In 1782, a regiment of Virginia soldiers was sent in reprisal to destroy Indian villages on the Sandusky River, under the command of William Crawford, a friend of victorious General George Washington.

Colonel Crawford was captured by the Indians after the battle, and seven days later he was tortured and burned at the stake on the banks of Tymochtee Creek in present-day northeastern Wyandot County.

The marker is made of sandstone from Berea, Ohio, worked in the shape of a cannon and cut approximately 8.5 feet (2.6 m) tall.

[4]: 43  Interest returned in the 1970s: locals opposed the construction of a proposed electric transmission line by the site, and it became a popular location for school field trips.

[4]: 45 In April 1982, the monument was listed on the National Register of Historic Places, qualifying because of its connection to Crawford; it is one of ten such locations in Wyandot County.