Michigan Territory
Small military forces, Jesuit missions to Native American tribes, and isolated settlements of trappers and traders accounted for most of the non-native inhabitants of what would become Michigan.Soon after their arrival, his troops erected Fort Pontchartrain du Detroit and a church dedicated to Saint Anne, the mother of the Virgin Mary.As part of New France, the upper Great Lakes had first been governed from Michilimackinac, then Detroit; this was essentially a military regime that reported to the governor-general at Quebec.Although the 1783 Treaty of Paris gave the fledgling United States a claim to what is now Michigan, British policy was to hold on to Detroit and its dependencies at all costs.In 1784, Baron von Steuben would be sent to Canada by the Congress of the Confederation in a diplomatic capacity to address the question of Detroit and the Great Lakes, but Frederick Haldimand, the Governor of Quebec, refused to provide a passport, and negotiations collapsed before they had begun.For all practical purposes, however, the county government never exercised actual control beyond an area limited to a few old French settlements along the major rivers.New York, Connecticut, and Massachusetts also claimed portions of what was to become Michigan, but were even less able to enforce their pretensions, given Britain's control of the Great Lakes and the hostility of the tribes.Coincidentally (or not), this was the same day that the findings of a Congressional committee on the western lands, chaired by Thomas Jefferson since the previous October, were reported.By Governor Harrison's proclamation of January 11, 1803, the courts of Wayne County—common pleas, orphans, and quarter sessions—kept their organization under the new territorial government, with almost identical composition.But the logistics of government went from difficult to almost impossible, with the mail between Detroit and the capital at Vincennes being routed at one point through Warren[3] in northeastern Ohio.But word failed to reach Detroit until after the date had passed,[5] and the settlers of Michigan petitioned Congress in December 1804, asking that Wayne County be set off as an independent territory.[9] The first territorial governor, William Hull, abolished Wayne County and established new districts of his own making, which proved to be short-lived.Lewis Cass became governor in 1813 and promptly undid Hull's work and re-established a third incarnation of Wayne County that included all lands within Michigan Territory that had been ceded by Indians through the 1807 Treaty of Detroit.During the War of 1812, following General Isaac Brock's capture of Detroit on August 16, 1812, the Michigan Territory was at least nominally a part of the Province of Upper Canada.Soon afterward, the federal government rapidly began signing treaties with local Native American tribes and acquiring their lands.The election was called by Territorial Governor Lewis Cass, and results showed a majority opposed changing the system of government.The 1810 United States census was reported in terms of four Civil Districts of a single Wayne County: Michilimackinac, Detroit, Erie, and Huron.
Organized incorporated territoryDetroitWilliam HullLewis CassStevens T. MasonGeorge B. PorterJohn S. HornerLegislatureLegislative Council of the Territory of MichiganStatehood of MichiganIndiana TerritoryMichiganWisconsin Territoryorganized incorporated territory of the United StatesState of MichiganJesuitFrenchBritishSault Saint MarieSt. IgnaceFort de BuadeAntoine de La Mothe CadillacFort Pontchartrain du DetroitchurchSaint AnneVirgin MaryNew FranceGreat LakesMichilimackinacQuebecRobert RogersFort Michilimackinacsiege of Fort DetroitProvince of QuebecQuebec ActRevolutionTreaty of ParisBaron von SteubenCongress of the ConfederationFrederick HaldimandDistrict of HesseWestern OntarioLower CanadaUpper CanadaOntarioWestern DistrictVirginiaIllinois CountyMississippi RiverOhio RiverAppalachian MountainsNew YorkConnecticutMassachusettsCongressional committeeThomas JeffersonLand Ordinance of 1784Land Ordinance of 1785Northwest OrdinanceNorthwest TerritoryMariettaArthur St. ClairKnox CountyLower Peninsula of MichiganUpper Peninsula of MichiganHamilton CountyMackinacNorthwest Indian WarJay's TreatyBattle of Fallen TimbersDrummond IslandWinthrop SargentWayne CountySt. Clair CountyLake MichiganWilliam Henry HarrisonVincennesDistrict of LouisianaUnited States CongressNaubinwayIndiansTreaty of DetroitWar of 1812Isaac BrockProvince of Upper CanadaHenry ProctorAugustus B. Woodwardmartial lawIndianaIllinoistownshipsgeneral assembly referendumfreeholdersLegislative CouncilPresidentErie CanalNew EnglandAlbanyBuffaloLouisiana PurchaseMissouri Riverthe DakotasMinnesotaMissouriWhite Earth RiversWisconsinDakotasToledo WardisputedToledo StripMichigan were permitted to retain possession of slavesMontreal RiverLake SuperiorMenominee RiverLansingOttawaPotawatomiOjibwaWyandotTreaty of GreenvilleTreaty of La PointeGovernor Hull's treatyTreaty of SaginawTreaties of ChicagoCarey MissionTreaty of Washington