The Battle of Fallen Timbers

Wayne, an Indian and a militiaman overlook the battlefield

With history, it's important to gain perspective on specific events or they don't really make much sense. Like many battles, this didn't just spontaneously erupt one day. So with that in mind, the first half of this post is to give some background on what led up to this important but overlooked conflict. I did my best to be brief so it is certainly not all-encompassing and just covers what I feel are the major points. The second half concerns the actions just before the battle, the battle and its result which was ultimately the State of Ohio.

The prelude:
In the late 18th century, the newly formed United States was trying hard to eject the Shawnee, Miami, Delaware and other Indians from the Ohio country and open it for further settlement per the terms of the Treaty of Paris which ended the Revolutionary War. It seems the British gave away this territory to the Americans with nary a mention of the Indian claims to that land. The idea was that the British surrendered and since the Indians were allies of the British they were just included by proxy. The Brits back then had a problem with this concept it seems. As a result, the Americans felt they had a legal claim to this territory and began settling the area in droves. This did not sit well with the Indians currently living there and they fought back with somewhat covert British assistance. Yep, the same Brits who betrayed them at the Treaty of Paris! Ya see the Indians didn't have much choice but to trust the British again. It was either that or go at it alone but that would be disastrous since the British could provide much-needed supplies and intelligence from nearby Canada. The British would also benefit from this somewhat strained relationship by allowing them to keep a foothold in the territory they lost without really sacrificing any troops of their own. In a sense, the British really funded a long guerrilla war against the Americans after the end of the Revolutionary War. Sore losers.

Fallen Timbers Monument

After the end of the Revolutionary War, the US had already been badly defeated twice in 2 years by the Indians. At Harmar's Defeat in 1790, a campaign of a series of losses to the Indians in Ohio and again at St. Clairs Defeat in 1791 near present day Fort Recovery, where the Indians wiped out 1/4 of the US Army with a 97% casualty rate and minimal losses for the Indians. It was a slaughterhouse. No...really. This was the worst military defeat per capita ever in US history, much worse than the more famous Battle of Little Big Horn.  These victories buoyed the spirits of the Native Americans in Ohio and they held on to most of Ohio for another couple of years without much major resistance.

the Great Spirit over the battlefield after a downpour

The problem with these first two major US campaigns was that the soldiers were mostly undisciplined militia and not regular Army. It didn't help that Harmar and St Clair were not very skilled in the ways of frontier fighting and ignored warnings on Indian tactics by President Washington himself who had fought in the French and Indian War. It also didn't help that the Western Confederacy of Indians led by the Miami Chief Little Turtle, the Shawnee Blue Jacket, and the Delaware Buckongahelas were pretty skilled and knew the lay of the land more than the Americans. There were peace talks between the various Indian Chiefs and the Americans during 1792 where the US simply tried to buy the land to avoid more bloodshed. It was well known to the Indians that these new settlers were the poorest of the poorest whites and one observant Chief said that they didn't want the money and suggested that the US government just give the money to the poor whites and let the Indians keep their hunting grounds! Win-Win right? Eventually, the talks broke down and everyone went home. Some speculate that there was never really a serious attempt on the Americans behalf to settle this peacefully and peace talks were just a time killing ruse since while the talks were going on a new Army was being raised to finish what St Clair and Harmar had failed. President Washington appointed General "Mad" Anthony Wayne who had studied his predecessor's mistakes and included more disciplined regular soldiers.

my historical assistant Kelsey

The Battle:
In 1793 Wayne set out from Cincinnati's Fort Washington, building new forts, posts, and camps along the way and training his 4,600 men well in the ways of frontier battle. He also utilized some Choctaw and Chickasaw Indians serving as scouts that provided crucial information.

Wayne also knew the Indians well and played upon the fact that per tradition that the 1,500 Indian warriors would fast before the upcoming battle so he intentionally delayed the expected battle that was to be August 19th by one day which weakened his enemy.

just a sign at nearby British Ft Miamis

The area where the battle took place was already referred to as Fallen Timbers due to a large number of trees that had been uprooted from a tornado. The battle itself on August 20th, 1794 near present-day Toledo lasted about an hour and casualties were low, roughly 30 for each side but it was evident to the Indians that they would be overrun with this large organized force so they decided to retreat back 5 miles Northeast up the Maumee River to the British fort of Ft Miami which was being used as a supply post. The British, still supporters of the Indians against the Americans, were not eager or authorized to engage in battle with the US and refused to lend support or let them into the fort. The demoralized Indians decided to continue north while Wayne's men slashed and burned the crops and villages left behind which resulted in a very harsh winter for the Indians. This demoralized them even further over the next year and although skirmishes still occurred in Ohio many felt there was little choice to continue fighting. Over the next year, Wayne and many the various Chiefs negotiated the resulting 1795 Treaty of Greenville which ceded most of Ohio to the Americans.
It's important to note that one young Shawnee warrior named Tecumseh who was at the Battle of Fallen Timbers did not sign the treaty and would lead a resistance movement to reclaim this land 10 years later culminating in the War of 1812 on the side of the British with his own confederation inspired by Little Turtles confederation and Pontiac's before that. Tecumseh's confederation gets more attention in the history books but Little Turtles confederation actually enjoyed a longer, larger and more successful run.

Turkey Foot Rock

For many years the exact site of this important battle was lost to time and was thought to have been to the Southeast between where The Battle of Fallen Timbers Monument sits and the Maumee River but archaeology evidence in the 1990's was able to help determine the location is actually to the Northeast of the monument about a quarter mile away.
Fallen Timbers Battlefield was designated a National Historic Landmark on October 9, 1960. The main monument and statue placed in 1962 at the site of the battle in Maumee OH is unique because it honors both sides of this battle and depicts Wayne, a militiaman, and an Indian fighter. Nearby is a plaque honoring and listing the soldiers slain here. Another marker placed in 1994 by the American Indian Intertribal Association commemorates the 200th anniversary of the battle and honors their ancestors and the site of Ottawa Chief Turkey Foot's battlefield's death as well.

Fallen Timbers Battle Monument

(Front)

The Greenville Treaty

To General Anthony Wayne who organized the “Legion of the United States” by order of President Washington and defeated Chief Little Turtle’s warriors here at Fallen Timbers August 20, 1794. This victory led to the Treaty of Greenville, August 3, 1795. Which opened much of the present state of Ohio to white settlers.

(Right Side)

Indian Warfare

In memory of the white 

settlers massacred 1783-1794

(Left Side)

Onward in peace

To the pioneers of Ohio

And the great northwest

(Back)

The Battle of Fallen Timbers

To Chief Little Turtle and his brave Indian warriors

Da Plane! Da Plane!

1928 Time magazine cover

Orville Wright was born in 1871 on this date in Dayton OH. He never graduated from high school and did not attend college but he and his brother Wilbur changed the world forever due to their ambition and nurturing childhoods. Orville said of his upbringing, "We were lucky enough to grow up in an environment where there was always much encouragement to children to pursue intellectual interests; to investigate whatever aroused curiosity."
Much of their research and work was done in their Dayton bicycle shop but they chose Kitty Hawk, NC for their first test flight based on a suggestion by the U.S. Weather Bureau for that areas excellent wind conditions. The first flight in 1903 lasted 12 seconds and covered only 120 feet but a second flight that day was nearly a minute of controlled flight. By 1905 the brothers were making 30 minute controlled flights as they improved their designs. It's pretty amazing to think that in less than 50 years from these test flights there would be jets and spacecraft!
People all over the world at first were skeptical that such a thing even occurred and much debate ensued on whether they were "flyers or liars". They had to demonstrate this accomplishment many times before it became widely accepted as a fact. Even the US Military was dubious of the claim and practicality when the Wright Brothers tried to sell their design to them.

Wilbur (who was born in Indiana) died in 1912 of typhoid fever but Orville went on to be an aviation superstar and consultant eventually serving on the board of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) which was the predecessor to NASA. Orville died of a heart attack in 1948 just a few month after the first supersonic flight.

Happy 151st Birthday Annie Oakley

The famous American sharpshooter Annie Oakley was born on this date in 1860 as Phoebe Ann Mosey in Darke County OH just north of my favorite Treaty town of Greenville. Annie had a tough childhood even by 19th century standards. She spent part of that time in an abusive foster home with her eight siblings after her mother gave them up. When she ran away she discovered she had a knack for sharpshooting.
While visiting a sister in Cincinnati OH she met her future husband Frank Butler at a shooting match and derived her stage name from the local neighborhood of Oakley. She and her husband toured for a bit on their own but eventually joined  Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show in 1885 and traveled all over the world in the show until 1902 performing her trick shots for heads of state such as Queen Victoria and Kaiser Wilhelm. She became one of the most famous women in the world.
Due to her 100 lb 5 ft stature, she was given the Indian name Watanya Cicilla by the legendary Sioux War Chief turned performer Sitting Bull who also adopted her as his daughter into the Sioux nation. The term translated into her famous nickname of "Little Sure Shot". Her most famous trick was to repeatedly split a playing card, edge-on and put several more holes in it before it could touch the ground with a .22 rifle at 90 feet.

In later years she raised money for women's suffrage and other various causes and charities and continued demonstrating her shooting skills for audiences through her 60's. A terrible auto accident in 1922 caused her to retire so Frank and Annie moved to Greenville OH near her hometown where she eventually died from anemia on November 3rd, 1926 at the age of 66. Frank, out of despair for Annie, refused to eat and died 18 days later. She is buried in near Greenville OH in Brock Cemetery where the Garst Museum has an entire wing dedicated to her. Nearby is a little park with an Ohio Historical Marker and statue you see here.

Happy Bitchin' 44th Birthday Chevy Camaro!

The Chevy Camaro was born at the GM plant in Norwood, OH in 1966 on this day in Ohio history. The name is derived from the French word for "comrade" and was intended to be a competitor to the Ford Mustang. The 1967 model cost $2466 and were made in the Cincinnati suburb until 1987. I never owned one myself but I did own a Chevy Cavalier once.

Happy 58th Birthday to our 49th State...Ohio!

We've been led to believe that Ohio was the 17th US State and the 1st State admitted to the Union under new rules set up in our blossoming country on March 1st, 1803.
It's a lie.
In 1953, while people were preparing for the 150th birthday shindig, laughing to I Love Lucy and enjoying the sweet sounds of Ohio native Dean Martin's hit song, "That's Amore", it was discovered that in 1803 President Jefferson signed off on the borders and State Constitution. Congress, however, didn't formally declare Ohio a US State. Essentially the right paperwork was not done. Oops!

No one was even sure if Ohio's laws were even valid now. So everyone got to work, rolled up their sleeves, took a break from racial segregation and bringing suspected communists to the Loyalty Review Board and they united as one to solve this important problem.
I'm just kidding. No one really took a break from McCarthyism or segregation. This was 1953 and that would go on for a while in the "good ol' days".

Ohio's first statehouse, sort of

They did solve the problem of this low hanging fruit. To remedy this odd situation, the Ohio General Assembly (that technically wasn't even legal when you think about it) approved a new petition for statehood in the old 1803 capital of Chillicothe. Then, in the spirit of 1803 delivered it on horseback (yes really) to Washington DC where Congress then formally declared Ohio a state and President Ike signed it on August 7th, 1953. What about those 150 years? Never fear my dear Ohioans, they made it retroactive to March 1st, 1803.

Treaty of Greenville

Today is the 216th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Greenville. It was a visit to Greenville, OH that sparked my interest in this time period. I have visited there several times my kid's gymnastics meets but also again to see the Garst Museum and some geocaching in this historical area.

I will save those stories for a proper blog post at another time but I couldn't let this day go by without acknowledging this very important event in Ohio and US history.

A brief introduction to the Treaty of Greenville

the 1921 build-it-yourself Sears home

Across the street from Hosbrook Park, a little wild bird and flower preserve (with a geocache), in a suburb of Cincinnati called Madeira, there is a fairly nondescript average yet attractive little house. I really wouldn't have paid much attention to it but it had a plaque in front of it out by the street and I am drawn to those things like a bird to seed in my quest for history.
This house I learned was built from a kit purchased from a Sears & Roebuck catalog for $1,704 in 1922!

Between 1908 and 1940 Sears sold 75,000 homes like this across the country to folks eager to leave the crowded cities and become first-time homeowners. Sears supplied the nails, boards, screws, paint, shingles, and windows via the new-fangled railroad system but the masonry was done locally to keep the prices lower. Each kit came with a 75-page instruction book and contained 10,000 - 30,000 pieces. Sears would finance the kit homes for 25% down at an interest rate of 6%. The average American income in the 1920's was about $1200 so it would take more than 25% of your income to afford a home like this. The idea was you could build it yourself with a lot of help from friends like a barn raising or contract someone to do it for you in less time but at a slightly higher cost. Sears even numbered the boards to make it easier to build any one of their over 300 different designs through the years.

This particular home is the 1921 Crescent model and was originally built by the Fournier family in 1922. It is known as the Miller House for its second owners who bought it in 1948 and lived here until 1998. The house has 5 rooms with a solarium, an attached greenhouse and a fruit cellar. The garden in back was a pond at one time where the original owners kept an alligator.
The Great Depression caused a lot of people to default on their loans and the sales also declined forcing Sears to discontinue their Modern Homes department in 1940. In 1998, a few years after Bruce Miller died, his widow Elizabeth generously gave it to the Madeira Historical Society to use.

Many people still live in these homes today but since they are not the original owners many have no idea it was a kit home. One way to check is to first find out if your home was built during these years. If it was, look for shipping labels on the back of millwork and moulding as well as stamped numbers on exposed wood on staircases and joists.

what a Symmes hole!

We all know that John Cleves Symmes was a Judge and the surveyor of most of the SW Ohio area between the Great Miami and Little Miami Rivers in the late 1700’s known as the Symmes Purchase...right? There are roads, businesses, schools and a township named for him so you should at least recognize the name. In case you are unaware, his job was to hire folks to measure out the Ohio Valley into property to would be settlers for a low low price so that it could be developed into settlements for the budding US. Well, this isn't about THAT John Cleves Symmes. I'll leave him for a different post...

that's the hollow earth up there

Judge Symmes had a nephew, also named John Cleves Symmes,  who believed the Earth was basically hollow like a shell, we lived on the outside, but the inside had a delicious nougat center. Actually, he thought the inside was a series of nested hollow spheres inhabited by others and he wanted to visit there to prove it.
The idea of a hollow Earth wasn't really that crazy in the early 19th century and had been proposed by ancient philosophers as well as scientists such as British astronomer Edmund Halley of comet fame and the mathematician & physicist Leonhard Euler.
In Hamilton Ohio there is a monument to Symmes and his theory at his grave site. I visited there with my friend and fellow geocacher Mark Fischer (& son) in May of 2010. I likely would have never known about this had it not been for the geocache nearby that brought us here.

Symmes was born in New Jersey in 1779 and named after his famous Uncle. At some point, he added "Jr." to his name to stop the confusion between him and Uncle Symmes. In 1802, Jr began serving in the US Army and rose to the rank of Captian and fought in the War of 1812. After leaving the Army, he developed his Theory of Concentric Spheres and Solar Voids after reading Halley and Euler's ideas. Symmes himself was not a trained "natural philosopher" as scientists were called then, but he read a lot of science books and spent most of his post Army life on the lecture circuit discussing his version of the theory. He even tried to get the US government to finance an expedition to the 1400 mile wide opening or Symmes Hole as it was called, at one of the Earth's poles to reach the delicious center via the giant hole. President John Quincy Adams thought this was a grand idea but incoming President Andrew Jackson said no way. His money was all tied up on some 19th-century style ethnic cleansing of American Indians.**

**this sentence is pure speculation on my behalf, but Jackson did hate American Indians something fierce

plaque added that mirrors faded inscription

Symmes never even wrote a book on his theory (details details) but did publish a very nice pamphlet about his hollows and holes. One of his ardent followers and Hamilton's first Mayor, James McBride wrote a book called Symmes' Theory of Concentric Spheres in 1826.

Americus Symmes' tribute to dear old Dad

Symmes Jr. died at the age of 49 in 1829 still believing his theory and was buried in present-day Hamilton OH in his own Symmes Hole.
A follower named Jeremiah Reynolds finally did help persuade Congress to fund an expedition after Symmes' death and the resulting 1838 US Naval "Wilkes Expedition" ended up discovering a new land mass rather than just ice where Antarctica is. So, in effect, Symmes Hollow Earth theory led to the discovery of our 7th continent. Sorta.

His son Americus Symmes erected this monument in 1873 at his grave site. The inscriptions on the monument have been worn down over the years and plaques have been added that reproduce the words. There was a larger cemetery here at one time but for some reason, many of the people buried in this cemetery were re-interred in a larger place nearby. Symmes Jr still remains in this tiny fenced plot which is surrounded by a city park and playground. I'm sure the kids that playing with their hollow sphere basketball near the monument have no idea what's going on 300 feet from them.

I declare the earth is hollow and habitable within; containing a number of solid concentrick spheres, one within the other, and that it is open at the poles 12 or 16 degrees; I pledge my life in support of this truth, and am ready to explore the hollow, if the world will support and aid me in the undertaking. - John Cleves Symmes Jr., 1818

See more pictures of the monument here

Leatherlips must die

Chief Leatherlips was actually Chief Shateyaronyah (Sha-tey-ya-ron-yah) of the Wyandots in the present day Columbus/Dublin Ohio area. Leatherlips was the name he was given by the white settlers for always keeping his promises and being trustworthy. This was at a very nervous time for all as a state of war was looming again with the British. Tecumseh and his brother The Prophet were trying to get the pan-Indian tribe confederation going and aligning themselves with the British against the Americans. Everyone was choosing sides again.



Leatherlips, a signer of the 1795 Treaty of Greenville, decided to continue siding and cooperating with the Americans in the early 19th century while Tecumseh was trying to build his confederacy. This did not sit well with Tecumseh and the Prophet, so in May of 1810, a Tecumseh loyal party of Wyandots led by Chief Roundhead (who happened to be Leatherlips brother) traveled from the area of Tippecanoe IN into what is now the Dublin OH area to carry out a trial. The three-hour council trial, mainly about some trumped up witchcraft charges rather than his dealing with the Americans, not surprisingly resulted in him being found guilty and sentenced to death. Local whites settlers who liked the Chief, pleaded with the Indians to spare his life and attempted to bribe the other Wyandots. Failing that they felt they were not able strong enough to resist them physically and feared further retaliation against their settlement if they interfered. The Chief was allowed a final meal, dressed in his finest clothes, painted his face, then did his death chant as he walked calmly to his execution spot and kneeled before his open grave. He was then killed by two tomahawk blows to the head.



William Sells who witnessed the execution wrote an account of the event. This account was preserved and seventy-seven years later read aloud by Colonel Sam Thompson to members of the Wyandot Club, a local fraternal organization. Following the address, the club formed a committee to procure a proper grave marker for the site of Chief Leatherlips’ burial. The one-acre tract of land where the Wyandot Chief was buried was purchased for the site of the monument. The inscription reads “Leatherlips A Chief of the Wyandot tribe of Indians was executed on this spot June 1, 1810. Erected by the Wyandot Club of Columbus, Ohio 1889.”


The Dublin Arts Council, in part, to memorialize the local heritage of Native American's history hired Boston artist Ralph Helmick to create the giant sculpture of the head of the Wyandot Chief Leatherlips and it was dedicated on July 1, 1990, 180 years and one month after his death.  The monument is a twelve-foot high limestone statue, built in Scioto Park facing the Scioto River just down the road from the execution spot and marker.

a memento at the Leatherlips marker - 12/31/2010

For more information about the execution of Leatherlips, click here.

Tillie the Elephant

Tillie was one of the Asian elephants who performed in the Robinson Circus for over 30 years in the late 19th and early 20th century.  John Robinson was a circus owner who purchased his 1855 Terrace Park OH home and property in 1886 as a place to keep the circus animals in the winter months. He also built the opera house in 1872 that once stood across from Cincinnati City Hall at 9th & Plum.

After the Robinson Circus was bought out by another circus around 1916, Tillie and 3 of the other elephants remained in Terrace Park as retirees.

I first learned the story of Tillie in a book called "A Place Called Terrace Park". Tillie and her other Asian elephant's comrades actually roamed the streets of Terrace Park at times and even assisted in installing utility poles, hauling heavy items and other various odd jobs and sometimes would even get into general mischief around town. I am picturing something like the Flintstones here but I don't think she was ever used to vacuum carpets.

When Tillie died at the age of 65 (although the circus claimed the unlikely age of 120), it was a pretty big civic event and everyone came out. Children were even let out of school to attend. It is rumored that her legs were cut off in order to bury her or in order remove the body from the barn or perhaps to fit her in the grave that was not big enough. It is more likely they were removed simply for monetary gain as another story confirms that after the funeral attendees left the scene her legs were removed to be re-used sold for products such as umbrella stands or tables. While she was loved by her community, remember that this was 1932 when things like this were generally acceptable. At one time the Cincinnati Art Museum had one of these umbrella stands but I'm not sure if it is still there.

reenactment of Tillies funeral

I told my kids all about Tillie and how no one knew where her grave was which we thought was kind of a sad and unfitting end for the old girl. So, on one rainy evening last summer we decided to do our own re-enactment of Tillie the Elephant's graveside service that occurred on Jan 17th, 1932. The people of Terrace Park and Tillie's mourners are portrayed here by many wonderful characters. John F. Robinson is portrayed by Sir Paul McCartney. Her legs there in the front have not yet been made into umbrella stands.

In the book, I mentioned previously there was a fuzzy black and white picture that showed some sort of memorial marker for Tillie but it didn't say exactly where it was located but I thought it might be near the house. Since there were some geocaches in the area and other historical items nearby I decided it was worth checking out.  The kids and I mosied over to Circus Place in Terrace Park on August 7th, 2010 to check it all out.

the Tillie Memorial (with her exaggerated age)

Approaching the house, I was immediately surprised. Greeting us between two driveways was a huge stone marker with Tillie's name on it that matched the picture I'd seen. There happened to be a woman outside next door who noticed us looking around. After striking up a conversation with her I would soon learn she is the Secretary of the Terrace Park Historical Society. This was a nice bonus! She was very gracious to take our picture and we had a nice chat about Tillie and other items of interest in Terrace Park. I asked her if she had any ideas where Tillie was buried and she heard that Tillie was buried in an unused cistern and that this marker was moved here from another location in Terrace Park at one point. Another rumor by someone who claims to have seen the burial is that Tillie is buried near the field on Wooster Pike where she gave rides to children but there are homes occupying that spot now. At any rate, Tillie definitely wasn't here with the marker. The neighbor also told me that at the time the circus was here all the surrounding homes were not here and all of them had little odds and ends of reminders of that time when the circus was here. It was a good chat and history lesson but then we were off for some geocaching and other history sightseeing.
If you are ever in Terrace Park, stop by and pay your condolences to Tillie or if you are in the market for a new home, as of this writing the impressive Robinson house is again for sale for a cool $1.2 million.

Robinson House - The T shaped window is for Tillie

Click here and here for more information about Tillie and the Robinson Circus in Terrace Park OH. There are some great old pictures of the circus and the house in that article. Other information about the history of the Robinson House is available at this website.

3/10/2017: Updated some of the dead links in the post