American influence and prestige were at a low ebb, indeed, and it appeared that the Ohio Valley with the portage at Three Rivers might fall by default to the British after all. In order to prevent this calamity, General Wayne undertook his campaign westward into the Indian country from Pittsburgh. He soundly defeated the Indians at Fallen Timbers in 1794. Wayne’s expedition culminated in the building of the fort which bears his name and in the formal occupation under the American flag in September and October, 1794. Transcriber’s Notes —Silently corrected a few typos. —Retained publication information from the printed edition: this eBook is public-domain in the country of publication. —In the text versions only, text in italics is delimited by _underscores_.