Calhoun County MI Archives History .....The Toledo, Ohio & Michigan War (Battle Over The Toledo Strip) 
************************************************
Copyright.  All rights reserved.
http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm
http://www.usgwarchives.net/mi/mifiles.htm
************************************************

File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Robin Ellis -- July 17, 2007, 1:04 pm

Lead by Michigan's feisty 22 year old Territorial Governor, Stevens T. Mason, a 
small 250-person group of volunteers moved toward Toledo to defend their 
territory from an Ohio take-over.

The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 established an east-west line drawn from the 
southern tip of Lake Michigan across the base of the peninsula. The original 
line was drawn using maps that showed the line intersecting Lake Erie north of 
the Maumee River. This is the territorial "line-of- scrimmage" that Ohioans 
recognized when their constitution was drafted in 1803. When the Michigan 
Territory was created in 1805, surveyors realized the tip of Lake Michigan was 
actually further south and included the area that would later become Toledo.

This revelation had the Ohioans in Congress screaming, "Offsides!" They 
immediately campaigned to have the northern line accepted as the official 
border. In 1817, U.S. Surveyor General, and former Ohio governor, Edward 
Tiffin, sent William Harris out to survey the line according to Ohio's 
constitution. The Michigan Territorial Governor, Lewis Cass, went to President 
James Monroe to protest the call. John A. Fulton was called into the fray to 
make another survey of the disputed claim in accordance with the Northwest 
Ordinance.

It was not surprising that the two surveys resulted in two lines eight miles 
apart at Lake Erie and five miles apart at the Indiana border, with a total of 
468 square miles in between. Although Ohio still claimed the Toledo Strip as 
its own, the squabbling momentarily ceased and Michigan quietly assumed 
jurisdiction over the area.

The controversy heated up again when Michigan sought admission to the union on 
December 11, 1833. In spite of Michigan's presence in the Toledo Strip, Ohio 
Congressmen successfully lobbied to block Michigan's acceptance as a state 
until it agreed to Ohio's version of the boundary. Massachusetts 
Representative, and former President, John Quincy Adams, supported Michigan 
saying, "Never in the course of my life have I known a controversy of which all 
the right so clearly on one side and all the power so overwhelmingly on the 
other."

Ohio's position was so strong that Governor Robert Lucas refused to negotiate 
with Michigan over the issue. Michigan's territorial council countered by 
passing a resolution that would impose heavy fines on anyone other than 
Michigan or federal officers trying to exercise jurisdiction in the Toledo 
Strip. In a blatant act of defiance, Governor Lucas turned the disputed region 
into a county named after himself and appointed a sheriff and judge. 
Michigan's "boy governor" had had enough! Stevens T. Mason mobilized his troops 
and headed towards Ohio. The Toledo War had begun.
 

The War involved more saber-rattling and one-upmanship than it did shooting and 
blood-letting. For instance, after the Ohio legislature voted to approve a 
$300,000 military budget, Michigan upped the ante by approving one with 
$315,000. Michigan's militia did end up arresting some Ohio officials, 
capturing nine surveyors, and firing a few shots over the heads of others as 
they ran out of the area. But only Ohio inflicted any casaulties, when a 
buckeye named Two Stickney stabbed a Michigan Sheriff during a tavern brawl.

When President Andrew Jackson stepped in, the war ended. Jackson removed Mason 
from office and the militia commander, General Joseph W. Brown disbanded his 
troops. But Congress still held Michigan statehood hostage until it agreed to 
Ohio's claims. The citizens of Michigan set up a state government anyway, and 
elected Stevens T. Mason governor.

Michigan eventually became the 26th state of the union, on the 26th of January, 
1837. But its territory did not include the Toledo Strip. Instead, it gained 
title to the western three-quarters of the upper peninsula as compensation; 
9,000 square miles of the most valuable timber, iron, and copper country in 
America.

Like so many of the gridiron battles that continue to rage today, a game isn't 
decide on one play, but a series of plays. Poor officiating may have taken 
Michigan officially out of the campaign for the Toledo Strip, but in 
retrospect, it's obvious who won the War.

Additional Comments:
Information From the State of Michigan Website:
http://www.michigan.gov/dmva/0,1607,7-126-2360_3003_3009-16934--,00.html

File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/mi/calhoun/history/other/toledooh10ms.txt

This file has been created by a form at http://www.poppet.org/mifiles/

File size: 4.9 Kb