for the use of the late continental army, to be drawn for in such manner as he shall deem expedient, to answer the purpose of an impartial distribution. He shall, from time to time, transmit certificates to the commissioners of the loan offices of the different states, to the lines of which the military claimants have respectively belonged, specifying the name and rank of the party, the terms of his engagement and time of his service, and the division, brigade, regiment, or company, to which he belonged, the quantity of land he is entitled to, and the township or fractional part of a township and range out of which his portion is to be taken.

The commissioners of the loan offices shall execute deeds for such undivided proportions, in manner and form herein before mentioned, varying only in such a degree as to make the same conformable to the certificate from the secretary of war.

Where any military claimants of bounty in lands shall not have belonged to the line of any particular state, similar certificates shall be sent to the board of treasury, who shall execute deeds to the parties for the same.

The secretary of war, from the proper returns, shall transmit to the board of treasury a certificate, specifying the name and rank of the several claimants of the hospital department of the late continenal army, together with the quantity of land each claimant is entitled to, and the township or fractional part of a township and range out of which his portion is to be taken; and thereupon the board of treasury shall proceed to execute deeds to such claimants.

The board of treasury, and the commissioners of the loan offices in the states, shall, within eighteen months, return receipts to the secretary of war, for all deeds which have been delivered, as also all the original deeds which remain in their hands for want of applicants, having been first recorded; which deeds, so returned, shall be preserved in the office, until the parties or their representatives require the same.

And be it further ordained, That three townships adjacent to Lake Erie be reserved, to be hereafter disposed of by Congress, for the use of the officers, men, and others, refugees from Canada, and the refugees from Nova Scotia, who are or may be entitled to grants of land under resolutions of Congress now existing, or which may hereafter be made respecting them, and for such other purposes as Congress may hereafter direct.

And be it further ordained, That the towns of Gnadenhutten, Schoenbrun, and Salem, on the Muskingum, and so much of the lands adjoining to the said towns, with the buildings and improvements thereon, shall be reserved for the sole use of the christian Indians, who were formerly settled there, or the remains of that society, as may, in the judgment of the geographer, be sufficient for them to cultivate.

Saving and reserving always, to all officers and soldiers entitled to lands on the northwest side of the Ohio, by donation or bounty from the Commonwealth of Virginia, and to all persons claiming under them, all rights to which they are so entitled, under the deed of cession executed by the delegates for the State of Virginia, on the 1st day of March, 1784, and the act of Congress accepting the same: and to the end that the said rights may be fully and effectually secured, according to the true intent and meaning of the said deed of cession and act aforesaid, be it ordained, that no part of the land included between the rivers called Little Miami and Scioto, on the north-west side of the River Ohio, be sold, or in any manner alienated, until there shall first have been laid off and appropriated for the said officers and soldiers, and persons claiming under them, the lands they are entitled to, agreeably to the said deed of cession and act of Congress accepting the same. Done by the United States in Congress assembled, the 20th day of May, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty-five, and of our sovereignty and independence the ninth. RICHARD H. LEE, President.

CHARLES THOMSON, Secretary.

SUPPLEMENT.

A supplement to an ordinance, entitled "An ordinance for ascertaining the mode of disposing of lands in the western territory.

Whereas it is found to be inconvenient to execute that part of the land ordin înce, passed May 20, 1785, which directs that certain proportions of lands be allotted to the several states, to be sold by the loan officers in each state. And whereas a sufficient quantity of lands, for satisfying the bounties due to the late army, was set apart by the act of Congress, passed the 22d of October last whereby further drafts for satisfying military bounties in lands from the townships lately surveyed, are become unnecessary:

Be it ordained by the United States in Congress assembled, That so much of the said or dinance, passed May 20, 1785, as ordains that certain parts of the townships therein directed to be surveyed, shall be drawn for in the name of the thirteen states, respectively, according to the quotas in the last preceding requisitions, in all the states, in order that the same be sold by the said, loan officers; and also, that the secretary of war shall take by lot from the townships when surveyed, certain proportions of land for the use of the late army, so far as the same may respect further drafts, be and the same are hereby repealed. Be it further ordained, That the board of treasury be, and they hereby are, authorized and directed, to sell those parts of the seven ranges of townships surveyed in the western territory, which are not already sold or drawn for the use of the late army, in the same manner, on the same conditions, and under the same restrictions and limitations, as were prescribed in the resolutions of Congress of April 21st, 1787, except as to the place of sale, and the daily continuance thereof, which may be so far varied, that the said board may commence the sales at New York or Philadelphia, and adjourn the same from time to time to any part or parts of the United States which they may judge most proper for the purpose. Be it further ordained, That the secretary of war issue warrants for bounties of land to the several officers and soldiers of the late continental army who may be entitled to such bounties, or to their respective assigns or legal representatives, certifying therein the rank or station of each officer, and the line, regiment, corps, and company, in which the officer or soldier served.

Be it further ordained, That the geographer, by warrant under his hand and seal, appoint one surveyor to each of the two tracts or districts of land set apart for satisfying the said bounties by the act of Congress of the 224, of October last; and that the persons entitled to lands by virtue of warrants issued as aforesaid, shall be at liberty to locate them on any part of the two tracts of lands set apart as aforesaid; provided, that each location and survey shall be bounded on one side by one of the external boundaries of one of the tracts aforesaid, or by some prior survey therein; and the external lines of each survey shall run east and west, north and south, such parts thereof excepted as may border upon a river bounding the district, and the several surveys shall be in squares, unless where restrained by such river, or by the lines of former surveys; and provided also, that in every location there shall be a combination of as many warrants as shall make the same at least six miles square, and no interstices shall be left between surveys less than six miles wide.

Be it further ordained, That each surveyor, upon making any survey, shall protract and lay the same down in a general map, to be kept and preserved, and shall make a record of each survey in a book to be kept for that purpose, and make out and deliver a copy of the survey, certified under his hand, to the proprietor or proprietors thereof and the surveyor shall retain in his hands all warrants by him laid out and located, until he can transmit the same to the board of treasury, which he shall do within one year after laying out the land, certifying thereon, under his hand, that the same is satisfied. That the surveyors to be appointed as herein before directed, shall be entitled to receive, for the services enjoined

them by this ordinance, so much only as shall be allowed and fixed by the governor and judges of the western territory, and shall be liable to be displaced by the geographer for neglect of duty, or other misbehavior; in which case he shall supply any vacancy so happening by a new appointment. That each surveyor who may be appointed under this ordinance, before he enters upon the duties of his office, shall take an oath or affirmation, that he will justly and truly execute the trust reposed in him as surveyor of a district of land in the western territory, according to the best of his skill and understanding, without favor or partiality: which oath or affirmation shall be taken before the governor or either of the judges of the western territory, or one of the justices of the supreme court in any of the United States, and being duly attested, shall be transmitted to the secretary of Congress, to be by him filed of record. That the maps and records before mentioned, shall, at all times, be subject to the orders of Congress, to be removed or deposited wherever they shall direct. That if any officer or soldier, or assignee or grantee of either, shall desire to have their bounty of land allotted in the townships or fractional parts thereof, lately drawn for the army by the secretary of war, out of the first four ranges of townships surveyed west of the Ohio, and shall cause such his desire, in writing, together with his land warrant, to be deposited in the office of the secretary of war, before the first of July, 1789; the said secretary shall cause so much of the said townships which have been drawn for the army, to be drawn for by lot, as will satisfy the warrants so deposited, for which sur. veys shall be made out and delivered to the several proprietors, signed by the geographer of the United States, which surveys shall be recorded in a book by the geographer, and lodged in the treasury office. And whereas lands are set apart for satisfying military bounties, not only in the said districts and townships, but also within the limits of purchases made by several companies:

Be it further ordained, That the persons who have purchased tracts of the federal lands, shall have credit for so much land as the warrants issued as aforesaid, and delivered by them to the board of treasury, cover; provided, that in no case deductions on account of military bounties shall exceed one-seventh part of the purchase. Passed July 9, 1788.

C-Page 200.

TREATY AT THE MOUTH OF THE GREAT MIAMI.

Articles of a treaty concluded at the mouth of the Great Miami, on the north-western bank of the Ohio, the 31st day of January, one thousand seven hundred and eighty-six, be. tween the commissioners plenipotentiary of the United States of America, of the one part, and the chiefs and warriors of the Shawanee nation, of the other part.

ART. 1. Three hostages shall be immediately delivered to the commissioners, to remain in the possession of the United States until all the prisoners, white and black, taken in the late war, from among the citizens of the United States, by the Shawanee nation, or by any other Indian or Indians residing in their towns, shall be restored.

ART. 2. The Shawanee nation do acknowledge the United States to be the sole and abso iute sovereigns of all the territory ceded to them by a treaty of peace, made between them and the king of Great Britain, the fourteenth day of January, one thousand seven hundred and eighty-four.

ART. 3. If any Indian or Indians of the Shawanee nation, or any other Indian or Indians residing in their towns, shall commit murder or robbery on, or do any injury to, the citi

zens of the United States, or any of them, that nation shall deliver such offender or offenders to the officer commanding the nearest post of the United States, to be punished according to the ordinances of Congress; and in like manner, any citizen of the United States, who shall do an injury to any Indian of the Shawanee nation, or to any other Indian or Indians residing in their towns, and under their protection, shall be punished according to the laws of the United States.

ART. 4. The Shawanee nation having knowledge of the intention of any nation or body of Indians to make war on the citizens of the United States, or of their counselling together for that purpose, and neglecting to give information thereof to the commanding officer of the nearest post of the United States, shall be considered as parties in such war, and be pun. ished accordingly: and the United States shall, in like manner, inform the Shawanees of any injury designed against them.

ART. 5. The United States do grant peace to the Shawanee nation, and do receive them into their friendship and protection.

ART. 6. The United States do allot to the Shawanee nation, lands within their territory to live and hunt upon, beginning at the south line of the lands allotted to the Wyandot and Delaware nations, at the place where the main branch of the Great Miami, which falls into the Ohio, intersects said line; then down the river Miami, to the fork of that river, next below the old fort which was taken by the French in one thousand seven hundred and fifty-two; thence due west to the river de la Panse; then down that river, to the River Wabash; beyond which lines none of the citizens of the United States shall settle, nor disturb the Shawanees in their settlement and possessions. And the Shawanees do relinquish to the United States, all title, or pretence of title, they ever had to the lands east, west, and south, of the east, west, and south lines before described.

ART. 7. If any citizen or citizens of the United States, shall presume to settle upon the lands allotted to the Shawanees by this treaty, he or they shall be put out of the protection of the United States.

In testimony whereof, the parties hereunto have affixed their hands and seals, the day and year first above mentioned.

D-Page 221.

ORDINANCE OF JULY 13, 1787.

An Ordinance for the government of the territory of the United States northwest of the river Ohio.

Be it ordained by the United States in Congress assembled, That the said territory, for the purposes of temporary government, be one district; subject, however, to be divided into two districts, as future circumstances may, in the opinion of Congress, make it expedient. Be it ordained by the authority aforesaid, That the estates both of resident and nonresident proprietors in the said territory, dying intestate, shall descend to, and be distributed among their children, and the descendants of a deceased child, in equal parts; the descendants of a deceased child or grand child to take the share of their deceased parent in equal parts among them: and where there shall be no children or descendants, then in equal parts to the next of kin, in equal degree; and among collaterals, the children of a deceased brother or sister of the intestate shall have, in equal parts among them, their deceased parents' share; and there shall, in no case, be a distinction between kindred of the whole and half blood; saving in all cases to the widow of the intestate, her third part of the real estate for life, and one third part of the personal estate; and this law relative to descents and dower, shall remain in full force until altered by the legislature of the district. And until the governor and judges shall adopt laws as hereinafter mentioned, estates in the said territory may be devised or bequeathed by wills in writing, signed and sealed by him or her, in whom the estate may be, (being of full age,) and attested by three witnes ses; and real estates may be conveyed by lease and release, or bargain and sale, signed, sealed and delivered, by the person, being of full age, in whom the estate may be, and attested by two witnesses, provided such wil's be duly proved, and such conveyances be acknowledged, or the execution thereof duly proved, and be recorded within one year after proper magistrates, courts and registers shall be appointed for that purpose; and personal property may be transferred by delivery; saving, however, to the French and Canadian inhabitants, and other settlers of the Kaskaskias, Saint Vincents, and the neighboring villages, who have heretofore professed themselves citizens of Virginia, their laws and customs, now in force among them, relative to the descent and conveyance of property.

Be it ordained by the authority aforesaid, That there shall be appointed, from time to time, by Congress, a governor, whose commission shall continue in force for the term of three years, unless sooner revoked by Congress: he shall reside in the district and have a freehold estate therein, in one thousand acres of land, while in the exercise of his office.

There shall be appointed, from time to time, by Congress, a secretary, whose commission shall continue in force for four years, unless sooner revoked; he shall reside in the district and have a freehold estate therein, in five hundred acres of land, while in the exercise of his office; it shall be his duty to keep and preserve the acts and laws passed by the legislature, and the public records of the district, and the proceedings of the governor in his executive department; and transmit authentic copies of such acts and proceedings, ev. ery six months, to the secretary of Congress: There shall also be appointed a court, to consist of three judges, any two of whom to form a court, who shall have a common law jurisdiction, and reside in the district, and have each therein freehold estate, in five hundred acres of land, while in the exercise of their offices; and their commissions shall continue in force during good behavior.

The governor and judges, or a majority of them, shall adopt and publish in the district, such laws of the original states, criminal and civil, as may be necessary, and best suited to the circumstances of the district, and report them to Congress, from time to time, which