The line from the Ohio River running northeastward to Fort Recovery was the boundary of an Indian cession established by the "Greenville treaty "1 of 1795.

41

In the Ohio enabling act (of 1802) provision was made for the addition to Indiana Territory of a triangular strip of land between Ohio and that Territory and of that part of the Territory northwest of the River Ohio north of the limits of the new State (Ohio) and east of Indiana, as follows: 42

All that part of the territory of the United States northwest of the river Ohio heretofore included in the eastern division of said territory, and not included within the boundary herein prescribed for the said state, is hereby attached to and made a part of the Indiana territory.

The admission of Ohio as a State removed from Indiana Territory a narrow strip about 14 miles wide north of Fort Recovery. (See fig. 16.)

On June 30, 1805, by an act approved January 11, 1805,4 the northeastern part of Indiana Territory was cut off and organized as Michigan Territory. For the divisional line between the two Territories see Michigan, page 195.

On March 1, 1809, by an act approved February 3, 1809, Indiana Territory was again divided, and the western part was organized as Illinois Territory. For a description of the line separating these two Territories see Illinois, page 193.

44

On December 11, 1816, Indiana was admitted as a State with the limits as given in the following extract from the enabling act, approved April 19, 1816, which have not since been changed: 45

the said State shall consist of all the territory included within the following boundaries, to wit: Bounded on the east, by the meridian line which forms the western boundary of the State of Ohio; on the South, by the river Ohio, from the mouth of the Great Miami River, to the mouth of the River Wabash; on the west by a line drawn along the middle of the Wabash, from its mouth to a point where a due north line drawn from the town of Vincennes, would last touch the northwestern shore of the said river; and from thence by a due north line, until the same shall intersect an east and west line drawn through a point ten miles north of the southern extreme of lake Michigan; on the north by the said east and west line until the same shall intersect the first-mentioned meridian line which forms the western boundary of the state of Ohio.

A provision in this act required that the boundaries as therein described be ratified by a constitutional convention to be called, otherwise they would be fixed as described in article 5 of the ordinance of 1787. By ratifying them, June 29, 1816, Indiana missed an opportunity for including in its limits a considerably larger

41 Bur. Am. Ethnology Eighteenth Ann. Rept., pt. 2, p. 654, 1899.

42 2 Stat. L. 174. 43 2 Stat. L. 309. 442 Stat. L. 514. 453 Stat. L. 289.

territory than it now has. There was a similar proviso in the enabling act of 1818 for Illinois.

The north boundary of Indiana is parallel to and 10 miles north of the line which runs due east from the southern extremity of

Lake Michigan.46 A survey of this line was made in 1827 in accordance with the act of Congress of March 2 of that year. The

46 3 Stat. L. 289.

47 4 Stat. L. 237. For map and description see 20th Cong., 1st sess., H. Doc. 187, 1828.

original plat of the survey was filed in the surveyor general's office in Chillicothe, Ohio, and a copy in the General Land Office in Washington. The approximate latitude as determined in 1827 is 41° 47′ 43′′, but recent measurements by the Geological Survey near the east end 48 give the latitude as 41° 45′ 33′′. The mark nearest Lake Michigan is in latitude 41° 45′ 36.17'', longitude 86° 46′ 03.16" (North American datum). Parts of this line were retraced in 1828, 1834, 1839, and 1842 by the General Land Office.

For a description of the east boundary see Ohio, page 187. For a description of the west boundary, see Illinois, below.

The south boundary is the low-water line on the north side of the Ohio River.

ILLINOIS

Illinois Territory, originally part of the Territory northwest of the River Ohio and subsequently a part of Indiana Territory, was organized by act of February 3, 1809,49 effective March 1, 1809. The following clause from the act separating it from Indiana Territory defines its boundary 4 (see fig. 16):

49

from and after the first day of March next, all that part of the Indiana territory which lies west of the Wabash river, and a direct line drawn from the said Wabash river and Post Vincennes, due north to the territorial line between the United States and Canada, shall, for the purpose of temporary government, constitute a separate territory, and be called Illinois.

Illinois was admitted as a State with its present boundaries by resolution approved December 3, 1818.50 The enabling act defines these boundaries as follows: 51

the said State shall consist of all the territory included within the following boundaries, to wit: Beginning at the mouth of the Wabash river; thence up the same and with the line of Indiana, to the northwest corner of said state; thence, east with the line of the same state, to the middle of Lake Michigan; thence north along the middle of said lake to the north latitude forty-two degrees thirty minutes; thence west to the middle of the Mississippi river; and thence down along the middle of that river to its confluence with the Ohio River; and thence up the latter river along its northwestern shore to the beginning:

The eastern boundary of Illinois was ordered surveyed in 1810 in connection with the work of the General Land Office. In 1821 the Legislatures of the States of Indiana and Illinois ordered a survey of their common boundary. A commissioner representing each State was appointed, and the line was run and marked with wooden posts the same year from a point "opist the Vincennes Hotell on the N. W. Bank of Wabash river" northward to Lake Michigan. There

48 C. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 644, p. 305, 1916.

49 2 Stat. L. 514. 503 Stat. L. 536. 813 Stat. L. 429.

is a signed copy of the field notes in the Indiana State Library at Indianapolis.

The Geological Survey determined the position of a large stone post on the north bank of the Wabash where the State boundary line leaves the river as latitude 39° 20′ 57.6", longitude 87° 31′ 52.9′′. At latitude 41° 17′ 53′′, the longitude of the line is 87° 31′ 36.5".

The northern boundary was surveyed and marked in 1831-32 by commissioners representing the United States and Illinois. The position on the east side of the Mississippi of a point in latitude 42° 30′ having been found by observation, a stone about 7 feet long and of an estimated weight of 5 tons was set in the ground on the high-water line. The stone was marked "Illinois" on its south side and "Michigan latitude 42° 30′ N." on its north side. (The Mississippi River Commission later located this stone or one on the State line near it and determined its latitude as 42° 30′ 29.3".) From this point the line was run east to the fourth principal meridian of the General Land Office, where a large mound of earth was erected, and was continued east to the Rock River. Observations then taken showed that the line was 54" too far north. An offset was taken the proper distance to the south, and a post was set on the east bank of the river, 81 miles 31 chains 9 links from the Mississippi, from which the line was extended (with frequent astronomic observations) to Lake Michigan, where an oak post 12 inches square and 9 feet long was set 5 feet in the ground at a point about 1 chain from the lake shore. Recent observations show that this end of the marked line is about half a mile south of the parallel of 42° 30'. The total length of the boundary as measured is 144 miles 48 chains 80 links. A post was also set on the east bank of the Fox River 125 miles 9 chains 10 links from the initial point. There is a signed copy of the report and notes in the files of the General Land Office.52 The line west of the Rock River was later rerun and placed in a corrected position.

On April 18 and 19, 1881, the Mississippi River cut across a narrow strip of land near the town of Kaskaskia, Ill., and formed a new channel 4 miles east of its former position, thereby leaving an area of about 27 square miles on the west side of the river that belongs to the State of Illinois.53

The parts of the northern and eastern boundaries of Illinois in Lake Michigan are as follows: The north line of the State runs due east from the last point marked on land (latitude 42° 29′ 37′′, nearly) to the middle of the lake, a distance of about 40 miles. The east line then follows the middle of the lake southward for about 52

52 Boundaries, No. 22. See U. S. Geol. Survey Bulls. 310, 551, and 644 for latitude and longitude of points on this line.

53 A detailed description of this avulsion, with maps, is given in Illinois State Hist. Soc. Trans. for 1914, pp. 95-113. For a recent map of the area see the Geological Survey map of the Chester quadrangle, Ill.-Mo.

miles, to the Indiana line (which there runs east and west through a point 10 miles north of the southernmost part of the lake). The Illinois line then runs due west for about 17 miles to the northwest corner of Indiana, which is about 11⁄2 miles from land, thence south about 31⁄2 miles along the Indiana line to the lake shore.

MICHIGAN

Michigan was organized as a Territory June 30, 1805, from the northeastern part of Indiana Territory. (See fig. 17.) The following clause from the act dividing Indiana Territory defines its limits: 54

from and after the thirtieth day of June next, all that part of the Indiana territory which lies north of a line drawn east from the southerly bend or extreme of Lake Michigan, until it shall intersect Lake Erie, and east of a line drawn from the said southerly bend through the middle of said lake to its northern extremity, and thence due north to the northern boundary of the United States, shall, for the purpose of temporary government, constitute a separate territory, and be called Michigan.

The enabling act for Illinois, passed in 1818, contained a provision transferring to Michigan Territory the portion of Illinois Territory not included in the State of that name and also an area of 5,880 square miles north of latitude 42° 30′, then a part of Indiana Territory. The following is the text of the clause referred to: 55.

all that part of the territory of the United States lying north of the State of Indiana, and which was included in the former Indiana territory, together with that part of the Illinois territory which is situated north of and not included within the boundaries prescribed by this act, to the state thereby authorized to be formed, shall be, and hereby is, attached to and made a part of the Michigan territory.

On June 28, 1834, an act was passed extending the limits of the Territory of Michigan to Missouri River. The clause of the act relating to this area is as follows:

56

all that part of the territory of the United States bounded on the east by the Mississippi River, on the south by the state of Missouri, and a line drawn due west from the northwest corner of said state to the Missouri river; on the southwest and west by the Missouri river and the White Earth river, falling into the same; and on the north, by the northern boundary of the United States, shall be, and hereby is, for the purpose of temporary government, attached to and made a part of, the territory of Michigan.

Wisconsin Territory was formed in 1836 from the western part of Michigan Territory; for a description of the dividing line see Wisconsin, page 197.

Michigan was admitted to the Union on January 26, 1837,57 with the proviso and boundaries given in the enabling act as follows: 58