Indiana became a state two years after the close of the war, but as governor of Michigan Territory and superintendent of Indian affairs General Cass had control of all Indian posts in the Northwest, as well as of the whole of Michigan, Wisconsin, and northern Illinois. Illinois became a state in 1818, but at that time the only recognized settlements were in the southern portion of the territory, and the region about Chicago was practically left to the care of General Cass. The management of this vast territory presented many difficulties. The governor’s immediate residence, Detroit, was four-fifths Canadian, and of this population a large proportion was French. It was only fifty years since Major Gladwin had taken possession of a Detroit that was wholly French, and when the Americans took command in 1796 they had found a large predominance of French-Canadians. These settlers were in the best of times poor farmers, and in war times they had stopped all attempts to cultivate the land. Governor Cass found among them the most absolute ignorance of the rudimentary principles of farming that he had ever encountered. They used one piece of ground, without the least attempt to fertilize, until it was exhausted, and then proceeded to another. As these settlers of Detroit were typical of the more scattered inhabitants of the region, and as the Indians were almost entirely dependent on the gifts and supplies of the ruling people, Cass found himself confronted by the problem of how to feed a starving territory. For its immediate need he sought and obtained government bounties for the people. For the remedy of the condition he did everything in his power to stimulate settlement, urging the government to survey the land and allot portions for sale. In this he was hindered by the false reports of the first surveyors, who for some reason represented the whole of Michigan as so swampy, barren, or otherwise unfit for cultivation that there could be no incentive to immediate settlement. This, be it remembered, was said of Michigan, whose rich bottom-lands, fertile prairies, and timber tracts were soon to be so productive and whose orchards were to become among the greatest fruit producers of the states. Cass did everything in his power to counteract these statements and to further immigration. Occupation of the land by thrifty settlers would solve the difficulties by making the inhabitants independent as they became capable of producing what they needed, and would also lessen their isolation by creating lines of communication with the East. In these efforts he was successful. A public sale of lands was held in 1818, and by 1820 the population had nearly doubled since before the war. The opening of the Erie Canal in 1825 brought in a period of rapid immigration in which Cass began to see the fulfilment of his hopes. The population jumped from nine thousand in 1820 to thirty-two thousand in 1830. This came just before he was called to the position of Secretary of