Fort Steuben was a fortification erected in Feb. 1787 on the Ohio River in eastern Ohio Country at the northern end of the Seven Ranges land tract to be surveyed. It was at the location of the modern city of

Steubenville, Ohio Steubenville is a city in and the county seat of Jefferson County, Ohio, United States. Located along the Ohio River 33 miles west of Pittsburgh, it had a population of 18,161 at the 2020 census. The city's name is derived from Fort Steuben, a ...

. The fort was built by Major John Hamtramck and named for

Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben Friedrich Wilhelm August Heinrich Ferdinand von Steuben (born Friedrich Wilhelm Ludolf Gerhard Augustin Louis von Steuben; September 17, 1730 – November 28, 1794), also referred to as Baron von Steuben (), was a Prussian military officer who p ...

, a

Prussian Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an ...

army officer who had served under General Washington. The original purpose was to provide protection from Indians for the first surveyors to venture into the

Northwest Territory The Northwest Territory, also known as the Old Northwest and formally known as the Territory Northwest of the River Ohio, was formed from unorganized western territory of the United States after the American Revolutionary War. Established in 1 ...

History

Acquired by

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

from

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

following the 1763 Treaty of Paris, the Ohio Country had been closed to white settlement by the Proclamation of 1763. The United States claimed the region after the 1783 Treaty of Paris that ended the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

. The Congress passed the

Land Ordinance of 1785 The Land Ordinance of 1785 was adopted by the United States Congress of the Confederation on May 20, 1785. It set up a standardized system whereby settlers could purchase title to farmland in the undeveloped west. Congress at the time did not have ...

as a formal means of surveying, selling, and settling the land and raising revenue. The survey was to begin in present-day

East Liverpool, Ohio East Liverpool is a city in southeastern Columbiana County, Ohio, United States. The population was 9,958 at the 2020 census. It lies along the Ohio River within the Upper Ohio Valley and borders Pennsylvania to the east and West Virginia to ...

, on the north bank of the

Ohio River The Ohio River is a long river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing southwesterly from western Pennsylvania to its mouth on the Mississippi River at the southern tip of Illi ...

where it leaves

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; (Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

, and then work westward into present day

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The s ...

. The Geographer of the United States,

Thomas Hutchins Thomas Hutchins ( Monmouth County, NJ 1730 – April 18, 1789, Pittsburgh) was an American military engineer, cartographer, geographer and surveyor. In 1781, Hutchins was named Geographer of the United States. He is the only person to hold that ...

, assisted by surveyors from a number of states, began the survey on September 30, 1785. On October 8, word was received of an Indian attack on the Tuscarawas River. He and his men were scared, and returned to Pittsburgh after only a few miles of the first westward line, (the Geographers Line), had been completed.Professional Surveyor Magazine - History Corner, Ft. Steuben, 2009
/ref> Hutchins returned to New York that autumn. On July 20, 1786, Hutchins and his group gathered at

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsyl ...

to resume their survey. Fort Harmar had been constructed at the confluence of the

Muskingum River The Muskingum River (Shawnee: ') is a tributary of the Ohio River, approximately long, in southeastern Ohio in the United States. An important commercial route in the 19th century, it flows generally southward through the eastern hill country o ...

and

, present day Harmar district of

Marietta, Ohio Marietta is a city in, and the county seat of, Washington County, Ohio, United States. It is located in southeastern Ohio at the confluence of the Muskingum and Ohio Rivers, northeast of Parkersburg, West Virginia. As of the 2020 census, Mar ...

. Hutchins had requested federal troops for protection. Colonel

Josiah Harmar Josiah Harmar (November 10, 1753August 20, 1813) was an officer in the United States Army during the American Revolutionary War and the Northwest Indian War. He was the senior officer in the Army for six years and seven months (August 1784 to Ma ...

ordered Major John Francis Hamtramck and some of the

First American Regiment The First American Regiment (also known as Harmar's Regiment, The United States Regiment, The Regiment of Infantry, 1st Sub-legion, 1st Regiment of Infantry and 1st Infantry Regiment) was the first peacetime regular army infantry unit authorized ...

to guard the surveyors. Hamtramck felt it necessary to build a fort to protect the surveyors, and to prevent squatters from settling in the area.

Fort constructed

The site was chosen for a fort on October 11, 1786. Major Erkuries Beatty, who made a drawing seen here, described the site as 47 miles below Fort McIntosh and 23 above Wheelin‘, a site he erroneously calls Mingo Bottom. Major Beatty described the fort: Hamtramck named the fort for military officer

Baron von Steuben Friedrich Wilhelm August Heinrich Ferdinand von Steuben (born Friedrich Wilhelm Ludolf Gerhard Augustin Louis von Steuben; September 17, 1730 – November 28, 1794), also referred to as Baron von Steuben (), was a Prussian military officer who p ...

on January 2, 1787, and completed construction January 8. On May 23, 1787, Hamtramck was ordered to evacuate, as the surveyors were by then closer to Fort Harmar. Troops were sent to Fort Harmar, while supplies were sent to Fort Henry in Wheeling. The fort was destroyed by fire in 1790, and not rebuilt. In 1797, Bezaleel Wells founded the city of Steubenville on the site. A replica of the fort and visitors center have been constructed on the site as a tourist attraction that also includes the original Steubenville Federal Land Office.

References

External links

Historic Fort Steuben
* {{coord, 40, 21, 28, N, 80, 36, 48, W, display=title, name=Old Fort Steuben Steuben Museums in Jefferson County, Ohio Military and war museums in Ohio 1786 establishments in the Northwest Territory Military installations established in 1787 Military installations closed in 1790 1790 disestablishments in the Northwest Territory

History

Fort constructed

See also

References

External links