Ohio Indian Wars

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The Ohio Indian Wars were a series of struggles between settlers from the newly independent United States and Native American residents of the Ohio Country in the years after the American Revolution.

During the first part of the eighteenth century, French and British colonists began to migrate to modern-day Ohio. Each group sought to form alliances with Native Americans in the region. With France's defeat in the French and Indian War, Great Britain acquired this territory in 1763. The British government attempted to improve relations with the natives by prohibiting white settlement in the Ohio Country. Great Britain's action resulted in part in the American Revolution. The Treaty of Paris (1783) brought the Revolution to a close and Great Britain recognized the independence of the United States. In addition, the new nation secured all of the land east of the Mississippi River except for British possessions in Canada and Spanish territory in Florida.

The Native Americans in the Ohio Country took no formal part in the treaty negotiations. Great Britain made little effort to include their native allies in the treaty's terms. Despite this, the British did not abandon the Native Americans. They continued to trade guns and other European manufactured goods for native furs. The British hoped that the Native Americans, with British weapons, would stop the westward expansion by the newly independent United States. Unfortunately for the natives, U.S. settlers moved quickly into the Ohio Country at the end of the Revolution. After the signing of Treaty of Paris, settlers faced few obstacles in moving to the Ohio Country other than from the Native Americans themselves. The conflicts that followed became known as the Ohio Indian Wars.

During the late 1780s, the Northwest Territory was a violent place as U.S. settlers moved onto land that several groups of Native Americans claimed as their own. The United States government lacked the funds to equip an army to deal with the Native American threat adequately. Henry Knox, the Secretary of War, requested that Arthur St. Clair, the governor of the Northwest Territory, establish a peaceful relationship between the settlers and the natives. St. Clair called for a meeting with native leaders to negotiate an agreement. The meeting took place at Fort Harmar and began on December 13, 1788. The natives present included representatives from the Wyandot natives, the Delaware natives, the Ottawa natives, the Chippewa natives, the Potawatomi natives, and the Sauk natives. The natives hoped that St. Clair would agree to establish a Native American reservation consisting of the land west of the Muskingum River and north of the Ohio River. St. Clair refused and demanded that the Native American leaders agree to a reservation boundary established by the Treaty of Fort McIntosh in 1785.

Under the Treaty of Fort McIntosh, the Native Americans were to relinquish their lands in southern and eastern Ohio. They were confined to the western corner of modern-day Ohio with a border that roughly followed the Cuyahoga River on the east. A southern border extended from modern-day Akron west to the Tuscarawas River, south to Fort Laurens, then west to Pickawillany on the Miami River. A western border ran north from Pickawillany to the St. Mary's River and then to what is now Ft. Wayne, Indiana. A northern border from Fort Wayne to Lake Erie followed the shore of the lake east to the Cuyahoga River. St. Clair told the Native Americans he would attack them if they refused to abide by the Treaty of Fort McIntosh. He also sought their friendship with three thousand dollars in presents. The Native American leaders signed the Treaty of Fort Harmar, which reiterated the terms of the Treaty of Fort McIntosh, on January 9, 1789.

The Treaty of Fort Harmar did little to stop the bloodshed between the United States and the Native Americans. Many natives refused to honor the treaty, including the Shawnee natives. They claimed that the groups represented at the treaty negotiations did not speak for the Shawnees. Warfare increased, especially in the western portions of modern-day Ohio.

Most Native Americans had been driven from the eastern portion of the state during the American Revolution, although many Native Americans still hunted in this area. In 1790, Josiah Harmar, commander of the U.S. army in the Northwest Territory, was stationed at Fort Washington (present-day Cincinnati, Ohio). Henry Knox, the Secretary of War, ordered Harmar to end the threat of Native American attack in western Ohio. Harmar marched from Fort Washington with 320 regular soldiers and roughly 1,100 militiamen, primarily from Pennsylvania and Kentucky. The militiamen were poorly trained, many did not know how to correctly load and fire a musket, and some did not even have a gun. Harmar was to destroy the native villages near modern-day Fort Wayne, Indiana. He intended to attack the Miami natives, the Shawnee natives, and the Delaware natives, along with other natives located in western Ohio.


Harmar's actions in western Ohio only heightened tensions between the white settlers and the Native Americans. Following Harmar's defeat, native attacks against settlers increased. In 1791, Arthur St. Clair led another campaign against the natives in western Ohio, hoping to succeed where Harmar had failed. To protect settlers and to force the Native Americans to abide by the Treaty of Fort Harmar, Arthur St. Clair ordered the construction of forts in what is now western Ohio. St. Clair moved against the Native Americans living near present-day Ft. Wayne, Indiana. His men left Fort Washington on September 17. The men marched twenty miles in two days and then built Fort Hamilton. St. Clair's army then advanced forty-five miles northward, where his men built Fort Jefferson. Leading primarily untrained militiamen, St. Clair faced problems with desertion from the beginning of his campaign. Although it was still early fall, his men faced cold temperatures, rain and snowfall. St. Clair also had a difficult time keeping his soldiers supplied with food. His men became demoralized. Despite these problems, St. Clair continued to advance against the Miami natives. By November 3, his men had arrived on the banks of the Wabash River, near some of the Miami villages.

Little Turtle led his warriors against the U.S. forces on the morning of November 4. Many of the militiamen under St. Clair immediately fled. St. Clair led the regular soldiers in a bayonet charge. St. Clair had two horses shot out from under him. Several bullets passed through his clothing and one took off a lock of his hair. The Native American surrounded the U.S. forces' camp. After three hours of fighting, the U.S. regulars fought through the Native American lines and began a lengthy retreat. The survivors reached Fort Jefferson late that afternoon and evening. With limited quantities of food and supplies at Fort Jefferson, St. Clair ordered his forces to Fort Washington. The Native Americans had soundly defeated St. Clair's army. President George Washington demanded that St. Clair resign from the army. St. Clair did so on April 7, 1792, but remained governor of the Northwest Territory. He still faced problems with the natives. St. Clair's Defeat was one of the worst in the history of the United States Army at the hands of Native Americans.


With Wayne advancing into native territory, tensions escalated between the U.S. and the Native Americans during the summer of 1794. On June 30, 1,500 Shawnee natives, Miami natives, Delaware natives, Ottawa natives, and Ojibwa natives led by Little Turtle attacked a supply train leaving Fort Recovery for Fort Greene Ville. In late July, Wayne moved into the heart of Native American territory. In early August, he had his men construct Fort Defiance to protect his army as well as to serve as a supply depot. During this time period, Wayne's men also destroyed native villages and crops. Believing that the Native Americans should seek peace, Little Turtle refused to lead the tribes into battle and deferred to Blue Jacket, a Shawnee leader. As Wayne moved toward the Maumee River, the Native Americans prepared to attack him at an area known as Fallen Timbers. It was a place where a tornado had knocked down many trees. The Native Americans expected the U.S. forces to arrive on August 19, but the white soldiers did not arrive until the next day. The natives fasted before the battle to avoid having food in their stomachs. The likelihood of infection increased if a person was wounded in the stomach and there was food in it. By August 20, the natives were weak from hunger.

Although the Native Americans used the fallen trees for cover, Wayne's men quickly drove the natives from the battlefield. The U.S. forces had thirty-three men killed and roughly one hundred wounded, while the Native Americans lost approximately twice that number. The fight became known as the Battle of Fallen Timbers. Blue Jacket's followers retreated to Fort Miami, hoping that the British would provide them with protection and assistance against Wayne's army, but the British refused. Wayne followed the natives to the fort. Upon his arrival, Wayne ordered the British to evacuate the Northwest Territory. The British commander refused, and Wayne decided to withdraw to Fort Greene Ville.

For the next year Wayne stayed at Fort Greene Ville, negotiating a treaty with the Ohio natives. The natives realized that they were at a serious disadvantage with the U.S., especially because of Great Britain's refusal to support the Native Americans. On August 3, 1795, the Treaty of Greeneville was signed. Representatives from the Miami natives, the Wyandot natives, the Shawnee natives, the Delaware natives, and several other groups of native people agreed to move to the northwestern corner of what is present-day Ohio.

Not all Native Americans agreed with the Treaty of Greeneville, and bloodshed continued to dominate the region for the next twenty years as the U.S. and natives struggled for control. Tecumseh, a Shawnee leader, posed the most serious threat to white settlement of the Northwest Territory and the state of Ohio during this period. Tecumseh decided that the best way to stop white advancement was to form a confederacy of Native American nations west of the Appalachian Mountains. Tecumseh believed that no single group owned the land and that only all Native Americans together could turn land over to the whites. He also believed that, if the natives united together, they would have a better chance militarily against the U.S.

In his quest, Tecumseh received assistance from his younger brother Tenskwatawa. Known as the Prophet, Tenskwatawa believed that the natives had to end their reliance on U.S. goods, such as alcohol, iron cookware, and guns. The Native Americans had angered the Master of Life by becoming dependent on these items. If they returned to native customs, the Master of Life would reward his followers by driving the U.S. settlers from their land. Many Native Americans found the Prophet's message appealing and began to gather at his village, Prophetstown, in the Indiana Territory.


Tecumseh's Confederacy failed. Many Native Americans refused to end their trade and friendship with the U.S. The whites also greatly outnumbered the natives and had greater access to firearms and ammunition. As Tecumseh's followers began to converge at Prophetstown, he also could not provide them with adequate food and shelter. To acquire white goods, the natives had engaged in the fur trade with the U.S. This trade greatly diminished the animal population and left the natives with less to eat.


With Tecumseh's death, Native American resistance in Ohio came to an end. Natives in the state agreed to abide by the terms of the Treaty of Greeneville. Over the next several years, various groups signed additional treaties relinquishing their remaining territory. By 1843, the last large group of Native Americans in Ohio had agreed to give up their land.

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