Illinois-Wabash Company
Encyclopedia
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
in the Illinois Country
Illinois Country
The Illinois Country , also known as Upper Louisiana, was a region in what is now the Midwestern United States that was explored and settled by the French during the 17th and 18th centuries. The terms referred to the entire Upper Mississippi River watershed, though settlement was concentrated in...
, a region of North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
acquired by Great Britain
Kingdom of Great Britain
The former Kingdom of Great Britain, sometimes described as the 'United Kingdom of Great Britain', That the Two Kingdoms of Scotland and England, shall upon the 1st May next ensuing the date hereof, and forever after, be United into One Kingdom by the Name of GREAT BRITAIN. was a sovereign...
in 1763. The Illinois Company purchased two large tracts of land in 1773; the Wabash Company purchased two additional tracts in 1775.
Because the Royal Proclamation of 1763
Royal Proclamation of 1763
The Royal Proclamation of 1763 was issued October 7, 1763, by King George III following Great Britain's acquisition of French territory in North America after the end of the French and Indian War/Seven Years' War...
forbade private purchase of Native American lands, Great Britain refused to recognize these transactions. Following the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
, officials of the merged Illinois-Wabash Company appealed to both Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
(which claimed the Illinois Country) and to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
to recognize their land purchases, but were unsuccessful. After the United States bought the land in question from Native Americans and resold it, the matter eventually went to the Supreme Court of the United States
Supreme Court of the United States
The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all state and federal courts, and original jurisdiction over a small range of cases...
. In Johnson v. M'Intosh
Johnson v. M'Intosh
Johnson v. M'Intosh, 21 U.S. 543 , is a landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court that held that private citizens could not purchase lands from Native Americans...
(1823), the Court ruled that the U.S. government, following earlier British precedent, would not recognize private purchases of native lands, and that Illinois-Wabash Company's purchases were therefore invalid.
Land purchases and British denial of title
In the middle of the 18th century, merchants and land speculators in the British EmpireBritish Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
were looking to expand beyond the Appalachian Mountains
Appalachian Mountains
The Appalachian Mountains #Whether the stressed vowel is or ,#Whether the "ch" is pronounced as a fricative or an affricate , and#Whether the final vowel is the monophthong or the diphthong .), often called the Appalachians, are a system of mountains in eastern North America. The Appalachians...
into the interior of North America. Companies such as the Ohio Company of Virginia
Ohio Company
The Ohio Company, formally known as the Ohio Company of Virginia, was a land speculation company organized for the settlement by Virginians of the Ohio Country and to trade with the Indians there...
had been formed for this purpose, but rivalry between the British and the French for access to the region led to the outbreak of the French and Indian War
French and Indian War
The French and Indian War is the common American name for the war between Great Britain and France in North America from 1754 to 1763. In 1756, the war erupted into the world-wide conflict known as the Seven Years' War and thus came to be regarded as the North American theater of that war...
(1754–1763), interrupting the activities of the companies. After the British victory in the war, the Crown issued the Royal Proclamation of 1763
Royal Proclamation of 1763
The Royal Proclamation of 1763 was issued October 7, 1763, by King George III following Great Britain's acquisition of French territory in North America after the end of the French and Indian War/Seven Years' War...
, which sought to organize and stabilize the vast new territory won from France. In order to prevent the conditions which had produced the war and its sequel, Pontiac's Rebellion
Pontiac's Rebellion
Pontiac's War, Pontiac's Conspiracy, or Pontiac's Rebellion was a war that was launched in 1763 by a loose confederation of elements of Native American tribes primarily from the Great Lakes region, the Illinois Country, and Ohio Country who were dissatisfied with British postwar policies in the...
(1763–1766), the British government forbade private individuals or companies from purchasing land from American Indians. Thereafter, only royal officials would be permitted to conduct treaties in order to buy Native American lands.
In 1768, a group of prominent merchants from Philadelphia
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...
began doing business in the Illinois Country
Illinois Country
The Illinois Country , also known as Upper Louisiana, was a region in what is now the Midwestern United States that was explored and settled by the French during the 17th and 18th centuries. The terms referred to the entire Upper Mississippi River watershed, though settlement was concentrated in...
, selling provisions to American Indians and British troops. In 1773, William Murray, the merchants' agent in Illinois, learned of a British legal opinion known as the Camden-Yorke Opinion. This opinion made quite an impact in North America because it was interpreted by some to suggest that private purchases of land from American Indians would now be recognized by the British Crown. With this in mind, Murray and his Philadelphia employers organized the Illinois Company and, on 5 July 1773, purchased two tracts of land from the Kaskaskia
Kaskaskia
The Kaskaskia were one of about a dozen cognate tribes that made up the Illiniwek Confederation or Illinois Confederation. Their longstanding homeland was in the Great Lakes region...
, Peoria
Peoria (tribe)
The Peoria people are a Native American tribe. Today they are enrolled in the federally recognized Peoria Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma. Historically, they were part of the Illinois Confederation.-History:...
, and Cahokia
Illiniwek
The Illinois Confederation, sometimes referred to as the Illiniwek or Illini, were a group of twelve to thirteen Native American tribes in the upper Mississippi River valley of North America...
tribes.
British officials, however, refused to recognize the legality of the Illinois Company's purchase–the interpretation of Camden-Yorke circulating in America had been misleading. In April 1774, Murray turned to his kinsman, Lord Dunmore
John Murray, 4th Earl of Dunmore
John Murray, 4th Earl of Dunmore was a British peer and colonial governor. He was the son of William Murray, 3rd Earl of Dunmore, and his wife Catherine . He is best remembered as the last royal governor of the Colony of Virginia.John was the eldest son of William and Catherine Murray, and nephew...
, the Royal Governor of Virginia. Dunmore agreed to lend support to the company's purchases in exchange for a piece of the action. Murray then formed the Wabash Company with Lord Dunmore as a member. On October 18, 1775, an agent for the Wabash Company purchased two tracts of land along the Wabash River
Wabash River
The Wabash River is a river in the Midwestern United States that flows southwest from northwest Ohio near Fort Recovery across northern Indiana to southern Illinois, where it forms the Illinois-Indiana border before draining into the Ohio River, of which it is the largest northern tributary...
from the Piankashaw tribe. Soon after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
, however, Dunmore was forced to flee Virginia, and the companies were compelled to turn to new officials for recognition of its purchases.
Merger and American denial of title
George Rogers Clark
George Rogers Clark was a soldier from Virginia and the highest ranking American military officer on the northwestern frontier during the American Revolutionary War. He served as leader of the Kentucky militia throughout much of the war...
and a small force took possession of the region on behalf of Virginia, which, by virtue of its colonial charter
Colony and Dominion of Virginia
The Colony of Virginia was the English colony in North America that existed briefly during the 16th century, and then continuously from 1607 until the American Revolution...
, had a claim to the entire Illinois Country. In December of that year, Murray presented a memorial to the Virginia legislature, informing them of the land claims of the Illinois and Wabash companies. In order to consolidate their lobbying efforts, the two companies merged on March 13, 1779, becoming the United Illinois and Wabash Land Company. The cause of the company was promoted by influential Americans such as James Wilson
James Wilson
James Wilson was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States and a signer of the United States Declaration of Independence. Wilson was elected twice to the Continental Congress, and was a major force in drafting the United States Constitution...
and Robert Morris
Robert Morris (merchant)
Robert Morris, Jr. was a British-born American merchant, and signer of the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation, and the United States Constitution...
, who had become investors. Other notable members included Silas Deane
Silas Deane
Silas Deane was an American merchant, politician and diplomat. Originally a supporter of American independence Deane served as a delegate to the Continental Congress and then as the United States' first foreign diplomat when he travelled to France to lobby the French government for aid...
, Samuel Chase
Samuel Chase
Samuel Chase was an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court and earlier was a signatory to the United States Declaration of Independence as a representative of Maryland. Early in life, Chase was a "firebrand" states-righter and revolutionary...
, and Maryland governor Thomas Johnson
Thomas Johnson (governor)
Thomas Johnson was an American jurist with a distinguished political career. He was the first Governor of Maryland, a delegate to the Continental Congress and an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States....
.
Despite these political connections, Virginia declined to recognize the Illinois-Wabash purchases and instead created the "County of Illinois" in November 1779. Thus rejected, the company turned its efforts to lobbying the new national government of the United States. This issue became part of a wider debate in Congress about the western boundaries of states, with the states without western lands demanding that Virginia and other states with large land claims cede these lands to the national government. Virginia ceded her western land claims to the United States in 1784. Despite repeated appeals by the Illinois-Wabash Company, which were regularly renewed into the early 19th century, the U.S. government declined to recognize their land claims. The company faded away.
The United States eventually bought the lands in question from Native Americans in treaties conducted by William Henry Harrison
William Henry Harrison
William Henry Harrison was the ninth President of the United States , an American military officer and politician, and the first president to die in office. He was 68 years, 23 days old when elected, the oldest president elected until Ronald Reagan in 1980, and last President to be born before the...
. After the War of 1812
War of 1812
The War of 1812 was a military conflict fought between the forces of the United States of America and those of the British Empire. The Americans declared war in 1812 for several reasons, including trade restrictions because of Britain's ongoing war with France, impressment of American merchant...
, the United States began to issue land patents to settlers. In 1820, the executor of the estate of an investor in the Illinois-Wabash Company filed suit against William McIntosh, one of the largest of the new landowners. The lawsuit claimed that McIntosh had bought land rightfully owned by the Illinois-Wabash Company, based on the earlier purchase from the Indians. In 1823, the issue made its way to the U.S. Supreme Court
Supreme Court of the United States
The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all state and federal courts, and original jurisdiction over a small range of cases...
in Johnson v. M'Intosh
Johnson v. M'Intosh
Johnson v. M'Intosh, 21 U.S. 543 , is a landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court that held that private citizens could not purchase lands from Native Americans...
. The Court decided in favor of McIntosh, ruling that private purchases of native lands were not valid. The decision brought to an end the story of the Illinois-Wabash Company.