Indiana

(in-de-ah'nah,) a N. central State of the American Union, b. N. by the Lake and State of Michigan, E. by Ohio, S. by Kentucky, from which it is separated by the Ohio river, and W. by Illinois Its length embraces a distance from N. to S. of 275 miles; mean breadth, 135 m. Area, 33,890 sq. m., or 21,637,760 acres. The profile of I. forms a nearly exact parallelogram, occupying one of the most fertile portions of the Great Mi i ippi Valley. The greater extent of the surface embraced within its limits consists of gentle undulations rising into hilly tracts towards the Ohio bottom. The chief rivers of the State are the Ohio and Wabash, with their numerous affluents. The soil is highly productive of the cereals and gra es -most particularly so in the valleys of the Ohio, Wabash, Whitewater, and White rivers. The N.E. and central portions are well timbered with virgin forests, and the W. section is notably rich in coal, constituting an offshoot of the great Illinois carboniferous field. Iron, copper, marble, slate, gypsum, and various clays are also abundant. From an agricultural point of view, the staple products are maize and wheat, with the other cereals in le er yields; and besides these, flax, hemp, sorghum, hops, ., are extensively raised. I. is divided into 92 cos., and counts among her principal cities and towns, those of Indianapolis (the cap.), Fort Wayne, Evansville, Terre Haute, Madison, Jeffersonville, Columbus, Vincennes, South Bend, . The public institutions of the State are many and various, and on a scale of magnitude and efficiency commensurate with her important political and industrial status. Upwards of 2,000 m. of railroads permeate the State in all directions, and greatly conduce to the development of her expanding manufacturing interests. Statistics for the fiscal year terminating Oct. 31, 1870, exhibited a total of receipts $3,896,541 as against disbursements $3,532,406, leaving a balance $364,135 in favor of the State treasury. The entire public debt, Jan. 5, 1871, $3,971,001. The executive is vested in a governor and lieut.-governor elected quadrennially; the latter is also, ex officio, president of the Senate. The legislature consists of a Senate of 50 members, popularly elected for a term of 4 years; and of a House of Representatives of 150 members, who serve two years only. The Treasurer and other subordinate State officers are also elected for a term of two years. In the National Congre , I. is represented by 2 Senators, and by 13 members in the Lower House. This State was first settled by Canadian voyagers in 1702, who erected a fort at Vincennes; in 1763 it pa ed into the hands of the English, and was by the latter ceded to the U. States in 1783. From 1788 till 1791, an Indian warfare prevailed. In 1800, all the region W. and N. of Ohio (then formed into a distinct territory) became merged in I. In 1809 the present limits of the State were 31 defined, Michigan and Illinois having 3L previously been withdrawn. In 1811, 1. was the theatre of the Indian war of Tecumseh, ending with the decisive battle of Tippecanoe. In 1816 (DeB. 11), I. became enrolled among the States of the Amer. Union. In 1834, the State pa ed through a monetary crisis owing to its having become mixed up with railroad, canal, and other speculations on a gigantic scale, which ended, for the time being, in a general collapse of public credit, and consequent bankruptcy. Since that time, however, the greater number of the public works which had brought about that imbroglio-especially the great Wabash and Erie Canal - have been completed, to the great benefit of the State, whose subsequent progre has year by year been marked by rapid strides in the paths of wealth, commerce, and general social and political prosperity. The constitution now in force was adopted in 1851. Pop. 1,680,637. [s. 481]