ILLINOIS.

Illinois Territory, originally part of the Northwest Territory, and subsequently a part of Indiana Territory, was organized on March 1, 1809. The following clause from the act separating it from Indiana Territory defines its boundary:

AN ACT for dividing the Indiana Territory into two separate governments.

From and after the first day of March next, all that part of the Indiana Territory which lies west of the Wabash River and a direct line drawn from the said Wabash River and Post Vincennes due north to the territory line between the United States and Canada shall, for the purpose of temporary government, constitute a separate Territory and be called Illinois. (Tenth Congress, second session.)

On December 3, 1818, it was admitted as a State, with its present boundaries. The enabling act defines these boundaries as follows:

AN ACT to enable the people of the Illinois Territory to form a constitution and State government, and for the admission of such State into the Uuion on an equal footing with the original States. The said State shall consist of all the territory included within the following boundaries, to wit: Beginning at the mouth of the Wabash River; thence up the same and with the line of Indiana to the northwest corner of said State; thence east with the line of the same State to the middle of Lake Michigan; thence north along the middle of said lake to north latitude forty-two degrees thirty minutes; thence west to the middle of the Mississippi River; and thence down along the middle of that river to its confluence with the Ohio River; and thence up the latter river along its northwestern shore to the beginning. (Fifteenth Congress, second session.)

The northern boundary of Illinois was run and marked in 1832–33.

MICHIGAN.

Michigan was organized as a Territory June 30, 1805, from the northern part of Indiana Territory.

The following clause from the act dividing Indiana Territory defines its limits:

From and after the thirtieth day of June next all that part of the Indiana Territory which lies north of a line drawn east from the southerly bend or extreme of Lake Michigan, until it shall intersect Lake Erie, and east of a line drawn from the said southerly bend through the middle of said lake to its northern extremity, and thence due north to the northern boundary of the United States, shall, for the purpose of temporary government, constitute a separate Territory, and be called Michigan. (Eighth Congress, second session.)

This line was run and marked in 1827.

The enabling act for Illinois, passed in 1818, contained a provision transferring to the Territory of Michigan the portion of the Territory of Illinois not included in the State of that name. The following is the text of the clause referred to:

All that part of the territory of the United States lying north of the State of Indiana, and which was included in the former Indiana Territory, together with that part of the Illinois Territory which is situated north of and not included within the boundaries prescribed by this act, to the State thereby authorized to be formed, shall be, and hereby is, attached to and made a part of the Michigan Territory, from and after the formation of the said State.

In 1834 an act was passed extending the limits of the Territory of Michigan to the Missouri River.

The clause of this act relating to area is as follows:

AN ACT to attach the territory of the United States west of the Mississippi River and north of the State of Missouri to the Territory of Michigan.

All that part of the territory of the United States bounded on the east by the Mississippi River, on the south by the State of Missouri and a line drawn due west from the northwest corner of said State to the Missouri River; on the southwest and west by the Missouri River and the White Earth River, falling into the same; and on the north by the northern boundary of the United States, shall be, and hereby is, for the purpose of temporary government, attached to and made a part of the Territory of Michigan.

In 1836 Wisconsin Territory was formed from that part of Michigan Territory lying west of the present limits of the State of that name. (Vide Wisconsin, p. 121.)

The boundary line between Michigan and Wisconsin, between the sources of Brule and Montreal rivers, was run and marked in 1847. Reduced to its present limits, as described in the following clause from its enabling act, Michigan was admitted to the Union January 26, 1837:

AN ACT to provide for the admission of the State of Michigan into the Union. Beginning at the point where the above-described northern boundary of the State of Ohio intersects the eastern boundary of the State of Indiana, and running thence with the said boundary line of Ohio, as described in the first section of this act, until it intersects the boundary line between the United States and Canada in Lake Erie; thence with the said boundary line between the United States and Canada, through the Detroit River, Lake Huron, and Lake Superior, to a point where the said line last touches Lake Superior; thence in a direct line through Lake Superior to the mouth of the Montreal River; thence through the middle of the main channel of the said river Montreal to the middle of the Lake of the Desert; thence in a direct line to the nearest headwater of the Menomonee River; thence through the middle of that fork of the said river first touched by the said line to the main channel of the said Menomonee River; thence down the center of the main channel of the same to the center of the most usual ship channel of the Green Bay of Lake Michigan; thence through the center of the most usual ship channel of the said bay to the middle of Lake Michigan; thence through the middle of Lake Michigan to the northern boundary of the State of Indiana, as that line was established by the act of Congress of the nineteenth of April, eighteen hundred and sixteen; thence due east with the north boundary line of the said State of Indiana to the northeast corner thereof; and thence south with the east boundary line of Indiana to the place of beginning. (Twenty-fourth Congress, first session.)

The above boundaries remain unchanged.

WISCONSIN.

Wisconsin was organized as a Territory July 3, 1836. As originally constituted its area comprised all that part of the former Territory of Michigan which lay outside of the present limits of the State of Michi gan. The limits are defined in the act for its organization as follows:

Bounded on the east by a line drawn from the northeast corner of the State of Illinois, through the middle of Lake Michigan, to a point in the middle of said lake and opposite the main channel of Green Bay, and through said channel and Green Bay to