thereafter the time, place and manner of holding and conducting all elections, and the apportioning of the representatives in the several counties to the Council and House of Representatives, was to be prescribed by law, as well as the day of the annual commencement of the sessions of the Legislative Assembly, but no session in any year could exceed the term of seventy-five days.

Every free, white male citizen of the United States above the age of twenty-one years, who was an inhabitant of the Territory at the time of its organization, was entitled to vote at the first election, and was eligible to any office in the Territory; but the qualifications of voters at all subsequent elections was to be such as should be determined by the Legislative Assembly; Provided, that the right of suffrage should be exercised only by citizens of the United States.

The sixth section of the organic act declared

"That the legislative power of the Territory shall extend to all rightful subjects of legislation, but no law shall be passed interfering with the primary disposal of the soil; no tax shall be imposed upon the property of the United States, nor shall the lands or other property of non-residents be taxed higher than the lands or other property of residents. All the laws of the Governor and Legislative Assembly shall be submitted to, and, if disapproved by the Congress of the United States, the same shall be null and of no effect."

The governor was to nominate and by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Council, appoint all judicial officers, justices of the peace, sheriffs and all militia officers, except those of the staff. Clerks of the courts were to be appointed by the judges thereof, but township officers and all other county officers, were to be elected by the people in such manner as might be provided by the Governor and Legislative Assembly.

The judicial power of the Territory was vested in a Supreme Court, District Courts, Probate Courts, and justices of the peace. The Supreme Court was to consist of a chief justice and two associate justices, to hold their offices during good behavior, and were each to receive an annual salary of eighteen hundred dollars. The Territory was to be divided into three judicial districts, and a district court to be held in each by one of the judges of the Supreme Court at such times and places as might be prescribed by law. The jurisdiction of all the courts was to be as limited by law, except that justices of the peace should not have jurisdiction in any matter where the title or boundaries of land

might be in dispute, nor where the debt or sum claimed exceeded fifty dollars. Writs of error and appeals in chancery causes were allowed in all cases from the district courts to the Supreme Court, and from the Supreme Court to the Supreme Court of the United States, when the amount in controversy exceeded one thousand dollars. The district courts were to have and exercise the same jurisdiction in all cases arising under the Constitution and laws of the United States as is vested in the circuit and district courts of the United States. An attorney and a marshal for the Territory were to be appointed, each for the term of four years, subject to removal by the President.

The Governor, Secretary, judges, attorney, and marshal were to be nominated, and by and with the consent of the Senate appointed. by the President of the United States. Each was to take an official oath, which was to be filed with the Secretary of the Territory.

There was to be appropriated annually three hundred and fifty dollars to defray the contingent expenses of the Territory, to be expended by the Governor, and a sufficient sum to be expended by the Secretary of the Territory, to defray the expenses of the Legislative Assembly, the printing of the laws, and other incidental expenses.

Not only did the organic act provide, as has been previously mentioned, that the inhabitants of the Territory should be entitled to enjoy all the rights, privileges and advantages granted and secured to the people of the territory northwest of the River Ohio by the articles of compact contained in the ordinance of 1787, but that they should also be entitled to all the rights, privileges, and immunities theretofore granted and secured to the Territory of Michigan and its inhabitants. It also provided that the laws of the Territory of Michigan should be extended over it, so far as the same should not be incompatible with the organic act, subject, however, to alteration, modification, and repeal. And further, that the laws of the United States be extended over, and should be in force in the Territory of Wisconsin so far as they might be applicable.

The Legislative Assembly was to hold its first session at such time and place as the Governor should appoint, and that the Governor and Legislative Assembly should thereafter locate and establish the seat of government at such place as they might deem eligible, subject thereafter to be

by them changed. Twenty thousand dollars were appropriated to defray the expenses of erecting public buildings at the seat of government.

The act provided for the election of a delegate to the House of Representatives, to serve for the term of two years, who should be entitled to the same rights and privileges as had been granted to the delegates from the several Territories to the House of Representatives. The first election was to be held at such time and place or places as the Governor should appoint, who was to give a certificate to the person elected.

Suitable provision was made for the transfer of pending judicial proceedings from the courts of Michigan to those of Wisconsin.

An appropriation of five thousand dollars was made for the purchase of a library for the accommodation of the Assembly and of the Supreme Court.

With these provisions of the organic act and the subsequent action of the President in the appointment of the territorial officers for which it provided, the civil government of the Territory of Wisconsin was in complete readiness to be set in operation on the 4th day of July, the day on which by the act, it was to be organized.

To summarize the several different periods of time from the early part of the sixteenth century to the organization of the Territory of Wisconsin in 1836, during which the right of civil government has been claimed or exercised by different powers, the facts stated in this and the preceding chapter, present these results.

For more than a century, from 1512 to 1627, the only claim to the right of civil jurisdiction over the domain of the present state of Wisconsin, which any governmental power pretended to possess, was the claim of Spain derived from the discovery of Florida by PONCE DE LEON. This claim was, however, entirely ideal, as during that period no subject of Spain ever saw any portion of this domain.

From 1627 to 1762, civil jurisdiction over the Territory was claimed, and to a considerable extent exercised by France.

By the treaty of February 10, 1763, resulting from the war between France and England, the right of civil jurisdiction passed from the former to the latter, and civil jurisdiction accompanied by actual occupancy of the posts on

the northern frontier was maintained by Great Britain until 1796, although the last thirteen years of this jurisdiction was in open violation of the treaty of 1783.

During the Revolutionary war and thereafter until the formation of the Northwest Territory in 1787, jurisdiction was claimed by Virginia. This claim was practically exercised over and acquiesced in by the inhabitants of that portion of the territory now forming the states of Ohio, Indiana and Illinois while those in the remaining portion were compelled to recognize the power of Great Britain.

From 1787 to 1800 the right of civil government was vested by the Ordinance of 1787 in the territorial government which it established; but owing to the jurisdiction which was maintained by Great Britain, the right was not practically exercised within the present state of Wisconsin until 1796.

From May 7, 1800, to January 11, 1805, jurisdiction over the domain of the state of Wisconsin was vested in and exercised by the Territory of Indiana.

From January 11, 1805, until February 3, 1809, by the Territory of Michigan.

From February 3, 1809, until December 3, 1818, by the Territory of Illinois.

From December 3, 1818, until July 4, 1836, the Territory of Michigan again had and exercised the jurisdiction.

Hitherto our attempts at historiography have resulted only in the exposition of the history of Florida, Louisiana, Virginia, the Northwestern Territory, and the Territories of Indiana, Illinois and Michigan, so far as that portion of them which is now known as Wisconsin, was affected.

An epoch is now reached from which a new historical departure is to be taken, and the story is to be told of the settlement, development and progress of the Territory of Wisconsin, from its organization as a distinct territorial government in 1836, to its admission into the Union as a sovereign independent state in 1848. This period of twelve years is highly interesting, as being that in which the political character and material features of the future State were molded and crystallized.

CHAPTER XVII.

TERRITORY OF WISCONSIN IN 1833.

The early organization of the new Territory of Wisconsin was, during the years 1835 and the early part of 1836, clearly foreseen as one of the inevitable results of the formation of the independent State of Michigan. The fragmentary Territory of Michigan thus left, was not designed and was illy adapted to the wants of the inhabitants of the country west of the lake.

The organization of the new Territory was delayed until the question of the boundaries of the State of Michigan could be acted upon by Congress, and so soon as it was known what that action would be, it was anticipated by the act to organize the Territory of Wisconsin, which was passed April 20, 1836, although the act to provide for the admission of the State of Michigan into the Union was not passed until twenty-five days later.

The scenes and events successively occurring during the twelve years of the existence of the Territory of Wisconsin, which were so commonplace at the time of their occurrence as to make but little impression upon those immediately connected with them, may now possess some historic interest to those who had no personal knowledge of them, if not create a revived interest in those who participated in them; which can only be gratified by a reference to the archives of the State Historical Society.

The spirit of migration, the desire for change, is believed to be the fundamental element, the inspiring cause of and chief reason for the wonderful progress which has marked the advance of American civilization, especially in the states formed out of the Northwest Territory.

Whatever the cause, the historical fact is now acknowledged, that the rapidity of settlement in Wisconsin for the fifteen years next succeeding 1835, was almost, if not quite, unprecedented in the settlement of new states. Previous to 1835 much the largest proportion-about two thirds-of the population of the Territory was to be found in Iowa county. They had, however, generally come in search of lead, and nearly all with the expectation of soon getting