sing them to keep away from the
contemplated treaty at the mouth of the Great Miami.

In the face of all these portentous happenings the adoption of the great
Ordinance of 1787, came as a happy relief. It was apparent now, to the
minds of all right thinking men, that an unfortunate interpretation had
been made of the treaty of peace; that nothing could justify an
unlawful seizure of the Indian possessions. It might be humiliating to
reverse the policy of the government, and give the British agents a
chance to say that the United States had been wrong from the beginning,
but the leading men in the federal councils had determined to adhere to
the advice of Washington, and purchase every foot of the Indian lands.
The potent words of the ordinance that "The utmost good faith shall
always be observed toward the Indians; their lands and property shall
never be taken from them without their consent," were in every sense
truly American and placed the nation four-square to all the world.

As a direct consequence of the new policy toward the tribes, as
evidenced by the Ordinance of 1787, two separate treaties of peace were
entered into at Fort Harmar, at the mouth of the Muskingum river, on
January 9th, 1789, and in the first year of George Washington's
administration. The first treaty was concluded with the Wyandot,
Delaware, Ottawa, Chippewa, Potawatomi and Sac nations; the second with
the sachems and warriors of the Six Nations. About the time of the
adoption of the Ordinance for the government of the northwest territory,
the Ohio Company composed of revolutionary officers and soldiers, had
negotiated with congress for the purchase of a large tract of land in
the Muskingum valley, and on the 7th day of April, 1788, the town of
Marietta, Ohio, had been established at the mouth of that river,
opposite Fort Harmar. The purchase by the Ohio Company was succeeded by
that of John Cleves Symmes, of a large tract of land between the Great
and the Little Miami rivers, and about the first of January, 1789, the
foundations were laid of the present city of Cincinnati. On October 5th,
1787, Arthur St. Clair, of Revolutionary fame, was appointed as the
first governor of the northwest territory, and on July 9th, 1788, he
arrived at Marietta to assume his duties, to organize the government,
and adopt laws for the protection of the people.

The sale of these lands in the Indian country, the planting of these new
settlements, and the increasi