This proclamation was issued six months after the Battle of Fallen Timbers, in which General Anthony Wayne's forces dealt the American Indians a decisive defeat. It announces that the United States and the Wyandots, Chepawas, Ottowas, Pottawatomie, Miamis, Shawnees, and Delawares had entered into preliminary articles of peace and forbids "killing, insulting, or injuring any Indian" during the negotiations for the Treaty of Greenville. The signing of the that treaty encouraged white settlement in most of Ohio and southern Indiana. The document measures 8.27 by 13 inches (21 x 33 cm).

Anthony Wayne (1745-1796) was born in Pennsylvania and gained distinction during the American Revolution. He was nicknamed "Mad" Anthony Wayne due to his sense of daring and impatience with restraint. After the war, American Indians dealt the military in the Northwest Territory humiliating defeats. Undisciplined militia troops were blamed, and George Washington appointed Wayne commander-in-chief of the newly created Legion of the United States. Under Wayne's command, troops were ruthlessly drilled and disciplined. After building several forts, Wayne's army defeated the American Indians at the pivotal Battle of Fallen Timbers.