Donation Tract

After the Ohio Company of Associates purchased land in the Northwest Territory from the American government, the company began to organize that land for settlement. To encourage more settlement in the region, Congress also gave the company a grant of approximately 100,000 acres in 1792. This grant was located along the northeast corner of the territory of the Ohio Company of Associates and became known as the Donation Tract. American Indians in the region were a significant threat to the new settlers. The Donation Tract was meant to create a buffer zone between Native Americans and settlements within the Ohio Company's claims. Any adult white man willing to live within the Donation Tract was given one hundred acres of free land.