Fort Defiance was an American military

fortification A fortification (also called a fort, fortress, fastness, or stronghold) is a military construction designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Lati ...

built in 1794 during the

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 Americans in the United States, Native American na ...

in what was then the

Northwest Territory The Northwest Territory, also known as the Old Northwest and formally known as the Territory Northwest of the River Ohio, was formed from part of the unorganized western territory of the United States after the American Revolution. Established ...

. Following the

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 ...

, the fort was abandoned in 1796. The site of the fort, adjacent to where the

Auglaize River The Auglaize River ( Shawnee: ''Kathinakithiipi'') is a tributary of the Maumee River in northwestern Ohio in the United States. It drains a primarily rural farming area in the watershed of Lake Erie. The name of the river was derived from the ...

flows into the

Maumee River The Maumee River (pronounced ) (; ) is a river running in the Midwestern United States from northeastern Indiana into northwestern Ohio and Lake Erie. It is formed at the confluence of the St. Joseph River (Maumee River), St. Joseph and St. Mar ...

, now lies within the city of Defiance, Ohio.

History

The fort was built at the direction of Major General "Mad Anthony" Wayne in the second week of August 1794 at the confluence of the Auglaize and

Maumee Maumee may refer to: Places: * Maumee Township, Allen County, Indiana * Maumee, Ohio, a city in Lucas County * Maumee River, a river in northwestern Ohio and northeastern Indiana, United States * Maumee Bay, Ohio, on Lake Erie * Maumee State Fores ...

rivers. It was one of a line of defenses constructed by American forces in the campaign leading to the

Battle of Fallen Timbers The Battle of Fallen Timbers (20 August 1794) was the final battle of the Northwest Indian War, a struggle between Indigenous peoples of North America, Native American tribes affiliated with the Northwestern Confederacy and their Kingdom of Gre ...

on August 20, 1794. Work began on August 9, 1794, and was completed by August 17. The name was derived from a declaration by Charles Scott, who was leading a band of Kentucky militiamen in support of Wayne, that: "I defy the English, Indians, and all the devils of hell to take it."Nelson, p. 246 The post was considered one of the strongest fortifications built in that period. Before and during the Battle of Fallen Timbers, Wayne ordered the destruction of all Native American villages and their crops within a radius of the fort. The land which originally belonged to Native Americans was ceded to the United States by the British after the American Revolutionary War. The British would later supply and influence local tribes to take up arms. Under terms of the

, signed on August 3, 1795, the native nations ceded around the fort and allowed the Americans to maintain a trading post there, even though it was within the area of land defined by the "Greenville Treaty Line", beyond which Americans had agreed not to settle. Wayne promised the land of "Indiana", the remaining land to the west, to remain Indian forever. During the treaty meeting, Wayne brought with him food supplies for the natives and made sure crops were planted again. The fort was abandoned in 1796.

Later events

Fort Defiance served as a reference point for defining the boundary line of land cession in the

Treaty of Detroit The Treaty of Detroit was a treaty between the United States and the Ottawa, Chippewa, Wyandot and Potawatomi Native American nations. The treaty was signed in Detroit, Michigan on November 17, 1807, with William Hull, governor of the Mi ...

in 1807. This north–south line was used again as the Michigan Meridian in the survey of lands in

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

. Fort Winchester was constructed on a nearby site in 1812 by Gen.

William Henry Harrison William Henry Harrison (February 9, 1773April 4, 1841) was the ninth president of the United States, serving from March 4 to April 4, 1841, the shortest presidency in U.S. history. He was also the first U.S. president to die in office, causin ...

. The city of Defiance, Ohio, was founded at the fort's location in 1822. In 1904, the site of the fort was chosen for the Defiance Public Library. Today, a park occupies the site of the fort, which was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1980.

Sources

* *Catalano, Joshua (2019). "Blue Jacket, Anthony Wayne, and the Psychological and Symbolic War for Ohio, 1790-1795". ''Ohio History''. 126 (1): 5-34.

References

External links

Ohio History Central

Photos and visiting information
* {{National Register of Historic Places Defiance Northwest Indian War 1794 establishments in the Northwest Territory Protected areas of Defiance County, Ohio National Register of Historic Places in Defiance County, Ohio Pre-statehood history of Ohio Parks in Ohio Defiance Defiance, Ohio