Fort Miami (Miamis) was a British fort built in spring 1794 on the Maumee River in what was at the time territory claimed by the United States, and designated by the federal government as the Northwest Territory. The fort was located at the eastern edge of present-day Maumee, Ohio, southwest of Toledo.
The British built the fort to forestall a putative assault on Fort Detroit by Gen. "Mad" Anthony Wayne's army, then advancing northward in southwestern Ohio.
Earthworks at the site
Fort Miami, looking toward Fort Meigs, Maumee, Ohio
Fort Miami on the Maumee River above Toledo, Ohio
Fort Miami, Maumee, Ohio
The Northwest Territory, also known as the Old Northwest and formally known as the Territory Northwest of the River Ohio, was formed from unorganized western territory of the United States after the American Revolution. Established in 1787 by the Congress of the Confederation through the Northwest Ordinance, it was the nation's first post-colonial organized incorporated territory.
Check signed by Arthur St. Clair while governor of the Northwest Territory, 1796
Rufus Putnam. This portrait by James Sharples Jr. is in the collection of Independence National Historical Park, and hangs in the Second Bank of the United States building in Philadelphia.
Campus Martius ("Field of Mars" in Latin) was named after the part of Rome of the same name. This site, including the Rufus Putnam House, is now part of the Campus Martius Museum in Marietta, Ohio.
Seal of the Northwest Territory over a time capsule outside the Campus Martius Museum. The Latin phrase, "He has planted one better than the one fallen," signifies the replacement of wilderness by civilization.
