Their backwoodsmen had settled in the lands so that they already held a certain population.

Moreover, these same backwoodsmen, organized as part of the militia of the parent States, had made good their claim by successful warfare.

The laws of the two States were executed by State officials in communities scattered over much of the country claimed.

The soldier-settlers of Virginia and North Carolina had actually built houses and forts, tilled the soil, and exercised the functions of civil government, on the banks of the Wabash and the Ohio, the Mississippi, the Cumberland, and the Tennessee.
Counties and districts had been erected by the two States on the western waters; and representatives of the civil divisions thus constituted sat in the State Legislatures.

The claims of Virginia and North Carolina to much of the territory had behind them the substantial element of armed possession.