Ohio History Journal

  • 1
  •  
  • 2
  •  
  • 3
  •  
  • 4
  •  
  • 5
  •  
  • 6
  •  
  • 7
  •  
  • 8
  •  
  • 9
  •  
  • 10
  •  
  • 11
  •  
  • 12
  •  
  • 13
  •  
  • 14
  •  

THE EVOLUTION OF THE OHIO-ERIE BOUNDARY

THE EVOLUTION OF THE OHIO-ERIE BOUNDARY.

 

BY REGINALD C. M'GRANE,

D. A. R. Fellow, University of Cincinnati.

The question of "boundaries" has always been a source of

trouble. Nations have been arrayed against each other, wars

have been fought, diplomats have argued, and demagogues have

harrangued over such disputed points. Sometimes Providence

in its unaccountable way, has helped to solve the question by

placing natural limits between race and race or between nation

and nation, but where nature has failed to do so, all the cunning,

strength and greed of the different parties has been brought into

play in the proper defining of their respective spheres of action.

Whether it be the case of the Visigoth struggling with the Roman

for the integrity of his lands, or the German with the French-

man, or the   American with the Englishman about the just

limitation of their claims, the final adjustment has been the

result of a long series of events. The explorer, who first opened

the new country, the colonizer who rapidly followed in his

footsteps to plant the flag of his nation, the settler who began

to develop the country and the soldier who fought for his rights

-all these were factors in the settlement of the question. Thus

the fixing of a definite line between nation and nation is not the

work wholly of the diplomats who sign the ultimate agreement.

It is the conclusion of many years of effort during which time

these various elements have gradually evolved a distinct idea as

to the justice and extent of their claims, and their determination

to fulfill them. And if European countries can furnish us with

classic illustrations of the gradual evolution of different boun-

daries, the New World can do so as well. Therefore it will be

the purpose of this paper to show the gradual working out of

this plan in one of our own localities.

In defining the limits of the Ohio-Erie country no natural

conditions seem to present either a source of hindrance or ad-

vantage to its delimitation. Certainly no obstacle is placed in

(326)