By Fabio Barreto
Before coming to Defiance, I was searching about the city and the history of it, as well as how it was built. While I was doing my research, something caught my eye. One of the major points of interest in Defiance is located just minutes away from the campus of Defiance College. There is the place where two rivers, the Maumee and Auglaize, come together. Nowadays, the area offers a quiet view of the water, but the place where these two rivers meet was of great importance to the history and the development of Defiance.
Before the time when the city existed, the rivers made the place very important for native people, as well as for their travels and trade. The waterways formed a natural transportation corridor in the region of northwest Ohio. As historical accounts show, the Maumee River served as an important way for traveling from the region that is close to Lake Erie to the regions in the west and south.
The site gained additional importance in 1794. The reason was the Northwest Indian War and General Anthony Wayne who constructed there Fort Defiance. The site was very strategically important, as the fort could overlook the two waterways. The city of Defiance was built in the surrounds of this historic site.
However, the rivers did not stop influencing the community even after the military era was over. Population established themselves around the rivers; trade and transportation were responsible for developing the community further. In the 19th century, canals connected Defiance with other communities and markets, making the city one of the key transportation centers of northwestern Ohio.
Currently, it is possible to find out about the point of intersection of the two rivers on the historical site of Fort Defiance. Historical markers provide information about the fort; the river area allows observing both rivers as well as downtown Defiance. The place gives evidence of military past of the area and is one of the best-known historical landmarks of the city.
It is easy to pass through Defiance without thinking to how the town was developed. The answer lies in the location of the city. The Maumee and Auglaize rivers had something much more important to offer beyond being a geographical feature; they made Defiance a location that was meant for travel, habitation, war, and settlement.
Centuries later, the two rivers still meet at the same point, connecting the present Defiance to the past.