Treaty of Greenville, 1795
At Greenville, after a U.S. army victory, twelve nations ceded most of present Ohio and post sites for goods.
- Signed
- August 3, 1795
- Senate
- Ratified December 22, 1795
- Land given up
- about 19 million acres
- Land set aside for the nations
- about 1.8 million acres
- Promises
- 1 of 1 broken or only partly kept
What happened
What happened
On August 3, 1795, Major General Anthony Wayne, commanding the U.S. Army, signed a treaty at Greeneville, Ohio. The other side was leaders of twelve nations: the Wyandots, Delawares, Shawnees, Ottawas, Chippewas, Potawatomi, Miamis, Eel River, Weas, Kickapoos, Piankashaws and Kaskaskias. The treaty says its purpose was "to put an end to a destructive war." The e-WV encyclopedia says the war's fighting had ended with Wayne's victory at the Battle of Fallen Timbers on August 20, 1794.
Article III drew a boundary line. The nations ceded "all their claims to the lands lying eastwardly and southwardly" of it. They also gave up a list of tracts for U.S. posts, including sites at Fort Wayne, the foot of the rapids of the Miami of the Lake, and Detroit. The e-WV encyclopedia says the cession covered about two-thirds of present Ohio.
In exchange the United States delivered $20,000 in goods and promised $9,500 in goods every year, shared out among the nations. The nations kept the right to hunt on the lands the United States gave up, and could drive off or punish settlers who moved onto them.
The e-WV encyclopedia says some leaders, such as Tecumseh, had not signed and did not recognize the treaty. It also says problems continued because settlers almost immediately began to breach the Indian territory to the west. Later events are in the atlas's linked violation record.
What was promised, and what happened
- Partly kept
The United States relinquished its claims to other Indian lands north of the Ohio and east of the Mississippi. (Art. 4)
problems continued because whites almost immediately began to breach the Indian territory to the west
wvencyclopedia.org
Good to know. The "two-thirds of present Ohio" size is one encyclopedia's estimate; the treaty states no acreage.
Summarized with AI assistance from 4 sources and checked against their words; not yet reviewed by historians or by the nations. Report an error
What the sources say, and how this was checked
Well supported by the sources below.
To put an end to a destructive war, to settle all controversies, and to restore harmony
Tribal Treaties Database: Treaty of Greenville, 1795 (Oklahoma State University Libraries)the said Indians tribes do hereby cede and relinquish forever, all their claims to the lands lying eastwardly and southwardly
Tribal Treaties Database: Treaty of Greenville, 1795 (Oklahoma State University Libraries)The treaty brought to an end a series of hostilities along the Ohio Valley frontier in the early 1790s
Treaty of Greenville - e-WV: The West Virginia Encyclopediasome tribal leaders, such as Tecumseh, had not signed the treaty and did not recognize its provisions
Treaty of Greenville - e-WV: The West Virginia Encyclopedia
Research notes. Acreage is not stated in the sources opened; e-WV says the cession was about two-thirds of present Ohio. The OSU header gives 'Proclamation, Dec. 2, 1795'. The ceded post tracts include sites in present Indiana, such as Fort Wayne.
What the treaty did to the land
About 19 million acres given up. about 1.8 million acres recognized, kept or set aside for the nations. Each shape is a numbered area in the federal government’s 1899 record of land cessions.
ceded to the United Statesabout 19 million acres
Land of the Chippewa, Delaware and others in Indiana and Ohio, ceded 1795 (area 11)
Ceded by a dozen tribes, including the Delaware, Shawnee, Miami and Wyandot, in the 1795 Treaty of Greenville, which took most of Ohio and part of southeastern Indiana.
set aside as a reservationabout 1.8 million acres
Land of the Chippewa, Delaware and others in Illinois and Indiana, ceded 1795 (area 26)
Excepted from the 1795 Greenville cession as Clark's grant, 150,000 acres at the Falls of the Ohio; the 1803 Fort Wayne treaty only settled its boundaries.
kept by the United States for itselfabout 216,000 acres
Land kept by the United States in Indiana, 1795 (area 25)
Not a cession by the Indians: at Greenville in 1795 the United States excepted this tract, granted to General Clark near the rapids of the Ohio, from the land it gave up.
ceded to the United Statesabout 92,000 acres
Land of the Chippewa, Delaware and others in Ohio, ceded 1795 (area 18)
Ceded at the 1795 Treaty of Greenville, one of the small tracts for forts, posts and portages the tribes gave the United States inside the territory they kept.
ceded to the United Statesabout 47,000 acres
Land of the Chippewa, Delaware and others in Ohio, ceded 1795 (area 12)
Ceded at the 1795 Treaty of Greenville, one of the small tracts for forts, posts and portages the tribes gave the United States inside the territory they kept.
ceded to the United Statesabout 23,000 acres
Land of the Chippewa, Delaware and others in Ohio, ceded 1795 (area 14)
Ceded at the 1795 Treaty of Greenville, one of the small tracts for forts, posts and portages the tribes gave the United States inside the territory they kept.
ceded to the United Statesabout 23,000 acres
Land of the Chippewa, Delaware and others in Ohio, ceded 1795 (area 15)
Ceded at the 1795 Treaty of Greenville, one of the small tracts for forts, posts and portages the tribes gave the United States inside the territory they kept.
ceded to the United Statesabout 23,000 acres
Land of the Chippewa, Delaware and others in Indiana, ceded 1795 (area 16)
Ceded at the 1795 Treaty of Greenville, one of the small tracts for forts, posts and portages the tribes gave the United States inside the territory they kept.
ceded to the United Statesabout 23,000 acres
Land of the Chippewa, Delaware and others in Indiana, ceded 1795 (area 17)
Ceded at the 1795 Treaty of Greenville, one of the small tracts for forts, posts and portages the tribes gave the United States inside the territory they kept.
ceded to the United Statesabout 23,000 acres
Land of the Chippewa, Delaware and others in Illinois, ceded 1795 (area 24)
Ceded at the 1795 Treaty of Greenville, one of the small post tracts in Illinois, at Chicago, the mouth of the Illinois River and Peoria, that the tribes gave the United States.
ceded to the United Statesabout 21,000 acres
Land of the Chippewa, Delaware and others in Michigan, ceded 1795 (area 21)
Ceded at the 1795 Treaty of Greenville, one of the small post tracts in Michigan, around Detroit, Mackinac and Bois Blanc, that the tribes gave the United States.
ceded to the United Statesabout 21,000 acres
Land of the Chippewa, Delaware and others in Michigan, ceded 1795 (area 22)
Ceded at the 1795 Treaty of Greenville, one of the small post tracts in Michigan, around Detroit, Mackinac and Bois Blanc, that the tribes gave the United States.
ceded to the United Statesabout 21,000 acres
Land of the Chippewa, Delaware and others in Michigan, ceded 1795 (area 23)
Ceded at the 1795 Treaty of Greenville, one of the small post tracts in Michigan, around Detroit, Mackinac and Bois Blanc, that the tribes gave the United States.
ceded to the United States
Land of the Chippewa, Delaware and others in Ohio, ceded 1795 (area 13)
Ceded at the 1795 Treaty of Greenville, one of the small tracts for forts, posts and portages the tribes gave the United States inside the territory they kept.
ceded to the United States
Land of the Chippewa, Delaware and others in Ohio, ceded 1795 (area 19)
Ceded at the 1795 Treaty of Greenville, one of the small tracts for forts, posts and portages the tribes gave the United States inside the territory they kept.
ceded to the United States
Land of the Chippewa, Delaware and others in Ohio, ceded 1795 (area 20)
Ceded at the 1795 Treaty of Greenville, one of the small tracts for forts, posts and portages the tribes gave the United States inside the territory they kept.
kept by the United States for itself
Land kept by the United States in Illinois, 1795 (area 27)
Not ceded by the Indians: the post of Fort Massac, toward the mouth of the Ohio in Illinois, was reserved by the United States at Greenville in 1795.
What happened next
Everything the record holds about this land and this treaty, in order: what earlier agreements said, what this one did, and what the United States, the courts and the nations did afterwards.
- 1795
This treaty
About 19 million acres ceded to the United States by the Chippewa, Delaware and others. About 1.8 million acres set aside as a reservation for the Chippewa, Delaware and others. About 216,000 acres kept by the United States for itself
At Greenville, after a U.S. army victory, twelve nations ceded most of present Ohio and post sites for goods.
- 1795
This treaty
Ratified by the Senate
- 1795
Promise broken
Greenville 1795 and Fort Wayne 1809: encroachment, then cession under pressure
Greenville (1795) promised to protect tribal lands; in 1809 Fort Wayne ceded more, and Tecumseh said the signers could not sell it.
- 1803
Land kept
About 1.8 million acres recognized as land of the Chippewa, Delaware and others
By Treaty of Fort Wayne with the Delaware, Shawnee, Potawatomi, Miami, Eel River, Wea, Kickapoo, Piankashaw, Kaskaskia, 1803
Who is doing the work today
The nations connected to this treaty come first, then groups returning land and defending treaty rights. Support goes directly to them.
Who is doing the work
This history belongs to living nations. Start with them:
- Bad River Band of the Lake Superior Tribe of Chippewa Indians of the Bad River Reservation, Wisconsin
- Bay Mills Indian Community
- Chippewa Cree Indians of the Rocky Boy's Reservation, Montana
- Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians, Michigan
- Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians of Wisconsin
- Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa
- Lac Vieux Desert Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians of Michigan
- Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa Indians of Montana
Working with these nations
- Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission (GLIFWC) Nation government Ojibwe treaty rights in ceded territories, natural resource stewardship, manoomin, and a Land Conservancy program… Give on their site Website
- Stockbridge-Munsee Community (Band of Mohican Indians) Nation government 372 acres on Monument Mountain's north slope (finalized Apr 2025; $2.5M, $2.26M state grant)
- Honor the Earth Native-led Pipeline resistance, sovereignty, energy justice Give on their site Website
- White Earth Land Recovery Project (WELRP) Native-led Recover the original White Earth reservation land base Give on their site Website
- Native Land Conservancy (Massachusetts) Native-led Native-led land conservation Give on their site Website
Native legal and land defense, nationally
- Native American Rights Fund (NARF) Native-led Litigation and legal advocacy for tribal sovereignty, treaty rights, land and resources Give on their site Website
- NDN Collective (LANDBACK Campaign) Native-led LANDBACK campaign (launched 2020; Mount Rushmore closure and return of Black Hills public lands), Indigenous… Give on their site Website
- Indian Land Tenure Foundation (ILTF) Native-led Land recovery and control by tribes and individual Indian landowners Website
- Decolonizing Wealth Project (Indigenous Earth Fund; California Tribal Land Return) Native-led Reparative philanthropy Give on their site Website
Gifts go straight to each organization; this atlas takes nothing. Listing is not endorsement: how organizations are listed.
Sources
Sources
- digitreaties.org/treaties/treaty/170281462reference work
Research notes
Wikipedia: Senate ratified 1795-12-22. Acreage not stated in sources read; Royce cession polygons would supply. Ratification detail: 1795-12-22 (Senate) [single-source: Wikipedia only; the extracted 7 Stat. 49 margin reads 'Proclamation, Dec. 2, 1795', possibly an extraction error; confirm against the Senate Executive Journal]
Shapes are approximate and are not legal descriptions of land, title or jurisdiction.