The Ohio Company of Associates , also known as the '' ' Ohio Company ' '' , was a land company that was formed on March 3 , 1786 , by General Rufus Putnam , Benjamin Tupper , Samuel Holden Parsons and Manasseh Cutler , who had met in Boston , Massachusetts to discuss the settlement of the territory around the Ohio River . They convinced Congress to sell the company a tract at the confluence of the Muskingum River and the Ohio River . Settlement began at the newly formed town of Marietta , Ohio in April 1788 . Indians objected to this incursion on their homeland , leading to the '' ' War of 1790 ' '' . Most of the troops in Fort Harmar , near Marietta , were transferred to Fort Washington to protect Cincinnati , so settlers ended up having to defend themselves at the expense of the Ohio Company . Wyandots killed settlers in the Big Bottom massacre of Jan. 2 , 1791 , in present day Morgan County
Big Bottom massacre
Big Bottom massacre
Donation Tract