e
Indian title remained on 113,577,869 acres within the same limits.[5]
The Commissioner of the General Land Office in December, 1827, estimated
the public domain, beyond the boundaries of the new States and
Territories, to be 750 millions of acres. Much of this however, is
uninhabitable.

According to the Report of 1831, there had been granted to Ohio,
Indiana, Illinois, and Alabama for internal Improvements, 2,187,665
acres;--for Colleges, Academies and Universities in the new States and
Territories, 508,009;--for education, being the thirty-sixth part of the
public lands appropriated to common schools, 7,952,538 acres;--and for
seats of government to some of the new States and Territories, 21,589
acres. Up to January, 1826, there had been sold, from the commencement
of the land system, only 19,239,412 acres. Since that period to the
close of 1835, there have been sold, about 33 millions of acres, making
in all sold, a little more than 52 millions. This statement includes
Alabama and Florida, which we have not considered as strictly within the
Valley. After a hasty and somewhat imperfect estimate of the public
lands that are now in market, or will be brought into market within a
few years, within the limits of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri,
Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, Michigan, and the Territory of
Wisconsin, the amount may be put at 130 millions of acres. This amount
admits of immediate settlement and cultivation, and much of it may be
put under cultivation without the immense labor of clearing and subduing
forest lands.

The comparison between the amount of sales of public lands within the
last ten years, and the preceding forty years, shows that emigration to
the West is increasing at a ratio beyond what is ordinarily supposed,
and that the next ten years will find a majority of the population of
the United States within this Great Valley.

Sales of land from 1786 to 1826, (40 years) 19,239,412 acres.
" " from 1826 to 1835, (10 years) 33,000,000 acres.

Three millions of families may find farms in the West.

The extensive prairie lands of Illinois and Missouri present no obstacle
to the settlement of the country. Already, prairies for many miles in
extent have been turned into farms.

6. A sixth reason why the increase of the future population of the
Valley will greatly exceed the past, is derived from the increased
confidence of the community in the general health of the country. The