Odawa Central Ohio; the Shawnee in Southwest Ohio; and the Delaware (Lenape) in Southeast and Eastern Ohio." In the mid-18th century, the Odawa allied with their French trading partners against the British in the Seven Years' War, known as the French and Indian War in the North American colonies. They made raids against Anglo-American colonists. The noted Odawa chief Pontiac has historically been reported to have been born at the confluence of the Maumee and Auglaize rivers, where modern Defiance, Ohio later developed. In 1763, after the British had defeated France, Pontiac led a rebellion against the British, but he was
Siege of Fort Wayne safety of Ohio. In September 1812, Indians from the Potawatomi and Miami tribes, led by Chief Winamac, gathered around Fort Wayne. Captain James Rhea sent letters to John Johnston and Ohio Governor Return Meigs to ask for assistance. The growing Indian threat outside the fort led Rhea to begin drinking heavily. On several occasions Rhea invited Indian delegates into the fort to discuss terms of peace with the Indians. On 4 September, Potawatomi chiefs Winamac and Wannangsea approached the fort under a flag of truce and asked to speak to Captain Rhea. Rhea, who had been drinking, met them at