

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veyed. and put on sale at Vineennes. ' Troops and travellers had passed over these lands, and had sent far and wide glowing accounts of the hinds along the Wabash. All the west had heard of the prairies about Fort Harrison. In- dian hostilities had ceased the jireceding year, and the territory ' s liecoming a state advertised the new region all the more. So a great flood of emigration started toward the west, and a large. ]iart of it turned into the Wabash basin. In one day, fifty wagons crossed the Musk- ingum at Zanesville, Ohio, all bound west. Indiana afforded cheaper lands than Ohio, so the tide of settlers flowed over and around Ohio to settle on the Wabash, and the lower White river. It is said that 42.000 came to Indiana in 1816.= The land sal,-, incivax-d (■ni.niii,u ly at Yincennes. In IM. ' i iln ' sal. ' -, tlici-c had Kimmi only S0% as great a- at .IcIl ' .Msonxillc. I,iii in 1816, although at Jeffersonville the sales in- creased 30%, the sales at Vinceimes were greater than at tlir otlici- otTice —in fad. tlicv had increased li ' . i ' , . Many pcoph- canir lnwu the Ohio, other- ci ' o-scl over from Kentucky. but the majority came overland. They came Tn all manner of ways. Joseph Liston came from Ohio to Vigo County, brin-ing his family with him. Ilr pill liis liiJii-clidlil -(mmI on om- linrsi ' . and placed hi- two l„,y-, on loi) of the goods. His wife rodi ' the other lior ' and carried the .voungesi child, while another was tied on be- hind her. Mr. Liston walked behind. This was but a type of the innnigrant family daily arriving on the Wabasli. . stiidy of the im- migration to Vigo Coiiuty -hows that the ma- jority of the permanent settlers were from Ken- tucky, Ohio. New York, and Xorth Carolina. The nativity of neighboring counties was simi- lar, except that the Quakers from North Caro- lina were a more ijroniinent element in the early settlements. Speculation in towns cuntiniUHl for the next two years. Richmond and Terre Haute, and many other towns were laid out in ISKi, and their lots were advertised for sale. In one day, $21,000 worth of lots were sold at Terre Haute. The best lands about Fort Harrison were quick- ly sold at five to ten dollars per acre. During the fall of ISlC. OOC, tracts of 160 acres each were sold in the Yincennes district. ' ' Specula- tion was playing a good part in the .sales. By the middle of 1818. Davie-. .Sullivan. Pike. Jenning.s, Dubois, Raiulolph. Kiplev, Scott. Yanderbiug. S|iencer. Crawford. Vigo, and Monroe Counties had been erected. There were in all twenty-eight counties where there were ten counties five years before, and by the end of 1S18 Owen and Fayette Counties ' had been erected. FIUITS OF (iI!0 Tir AND SPECri.ATION. Indiana ha,l been enjoying a period of un- usual growth and pro.-perity since ISU. hut this prosperity wa more apparent than real. I)ad banking, exce-ive -penilal ion. and a mis- use of credit had brought on conditions thai were lo check the growth of the west- ern states. Thi ' president of the State Bank of Indiana, in a letter, dated January 9, 1819, and addressed from Yincennes to the secretary of till ' Fnited States treasury, stated the condition as follows: ••Tlie pivsi ' iit situation of the western people is di-tre-ing: tlu y cannot get for their pro- duce one diillar of the kind of money that will lie rec-ei (Ml in payment of their debts to the Fnited States. It is not for want of a sufficient quantity of ])roduce tliat the western people ilo not pay tlii ' ir debts. l)ut for want of system in briniiiiii2- the proiliicts of their labor to its proper ' market. The banks ..f the Fnited Stales west of the mountains issue l)Ut few notes, and thesi ' few are immiMliately cullected banks of the western country have generally perverted the system of banking, and, instead of encouarging and fostering those who were emplo.veil in coilei-tiiig and exporting the pro- •See Map in . Repf, ' ■ ■Niles Register. Nov. 2 ' ' McMaster. V . P. 159. ■Soiate Doc. Cong. 3 0, Ses5 Register, Oct. 12. 1810,