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William Henry Harrison: Northwest Territory
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Harrison resigned from the Army in 1798 to become Secretary of the Northwest Territory, and acted as governor when Governor Arthur St. Clair was absent. In 1799, Harrison was elected as the first delegate representing the Northwest Territory in the Sixth United States Congress, serving from March 4, 1799, to May 14, 1800. As delegate, he successfully promoted the passage of the Harrison Land Act, which made it easier for people to purchase land for settlement in the Northwest Territory. Harrison resigned from Congress to become governor of the newly formed Indiana Territory at Vincennes, Indiana. The Indiana Territory consisted of the future states of Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin and the eastern portion of Minnesota. While in Vincennes, Harrison built a home Grouseland, which was the first brick structure in the territory.
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In the campaign against the Indians, Harrison served as aide-de-camp to General "Mad Anthony" Wayne at the Battle of Fallen Timbers, which opened most of the Ohio area to settlement. After resigning from the Army in 1798, he became Secretary of the Northwest Territory, was its first delegate to Congress, and helped obtain legislation dividing the Territory into the Northwest and Indiana Territories. In 1801 he became Governor of the Indiana Territory, serving 12 years. His prime task as governor was to obtain title to Indian lands so settlers could press forward into the wilderness. When the Indians retaliated, Harrison was responsible for defending the settlements. The threat against settlers became serious in 1809.
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Harrison was born February 9, 1773, in Charles City County, Virginia, the youngest of seven children in a distinguished plantation family. His father, Benjamin Harrison V, served in the House of Burgesses before the American Revolution, was later a member of the Continental Congress, and was a signer of the Declaration of Independence. Harrison was tutored at home in his early years. In 1787, at age fourteen, he entered Hampden-Sidney College for premedical studies, intending to become a doctor. In 1791, he enrolled at the University of Pennsylvania Medical School to study under Dr. Benjamin Rush, a noted physician. Later that year, following his father's death and without funds to continue school, Harrison decided to enlist in the Army and was commissioned an ensign in the First Infantry, serving in the Northwest Territory.
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Harrison was born at the plantation of "Berkeley" in Charles City County, Va., on Feb. 9, 1773. His father, Benjamin Harrison, was a signer of the Declaration of Independence and a governor of Virginia (1781–84). Young Harrison enrolled in Hampden-Sydney College in 1787 and studied medicine briefly in Richmond and Philadelphia. When his father died in 1791... he discontinued his studies to join the army. Commissioned as an ensign in the infantry, he recruited a company of fellow soldiers and, at age 18, went west to fight Indians on the frontier. In the Northwest Territory the young soldier became aide-de-camp to Gen. Anthony Wayne and was cited for bravery at the Battle of Fallen Timbers in 1794.
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As governor in the first stage of territorial government, Harrison was an absolute ruler, aided by a secretary and three judges. He was commander-in-chief of the territorial militia, and superintendent of Indian affairs, two jobs that occupied most of his attention. He received 1000 acres as emolument on becoming governor. From 30 April 1803 to 4 July 1805, Louisiana was attached to Indiana Territory while it was organized, and Harrison was for a while ruler of a huge empire. He ruled from just west of Cincinnati to the Rocky Mountains, and Lewis and Clark explored his domains. General James Wilkinson became governor in St. Louis in 1805, when Louisiana Territory was organized, and Harrison had many dealings with him, chiefly over Indian affairs.
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Harrison took credit for a military victory, acquired the title of "Old Tip," and gained prestige to exploit later politically. A few weeks after the outbreak of the War of 1812 with Great Britain, he was made a brigadier general in the U.S. Army and overall commander in the northwest. With Lake Erie and Detroit under British control, Harrison settled his army in Fort Meigs, where his troops withstood two sieges by the British and the Indians. In September 1813, when Oliver Hazard Perry defeated the British fleet on Lake Erie, Harrison took the offensive. He recaptured Detroit on September 29, caught the fleeing British and Indians within a week, and decisively defeated both in the Battle of the Thames River in Ontario on October 5. The battle brought death to Tecumseh and an end to Indian and British hostilities in the region.
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