In 1821, the Treaty of Chicago with the Ottawas, Chippewas, and Pottwatomies, opened the lands of southwest Michigan to settlement. By this treaty, the native tribes ceded all the country west of what is now the western boundary of Lenawee County, south of the Grand River to the Indiana state line, and west to Lake Michigan, with the exception of a few reservations that were not “cleared” until 1833. In November 1826, the legislative council of the Territory of Michigan attached all of this former Indian territory to the County of Lenawee and in April of 1827 designated all of this land as the “Township of St. Joseph.” (See map on next page of Treaty of Chicago, initial “Township of St. Joseph”)