History of Saginaw county, Michigan; together with ... portraits ... and biographies ... History of Michigan ...

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN.

77

to form one or two States in that part of the said Territory which
lies north of the east and west line drawn through the southerly
bend or extreme of Lake Michigan."
In 1802 Con ress enabled the people of Ohio to form a constitution, and in thai act the boundary of that State is declared to be
" on the north by an east and west line drawn through the southerly
extreme of Lake Michigan, running east, after intersecting the due
north line aforesaid from the mouth of the Great Miami, until it
shall intersect Lake Erie, or theTerritorial line, and thence with
the same through Lake Erie to the Pennsylvania line." The constitution of Ohio adopted the same line, with this condition:
"Provided always, and it is hereby fully understood and declared
by this convention, that if the southerly bend or extreme of Lake
Michigan should extend so far south that a line drawn due east
from it should not intersect Lake Erie; or, if it should intersect
Lake Erie east of the mouth of the Miami river, then in that case,
with the assent of Congress, the northern boundary of this State
shall be established by and extend to a direct line running from the
southern extremity of Lake Michigan to the most northerly cape
of the Miami bay, after intersecting the due north line from the
mouth of the Great Miami, as aforesaid, thence northeast of the
Territorial line, and by said Territorial line to the Pennsylvania
line."
Congress did rot act upon this proviso until 1805, and during
-this interval it seems that Ohio herself did not regard it as-a part
of her accepted constitution.
Again, this section of the act of 1802 provides that all that
part of the Territory lying north of this east and west line " shall
be attached to and make a part of the Indiana Territory." Still
again, the act of 1805, entitled "an act to divide the Indiana Territory into separate governments," erects Michigan to a separate
Territory, and defines the southern boundary to be " a line drawn
east from the southerly bend or extreme of Lake Michigan until it
intersects Lake Erie."
The strip of territory in dispute is about five miles wide at the
west end and eight miles at the east end. The line claimed by Michigan was known as the " Fulton line," and that claimed by Ohio
was known as the "Harris line," from the names of the surveyors.
This territory was valuable for its rich farming land, but its chief
value was deemed to consist at that time in its harbor on the Maumee river, where now stands the city of Toledn, and which was the
eastern terminus of the proposed Wabash & Erie canal. This
place was originally called Swan creek, afterward Port Lawrence,
then Vistula and finally Toledo. The early settlers generally
acknowledged their allegiance to Michigan; but when the canal
became a possibility, and its termination at Toledo being dependent
upon the contingency whether or not it was in Ohio, many of the
inhabitants became desirous of being included within the latter
State. Then disputes grew more violent and the Legislatures of the