With the end of the Revolutionary War and the establishment of the United States, both the federal and state governments were involved in paying off their debts from the war through the sale of land to settlers. A large tact of land available for this purpose was the 260 million acres that made up the Northwest Territory. But first, it had to be surveyed to determine property lines. This article also includes an article on Beniah Robinson, one of Madison County’s earliest surveyors.