Fort Harmar was an early United States frontier military fort , built in pentagonal shape during 1785 at the confluence of the Ohio and Muskingum rivers, on the west side of the mouth of the Muskingum River. It was built under the orders of Colonel Josiah Harmar , then commander of the United States Army , and took his name. The fort was intended for the protection of Indians, i.e., to prevent pioneer squatters from settling in the land to the northwest of the Ohio River. "The position was judiciously chosen, as it commanded not only the mouth of the Muskingum, but swept the waters of the Ohio, from a curve in the river for a considerable distance both above and below the fort." It was the first frontier fort built in Ohio Country.
21-535: It is notable as the site for the 1789 Treaty of Fort Harmar between the United States and several Native American tribes. The presence of Fort Harmar was influential in the founding of Marietta, Ohio in 1788 to the east across the Muskingum. During the one-year anniversary celebration of the founding of Marietta, the physician Solomon Drowne said: But to whom is this settlement more indebted than to
42-651: Is a tributary of the Ohio River , approximately 111 miles (179 km) long, in southeastern Ohio in the United States . An important commercial route in the 19th century, it flows generally southward through the eastern hill country of Ohio. Via the Ohio, it is part of the Mississippi River watershed . The river is navigable for much of its length through a series of locks and dams. The Muskingum
63-541: Is formed at Coshocton in east-central Ohio by the confluence of the Walhonding and Tuscarawas rivers. It flows in a meandering course southward past Conesville and Dresden to Zanesville , and then southeastward past South Zanesville , Philo , Gaysport , Malta , McConnelsville , Beverly , Lowell , Stockport and Devola . It joins the Ohio at Marietta . Along its course the Muskingum collects Wills Creek near Conesville; Wakatomika Creek at Dresden;
84-734: Is still referred to as Harmar , and the neighborhood has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the Harmar Historic District . The Campus Martius fortification of the Marietta settlement was built on the east side of the Muskingum and upriver from Fort Harmar during 1788, and fully completed in 1791 at the start of the Northwest Indian War . It was the first settlement of Marietta. The Picketed Point fortification of Marietta
105-582: The Licking River at Zanesville; Moxahala Creek at South Zanesville; and Wolf Creek near Beverly. The name Muskingum derives from the Shawnee word mshkikwam 'swampy ground'. In Lenape Muskingum was taken to mean 'elk's eye' ( mus wəshkinkw ) by folk etymology , as if < mus 'elk' + wəshkinkw 'its eye'. Moravian missionary David Zeisberger wrote that the Muskingum River
126-726: The worst defeats in U.S. Army history, until the United States defeated the Indigenous alliance at the Battle of Fallen Timbers in 1794. In the 1795 Treaty of Greenville , the nations were forced to give up 3/4 of their lands within what is now Ohio . This treaty divided the Northwest Territory into two parts — one for citizens of Indigenous nations and one for United States citizens. Muskingum River The Muskingum River ( / m ə ˈ s k ɪ ŋ ( ɡ ) ə m / mə- SKING -(g)əm ; Shawnee : Wakatamothiipi )
147-425: The United States and suggested others do the same. Further deteriorating the situation was the murder of a Haudenosaunee leader named by Tegunteh by a White man named Lewis Wetzel . Although Wetzel was twice arrested for the crime, U.S. authorities never punished him. Several nations, including the Shawnee and Myaamiaki , refused to participate as a result of St. Clair’s belligerence, and therefore were not bound by
168-654: The United States from the Kingdom of Great Britain known as the Northwest Territory . The Treaty of Fort Harmar was concluded at Fort Harmar in the Northwest Territory on January 9, 1789. National leaders representing the Haudenosaunee, Ojibwe, Odawa, Potawatomi, Sauk, Wyandot, and Lenape met with treaty negotiators from the United States, including Arthur St. Clair , governor of the Northwest Territory , Josiah Harmar , and Richard Butler . Although
189-493: The arms of America, and would do honor to the troops of any potentate on earth. The fort was abandoned in 1790 and demolished in summer, 1791, as the area had been redeveloped for other uses, and Marietta expanded to the west side of the river. The exact location of the fort cannot be determined as the Ohio River has been widened by damming, and is believed to be underwater near the mouth of the Muskingum. This area of Marietta
210-467: The confluence of the Muskingum and Ohio rivers by Pierre Joseph Céloron . Noted frontier explorer Christopher Gist reached the Big Sandy Creek tributary of the river on December 4, 1751. Traveling downriver, he recorded arriving on December 14 at the western Wyandot town of Muskingum, at present-day Coshocton . There he remained for the following month. Marietta was founded in 1788 as
231-471: The first permanent American settlement in the Northwest Territory , at the mouth of the Muskingum River on the Ohio River. The Big Bottom Massacre occurred along its banks in 1791. Zanesville was settled by European Americans in 1799 at the site where Zane's Trace crossed the Muskingum at the mouth of the Licking River . Later, the National (Cumberland) Road crossed the Muskingum at Zanesville. In
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#1732772758657252-424: The generous chieftain [Josiah Harmar] and other worthy officers of yonder fortress, distinguished by the name of Harmer [Fort Harmar]. With what cheerfulness and cordiality have ye ever entered into every measure promotive of the company's interest. Important is the station ye fill in every respect, and not least in this, that you seem reserved to exhibit to mankind a specimen of that military splendor, which ornamented
273-400: The mid-19th century the Muskingum was an important commercial shipping route, with dams and locks controlling the water level to allow boats to travel up and down the river. With the decrease in use of water-based transportation in Ohio by the 1920s, the locks fell into disrepair. Since the 1960s, the locks have been repaired to enable pleasure craft to travel the entire navigable length of
294-487: The negotiations to determine an appropriate strategy. Joseph Brant , a Haudenosaunee leader, offered a compromise position which moved the boundary line to the Muskingum River . After other Indigenous leaders rejected this compromise, Brant sent St. Clair a letter asking for early concessions. St. Clair refused and accused Brant of acting for the Kingdom of Great Britain. Brant decided to boycott negotiations with
315-511: The river. The Muskingum waterway is one of the few remaining systems in the US to use hand-operated river locks. The navigation system has been designated a national Historic Civil Engineering Landmark . In 2006, it was designated "An Ohio Water Trail;" this designation provides for increased canoe access on the river. Located north of the Mason–Dixon line , from around 1812 to 1861 the Muskingum River
336-496: The territory set aside for the Indigenous nations. Arthur St. Clair was authorized by Congress to offer to exchange other land reserved for U.S. settlements for the disputed Firelands of the Western Reserve. St. Clair refused to give up these lands. Instead, St. Clair negotiated a treaty that simply reiterated the terms of previous treaties through means of bribery and threats. Many leaders of Indigenous nations met prior to
357-544: The treaty was supposed to address issues with two earlier treaties, the 1784 Treaty of Fort Stanwix and the 1785 Treaty of Fort McIntosh , it largely reiterated the earlier terminology, with minor changes. The treaty failed to address the most important grievances of the Indigenous nations, namely, the unauthorized settlement of White Americans in the Firelands region of the Western Reserve , which extended into
378-577: The treaty. The treaty did failed to stop the violence in the region caused by the encroachment of White Americans onto territories held by Indigenous nations. Many nations were infuriated at the treaty because they perceived the treaty to force land cessions and foreign sovereignty over. The failure of the treaty led to an escalation of the hostilites as the Western Confederacy resisted the United States invasion. The war would continue for six years and see thousands killed, including some of
399-611: Was a major Underground Railroad route used by fugitive slaves escaping from the South on their journey north to Lake Erie and Canada . The Friends of the Lower Muskingum River is a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit land trust based in Marietta, Ohio , concerned with protection of the Muskingum River and adjacent lands. The Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District is a quasi-governmental entity concerned with flood control on
420-530: Was built in 1791 directly across the Muskingum from Fort Harmar, on the east side of the river's mouth. Treaty of Fort Harmar The Treaty of Fort Harmar (1789) was a treaty made between the United States and the Haudenosaunee , Ojibwe , Odawa , Potawatomi , Sauk , Wyandot , and Lenape , all Indigenous nations with territorial claims within the European land claim acquired in 1783 by
441-405: Was called Elk's Eye "because of the numbers of elk that formerly fed on its banks, these animals being found there even at the present time [1779-1780]..." Historically, it was also the name of a large Wyandot town along the river. As part of an expedition to assert French dominance throughout the entire Ohio valley, on August 15, 1749, a leaden plate claiming the region for France was buried at
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