the Indians of the northwest, and when, in the following year, the treaty of Ghent provided for the pacification of several important tribes, he was placed at the head of the commission.

The duties connected with this commission being successfully terminated, General Harrison returned to his farm, near Cincinnati. He was not long permitted to remain in obscurity, the district in which he lived electing him, in 1816, a representative in Congress, to supply a vacancy; he was afterward elected for the full term. After taking his seat in Congress, his conduct while in command of the northwestern army was impugned by a contractor, whose source of profit was cut off by order of General HarriFull investigation into the case resulted in completely exonerating him from all charges brought against him. His service in Congress was marked by two important measures. The first, providing for reform in the militia organizations of the country, met with decided opposition in the House and failed of passage. The other, for the relief of veteran

son.

soldiers of the Revolution, as well as those wounded or disabled in the last war with Great Britain, appealed to the sense of justice of the Nation and was immediately passed. It was during his term of service in the House of Representatives that Congress passed the resolution providing that gold medals be struck off in commemoration of the services of himself and Governor Isaac Shelby in the battle of the Thames.

After three years' service in the House, in 1819 General Harrison was elected to the Senate of Ohio; and in 1824 he was chosen one of the presidential electors of the State, and in the electoral college cast his vote for Henry Clay. In 1824 the legislature of Ohio elected him to a seat in the Senate of the United States, and he succeeded General Jackson as chairman of the committee on military affairs. He was a firm supporter of the administration of President Adams, who appointed him, in 1828, minister plenipotentiary to the United States of Colombia. There he was cordially received, but his residence abroad was terminated immediately following the inauguration of President Jackson. Returning to Ohio, he lived in retirement on his farm at North Bend, on the Ohio river, a few miles below Cincinnati. His public services had not been such as to add to his pecuniary resources, being marked throughout by the strictest integrity. Pride of station was not an element in his nature, and when came the offer of the clerkship of Hamilton county, it was accepted with the same spirit he would have exhibited had it been an election to a high office in State or Nation. There he remained ten years, performing the duties con

nected with his office with the same fidelity that characterized his every public act.

In 1835 meetings of the people in Pennsylvania, New York, Ohio and other States, united in the nomination of General Harrison as a candidate for President, to succeed Andrew Jackson, whose term was approaching a close. His opponent was Martin Van Buren, who was then serving as Vice-President. The opposition to Van Buren was not united on Harrison, Daniel Webster, Hugh L. White and Willie P. Mangum receiving many votes in the States in which they lived. Without concerted action on the part of his friends, Harrison received in the electoral college seventy-three votes. Mr. Van Buren received one hundred and seventy votes in the electoral college and was elected President.

PRESIDENT HARRISON'S RESIDENCE AT NORTH BEND.

The national Whig convention assembled in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, December 4, 1839. The names presented to the convention for their consideration were Henry Clay, General Winfield Scott and William Henry Harrison. After a free interchange of views as to the merits of the respective candidates, General Harrison received the nomination for President. For Vice-President, John Tyler of Virginia received the vote of the convention. Then followed the exciting presidential contest, since historically familiar as the "hard cider" campaign. This name was given it as descriptive of the house in which lived the candidate for President. The

eastern end of the Harrison mansion at North Bend was formed of one of the original log cabins built by some of the early settlers, and which was afterwards clapboarded over, when a larger addition was constructed. Soon after his nomination the partisans of General Harrison started the story that he lived in a log cabin, the latch-string of which was always out so that travelers might readily enter, and a mug of cider was always ready for the thirsty wayfarer. Great mass meetings were held in various places, at which a prominent feature was a log cabin, in front of which were placed barrels of cider for free distribution to the thirsty crowd. The demoralization that attended these meetings was great, and many young men and boys formed the habit of drink that produced untold misery in after life.

The vote in the electoral college stood: For Harrison, two hundred and thirty four; for Van Buren, sixty. The effect of the election of Harrison was the triumph of principles of reform in correcting the abuses of the administrations of Jackson and Van Buren. The final outcome was a continuation, in a slightly modified form, of the principles of the two previous administrations, by Mr. Tyler, the Vice-President, who soon succeeded President Harrison in office.

An immense concourse assembled in front of the capitol at Washington, on the morning of the fourth of March, 1841, to witness the inauguration of William Henry Harrison as the ninth President of the United States. John Tyler had already taken the oath of office as Vice-President. After the delivery of an appropriate address to the Senate by the Vice-President, General Harrison entered and took the seat prepared for him in front of the secretary's table, where he remained a few minutes until preparations were completed for forming the line of procession to the platform erected for the occasion, over the portico of the capitol. On taking the place assigned him on the platform, he was received with enthusiastic cheers by the assembled multitude. When the applause had subsided, in a clear, distinct voice he proceeded to read his inaugural address to the Nation. When but a few sentences remained unuttered, the oath of office was administered by Chief Justice Taney, after which the President concluded his address.

The multitude followed the procession to the White House, where the President held a reception to as many as were able to enter the mansion. Immediately entering upon the duties of his office, President Harrison sent to the Senate the names of cabinet officers as follows: Daniel Webster of Massachusetts, secretary of State; Thomas Ewing of Ohio, secretary of the treasury; John Bell of Tennessee, secretary of war; George E. Badger of North Carolina, secretary of the navy; Francis Granger of New York, postmaster-general; John J. Crittenden of Kentucky, attorneygeneral. These nominations were confirmed by the Senate, as were a number of other nominations sent in by the President, most of which were appointments to fill vacancies. The Senate then adjourned on the fifteenth

day of March. Two days later the President called an extra session of Congress to take into consideration the finances and revenue of the country. The administration being settled and all departments in complete order for transaction of the duties pertaining to them, President Harrison devoted himself to the people, after attending to the business of each day. At all hours he was accessible, and the continued strain upon mind and body weakened his physical system. Although sixty-eight years of age, so regular and temperate had been his habits that he presented the appearance of perfect health, was active and cheerful, and bade fair to conduct his administration to a successful close. The cares of office weighed upon him, however, and, after several days of indisposition, on the twentyseventh of March he was prostrated with a chill, attended by severe fever.

Then followed bilious pneumonia, and on Sunday morning, April 4, after an illness of eight days, he died.

The death of President Harrison, at the very beginning of his administration, produced a shock throughout the Nation where he was revered and loved by all. So sudden was it that his wife, who had remained at North Bend, was unable to be present during his last hours. His remains were interred in the Congressional cemetery at Washington, whence, some years later, at the request of his family, they were removed and deposited in the burial ground at North Bend.

A. R. WILDMAN.

EDITORIAL AND HISTORICAL NOTES.

It is probably safe to say no portion of west came to be accurately known, the the territory included in the United States great nations of Europe began to eagerly of America has so interesting a history as covet the prize.

Gulf of Mexico on the south. This his

that which lies between the Alleghany In the course of time English mountains on the east, the Mississippi traders, eager for gain, scaled the river on the west, the lakes, Superior, Alleghanies, and penetrated the deep Huron and Erie, on the north, and the forests beyond to exchange with the redmen trinkets and money for furs and peltory, though covering a recent period, try. The account these first English exabounds in striking episodes, whose ac- plorers brought back to their brethren on curate recital must ever charm the earnest the Atlantic seaboard filled them with student. In ignorance of its mar. astonishment, and incited many to like velous wealth of resource-its bound- undertakings. They pushed their way less stretch of primeval woodland and through majestic forests to the valley of prairie, its mighty rivers, its millions of the upper Ohio to barter with the Delamineral treasure hidden beneath its broad wares, the Wyandots, the Shawances, the expanse-it was flung away by English Iroquois and the Ottawas; to the waters monarchs in lavish grants, as of no value of the Miami and Wabash, where dwelt either to the grantor or grantee. As its the Miamis and their kindred tribes; and value became more apparent, contesting still farther west towards the Mississippi, claimants for its possession appeared. The where roamed the remnants of the once subjects of Spain had discovered the powerful Illinois. With all these tribes Mississippi, and that nation laid claim to the English trader sought to establish a territorial empire. England had colofriendly relations. nized a narrow strip of land along the Atlantic seaboard, and maintained the right to a boundless territory. France sent forth from Canada at the north a band of daring explorers, who traversed the vast wilderness from the lakes to the gulf, and by virtue thereof claimed all American territory between the Alleghany and the Rocky mountains, and from Mexico to the north pole. Thus, when the value of the North

The first of these bold and hardy men made his appearance in the Ohio country, possibly as early as 1654. In that year a certain Colonel Wood is said to have extended his travels westward as far as the country now embraced within the State boundaries of Kentucky. In the century following these adventurous men had pushed their way as far west as