Big Bottom massacre

Big Bottom massacre
Part of the Northwest Indian War
An illustration of the massacre
Location	near Stockport, Ohio
Date	January 2, 1791
Attack type	Mass killing
Deaths	12-14 killed
Perpetrators	Lenape and Wyandot warriors

Big Bottom Massacre Site
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Plaque at the site of the Big Bottom massacre
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Nearest city	Stockport, Ohio
Coordinates	39°31′58″N 81°46′26″W / 39.53278°N 81.77389°W / 39.53278; -81.77389
Built	1791
NRHP reference No.	70000512 [1][failed verification]
Added to NRHP	November 10, 1970

The Big Bottom massacre was a mass killing perpetrated by Lenape and Wyandot warriors against American settlers on January 2, 1791. The massacre occurred near present-day Stockport, Ohio. It is considered part of the Northwest Indian Wars, in which native Americans in the Ohio Country clashed with American settlers, seeking to expel them from their territory.

Following the American Revolutionary War, the United States government was selling land in the Ohio Country, mostly to companies that promised to develop it. A group of squatters had moved up to this area and settled along flood plain, or "bottom" land, of the Muskingum River, some 30 mi (48 km) north of an Ohio Company of Associates settlement at Marietta, Ohio. The settlement was raided by Lenape and Wyandot warriors seeking to expel the interlopers. They stormed the incomplete blockhouse and killed eleven men, one woman, and two children. (Accounts vary as to the number of casualties.) The Native Americans captured three settlers, with at least one dying later, while four others escaped into the woods.

The Ohio Company of Associates sought to provide greater protection for settlers in the Northwest Territory, as the conflicts became more widespread. A coalition of Native American tribes fought to expel the newcomers and preserve their lands. The war did not end until 1794.

The Ohio History Connection manages the three-acre Big Bottom Park site, which has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places. In addition to the markers noted below, the site features a 12 ft (3.7 m)-tall marble obelisk, picnic tables, and information signs about the site's history.