The Toledo War (1835–1836), also called the Michigan–Ohio War or Ohio–Michigan War, was a disagreement between the U.S. state of Ohio and the nearby territory of Michigan over an area now known as the Toledo Strip. Control of the place where the Maumee River meets the lake and the shipping opportunities it provided, along with the farmland to the west, were seen as valuable by both sides.

Confusing maps of the Great Lakes caused disagreements in laws between 1787 and 1805. Different interpretations of these laws led Ohio and Michigan to both claim authority over a 468-square-mile (1,210 km²) area along their border. The conflict worsened when Michigan asked to become a state in 1835 and wanted to include the disputed area in its borders. Both states passed laws trying to force the other to give in. Ohio’s governor, Robert Lucas, and Michigan’s young governor, Stevens T. Mason, made it illegal for people to follow the other state’s rules. Both states sent groups of soldiers near Toledo, but they mostly just insulted each other. The only real fight during the war involved soldiers shooting into the air, and no one was hurt. The only injury was a law officer who was stabbed but not killed.

In the summer of 1836, the U.S. Congress suggested a solution: Michigan would give up the Toledo Strip in exchange for becoming a state and keeping most of the Upper Peninsula. At the time, people in Michigan thought this deal was unfair because the area’s resources were not yet valuable. Voters in a statehood meeting in September strongly rejected the plan. In December, after facing financial problems and pressure from Congress and President Andrew Jackson, Michigan’s government held another meeting (called the "Frostbitten Convention") and agreed to the compromise, ending the Toledo War.

Origins

In 1787, the Congress of the Confederation passed the Northwest Ordinance, which created the Northwest Territory in what is now the upper Midwestern United States. The Ordinance stated that the territory would eventually be divided into "not less than three nor more than five" future states. One boundary between these states was to be "an east and west line drawn through the southerly bend or extreme of Lake Michigan." When Congress passed the Enabling Act of 1802, which allowed Ohio to begin the process of becoming a U.S. state, the description of Ohio's northern boundary was explained more clearly but kept the main idea: "an east and west line drawn through the southerly extreme of Lake Michigan, running east until it intersects Lake Erie or the territorial line with British North America (now Canada), and then continuing through Lake Erie to the Pennsylvania line."

The most respected map of the time, the "Mitchell Map," showed the southerly extreme of Lake Michigan at a latitude north of the mouth of the Detroit River. This suggested that an east–west line would not intersect Lake Erie at all until well across the international border. Because of this, the framers of the 1802 Ohio Constitution believed Congress intended for Ohio's northern boundary to be north of the mouth of the Maumee River, and possibly even the Detroit River. This would give Ohio access to most or all of the Lake Erie shoreline west of Pennsylvania, while any new states created from the Northwest Territory would have access only to Lakes Michigan, Huron, or Superior.

However, the Ohio delegates reportedly received reports from a fur trapper claiming that Lake Michigan extended much farther south than previously mapped. This meant that an east–west line drawn from the southern tip of Lake Michigan might intersect Lake Erie southeast of Maumee Bay, or might not intersect the lake at all. The farther south Lake Michigan actually was, the more land Ohio would lose, possibly including the entire Lake Erie shoreline west of Pennsylvania.

To address this possibility, the Ohio delegates added a provision to the draft Ohio Constitution. If the report about Lake Michigan was correct, the state boundary line would be angled slightly northeast to intersect Lake Erie at the "most northerly cape of the Miami (Maumee) Bay." This would ensure that most of the Maumee River watershed and the southern shore of Lake Erie west of Pennsylvania would remain in Ohio. The draft constitution with this provision was approved by Congress, but before Ohio joined the Union in February 1803, the proposed constitution was sent to a Congressional committee. The committee noted that the clause defining the northern boundary relied on "a fact not yet ascertained" (the exact latitude of Lake Michigan's southern extreme) and decided not to consider the provision at that time.

When Congress created the Michigan Territory in 1805, it used the language from the Northwest Ordinance to define the territory's southern boundary, ignoring the provision in Ohio's state constitution. This difference, and its possible effects, was not noticed at the time, but it provided the legal basis for a conflict that would arise 30 years later.

Creation of the Toledo Strip

The border between Ohio and Michigan was disputed for many years during the early 1800s. People living near the Port of Miami—later renamed Toledo—asked the Ohio government to help settle the border issue. The Ohio legislature sent many requests to Congress, asking for help. In 1812, Congress agreed to have an official survey of the border. However, the War of 1812 delayed the work. After Indiana joined the Union in 1816, the survey began. At that time, the border between Michigan and Indiana was changed from the boundary set by the Northwest Ordinance. This change moved the border 10 miles (16 km) north, giving Indiana more land along Lake Michigan. Michigan Territory opposed this change.

Edward Tiffin, the U.S. Surveyor General, led the survey. A former Ohio governor, Tiffin hired William Harris to measure the boundary described in Ohio’s 1802 Constitution, not the Ordinance Line. The survey, called the "Harris Line," placed the mouth of the Maumee River entirely in Ohio, as the Ohio Constitution intended. When the survey results were shared, Michigan’s territorial governor, Lewis Cass, criticized it, saying it unfairly favored Ohio and "strengthened the strong while weakening the weak."

In response, Michigan hired John A. Fulton to conduct a second survey. Fulton’s work followed the original 1787 Ordinance Line. After measuring from Lake Michigan to Lake Erie, the survey found Ohio’s boundary to be just southeast of the Maumee River’s mouth. The area between the Harris and Fulton lines became the "Toledo Strip," a region 5 to 8 miles (8 to 13 km) wide over which both Ohio and Michigan claimed control. Ohio refused to give up its claim, but Michigan quietly occupied the area for years, establishing local governments, building roads, and collecting taxes.

The Toledo Strip was—and still is—an important area for trade. Before railroads, rivers and canals were the main ways to move goods in the Midwest. A part of the Strip near present-day Toledo and Maumee Bay was in the Great Black Swamp, making it hard to travel by road after rain. The Maumee River, though not ideal for large ships, connected Indiana’s Fort Wayne to Lake Erie. In the 1820s, plans were made to link the Mississippi River and the Great Lakes through canals. Ohio’s Miami and Erie Canal, approved in 1825, included a connection to the Ohio River and Lake Erie via the Maumee River.

Meanwhile, the Erie Canal was built, linking New York City and the Eastern seaboard to the Great Lakes at Buffalo. Completed in 1825, the canal became a major trade route. Farm products from the Midwest could be shipped to the East at lower costs than through the Mississippi River. The canal also increased migration to the Midwest, making cities like Buffalo boom.

The Erie Canal’s success inspired other canal projects. Maumee Harbor, near the Toledo Strip, was seen as a valuable location because it offered the shortest route to Indiana and Illinois. Detroit, 20 miles (32 km) up the Detroit River from Lake Erie, faced challenges from the Great Black Swamp, making it less suitable for canals and railroads compared to Toledo. Both Ohio and Michigan saw the Toledo Strip as a key area for future trade and farming.

The land west of Toledo is fertile and well-drained, making it ideal for growing corn and wheat. For many years, this area produced large harvests per acre. Both states wanted to control the Toledo Strip, as it seemed destined to become an important port and productive farmland.

Prelude to conflict

In 1820–21, government surveys reached the disputed area from two directions. Surveys moved south from a baseline in Michigan and north from a baseline in Ohio. For unknown reasons, Surveyor General Tiffin ordered the two surveys to meet at the Northwest Ordinance (Fulton) line instead of the Harris line. This may have shown support for Michigan’s claims over Ohio’s. Townships north of the line believed they were part of the Michigan Territory. By the early 1820s, the Michigan Territory had reached the population requirement of 60,000 people needed to become a state. When Michigan tried to hold a state constitutional convention in 1833, Congress refused because the Toledo Strip was still disputed.

Ohio claimed the boundary was clearly set in its constitution, so Michigan citizens were intruders. Ohio’s government refused to negotiate with Michigan. Ohio’s representatives in Congress worked to stop Michigan from becoming a state by persuading other states to oppose it. In January 1835, frustrated by delays, Michigan’s territorial governor, Stevens T. Mason, called for a constitutional convention in May 1835, even though Congress had not approved it.

In February 1835, Ohio created county governments in the Toledo Strip. The county where Toledo was located was later named after Governor Robert Lucas, which increased tensions with Michigan. Ohio also tried to get Congress to pass a previously rejected bill that would set the state border as the Harris Line.

Michigan, led by Governor Mason, responded by passing the Pains and Penalties Act six days after Lucas County was formed. The law made it illegal for Ohioans to carry out government actions in the Strip. Fines could be up to $1,000 (about $31,000 in 2025), or up to five years in prison. As the territory’s leader, Mason appointed Brigadier General Joseph W. Brown to lead the state militia, ready to act against Ohio trespassers. Lucas got approval to create his own militia and sent troops to the Strip. The Toledo War began.

Former President John Quincy Adams, who represented Massachusetts in Congress, supported Michigan’s claim. In 1833, when Congress rejected Michigan’s request for a convention, Adams said, “Never in the course of my life have I known a controversy of which all the right was so clearly on one side and all the power so overwhelmingly on the other.”

War

On March 31, 1835, Governor Lucas of Ohio led about 600 armed militiamen, along with General John Bell, to Perrysburg, Ohio. This town is 10 miles (16 km) southwest of Toledo. Soon after, Governor Mason and General Brown arrived in Toledo with around 1,000 armed men. Their goal was to stop Ohio from moving into the Toledo area and to stop efforts to mark the border between Ohio and Michigan.

President Andrew Jackson of the United States wanted to avoid war and political problems. He asked his Attorney General, Benjamin Butler, for legal advice about the border dispute. At the time, Ohio had 19 U.S. representatives and two senators, making it an important state in elections. Michigan, still a territory, had only one non-voting delegate. Ohio’s support was vital for the Democratic Party, so Jackson believed keeping the Toledo Strip as part of Ohio was best for his party. However, Butler said the land belonged to Michigan until Congress decided otherwise. This created a difficult situation for Jackson.

On April 3, 1835, Jackson sent two men from Washington, D.C.—Richard Rush of Pennsylvania and Benjamin Chew Howard of Maryland—to Toledo. They tried to settle the conflict by proposing a compromise. Their plan suggested that a survey to mark the Harris Line should begin without interference from Michigan. It also allowed residents of the area to choose their own government until Congress made a final decision.

Governor Lucas agreed to the proposal and began to disband his militia, thinking the issue was resolved. Three days later, elections were held in the region under Ohio law. Governor Mason rejected the deal and continued preparing for possible fighting.

During the elections, Ohio officials faced harassment from Michigan authorities. Residents were threatened with arrest if they followed Ohio’s laws. On April 8, 1835, the sheriff of Monroe County, Michigan, arrested two Ohio men at the home of Major Benjamin F. Stickney. The sheriff claimed the men had voted in Ohio elections, breaking the Pains and Penalties Act.

After the election, Lucas believed the situation had improved and sent surveyors to mark the Harris Line. The project continued without major problems until April 26, 1835, when the surveying team was attacked by 50 to 60 members of General Brown’s militia in the Battle of Phillips Corners. This battle was the only armed conflict during the Toledo War and is sometimes used to describe the entire event.

Surveyors later reported that Michigan militia members told them to leave while “the blessings of the Sabbath” were being observed. During the chase, nine Ohio men were captured and taken to Tecumseh, Michigan. Michigan claimed it did not fire any shots, only shooting muskets in the air as Ohio forces retreated. This event angered both sides and brought them close to all-out war.

In response to claims that Michigan’s militia attacked Ohioans, Lucas called a special meeting of Ohio’s legislature on June 8. The legislature passed several laws, including making Toledo the county seat of Lucas County, creating a Court of Common Pleas in the city, and passing a law to stop the forced removal of Ohio citizens from the area. Ohio also approved a budget of $300,000 ($9.6 million in 2024) to fund these efforts. Michigan’s territorial government responded by approving a budget of $315,000 for its own militia.

In May and June 1835, Michigan drafted a state constitution. It included plans for a two-chamber legislature, a supreme court, and other government structures. However, Congress still refused to allow Michigan to join the Union until the border dispute and war were resolved. President Jackson vowed to block Michigan’s statehood until the issue was settled.

Governor Lucas ordered his adjutant general, Samuel C. Andrews, to count the militia. Andrews reported that 10,000 volunteers were ready to fight. This number grew larger as news spread, and Michigan’s newspapers mocked Ohio, claiming its people would be “welcomed to hospitable graves” if they entered the disputed area.

In June 1835, Lucas sent a group to Washington, D.C., to meet with President Jackson. The group included U.S. Attorney Noah Haynes Swayne, former Congressman William Allen, and David T. Disney. They presented Ohio’s case and urged Jackson to act quickly.

Throughout mid-1835, both Ohio and Michigan continued to compete with each other. Skirmishes and arrests happened regularly. Citizens from Monroe County, Michigan, joined groups to arrest people in Toledo. Ohioans, upset by the harassment, targeted offenders with legal actions. Lawsuits were common, and both sides used them to retaliate. Spying groups were formed to monitor sheriffs in Wood County, Ohio, and Monroe County, Michigan, who were responsible for border security.

On July 15, 1835, Monroe County Deputy Sheriff Joseph Wood entered Toledo to arrest Major Benjamin Stickney. Stickney and his family resisted, and the entire family was taken into custody. During the struggle, Stickney’s son stabbed Wood with a penknife and fled into Ohio. Wood’s injuries were not serious. When Lucas refused to hand over Stickney’s son to Michigan for trial, Governor Mason asked Jackson for help, suggesting the case be sent to the U.S. Supreme Court. At the time, it was not clear that the Supreme Court could settle state border disputes. Jackson refused the request. Lucas then tried to end the conflict through federal help from Ohio’s congressional representatives.

In August 1835, under pressure from Ohio’s members of Congress, Jackson removed Governor Mason from his position as Michigan’s territorial governor. He replaced Mason with John S. (“Little Jack”) Horner. Before Horner arrived, Mason ordered 1,000 Michigan militiamen to enter Toledo to stop the first session of the Ohio Court of Common Pleas. The plan failed because the judges held a secret court session and then retreated south of the Maumee River, where Ohio forces were stationed.

Horner was unpopular as governor. People in Michigan disliked him so much they burned a statue of him and threw vegetables at him when he arrived in the capital. In the October 1835 elections, voters approved Michigan’s draft constitution and re-elected Mason as governor. They also elected Isaac E. Crary as Michigan’s first U.S. Representative to Congress. Because of the border dispute, Congress did not accept Crary’s credentials and allowed him to sit only as a

Subsequent history

The Toledo Strip became a permanent part of Ohio. The Upper Peninsula was seen as not valuable except for timber and fur trapping by most people who knew the area. However, the discovery of copper in the Keweenaw Peninsula and iron in the Central Upper Peninsula in the 1840s caused a mining boom that continued into the 20th century. Michigan lost 1,100 square miles (2,800 km²) of farmland and the port of Toledo, but gained 9,000 square miles (23,000 km²) of land rich in timber and ore.

Disagreements about the exact border location lasted until a re-survey was done in 1915. Normally, surveyors followed the Harris line exactly, but in this case, they made changes in some places to avoid confusing residents near the border and to prevent landowners from having property in both states. The 1915 survey used 71 granite markers, each 12 inches (30 cm) wide and 18 inches (46 cm) tall. After the survey, the governors of Michigan, Woodbridge N. Ferris, and Ohio, Frank B. Willis, shook hands at the border.

Parts of the original Ordinance Line can still be seen in northwestern Ohio and northern Indiana. The northern edges of Ottawa and Wood counties follow this line, as do many township boundaries in Fulton and Williams counties. Some old north–south roads are shifted when they cross the line, making drivers turn east while traveling north. The line is marked on U.S. Geological Survey maps as the "South [Boundary] Michigan Survey" and on road maps in Lucas and Fulton counties as "Old State Line Road."

Although the land border was set firmly in the early 20th century, the two states disagreed about the path of the border east of Lake Erie. In 1973, the U.S. Supreme Court heard their competing claims to Lake Erie waters. In Michigan v. Ohio, the court agreed with a special master’s report and ruled that the border in Lake Erie angled northeast, as described in Ohio’s constitution, not a straight east–west line. This decision split Turtle Island, near Maumee Bay, between the two states.

This decision ended years of debate. Today, while Michiganders and Ohioans still have a rivalry, conflicts are limited to college football games between the states and, to a lesser extent, baseball games between the Detroit Tigers and Cleveland Guardians. The Toledo War is sometimes linked to the rivalry seen today.

• A U.S. Geological Survey map shows the Ordinance Line as "South Bdy Michigan Survey." Many north–south roads have turns where they cross this line.
• Michigan Governor Woodbridge N. Ferris and Ohio Governor Frank B. Willis shook hands in 1915 after markers were placed along the border.
• The northern townships in Williams County are part of the Toledo Strip. Their southern edges follow the Ordinance Line.
• The northern half of Dover Township in Fulton County, Ohio, was once claimed by Michigan. It is now shifted along "Old State Line Road," now known as County Road K.