Bob Powell Published

Greenville Treaty Ends Indian Threat to Western Va: August 3, 1795

Greenville Treaty
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On August 3, 1795, the United States and several Indian tribes signed the Treaty of Greenville. Although the treaty was signed in western Ohio, it had a major impact on the region that would later become West Virginia.

Under the terms of the treaty, the Indians ceded to the United States about two-thirds of present Ohio. By pushing the tribes west, it ended the threat of Indian attacks on the Western Virginia frontier.

For decades, Indians and pioneers had had continual conflicts on the Western Virginia frontier, with the violence peaking in 1774 and again during the Revolutionary War. Although Indian attacks waned in the years following the Revolution, there were still sporadic conflicts. The Treaty of Greenville brought peace to Western Virginia and sparked an influx of new settlement, while depriving Indians of even more of their ancestral land.

The treaty didn’t assure peace in Ohio, though, and places further west. Settlers immediately poured into territory promised to the tribes. Also, some Indian leaders, such as Tecumseh, refused to sign the treaty and began putting up long-term resistance.