Before Chief Little Turtle was involved in the signing of The Treaty of Greene Ville (so named by General Anthony Wayne for his fallen friend and fellow soldier Major General Nathaniel Greene) in Darke County, Greenville Ohio. Chief Little Turtle roamed much of western Ohio in opposition to the European occupation of the Ohio Valley. Chief Little Turtle (Mihšihkinaahkwa) also led many Miami (Myaamiaki) and joint Nation raids to attempt, in any way, to keep European settlers south of the Ohio River. Although some tactics that Chief Little Turtle employed during these raids were brutal, the brutality occurred from both European settlers and Native American Nations, and so formed the Northwest rebellion known as the Northwest Confederacy.

The Northwest Confederacy joined many Chiefs and War Chiefs that included, Buckongahelas, Egushawa, Blue Jacket, Little Otter, and Little Turtle, in what would become known as Little Turtle's War or the Northwest Indian War. A small part of Little Turtle's war involved conflict in Preble County.

Chief Little Turtle attempted to organize a raid near Fort Hamilton, late in the year 1792. General James Wilkinson, in a raid along the Eel River in August of 1791, Chief Little Turtle’s daughter was among the 34 women and children captured. After this, Little Turtle approached the Native American Grand Council seeking guidance and acceptance of his desire to strike at the most central and important European settlement of western Ohio at the time, which was Fort Hamilton. Fort Hamilton was strategically invaluable in forwarding provisions, soldiers, and livestock in the effort for European settlers to procure land in the Ohio Valley. On the 3rd of November, Chief Little Turtle led a force of 200 Miami and Shawnee past Fort Jefferson and Fort St. Clair and reached Fort Hamilton. Little Turtle intended to attack a settlement on the anniversary of St. Clair's Defeat. Two soldiers outside of Fort Hamilton were taken prisoner and Little Turtle and his men learned that a large convoy of pack horses had left for Fort Jefferson, and was due back in a matter of days. Still elated by the defeat of General St. Clair in November of 1791, Chief Little Turtle, was informed that the convoy of nearly 100 pack horses loaded with supplies for two military posts was being escorted by a company of 100 Kentucky riflemen. The soldiers performed their camp duties that included, meals, tending to their horses, and exercising before retiring on the evening of November 5th. On Monday, November 6th,1792, Chief Little Turtle and his men ambushed Major John Adair and his convoy that had camped at Fort St. Clair, 200 yards east of the post, just before daybreak. 

- Jeff Poynter, PCHS Board Trustee

This year, we want to welcome Laura Cottingim to the Board of Trustees for the Preble County Historical Society and Nature Reserve. Laura is a lifelong community member. She enjoys being outside and even more, hiking our trails here at PCHS. Laura currently works at the Preble County ESC.  Laura was voted in as treasurer of the board and looks forward to working with PCHS in the future. Welcome Laura! 

We are excited to announce that we were awarded the America-250 Grant through Ohio Humanities to help promote our local history while celebrating America's 250th Birthday on July 4th of 2026. The "Buckeye" Grant was awarded to PCHS to support three projects. One, a timeline of the last 250 years in and around Preble County. Two- completing 25 local historical plaques symbolizing the rich heritage we have here and Three- a map of those 25 places to share with the community and beyond. The America-250 "Preble-250" committee has been formed and they have begun to gather research. We will post updates over the next 2 years through the planning process.