We can at this late day. but faintly
imagine the outlook that presented
itself to the view of the pioneers
and their feelings, when they first
landed upon the borders of the
wilderness in which they were to
make their homes.
Before them lay the boundless wilderness covered with a
dense forest of trees that were in
many places interlaced and festooned
with the wild grape vines, which
also frequently covered the smaller
timber with their closely
intertwined branches that made an
almost impenetrable canopy of green.
Through these forests roamed
countless numbers of ferocious wild
beasts, as well as the savage and
cruel Indian, while beneath his feet
lurked venomous reptiles.
A wilderness of great extent, presenting the virgin
face of nature, unchanged by human
cultivation or art, is one of the
most sublime terrestrial objects
which the Creator ever presented to
the view of man.
One prominent feature, of a wilderness is its .
solitude. Those who plunged into
this forest left behind them not
only the busy hum of men, but
domestic animal life generally. The
parting rays of the sun did not
receive the requiems of the
feathered songsters of the grove,
nor was the dawning of the early
morn, ushered in
by the shrill clarion of the
domestic fowls. The solitude of the
night was interrupted only by the
howl of the wolf, the melancholy
moan of the ill boding owl, or the
shriek of the frightful panther.
Even the faithful dog, the only
steadfast companion of man among the
brute creation, partook of the
silence of the desert; the
discipline of his master forbid him
to bark or move, but in obedience to
his command, and his native
sagacity, soon taught him the
propriety of obedience to this
severe government. The clay was, if
possible, more solitary than the
night. The noise of the wild turkey,
the croaking of the raven, or the
wood-pecker tapping the hollow beech
tree, did not much enliven the
dreary scene. The cravings of hunger
often compelled him from day to day
to sustain the fatigues of the
chase. Eager in the pursuit of his
game his too much excited immagination,
sometimes presented him with the
phantom of the object of his chase,
in a bush, a log, or mossy bank, and
occasioned him to waste a load of
his ammunition, more precious than
gold, on a creature of his own
brain, and he repaid himself the
expense by making, a joke of his
mistake. His situation was not
without its dangers. He did not know
at what tread his foot might be
stung by a serpent, at what moment
ho might be met by the formidable
bear, or if in the evening, he know
not, on what limb of a tree, over
his bead, the murderous panther
might be perched, in a squatting
attitude, to drop down upon, and
tear him to pieces in a moment.
'When watching a deer lick from his
blind at night, the formidable.
panther was often his rival in the
same business, and if by his growl,
or otherwise, the man discovered the
presence of his rival, the lord of
the world always retired as speedily
and secretly as possible, leaving
him the undisturbed possession of
the chance of game for the night.
His situation was perilous in the
extreme. The bite of a serpent, a
broken limb, a wound of any kind, or
sickness without medical skill,
without those accommodations which
wounds and sickness require, was a
dreadful calamity.
ORGANIZATION OF THE TERRITORY
The
United States having secured title
to the "Great Northwest," Congress
soon deemed it advisable to take the
preliminary steps looking to the
permanent establishment of civil
government in the new and extensive
territory of which that body had
just become the legal custodian.
Accordingly, after much mature
deliberation and careful
consideration of the subject, as
well as prolonged discussion of the
important questions involved, they,
on the 13th of July, 1787, gave to
the world the results of their
deliberations in "An ordinance for
the government of the Territory of
the United States north-west of the
river Ohio," which has come to be
best known as "The Ordinance of
'87," sometimes also called "The
Ordinance of Freedom." This
ordinance was the fundamental law. |
SECOND GRADE OF
TERRITORIAL GOVERNMENT
EARLY LAWS OF
THE TERRITORY
LOCAL COURTS
AND COURT OFFICERS
FIRST
SETTLEMENT OF ADAMS COUNTY
ADAMS COUNT6 -
ITS ORIGINAL BOUNDARIES
TOPOGRAPHY -
SOIL AND PRODUCTIONS.
PRODUCTIONS.
TIMBER.
|
THE COUNTY SEAT
QUESTION. |