In an act approved on January 11, 1805, Congress detached Wayne County from Indiana Territory and made it into the Michigan Territory: (18)
An ACT to divide the Indiana Territory into two separate governments.
BE it enacted, by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America, in Congress assembled, That from and after the thirtieth day of June next, all that part of the Indiana Territory, which lies North of a line drawn east from the southerly bend or extreme of lake Michigan, until it shall intersect lake Erie, and East of a line drawn from the said southerly bend through the middle of said lake to its northern extremity, and thence due north to the northern boundary of the United States, shall, for the purpose of temporary government, constitute a separate territory, and be called Michigan.
Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That there shall be established within the said territory, a government in all respects similar to that provided by the ordinance of Congress, passed on the thirteenth day of July, one thousand seven hundred and eighty-seven, for the government of the territory of the United States, north west of the river Ohio; and by an act passed on the seventh day of August, one thousand seven hundred and eighty-nine, entitled "An act to provide for the government of the territory north west of the river Ohio;" and the inhabitants thereof shall be entitled to, and enjoy all and singular the rights, privileges, and advantages granted and secured to the people of the territory of the United States, north west of the river Ohio, by the said ordinance.
Sec. 3. And be it further enacted, That the officers for the said territory, who by virtue of this act shall be appointed by the President of the United States, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, shall respectively exercise the same powers, perform the same duties, and receive for their services, the same compensations, as by the ordinance aforesaid and the laws of the United States, have been provided and established for similar officers in the Indiana Territory; and the duties and emoluments of superintendant of Indian affairs, shall be united with those of governor.
Sec. 4. And be it further enacted, That nothing in this act contained, shall be construed so as, in any manner, to affect the government now in force in the Indiana Territory, further than to prohibit the exercise thereof within the said territory of Michigan, from and after the aforesaid thirtieth day of June next.
Sec. 5. And be it further enacted, That all suits, process, and proceeding, which, on the thirtieth day of June next, shall be pending in the court of any county, which shall be included within the said territory of Michigan; and also all suits, process, and proceedings, which on the said thirtieth day of June next, shall be pending in the general court of the Indiana Territory, in consequence of any writ of removal, or order for trial at bar, and which had been removed from any of the counties included within the limits of the territory of Michigan aforesaid, shall, in all things concerning the same, be proceeded on, and judgments and decrees rendered thereon, in the same manner as if the said Indiana Territory had remained undivided.
Sec. 6. And be it further enacted, That Detroit shall be the seat of government of the said territory, until Congress shall otherwise direct.
Nathl. Macon,
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
A. Burr,
Vice-President of the United States, and President of the Senate.
January 11, 1805.
Approved,
TH: JEFFERSON.
(18) Acts Passed at the Second Session of the Eighth Congress of the United States (Washington, 1805), 241-43; U.S. Statutes at Large, II, 309-310; Kettleborough (ed.), Constitution Making in Indiana, I, 43-47; Barnhart and Carmony, Indiana, I, 109.