U.S. officials negotiated the Treaty of Fort McIntosh with representatives of several Native nations, setting a boundary line in the Ohio Country and asserting U.S. claims to large areas. Many Native leaders later rejected the agreement, arguing signers lacked authority, which helped deepen distrust. The disputed land terms became an early driver of wider resistance in the Northwest Territory.
At Fort Finney, U.S. negotiators reached a treaty with some Shawnee leaders that included land cessions. Other Shawnee leaders later renounced the treaty, viewing it as imposed and illegitimate. The split over land concessions contributed to a broader Native confederation opposing U.S. expansion.
The Confederation Congress adopted the Northwest Ordinance to organize the Northwest Territory and outline how new states could be created and admitted. It also set out certain legal rights for settlers and banned slavery in the territory. As settlement plans accelerated, the ordinance increased pressure on contested Native homelands in the Ohio region.
U.S. officials met with representatives of multiple Native nations at Fort Harmar and sought to confirm earlier treaties and land boundaries. Many Native communities did not accept the treaty’s legitimacy, and violence on the frontier continued. Instead of settling disputes, the treaty became another point of contention over who could validly cede land.
The U.S. constructed Fort Washington in what is now downtown Cincinnati to support settlement and military operations in the Northwest Territory. The fort became the main staging point for major expeditions against the Western (Northwestern) Confederacy. Its creation signaled a more sustained U.S. commitment to military enforcement of territorial claims.
U.S. forces under Gen. Josiah Harmar marched north from Fort Washington to strike Native towns and influence around Kekionga (near present-day Fort Wayne, Indiana). In October 1790, Harmar’s detachments were defeated in a series of engagements, and the expedition withdrew. The outcome encouraged the Western Confederacy and showed the limits of relying on poorly coordinated forces.
In the Battle of the Wabash, Native forces led by key confederacy leaders defeated Gen. Arthur St. Clair’s army on November 4, 1791. The U.S. suffered one of the worst defeats in its military history, with extremely high casualties. The disaster pushed federal leaders toward building a better-trained standing force for the frontier war.
After repeated setbacks, Congress approved a major army reorganization into the Legion of the United States, designed as a combined-arms force (infantry, cavalry, and artillery working together). The goal was to create a more disciplined, professional army than ad hoc militia-heavy expeditions. This reform set the stage for a new U.S. strategy under Maj. Gen. Anthony Wayne.
In late 1793, Wayne’s Legion moved forward methodically, constructing and garrisoning forts to secure supply lines. Fort Recovery was built on or near the site of St. Clair’s 1791 defeat, turning a previous disaster location into a forward base. The fort network helped Wayne protect his army and maintain pressure in contested territory.
A large confederacy force attacked Fort Recovery on June 30–July 1, 1794, aiming to break Wayne’s forward position and disrupt U.S. momentum. The fort held, and the attackers withdrew, weakening confidence that the confederacy could stop Wayne’s advance. After this, Wayne was better positioned to move north toward the Maumee River area.
On August 20, 1794, Wayne’s Legion defeated the Western Confederacy at Fallen Timbers near the Maumee River (close to present-day Toledo, Ohio). The victory broke the confederacy’s battlefield position and sharply reduced its ability to resist U.S. fort-building and settlement pressures. The battle became the decisive military turning point leading toward treaty negotiations.
The Jay Treaty between the United States and Great Britain was signed on November 19, 1794. Among other provisions, Britain agreed to evacuate its posts in the Northwest Territory by June 1, 1796, reducing outside support that had helped sustain Native resistance. This shift strengthened the U.S. bargaining position after Fallen Timbers.
On August 3, 1795, U.S. representatives led by Anthony Wayne and leaders from multiple Native nations signed the Treaty of Greenville at Fort Greenville (in present-day Ohio). The treaty established a new boundary between U.S. settlement areas and remaining Indian lands, and it included land cessions and an end to hostilities. It became the key treaty settlement that concluded the war’s main phase and reshaped U.S.-Native relations in the Old Northwest.
Northwest Indian War and Treaty Settlements (1785–1795)