CHAPTER XXII CHICAGO (1893)

[Kent Mueller]

The Northwest as a reference for this region has just about faded from
American memory, disappearing as the country expanded westward, probably not
long after Adams made his comment. There are only a few remnants, such as
Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois.

For anyone intrigued by surveying, etc. after reading M & D, the Ordinance
also established the township system as a standard of administration that
persisted as the country grew. The standard township was 36 square miles,
divided into sections of (I think) a square mile, and thence into quarter
sections. Here's a typical legal description that all titles of deed
(ownership) must contain in much of the US west of Pennsylvania:

"...with reference to title to lot 41 (being Franke's Subdivision) in
Section No. 16, Township No. 7 north, of range No. 22 east [16-7-22], in the
Sixth Ward of the City of Milwaukee, in the County of Milwaukee and State of
Wisconsin..."

It was strict grid with no allowance for geography other than for large
bodies of water, and replaced the hodge-podge system that existed out east.
Exceptions would include the pre-existing Parishes of Louisiana and probably
the original Spanish land grants of the Southwest.

Kent   

> From: Dave Monroe <monropolitan at yahoo.com>
> Date: Tue, 18 Jul 2006 12:49:49 -0700 (PDT)
> To: rich <richard.romeo at gmail.com>, Tim Strzechowski <dedalus204 at comcast.net>
> Cc: Pynchon-L <pynchon-l at waste.org>
> Subject: Re: CHAPTER XXII CHICAGO (1893)
> 
> The Northwest Territory, also known as the Old
> Northwest and the Territory North West of the Ohio,
> was a governmental region within the early United
> States and is still sometimes (as the Northwest)
> considered a geographical region; the term "Pacific
> Northwest" disambiguates it from the regular
> Northwest. Passed by the Continental Congress on July
> 13, 1787, the Northwest Ordinance provided for the
> administration of the territories and set rules for
> admission as a state. On August 7, 1789, the U.S.
> Congress affirmed the Ordinance with slight
> modifications under the Constitution. The territory
> included all the land of the United States west of
> Pennsylvania and northwest of the Ohio River. It
> covered all of the modern states of Ohio, Indiana,
> Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin, as well as the
> northeastern part of Minnesota. The area covered more
> than 260,000 square miles (673,000 km²)
> 
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northwest_Territory
> 
> --- rich <richard.romeo at gmail.com> wrote:
>> 
>> I wonder what Adams is talking about when he refers
>> to the 'Northwest'--is this code for Chicago?
> 
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