Maumee River - History

History

Historically the river was also known as the "Miami" in United States treaties with Native Americans. As early as 1671, French colonists called the river was called Miami du Lac, or Miami of the Lake (in contrast to the "Miami of the Ohio" or the Great Miami River). Maumee is an anglicized spelling of the Ottawa name for the Miami Indians, Maamii.

The Battle of Fallen Timbers, the final battle of the Northwest Indian War, was fought 3/4 mile (1.2 km) north of the banks of the Maumee River. After this decisive victory for General Anthony Wayne, Native Americans ceded a twelve mile square tract around Perrysburg and Maumee to the United States by the Treaty of Greenville in 1795. Lands north of the river and downstream of Defiance were ceded in 1807, and the rest of the Maumee River valley was ceded in 1817.

Prior to the development of canals, portages between the rivers were important trade routes. US forces built forts such as Fort Loramie, Fort Recovery, and Fort Defiance. In honor of General Wayne's victory on the banks of the Maumee, the primary bridge crossing the river near downtown Toledo is named the Anthony Wayne Suspension Bridge.

A dispute over control of part of the Maumee River region led to the so-called Toledo War between Ohio and the Michigan Territory.