After the Treaty of Paris was signed in 1763, England ceded to the former colonies land from the Atlantic Ocean to the Mississippi River. By then, pioneer settlers had reached the eastern bank of the Ohio River, but the Ohio Country west and north of the river was still considered Indian territory, and Indian tribes desperately defended their hold on the land. On August 20, 1794, United States forces led by Major General Anthony Wayne defeated an Indian alliance at the Battle of Fallen Timbers near modern-day Toledo. One year later, on August 3, 1795, the largest assemblage of northwestern Indian representatives at a peace settlement signed the Treaty of Greene Ville, effectively ceding all land south of the Greene Ville Treaty line to the Americans. The Fort Laurens site served as a reference point in the treaty line, after which the Ohio Country was rapidly settled and Tuscarawas County was organized in 1808.