During their long and complex history on the North American continent, Indigenous peoples of the northeastern woodlands vigorously adopted every imaginable effort to survive and thrive.

[3] Dunlap's Station, later known as Fort Colerain,[4] was on the east bank of the Great Miami River, and established in early 1790[5] in the midst of what was also called Little Turtle's War.

While neighbouring Indians and settlers had managed to share an earlier Christmas feast,[11] naturally an application was made at Fort Washington for a garrison.

Their names were Taylor, Neef, O'Neal, O'Leary, Lincoln, Grant, Strong, Sowers, Murphy, Abel, McVicar and Wiseman.

The ten settler's cabins faced together, A cleared line of fire was begun by removing brush and felled trees, but this was not completed in time.

[citation needed] Convinced that the untrained American (aka Shemanese, Long or Big Knives) militias were vulnerable to forays by united warriors, in November and December 1790 the chiefs of the Northwestern Confederacy met with the British Indian Department to request support for simultaneous raids on Baker's and Dunlap's Stations.

John Sloan, surveyor Abner Hunt and a Mr. Cunningham from the station were inspecting a nearby clearing when they were surprised and assaulted by the native scouts.

The scouts were Shawnee (Algonquian-speaking), Myaami (Miami-Illinois), Lenape (Delawares), Wyandots (Hurons), and Niswi-mishkodewin (also known as the United Nations of Potawatomi Indians), Odawa (Ottawas), and Ojibwe (Chippewas).

"They buried it on the spot, and returned without molestation..."[20] Cone later wrote: "This night it rained, froze, and snow fell from four to five inches deep..."[21] This fact would prove fatal to the planned attack with blazing arrows and torches.

On January 10, the Natives approached the station, bragging that they were led by the multi-lingual "villain" Simon Girty,[22] and demanded surrender using their captive as an interpreter.

However, the apparent torture of a surveyor during the effort to capture the small fort, especially as "white traitors" were said to be the leaders, was widely sensationalized as proof of "the savages'" inhumanity.

Only two weeks later the press seemed to have begun the embellishment: ...The lieutenant answered, that if they were three hundred devils, he would not surrender; and immediately fired on the Indians, twelve of whom were killed.