 |
| Section of the Mitchell Map, the most comprehensive map of North America made in the 18th century and important in resolving border disputes into the 20th century.(Photo: Library of Congress) |
Kathleen Lavey, Lansing State Journal
Ah, Toledo. Home of the Mudhens. Maker of glass, builder of Jeeps, birth place of Tony Packo’s Café, where celebrities autograph hot dog buns.
It could have belonged to Michigan.
In fact, Ohio and Michigan went to war 180 years ago over a strip of land containing Toledo, which was not yet incorporated as a city.
“No shots were fired, but people were armed and ready to fight,” said Sandra Clark, director of the Michigan Historical Center.
The 18-month conflict ended 179 years ago on Dec. 14, 1836, thanks to the federal intervention.
Ohio got Toledo, Michigan got the upper hand, so to speak. The biggest loser? Wisconsin. But more about that later.
The Toledo War was waged over a 468-square-mile strip of land at the border between the two states.
On a frontier where trees and swamps impeded horses and wagons, water was the easiest way to travel. Both Ohio, already a state, and Michigan, a territory wishing to be a state, wanted Toledo’s access to the nation’s network of canals.
“At that point, everybody was thinking of water as a way you connect, and they’re talking about a canal in the Maumee River that comes out of Toledo which connects to the Ohio River which connects to the Mississippi River,” Clark said. “Nobody is thinking about the Great Lakes as having equal value for shipping.”
Everybody at the time pretty much agreed that the Michigan-Ohio border would be an east-west line drawn from the southernmost point of Lake Michigan.
Except the land was surveyed a couple of times. And given the issues of traveling in a straight line around those aforementioned trees and swamps, the surveyors came out with different results.
And that created the disputed area, known as the Toledo Strip.
Ohio, admitted to the union as a state in 1803, claimed it.
When leaders of the Michigan Territory decided to petition for statehood, they drew a map including the Toledo Strip.
The stalemate simmered through the summer of 1836, when President Andrew Jackson and Congress stepped in.
The feds were on Ohio’s side. If Ohio wanted Toledo, Ohio would get Toledo.
Michigan’s consolation prize: the western two-thirds of the Upper Peninsula, carved out of – you guessed it – the Wisconsin Territory.
“It’s a lot of land, and this is 1836, and nobody realized what copper and iron were there,” Clark said. “There was a lot of opposition to accepting it.”
But Michigan’s territorial leaders desperately wanted Michigan to become a state. There was federal money about to be distributed, and they wanted some of it. Michigan wanted its own representatives in Congress and its own Constitution.
They stood down. Toledo became Ohio’s, and the whole Upper Peninsula became Michigan’s.
Sorry, not sorry, Wisconsin.
The rush to prospect for copper in the U.P. began in 1841. Michigan’s supply turned out to be among the purest in the world. The first shipment of iron ore left the U.P. in 1846, and they’re still coming.
In the end, Clark said, “It was a very good deal.”
It could have belonged to Michigan.
In fact, Ohio and Michigan went to war 180 years ago over a strip of land containing Toledo, which was not yet incorporated as a city.
“No shots were fired, but people were armed and ready to fight,” said Sandra Clark, director of the Michigan Historical Center.
The 18-month conflict ended 179 years ago on Dec. 14, 1836, thanks to the federal intervention.
Ohio got Toledo, Michigan got the upper hand, so to speak. The biggest loser? Wisconsin. But more about that later.
The Toledo War was waged over a 468-square-mile strip of land at the border between the two states.
On a frontier where trees and swamps impeded horses and wagons, water was the easiest way to travel. Both Ohio, already a state, and Michigan, a territory wishing to be a state, wanted Toledo’s access to the nation’s network of canals.
“At that point, everybody was thinking of water as a way you connect, and they’re talking about a canal in the Maumee River that comes out of Toledo which connects to the Ohio River which connects to the Mississippi River,” Clark said. “Nobody is thinking about the Great Lakes as having equal value for shipping.”
Everybody at the time pretty much agreed that the Michigan-Ohio border would be an east-west line drawn from the southernmost point of Lake Michigan.
Except the land was surveyed a couple of times. And given the issues of traveling in a straight line around those aforementioned trees and swamps, the surveyors came out with different results.
And that created the disputed area, known as the Toledo Strip.
Ohio, admitted to the union as a state in 1803, claimed it.
When leaders of the Michigan Territory decided to petition for statehood, they drew a map including the Toledo Strip.
The stalemate simmered through the summer of 1836, when President Andrew Jackson and Congress stepped in.
The feds were on Ohio’s side. If Ohio wanted Toledo, Ohio would get Toledo.
Michigan’s consolation prize: the western two-thirds of the Upper Peninsula, carved out of – you guessed it – the Wisconsin Territory.
“It’s a lot of land, and this is 1836, and nobody realized what copper and iron were there,” Clark said. “There was a lot of opposition to accepting it.”
But Michigan’s territorial leaders desperately wanted Michigan to become a state. There was federal money about to be distributed, and they wanted some of it. Michigan wanted its own representatives in Congress and its own Constitution.
They stood down. Toledo became Ohio’s, and the whole Upper Peninsula became Michigan’s.
 |
| Wisconsin like all of her neighbors belongs the 'Michigan Territory Alumni Association.' Whereby by courts of law, land deeds, deaths, marriages, and births all took place under 'Michigan' law. Yellow was chosen for two reasons. First it can already be found on the Wisconsin Shield. Secondly it is the most popular colour for cheese. |
The rush to prospect for copper in the U.P. began in 1841. Michigan’s supply turned out to be among the purest in the world. The first shipment of iron ore left the U.P. in 1846, and they’re still coming.
In the end, Clark said, “It was a very good deal.”
No comments:
Post a Comment