Marietta came out of a larger Ohio Company Purchase. Rufus Putnam was the leader of a group of ex-officers. He was a good friend of George Washington. This land was where many of the mound builders of the ancient times lived. The two rivers surrounding Marietta made the settlement desirable for business and shipping purchases. He had surveyed in the Seven Ranges area of Ohio and understood the lay of the land. He sent the Newburgh Petition to Washington request but was denied. Instead, he created a joint-stock company, the Ohio Co. of Associates. They made profits off of the land and wanted a deal for the land. The company went to Governor Arthur St. Chair and told him that he’d be losing his position because a new government would be forming. They asked him to sell them the land for a less expensive price and promised to elect him as the governor of the territory Coincidentally, St. Clair became Ohio’s first governor.
John Cleve Symmes sold what he believed to be 1 million acres to various willing parties. He was a Democratic Republican. St. Clair was a Federalist. Symmes believed Losantisville should be the main hub of the Northwest Territory. St. Clair turned Losantisville into Cincinnati after the Roman warrior,