Fort Jefferson Excavation Pictorial Record

Pictorial record, compiled in a photo album, of the 1930 location and excavation of Fort Jefferson in Darke County, Ohio. The project was led by H.R. McPherson of the Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Society and Frazer E. Wilson of the Greenville Historical Society. The album contains photographs of the site as it was being excavated as well as descriptions of each photograph. Fort Jefferson was built about six miles south of Greenville, Ohio, on the order of General Arthur St. Clair in October 1791. The purpose of the fort was to serve as a supply garrison for St. Clair's campaign against the area’s American Indian population, hence its original name of Fort Deposit. In November 1791, St. Clair attacked the area's tribes, but under the leadership of Shawnee chief Weyapiersenwah (Blue Jacket) and Miami chief Mishikinakwa (Little Turtle), a large alliance of seasoned volunteer warriors from nine different American Indian tribes easily defeated St. Clair and his troops. This loss, which was one of the worst defeats of the American military at the hands of the American Indians, came to be known as "St. Clair’s Defeat." During the battle, well over half of St. Clair’s 1,400 men were killed or wounded. After the battle, St. Clair’s men fled to Fort Jefferson, but found little in the way of supplies and quickly moved south to Fort Washington. Later, Fort Jefferson was used during the campaign of General Anthony Wayne before being abandoned in 1796. The location is now the site of the Fort Jefferson Memorial Park, one of the Ohio History Connection's network of historic sites