Donation Tract

The Ohio Company of Associates, also known as the Ohio Company, was a land company that was formed on March 3, 1786, by General Rufus Putnam, Benjamin Tupper, Samuel Holden Parsons and Manasseh Cutler, who had met in Boston, Massachusetts to discuss the settlement of the territory around the Ohio River. They convinced Congress to sell the company a tract at the confluence of the Muskingum River and the Ohio River. Settlement began at the newly formed town of Marietta, Ohio in April 1788. Indians objected to this incursion on their homeland, leading to the War of 1790. Most of the troops in Fort Harmar, near Marietta, were transferred to Fort Washington to protect Cincinnati, so settlers ended up having to defend themselves at the expense of the Ohio Company. Wyandots killed settlers in the Big Bottom massacre of Jan. 2, 1791, in present day Morgan County. ==Congressional donation==

The Ohio Company petitioned Congress in March, 1792 to donate some land along the north boundary of their lands to form a buffer against the Indians. With the Act of April 21, 1792, Congress donated to the officers of the Company. when Congress required their return so they could be sold by the Marietta Land Office. After settlement of the Donation Tract, the Ohio Company did not suffer another raid as large as the Big Bottom Massacre. ==See also==