it, with a vast additional extent of North-western territory, had been ceded, by Virginia, to the United States.

The year 1788 was a famous year for emigration. It witnessed the passage of no less than 20,000 persons down the Ohio River. The company which settled Ohio consisted of forty persons, under General Rufus Putnam. They built a stockade fort at Marietta, of sufficient strength to resist the attacks of the natives, cleared several acres of ground, and planted a crop. They were joined by twenty additional families in the autumn. Both these companies were New England people.

For a number of years they were not troubled by the savages, nor did any of their number trouble the Indians, except in one or two instances. The earliest settlers of Cincinnati arrived there, about twenty in number in 1790. Until the year 1795, the attempts made to settle most parts of Ohio were attended with great difficulties, on account of Indian wars. Marietta, however, formed an exception to this rule. After the great victory which General Wayne achieved over the savages during Washington's administration, the population increased rapidly. Unembarrassed by any centralizing or aristocratic institutions, possessed of the finest natural resources, and vitalized by an enterprising population, Ohio, after its admission into the Union, made an advancement of which any State might well be proud. In population it is the third State in the Union, numbering 2,390,502.

At the breaking out of the Rebellion, Ohio took its position staunchly for the Union, and has done much during the war for the restoration of the authority of the Government over the seceded States.

LOUISIANA.

Was ceded by Spain to France in the year 1802, and was bought by the United States of the latter power, in 1803, at a cost of $15,000,000. Governor Clayborne took possession of it the same year. It was settled by the French, at Iberville, in 1699, and was admitted into the Union April 8th, 1812. It is an important State, in that it holds the

keys of entrance to the mouth of the Mississippi. In the year 1860, nearly one-half of its population was slave. It seceded from the Union on the 26th of January, 1861. Its population in 1860 was 708,002. It has been a very forward State in the great Rebellion.

INDIANA.

About the year 1690, a French settlement, the first in Indiana, was made at Vincennes, that place being within the territory claimed, at that time, by the French, upon priority of discovery by La Salle. Indiana was long the residence of various Indian tribes, and the theater of Indian wars. By the terms of the treaty of the peace of 1763, it, with the rest of the North-western Territory, was ceded to Great Britain. It was still claimed by the Indians, but, by various treaties, extensive tracts were obtained for settlement. The Indians, however, retained possession of many parts of the State up to the year 1812, and to that portion known as the Indian Reserve, even later. It was erected into a Territory in 1809, and on the 11th of December, 1816, was admitted into the Union. Its population-1,350,428, in the year 1860—is an indication of its progress. In the matter of education, Indiana is somewhat behind some of her Western sisters, but her efforts in behalf of the Government during the great Rebellion shall halo her future with glory.

MISSISSIPPI.

The territory comprising the present States of Mississippi and Alabama having been divided, that portion lying next the river was, in 1817, admitted into the Union as a State, under the name Mississippi, while the eastern portion was organized as a Territory, and named Alabama. The whole of this territorry was explored, first by Ferdinand De Soto, and afterward by La Salle. It suffered greatly during the wars of the Natchez Indians. time, retained possession of the were, to some extent, civilized.

The Choctaws, for a long northern portion of it, and Mississippi was settled by

the French, in 1716, at Natchez. Its population-791,305 -shows fair progress. On the 9th of January, 1861, it went the way of the seceding States, since which time, its course, like theirs, has been downward.

ILLINOIS.

This most thriving and prosperous State came into the Union on the 3d of December, 1818. Until 1809 it was a part of Indiana, at which time it became a separate territory, and so remained till received into the Union. This State has been little disturbed by civil divisions or by Indian wars. Its most serious troubles arose from the appearance, within its borders, of the Mormons, in 1838, and from attempts made to curb their irregularities. This singular people, believing themselves to be ill-treated, assembled to the number of 700, under their leaders, in a remote part of the State, and proposed fighting for their rights. But a body of three hundred troops marched against and captured them. The whole sect was ultimately reduced to submission, and banished the State. It was explored by La Salle, and settled by the French at Kaskaskia,* in 1720. Its growth has been immense. Its population, in 1860, was 1,711,951. Its history has been one of the most glorious of the loyal States during the great Rebellion.

ALABAMA

Was admitted to the Union on the 14th of December, 1819. It has a deep, rich soil, and in many places a healthful climate. It remained till the Revolution a mere huntingground of the savages. From the peace of 1783 to 1802 it was claimed by Georgia, and lands were sold to settlers and speculators accordingly. In the year 1802, Georgia ceded all her western territory to the United States for $1,250,000. In 1800, the present State of Alabama became a part of Mississippi Territory, from which it was

Kaskaskia, the first capital of Illinois, is located on Kaskaskia River, and is the present site of Vandalia.

separated when Mississippi became a State.

It was set

tled, in 1711, at Mobile, by the French, being a part of the territory explored by La Salle in his Mississippi tour. It formally seceded from the Union, January 11, 1861.

MAINE.

In the year 1638, the same year in which New Haven was settled, Ferdinand Gorges procured a charter of the King of England for all the lands from the borders of New Hampshire, on the south-west, to Sagadahoc, on the Kennebeck River, on the north-east, under the name of the Province of Maine. It remained a separate province till 1652, when it became a part of Massachusetts. Various attempts were made, between 1785 and 1802 to form it into an independent State; but these efforts failed. In 1819 a large majority of the people were in favor of separating from Massachusetts. A convention was called, a Constitution prepared and adopted, and, in 1820, Maine was received into the Union. It is, by no means, an agricultural State, but its extensive fisheries and great lumber trade have greatly enriched it, and its progress in morality has, perhaps, been superior to that of any other State. It is the only State in the Union that has an efficient prohibitory liquor law. It proved itself true to the Government in 1861, and there is no danger of its ever ceasing to be so.

It was settled in 1625, at Bristol, by the English. Its population is 628,279.

MISSOURI.

This great, though crippled, State was admitted into the Union on the 10th of August, 1821. It, with all the territory then belonging to the United States, west of the Mississippi, was included in the purchase of Louisiana, made in 1803. Louisiana afterward was divided into Orleans Territory, Louisiana proper, and Missouri Territory. In 1819, Missouri Territory was divided into Arkansas, on the south, and Missouri on the north; and it was about this time that the latter took the requisite steps toward framing

a State Constitution. It will be remembered that this is the State, the discussion of the propriety of the admission of which raised such a storm in Congress in 1820.

Being a border slave State, it was nearly equally divided on the question of secession in 1861, and thus, like Kentucky, has been overrun by both Southern and Northern troops during the Rebellion, and has been the scene of much bloodshed and ruin. It was settled in 1764, at St. Louis, by the French. Its population is 1,182,012.

FLORIDA.

The Peninsular States, discovered and explored by Ponce de Leon, a voyager with Columbus, and whose name was suggested to the discoverer by the abundance and beauty of its wild flora, was, from 1512 to 1819, with the exception of the interval between 1763 and 1783, a province of Spain. The first attempt to settle it was made in the year 1565, at St. Augustine, which is said to be the oldest town in America, by the Spaniards. This effort was attended with many difficulties, the colonists contending, for the first few years, alternately with the horrors of savage warfare and famine, at times being forced to subsist on roots and acorns. In 1819 it was transferred to the United States by treaty, which treaty was, after much delay, ratified by Spain, and with still more delay by the United States. Possession of the colony was granted the Government in July, 1821. The territory contained, in 1840, a population of 54,477, and on the 3d of March, 1845, became a State, and was received into the Union. Florida was the theater of the Seminole war, which cost the United States so much blood and treasure. It went the way of the seceding States, January 7th, 1861. Florida, like the Indian's gun, has "cost more than she has come to." Her population in 1860, was 140,425.

ARKANSAS.

This State lies South of Missouri, and was once attached to it. It has a fine climate and prolific soil. The first set