Treaty of Greeneville (1795)

On August 20, 1794, an American army commanded by Anthony Wayne defeated a Native American force led by Blue Jacket of the Shawnee at the Battle of Fallen Timbers. With this victory, Indians living in the western portion of modern-day Ohio knew that they had to sue for peace. In January 1795, representatives from the various tribes met with Wayne at Fort Greene Ville. The Americans and natives spent the next eight months negotiating a treaty. It became known as the Treaty of Greeneville.

On August 3, 1795, leaders of the Wyandot Indians, the Delaware Indians, the Shawnee Indians, the Ottawa Indians, the Miami Indians, the Eel River Indians, the Wea Indians, the Chippewa Indians, the Potawatomi Indians, the Kickapoo Indians, the Piankashaw Indians, and the Kaskaskia Indians formally signed the treaty. The natives agreed to relinquish all claims to land south and east of a boundary that began roughly at the mouth of the Cuyahoga River. It ran southward to Fort Laurens and then turned westward to Fort Loramie and Fort Recovery. It then turned southward to the Ohio River. The Indians, however, could still hunt on the land that they ceded. The whites agreed to relinquish their claims to land north and west of the line, although the natives permitted the Americans to establish several trading posts in their territory. The United States also provided the Indians with $20,000 worth of goods for signing the treaty. The American government also agreed to give the natives $9,500 every year in goods. The Indians were to decide how the goods would be divided among them.

Many Indians refused to honor the agreement. White settlers continued to move onto the contested land. Violence continued between these two peoples. Native American leaders like Tecumseh and the Prophet would emerge in the early 1800s to carry on the Indian struggle to regain their lost land.