The Old Northwest

"The Old Northwest" isn't a common phrase used in the 21st century. It usually gets lumped together with the whole region known as the Midwest, a more modern term. But even the term Midwest has a historical meaning to it, after all, what is west about Ohio or Indiana? Aren't they both on the east side of the Mississippi? The Old Northwest, or simply the Northwest, at one time in America's history was the first frontier, it was the west.

The land north and west of the Ohio River all the way to the Mississippi River make up this region. It was called the west because it was west of the Appalachian Mountains, a barrier between the colonies of Britain and the great unknown that was between them and the Pacific Ocean.  Before Louis and Clark set out on their legendary journey, the Northwest Territory (Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin and parts of Minnesota) was the American frontier full of wild and disputed territory between the British, French, and native tribes all competing for the rights to trap and trade. 

A land that is often forgotten and known to many as fly over states, once had a rich history filled with exploration, warfare, commerce, settlements, and eventually when the wild places were conquered, industrialization. It eventually grew into the heartland of America, incorporating other Midwest states. But there is still something special about this unique territory and the place it filled in history. 

Here at Old Northwest Leather I lean into this period in history where exploration, trading, trapping, and hunting were the business of the day.