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HISTORY OF WISCONSIN.
the grant and some of the leading politicians of the time -the whole scheme
proved a curse
and a blight rather than a blessing, and eventuating, of course, in the total
failure of the project.
  There had been much Territorial and State legislation concerning-the matter;
but very little
  work, meanwhile, was done on the canal. It is only within the year 1875
that an apparent
  quietus has been given to the subject, and legislative enactments forever
put at rest.
      Fourteen counties were set off during this session of the legislature
at Burlington-all
 west of the Mississippi. They were Benton, IBuchanan, Cedar, Clinton, Delaware,
Fayette,
 Jackson, Johnson, Jones, Keokuk, Linn, Slaughter, Scott and Clayton. One
hundred and five
 acts and twenty joint resolutions were passed. On the 2oth of January, 1838,
both houses
 adjourned until the second Monday of June following.
      The census of the Territory having been taken in May, the special session
of the first legis-
 lature commenced on the eleventh of June, 1838, at Burlington, pursuant
to adjournment, mainly
 for the purpose of making a new apportionment of members of the house. This
was effected by
 giving twelve members to the counties east of the Mississippi, and fourteen
to those west of that
 stream, to be contingent, however, upon the division of the Territory, which
measure was not
 only then before congress, but had been actually passed by that body, though
unknown to the
 Territorial legislature. The law made it incumbent on the governor, in the
event of the 'Terrni
 tory being divided before the next general election, to makean apportionment
for the part
 remaining,-enacting that the one made by the act of the legislature should,
in that case, have
 no effect. Having provided that the next session should be held at Madison,
the legislative body
 adjourned sine die on the twenty-fifth of June, 1838, the public buildings
at the new capital
 having been put under contract inApril, previous. Up to this time, the officers
of the Territory
 at large, appointed by the president of the United States at its organization,
had remained
 unchanged, except that the secretary, John S. Horner, had been removed and
his place given to
 William B. Slaughter, by appointment, dated February 16, 1837. Now there
were two other
 changes made. On the nineteenth of June, Edward James was commissioned marshal,
and on
 the fifth of July, Moses M. Strong was commissioned attorney of the United
States for the Ter-
 ritory. By an act of congress, approved June 12, 1838, to divide the Territory
of Wisconsin,
 and to establish a Territorial government west of the Mississippi, it was
provided that from and
 after the third day of July following, all that part of Wisconsin Territory
lying west of that river
 and west of a line drawn due north from its headwaters or sources to the
Territorial line, for the
 purposes of a Territorial government should be set apart and known by the
name of IOWA. It
 was further enacted that the Territory of Wisconsin should thereafter extend
westward only to
 the Mississippi. It will be seen therefore that all that portion of the
present State of Minnesota,
 extending eastward from the Mississippi to the St. Croix and northward to
the United States
 boundary line, was then a part of Wisconsin Territory, even after the organization
of the Terri-
 tory of Iowa. The census taken in May, just previous to the passage of this
act, gave a total
 population to the several counties of the Territory, east of the Mississippi,
of 18,149.
     On the third Monday of July, 1838, the annual terms of the supreme court
-the first one
after the re-organization of the Territory of Wisconsin-was held at Madison.
There were
present Chief Justice Dunn and Associate Judge Frazer. After admitting five
attorneys to
practice, hearing several motions, and granting several rules, the court
adjourned. All the terms
of the Supreme Court thereafter were held at Madison.
     At an election held in the Territory on the tenth day of September,
1838, James Duane Doty
received the highest number of votes for the office of delegate to congress,
and was declared by
Governor Dodge duly elected, by a certificate of election, issued on the
twenty-seventh day of
October following. Upon the commencement of the third session of the twenty.fifth
congress
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