As Long as the Grass Grows · Episode 4 of 15 · 33 min
The "Permanent" Native Border That Lasted Barely a Decade
The 1795 Treaty of Greenville drew a line across Ohio meant to separate Native land from American settlement forever, and settlers crossed it almost at once. When William Henry Harrison bought three million acres in 1809 from chiefs with doubtful authority, Tecumseh built a confederacy on the idea that land was held in common. It was a treaty broken in the making.
Who's who
- Anthony WayneGeneral who won at Fallen Timbers and negotiated the Treaty of Greenville
- Little TurtleMiami war leader who later counseled accommodation
- Blue JacketShawnee commander at Fallen Timbers and Greenville signer
- BuckongahelasLenape war leader and Greenville signer
- TarheWyandot chief who kept peace with the United States
- Black HoofShawnee signer who chose accommodation and opposed Tecumseh
- William Henry HarrisonIndiana Territory governor who negotiated the 1809 Fort Wayne treaty
- TecumsehShawnee leader who argued land could not be sold by any one chief
Where it happens
- Fallen Timbers, Maumee, OhioSite of Wayne's 1794 victory over the Northwestern Confederacy
- Greenville, OhioSite of the 1795 treaty and the boundary line
- Fort Wayne, IndianaSite of the 1809 cession of about three million acres
- Prophetstown, IndianaVillage burned after the Battle of Tippecanoe
- Thames River, Ontario, CanadaWhere Tecumseh was killed in 1813
Timeline
- August 20, 1794Wayne defeats the Northwestern Confederacy at Fallen Timbers
- August 3, 1795The Treaty of Greenville is signed and draws the boundary line
- September 30, 1809The Treaty of Fort Wayne gives Harrison about three million acres
- November 7, 1811The Battle of Tippecanoe; Harrison's men burn Prophetstown
- October 5, 1813Tecumseh is killed at the Battle of the Thames and his confederacy collapses
Still debated
Sources differ on the Fort Wayne treaty's exact date and on the date and wording of Tecumseh's Vincennes speech. The dispute is best framed as one over the scope of the signers' authority over commonly held land, and who killed Tecumseh is unverifiable.