Hoosier Dusty Files - January 21, 1785 - Treaty of Fort McIntosh Signed

A Year of Indiana History - 2016

January 21, 1785 - Treaty of Fort McIntosh Signed
The United States Government signed a treaty with various Amerindian tribes at Fort McIntosh in which the tribes signed away most of the future states of Ohio and portions of Indiana.
Fort McIntosh
Fort McIntosh is located at the junction of the Ohio and the Beaver Rivers. Lieutenant. Colonel Cambray-Digny designed and oversaw construction of the wooden stockade fortress in 1778. The Army abandoned the fort in 1791. The Residents of Beaver, Pennsylvania have restored the fort and it is open for visitation. For more information contact:
Beaver Area Heritage Foundation
Post Office Box 147
Beaver, PA 15009
info@beaverheritage.org
The Conference
George Rogers Clark, Arthur Lee, and Richard Butler represented the Confederation Congress at Fort McIntosh. The native delegation included members of the Wyandot, the Lenape (Delaware), the Ottawa, and the Ojibwa (Chippewa) tribes. Most important, the Shawnee did not attend. Another problem was that the Amerindian delegations included mostly younger chiefs who did not have the authority to sign a treaty of this magnitude. After plying the natives with alcohol for several days, the Americans convinced the natives to sign the treaty, which they did, on January 21, 1785.
The Treaty
The borders established by the treaty consisted roughly of the Cuyahoga River on the east. A southern border extended from modern-day Akron westward to the Tuscarawas River, southward to Fort Laurens, then westward to Pickawillany on the Miami River. A western border ran north from Pickawillany to the St. Mary's River, and then to current Ft. Wayne, Indiana. The treaty confined the natives to the northwest corner of Ohio. The whites promised not to settle west of the new boundary.
Aftermath
Instead of easing tensions between the whites and the natives, the treaty increased them. Whites continued encroaching on native lands. Many of the other tribes, including the powerful Shawnees, rejected it. Tensions continued to rise, resulting in the Battle of Fallen Timbers on August 20, 1794.

Indiana possesses a rich history that is fun to read and learn. This Hoosier Dusty Files is in an easy to read “this day in history format” and includes articles from the author's A Year in Indiana History series. Visitors may read the articles as they appear or purchase the book:
A Year of Indiana History - 2016
Facebook
@indianatreker
@MossyFeetBooks
Twitter
@MossyFeetBooks
© Paul Wonning