Nestled in the heart of what is now Cincinnati, Fort Washington, Ohio, stood as a crucial military outpost designed to safeguard early American settlers in the nascent Northwest Territory. Established in 1790 on the Ohio River’s north bank at the mouth of the Licking River, this fortified stockade was instrumental in shaping the frontier landscape and securing vital lands for the burgeoning United States. The fort, named in honor of President George Washington, played a pivotal role in the complex and often violent interactions between American expansionists and Native American tribes.
Following the American Revolution, the allure of land and fresh opportunities drew countless settlers down the Ohio River into the vast, untamed expanse of the Northwest Territory. This influx of pioneers, eager to claim their stake, set the stage for inevitable conflict and the need for robust military protection.
The Scramble for Land and Early Settlements
Land speculators quickly moved to capitalize on the desire for new beginnings. Figures like New Jersey Supreme Court Justice John Symmes began purchasing large tracts of land, dividing them into smaller, more accessible parcels. While this promised significant profits, it also escalated tensions with the region’s indigenous inhabitants, leading to a dramatic increase in violence and killings. Symmes’ efforts culminated in a widely circulated pamphlet on November 26, 1787, advertising the rich lands between the two Miami Rivers in the Ohio country.
This speculation spurred the establishment of several key settlements:
- Columbia: Founded on November 18, 1788, by a group led by Benjamin Stites, located about a mile west of the Little Miami River.
- Losantiville (Later Cincinnati): On December 28, 1788, 22 settlers under Mathias Denman and Colonel John Patterson landed at the site of present-day Sycamore Street, establishing this settlement, which would become the future capital of the Northwest Territory.
- North Bend: In January 1789, Judge Symmes himself, alongside 60 settlers, founded North Bend on the Great Miami River, further demonstrating the rapid westward expansion.
Amidst this expansion, General Josiah Harmar, commanding the First American Regiment at Fort Harmar, recognized the need for a stronger military presence further west. The future of these fledgling settlements remained precarious, shadowed by the ongoing dispute over land ownership.
Treaties, Resistance, and the Growing Threat
Despite a series of treaties—Fort Stanwix (1784), Fort McIntosh (1785), and Fort Finney (1786)—which ostensibly opened southern Ohio to white settlement, the reality on the ground was far different. Many of the Native American signatories, often minor chiefs, had been coerced or bribed and lacked true tribal authority. For instance, the Iroquois ceded lands at Fort Stanwix that rightfully belonged to the Shawnee, who, along with other tribes, had no intention of relinquishing their ancestral territories so easily.
By 1789, the Indian threat was palpable. General Arthur St. Clair, appointed governor of the Northwest Territory, arrived in Cincinnati to find a nascent settlement constantly under duress. The Treaty of Fort Harmar, concluded in January 1789, attempted to formalize land claims north of the Ohio River but was also met with skepticism and outright refusal by many tribes, particularly the Shawnee, who deeply understood the implications of such an agreement. Decades of conflict, including George Rogers Clark’s destruction of a Shawnee village during the American Revolution, fueled a deep-seated resistance that would persist long after the War of 1812 and the death of their leader, Chief Tecumseh.
The existing settler defenses were meager. Columbia had Stites’ small fort, Losantiville relied on a blockhouse built by George Rogers Clark, and North Bend was protected by a small, often sickly, detachment of soldiers. It became clear that more substantial protection was desperately needed.
The Construction of Fort Washington, Ohio
Judge Symmes’ repeated requests for military aid finally bore fruit. On August 9, 1789, Brigadier General Josiah Harmar dispatched a full company to North Bend, followed two days later by his second-in-command, Major John Doughty. Doughty, experienced in fort construction, was tasked with selecting a site for a new fort to protect the Symmes Purchase.
By August 21, Doughty had chosen a strategic location 550 feet from the Ohio River,
