In 1783, America and Great Britain signed the Treat of Paris, not only giving America independence, but ceding to the U.S. "control" of the Northwest territory. Though the British asked their allies to stop attacks on the Americans, there was a great deal of hypocrisy in these requests. The British encouraged Indian tribes alliances to keep Americans out of Ohio, and provided the Ohio tribes with arms and aid from forts within the American treaty. The frontiersmen of Virginia (including Kentucky) and Pennsylvania had been warring with the Shawnee, Delaware and other Indian tribes of the Northwest for years. The war with Great Britain was over, but both the frontiersmen settlers and the Shawnee Indians had many scores to settle. For years, these frontiersmen, known as the "Long Knives" to the Shawnee Indians had been battling them for land. By 1774, there were 50,000 "Long Knives" west of the Appalachians spoiling for a fight. For many years, there were massacres on both sides. Now that war was over, the new American government needed to sell the land in Ohio to pay debts. Since squatters do not pay for land they occupy, Congress needed to set a frontier with the Ohio tribes so that settlement could begin. So, Congress negotiated a treaty with individual tribes and declared American sovereignty to in Ohio, but neither the American Government nor the Indian chiefs spoke for the inhabitants of the land. In 1789, an agreement was signed at Fort Harmar as a final attempt to resolve a border by treaty. This treaty was ignored by both the Shawnee Indians who refused to give up land and the Long Knives who wanted all of Ohio. The Shawnee and Miami tribes established a consensus for war.
America had to act. In his second state of the union address, George Washington announced that he and the Secretary of War Henry Knox had ordered General Josiah Harmar to launch a major offensive into the Shawnee and Miami country. First, the president stood up for the frontiersmen or "Long Knives" by pointing out the crimes of the tribes dwelling on or near the Wabash. They had refused to abide by the treaties that were signed, or in Washington's words,
"instead of listening to the humane invitations and overtures made on the part of the United States, renewed their violences with fresh alacrity and greater effect. The lives of a number of valuable citizens have thus been sacrificed, and some of them under circumstances peculiarly shocking, whilst others have been carried into a deplorable captivity"Washington wanted to send a strong message to the Indian tribes, that while America would respect their rights, we will also punish their crimes. America was going to defend the "Long Knives" by sending in "drafts of milita" as were deemed sufficient. As Commander in Chief, the former General George Washington was informing congress that America taking offensive military action to defend it's borders.
"These aggravated provocations rendered it essential to the safety of the Western settlements that the aggressors should be made sensible that the Government of the Union is not less capable of punishing their crimes than it is disposed to respect their rights and reward their attachments. As this object could not be effected by defensive measures, it became necessary to put in force the act which empowers the President to call out the militia for the protection of the frontiers, and I have accordingly authorized an expedition in which the regular troops in that quarter are combined with such drafts of militia as were deemed sufficient. The event of the measure is yet unknown to me. The Secretary of War is directed to lay before you a statement of the information on which it is founded, as well as an estimate of the expense with which it will be attended."
In October 1790, General Harmar led a force of 1453 men to assemble near present-day Fort Wayne, Indiana. Harmar committed only 400 of his men under Colonel John Hardin to attack a Native force of some 1,100 warriors. Americans lost 129 soldiers in what had become known as Harmar's defeat. On October 20, 1790 native warriors led by Chief Little Turtle of Miami attacked the detachment of men led by Colonel Hardin. Hardin had led his men directly into an ambush. The soldiers put up brief resistance, but a majority of them were killed. Most of the remaining soldiers fled the battle without firing a shot and were pursued by the Miami until they crossed the Ohio river back into Kentucky.
http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=29432
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northwest_Indian_War
http://www.tolatsga.org/shaw.html
http://www.lordnelsons.com/gallery/frontier/TPrice/01.htm
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