The Connecticut Settlers Entering the Western Reserve, 1795 (oil on canvas)

In 1792, the Connecticut legislature granted 500,000 acres of the western portion of New Connecticut to those of her citizens whose property had been burned by the British during the war. These lands were called the "Fire Lands." On the 5th of September, 1795, Connecticut sold the remaining three million acres of land to 3 trustees for the Connecticut Land Company, which decided to extinguish all Indian title to the west of the Cuyahoga River and survey the land into townships five miles square. Moses Cleaveland was selected to head a surveying party of about fifty people. Cleaveland landed at Conneaut Creek on July 4, 1795. Surveying was completed the following year and the Western Reserve was ready for settlement