Maumee Road Lands were a group of land tracts granted by the United States Congress to the state of Ohio in 1823 along the path of a proposed road in the northwest corner of the state.
127-666: With the Treaty of Greenville in 1795 the Indian Nations ceded southern and eastern Ohio to white settlement. The Treaty of Fort Industry in 1805 moved the boundary westward to a line 120 miles (190 km) west of Pennsylvania , which coincided with the western boundary of the Firelands of the Connecticut Western Reserve . In 1807, the Treaty of Detroit called for the cession of lands northwest of
254-563: A preliminary raid . Natives gathered nearly 2,000 warriors at Kekionga in anticipation of facing Scott's Kentuckians, but Scott instead turned northwest and targeted undefended Wea towns on the Wabash River, destroying Ouiatenon and Kethtippecanunk (Tippecanoe). St. Clair had hoped to start his campaign in July, but he was delayed by his illness as well as a shortage of recruits. In August, he sent Lieutenant Colonel James Wilkinson on
381-677: A border between British territory and the United States. This granted significant territory to the United States, initially known as the Ohio Country and the Illinois Country , which had previously been prohibited to new settlements. However, numerous Native American peoples inhabited this region and were unaware of the British ceding land or the results of the war with the newly formed United States. The British maintained
508-729: A boundary and that hostilities had been officially suspended. Brant returned to the Maumee and reported to the Confederacy, and although he had some supporters, he was denounced for not insisting on the Ohio River boundary. A new delegation (without Brant) was sent to meet the commissioners on the Detroit River. This second meeting, held at British Indian agent Matthew Elliot's estate near Amherstburg , began on July 30. The Wyandot chief Carry-One-About (So-Wagh-da-Wunk) spoke for
635-590: A defense, made difficult because the Natives fired from cover, targeting officers and artillerymen. Lieutenant Colonel William Darke led a bayonet charge, temporarily creating an opening for the Natives to enter the American encampment. After three hours of fighting, St. Clair ordered a retreat, abandoning many wounded and most of the army's equipment. Among the wounded left behind was Major General Richard Butler , St. Clair's second-in-command, who Natives killed after
762-509: A detachment of about 300 men to the site of St. Clair's defeat. There, his troops built Fort Recovery , buried the American dead still on the battlefield, and recovered three of the cannons lost there in 1791. In January 1794, the Confederacy sent a delegation to Fort Greenville to arrange the release of two Lenape women held by the Americans. A Lenape chief asked if Wayne was willing to hold peace talks. Wayne said he would only negotiate if
889-402: A dilemma. He had to keep peace with the United States to avoid opening another front in the war with France while at the same time maintaining British influence among the Natives in case they were needed to help defend Upper Canada against the Americans. At Niagara, the U.S. commissioners were visited by a Native delegation led by Brant. Although Brant had been one of the principal organizers of
1016-652: A disgruntled Tecumseh, who had not signed the Treaty of Greenville, to reform the Confederacy at Prophetstown over the following decade. Unrest among the tribes culminated in the Battle of Tippecanoe in 1811, a major defeat for indigenous nations that may have contributed to their siding with the British in the War of 1812 . The Treaty of Greenville closed the frontier in the Northwest Territory . Thereafter began
1143-531: A group of mostly minor chiefs signed the Treaty of Fort Harmar , which merely confirmed the terms of the previous disputed treaties. "I am persuaded their general confederacy is entirely broken," wrote St. Clair. Instead of breaking the Confederacy, St. Clair had discredited Natives willing to compromise and strengthened the influence of the militants. After the Fort Harmar treaty, violence between Natives and settlers escalated. Natives attacked flatboats on
1270-529: A methodical campaign up the Great Miami and Maumee river valleys in western Ohio Country, Wayne led his Legion to a decisive victory at the Battle of Fallen Timbers near the southwestern shore of Lake Erie (near modern Toledo, Ohio ) in 1794. Afterward, he went on to establish Fort Wayne at the Miami capital of Kekionga , the symbol of U.S. sovereignty in the heart of Indian Country and within sight of
1397-543: A new boundary, preserving everything west of the Muskingum River as Native land. When St. Clair dismissed the idea, Brant boycotted the negotiations and suggested others do the same. The Northwestern Confederacy was deeply divided. Those living closest to the Americans supported compromising. Those further away – the Miamis, Lenapes, and Shawnees around Kekionga – insisted upon the Ohio River boundary. In January 1789,
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#17327725978991524-548: A reference point, the Greenville Treaty Line forced the northwest Native American tribes to cede southern and eastern Ohio and various tracts of land around forts and settlements in Illinois Country ; to recognize the U.S. rather than Britain as the ruling power in the Old Northwest; and to surrender ten chiefs as hostages until all American prisoners were returned. The Miami also lost private control of
1651-620: A road sixty feet wide. In 1815, Congress made provisions to survey the lands one mile (1.6 km) either side of the road path into tracts running parallel and perpendicular to path of the road, and sell them at the Canton Land Office. In 1816, the President was authorized to move the path of the road to pass through Fremont . No action was taken on these counts, so, in 1820, the Ohio legislature asked Congress to take action. All
1778-598: A robust military presence and continued policies that supported their Native allies. With the encroachment of European-American settlers west of the Appalachian Mountains after the war, a Huron -led Confederacy formed in 1785 to resist the usurpation of Indian lands, declaring that lands north and west of the Ohio River were Indian territory. Four years after the start of the British-supported Native American military campaign,
1905-457: A second raid, which had originally been intended as a diversion in support of the main expedition. Wilkinson, with 500 mounted Kentucky militiamen, destroyed a Miami town on the Eel River . Wilkinson killed 9 Wea and Miami and captured 34 Miami as prisoners, including a daughter of Miami war chief Little Turtle. Many of the confederation leaders were considering terms of peace to present to
2032-653: A series of purchases of indigenous peoples' lands by treaty and Indigenous tribe removals by law throughout the territory and its successors, interrupted briefly by the War of 1812. Indians were moved west of the Mississippi River to Indian Country reservations in what later became the state of Oklahoma in a process that culminated with the dismantling of the Great Miami Reserve in Indiana by treaties in
2159-498: A skirmish known as Hartshorne's Defeat , leaving five settlers dead and eight missing. That autumn, the United States launched a major offensive against the Natives along the Maumee River. This punitive expedition was led by General Harmar, whose orders were to destroy Kekionga and the surrounding towns, killing any Natives who opposed him. His army, consisting of 1,100 militiamen and 320 regulars, departed Fort Washington on
2286-584: A sliver of land called "The Gore" in what is today southeastern Indiana remaining as part of the Northwest Territory. "The Gore" was ceded to Indiana Territory at that time, and became Dearborn County in March 1803. Meriwether Lewis and William Henry Harrison were both present at the treaty signing. The former would go on to launch the Lewis and Clark Expedition with William Clark in 1804, and
2413-524: A small detachment of Mohawks, and a British company of Canadian militiamen dressed as Native Americans under William Caldwell . Odawa and Potawatomi, under Little Otter and Egushawa, occupied the center and initiated the attack against the Legion's scouts. Front elements of the Legion's columns initially collapsed under pursuing Native Americans. Wayne immediately committed his reserves to the center to halt their advance and divided his infantry into two wings,
2540-576: A truce with the Northwestern Confederacy. Alarmed by the killing of the previous emissaries, he instead went to Vincennes and, in September 1792, negotiated a treaty with tribes of the lower Wabash River. Knox believed this treaty had weakened the Confederacy by 800 warriors, though the signers were not militant members of the Confederacy. In any event, the U.S. Senate ultimately rejected the treaty because it did not specify that only
2667-623: A year earlier in August 1794. It ended the Northwest Indian War of 1785-1795 in the Ohio Country of the old Northwest Territory (1787-1803), and limited Indian country to remaining lands of northwestern Ohio, and began the practice of annual payments of goods, supplies and food, following the land concessions. The parties to the treaty were a coalition of Native American tribes known as the Western Confederacy , and
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#17327725978992794-548: Is the largest painting in the Ohio Statehouse. 40°06′28″N 84°37′54″W / 40.1078°N 84.6316°W / 40.1078; -84.6316 Northwest Indian War The Northwest Indian War (1785–1795), also known by other names, was an armed conflict for control of the Northwest Territory fought between the United States and a united group of Native American nations known today as
2921-578: The Battle of Fallen Timbers in August 1794, and subsequent scorched earth tactics, General Wayne had courted the favor of several key leaders within the Western Confederacy . Wayne brought food supplies, and material for crops and promised to continue delivering new supplies. Blue Jacket , the Shawnee war chief who had led the Native American force at Fallen Timbers, encouraged others to accept Wayne's offered terms for peace. Tarhe declared that
3048-537: The Constitution of the United States went into effect; George Washington was sworn in as president , which made him the commander-in-chief of U.S. military forces. Accordingly, Washington directed the United States Army to enforce U.S. sovereignty over the territory. The U.S. Army, mainly consisting of untrained recruits and volunteer militiamen, suffered a series of significant defeats, including
3175-472: The Harmar campaign (1790) and St. Clair's defeat (1791), which is among the worst defeats ever suffered in the history of the U.S. Army . It was also later discovered that the British had a frequent tactic of dressing up as Native Americans to participate in their battles. St. Clair's devastating loss destroyed most of the United States Army and left the United States vulnerable. The British refused to leave
3302-566: The Jay Treaty , between the Americans and the British, and what that would mean on the western frontier, ensuring that Great Britain in northern Canada ( Quebec and Ontario ]), would no longer be providing additional aid, supplies, firearms and ammunition to the Native Americans. Tarhe confirmed that previous treaties had been signed by chiefs who were at Greenville and warned his fellow Indigenous tribal leaders that Wayne had
3429-684: The Maumee River , mostly in the Michigan Territory. The area between the Maumee River and the 1805 boundary remained Indian Lands, and thus, the United States could not legally build a road connecting settlements in Ohio and the Michigan Territory. This area was also in the Great Black Swamp , and would require much engineering effort and funds to cross with a road. On November 25, 1808, at Brownstown in Michigan Territory,
3556-647: The Mississippi River . General "Mad Anthony" Wayne (1745-1796), who had led the newly-organized United States Army victory at the Battle of Fallen Timbers and led the American federal government delegation. Other members included William Wells (c.1770-1812), William Henry Harrison (1773-1841), (future first Governor of Indiana Territory (1801-1812), U.S. Representative (congressman) and later U.S. Senator from Ohio , and ninth President , served March-April 1841), Caleb Swan (1758-1809), William Clark (1770-1838), and Meriwether Lewis (1774-1809) -
3683-749: The Northwestern Confederacy . The United States Army considers it the first of the American Indian Wars . Following centuries of conflict for control of this region, the land comprising the Northwest Territory was granted to the new United States by the Kingdom of Great Britain in article 2 of the Treaty of Paris , which ended the American Revolutionary War . The treaty used the Great Lakes as
3810-767: The Pacific Ocean and returning. Native Americans leaders who signed the Fort Greenville treaty included leaders of these bands and tribes: Wyandot (chiefs Tarhe , Roundhead , and Leatherlips ), Delaware (several bands including Chief Buckongahelas ). Shawnee (chiefs Blue Jacket and Black Hoof ), Ottawa (several bands, including Egushawa ), Chippewa , Potawatomi (23 signatories, including Gomo , Siggenauk , Black Partridge , Topinabee , and Five Medals ), Miami (including Jean Baptiste Richardville , White Loon , and Little Turtle ), Wea , Kickapoo , and Kaskaskia . Following their defeat at
3937-537: The Treaty of Fort McIntosh , Treaty of Fort Finney , and Treaty of Fort Harmar , but Little Turtle countered that the Miami Tribe were not party to these treaties and would not recognize them, and that they were invalid because they were made with people who had no original right to the lands that they had sold. General Wayne revealed to the chiefs that the U.S. Senate in Washington had recently ratified
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4064-575: The United States Senate on December 22, 1795. The treaty consisted of ten articles. The treaty established what became known as the Greenville Treaty Line , as delineated below. For several years, it distinguished Native American territory from lands open to European-American settlers, who, however, continued to encroach. In exchange for goods to the value of $ 20,000 (such as blankets, utensils, and domestic animals),
4191-660: The Virginia Military District , Symmes Purchase , and two Ohio Company purchases, all in eastern and southern Ohio, as well as the line of western forts built by Wayne through Fort Recovery along the Great Miami River valley. The boundary line would need to encompass all those territories, covering about two thirds of Ohio Country. The treaty line began at the mouth of the Cuyahoga River in present-day Cleveland and ran south along
4318-660: The Wabash River near the present-day boundary between Ohio and Indiana . From Fort Recovery, the line ran south-southwest to the Ohio River at a point opposite the mouth of the Kentucky River in present-day Carrollton, Kentucky . Rufus Putnam , who had been appointed by George Washington as surveyor general of the United States, surveyed and marked the Treaty Line. There were also other forts along
4445-516: The Wabash River . Beset by logistical problems, mutiny, and desertion, Clark returned without accomplishing anything. In October, Logan led 790 Kentucky militiamen to the Shawnee towns along the Mad River . The towns were inhabited primarily by noncombatants because the warriors had scattered for the winter hunt. Logan's men burned the towns and food supplies, killing and capturing numerous Natives. Moluntha , an elderly Shawnee chief who had signed
4572-489: The War of 1812 . Fort Detroit was abandoned one year later as American forces advanced towards it, and Fort Miami was abandoned in 1814 and eventually demolished. Most of the western U.S. forts were also abandoned after 1796; Fort Washington, the last, was moved across the Ohio River to Kentucky in 1804 to make room for a growing settlement at Cincinnati ; it became the Newport Barracks . General Wayne supervised
4699-472: The 1830s. By 1840, the Old Northwest was essentially clear of indigenous peoples. Future conflicts would all be west of the Mississippi. The treaty line would become the southwestern boundary of the Northwest Territory at its division in 1800. Upon Ohio statehood in 1803, the western boundary of Ohio ran due north from a place on the Ohio River somewhat east of the south-southwesterly treaty line, leaving
4826-480: The American supply lines, cutting off Wayne's Legion. Recently arrived Three Fire leaders, whose warriors comprised most of the army, favored attacking a convoy near Fort Recovery. They prevailed in the council, and so on June 30 warriors ambushed the convoy then rushed the fort, but they were driven off by American musket fire and artillery. The attack's failure discouraged the Three Fires contingent, who accused
4953-734: The British away. Seeking to avoid further hostilities, the British issued the Royal Proclamation of 1763 , creating a boundary line between colonists and Native lands. In 1768, British officials negotiated the Treaty of Fort Stanwix with the Iroquois , who claimed sovereignty over the Ohio Country. The treaty moved the boundary line further west and opened territory south of the Ohio River to colonial settlement. While colonial elites like George Washington organized land companies and secured grants, immigrants began pouring into
5080-560: The British in the western theater of the American Revolutionary War, seeking to drive out American settlers. In the 1783 Treaty of Paris that ended the war, Great Britain ceded the region to the United States, making no mention of Native land rights. The Native nations technically remained at war with the United States, and Richard Butler argued to them that the British had "cast you off, and given us your country." Mohawk leader Joseph Brant , who had fought in
5207-476: The British. The defeated tribes were forced to cede extensive territory, including much of present-day Ohio , in the Treaty of Greenville in 1795. In the same year, the Jay Treaty arranged for cessions of British Great Lakes outposts on the U.S. territory. The British would briefly retake this land during the War of 1812 . In the French and Indian War (1754–1760), France and Great Britain fought for control of
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5334-459: The Confederacy was prepared to accept U.S. terms. Knox agreed to send treaty commissioners to the 1793 council and suspend all offensive operations until that time, angering General Wayne, who had hoped to launch the next American invasion in 1793. Following the Glaize meeting, Red Pole began an extensive tour of the south, an unsuccessful attempt to enlist more Chickamauga Cherokees and Creeks in
5461-405: The Confederacy, with Buckongahelas (Lenape) and Kekewepelethy in attendance. The Confederacy presented its ultimatum: the Ohio River was the only acceptable boundary, and forts and settlers north of the river must be removed. The commissioners replied that since lands north of the Ohio had already been sold and settled by Americans, those lands could not be returned. The Native delegates returned to
5588-529: The Confederacy. Among the attendees at the conference were representatives from the Iroquois, Shawnees, Delawares (Lenapes) , Wyandots, Three Fires ( Ojibwe , Odawa , and Potawatomi ), as well as a few Cherokees and Creeks . In the following years, U.S. states relinquished their claims in the region to the federal government, which intended to pay debts from the Revolution by selling lands north of
5715-420: The Confederacy. Meanwhile, on November 6, Little Turtle and about 200 Miamis and Shawnees attacked a supply convoy near Fort St. Clair, killing six Americans and depriving them of the packhorses needed to supply the forts. "It is a most disagreeable and humiliating position to remain with our hands tied whilst the enemy is at liberty to act upon the offensive," wrote Wayne to Knox. While General Wayne awaited
5842-540: The Fort Finney treaty, was executed by one of Logan's men. After the destruction of their towns, Shawnee refugees were invited by the Miamis to settle along the Wabash. The towns around Kekionga , the Miami capital, were now inhabited by many of the most militant members of the Northwestern Confederacy. The next meeting of the Confederacy had been scheduled to be held in the Shawnee towns, but with their destruction,
5969-529: The Great Lakes, such as Fort Miamis and other forts in Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio that the British had agreed to cede to the United States in the 1783 Treaty of Paris but had yet to evacuate. In Indiana, there was the Vincennes Tract , Clark's Grant , and the settlement at Ouiatenon to protect. The treaty also permitted established US Army posts and allocated strategic reserved tracts within
6096-613: The Indian Country to the north and the west of the ceded lands, the most important of which was the future site of Fort Dearborn (now Downtown Chicago ) on Lake Michigan . Other American lands within Indian Country included Fort Detroit , Ouiatenon , Fort Wayne , Fort Miami , and Fort Sandusky . The treaty exempted established settlements at St. Vincennes, General Clark's grant, various French settlements , and Fort Massac from relinquishment. The United States renounced all claims to indigenous peoples' lands not within
6223-426: The Iroquois could no longer assist the Confederacy in the fighting that was sure to follow and the Iroquois must now "remove our people from among the Americans." Upon learning that negotiations had failed, Wayne advanced, reaching Fort Jefferson on October 13 with 2,600 men. On October 17, an Odawa war party under Little Otter attacked a supply convoy south of Fort Jefferson, killing fifteen and capturing ten. Wayne
6350-678: The Kekionga portage since the Northwest Ordinance passed by Congress guaranteed free use of necessary portages in the region. Fort Lernoult and Fort Miami were abandoned by the British in 1796 as a condition of the Jay Treaty. After two decades of efforts to take Detroit, U.S. forces under Colonel Hamtramck occupied Fort Lernoult the next day. The U.S. renamed Fort Lernoult to Fort Detroit and abandoned Fort Miami in 1799. The British re-captured Fort Detroit and Fort Miami during
6477-406: The Maumee and Auglaize Rivers , where the principal Shawnee chief Kekewepelethy had already settled. This move had been encouraged by British Indian agent Alexander McKee since the new towns would be closer to the trade and military support offered by the British at Detroit. This cluster of towns, known as "The Glaize," would become the headquarters of the Native Confederacy for the duration of
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#17327725978996604-417: The Maumee road. Treaty of Greenville The Treaty of Greenville , also known to Americans as the Treaty with the Wyandots, etc. , but formally titled A treaty of peace between the United States of America, and the tribes of Indians called the Wyandots, Delawares, Shawanees, Ottawas, Chippewas, Pattawatimas, Miamis, Eel Rivers, Weas, Kickapoos, Piankeshaws, and Kaskaskias was a 1795 treaty between
6731-463: The Maumee to confer with the council. Brant once again argued for compromise, but he lost out to the militants, who had the support of Alexander McKee. On August 13, the Confederacy sent a written declaration to the U.S. commissioners, signed by representatives of all the nations except the Iroquois. Sugden (2000) said this document was "the defiant and frank sentiments of proud, undefeated peoples, asserting their independence and sovereignty and rebutting
6858-503: The Native American tribes ceded to the United States large parts of modern-day Ohio . The treaty also established the "annuity" system of payment in return for Native American cessions of land east of the treaty line. Yearly grants of federal money and supplies of calico cloth to Native American tribes. That institutionalized continuing government influence in tribal affairs and gave outsiders considerable control over Native American life. The treaty redefined with slight modifications
6985-409: The Native nations and between the Confederacy and the British; it was the last time the Northwestern Confederacy gathered a large military force to oppose the United States. Wayne's army encamped for three days in sight of Fort Miami, which was under the command of British Major William Campbell . When Campbell asked the meaning of the encampment, Wayne replied that the answer had already been given by
7112-419: The Natives recalled their war parties and released all American prisoners within the next thirty days. Back at the Glaize, militant leaders, surprised that talks had been initiated without authorization from the Confederacy, debated the proposal. The militants prevailed, and the matter was dropped. In February 1794, Lord Dorchester told an Iroquois delegation in Quebec that Great Britain could be at war with
7239-439: The Natives, including John Hardin and Major Alexander Truman, veterans of the earlier campaigns; they were both killed and scalped. In June, about 50 warriors attacked Fort Jefferson, killing and capturing fifteen soldiers. It was during this time that Kentucky was officially admitted to the uniUnion a state. Rufus Putnam , who had led the settlement of Marietta, was commissioned as a brigadier general and tasked with arranging
7366-462: The Northwestern Confederacy, he was now suspected by the more militant members because of his willingness to negotiate with the Americans and because the Iroquois had not participated in the war. Nevertheless, Brant spoke for the delegation, asking if the commissioners were authorized to create a new boundary line and inquiring why Wayne's army was preparing for war while peace negotiations were underway. The commissioners assured Brant they could negotiate
7493-420: The Ohio River and raided into Kentucky, killing, capturing, and torturing settlers in an attempt to stem the tide of immigrants. Americans responded with counter raids, such as one led by Major John Hardin , who in August 1789 led 220 Kentucky militiamen to the Wabash region, where they killed eight Shawnees, including women and children. In 1790, George Washington, recently inaugurated as the first President of
7620-428: The Ohio River on September 30. A diversionary force led by Major Jean François Hamtramck invaded from Vincennes , though it turned back before joining with Harmar. Native scouts monitored the slow progress of Harmar's northward march. The Natives had scattered for their annual winter hunt, but Blue Jacket , the principal Shawnee war chief, and Little Turtle , his Miami counterpart, dispatched messengers calling for
7747-541: The Ohio River to American settlers. American officials refused to recognize the Native Confederacy and instead pursued a policy of divide and rule . They informed the Natives their lands had been taken by right of conquest and sought to confirm this in a series of treaties in which the Americans dictated the terms. Some Native leaders buckled to the pressure and ceded land at Fort Stanwix (1784), Fort McIntosh (1785), and Fort Finney (1786). Hardline and militant Natives remained committed to defending their lands north of
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#17327725978997874-419: The Ohio River was the only acceptable boundary, and American forts north of the river must be destroyed. The council also agreed to meet with the Americans in 1793. When Red Jacket reported the council decision to an American official in November, he omitted the Confederacy's demands about the Ohio River boundary and the destruction of the forts. As a result, the Americans were given an erroneous impression that
8001-453: The Ohio River. On January 2, 1791, Wyandots and Lenapes attacked Big Bottom on the Muskingum River, killing eleven settlers. Soon after, Shawnees and Wyandots led by Blue Jacket unsuccessfully laid siege to Dunlap's Station on the Great Miami River. At both locations, a war club was left behind, a Native means of announcing a declaration of war . Although these raids were limited in success, Sword (1985) argues they "significantly altered
8128-414: The Ohio River. Shawnees and Lenapes sent out messages calling for war. After many raids and counter-raids along the Ohio River boundary, in 1786, the Kentucky militia launched the first major frontier military action since the end of the Revolutionary War. Generals George Rogers Clark and Benjamin Logan headed a two-pronged invasion of Native land. In September, Clark led 1,200 militiamen north along
8255-407: The Revolution as a British ally, was stunned to learn that "England had sold the Indians to Congress." In 1783, he took the lead in forming the Northwestern Confederacy , the "most ambitious pan-tribal confederacy yet." At the Wyandot town of Junquindundeh (modern Fremont, Ohio ), Brant argued that Native lands were held in common by all tribes, and so no land could be ceded without the consent of
8382-579: The Shawnees fought and lost Lord Dunmore's War in 1774 with only a few Mingo allies, and they were compelled to assent to the Ohio River boundary between the colonies and Native lands. To better control the frontier, in 1774, the British Parliament passed the Quebec Act , which placed the entire region under the jurisdiction of the Province of Quebec , nullifying colonial land claims. American colonists who hoped to own or settle these lands were outraged, contributing to their decision to declare independence from Britain in 1776. Many Natives allied with
8509-419: The Shawnees of insufficient support. They went home, depriving Blue Jacket of about half his army, which returned to the Glaize. After the battle, Little Turtle and Tarhe (Wyandot) made trips to Detroit to ask the British for support, as Blue Jacket had done on previous occasions, but the commander, Lieutenant Colonel Richard G. England , told the Natives he could not fight the Americans without orders. On
8636-425: The U.S. commissioners appointed to meet with the Native Confederacy – arrived at Fort Niagara at the western end of Lake Ontario, traveling by way of the Great Lakes to avoid the fates of John Hardin and Alexander Truman the previous year. Niagara was one of the forts still occupied by the British in defiance of the 1783 Paris treaty, but John Graves Simcoe , the British lieutenant governor of Upper Canada , housed
8763-446: The United States , and Secretary of War Henry Knox decided to attack the Native Confederacy to secure the Northwest Territory for American occupation. Because many Americans distrusted the idea of a professional " standing army ," Congress kept the United States Army small and relied upon state-run militias for defense. In 1790, Congress expanded the army's single regiment, the First American Regiment , from 700 to 1,216 men. For
8890-436: The United States and Great Britain negotiated the Jay Treaty, which required British withdrawal from the Great Lakes forts while opening up some British territory in the Caribbean for American trade. The treaty also encoded free trade and freedom of movement for Native Americans living in territories controlled by either the United States or Great Britain. The Jay Treaty was ratified by the United States Senate in 1795 and
9017-490: The United States and five nations of Indians signed the Treaty of Brownstown . Article II of the treaty called for the Indian Nations to cede to the United States a tract of land two miles (3 km) wide from Perrysburg, Ohio on the Maumee River to Bellevue, Ohio on the western edge of the Western Reserve so the United States could build a road 120 feet (37 m) wide to connect their disconnected lands. In 1811, Congress appropriated $ 6,000 to explore, survey and mark
9144-541: The United States and indigenous nations of the Northwest Territory (now Midwestern United States ), including the Wyandot and Delaware peoples , that redefined the boundary between indigenous peoples' lands and territory for European American community settlement. It was signed at Fort Greenville , now Greenville, Ohio , on August 3, 1795, following the Native American loss at the Battle of Fallen Timbers
9271-425: The United States and wish to remain so." By remaining neutral in the conflict, the British confirmed they no longer regarded the Natives in the Northwest Territory as allies to be supported in wartime. Harmar's expedition had ended in defeat, with a total of 183 killed and missing. The Miamis, on the other hand, had lost nearly a tenth of their military manpower. Harmar's military career was over, and his campaign
9398-465: The United States could purchase Native lands. Beginning in late September 1792, the Natives held a large council at the Glaize with representatives from numerous tribes, with a reported 3,600 warriors in attendance. Delegates from the Iroquois, including Red Jacket , came to present the peace offer from the United States. Red Jacket advised the Confederacy to accept the Muskingum River as
9525-484: The United States government represented by new United States Army General Anthony Wayne (1745-1796), and local frontiersmen. The treaty became synonymous with the end of the American frontier in the eastern United States , in that part of the old Northwest Territory that would become the new state of Ohio and other adjacent future federal territories and future states around the Great Lakes and further west to
9652-457: The United States within the year and that Native lands lost to the Americans would be restored. Dorchester ordered Simcoe to build a fort on the Maumee to defend Detroit from the advancing Americans. In April, Simcoe constructed Fort Miami and garrisoned it with 120 soldiers and an artillery detachment. Dorchester's words and actions caused an uproar in the United States; the construction of Fort Miami on what Americans regarded as their territory
9779-482: The United States, but when they received news of Wilkinson's raid, they readied for war. Wilkinson's raid thus had the opposite effect. In September, St. Clair's men erected a supply depot, Fort Hamilton , twenty-three miles north of Fort Washington on the Great Miami. The army finally left Fort Hamilton on October 4 with about 2,300 men. In mid-October, they stopped to build a second depot, Fort Jefferson . As
9906-407: The army to more than 5,000 men. Major General "Mad" Anthony Wayne was chosen as the new commander. Congress also passed two militia acts that authorized the president to call out the militia, which had previously been under the control of the states. Washington and Knox engaged in diplomacy while the American army was being readied, hoping to buy time to prepare and appease Americans opposed to
10033-440: The arrival of a reinforcement of Kentucky militiamen. In late June, Wayne was joined by about 100 Chickasaws and Choctaws , who had come from the south to fight against their traditional enemies in the Northwestern Confederacy. On June 27, forty-five Choctaws and ten scouts led by William Wells , Wayne's principal scout, skirmished with a large body of Natives advancing from the Glaize. Wells reported to Wayne that Fort Recovery
10160-505: The attack was called off. Disappointed with the lost opportunity, Blue Jacket headed for Detroit, seeking British help in opposing the next inevitable American invasion. "We now, Father, call for your assistance," he said. The British commander at Detroit was noncommittal. When Blue Jacket's request was relayed to Guy Carleton (Lord Dorchester) , the Governor General of British North America , he replied, "We are at peace with
10287-430: The banks of the Wabash, near modern-day Fort Recovery, Ohio . Just before dawn on November 4, a Native force of more than 1,000 warriors led by Little Turtle and Blue Jacket launched a surprise attack. Their first target was the militia, which had camped on the north side of the river. The militia retreated in panic across the river, confusing the American camp. The Americans, finding themselves surrounded, tried to organize
10414-481: The battle. Fort Jefferson was too small to shelter the retreating Americans, so most fled back to Fort Washington. The battle was a lopsided victory for the Natives. The Americans reported a loss of 630 soldiers killed and around 250 wounded; an additional 30 camp followers , mostly women, were also killed. Native losses were comparatively slight, with 21 killed and 40 wounded. Historian Colin Calloway states it
10541-608: The battlefield to regroup at nearby Fort Miami but found the fort doors locked by the British garrison. (Britain and the United States were by then reaching a close rapprochement to counter Jacobin France in the French Revolution .) The entire battle lasted little more than an hour. The Legion had significant casualties, with 33 men killed and 100 wounded. The Confederacy had between 19 and 40 warriors killed and an unknown number wounded. The battle fostered distrust between
10668-540: The boundaries in Ohio established previously by the Treaty of Fort McIntosh in 1785 and reasserted in the Treaty of Fort Harmar in 1789. In particular, the western boundary, which formerly ran northwesterly to the Maumee River , now ran southerly to the Ohio River . Ohio had developed settlements and defined tracts of land prior to 1795, including the Western Reserve , the Seven Ranges survey area,
10795-436: The boundary and punishing transgressions. After the signing of the treaty, the so-called "peace chiefs"—such as Little Turtle —who advocated for cooperation with the United States, were roundly criticized by Shawnee chief Tecumseh , who stated that the peace chiefs had given away land that they did not own. Tecumseh fought against the Americans during the War of 1812 and was killed in battle in 1813. The negotiated peace
10922-399: The boundary between the United States and Native territory. The Shawnee orator Red Pole spoke on behalf of the Confederacy. Red Pole denounced the Iroquois for meeting privately with the Americans to discuss further land cessions. "We do not want compensation" from the Americans, said Red Pole. "We want restitution of our country." After much debate, the council endorsed Red Pole's position:
11049-419: The ceded land and continued their influence in Native American politics. Washington was also under congressional investigation and compelled to raise a bigger army quickly. He chose Revolutionary War veteran General Anthony Wayne to organize and train a proper fighting force. Wayne took command of the new Legion of the United States late in 1792 and spent a year building, training, and acquiring supplies. After
11176-462: The commissioners at his residence. Despite his cordiality, Simcoe had been working to undermine U.S. influence among the Natives. After the recent Native victories, he had hoped Great Britain would support the creation of a Native buffer state between the United States and Canada, an idea the Americans opposed. With the outbreak of war in Europe between France and Great Britain in 1793, Simcoe faced
11303-428: The course of frontier history," demonstrating that American settlement north of the Ohio River could not proceed until the United States defeated the Natives. Other Native attacks followed in the coming months. In response to Harmar's defeat, Congress expanded the U.S. Army to two regiments in March 1791. Washington appointed Arthur St. Clair, governor of the Northwest Territory, as major general in command. St. Clair
11430-415: The crops. On October 19, Hardin led 180 men on a reconnaissance mission to discover a Native war party thought to be nearby. About 16 miles from Kekionga, Hardin's scattered men were ambushed and routed by about 150 Shawnee and Potawatomi warriors. Soon after, the Natives received additional reinforcements of Odawas, Sacs , and Foxes . On October 21, Harmar declared that his objective—the destruction of
11557-575: The duration of the war, the Americans would use combined operations of militiamen and regulars , with a U.S. Army officer in overall command. On April 20, 1790, the First American Regiment participated in its first offensive against Native Americans when General Josiah Harmar joined Kentucky General Charles Scott in an attack on the Shawnee village of Chalawgatha. The following month, Native Americans retaliated by attacking settlers near Limestone (modern-day Maysville, Kentucky ) in
11684-477: The first American settlement north of the river. He was instructed to negotiate new treaties without surrendering any lands ceded in previous treaties, acquire more land if possible, and work to undermine the Native Confederacy. In 1788, St. Clair invited Natives to Fort Harmar near Marietta, instead of a neutral site preferred by the Natives. Brant sent St. Clair a message asking if he would accept
11811-688: The land between the Maumee River and the Western Reserve was ceded by the Indians with the Treaty of Fort Meigs in 1817, and surveyed into townships and sections in the Congress Lands North and East of the First Principal Meridian in 1821. In 1823, Congress authorized the state of Ohio to build the road, and granted land to the state 120 feet (37 m) wide, plus one mile (1.6 km) on each side of
11938-465: The last to break the treaty, even though he disagreed with the terms. The day after the Treaty of Greenville was signed, Little Turtle's wife died in camp. She was carried to a grave by U.S. Army soldiers and given a three-gun salute of typical American military ceremonies. The treaty was signed back in the temporary United States federal national capital city of Philadelphia , by first President George Washington and submitted and later ratified by
12065-723: The last two to become more famous a decade later (and for the subsequent two and quarter centuries), leading the Lewis and Clark exploring expedition (Corps of Discovery) of 1804-1806, into the new western Louisiana Purchase of 1803, up the Missouri River across the Great Plains , through the passes of the Rocky Mountains , to the Pacific Northwest region and the West Coast of North America on
12192-601: The latter would later become the 9th President of the United States in 1841. Fort Greenville was abandoned in 1796; it would be another 12 years before the settlement of Greenville, Ohio , was founded on the site. It was the last treaty signed by Gen. Wayne, who died just over a year later, in December 1796. A painting commemorating the treaty hangs in the Ohio Statehouse . It was completed by Ohio artist Howard Chandler Christy . At 23 feet (7.0 m) wide, it
12319-590: The location was moved to the Wyandot village of Brownstown on the Detroit River . Joseph Brant spoke to a gathering that included Miamis and other members of the Wabash Confederacy . On December 18, 1786, the Confederacy, calling themselves the "United Indian Nations," sent a letter to the U.S. Confederation Congress declaring the recent treaties invalid because they had not been conducted with
12446-411: The military power to take all of their lands if they did not negotiate. Little Turtle and the Miami remained the lone dissent in the natives' confederacy. At a private council between Wayne and Little Turtle on August 12, Wayne argued that the Miami chief was standing against the will of the confederacy majority. Little Turtle reluctantly signed, stating that he was the last to sign, and would therefore be
12573-412: The militia. As they approached Kekionga, Wyllys divided his men, hoping to surround and trap the Natives. Instead, the Natives again ambushed the Americans and defeated them piecemeal, the survivors barely regrouping with Harmar's army. Blue Jacket and Little Turtle hoped to strike again at Harmar's retreating army, but a lunar eclipse the following night was regarded by many Natives as an ill omen, and
12700-593: The morning of August 20, the Legion broke camp and marched toward the Maumee River near modern Toledo, Ohio , where the Confederacy had set an ambush. The Legion had been reduced to about 3,000 soldiers and militia, with many soldiers defending the supply trains and forts. Blue Jacket had selected a battlefield where a tornado had felled hundreds of trees, creating a natural defensive barrier. Here he placed confederation forces of about 1,500 warriors: Blue Jacket's Shawnees, Delawares led by Buckongahelas, Miamis led by Little Turtle, Wyandots led by Tarhe and Roundhead , Mingos,
12827-649: The outcome of the peace negotiations, he prepared his army known as the Legion of the United States at Legionville , a camp on the Ohio River near Pittsburgh . Wayne believed the previous expeditions had failed due to a lack of discipline, so he thoroughly trained his troops, flogging soldiers for infractions and hanging deserters. By May 5, 1793, the Legion had relocated to a camp near Fort Washington, where Wayne awaited word to begin his invasion. In mid-May, Benjamin Lincoln , Beverley Randolph , and Timothy Pickering –
12954-416: The pretensions of those who would dispossess and humble them." The Confederacy offered a solution: the U.S. should use the money it would spend on buying land and fighting a war and instead pay the settlers to relocate south of the Ohio River. These terms were unacceptable to the Americans, and the commissioners replied that "the negotiation is therefore at an end." Back on the Maumee, Brant bitterly announced
13081-426: The region of Fort Deposit and burned Alexander McKee's trading post within sight of Fort Miami before withdrawing. Wayne's Legion finally arrived at Kekionga on September 17, 1794. Wayne personally selected the site for a new U.S. fort. Wayne wanted a strong fort built, capable of withstanding possible attacks by Indians and more specifically heavy British artillery, along with their forces from Fort Detroit. The fort
13208-419: The region south of the Great Lakes known as the Ohio and Illinois countries. Indigenous tribes of the region fought on both sides of the conflict, aligning themselves with the imperial power best suited to their economic and political needs. In the 1763 Treaty of Paris that ended the war, France ceded the region to the British. That year, a confederation of Natives launched Pontiac's War , an effort to drive
13335-462: The region. Natives (primarily Shawnees and Cherokees ) who used present-day Kentucky as their hunting grounds had not been consulted in the treaty and denied that the Iroquois had the right to sell the land. In the early 1770s, the Shawnees worked to create a new Native confederacy to resist colonial occupation, but British officials successfully used the Iroquois to isolate them. As a result,
13462-549: The right commanded by Wilkinson and the other by Hamtramck. The Legion's cavalry secured the right along the Maumee River. General Scott provided a brigade of mounted militia to guard the open left flank while the rest of the Kentucky militia formed a reserve. Once contact had been established, U.S. scouts identified the location of Confederacy warriors, and Wayne ordered an immediate bayonet charge. Legion dragoons also charged and attacked with sabers. Blue Jacket's warriors fled from
13589-601: The river to the portage between the Cuyahoga and Tuscarawas Rivers in what is now Akron , then through the Portage Lakes area between Akron and Canton . The line continued down the Tuscarawas to Fort Laurens , near present-day Bolivar . From there, the line ran west-southwest to near present-day Fort Loramie on a branch of the Great Miami River . From there, the line ran west-northwest to Fort Recovery on
13716-459: The road, bounded by sectional lines. This grant became known as the “Maumee Road Lands“. In 1825 Ohio appropriated moneys to build the road, and provided for sale of granted lands to pay for it. The section of road is about 46 miles (74 km) long, and the land granted to Ohio amounted to about 60,000 acres (240 km) in Wood and Sandusky counties. United States Route 20 is situated along
13843-490: The slow march toward Kekionga continued, the expedition was plagued with food shortages, plummeting morale, and frequent desertions. On October 31, St. Clair sent the First Infantry Regiment southward to prevent deserters from plundering the supply convoy, depriving his army of 300 of its best troops and leaving him with about 1,400 people, including noncombatants. On November 3, St. Clair's army camped on
13970-399: The sound of their muskets and the retreat of the Indians. The next day, Wayne rode alone to Fort Miami and slowly inspected the fort's exterior walls. The British garrison debated whether to engage Wayne, but in the absence of orders and being already at war with France, Campbell declined to fire the first shot at the United States. The Legion, meanwhile, destroyed Indian villages and crops in
14097-476: The surrender of British posts in the Northwest Territory and personally selected the construction site of Fort Wayne in Kekionga to secure his Legion's victory. Wayne died during a return trip to Pennsylvania from a military post in Detroit on December 15, 1796, one year after the ratification of the Treaty of Greenville. Wayne's second in command, General Wilkinson, was named the new commander of U.S. forces. It
14224-436: The towns—had been fulfilled, and so the army would return to Fort Washington. The expedition had destroyed five Miami towns and 20,000 bushels of their corn. They marched south, but the following day, Harmar agreed to allow a detachment of 400 men to return to Kekionga and attack any Natives who might reoccupy the town. This raid was led by Major John P. Wyllys, a regular army officer, with Hardin serving under him and commanding
14351-413: The treaty line in Ohio or parcels exempted. The indigenous groups were obliged to recognize the United States as the sole sovereign power in the entire territory, but the local peoples would otherwise have free use of their own lands as long as they were kindly disposed to American settlers. The treaty also arranged for an exchange of prisoners and specified the parties that would be responsible for enforcing
14478-478: The victory at Fallen Timbers was evidence that the Great Spirit favored the newly-arrived white men from across the mountains to the east and ocean, called Americans. Opposition to the United States was led by Little Turtle who, ironically, had advised against engaging Wayne at Fallen Timbers. For a week, Wayne urged the native tribes to accept peace based on previous terms given at the earlier agreements of
14605-499: The war. After St. Clair's defeat, the U.S. Congress launched an investigation of the disaster. Although St. Clair remained territorial governor, he was forced to resign his military position. President Washington urged Congress to raise an army capable of defeating the British-backed Northwestern Confederacy and defending its borders. In March 1792, Congress passed a bill increasing the size of
14732-609: The war. In March 1792, fifty Iroquois leaders met with U.S. officials in Philadelphia, where they were asked to attend an upcoming council of the Northwestern Confederacy and present U.S. peace terms. The U.S. also tried approaching the Northwestern Confederacy directly, which proved to be difficult since the Americans continued to occupy forts north of the Ohio River. In March 1792, Wilkinson constructed Fort St. Clair to improve communications and logistics between Forts Hamilton and Jefferson. The next month, Knox sent emissaries to
14859-428: The warriors to regroup. They collected about 600 men to oppose Harmar's army. This was not enough men to face the largest army most of them had ever seen, so they evacuated the noncombatants from the towns on October 14 and watched for an opportunity to strike. Harmar's advance detachment under John Hardin reached Kekionga on October 15 and spent the next few days looting and burning Native towns, as well as destroying
14986-458: The whole Confederacy. They called for a new treaty conference in the spring of 1787. Until that time, the Natives suggested that each party should keep its people on their side of the Ohio River. In July 1787, the U.S. Confederation Congress created the Northwest Territory north of the Ohio River in preparation for widespread, organized American settlement of the region. Arthur St. Clair , appointed as territorial governor, moved to Marietta ,
15113-401: Was "the biggest victory Native Americans ever won and proportionately the biggest military disaster the United States ever suffered." The Natives, short on food after the destruction of their crops, scattered to hunt before winter set in. Little Turtle and Blue Jacket decided to abandon Kekionga, which had proven to be vulnerable to American raids, and relocate their towns at the confluence of
15240-514: Was compelled to use more troops to guard his supply line. Given these problems, Wayne decided to halt major operations and build Fort Greenville north of Fort Jefferson. "I am at a loss to determine what the savages are about, and where they are," he wrote to Knox in November. The Natives were having their own logistical problems, with many warriors scattering for the winter hunt. The Legion wintered at Fort Greenville, but on December 23, Wayne led
15367-435: Was considered an act of aggression. In May, Chief Justice John Jay was dispatched to England to negotiate a resolution to the crisis. The Native Confederacy, encouraged by British actions, sent out messengers to recruit additional warriors. At Fort Greenville, Wayne was delayed by supply problems, but the construction of Fort Miami compelled him to accelerate his schedule. Eager to begin operations, he impatiently awaited
15494-572: Was finished by October 17 and could withstand a 24-pound cannon. It was named Fort Wayne and placed under the command of Hamtramck, who had been commandant of Fort Knox in Vincennes. The fort was officially dedicated October 22, the fourth anniversary of Harmar's defeat, and the day is considered the founding of the modern city of Fort Wayne, Indiana . That winter, Wayne also reinforced his line of defensive forts with Fort St. Marys , Fort Loramie , and Fort Piqua . Within months of Fallen Timbers,
15621-402: Was in danger of imminent attack. The Native army marching toward Fort Recovery numbered 1,200 warriors, the most significant force the Confederacy had yet fielded. Unlike the Americans, the Natives did not have an overall commander. Instead, military decisions were made by a council of leading chiefs and warriors. Blue Jacket urged the council to bypass Forts Recovery and Greenville and attack
15748-411: Was only temporary. Anthony Wayne who promised to protect the treaty would die a year later. A Spanish spy James Wilkinson would take command of his army. Continuing encroachments by settlers on Indian Country north and west of the treaty line (and of future treaty lines established by the Treaty of Vincennes , Treaty of Grouseland , and Treaty of Fort Wayne of 1809 ), especially in Indiana, would lead
15875-450: Was ordered to mount another punitive expedition to the Maumee River, where he was to build a fort as a means of "awing and curbing the Indians in that quarter." To augment the regular army, St. Clair was authorized to use mounted militia units to raid Native villages to deter attacks on American settlements. In May 1791, while St. Clair gathered his army, he dispatched Brigadier General Charles Scott with 750 mounted Kentucky militiamen on
16002-644: Was regarded as a "national embarrassment" that needed to be avenged. "The general impression upon the result of the late expedition," Knox wrote to Harmar, "is that it has been unsuccessful; that it will not induce the Indians to peace, but on the contrary encourage them to a continuance of hostilities, and that, therefore, another and more efficient expedition must be undertaken." After Harmar's campaign, Natives rebuilt their villages around Kekionga, although some relocated to other locations. Natives did not typically go to war in winter, but they followed up their victory over Harmar with raids on American settlements north of
16129-410: Was used by Wayne as evidence that Great Britain would no longer support the Confederacy. The Jay Treaty and U.S. relations with Great Britain remained as political issues in the 1796 United States presidential election in which John Adams beat Jay Treaty opponent Thomas Jefferson . The United States also negotiated the Treaty of Greenville in 1795. Utilizing St. Clair's defeat and Fort Recovery as
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