Anthony Wayne's Legion of the United States

On the plateau just southwest of here, General Anthony Wayne assembled and trained one of the most important armies in early American history. From November of seventeen ninety-two through April of seventeen ninety-three, his force, officially called the Legion of the United States, camped at this site in preparation for a campaign to end decades of warfare in the Northwest Territory. Wayne had been chosen after two disastrous American defeats in the Ohio country had shaken confidence in the new republic's ability to defend its western frontier.

He drilled his men through the winter with relentless discipline. The effort paid off. In August of seventeen ninety-four Wayne defeated a confederation of tribes at the Battle of Fallen Timbers.

The following summer, the resulting Treaty of Greenville opened the Ohio Valley to American settlement and secured peace for more than a decade.