The end of the American Revolution was the start of Erie's development history

Many people are still surprised to learn or remember that the American Revolution didn't end until 1783 with the Treaty of Paris. Our young nation's war with Britain was long, challenging and slow.

The Treaty of Paris had little or no effect on northwestern Pennsylvania. No military forces moved into the vast wilderness along the Lake Erie shoreline. This was in part due to conflicts between settlers and Native Americans and the dense forests of the region. The only actual area that the treaty set was a permanent border between America and Canada that ran and still does run down a line from the mouth of the Niagara River to the mouth of the Detroit River. The line cuts Lake Erie in half.

From settlement to city: A history of early Erie and how it and the county grew

Soon after this, the powers in the large Eastern cities saw the wisdom of carefully controlling settlement of these new lands. Slow and steady became their motto for expansion. At the time, there were many clashes with the various tribes about unauthorized settlement on the Native Americans' traditional land. Of course, renegade settlers had different ideas about this.

George Washington and his advisors feared that unless settlement of the area was carefully controlled and led by men with strong ties to the Eastern political leadership, control of the frontier and its new towns and villages would be lost. He knew from his trips into this area that the current residents were independent thinkers who disliked most forms of government control. He was vocal about this.

His worries were partly based on his experiences with the French, British and British Canadians. At the time, he was concerned that the British and the French might convince settlers that the American Revolution was of no benefit to them and their families.

It was not long until the leaders in Washington and Philadelphia realized that passable roads linking towns and villages needed to be built, but only when and where they felt it was right. Their goal was to have roads and locations designed to ensure orderly commercial development and to ensure these towns and villages had the look and feel of the settled eastern regions of the new country at the time.

Fort Presque Isle to Fort LeBoeuf: The history of the first known road in Erie County

Most of the settlers did not listen. They had too many other problems to worry about. At the time, multiple states claimed ownership of the Erie Triangle, as the Erie area was called at the time. In 1789, this triangle was ceded to the federal government. After a long dialogue, in April 1790, Pennsylvania purchased it for just more than $150,000. The Iroquois tribe also got small payments of $2,000 from Pennsylvania and the federal government, plus a small plot of land that became their reservation.

The Erie Triangle: The final building block for Erie County

Once Pennsylvania had this land, the commonwealth's leaders began to plan the use of the land and the settlement of it. One of the first new laws passed by the legislators was to build a road from Reading to Presque Isle. Gen. William Irvine and Andrew Ellicott appointed commissioners to carry out the road building and surveying of the land. Another bill was passed, on April 8, 1792, approving the laying out of a town at Presque Isle ― today's Erie.

Seth Reed: Erie pioneer's legacy stretches from Bunker Hill to Mill Creek

This is my final column for the Erie Times-News. I hope you enjoyed the past columns. Keep an eye out; I will be coming out with two new books before the end of this year.

See you on the park!

Gene Ware is the author of 10 books. He serves on the board of the Presque Isle Light Station and is past chairman of the boards of the Tom Ridge Center Foundation and the Presque Isle Partnership. Email him at ware906@gmail.com.

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Erie PA in the aftermath of the American Revolution