History

The Northwest Territory was the critical western front of the Revolution. The British held a network of forts stretching from Detroit to the Illinois Country, and they actively supported Native alliances against American settlements along the frontier.

Colonel George Rogers Clark's 1778-1779 campaign through the Illinois Country was one of the most audacious operations of the entire war. With a force of fewer than 200 men, Clark captured Kaskaskia and Cahokia, then made a legendary 18-day winter march through flooded terrain to surprise the British garrison at Fort Vincennes in February 1779.

The Three Rivers region, the confluence of the St. Marys, St. Joseph, and Maumee rivers where Fort Wayne stands today, was the capital of the Miami Confederacy and a vital strategic position. The Miami, led by leaders like Pacanne and Little Turtle, navigated a complex web of alliances with French, British, and American interests throughout the war.

Clark's conquests helped secure American claims to the Northwest Territory in the 1783 Treaty of Paris, directly leading to the creation of Indiana and the other states carved from this vast region.

While the most famous battles of the American Revolution took place along the eastern seaboard, the war extended deep into the frontier. The land that would become Indiana was contested territory, home to the Miami, Shawnee, and other nations, and a strategic prize for both British and American forces.

In 1779, Colonel George Rogers Clark led a legendary expedition through the Illinois Country. His audacious winter march to Fort Vincennes (Fort Sackville) stunned the British garrison under Lieutenant Governor Henry Hamilton. Clark's capture of Vincennes secured the Northwest Territory for the American cause and laid the groundwork for Indiana's future statehood.

The Three Rivers area, where Fort Wayne now stands, was the heart of the Miami Confederacy and a vital crossroads of trade and military routes. The struggles and alliances formed here during the Revolution shaped the region for decades to come.