Fort Miami
600 Michigan Ave.Maumee, OH 43537
419-407-9700 | https://metroparkstoledo.com/
Battles Over the Northwest Territory
Fort Miami is a National Historic managed by the Metropolitan Park District of the Toledo Area in partnership with Ohio History Connection. This site represents Ohio’s military history and the history of Northwest Ohio Settlement at the end of the eighteenth century.
Following the Revolutionary War, representatives from the US and Great Britain signed the Treaty of Paris in 1783, giving the Northwest Territory to the United States. However, a clause in the treaty allowed Great Britain to maintain a presence along Lake Erie until American settlers resolved their differences with Native Americans in the area. Control of the land in Northwest Ohio was a heavily contested issue between US and Native American forces. Native Americans were not consulted before the Treaty of Paris, nor did they sign away the land they occupied in the Northwest Territory. Therefore, for years following the end of the Revolution, tensions ran high between Native Americans and the Americans attempting to settle the region.
The acrimony culminated on August 20, 1794, when an American army led by General Anthony Wayne was ambushed by a Native American Confederacy along the Maumee River. Wayne’s position along the river allowed him time to prepare his troops for the attack, resulting in a brief battle and lucrative victory for the United States. Immediately following the Battle of Fallen Timbers, as it came to be known, Wayne and his army marched on the British controlled Fort Miami, up the river from the Fallen Timbers battlefield. At this point, Great Britain and the United States were not at war, and Wayne’s siege became a standoff as the legion of American troops circled the fort. Neither side was willing to engage in battle, and Wayne’s troops withdrew, destroying a British trading post and Native American crops and villages as they retreated. The events of that year resulted in the Treaty of Greenville, signed in 1795. The Treaty called for Native American’s to cede all land south and east of an established boundary line, confining them to the northwest corner of Ohio.
Following the standoff at Fort Miami, British troops withdrew from the area, leaving the fort abandoned. By 1813, northwest Ohio was involved in another battle for territory, known later as the War of 1812. That year, British troops used Fort Miami as a camping and supply site. Its strategic location was optimal during an attempted siege of Fort Meigs. The British were defeated in October of 1813 at the Battle of the Thames, leading to the end of their presence in the Northwest Territory.
Notes for Travelers
Fort Miami played a significant role in the conquest for control of Northwest Ohio during the turn of the nineteenth century. Today, the land is a National Historic Site, and is managed by Toledo Metroparks. Visitors can imagine what the fort may have looked like along the Maumee as they walk through the park. Five miles downriver from Fort Miami is the Fallen Timbers Battlefield Memorial, connecting visitors who travel through Toledo’s Metroparks along the river to this region’s history and the role of the Maumee River to the area's development.
Additional Resources
Border Wars of the Upper Ohio Valley (1769-1794), William Hintzen.Fallen Timbers 1794: The US Army’s First Victory, John F. Winkler.