187 



their sisters, (not including Martha,) heirs of Captain Carver, all living in Ver- 

 mont and Massachusetts, quit claimed the said grant unto Edward Houghton, of 

 Vermont, for and in consideration of the sum of £50,000, Vermont currency, 

 or $166,666 66. 



On the 20th of February, 1822, the said Edward. Houghton and wife, for 

 and in consideration of the sum of five dollars to them in hand paid, (a great 

 falling off in price,) aliened, remised, and released, the said grant unto James L. 

 Bell and Charles Graham, of the city of New York, and George Blake, of 

 Boston, in trust for " The Mississippi Land Company of New York." But how 

 many deeds have been given to others, and how many claimants may now be 

 found, it is probably impossible to tell. 



The grant was at one time surveyed, on paper, and laid off into townships, 

 and one or two village plats, and lots in town and country, sold by their num- 

 bers, to an extent which would probably cover double the number of acres in 

 the grant. After the Indian title was extinguished in 1837, several companies 

 of surveyors went upon the pretended grant to survey and plat the land, or to 

 look up the hnes previously laid, or pretended to have been run, marked and 

 staked off, but were required to leave by the U. S. authorities ; the claim being 

 of no value, not having been recognized' by either the British or American 

 governments. 



A number of deeds are on record in Crawford County, Wisconsin, and a 

 number more have been sent to the county to be recorded, which not being 

 accompanied with the necessary fee therefor, were not honored with a record. 

 One of the latter class is in my possession, which recites the sale of a million and 

 a half of acres.* 



To return from this digression. About the year 1830, all that part of Craw- 

 ford County lying south of the Wisconsin River, was cut otf^ and organized into 

 the county of Iowa, by the legislative council of Michigan Territory. In 1840, 

 the county of St. Croix was taken from Crawford ; out of which the county of 

 La Pointe was organized in 1845. 



In 1841, the county of Portage took all that part of Crawford County which 

 lay east of range No. 1, east of the 4th principal meridian; out of which, since 

 that date, the counties of Sauk, Adams, and parts of Richland and some other 

 new counties, have been formed. In 1842, Richland County was formed on the 

 north side of the Wisconsin River, taking all of Crawford County which lay 

 east of range 3, and south of towns 13 : that is to say, two ranges each side of 

 the fourth principal meridian, including towns 1 2 north. 



* For a more full account of this grant, see Harper's New York edition of Carver's 

 Travels, 1838, Addenda pp. :M5-362. Also, American State Papers, Tublic Lands, vol. 

 4, pp. 29-34. 



