Indiana was organized as a territory July 4, 1800, and admitted as a state Dec 11, 1816. In 1810 the territory of Indiana had a population of 24,520, and in 1820, four years after its admission to statehood, the population had expanded to 147,178. The settlers had not strayed very far away from the Ohio river, but there were a few settlements along Whitewater, and a few along the Wabash; but most of them were along the southern border of the state. The state stretched from the Ohio to the lake, but the central and northern sections were an unknown wilderness given over to the Indians. Dense forests covered the central section, while to the north stretched away the trackless prairies. It was not an inviting field for the hardy pioneer.

It was a struggle for existence. The soil was rich enough, but it was the work of years to clear a farm and get it ready to produce and when its productions were ready for the harvest there was no market, and the malaria arising from the decaying vegetation made the outlook anything but favorable. It was under such circumstances Indiana became a member of the great Federal Union. Indian wars had about ceased east of the Mississippi river, but Indian massacres had not come to an end. It was not safe to stray very far away from the confines of the few settlements, and if human life was spared stock was stolen and driven away, thus depriving the settler of all means of cultivating his homestead. Corydon, the capital, was a little village on the southern border, some miles back from the river, and hidden among the hills; hard to get at in the best of seasons, in the winter it was almost inaccessible. Around it there was nothing that gave promise of future growth; there was no future for it even if the capital remained there. There was absolutely no foundation on which to build a city.

Hyman, Max R., Editor, The Journal Hand Book of Indianapolis, An Outline History and Descriptions of the Capital of Indiana, with Over Three Hundred Illustrations from Photographs Made Expressly for the Work, © 1902, p. 5. [see History for this book]

Source:  1895 U.S. Atlas