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diff --git a/old/55762-0.txt b/old/55762-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index cf4cfd6..0000000 --- a/old/55762-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,7010 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Outpost in the Wilderness: Fort Wayne, -1706-1828, by Charles Poinsatte - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: Outpost in the Wilderness: Fort Wayne, 1706-1828 - -Author: Charles Poinsatte - -Release Date: October 17, 2017 [EBook #55762] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK OUTPOST IN WILDERNESS: FORT WAYNE *** - - - - -Produced by Stephen Hutcheson, MFR and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - - - - - - - - - - Outpost in the Wilderness: - Fort Wayne, - 1706-1828 - - - by - Charles Poinsatte - - Allen County, Fort Wayne - Historical Society - 1976 - - - - - TABLE OF CONTENTS - - - CHAPTER I - The French and British Period Page 1 - - - CHAPTER II - The Establishment of Fort Wayne—Government Outpost of Defense, - Diplomacy, and Trade Page 27 - - - CHAPTER III - The Impending Conflict Page 50 - - - CHAPTER IV - The Siege of Fort Wayne Page 63 - - - CHAPTER V - Evacuation of the Fort and the Increased Indian Trade Page 79 - - - CHAPTER VI - Platting of Fort Wayne and the First Local Government Page 94 - - - CHAPTER VII - The Treaty of 1826 and the Removal of the Indian Agency Page 99 - - - APPENDIX - Bibliography Page 106 - Index Page 111 - - - - - FOREWORD - - -There was a time when the writer of local history and the academic -professional were two different people; indeed, one is almost tempted to -say, they were two different species. Fortunately for both, this is no -longer true. Many academic historians now recognize local units as the -fundamental units of historical study, presenting hard data in -manageable quantities for precise conclusions. Charles R. Poinsatte was -among the first to recognize this and merge the academic and local -traditions of historical writing, the one supplying rigor and judgments -based on cosmopolitan learning, and the other supplying the vividness -and appeal of the familiar and relevant. - -On the academic side, Charles R. Poinsatte got his undergraduate and -graduate education at the University of Notre Dame in South Bend. Thomas -T. McAvoy schooled him to precision in judgment and exhaustiveness in -research. Poinsatte also had the good fortune to study under Aaron I. -Abell, a student of Arthur Schlesinger, Senior, whose 1933 book, _The -Rise of the City, 1878-1898_, initiated a new kind of American history. -Professor Abell first got Poinsatte interested in what is now called -urban history. In fact, however, Poinsatte’s career embodies still -another great tradition in American historiography, that of frontier -history as inspired by Frederick Jackson Turner. _Frontier Outpost_ -describes the _site_ of an urban area to be, but it is not truly urban -history, as Dr. Poinsatte’s book, _Fort Wayne during the Canal Era, -1828-1855_ (Indiana Historical Bureau, 1969), was. Thus Dr. Poinsatte -writes in this book of Fort Wayne as an aspect principally of the -history of the Old Northwest. - -Higher education at Notre Dame, acquaintance with a student of the elder -Schlesinger, and thoughts spurred by the Turner thesis are only part of -the story, of course. The area Dr. Poinsatte decided to study was Fort -Wayne and not Detroit or Chicago or Cincinnati. Here what Nathaniel -Hawthorne called “a sort of home-feeling with the past” worked its -magic. Born in Fort Wayne in 1925, Charles Poinsatte was stirred by the -names he heard as a boy, Little Turtle, Anthony Wayne, and George Rogers -Clarke. Some family property was part of the old Richardville estate, -and in his youth he explored an old Indian burial ground there. He has -never gotten over his fascination with those men, and now he examines -them with his academic tools. - -Dr. Poinsatte has always been able to reconcile seemingly conflicting -movements in American historical writing. Urban history and frontier -history, he argues, are in many ways complementary, for frontier -historians can explain to urban historians why the entities they study -are located where they are and how they got their start. Likewise, local -history and history as most often written by academic professionals -benefit from cross-fertilization. Local history always needs to be -written from a broad perspective which keeps the local historian from -claiming unique status for developments which took place in many other -localities at the same time. Likewise, in-depth studies of certain -localities provide tests for the larger generalizations of academic -historians, generalizations that are too often based on unrepresentative -samplings of evidence from national elites and large cultural and -political centers like New York and Washington. - -Still, one suspects it is the excitement of particular locality’s -history which accounts for Dr. Poinsatte’s work. It has already taken -him to England and France in search of the records and documents which -explain the early history of Fort Wayne. He intends to return to Europe -next year to explore still another aspect of history suggested by Fort -Wayne’s story, the lives of French military officers who fought in the -American Revolution. After that, he might consider a history of Fort -Wayne in the railroad era, from 1855 (where Dr. Poinsatte’s work on the -canal era ended) to the Progressive Era. Whatever the course of -Professor Poinsatte’s future studies, Fort Wayne’s citizens will look -forward to reading the results. He has already enriched our -understanding of ourselves beyond measure. - - September 4, 1975 - Fort Wayne, Indiana - Mark E. Neely, Jr. - - - - - Preface - - -Early Fort Wayne played an important and definite role in the history of -the old Northwest. Its unique position as a portage site between the -Wabash and Maumee rivers made the Wabash route one of the natural -waterways from the Great Lakes to the Mississippi river and brought -Indians and fur traders to this spot at an early date. It is most likely -the oldest continuous site settled by white men in Indiana. During the -French, British, and American occupation of the region, forts were built -here as outposts of defense in the Indian country. Its strategic -importance was recognized in all the plans for military campaigns in the -area between the Great Lakes and the Ohio river for almost a century. -Here was located at a later date an important government Indian agency, -and to the town on certain days of the year flocked hundreds of Indian -traders. Fort Wayne was also situated in the heart of the rich -Maumee-Wabash fur producing region. - -While giving a comprehensive background of the French and British -occupation of the site of Fort Wayne, I have stressed its importance in -the early days of American settlement. The gradual decline of the fur -trade, followed by the removal of the Indian agency in 1828 and the -opening of the area to white settlement by the Indian treaties of that -decade, all combined to usher in a new era in the history of Fort Wayne. -By the 1830’s the people of Fort Wayne were feverishly making plans for -the Wabash and Erie canal. This opened a new period in Fort Wayne’s -history which has been studied in my previous work.[1] Since then the -development of the city has been consistent and substantial. - -From the modern growing city it is a far cry back to the time of the -Miami Indians and the old fort in the wilderness with its little -garrison of men puzzled at times, no doubt, to understand their choice -of a life of loneliness in an environment which gave little opportunity -for the refinements of life. The people of today are none too thoughtful -of their obligation to the pioneer soldier, trader and settler. It is my -hope that in addition to contributing to the annals of the Old -Northwest, this work may create a deeper appreciation of these early -builders. At the same time it has been my desire to treat all these -people objectively rather than in the fictitious way of the -sentimentalist. - -Previous histories dealing with the early history of Fort Wayne, while -furnishing valuable material, have either been incomplete or inaccurate, -chiefly because many primary sources were not available to the writers -or were not known to exist. I have made extensive use of primary -material found in the Burton Collection at Detroit, the Chicago -Historical Library, and the Fort Wayne Public Library as well as in the -British Museum and the Public Records Office in London and the _Archives -des Colonies_ in Paris. Part of the European research was made possible -by a summer grant from St. Mary’s College, Notre Dame, Indiana. - -Acknowledgments are due to many individuals who have so kindly given -assistance, especially to the staffs of the various archives and -libraries which I have used in Chicago, Detroit, Paris, and London. Mr. -Albert Diserens, chief of the Indiana collection of the Fort Wayne -Public Library, aided me in every way. A special debt is due to the -officers and members of the Allen County-Fort Wayne Historical Society -and in particular Mr. Fred Reynolds who assisted immeasurably in -arranging for the publication of this work. To the late Reverend Thomas -T. McAvoy of the University of Notre Dame I owe deep gratitude for first -encouraging me to study the history of my hometown. - -While almost all early American cities which originated as military -outposts later changed their names—Cincinnati (Fort Washington). Chicago -(Fort Dearborn)—or simply dropped “fort” from their titles—Defiance, -Ohio—for some reason the citizens of Fort Wayne never followed this -common practice. The old “Fort Wayne” fell into ruins, but the name -survives. Undoubtedly few individuals have even wondered why, but I -believe, or would like to believe, that somehow the later citizens of -Fort Wayne wanted to retain an identity with the past—a past that is -worth knowing and remembering. It is to these citizens—past and present -and to my own family that I dedicate this book. - - -[1]_Fort Wayne during the Canal Era._ - - - - - Chapter I - The French and British Period - - -To know the history of any town is to know the significance of its -geographical position. This is particularly true of the early history of -Fort Wayne (Known to the Indians as Kiskakon or Kekionga[1] and to the -French and English as Fort Miami). Therefore, it is necessary to explain -the significance of the site of Fort Wayne in an era of exploration and -trade when wilderness was king and waterways were the arteries of -communication. The story of Fort Wayne begins as the history of the -Maumee-Wabash portage. Located at the confluence of rivers, St. Joseph -and St. Mary’s, which together form the Maumee or Miami of Lake Erie, -Fort Wayne is situated at the northeast starting point of the seven mile -portage to the Little River, (see map on page 2) Twenty-two miles -southwest of Fort Wayne, the Little River joins the Wabash, which, in -turn, empties into the Ohio and then into the Mississippi. The -Maumee-Wabash portage was from the early seventeenth century until the -mid-nineteenth century a vital overland link that tied together the -great waterway systems of the St. Lawrence and Mississippi. In other -respects the site of Fort Wayne was at the “crossroads”. From this point -the traveler could journey northeast up the St. Joseph river into the -present state of Michigan, or turn southeast up the St. Mary’s river -into the central portion of the present state of Ohio. This, then, is -the significance of the words of Little Turtle, the great Miami chief, -who once called the site of Fort Wayne, “that glorious gate ... through -which all the good words of our chiefs had to pass from the north to the -south, and from the east to the west.”[2] - - [Illustration: Map] - -Of the five great portage routes used by the French,[3] the -Maumee-Wabash was the last to be exploited, for, unlike the more -northern routes, it was along the line of “most resistance”. The -Iroquois warfare in this region and as far west as the Illinois country -made it virtually impossible for the French to use the routes extending -through southern Lake Erie. With the establishment of the French posts -along the lower Mississippi, however, the Maumee-Wabash portage gained -importance, as it proved to be the shortest route connecting the -settlements of New France (Canada) and Louisiana. The first white man to -use this portage may have been some unknown French “coureur de bois”, -pursuing his lawless life of adventure and fur-trading. There is some -claim that LaSalle used the Maumee-Wabash portage in his explorations of -1670 or later, but it is based, for the most part, on conjecture and is -still open to various interpretations.[4] In any event, LaSalle’s -description of the territory between Lake Erie and Lake Michigan -indicates a familiarity with the region, and it was he who first -directed the attention of the French to this portage by pointing out the -way to shorten the route to the lower Ohio river.[5] Whatever LaSalle’s -plans were for opening up this easy channel of communications[6] they -had to be abandoned because of the failure of the French to appease the -Iroquois. This powerful confederacy had all but annihilated the Erie -Indians earlier in the century and were now pressing their attacks upon -the western tribes south of Lake Michigan. Out of fear of the Iroquois -the area of Indiana was largely abandoned by the Miamis and other -related tribes. Therefore by the 1670’s, when LaSalle set out to achieve -his great objective, control of the Mississippi for the French, he found -it necessary “to go to the Illinois [river] through the lakes Huron and -Illinois [Lake Michigan] as the other routes which I have discovered by -the head of Lake Erie and by the southern shore of the same, have become -too hazardous by frequent encounters with the Iroquois who are always on -that shore.”[7] That this route had become “too dangerous” is indicated -by the letter of Jean de Lamberville to Count de Frontenac on Sept. 20, -1682, in which he expressed his fears that “an Iroquois army, twelve -hundred strong ... would completely annihilate the Miamis and their -neighbors the Siskakon [Kiskakon] and Ottawa tribes on the headwaters of -the Maumee.”[8] - -The events which took place near the turn of the eighteenth century -completely altered the situation for the French in this region. -Differences between the Fox Indians, located west of Lake Michigan, and -the French alienated the former entirely. The result was to compel the -French to seek a more direct line of communication with the Mississippi -settlements than by the Wisconsin river-Lake Michigan route, and to -encourage them to promote the trade in the less remote posts. This new -policy was inaugurated by Cadillac’s plan to establish a post at -Detroit, which met with the Crown’s approval and was carried out in -1701. At the same time, the French were able to conclude a temporary -peace with the Iroquois and to induce the pro-French tribes of Miamis to -begin migrating eastward and to re-establish themselves at the -headwaters of the Wabash and Maumee rivers. This migration of the Miamis -was a gradual process and can be traced from northern Illinois and -southern Wisconsin around the head of Lake Michigan to their old -settlements on the Wabash, Maumee, and Miami rivers. The Miamis were -persuaded to move for a number of reasons—the hostility of the Fox -Indians, the advantages in trade and protection furnished by their -proximity to Detroit, and finally the abundance of fur, especially -beaver, to be found in the area south and southwest of Lake Erie. By -1712, the Miamis had taken possession of the entire Wabash valley,[9] -and the country as far eastward as the Big Miami river. Their principal -village, Kiskakon, was situated where the present city of Fort Wayne now -stands. Of the northern tribes the Miami confederacy was second only to -that of the Iroquois. Father Marquette paid them high tribute, while -LaSalle described them as “the most civilized of all nations of -Indians—neat of dress, splendid of bearing, haughty of manner, holding -all other tribes as inferiors.”[10] - -Other tribes came to the Ohio valley about the same time. The Wyandots -established themselves along the southern shore of Lake Erie about 1701. -The Shawnee, a southern tribe, settled principally in the lower Scioto -valley around 1730, while the Delaware were to be found in the Muskingum -valley by 1750. A small group of Ottawas were located on the Auglaize -river, a tributary of the Maumee, about fifty miles northeast of -Kiskakon. The importance of this small tribe rests in their famous -chief, Pontiac, and his “conspiracy” against the English in 1763. -Altogether these tribes numbered about 15,000 people. For the most part, -they were friends of the French, although at times they expressed -discontent. - -Grasping the new importance of the Maumee-Wabash trade route after 1712, -the officials of New France were quick to suggest to the crown the -construction of a chain of posts from the head of the Maumee to the -mouth of the Wabash in order to protect this increasingly vital line of -communication between Canada and Louisiana, and, equally, important, to -counteract the English ever pressing closer to the Indians in the upper -Ohio valley.[11] The idea was not new, as LaSalle had suggested such a -policy to the home government previously, but the time was now ripe. -Economic reasons for establishing these posts were not lacking. Fear of -the English meant fear of their participation in the fur trade, which -was exceedingly valuable in this area. Wild life had increased -abundantly during the years of Iroquois warfare when the region was -practically uninhabited. A French memorialist, writing at this time, -pointed out that the New York traders, through the medium of the -Iroquois agents, secured between 80,000 and 100,000 beaver skins -annually from the area south and southwest of Lake Erie.[12] This almost -equalled the amount taken annually from the whole of the land north of -the Great Lakes. Cadillac, the founder of Detroit, reported in 1707 that -the Maumee valley was “the finest land under heaven—fishing and hunting -are most abundant there.”[13] - -The revitalized village of Kiskakon became the location of one of the -earliest posts established in the French chain along the Maumee-Wabash -route, and was known as Post or Fort Miami. The exact year of the -founding of Port Miami by the French is uncertain. Although some writers -believe the post was established as early as 1680 or 1686,[14] there is -no evidence to support such suppositions. Some confusion seems to arise -from a misinterpretation of those French colonial documents which refer -to the Fort Miami built by LaSalle at the mouth of the St. Joseph river -of Lake Michigan, and not, as these writers believed, to the Fort Miami -at the headwaters of the Maumee. A careful reading of these documents is -necessary in each instance to determine which Fort Miami is meant. About -the same time that the eastward migration of the Miamis began 1697 Jean -Baptiste Bissot, Sieur de Vincennes, was appointed attache to the -Miamis.[15] At first he was obviously at the Miami fort on the -southeastern shore of Lake Michigan, although, as the Miami village, -Kiskakon, grew in importance, Vincennes found it increasingly necessary -to visit the Miami village from 1702 to 1719. It is possible that in -1706 he built a small post primarily for trading purposes at -Kiskakon.[16] By 1715 a new element, the English fur trader had entered -the picture and Vincennes, as well as the French colonial government, -was convinced that it was no longer feasible to encourage the Indians to -migrate eastward. From Kiskakon, Vincennes reported to the royal -officials that the English of Carolina were having recourse to every -sort of expedient to persuade the Miamis to join them against the -French.[17] The increased English efforts to gain footholds in the -Wabash and Maumee valleys, determined Vincennes upon a course of action -approved by the Marques de Vaudreuil, governor of Canada. Vincennes’ -plan called for the removal of the Miamis at the headwaters of the -Maumee to a new center on the St. Joseph river of Lake Michigan, near -the present city of South Bend.[18] It is possible that the plan might -have succeeded as Vincennes was “much loved” by the Miamis; however, -with his death at Kiskakon in 1719, the Miamis “resolved not to move to -the River St. Joseph, [but] to remain where they are”.[19] The Miamis -preserved for a long time the memory of Vincennes. Thirty years after -his death, Celeron de Bienville, while urging a group of Miamis to -return to Kiskakon, used the name of Vincennes to work upon their minds, -speaking of him as the one “whom you loved so much and who always -governed you, so that your affairs were prosperous.”[20] - -On hearing of the Miamis’ decision, Governor de Vaudreuil resolved, with -the approval of the Council of Marine, to establish a strong post at the -headwaters of the Maumee. For this purpose he sent Captain Dubuisson, -the former commander at Detroit, who had already achieved success on one -occasion with the Miamis, to build the fortifications.[21] Finished in -May, 1722, the fort was located on the right bank of the St. Mary’s at a -latitude later given by Father Joseph Pierre de Bonnecamps (professor of -hydrography at the Jesuit college of Quebec who visited Fort Miami in -1749) as 41 degrees, 29 minutes. Other information Father de Bonnecamps -gives indicates that the fort was about one-half mile down the river -from the Maumee-Wabash portage road.[22] Writing the Council of Marine -on October 24, 1722, de Vaudreuil stated: - - The log fort Fort Miami which he Dubuisson had build is the finest in - the upper country. It is a strong fort and safe from insult from the - savages. This post which is of considerable worth ought to have a - missionary. One could be sent there in 1724 if next year the council - will send the four Jesuits which I ask.[23] - -It is unlikely that the priest requested was ever stationed at Fort -Miami, as there is no indication from the _Jesuit Relations_ or other -sources of one being here, although it is possible that some -missionaries visited this spot on occasion. - -Fort Miami proved of value to the French for various reasons. After its -construction, it soon became a military post of consequence, with a -garrison of twenty to thirty men.[24] It was the policy of the French to -locate their garrisons and trading posts wherever there existed a -sufficiently large village of friendly Indians or wherever the strategic -importance of a place itself made it necessary to erect a fort. Fort -Miami combined both of these advantages. Once the Miamis determined to -remain at Kiskakon, they would benefit the French not only by their fur -trade but would be a means of protection against hostile tribes and the -English. The strategic position for a fort at the Maumee-Wabash portage -was recognized even by the English as early as 1717.[25] Pouchet, a -French historian, writing shortly after the French and Indian War was of -the opinion that the French would have been wiser to have strengthened -their fortifications in the Miami region than establish their line of -defense in the upper Ohio.[26] - -Perhaps Fort Miami’s greatest importance was as a center of French -activity among the Indians. Being at the principal village of the Miami -confederacy, this outpost was used as a counter-balance to the English -intrigue from New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and the Carolinas. It is -to be noted that Dubuisson was sent to Kiskakon “to counteract the -effect of all those Belts it [the Miami nation] was but too frequently -receiving and which, as they caused eight or ten Miami canoes to go this -year to trade at Orange, might finally induce all that nation to follow -their example.”[27] - -In 1734, the Sieur de Noyelles was entrusted with the task of gathering -the scattered Miamis in their village, where they would be protected -from English intrigue. In this affair he was seconded by the Sieur -Darnaud who was in command at Fort Miami.[28] The French had good reason -to fear the English trader, who had strong economic advantages. The -goods furnished by the English in exchange for the furs of the Indians -were produced more cheaply than the French items. Also British virtual -control of the sea trade meant these goods were transported for less. -Finally rum one of the principal factors in the English trade was -produced in the colonies, while the French traders had to import brandy -from the mother country. As early as 1716, de Vandreuil reported to the -Council of Marine that the Iroquois were sending belts to the Miamis and -Ouiatenons, an allied tribe on the Wabash, to induce them to seek the -necessities of life at the English post on the “Oyo river”. Here the -Indians were offered merchandise “a half cheaper than among the -French.”[29] The following year the king replied through the Council -that he was well pleased to learn that M. de Vincennes, apparently at -Kiskakon, had prevented the Miamis and Ouiatenons from accepting the -belts of the English. His majesty hoped that the sending of scarlet -cloth would turn the savages away from the English trade.[30] - -Other accounts show the wide-spread influence the French maintained from -Fort Miami. There were considerable outlays for the savages in food, -merchandise, and the repairing of arms. From here important chiefs were -sent to conferences in Detroit and Montreal, with interpreters and -guides and all expenses paid. One Miami chief, Cold Foot, was paid -handsomely for his loyalty in putting an end to a hostile movement.[31] -The expenses for messengers were especially numerous during the year’s -1748-1749, when English influence was particularly active. Between -December 25, 1747, and July 25, 1748, 1,894 livres were spent at Fort -Miami for presents for the Indians.[32] The high expenditures at Fort -Miami of those years, of which we have records, gives some indication of -the value the French ascribed to the post at the Maumee headwaters. Some -years the annual expenses for the Indians at Fort Miami almost equalled -those of Detroit.[33] - -Fort Miami had its economic “raison d’etre” as the center of the -thriving fur trade of the surrounding region. The furs were brought -westward from the northwestern and central parts of the present state of -Ohio, as well as northward from the Wabash valley, and eastward from the -Illinois country. In his “Memoir of 1757”, Bougainville points out that -the Miami post, like many of the French posts, was one “removed from -free commerce”.[34] That is, Fort Miami was leased for a period of three -years to the commandant or “farmer” who secured exclusive rights to the -fur trade. The price of the lease was twelve hundred livres per year. -Moreover the farmer was charged with the cost of the presents to the -savages as well as the wages of the interpreters. There were -extraordinary expenses, however, that the government paid. For instance, -Sieur Charly, the farmer at Post Miami in 1747, collected 2,007 livres -for the use of twenty-four horses by a party of Indians being led to -Detroit for conferences.[34a] These expense accounts had to be approved -by the governor and the “intendant”, the financial representative of the -crown, who oftentimes scaled the figures down as they saw fit. An -example of a most drastic reduction is found in the case of a bill of -Sieur Charly for December, 1744. In this instance, Hocquart, the royal -intendant moderated the bill from 1,491 livres to 100 livres.[35] - -In an ordinary year there issued from Fort Miami 250 to 300 packages of -furs. These furs were shipped by way of Detroit to Montreal, as Fort -Miami by its geographical position belonged politically and economically -within the colony of New France rather than Louisiana. Nevertheless, by -its proximity to the Wabash there was frequent communication and trade -with the Louisiana settlements, particularly Vincennes and those of the -Illinois country. For example, in 1749, 200 livres were paid at Fort -Miami to Jean Baptiste Riddey de Bosseron, “voyageur” who had just -returned from the Illinois country.[36] Grain and livestock were sent to -Fort Miami from the French settlements along the lower Wabash and Ohio -rivers. For this reason the price of corn, flour, and beef was generally -lower at Fort Miami than at Detroit and the northern posts such as -Michilimackinac.[37] - -The Maumee-Wabash portage became the scene of increased activity as the -French and English rivalry in the upper Ohio country grew more tense -during the decade preceding 1756. From the year 1719 when ten canoes of -Miami Indians passed down the Maumee on their way to Albany, New York, -with furs and returned with firearms, ammunition, and trinkets, the -English endeavored to bring the Miamis under their influence. During the -1740’s, there was a notable expansion of English trade with the Indians -of this region. Twice—in 1739 and again in 1744—the French commander of -Detroit, M. de Longueuil, led strong expeditions along the Maumee-Wabash -against British traders on the White river near the center of the -present state of Indiana. While he succeeded in his immediate objective, -this display of military power no longer held the Indians in check. In -1747, the Wyandot chief, Sanosket, also known as Nicolas, under the -influence of the English led an uprising against the French. The Miamis -at Kiskakon believing that Detroit had been captured, set fire to Fort -Miami and captured the eight men within the stockade at the time.[38] -The temporary commander, Ensign Douville, was at Detroit when the -Indians committed the pillage. He had been sent to the Miamis in order -to invite them to a conference at Montreal, and two of their chiefs, -Cold Foot and Porc Epic had accompanied him as far as Detroit when they -received the news that the post had been taken.[39] Douville journeyed -on to Montreal alone, while Ensign Dubuisson hastened to Kiskakon with -the two chiefs and a force of some sixty men, “with a view to deprive -the enemy [the British] of the liberty of seizing a post of considerable -importance.”[40] Dubuisson found the fort and buildings only partially -destroyed, but he was able to do little more than hold his position, -without attempting to repair the place. - -In the spring of 1748, Dubuisson returned to Detroit leaving Captain -Charles DeRaymond in charge of the post, which Father de Bonnecamps, -arriving the next year, described as being “in a very bad -condition”.[41] DeRaymond was probably the most colorful figure to -command Fort Miami during the French period. He had been one of the -chief proponents of the policy of destroying the English influence in -the Ohio, as he saw the danger of tolerating the English traders in the -Miami region. In a memoir he presented in 1745 he gives one of the best -analyses of the whole Ohio question from the French point of view.[42] -Writing from Fort Miami in 1747 to the crown, he pointed out that had -the growth of English influence been checked immediately, the uprising -under Nicolas could never have occurred.[43] Now in command of a -partially ruined fort, DeRaymond had good reason to fear further -trouble. Although the Miamis had given assurances of loyalty after the -arrival of Dubuisson, most of them under the leadership of a Miami -chief, “La Demoiselle” (so termed because of his fondness for dress and -ornaments) had moved to Pickawillany, an English trading post on -Loramie’s Creek at the start of the portage to the St. Mary’s river, -northwest of the present town of Piqua, Ohio. - -The French, determined to make a strong impression on the savages of the -Ohio country, and to find out the true conditions existing there, sent -the veteran officer, Pierre Joseph Celoron Celoron, Sieur de Bienville, -with a force of 230 men down to the Great Miami river. Journeying up the -later river to its headwaters, Celoron stopped at the village of “La -Demoiselle” and urged the Miamis to return to Kiskakon. Celoron was -disappointed bitterly when the wily “La Demoiselle” would merely promise -to return to Kiskakon sometime in the future. Crossing the portage to -the St. Mary’s, Celoron’s expedition continued up that river to Fort -Miami. Here they stopped only long enough to buy provisions and canoes -to continue to Detroit.[44] Celoron and Father de Bonnecamps, the -chaplain and hydrographer of the expedition, found the energetic -DeRaymond dissatisfied with his “decaying” fort. Moreover, he “did not -approve the situation of the fort and maintained that it should be -placed on the bank of the St. Joseph, a scant league from the present -site.”[45] DeRaymond wished to show them the spot that he had selected -for the new fort and obtain their opinion of it, but Celoron was in -haste to depart. DeRaymond received some consolation from the fact that -Father de Bonnecamps, an expert, could trace a plan for the proposed -fort.[46] - -Early in the year 1750, DeRaymond completed the new fort on the left -bank of the St. Joseph. It stood on rather high ground (at the present -St. Joe Boulevard and Delaware Avenue), less than a mile from the -junction of the St. Joseph and St. Mary’s.[47] Chief Cold Foot, a -staunch friend of the French, occupied the discarded buildings of the -old fort, which became the center of an Indian settlement known as Cold -Foot Village. Half a mile to the south of the new fort, where the Maumee -turns in its course toward the east, lay the village of Kiskakon. Most -of its inhabitants had joined the English at Pickawillany. Writing to -Governor LaJonquiere in September, 1749, DeRaymond reported that the -attitude of all the nations was very bad and apparently was becoming -worse.[48] Again in 1751, he reported: - - My people [the French traders] are leaving me for Detroit. Nobody - wants to stay here and have his throat cut. All of the tribes who go - to the English at Pickawillany come back loaded with gifts. I am too - weak to meet the danger. Instead of twenty men, I need five - hundred.... The tribes here are leaguing together to kill all the - French.... This I am told by Cold Foot, a great Miami chief, whom I - think an honest man.... If the English stay in this country, we are - lost. We must attack and drive them out.[49] - -To add to the distress of the French, a smallpox epidemic in the winter -of 1751, carried away many of the inhabitants of Cold Foot’s Village, -including their good friend, Cold Foot, and his son.[50] - -That not all of the French traders at Fort Miami were scurrying to -Detroit is evident from the fact that in the year 1750 one of the most -noted traders of the area, Joseph Drouet de Richerville, came to -Kiskakon.[51] Richerville was a scion of French nobility who either was -seeking a life of adventure or was engaged in the fur trade for the mere -sake of a livelihood, as the family wealth had dwindled. Shortly after -his arrival, Richerville married Tahcumwah, the daughter of the reigning -Miami chief, Aquenochqua, and sister of the future chief, Little Turtle. -Tahcumwah was later known as Marie Louisa,[52] apparently the name she -received in baptism. All who came in contact with her at a later date -speak of her as a clever and intelligent woman, and it was largely -through her efforts that her son, Jean Baptiste de Richerville, arose to -such high prominence as the last civil chief of the Miamis.[53] - -The arrival of Joseph Drouet de Richerville at Fort Miami was an -isolated case, however, and what DeRaymond had said of the traders -leaving for Detroit remained true. In all likelihood, DeRaymond, despite -his zeal, was glad to be relieved in 1751 by a new commandant, Neyon De -Villiers. De Villiers had hardly assumed command when an English trader, -John Pathin, was captured within the fort itself. As France and England -were then at peace, Governor George Clinton of New York demanded an -explanation of the incident. The French governor, the Marquis de la -Jonquiere, replied sharply: - - The English, far from confining themselves within the limits of the - King of Great Britain’s possessions, not satisfied with multiplying - themselves more and more on Rock River ... have more than that - proceeded within sight of Detroit, even unto the fort of the - Miamis.... John Pathin, an inhabitant of Willensten, has been arrested - in the French fort of the Miamis by M. de Villiers, commandant of that - post ... he entered the fort of the Miamis to persuade the Indians who - remained there, to unite with those who have fled to the beautiful - river [the Ohio.] He has been taken in the French fort. Nothing more - is necessary.[54] - -A short time later, two men of de Villiers’ garrison were scalped by “La -Demoiselle’s savages.” Indeed the English seem to have laid claim to the -very fort itself, for on Mitchell’s “Map of North America”, drawn in -1755, Fort Miami is referred to as “the Fort usurped by the French”.[55] - -In June, 1752, a French and Indian force, coming by way of the Maumee -and St. Mary’s rivers, fell on Pickawillany, completely destroying the -English post, so annoying to the French at Fort Miami. Four years later, -during the French and Indian War, Lieutenant Bellestre, the commandant -of Fort Miami, led a party of 25 French and 205 Indians from his post to -the head of the James River, where they captured a blockhouse and some -ten Virginia “Rangers”. After his release, one of the captives, Major -Smith, proposed to lead a force of 1,000 woodsmen and a sufficient -number of Indians across the Ohio and over the Shawnee trail from old -Pickawillany to Fort Miami and then on to Detroit.[56] Although nothing -came of Major Smith’s plans, the site of the future Fort Wayne was to -figure prominently in all the military campaigns north of the Ohio river -for the next half century, that is throughout the dramatic events marked -by Pontiac’s conspiracy, the American Revolution, the Indian wars, and -the War of 1812. - -When de Vaudreuil, governor of Canada, capitulated at Montreal in 1760, -he issued orders for the surrender of the posts—Michilimackinac, -Detroit, Green Bay, St. Joseph, Ouiatenon, and Miami—as dependencies of -Canada.[57] On November 29, 1760, Detroit was surrendered to Major -Robert Rogers in command of the “Rangers”. Eight days later, Lieutenant -John Butler with a detachment of twenty men set out from Detroit to -receive the formal transfer of Fort Miami from the French commander, -thus bringing to an end French rule at the headwaters of the Maumee.[58] - -Although of strategic importance, Fort Miami never became more than a -military outpost and trading center during the French period of -occupation. Father de Bonnecamps wrote in 1749 of the French village in -and around the fort, “The French there number twenty-two; all of them -... had the fever ... There were eight houses, or to speak more -correctly, eight miserable huts which only the desire of making money -render endurable.”[59] “The desire of making money” is of course a -reference to the fur trade, the only occupation, outside of the -military, of those French living there. The large Indian villages -surrounding the fort naturally brought the trader and soldier, but, at -the same time, this uncertain element of Indian friendship probably -excluded any sizable French settlement. Whatever the reasons we must -conclude that, unlike Vincennes, Fort Miami did not attract any type of -French settler, outside of those connected with the fur trade. - -Lieutenant Butler of the “Rangers” had been chosen by Col. Henry Bouquot -to receive the surrender of Fort Miami since he could speak French and -seemed “very intelligent”. He had orders to hold the post, as it was of -great importance to Detroit and being at the “carrying place of nine -miles into the waters of the Ouabache Wabash ... it would prevent a -surprise in the Spring.”[60] Lieutenant Butler found the savages -destitute and sent a French trader to Fort Pitt for the necessary -supplies.[61] In the spring, Butler was relieved by Ensign Robert -Holmes, who was destined to become one of the first victims of the -Indian uprising of 1763, known as “Pontiac’s conspiracy”. Ironically, -Holmes was also one of the first to learn of the impending danger and -passed the information on to Major Gladwyn, the English commander at -Detroit, adding, however, “this affair is very timely stopt”.[62] A -month later he allowed himself to be lured from the fort by a false -request on the part of his Indian mistress to aid a sick Miami woman. -Holmes was instantly killed by the savages concealed nearby, and the -small garrison surrendered upon the demand of Jacques Godefroy and Money -Chene, two Frenchmen who were implicated with the Miamis in the scheme. -Godefroy, after leading another successful attack on Ouiatenon, -journeyed to Sandusky where he fell into the hands of Colonel -Brandstreet who had arrived from Niagara with a large force to quell the -uprising. Godefroy had been a prominent citizen of Detroit and had taken -the oath of allegiance to the British crown; consequently, he expected -death at the hands of the British. Instead he was given his freedom on -condition that he would guide and protect an English officer, Captain -Thomas Morris, who was being sent to the Illinois Indians by way of the -Maumee. Captain Morris, was a man of culture and literary tendencies. -Being such, he kept an excellent diary of experiences, which he was -later persuaded to publish.[63] - -Almost any man would have failed in an attempt to go through hundreds of -miles of hostile Indian country, and Captain Morris was no exception. -Having journeyed up the Maumee as far as Kiskakon, Morris met such a -dangerous reception at this place that he was forced to turn back. In -fact he was fortunate to escape with his life, as the Indians intended -to burn him at the stake, and he was saved by the intercession of -Godefroy and the young chief Pecanne. Morris was also befriended within -the fort by two French traders, Capucin and L’Esperance and a Jewish -trader, Levi. L’Esperance concealed the English officer within his house -until it was safe for him to leave. Captain Morris, despite the -ill-treatment by the Indians, clearly saw the reason for their -dissatisfaction. He observed that the French policy, or custom, of -intermarriage with the Indians had been more beneficial than that of -English, as the Indians felt that they and the French were one people. -Moreover, he noted that the French prohibited, “the sale of spiritous -liquors to Indians under pain of not receiving absolution; none but a -bishop [could] absolve a person guilty of it.” He went on to point out, -“This prevented many mischiefs too frequent among the unfortunate tribes -of savages who are fallen to our lot.”[64] - -The failure of Captain Morris to get past Kiskakon, demonstrated beyond -doubt that as long as the Indians at this spot were unfriendly, they -could prevent any intercourse with those tribes to the south and -southwest. Consequently, Colonel George Croghan, a famous English trader -in the Ohio valley, was sent to the Maumee-Wabash area to pacify the -tribes. Croghan was received with a display of enthusiasm by the Indians -at Kiskakon, who hoisted an English flag he had given them at Fort Pitt. -Croghan reported as follows: - - The Twightwee village [the English called the Miamis “twightwees”] is - situated on both sides of a river called St. Joseph. This river where - it falls into the Miami [Maumee] river about a quarter of a mile from - this place is one hundred yards wide, on the east side of which stands - a stockade fort, somewhat ruinous. The Indian village consists of - about forty or fifty cabins, besides nine or ten French houses, a - runaway colony from Detroit during the late Indian war; they were - concerned in it, and being afraid of punishment came to this post, - where ever since they have spirited up the Indians against the - English. All the French residing here are a lazy indolent people, fond - of breeding mischief ... and should by no means be suffered to remain - here.... The country is pleasant, the soil rich and well watered.[65] - -Croghan’s judgment of the French at Kiskakon seems rather harsh, -although his opinion of the French at Vincennes is no better. Apparently -in the eyes of the austere English and colonists, the more carefree life -of the French “habitants” of the western posts seemed to be an -indication of indolence on the latter’s part.[66] Furthermore, it is -difficult to explain why the same French people who had saved the life -of Captain Morris in the previous year would now be “spiriting up” the -Indians against the English, especially since Pontiac’s plans had -collapsed. On the other hand, it was not to be expected that these -French people would immediately cast aside all hostility toward their -recent enemies. By 1765, it is likely that these French traders, weary -of the warfare that had ruined their business, were ready to assume a -neutral attitude, while the Indians themselves grudgingly came to terms -with the English. - -From the day Fort Miami fell to Pontiac’s Miami allies in 1763 until -General Anthony Wayne built the American fort on the side of the modern -city of Fort Wayne in 1794, there was no permanent[67] garrison -stationed at the headwaters of the Maumee. Over this period of -thirty-one years—during which time the American nation came into -being—the region of which we speak gradually became the rendezvous of a -defiant mixture of Indian warriors and lawless renegades of the -frontier, such as the Girties. It was also the home of a heterogeneous -population of English and French traders and their families, French -“engages”, and Miami, Delaware, and Shawnee tribes. In 1790, General -Harmar’s men counted seven distinct villages in the immediate area. All -together, they formed a considerable settlement or settlements, known -near the end of the Revolution as the Miami Towns, the Miami Villages, -or simply, Miamitown. In a sense such a place was the forerunner of the -lawless frontier towns of the next century. - -In 1772, Sir William Johnson, in charge of Indian affairs in America, -pointed out to the British government the advisability of reoccupying -and strengthening the Miami post, as it was “a place of some -importance”.[68] Since the Indians were pacified, the home government -for the sake of economy, did not see fit to carry out his suggestion at -the time. A memorandum of the same year speaks of the “fort being -inhabited by Eight or Ten French families”.[69] A census, apparently -taken in 1769 by the English, lists the names of nine French families -living at Fort Miami.[70] These French residents were nearly all -traders, though some of them had been located here for many years. By -1772, most of them were willing to accept the friendship of their former -foes, the English—primarily for mercenary reasons. British policy kept -the colonists from occupying the land north of the Ohio, which meant the -preservation of the Indian fur trade. Moreover practically all their -furs were sold through the London market. Thus, with the outbreak of the -American Revolution, the French traders at Fort Miami felt they had more -to lose by being friendly with the American cause than their neighbors, -the French inhabitants of Vincennes and the Illinois settlements who -were primarily interested in farming.[71] - -With the outbreak of the Revolution, British troops could not be spared -for the post at Miamitown, but it was placed under strict supervision by -Lieutenant-Governor Henry Hamilton at Detroit. Hamilton appointed -Jacques Lasselle, an officer in the Canadian militia, to the -super-intendency of this post as an agent of Indian affairs. Lasselle -arrived with his family in 1776 from Montreal.[72] His duties were to -see that the Indians maintained their active friendship for the British -cause and to check the passports of all persons going from Detroit to -the Wabash and lower Ohio.[73] None but those holding a license issued -by the British authorities were permitted to engage in trade. - -The year that brought Lasselle to Miamitown gave also to the region -Peter LaFontaine and Charles (John?) Beaubien from Detroit.[74] Both -settled in the Spy Run area of modern Fort Wayne. In his marriage with a -Miami woman and the identification of his interests with those of the -Indians, LaFontaine declared his loyalty to the red men. LaFontaine’s -grandson, Francis LaFontaine, was the last chief of the Miamis to hold -any real authority over the tribe. To Charles Beaubien there attaches -greater interest. He was very active in the English cause and was a -favorite of both Hamilton and Major Arent S. DePeyster, who succeeded -Hamilton as Lieutenant-Governor of Detroit. From Miamitown, Beaubien, -with a young Frenchman named Lorimer and a band of some eighty Indians, -made a raid into Kentucky, where they captured an American party under -Daniel Boone at Blue Licks in 1778. In the same year he served as a -scout for Hamilton’s army, preceding it to Vincennes. DePeyster, in -1780, proposed to recall all the traders, but Beaubien, from Miamitown. -Because of his pro-British activities, Beaubien was cordially hated by -the people of Vincennes, who “wish[ed] to hang” him.[75] - -On September, 26, 1778, Hamilton received from Beaubien at Miamitown the -first news that Colonel George Rogers Clark and his Virginians had taken -Vincennes.[76] Hamilton prepared for his ill-fated expedition to -Vincennes by ordering the militia to prepare the Maumee-Wabash portage -route and strengthen the defenses at Miamitown. Supplies, valued at -$50,000, were left there to be sent to Vincennes later. Concerning the -portage, Hamilton wrote: - - The waters were so uncommonly low that we should not have been able to - have passed but that at the distance of four miles from the landing - place the beavers had made a dam which kept up the water; these we cut - through to give passage to our boats.... The beaver are never molested - at that place by the traders or Aberigines, and soon repair their - dam.[77] - -Clark constantly thought the capture of Detroit to be his ultimate goal -in the northwest campaign. The first step in his proposed expedition was -to be the reduction of Miamitown; however, he was prevented from making -any move toward Miamitown and Detroit, as he lacked men and supplies. -While the subject was still fresh in the minds of the inhabitants along -the lower Ohio, another individual made his appearance to undertake what -even the daring Clark considered imprudent. This man was Augustus Mottin -de LaBalme, a lieutenant-colonel in the French cavalry who had come to -America to offer his services to the colonies. In July, 1777, he was -commissioned inspector general of cavalry by Congress, but feeling -himself slighted in not being placed in command of that division of the -army, he resigned in October and engaged in private business. Late in -the spring of 1780, he was sent west to arouse the French in Illinois. -The antipathy of the Indians and French toward the Virginians hindered -him a great deal and in order to accomplish his purpose, he abandoned -the Virginians and promised the French and Indians that royal troops of -France would soon be on the Mississippi.[78] - - [Illustration: Map carried by Colonel LaBalme at the time of his - death. Courtesy British Library.] - -At Vincennes and Kaskaskia he gathered a force to lead against -Miamitown, with the ultimate objective being Detroit. Four hundred men -were to have joined him at Ouiatenon, but as these reinforcements did -not appear, he was obliged to strike at Miamitown on November 3, 1780, -with but 103 men, before the news of the expedition reached there. The -initial blow was successful as the traders and Indians were taken by -surprise and barely had time to flee the village. The Lasselle family -was forced to escape by way of the Maumee, and in their haste, their -small daughter was drowned. LaBalme’s men fell to plundering the -traders’ goods and Indian villages, then retired to Aboite creek, a few -miles to the southwest. Beaubien and LaFontaine, whose goods had been -destroyed, incited the Indians to attack LaBalme, as the Indians, -learning the party was French, were not disposed at first to retaliate. -The red men, led by their famous war chief, Little Turtle, in his first -major engagement, completely defeated LaBalme’s force, all but a few -being either killed or captured. LaBalme himself was killed and his -personal papers, along with the news of the victory, were sent to -DePeyster at Detroit. Among these papers was the intelligence LaBalme -had gathered about Miamitown and its traders. The goods at Beaubiens’ -store, which was “kept by Mr. LaFontaine, and old man” was valued at -50,000 livres. Another store, kept by Mr. Mouton, a partner of Beaubien, -was also valued at 50,000 livres. These goods were “equally well -disposed” to “Mr. Barthelemy [listed in the census of Fort Miami in -1769], Mr. Rivard, Mr. Lorrance, Mr. Gouin of Detroit, Mr. Lascelle -[Lasselle?], Mr. Pottevin, Mr. Paillet, Mr. Duplessy, & others ... & an -American called George, a partner of Israel [possibly the Jew, Levi, who -aided Captain Morris in 1764].”[79] - -DePeyster was thoroughly alarmed upon learning of LaBalme’s expedition, -and he immediately dispatched the “Rangers” to Miamitown with orders to -cover the cannon there, until it was possible to send them to -Detroit.[80] Captain Thompson of the “Rangers” reported to DePeyster on -March 14, 1781, that he was taking immediate action to alter the old -fort. A false rumor that the French of Vincennes were heading for -Miamitown, brought the Indians flocking to their villages. Their spirit -was very high, and several times they asked Captain Thompson for -assistance “to go and destroy Post St. Vincent, as it is the only place -that gives them any uneasiness.”[81] Within a year, however, DePeyster -reported that the Miamis and other tribes in the area were growing -fearful of being too closely allied with the British.[82] It is possible -that they had received some information concerning Cornwallis’ surrender -at Yorktown. - -The treaty of Paris in 1783, which formally brought to an end the -Revolutionary War, transferred the sovereignty of the land south of the -Great Lakes to the United States. Actually this transfer made little -impression on conditions at Miamitown, for, in truth, the Revolution in -the West closed only with the Jay and Greenville treaties. Great -Britain, in violation of the treaty of Paris, continued to hold Detroit -together with other posts along the southern shore of the Lakes. By this -means they maintained effective control of the fur trade of the -Northwest, and, thereby, to a great extent, influenced the Indians. Just -how much the British officials were responsible for the Indian warfare -from 1783 to 1794 is a debatable question. At times the action of the -British officials seems to have been a case of the right hand not -letting the left hand know what it was doing. Most present-day students -of the subject are inclined to acquit the British government of any -positive agency in the matter. They point out that the constant warfare -injured the fur trade of the area which was in a state of decline during -this period anyway.[83] Nor did the Indians need much encouragement to -take the warpath, as the ever-increasing tide of immigration coming down -the Ohio and across the mountains threatened to engulf them. But the -American settler did not reason this way; to him the English government -was responsible. Milo Quaife, historian of the Northwest, correctly -observes: - - The present day scholar, possessing sources of information denied to - contemporaries and entire immunity from the gory scalping knife and - tomahawk, may consider the subject calmly and philosophically; the - American borderer’s opinions were based upon the acts of Great - Britain’s agents in America and the visible facts of the situation on - the frontier.[84] - -A concrete example of the condition of the Indian fur trade and warfare -during this period and their connection with the British trader and his -government is given in the history of Miamitown between 1783 and 1794. -Strong evidence indicates that despite the general decline in the fur -trade, the region southwest of Detroit, and Miamitown especially, was -extremely important for the British fur trade. In 1790, the British -commander at Detroit, Major Smith, wrote to his superiors: - - How far the loss of the Miamis Country, to the protection of His - Majesty, will effect this Post and its trade, is a matter it would be - presumptive in me to comment on. I think it however my duty to observe - that it is a considerable mart of Indian Commerce uniting in this - place.[85] - -A month later Dorchester, Governor of Canada, warned the authorities in -London that the loss of Miamitown to the Americans would bring grave -hardships to the trade at Detroit.[86] In an earlier document he had -estimated that 2000 packs of furs were taken yearly from the Miami -region, bringing an income of some 24,000 pounds sterling. This far -exceeded any other area south of the Great Lakes, doubling in fact the -number of packs taken from the next most important area, that from -Detroit north to Lake Huron.[87] - -In the heart of the Indian country, Miamitown was also the principal -point from which the Indian raiding parties harassed the frontier. -Twenty-six war parties left Miamitown in a period of six months during -1786.[88] There is a strong tradition and some evidence to show that a -secret society of Miami warriors of necessary courage and cunning met at -stated intervals at Miamitown for the purpose of burning a captive and -eating his flesh.[89] By its proximity to Detroit, Miamitown remained -within the British orbit of trade. The merchants at Miamitown formed a -loose association for their mutual benefit called the “Society of the -Miamis”.[90] Business was carried on not only with Detroit and other -English controlled stations, but also with Vincennes and the Illinois -settlements, until Indian warfare and the animosity of the American -settlers toward the traders made it virtually impossible to go to the -lower Wabash. - -Low market prices, bad fur seasons, and almost constant warfare by the -Indians threatened to ruin the fur trade in the years immediately -following the Revolution. Many of the small companies failed and the -larger ones had difficulties. David Gray, a prominent trader at -Miamitown, was advised not to come to Detroit, as his creditor, William -Robertson, was awaiting Gray’s arrival.[91] The previous year, 1785, the -same Gray had been requested to aid in collecting a long-standing debt -from two of his fellow villagers, Rivard and LaBerche.[92] Larimier, -another trader at Miamitown, failed because he could not meet the claims -of his creditors.[93] There was constant danger that the British traders -might lose all the export trade of the region to the Spanish at New -Orleans. In 1787, the “Society” found it necessary to send “the -Grandmaster to Vincennes to keep the trade from going to New -Orleans.”[94] The Indians were also an uncertain quantity and at times -were hostile even to the traders. Chapeau, a member of the “Society”, -was killed by the Indians and George Ironside reluctantly told Gray at -Vincennes to send the goods to New Orleans rather than risk shipping -them up the Wabash.[95] Gray was repeatedly warned by Ironside to be -most cautious on his return trip to Miamitown as he was in danger of -losing his life. It is to the credit of the Miamitown traders that they -traded only sparingly in liquor with the Indians. Their reasons were not -altogether altruistic, however, as the price of liquor was exceptionally -high. - -The most candid description of the character of the trade at Miamitown -has been left to us by Henry Hay, who wrote in his journal of 1790: - - ... but few skins comes in, and almost every individual (except the - engages) is an Indian trader, everyone tries to get what he can either - by fowle play or otherwise—that is by traducing one another’s - characters and merchandise. For instance by saying such a one has no - Blankets another no strowde or is damned bad or he’ll cheat you & so - on—in short I cannot term it in a better manner than calling it a - Rascally Scrambling Trade &c &c.[96] - -Henry Hay, the writer, was an English trader and partisan who sojourned -in Miamitown for a period of four months during the winter of 1789-90. -His day-by-day account, obviously not intended for publication, gives us -a cross section of life at Miamitown in all its aspects, both civilized -and savage. Hay seems to have been in the employee of William Robertson, -the Detroit merchant, although there is good reason to believe that he -was also employed by Major Murray, the English commander at Detroit. Set -off against the hard life of a trading post among Indian villages was -the characteristic vivacity and gaiety of the French atmosphere -prevalent in the town. The daily routine was by no means dull; drinking, -dancing, and parties formed a constant round of entertainment in which -the visitors gladly take part. Hay and John Kinzie (later the founder of -Chicago) played the flute and fiddle for parties and dances, as well as -for the ladies alone, and at Mass in the home of one of the oldest -residents, Barthelemy. Their religion was an intricate part of the lives -of the French inhabitants. During the four months Hay was at Miamitown, -Mass was celebrated at Barthelemy’s house by Father Louis Payet, a -missionary from Detroit. After playing at Mass on one occasion, Hay -wrote, “The French settlers of this place go to prayers of a Sunday, -morning and evening, ... the people are collected by the Ringing of -three cow bells, which three boys runs about thro’ the village, which -makes as much noise as twenty cows would.”[97] - -Miamitown in 1790 had certain refinements not to be expected behind its -rough exterior. Afternoon coffee and lunch was served in the home of -Mrs. Adhemar on numerous occasions. Dinners were given in grand style. -For the parties the men and women dressed in their finest apparel. Mr. -Adhemar and Mr. DeSeleron made their appearance at a ball wearing very -fine fur caps, “adorned with a quantity of Black Ostridge Feathers” and -“Cockades made with white tinsell Ribbon, amasingly large.”[98] Less -refining was the constant drinking. At different times, Hay and his -companions became “infernally drunk”, “very drunk”, and “damned drunk”. -One affair was memorable in that none of the men became drunk, “which is -mostly the case in this place when they collect together”.[99] Dancing -was also a favorite pastime, so much so, that after dancing three nights -in succession, Hay found his feet too swollen to continue. It appeared -as if dancing was never enjoyed more by anyone than by these French -“habitants”. It became almost a passion; when they grew weary of the old -steps, new ones were devised. The almost annual springtime flood seems -to have been more severe than usual in the year 1790. But not even the -flood dampened the gaiety, for before the waters had subsided, the -ladies were taken for a row on the river to be serenaded by the flute -and fiddle. Not all was fun and frolic, however, as business was -transacted regularly by the traders. - -In strange contrast to the minuet and “dance ronby” were the wild war -dances of the Indians across the river in celebration of a victorious -raid on the American settlements.[100] From the French village situated -on the St. Joseph river where it meets the St. Mary’s, Hay could easily -see these spectacles. Behind the traders’ houses, northward to Spy Run -Creek, lived the band of Miamis under LeGris, one of the most prominent -and intellectual chiefs of his time. Across the river, in the present -Lakeside area of Fort Wayne, was the principal village of the Miamis -under Pacan, who in his youth had saved Captain Morris.[101] Frequent -discussions were held by the traders with Pacan, LeGris, Blue Jacket, -and Little Turtle; LeGris and Little Turtle often ate and stayed at -Hay’s house. The three Girty brothers, the terrors of the frontier, -visited Miamitown on a number of occasions during Hay’s sojourn. James -and George Girty lived only three miles from Miamitown, and came more -often than their brother, Simon. It is noteworthy that Hay obligingly -wrote a letter for George Girty to Alexander McKee, the British Indian -agent, informing McKee that the Miamis had upbraided the Delawares by -“telling them that the Ground they occupied now is not theirs and that -... the Delawares answered, they were great fools to fight for lands -that was not theirs and consequently would not go to war against the -Americans any more.”[102] Girty asked McKee to check the Delaware -dissatisfaction. - -It is clear that the inhabitants of Miamitown were, for the most part, -English partisans. Hay could not venture his “carcass” among the “parcel -of renegards” [sic] at Vincennes.[103] When Antoine Lasselle did venture -southward and was captured by the Indians who thought him to be -sympathetic with the Americans, Major Murray intervened and the people -of the village certified that Lasselle was “a good loyalist” and “always -for supporting his King”.[104] When Lorraine, an inhabitant of Miamitown -for forty years, died and was buried, “the young Volunteers of the place -gave him three Vollies ... in Honor to his services rendered to the King -of Great Britain.”[105] Evidently the time Lorraine had aided Pontiac’s -Indians in capturing the British post at Ouiatenon was forgotten at this -late date. Not all of the traders at Miamitown were good loyalists, -however. James Abbott is described as being “one of our dis-affected -subjects.” He refused to obtain the necessary permit for trading and -spoke to the Indians of “Major Murray & Capt. McKee in so disrespectfull -a manner that they ... determined to send Strings of Wampum into Detroit -immediately to informe them of it.”[106] - -On the first of April, 1790, Hay departed for Detroit, “much regretted -by every one in the village”.[107] Less than seven months later -Miamitown lay in ashes, ravaged by an American army which left 183 of -its men dead in the vicinity. There is nothing in Hay’s journal to -indicate that the French, English, or Indian occupants of the villages -anticipated the blow which was to be dealt them by Harmar’s army, -although they were fully aware of the movements which preceded the -coming of Harmar. “John Thompson [a prisoner] ... informed me their was -great talk of raising men to come against the Ind’s”, wrote Hay on March -24, 1790. “However”, he continued, “General St. Clair who is now at the -Big Miami [Cincinnati] with two boat loads of goods, means to call the -Indians together at a Council at Post Vincennes—But if the Indians do -not come to a settlement with them, they mean to fight them.”[107] - -This and other councils were held. St. Clair, governor of the newly -created Northwest Territory, following Washington’s instructions, -offered peace to the Indians. Antoine Gamelin, a merchant from Vincennes -favorably known by the Indians, was sent with the Governor’s overtures -to the hostile Indians. The tribes along the Wabash would give Gamelin -no answer until he conferred with those at Miamitown. Here, the Indians, -as well as the traders, assembled to hear Gamelin’s speech. Their reply -was evasive and unsatisfactory, while their true attitude was revealed -by the burning of an American prisoner only three days after Gamelin’s -departure.[108] - -War was now inevitable, and during the five years of bloody conflict -that followed, Miamitown was the principal goal of the American forces. -As early as 1784, Washington had confided in his future Secretary of -War, Henry Knox, that the establishment of a strong post at Miamitown -was desirable for the welfare of the new nation in the West.[109] The -following year, Washington wrote to Richard Henry Lee for the benefit of -the Continental Congress, advocating a strong western policy. In his -letter Washington said: - - Would it not be worthy of the wisdom and the attention of congress to - have the western waters well explored, the navigation of them fully - ascertained, and accurately laid down, ... at least as far westerly as - the Miamis running into the Ohio [the Great Miami] and Lake Erie [the - Maumee] ... for I cannot forbear observing that the Miami village - points to an important post for the Union.[110] - -St. Clair, while in Philadelphia during 1790, talked to both Secretary -of War, Henry Knox and President Washington, and suggested that an -American fort be established on the site of Miamitown.[111] Writing to -Knox on November 26, 1790, St. Clair again urged that General Harmar in -the forthcoming campaign be empowered to carry out this plan, concluding -his argument by saying, “we [will] never have peace with the Western -Nations until we have a garrison there.”[112] Knox, after conferring -with Washington, rejected the idea. In doing so, he wrote to the -disappointed St. Clair, the following explanation: - - In contemplating the establishment of military posts northwest of the - Ohio, to answer the purposes of awing the Indians residing on the - Wabash, the west end of Lake Erie, St. Joseph’s, and the Illinois ... - and, at the same time, exhibiting a respectable appearance to the - British troops at Detroit and Niagara, the Miami village presents - itself as superior to any other position. This opinion was given to me - by the President in the year 1784, and has several times been held - forth by me to Brigadier Harmar. But at the same time, it must be - acknowledged that the measure would involve a much larger military - establishment than perhaps the value of the object or disposition of - the United States would admit, and that it would be so opposed to the - inclinations of the Indians generally ... as to bring on inevitably an - Indian war of some duration. In addition to which, it is supposed that - the British garrison would find themselves so uneasy with such a force - impending over them as not only to occasion a considerable - reinforcement of their upper posts, but also fomenting ... the - opposition of the Indians.[113] - -It would appear that the government did not wish to offend Great -Britain, a policy which was not too strong perhaps, but one that kept -the young republic at peace at a crucial time in her history. The -proposed attack on Miamitown had to be under the guise of punishing the -Indians. To do this and retire was permissible, but the establishment of -an American fort there would have been considered by the British as a -dagger pointed at Detroit. Consequently, when Harmar finally moved from -Fort Washington with his army of 1,600 men, he had orders to destroy -Miamitown and, if possible, its Indian occupants. Harmar himself -promised that, in the event of a successful campaign, he would attend to -“the villanous traders”.[114] Interestingly the British officials at -Detroit and Canada believed that Harmar fully intended to build a fort -at Miamitown although they expressed surprise at the “imprudence” of -such action. Their spies, such as the Girties and Alexander McKee, kept -them well informed of the strength and movement of Harmar’s army. They -even noted Harmar’s tendency to be intoxicated.[115] - -Forewarned by the British agents of the impending attack, the Indians -adopted a “scorched earth” policy. The traders were forced to give their -stores of ammunition to the Indians and were aided in fleeing with what -goods they could carry. What was not destroyed by the Indians at -Miamitown was burned by the Americans (20,000 bushels of corn, among -other things). In two major engagements, the first at Hellar’s Corners, -eight miles north of Miamitown, and the second, a three-pronged attack -within the heart of the village and on the banks of the Maumee and St. -Joseph rivers, the Indian forces, under Little Turtle, were -victorious.[116] Although their crops and towns were destroyed and the -trade ruined, the Indians were elated over their victories, and their -frontier raids continued. - -Knox now felt that, despite possible British disapproval, the only means -of checking the Indians was to establish the fort at Miamitown for which -St. Clair had asked. To carry this out, the Secretary of War asked -Congress to increase the size of the army. The force contemplated for -the intended post was 1,000 to 1,200 men. St. Clair argued that a strong -fort at Miamitown “would curb the Wabash Indians, as well as the Ottawas -and Chippewas, and all other northern tribes”; that it would “more -effectually cover the line of frontier along the Ohio, than by a post -any other place whatever (excluding Detroit)”; and “would afford more -fully security to the territory of the United States northwest of the -Ohio.”[117] For an economy-minded Congress, he pointed out that “it -would assist in the reduction of the national debt, by holding out -security to people to purchase and settle the public lands.”[118] - -General Knox still feared English hostility to this move, and he -instructed St. Clair to “make such intimations as may remove all such -disposition.” These intimations, however, were better to follow, than -precede, the possession of the post, unless circumstances dictated -otherwise, as it was “not the inclination of the United States to enter -into a contest with Great Britain.”[119] - -St. Clair never reached Miamitown. Badly trained and inexperienced, his -army of 1,400 men suffered one of the most terrible defeats ever -inflicted on American forces. Five hundred and thirty-two men fell -before Little Turtle’s Indians on the site of Fort Recovery, Ohio. The -situation was now critical. The Indians now attacked the frontier with -impunity and another defeat might mean the complete alienation of the -West from the new union. At this crucial point, General Anthony Wayne, -hero of Stony Point in the Revolution, was appointed commander-in-chief -of the American army. It is not necessary to give in detail the long -months of preparation of Wayne’s “Legion” and the swift campaign which -was carried out in the Maumee valley. Wayne cut the Indian forces in two -by feinting toward Miamitown, then moving between it and the English -Fort Miami at the mouth of the Maumee. Before the various tribes could -reorganize fully, the “Legion” turned on the Indian forces to the east. -At Fallen Timbers, a short distance from Toledo, on August 20, 1794, -Wayne’s army met and defeated the red men. The Indian power in the -Northwest was for the time being shattered and Wayne moved down the -Maumee to complete his task, the construction, near the site of the old -Kiskakon, of a new American stronghold in the Northwest—Fort Wayne. - - -[1]“Kekionga” is said to mean “blackberry bush”, this plant being - considered an emblem of antiquity because it sprang up on the sites - of old villages. This theory rests on the statement of Barron, an - old French trader of the area. However, the word “Kekionga” is more - likely a corruption of Kiskakon. The Kiskakons or “cut tails” were - the principal tribe of the Ottawas who lived on the Maumee at a very - early time, for which reason this river was sometimes called the - “Ottawa”. _Archeological American_, 1,278; “Relation of Sieur de - Lamothe Cadillac, 1718” _Wisconsin Historical Collections_, XVI, p. - 353. - -[2]From Little Turtle’s speech at the Treaty of Greenville, quoted in H. - S. Knapp’s _History of the Maumee Valley_, p. 357. - -[3]Justin Winsor, _Narrative and Critical History_, IV, 224 lists the - following: - - a. Green Bay, Lake Winnebago and Fox River to the Wisconsin River and - to the Mississippi. - b. From the upper end of Lake Michigan, the Chicago river, and a short - portage to the Des Plaines, and Illinois rivers. - c. The St. Joseph of Lake Michigan, a portage to the Kankakee and so - to the Illinois river again. - d. The St. Joseph river to the Wabash by a longer portage and then - down to the Ohio and Mississippi. - e. The Miami of Lake Erie, a portage to the Wabash and down as above. - -[4]H. S. Knapp, _History of the Maumee Valley_, pp. 9-10; Justin Winsor, - _Cartier to Frontenac_, p. 224; Elbert J. Benton, “The Wabash Trade - Route in the Development of the Old Northwest” _John Hopkins - University Studies in Historical and Political Science_, XXI, 12. - -[5]Pierre Margry, _Decouvertes des francais dans L’Amerique - Septentrionale_ II, 98. - -[6]Justin Winsor, _Cartier to Frontenac_, p. 256. - -[7]Pierre Margry, _op. cit._, II, 296; see also, Beverley Bond, - _Foundations of Ohio_, pp. 70-8. Bond holds that the Maumee-Wabash - route was the original one intended to be used by LaSalle who then - decided to establish his communication by means of the upper Ohio; - due to the Iroquois, however, he fell back upon the Maumee-Wabash - route as the best means of reaching the Mississippi, but was forced - to abandon this also to the Iroquois. Later Cadillac was to adopt - LaSalle’s Lake Erie-Maumee-Wabash route. - -[8]Logan Esarey, _History of Indiana_, p. 12. - -[9]Elbert J. Benton, _op. cit._, p. 17. - -[10]Otho Winger, _The Last of the Miamis_, p. 3. - -[11]Pierre Margry, _op cit._, V, 359-62. - -[12]Beverley Bond, _op. cit._, p. 76. - -[13]Cadillac Papers, _Michigan Pioneer and Historical Collection, - XXXIII_, 338. - -[14]Charles Slocum, _History of the Maumee River Basin_, I, 86; H. S. - Knapp, _op. cit._, p. 9; “Forts Miami and Fort Industry”, _Ohio - Archaeological and Historical Society Publications_, XII, 120. - -[15]_New York Colonial Documents_, IX, p. 676. This French officer was - the elder Vincennes, the uncle of Francois Margane, Sieur de - Vincennes. The younger Vincennes was the founder of the town of - Vincennes on the lower Wabash. - -[16]_Archives des Colonies_, c 11 117, 118, (Paris) Pierre Margry, _op. - cit._, V, 178, 218, 225-8; 239-43; 256-8, 262-7; 271-3; 278; - 280-283. - -[17]_New York Colonial Documents, Paris Documents_, IX, 891. - -[18]Archives de la Province Quebec, Vaudreuil to Council of Marine, Oct. - 24, 1722. - -[19]_New York Colonial Documents_, IX, 894. - -[20]“Céloron Journal” _Wisconsin Historical Collections_, XVIII, 51. - -[21]Archives de la Province Quebec, de Vaudreuil to Council of Marine, - Oct. 24, 1722. - -[22]_The Jesuits Relations_, ed. by Reuben G. Thwaites, LXIX, p. 189. - -[23]Archives de la Province Quebec, de Vaudreuil to Council of Marine, - Oct. 24, 1722. - -[24]_Archives des Colonies_, c 11 117, 118. - -[25]_Letters of Governor Spotswood_, II, 296. - -[26]Norman Cadwell, _The French in the Mississippi Valley_, 1740-1750, - p. 95. - -[27]_New York Colonial Documents, Paris Documents_, IX, 894. - -[28]_Wisconsin Historical Collections_, XVII, 211. Sieur Darnaud was in - all likelihood Nicolas-Marie Renoud Davenne, born 1696, died 1743. - -[29]_Indiana Historical Society Publications_, VII, 72. This post was a - new settlement of the English from Carolina apparently on the upper - Ohio River. - -[30]_Ibid._, p. 72. - -[31]_Archives des Colonies_, C 11 117, 118. - -[32]_Archives de Colonies_, C 11 117, 118. - -[33]_Ibid._ - -[34]_Wisconsin Historical Collections_, XVIII, 175. - -[34a]_Archives des Colonies_, C 11 118. - -[35]Norman Caldwell, _op. cit._, p. 41. - -[36]_Ibid._, p. 31. - -[37]_Ibid._, p. 41. - -[38]_New York Colonial Documents, Paris Documents_, X, 140. - -[39]_Wisconsin Historical Collections, XVII_, 486-7. - -[40]_New York Colonial Documents, Paris Documents_, X, 150. - -[41]_The Jesuit Relations_, ed. by Reuben G. Thwaites, LXIX, 189. - -[42]Norman Caldwell, _op. cit._, p. 95. - -[43]_Ibid._, p. 95. - -[44]The journal kept by Celoron on this expedition may be found in - Margry, _op. cit._, VI, 666 ff. - -[45]_Jesuit Relations_, ed. by R. Thwaites, LXIX, 189. - -[46]_Ibid._, p. 189. - -[47]_Ohio Archaeological and Historical Society Publications_, XII, 120. - -[48]_Mississippi Valley Historical Review_, IX, 315. - -[49]Francis Parkman, _Montcalm and Wolfe_, I, 87. - -[50]Charles Slocum, _op. cit._, p. 99. - -[51]Charles Lasselle, “Indian Traders of Indiana”, _Indiana Magazine of - History_, II, Number 1, 4. - -[52]_A Narrative of Life on the Frontier, Henry Hay’s Journal_, ed. by - Milo Quaife, p. 261. - -[53]_See below_, pp. [p 79-80.] - -[54]Marquis de la Jonquiere to Governor Clinton, Aug. 10, 1751, _New - York Colonial Documents_, VI, pp. 731-34. - -[55]Mitchell’s map was the best known of contemporary maps of North - America. A reproduction of this map may be found in the _Michigan - Pioneer and Historical Collection_, XXXVI, 52-3. - -[56]Beverley Bond, _op. cit._, pp. 153-154. - -[57]For an interesting discussion of the French attempt during the peace - negotiations at the end of the war to establish the Maumee and - Wabash rivers as the new boundary between the two colonial empires, - see Theodore Pease’s article, “Indiana in Contention between France - and England” in the _Indiana Historical Bulletin_, XII. - -[58]“Croghan’s Journal”, _Early Western Travels_, ed. by R. G. Thwaites, - I, 122-23. - -[59]_Jesuit Relations_, LXIX, 189. - -[60]_Michigan Pioneer and Historical Collections_, XIX, 47. - -[61]_Ibid._, p. 47. - -[62]Francis Parkman, _Conspiracy of Pontiac_, I, 189. - -[63]The Journal of Captain Morris as quoted in his _Miscellanies in - Prose and Verse_ has been reprinted in _Early Western Travels_, I, - 301-ff. - -[64]Captain Thomas Morris, _op. cit._, p. 312. This prohibition of the - sale of liquor to the Indiana was not always as successful as Capt. - Morris thought. - -[65]“Croghan’s Journal”, _Western Travels_, I, 149-150. - -[66]For the French philosopher Volney’s description of these French - Creoles _See Below_, [p. 34.] - -[67]After LaBalme’s raid, a British force was stationed at Fort Miami - for four months, _See Below_, [p. 16.] - -[68]_Illinois Historical_ XVI, 60. - -[69]_Indiana Historical Society Publications_, II, 435. - -[70]_Ibid._, p. 439-40. The following names are listed: Capuchin, - Baptiste Campau, Nicholas Perct, Pierre Barthe, Bergerson, - Berthelemy, Dorien, Francois Maisonville, Laurain. - -[71]As it turned out the people of Vincennes suffered a great deal for - their friendship with the American cause. - -[72]Charles Lasselle, _loc. cit._, p. 4. - -[73]Wallace A. Brice, _History of Fort Wayne_, p. 102. - -[74]Charles Lasselle, _loc. cit._, p. 4. - -[75]DePeyster to Haldimand, Nov. 16, 1780, and Haldimand to DePeyster, - June 6, 1781, Haldimand Papers relating to Detroit, 1772-84, II, - British Museum. After his release from captivity by the Americans, - Colonel Hamilton accused Beaubien of treachery for not following - Hamilton’s orders during the campaign, cf. Hamilton’s account of the - ill fated expedition against Vincennes, Hamilton to Haldimand, July - 6, 1781, Haldimand Papers, II, British Museum. - -[76]Hamilton to Haldimand, Sept. 26, 1778. _Michigan Pioneer - Collections_, X, 449. - -[77]Hamilton to Haldimand, July 6, 1781, Haldimand Papers, II, British - Museum. - -[78]_Michigan Pioneer Collections_, XIX, 699. For LaBalme’s dramatic - speeches to the French, see the _Illinois Historical Collections_, - II, p. xci. For other information concerning LaBalme, see the - _Virginia State Papers_, I, p. 380. The complete papers of LaBalme - were forwarded to the war ministry in London and together with the - map carried by LaBalme at the time of his death are available in the - Haldimand Papers, II, 13, British Museum (London). - -[79]“LaBalme Papers”, _Michigan Pioneer and Historical Collections_, - XIX, 578-8. - -[80]“Haldimand Papers”, _Michigan Pioneer and Historical Collections_, - XIX, 582. - -[81]Capt. A. Thompson to DePeyster, Mar. 14, 1781, _Michigan Pioneer and - Historical Collections_, XIX, 589-600. - -[82]DePeyster to Haldimand, Apr. 22, 1782, Haldimand Papers, II, British - Museum. - -[83]Wayne Steven, “The Northwest Fur Trade” _University of Illinois - Studies in Social Sciences_, XIV, p. 513. - -[84]Milo Quaife, _op. cit._, p. 209. - -[85]Major Smith to Dorchester, Oct. 16, 1790, Public Records Office, - (Colonial Series) CO-42 73, London. - -[86]Dorchester to Grenville, October 17, 1790, Public Records Office, - (Colonial Series) CO-42 73. - -[87]Dorchester to Grenville, May 31, 1790, Public Records Office, - (Colonial Series) CO-42 73. - -[88]Leonard Helderman, “Danger on the Wabash, Vincennes letters of - 1786-87” _Indiana Magazine of History_, XXXIV, 459. - -[89]Logan Esarey, _op. cit._, I, 102. - -[90]George Sharp to Paul Camelin, June 23, 1786, “Letters from - Eighteenth Century Indiana Merchants” (the Lasselle Papers) ed. C.B. - Coleman and published in the _Indiana Magazine of History_, V, - 145-146. - -[91]George Leith to Gray, Apr. 3, 1786, _loc. cit._, V, 144-145. - -[92]John MacPherson to Gray, March, 1785, _loc. cit._, V, 142-143. - -[93]Ironside to Gray, Apr. 15, 1787, _loc. cit._, V, 151-152. - -[94]Ironside to Gray, Mar. 15, 1787, _loc. cit._, V, 150. - -[95]Ironside to Gray, Feb. 16, 1787, _loc. cit._, V, 149. George - Ironside was a leading trader in the Maumee valley. He was born in - 1760 and died in 1830, at Amherstburg. For many years he was in the - British Indian service. He was an M. A. of King’s College, Aberdeen - and was known, even to the Americans, for his humanity and - hospitality. - -[96]_A Narrative of Life on the Old Frontier, Henry Hay’s Journal from - Detroit to the Mississippi River_, edited by M. M. Quaife, p. 224. - -[97]_Ibid._, p. 221. - -[98]_Ibid._, p. 241. - -[99]_Ibid._, p. 240. - -[100]_Ibid._, p. 260. Hay gives an interesting description of the - “Natt”, the Indian symbol of war, carried about much like the - Ancient Roman standards. - -[101]_above_, [p. 23.] - -[102]Quaife, _op. cit._, p. 226. - -[103]_Ibid._, p. 245. - -[104]_Ibid._, p. 237. - -[105]_Ibid._, p. 258. - -[106]_Ibid._, p. 245. - -[107]_Ibid._, p. 261. - -[108]_Indiana Historical Society Publications_, VII, 360. - -^[109]“Gamelin’s Journal”, St. Clair Papers, II, pp. 155-160; _American - State Papers_, Indian Affairs, I, P. 37. - -[109]_St. Clair Papers_, ed. Wm. Smith, II, 181. - -[110]_The Writings of George Washington_, ed. Jared Sparks, IX, 80-81. - -[111]_St. Clair Papers_, II, 181. - -[112]_Ibid._, 193. - -[113]Knox to St. Clair, Sept. 14, 1790, _St. Clair Papers_, II, p. 181. - -[114]_American State Papers, Indian Affairs_, I, p. 104-5. - -[115]Dorchester to Grenville, Nov. 10, 1790, including dispatches from - A. McKee and others, Public Record Office (Colonial Series) CO-42; - 73, London. - -[116]For the accounts of the battles see Harmar’s report in _ASP, Indian - Affairs_, I, pp. 104; also the “Military Journal of Major Ebenezer - Denny” in _Memoirs of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania_, VII, - 343-353. The heaviest action took place at Harmar’s ford at the end - of Harmar Street. Here the regulars suffered severely while - attempting to cross the Maumee in the face of the Indians’ fire. - -[117]_ASP, Indian Affairs_, I, 112. - -[118]_Ibid._, p. 112. - -[119]“Knox’s Instructions to St. Clair”, _Michigan Pioneer and - Historical Collections_, XXIV, 197-8. - - - - - Chapter II - The Establishment of Fort Wayne—Government Outpost of Defense, - Diplomacy and Trade - - -Wayne’s victorious “Legion” arrived at Miamitown on the evening of -September 17, 1794. Lieutenant John Boyer, to whose journal we are -indebted for the best account of the conditions relating to the -construction of Fort Wayne, wrote on the day of the arrival: - - ... there are nearly five hundred acres of cleared land lying in one - body on the rivers St. Joseph, St. Mary’s and Miami; there are fine - points of land contiguous to those rivers adjoining the cleared land - ... the land adjacent [is] fertile and well timbered, and from every - appearance it has been one of the largest settlements made by the - Indians in this country.[1] - -On the following day, Wayne reconnoitered the ground and selected the -site for the new fort, an elevated position on the right bank of the -Maumee just below the confluence of the St. Mary’s and St. Joseph -rivers. The ground chosen approximates lots 11, 12, and 13 of the -present Taber addition on the northeast corner of East Berry and Clay -street.[2] - -Wayne determined to build a strong fortification, much to the -disapproval of Lieutenant William Clark, who felt that a common picketed -one would be equally as difficult for the savages.[3] It is conceivable -that Wayne in building a strong fortification feared a future British -attack equally as much as he feared the Indians. Actual construction -began on September 24. The difficulties were many. The season was late, -and the fort had to be completed before winter came. The regulars had -been good fighters, but proved to be poor workers. All the severity of -the army code was required to keep them in line, one hundred lashes on -their bare backs being the usual punishment. The volunteers were -rebellious; for a while they were employed convoying the supplies from -Fort Defiance to Fort Wayne over the improved road Wayne had -constructed, but finally, when Wayne could no longer cope with the -Kentucky militiamen, they were sent home. Provisions were also scarce -and prices were high. Not infrequently the men were on half-rations, -while the horses died at the rate of five a day for lack of feed. A ten -gallon keg of whiskey cost eight dollars; a pint of salt, when it could -be obtained, brought six dollars.[4] - -Despite these difficulties, Wayne seemed well-satisfied with the -construction of his new fort, which was capable of resisting 24 pound -guns. By October 17, he felt “free to pronounce them [Fort Wayne and -Fort Defiance] the most respectable now in the occupancy of the United -States, even in their present situation which is not quite perfect as -yet.”[5] Construction was pushed with all possible speed, and although -the fort was not quite completed, the day of dedication was set for -October 22, 1794, the fourth anniversary of Harmar’s defeat. Early that -morning, after firing fifteen rounds of cannon in honor of the fifteen -states in the Union, the flag was raised. Colonel Hamtramck then named -the new fortification, “Fort Wayne.”[6] - -The “Legion” departed for Greenville on October 28, leaving -Lieutenant-Colonel John Francis Hamtramck in command of four infantry -companies and one artillery battery at Fort Wayne. Colonel Hamtramck is -described as being “a small Canadian Frenchman, an intelligent, capable, -and meritorious officer.”[7] After serving in the Revolution, Hamtramck -came to the West with Harmar, being in command at Vincennes when he -joined Wayne’s army. Although somewhat of a martinet, Hamtramck was -popular with his men and, from all accounts, one of the most efficient -officers in the army at that time. - -It was fortunate that Wayne left a capable man in charge of Fort Wayne, -as Hamtramck’s difficulties proved to be many. There still remained a -great deal of work to be done in strengthening the fort, which was not -completed until the following spring. The garrison was plagued by an -epidemic of malaria fever during the first summer. This condition was -made worse by the lack of quinine or any medical supplies.[8] During the -winter, the men often went about in rags and tatters. Hamtramck was -forced to permit them to cut up their blankets and turn them into -over-coats. - -Facing such difficulties, it is little wonder that Hamtramck complained -frequently to Generals Wayne and Wilkinson about the problems of -disciplining his rebellious men and caring for the destitute Indians who -were returning to their ruined villages. Concerning the soldiers -Hamtramck wrote, “I have flogged them until I am tired. The economic -allowance of one hundred lashes, allowed by the government, does not -appear a sufficient inducement for a rascal to act the part of an honest -man.”[9] - -Hamtramck was actively engaged at this time in discussions with the -chiefs, particularly Little Turtle, LeGris, and Richardville, concerning -the proposed peace negotiations to be held at Greenville the following -summer. In these matters, Hamtramck was aided immensely by the Lasselle -brothers, Antoine and Jacques.[10] Antoine had resided at Miamitown from -1771 until Harmer’s destruction of the village in 1790. He had fought on -the side of the Indians in the battle of Fallen Timbers and had been -captured by Wayne’s troops. Tried as a spy, he narrowly escaped the -gallows through Hamtramck’s intercession. Colonel John Johnston, Indian -factor at Fort Wayne, later described Antoine Lasselle as a man of wit -and drollery who “would often clasp his neck with both hands to show how -near he had been to hanging by order of Mad Anthony.”[11] After his -release, Antoine Lasselle with his brother Jacques returned to Fort -Wayne, apparently the first traders to do so. Here they furnished the -Americans with supplies and used their strong influence with the Miamis -to the good advantage of the American cause. - -The Indians had asked that the forthcoming peace conference be held at -their old village, Kekionga, as Kiskakon had come to be called by that -time. Wayne insisted that the tribesmen come to Greenville, 79 miles -southeast of Fort Wayne. Resorting to the use of Indian symbolism, Wayne -argued, “It was there [Kekionga] that the hatchet was first raised, to -bury a bloody hatchet there would disturb the spirits of the unburied -dead.”[12] Wayne’s real reasons were less symbolic, but more practical. -The distance of bringing supplies to Fort Wayne would be much farther -than to Greenville, and at Greenville he would have his “Legion” ready -in case of trouble. In the spring the Indians going to Greenville came -by way of Fort Wayne, so overcrowding the post that Hamtramck’s garrison -had to go on half-rations to feed the delegates. Even this did not -suffice; emergency stores were depleted, while the liquor and tobacco -were so exhausted that Hamtramck had to buy additional supplies from -Antoine Lasselle. - -At Greenville Wayne won the peace which Fallen Timbers had secured. In -respect to Fort Wayne, which remained an American island deep in Indian -Territory, the United States gained an area of six square miles around -the fort, free use of the Maumee-Wabash portage, and an area of two -square miles at the Wabash end of the portage. The Indians also promised -the United States the use of the roads leading to Fort Wayne from -Defiance to the northeast and Piqua to the southeast. Little Turtle, -Wayne’s keenest antagonist during the negotiations, debated long and -eloquently over these concessions at and around Fort Wayne. The great -Miami chief secured one compromise from the General, a reduction of the -land around the fort to be ceded to the United States. After this -concession by Wayne, Little Turtle addressed the council: - - These people [the French] were seen by our forefathers first at - Detroit; afterwards we saw them at the Miami village—that glorious - gate which your younger brothers had the happiness to own.... - Brothers, these people never told us they wished to purchase these - lands from us. - - I now give you the true sentiments of your younger brothers with - respect to the reservation at the Miami villages. We thank you kindly - for contracting the limits you at first proposed. We wish you to take - this six mile square on the side of the river where your fort now - stands, as your younger brothers wish to inhabit that beloved spot - again ... The next place you pointed to was the Little River, and said - you wanted two miles square at that place. This is a request that our - fathers, the French or British, never made us; it was always ours. - This carrying place has heretofore proved in a great degree, the - subsistence of your younger brothers. That place has brought us in the - course of one day, the amount of one hundred dollars. Let us both own - this place.[13] - -To this Wayne replied: - - The Little Turtle observes, he never heard of any cession made at that - place [Fort Wayne] to the French. I have traced the lines of two forts - at that point ... and it is ever an established rule, among the - Europeans, to reserve as much ground around their forts, as their - cannon can command.[14] - -Wayne could not grant Little Turtle’s request for joint-control of the -Maumee-Wabash portage since the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 guaranteed -to everyone free use of all important portages (Article V). Wayne proved -himself an economist and shrewd diplomat by arguing before the other -assembled tribes that the tolls garnered by the Miamis actually were -passed off to all the Indians in the form of higher prices for the -traders goods. At length, Little Turtle, speaking for four tribes -besides the Miamis, expressed himself as satisfied with the treaty, and -being the last to sign it, promised he would be the last to break -it.[15] This he never did, as he spent the last seventeen years of his -life at peace with the Americans. - -In a farewell address to the conference, Little Turtle asked that the -United States government appoint Captain William Wells as resident -interpreter at Fort Wayne. William Wells, frontier scout and pioneer, -was one of the most romantic and mysterious figures in the early history -of the Northwest. A biography or even a sketch of his life has never -been written, although his story is intimately connected with that of -Fort Wayne and the Indiana Territory. Between 1794 and 1812, when he was -killed, Captain Wells was decidedly the most interesting white person in -the history of Fort Wayne. Little is known about him personally, except -that which we can obtain from letters written by him or those concerning -him. A member of prominent Kentucky family and the brother of Colonel -Samuel Wells of Louisville, William Wells had been kidnapped by a band -of Miamis when he was twelve year old. Taken to Miamitown, he was -adopted by the tribe of Little Turtle and was raised by the Indians, as -was the custom of that time. It is not surprising, consequently, that -the Frenchman, Count Volney described Wells as “tall and muscular, quick -in movement, and having the complexion of an Indian.”[16] It is -surprising, however, that Wells, having little or no education, in later -life showed in his letters a knowledge of the English language and -clarity of thought far superior to his white associates on the frontier. - -Wells’ first wife was Anahquah, Little Turtle’s sister; and upon her -death, it is believed that Wells married Wahmangopath, the daughter of -the chief. By these marriages, Wells had the following children: Anne, -who was educated at the Catholic school at Bardstown, Kentucky, and who -later returned to Fort Wayne to marry Dr. William Turner; Mary, who -married James Wolcott; Rebecca, who married James Hackley at Fort Wayne; -Jane Turner, who married John H. Griggs, and William Wayne, who after -graduating from West Point, died at an early age. On March 7, 1809, -Wells married Mary Geiger, daughter of Colonel Frederick Geiger of -Kentucky, by whom he had three children, Samuel Geiger, Yelberton, and -Julia Ann. - -Against Harmar’s and St. Clair’s armies, Wells fought willingly on the -side of the Indians. In 1794, however, he joined Wayne’s forces -apparently with Little Turtle’s approval. It is known that in the summer -of 1793, Wells paid a visit to his white relatives in Kentucky. Upon -returning through Vincennes, he met Col. Hamtramck, who employed him to -carry a message to Wayne.[17] In the message, Hamtramck suggested to -Wayne that Wells would prove invaluable as a scout, if the General saw -fit to give him a commission. Before accepting this offer, Wells -returned to Miamitown, and here secured Little Turtle’s consent. The -reason for Wells’ desertion of the Indian cause has never been clear. -Perhaps Hamtramck, later one of Wells’ staunchest friends, convinced him -that the American cause was to be successful. Possibly, as Quaife -suggests, it was due to a belated consciousness of his true race -identity and the pleadings of his white relatives while he was in -Kentucky.[18] The fact that Wells and Little Turtle remained intimate -afterward and that their viewpoints were always identical, indicates -there was no friction between them. It is known that Little Turtle did -not wish to give battle to Wayne at Fallen Timbers, and advised the -Indians to make peace. While only conjecture, it is not unreasonable to -assume that Wells foresaw the American success in the forthcoming -campaign and convinced the chief it was to the red man’s advantage to -make peace. - -Wells was placed in command of Wayne’s scouts, and it was primarily -through his vigilance that Wayne’s forces were not surprised. At -Greenville, Wells served as an interpreter, a position of trust. Wayne -was willing to grant Little Turtle’s request to appoint Wells as -resident interpreter at Fort Wayne, and later wrote to the government -recommending Wells for the position, as well as authorizing the payment -of high rewards to this valuable scout.[19] - -During the winter of 1795-96, Hamtramck found the food and supply -situation at Fort Wayne somewhat better, although there were about 90 -children and old women entirely dependent on the garrison for their -subsistence. Until the British post at Detroit was transferred to the -United States, Fort Wayne was the headquarters for detachments at the -following western forts: Defiance, Sandusky, Adams, Recovery, Jefferson, -Loramie, Head of the Auglaise, and Michilimackinac. In June, 1796, Col. -Hamtramck was ordered to proceed to Detroit and take command of the -former British post there. After his departure, the force at Fort Wayne -never numbered more than 100 men. These men held an important position -along the first line of defense in the northwest. Other than -Michilimackinac, there were no posts to the north or northwest until Ft. -Dearborn was erected in 1803. The men at Fort Wayne acted as if they had -little realization of their responsibility. The majority of the enlisted -men of that day were drawn from the most turbulent elements of the east. -The soldier’s life was not a popular vocation. At this western outpost, -garrison life was more than harsh; it was extremely boring. The troops -at Fort Wayne had nothing to do in their leisure time, and usually -passed their days in drinking, fighting, and gambling.[20] In vain did -the officers have insubordinate men flogged at parade (not infrequently -the maximum penalty of 100 lashes was given), deprived them of their -whiskey rations, and put them to hard labor. When, in 1812, Congress -amended the articles of war to prohibit flogging, other substitute -punishments, hardly less severe and equally degrading, were devised. Men -were confined in small dark rooms, put astride spiked wooden horses, -forced to wear the wooden collar, ankle bolts, and irons. In the Orderly -Books for the Fort Wayne garrison, we repeatedly find non-commissioned -officers demoted to the ranks for misconduct or crimes of one nature or -another, only to be reinstated when their successors proved even more -incapable. Yet, when this wild, bored garrison was besieged during the -War of 1812, they successfully held the fort against a force six times -as strong. - -Living within the fort were the wives and children of those married -officers and men who chose to bring their families to the wilderness -with them. In many respects these women shared the army life of their -husbands. They were governed by the same military regulations, even -receiving the same daily whiskey ration as did the men. The officers and -their families generally came from an older and more formal society and -carried into the rude barracks the manners and customs of the East. One -of the commanders, Col. Hunt, brought his family directly to Fort Wayne -from their Boston home. With this eastern culture was added a certain -punctilio, a natural consequence of military life. The officers’ -families, together with those of government officials and more prominent -settlers, formed the elite of the American society at Fort Wayne. In -1807 Lieutenant Philip Ostrander, an officer at Fort Wayne, wrote to his -friend, George Hoffman, collector for the government at Michilimackinac: - - On my arrival at this post I was received with the utmost politeness - by Captain Heald [the commandant] who continues to show me every - flattering attention. Indeed, sir, by every officer ... at this place - I have been treated with the utmost liberality and respect. The very - day of my arrival, I was requested to dine with Captain Wells [the - Indian agent] and today by Mr. Johnson, our present factor at this - post. [Col. John Johnston, superintendent of the government “factory”] - I do not mention these circumstances through vanity, but merely with - intention of informing you that everyone endeavors to make my place of - residence comfortable and happy. - - I could form no conception of what an agreeable situation this is, - both as to the face of the country and the elegant situation of the - fort. We are, however, destitute of one thing which would make the - situation still more agreeable—that is, society. Mr. Johnson - [Johnston], Captain Wells, J. Audrian [a trader], and the officers of - the garrison compose our party. They tell me that the place is in - general healthy, but, to tell the truth, I have seen a number of very - sick people. Dr. Edwards had unfortunately started for Cincinnati an - hour before my arrival.[21] - -Dr. Edwards, who had recently been given authority to serve as a -merchant at the fort in addition to his duties as post surgeon, -evidently had gone to Cincinnati to obtain supplies. Judging from the -above letter and other sources, it must be concluded that the number of -sick at Fort Wayne was generally quite high. Before Dr. Edwards came -there were twenty-five men reported on the sick list, almost 35% of the -garrison. This may have been somewhat of an abnormal condition, however, -as his predecessor, a man named Dr. Elliot, was so incompetent, that Mr. -Johnston, the government factor, had to act as post surgeon.[22] - -Colonel Hamtramck remained in command of Fort Wayne until June, 1796. In -March of that year he had been ordered to move down the Maumee with a -detachment from Fort Wayne in order to counteract a demonstration by the -British which was possibly intended to arouse the Indians to revolt. -While encamped on the Maumee, Hamtramck received a message from General -Wilkinson, directing him to receive the transfer of the British Post -Miami and then proceed to Detroit to take command of the former British -post, Fort Lernoult. - -Colonel David Strong, Hamtramck’s successor at Fort Wayne, had, like -Hamtramck, served in the Revolution and in Wayne’s army. Prior to coming -to Fort Wayne he had been in command at Fort Greenville.[23] The -twenty-six months of Colonel Strong’s administration witnessed the -beginnings of the new Frenchtown at Fort Wayne. Located across the St. -Joseph from the site of the old Frenchtown, this new village was -situated where Kekionga or Kiskakon once stood in the present Lakeside -area of Fort Wayne. Most of the inhabitants were either former occupants -of Miamitown who returned to this new site after Wayne’s victory or -French-Canadians of the Detroit-River Raisin region. Volney, a native of -France who traveled in the United States during 1796, questioned the -Americans concerning these French “habitants” of the northwest. He was -told that they were a kind, hospitable, and sociable sort of people, -“but in ignorance and idleness they beat the Indians. They know nothing -of civil and domestic affairs; their women neither sew or spin or make -butter but pass their time in gossiping and tattle. The men hunt, fish, -roam in the woods, and bask in the sun.”[24] - -In weighing the value of this characterization of the French -“habitants,” we must remember that Volney an intellectual coming from -the Paris of the Enlightenment naturally thought of these people as -crude and rustic, as indeed they must have appeared to him, but what is -more important neither Volney or the Americans appreciated that these -French Creoles way of life was different from theirs. The Creoles were -not as interested in the middle-class virtue of respectability nor in -the acquisition of much property. - -Evidently the English-American opinion of the French people living in -the Northwest had not changed since the days of George Croghan and -earlier. Nor in all likelihood had the French “habitants” and traders -changed their manner of living to any great extent. Although they had -suffered a great deal financially and were less prosperous since the -American occupation of the territory, there is no reason to doubt that -these people lived as they did during Henry Hay’s sojourn at Miamitown, -independent and satisfied with life. - -There is no way of determining the number of inhabitants living in -Frenchtown at this time. That the settlement was at least worthy of -notice is indicative from the Orderly Books for Fort Wayne. Mention is -made repeatedly of the town.[25] The soldiers and their wives were in -the habit of frequenting the town, which practice some officers -considered inimical to the garrison’s welfare. All military orders -published for the civilians living around Fort Wayne were made out in -French as well as English, and until the early 1820’s the majority of -the population of Fort Wayne were either French or of French-Indian -blood. - -While most of these French inhabitants during these years remain -unknown, there are a few individuals whom we can identify. Besides -Antoine Lasselle, there was another member of the Lasselle family who -returned to Fort Wayne at an early date. This was Hyacinth Lasselle, the -nephew of Antoine Lasselle and the son of Jacques Lasselle. Hyacinth -Lasselle was only four years old when his family fled from Miamitown at -the advance of LaBalme’s force in 1780. After this he was placed in a -private school in Montreal. In May, 1795, he returned to Fort Wayne from -where he carried on trading activities until 1804 when he removed his -establishment to Vincennes. In appearance he was rather short, being -about five feet six inches tall, but at the same time very muscular. His -athletic prowess and the fact that he was born at Miamitown made him a -great favorite of the Miamis, who entered him in contests against the -champions of other tribes. - -Other inhabitants of the former Miamitown who returned to the site of -Fort Wayne after the American Occupation were Antoine Rivard or Rivarrd -and Francis Minie. Rivard’s wife and daughter had entertained Henry Hay -quite often while the latter stayed at Miamitown. Included among the new -arrivals at Frenchtown were Charles and James Peltier, brothers who had -come here from Detroit around 1798. In 1804 the Peltiers secured -permission to sell supplies to the garrison at Fort Wayne. At a later -date, Charles Peltier was attacked and eaten by wolves within a few -miles of the fort. James Peltier married Angeline Chapeteau, an -attractive young girl who had come to Fort Wayne from Detroit with her -grandparents, Jean Baptiste Maloch and his wife. Jean Baptiste Maloch -had been a resident at Detroit before the time of Pontiac’s conspiracy, -and he was apparently considered to be a man of some wealth.[26] What -prompted him to bring his wife and granddaughter to Fort Wayne at this -late date in his life is unknown. Angeline Chapeteau, who was only -sixteen when she came to Fort Wayne, instantly became a favorite of the -Miamis, who called her “Golden Hair” and formally adopted her into their -tribe. Her sister Theresa Chapeteau married Francis Minie, while a -second sister married Charles Peltier. One of the most prosperous -traders at Fort Wayne prior to the war of 1812 was Louis Bourie. Not -only did he trade in furs himself, but he also kept pack horses and -large warehouse for the transportation and storage of the merchandise -and furs carried by way of the Maumee-Wabash portage. For these services -he collected a handsome profit. Two other traders who married Miami -women were Peter LaFontaine and Antoine Bondie. - -To the west of the fort there came into being a collection of government -buildings and sutlers’ establishments, which in time resembled a small -village. These log buildings were located at the meeting place of two -roads, “Wayne’s trace” (this was the road connecting Fort Wayne with -Fort Washington, Cincinnati) and the old Maumee-Wabash portage path.[27] -This was the nucleus of the village that made up the plat of the -original town of Fort Wayne, when it was laid out in 1824. The sutlers, -who lived here, were traders who had been given permission by the -government to occupy choice locations near a military outpost and carry -on the trade deemed necessary for the garrison. These sutlers were -subject to the orders of the commander of the fort, who could dismiss -them upon a just provocation. It was also the commander’s duty to see to -it that the men were not overcharged and investigate any complaints -brought to him either by the sutlers or soldiers. For instance the -soldiers complained on one occasion that James Peltier was overcharging -them for his merchandise. After an investigation, the commander, Captain -Whipple, excused Peltier on the grounds that the cost of transportation -for the winter had risen to one hundred dollars a boatload.[28] The -sutlers brought their merchandise either by way of the Maumee from -Detroit and the East or by way of the St. Mary’s from Cincinnati and the -Ohio River. - -The largest of the log buildings comprising the small village west of -the fort was the two-story council house. This was erected in 1804 by -the government to be used as a meeting place between the government -officials and the Indians. Around the village and along the banks across -the river were gardens and cultivated fields of vegetables and corn. One -of the better farms was owned by Colonel Hamtramck and William Wells. -Wells managed it and by 1800 had it well fenced. On the property were -several buildings, a good orchard, a number of livestock, plus the usual -corn fields. Several negro slaves whom Wells had brought from Kentucky -did most of the labor.[29] Apparently this farm did not always furnish a -dependable source of income, for in 1801, Wells reported to Hamtramck -that although he expected to harvest 350 bushels of corn for each of -them, he would not be able to sell it because of the overabundance of -corn raised that year around Fort Wayne.[30] The reason for this, Wells -maintained, was the fact that the military were competing in the corn -market. The officers of Fort Wayne were in the practice of having the -enlisted men farm the fields for wages. - -In June, 1797, the newly appointed General of the United States Army, -James Wilkinson, stopped at Fort Wayne during his initial tour of -inspection of the western forts. Here he found conditions “truly -deplorable”. In his report he stated: - - “The army in this quarter presents a frightful picture of the - scientific soldier; ignorance and licentiousness have been fostered, - while intelligence and virtue have been persecuted and exiled; the - consequences were that factions have been generated to sanction - enormity, and it follows that all ideas of system, economy, order, - subordination and discipline were banished, and that disorder, vice, - absurdity, and abuse infected every member of the corps - militarie.”[31] - -Wilkinson was equally dissatisfied with conditions at Detroit. In fact -he found fault everywhere, for the General had a habit of exaggerating -ills so that he might gain more credit for employing successful -antidotes. He never doubted that his methods were correct, and his -solution for the problems at Fort Wayne and Detroit was relatively -simple. He merely exchanged garrisons and commandants between the two -posts. Colonel Hamtramck with the First Regiment was transferred to Fort -Wayne, and Colonel David Strong at Fort Wayne with the Second Regiment -was transferred to Detroit.[32] - -Whether or not General Wilkinson achieved his purpose of bettering -conditions at Fort Wayne and Detroit by these transfers is not known. At -any rate Colonel Hamtramck did not remain long at Fort Wayne. In less -than a year he was ordered back to Detroit and there he remained in -command until his death in 1803. In April, 1798, a month before his -final departure from Fort Wayne, his son, John Francis, was born. As far -as it is known, this child was the first white person born within the -stockade. - -On May 16, 1798, Colonel Thomas Hunt arrived at Fort Wayne to take -command. Colonel Hunt had served with distinction in the Revolution. -Born in Massachusetts, he became a member of Captain’s Croft’s Company -of “minute men” at Lexington and Concord, in April, 1776. Later he -fought in the battles of Bunker Hill and Stoney Point. In 1793, he -returned to military service as a major with Wayne. Following the -western campaign and the building of Fort Wayne, he went to Detroit and -assisted Wayne in the formal transfer of the British post to the -Americans. He served then as commandant of Fort Defiance.[33] Following -the western campaign of Wayne, he had been given command of Fort -Defiance. With Colonel Hunt came his family to Fort Wayne directly from -their home in Boston. - -While at Fort Wayne, Colonel Hunt often drew criticism for his -independent action. Nevertheless, it is apparent that he devoted his -energies to the betterment of conditions at Fort Wayne, for he undertook -the responsible task of building a new fort to take the place of Wayne’s -hastily constructed post which by 1800 was beginning to decay. The new -fort was located about three hundred feet north of the old structure and -enclosed the area of the present Old Fort Park in the city of Fort -Wayne. It seems very probable that the troops occupied the original fort -during the period of construction of the second fort, so there were two -American forts standing at the same time, separated by perhaps three -hundred feet of space. The new fort was reported to be “large and -substantial ... commanding a beautiful view of the river, as also an -extent of about four square miles of cleared land.”[34] Six log barracks -for the officers and men, a brick magazine, and smaller buildings were -grouped within the palisades around the parade ground. - -Captain Thomas Pasteur, an officer in the Revolution and a member of -Wayne’s corps succeeded Colonel Hunt as commander in June, 1802. Pasteur -remained but a year at Fort Wayne during which time there was little -activity at the outpost. There is some indication from two letters -written at the time that Colonel Henry Burbeck was in command at Fort -Wayne in the spring of 1803, although the Fort Wayne Orderly Books give -no record of this.[35] If he did serve at Fort Wayne, his stay was no -longer than that of his successor, Major Zebulon Pike, who remained less -than two months. Major Pike was the father of the noted explorer of the -southwest, Zebulon M. Pike. The Major who was in poor health was given -command of Fort Wayne in the hope that the position would be an easy -one, as well as furnish an increase in his pay. The command did not meet -Pike’s expectations, since his nature was such that the constant -drunkenness of the men under him was more than he could stand. His rigid -attitude in regard to temperance was revealed in a letter to Colonel -Kingsbury while both were serving at Detroit. In it he declines an -invitation of the Colonel to attend an officers’ party at which he -believes some alcoholic drink would be served.[36] - -Major Pike’s successor, Captain John Whipple, arrived at Fort Wayne in -September, 1803. A group of Quakers visiting Fort Wayne in 1804 reported -that Captain Whipple, “behaved with a freedom and gentility becoming a -well breed [sic] man.”[37] That he was a man of fair intellectual -talents is shown by the nature of the entries in the Fort Wayne Orderly -Books during his administration. In 1804, Captain Whipple journeyed to -Detroit to bring back his wife, the former Archange Pelletier, a -descendant of the oldest family of Detroit, Francois Pelletier having -preceded Cadillac to that spot by two years. - -After serving almost four years at Fort Wayne, Captain Whipple resigned -on January 31, 1807 and in his stead Captain Nathan Heald was appointed -as commander. Captain Heald remained at Fort Wayne until May 16, 1810, -on which day he left to take command at Fort Dearborn (Chicago), being -in charge of that garrison on the day of the fateful massacre, August -15, 1812. During his stay at Fort Wayne, Captain Heald met the niece of -William Wells, Rebeckah Wells, whom he later married. Captain Heald was -replaced at Fort Wayne by Captain James Rhea, an unfortunate choice for -the troublesome days that were to come during the crucial first year of -the War of 1812.[38] - -From the beginning of Colonel Hunt’s administration in 1798 to the end -of Captain Heald’s in 1810, the frontier was comparatively peaceful, -especially until 1807. In that year signs of the forthcoming Indian -difficulties began to appear, although the actual conflict did not break -out until 1811, with the battle of Tippecanoe. In August 1796, Winthrop -Sargent, the Secretary of the Northwest Territory, proclaimed the -organization of Wayne county, with Fort Wayne on its southern boundary. -This original Wayne county was divided into four townships, bearing the -names of Detroit, Mackinaw, Sargent, and Hamtramck, with the region of -Fort Wayne and the Maumee valley included in the latter. In October, -1799, William Henry Harrison was elected to represent the Northwest -Territory in Congress. This body, on the seventh of May, 1800, created -the Territory of Indiana, composed of all that part of the territory of -the United States west of a line beginning at the Ohio river opposite -the mouth of the Kentucky river and running northward to the straits of -Mackinac. Five days later William Henry Harrison was appointed governor -of the newly created territory. Vincennes in the southern part of the -territory, situated on the Wabash river, became the capital. - -Up north, Fort Wayne, already an important post in the defense of the -Northwest Territory, also became a government outpost of diplomacy and -trade with the Indians. By 1798, the United States government had -established an Indian agency at Fort Wayne. The Office of Indian Affairs -was a division of the War Department from 1789 to 1849, and was under -the direction of the Secretary of War. The Indian agents were the -representatives of the department among the various tribes. This plan, -to have official representatives of the government stationed permanently -among the Indians, was adopted from that used by the English during -colonial times. Captain William Wells was the logical choice to be the -first Indian agent at Fort Wayne. The military and government officials -both felt that he was deserving of some reward for his outstanding -services during and after Wayne’s campaign in 1794-95. Above all he was -admirably suited for the position, being intimately acquainted with the -Indians of this region and being able to speak fluently five of the -Indian dialects. When Volney asked the inhabitants of Vincennes for aid -in compiling a dictionary of the Indian language, they recommended that -he consult William Wells, as Wells knew the Indian languages better than -any other man in the territory.[39] - -Undoubtedly, Wells was anxious to secure the position for it paid a -handsome salary of $1,200 a year plus some expenses, which was rather -good in those days for a government employee. Moreover, the position -gave the agent the opportunity of arranging profitable private contracts -for services and goods for the Indians. With the purpose of obtaining -the appointment, Wells secured a letter of introduction from his friend, -Colonel Hamtramck, to the Secretary of War.[40] In all probability Wells -used this letter and other recommendations to good advantage when he -accompanied Little Turtle to Philadelphia in the winter of 1797. Upon -his return from Philadelphia, Wells wrote to Hamtramck that he “was -encouraged and hopeful.”[41] His hopes were well founded for in the -summer of 1798, Wells received the appointment as Indian agent at Fort -Wayne. - -Four years later, Fort Wayne was selected as the location for one of the -Indian “factories” then being established by the national government. It -is somewhat difficult to make a distinction between the Indian agency -and Indian factory. Strictly speaking, the factory was the place where -goods were received, stored, and distributed, where trading was carried -on with the Indians by the government and payments of goods and -annuities made. The factor (the government representative in charge of -the factory), therefore, dealt primarily in financial and commercial -matters. On the other hand, an Indian agent was concerned with political -matters, such as the negotiations and treaties for the cession of lands -belonging to the Indians. It was his duty to see that the tribes -remained friendly to the United States and to report any grievances and -discontent. The distinction between the respective positions, however, -was one more in theory than in fact. That the agent’s and factor’s -duties would overlap is fairly obvious, even if they would have been -clearly defined and adhered to. Any political negotiation of the -government with the Indians called for payment in money and goods to the -Indians, often for a number of years, as well as at the time of the -treaty. One of the main causes of Indian dissatisfaction which the agent -had to meet was that caused by the poor quality of goods sometime -furnished at the Indian factories. - -In theory, both the agent and the factor at Fort Wayne were responsible -to their immediate superior, Governor Harrison, as commander of military -forces and superintendent of Indian affairs in Indiana Territory. -However, those agents, such as Wells, who held their positions prior to -the creation of the territory continued to deal directly with the -Secretary of War as well as with the Governor. Benjamin Stickney, Wells’ -successor as agent, refused to recognize Harrison’s authority over him. -The factor also received his orders from the Governor and the Secretary -of War. More directly he was under the Superintendent of Indian Trade, -an official answerable to both the Secretary of War and Congress. During -the years before the War of 1812, the post of Superintendent of Indian -Trade was held consecutively by William Irvine and John Mason. This lack -of central authority pertaining to the factories and agencies only -served to add to the confusion already created by the nature of the -positions. At a later date, the agent assumed the duties of the factor -and the latter term fell into disuse, but until the factory was -destroyed by the Indians at Fort Wayne, the two positions remained -separate and from the start, difficult to harmonize. - -“Colonel” John Johnston served as the first Indian factor at Fort Wayne -from 1802 to 1811. Johnston, a prominent figure in the northwest, during -his lifetime served thirty-one years with the Department of Indian -Affairs. He was born in Ireland on March 22, 1775, and came to America -at the age of eleven. A few years later, while yet a youth, he undertook -the job of driving supply wagons to Wayne’s army. After receiving his -appointment as factor for Fort Wayne, Johnston married sixteen-year-old -Rachel Robinson at Lancaster, Pennsylvania, much against the desire of -the young girl’s parents. The Johnstons’ wedding trip consisted of the -journey by horseback through the wilderness to Fort Wayne. While living -at Fort Wayne, Colonel Johnston and his wife were noted for their stern -rectitude, which contrasted considerably with the type of life generally -found at this military outpost. In later life, Johnston, for his years -of government service, became known as “Colonel Johnston”. He is -described as “six feet and more in height, very erect, in his bearing -and he had a blond complexion inclined to ruddy.”[42] - -Besides his duties as factor, Colonel Johnston occasionally served as -assistant surgeon at the fort. For his position as factor, Johnston -received a salary of $1,000 a year from the government and $365 for -subsistence. The latter amount was funded by the profits of the factory. -In 1810, William Oliver was appointed to the Fort Wayne factory to serve -as Johnston’s assistant. When Oliver resigned in 1812, Johnston secured -the position for his brother, Stephen Johnston. - -As factor, Johnston aimed at being just to the Indians and loyal to his -government, a combination of purpose attended with many difficulties. In -a report to the Secretary of War, Johnston pointed out that the trading -houses with the northern Indians never produced any political effect in -favor of the Americans, as had been expected when they were established. -Rather, on the contrary, the Indians were led to believe that the object -was to make money; and in as much as the government goods were never -sold cheaper than those of the private traders, it was impossible to -produce a different impression.[43] - -Johnston had trouble procuring the proper kinds of supplies to issue to -the Indians at Fort Wayne. The goods intended for the Indian trade were -rarely imported into the United States, there being no regular demand -for them. On the other hand, the British traders in Canada had agents in -England, long accustomed to this commerce, who sent out the very -articles needed. The supplies destined for the United States factories -went through many hands, and this offered countless opportunities to -defraud the Indians and the government. Often the goods came out of -season or were damaged. Johnston constantly urged that the trade either -be put in the hands of private traders who would be licensed by the -government, or, if the government thought it necessary to stay in the -business, an expert should be sent to England to do the purchasing of -the Indian articles. Typical of the goods used by the Indians are the -following items listed in Johnston’s record book, “blankets, strouds, [a -coarse Indian blanket] hat bands, head bands, Indian mats, kettles, -pans, rings, cloth of various color, wampum, broaches, scalping knives, -fish hooks, and tobacco.”[44] Johnston also complained that the military -were generally unfriendly to his trading post and even hindered his work -at times. Apparently this ill feeling was caused by the fact that the -soldiers did not consider it a part of their business to furnish -transportation for the furs and Indian goods or to erect the necessary -buildings for the trade at Fort Wayne.[45] On one occasion, the factor -lost in Lake Erie $2,300 worth of furs. Johnston claimed that the -accident came about through the carelessness of a drunken -non-commissioned officer, Joseph McMahan, although McMahan was excused -of all responsibility by a court martial.[46] The result of the trial -provoked Johnston so much that he protested to the Superintendent of -Indian Trade, but nothing could be done. - -During the decade of its existence prior to the War of 1812, the Fort -Wayne factory was the most prosperous of all the trading houses -established by the United States government. A report submitted by the -Secretary of War to Congress showed that in the three years and ten -months preceding January 13, 1812, the Fort Wayne factory made a profit -of $10,502.77. This was by far the largest profit shown by any of the -ten factories then operated throughout the nation.[47] Another report -shows that the fur and peltries received from the Indians at the Fort -Wayne factory sold for $27,547.07.[48] While the government did only a -small fraction of the fur trading, this is a good indication that the -fur trade of the Maumee and Wabash valleys which led the French to -fortify the spot was still the principal economic asset of Fort Wayne. -Colonel Johnston’s account books suggest that the once abundant beaver -skins were becoming scarce. Instead of beaver, racoon and deer skins -were being shipped in great quantities.[49] These furs were carried by -way of Lake Erie to New York and Philadelphia, where they were sold at -auctions. Most of the furs obtained from the private traders were taken -to Detroit where they were purchased by the American Fur Company. Skins -were worth deer, $1.25; raccoon, $.50; bear, $3.00 to $5.00. These -values were nominal, as the price fluctuated and the furs were paid for -in goods which were passed off on the Indians for more than double the -initial cost and transportation. - -In order to transport the skins, they were dried, compressed, and -secured in packs. Each pack weighed about 100 pounds. A pirogue or boat, -that was sufficiently large to carry forty packs, required the labor of -four men to manage it on its voyage. In favorable stages of the river, -such a vessel, under the management of skilled boatmen, was propelled by -poles fifteen or twenty miles a day, against the current. On the return -trips the pirogues were loaded with merchandise to be sold to the -Indians. - -Turning our attention once more to Indian treaties and their resulting -difficulties, important events centered about Fort Wayne between the -years 1800 and 1809. The year 1800 in which William Henry Harrison was -appointed the first governor of the Indiana Territory was one of peace -in the Great Lake region of the United States. The British had evacuated -the posts they had held in the northwest, according to the agreement in -the Jay treaty, and the Indians appeared content. At Fort Wayne, the -future appeared so calm that William Wells wrote to Hamtramck that he -expected the garrison to be withdrawn shortly.[50] However, the spark -that set off the flames of Indian warfare was soon to be ignited and -kept aglow by British intrigue. This spark was the never ending demand -for new lands by the western settlers, which resulted in the attempts of -the government to satisfy this demand by gaining new land cessions from -the Indians. - -Governor Harrison, on assuming his office, proceeded promptly to enter -into treaty agreements with the Indians for the purchase of their large -tracts of land in what are now the states of Indiana and Illinois. This -was in accordance with President Jefferson’s objective, the acquisition -from the Indians of the whole territory east of the Mississippi. -Harrison sent word to the Indians to meet him at Fort Wayne in the -summer of 1803 for the first of his important treaty councils. By June 7 -of that year, he completed his task, having secured from the Eel River -Miamis, Kaskaskia, Kickapoo, Piankashaw, and Wea tribes a large tract of -land around Vincennes, as well as the valuable salt spring on the Saline -Creek. This treaty had been brought to a successful conclusion for the -United States through a combination of Harrison’s shrewdness and -stubbornness in bargaining, the financial backing of the factory at Fort -Wayne, and the influence of Capt. Wells over Little Turtle. Although -Harrison and Johnston obtained the cooperation of Wells in gaining the -consent of the Indians, the agent, for the most part, strove against any -cession of lands by the Indians. Wells went so far as to instigate the -Indians to protest to the national government against a treaty Harrison -concluded with the Delawares and Piankashaws the following year.[51] - -Between Colonel Johnston, the factor, and Wells, the agent, there was no -coordination of purpose or even good will. Outside of the fact that the -conflicting duties of their respective positions involved them in -quarrels, Wells and Johnston seemed to have been mutually antagonistic, -and each put the worst interpretation on the other’s actions when -writing to their superiors. Wells felt that Johnston’s policy of trying -to win an active alliance with the Indians for the United States in the -event of war with Great Britain was in effect evidence of Johnston’s -gullibility in dealing with the red men. Even after the battle of -Tippecanoe, Johnston gave arms and ammunition to the Indians who had -participated in the affair. Wells knew the Indians well, and realized -that in the event of war the best that could be expected would be that -they would remain neutral. On the other hand, Johnston felt that Wells -was completely unprincipled and could not be trusted. - -Johnston’s opinion of Wells was shared by Governor Harrison, who -nevertheless realized the agent’s great ability in dealing with the -Indians. Harrison wrote of Wells on one occasion, “My knowledge of his -character induces me to believe that he will go any length and use any -means to carry a favorite point and much mischief may ensue from his -knowledge of the Indians, his cunning and perservance.”[52] In all -matters, Wells and Little Turtle were in agreement, and while the -latter’s influence with his fellow tribesmen had diminished considerably -with the rise of a new generation, he was still a force to be reckoned -with in any treaty negotiations. It is almost certain that neither Wells -or Little Turtle intended to arouse the Indians to war against the -advance of the tide of settlers, yet they were ready to oppose -Harrison’s objectives at the various treaty councils. - -Although Harrison indicated in his correspondence with the Secretary of -War that he knew the reasons behind Wells’ action in opposing most of -the land cessions, the Governor’s letters do not definitely reveal what -he meant. In an indefinite manner, Harrison ascribed the reason for -Wells’ action to the agent’s attachment for Little Turtle, mingled with -a jealousy of the Governor. Harrison apparently felt that Wells had a -personal animosity toward him, and that Wells’ opposition was intended -to discredit him.[53] In one letter to the Secretary of War Harrison -suggested that Wells was profiting dishonestly from his position as -Indian agent at Fort Wayne. He wrote: - - I am really of the opinion that the Turtle, the Five Medals, and two - or three others receive much the greater part of the annuities and - provisions which are intended for and said to be given to the - Potawatomies and Miamis and I am by no means certain that Wells - himself does not largely participate. The fact is admitted that he - makes more money than any other man in the Territory. Mr. Johnston - told Col. Vigo that he [Wells] cleared last upwards of $6000. How he - can do this honestly I am at a loss to know.[54] - -Concerning the reason for Little Turtle’s opposition to further land -cessions on the part of the Indians, Harrison is more definite in his -convictions. In 1803, the Governor wrote of Little Turtle: - - “Conscious of his superiority of his Talents over the rest of his race - and colour he sighs for a more conspicuous theatre to display them. - Opportunities for exhibiting his eloquence occur too seldom to satisfy - his vanity.... A chosen connexion among the neighbouring Tribes and a - regular convention of their chiefs has been long the ruling wish of - his heart and the object of numberless intrigues.”[55] - -Assuming that Harrison was correct about Little Turtle’s ambition to -form an Indian confederation, it is interesting to observe that had the -Miami chief succeeded rather than Tecumseh, the league formed would have -been inclined toward peace rather than war with the United States. -Following the Treaty of Greenville Little Turtle often objected to -further cessions of land, yet, at the same time, he endeavored to induce -the red men to lay aside the tomahawk and scalping knife and take up the -peaceful tools of agriculture. This fact made him unacceptable to the -majority of Indians, as Harrison himself admitted at a later date. “It -was the rock upon which the popularity of Tecumseh was founded”, he -wrote, “and that upon which the influence of Little Turtle was -wrecked.”[56] - -The truth of this assertion is made plain in the report of the visit of -two Quakers who, in response to an appeal by Little Turtle, came to Fort -Wayne in 1804 to attempt to introduce the best methods of agriculture -among the Indians. From the official report of Gerard T. Hopkins to his -church, the story as here reviewed has been obtained.[57] Mr. Hopkins -was accompanied by George Ellicott, also of the Society of Friends, and -Philip Dennis, a practical farmer who was engaged to serve as -instructor. - -The Quakers arrived at Fort Wayne on March 30 and were conducted to -Captain Whipple, then commandant of the fort, to whom they presented a -letter of introduction and recommendation from Henry Dearborn, Secretary -of War. This letter was a liberal commendation of the committee and -their motives. General Dearborn was personally acquainted with the -members of the committee, was in hearty sympathy with their mission, and -rode on horseback from Washington to Ellicott’s home, a distance of -forty miles to present the letter to the committee before leaving. - -The Quakers were surprised to find that no attention was given, either -in the fort or the Indian village, to the proper observance of the -Sabbath day. The Friends were entertained by John Johnston, and there -the chiefs took supper with the mission committee. Under the guidance of -Captain Wells the following days, the Friends went over the lands most -suitable for cultivation, and at the same time observed the most -historic places and listened to the stories as told by Wells of the -Indian villages and of Harmar’s and St. Clair’s defeats. - -The rides to the country included visits to large sugar camps and the -“prairie” between the St. Mary’s and Little River, the distance from one -to the other being but four miles in the then swampy land; and the -watershed ridge but five feet high with reports of canoes passing over -in highest stages of water. The subject of a canal through this ridge -was also mentioned. Indians were constantly coming and going, the women -carrying the burdens of packs of skins and bark boxes of maple sugar -each weighing about fifty pounds. - -The next day Little Turtle and the other chiefs assembled at the home of -Captain Wells, and there arrangements were made for Dennis to remain -with the Indians and establish a farm. The attempt to educate the -Indians to till the soil was undertaken at a point on the Wabash river -about twenty miles southwest of Fort Wayne. After the departure of the -Quakers, Dennis continued his efforts but only one or, at the most, two -of the Indians could be induced to help him. After a year, Dennis -returned to Maryland, and as no one could be induced to take his place -the project was left in the hands of Wells, who had a contract to supply -the Indians with fence rails for the farms. - -The Indians were in no mood to give their attention to the tilling of -the soil. Trouble of a subdued nature portended serious conflicts for -the future. On April 26, 1805, Harrison wrote to the Secretary of War -that he felt it was necessary for him to proceed to Fort Wayne to -investigate the complaints arising from the Indians threat. These -complaints centered chiefly around the treaty concluded with the -Delawares and Piankashaws in 1804. The Miamis maintained that they -should have shared in the benefits of the treaty as part owners of the -land sold, while the Delawares felt that they had not received enough in -the way of annuities for the land. Harrison suspected that these -complaints arose primarily through the instigation of Wells and Little -Turtle and had determined to investigate Wells’ activities as well as -the grievances. - -Harrison, however, decided not to go personally to Fort Wayne, -explaining that it “would be a sacrifice of that dignity and authority -which is necessary to observe in all our transactions with the -Indians.”[58] In his stead, Harrison dispatched General John Gibson, -secretary of Indiana Territory and Colonel Francis Vigo,[59] who on -their arrival met strong opposition from Wells and Little Turtle. These -two, viewing the visit of Gibson and Vigo with evident suspicion, -addressed a letter to the former in which they demanded his credentials. -Lieutenant Brownson, in temporary command of Fort Wayne, remarked to the -Governor’s agents that he had heard Wells repeatedly say the Indians -were very much imposed on in the late treaty. In a private conversation -the Miami chief, Richardville, told Colonel Vigo that he was quite -surprised to hear an officer who had taken an oath to support the -Government of the United States, express himself in the manner Wells -had. Richardville also informed them that the Little Turtle, in the -presence of Wells, had produced a paper and requested Richardville to -sign it. Being a remonstrance in favor of Wells, Richardville refused to -sign it, saying, “if Mr. Wells had behaved well there was no occasion to -write to the president in his favour that he did not wish to interfere -in matters which belonged entirely to the White people, and that he, the -Little Turtle, had frequently wrote letters to the president, without -their being consulted or asked to sign them.”[60] - -Vigo and Gibson were convinced that a certain Peter Audrian had -conspired with Wells and Little Turtle in the affair. Audrian was an -influential French trader at Detroit, who during his lifetime held the -governmental positions of judge, prothonotary, and land commissioner. At -this time he had an advantageous contract from Wells to furnish the log -rails for the farms of the Indians. In one year alone the Indians -purchased 63,000 rails from Audrian, many more than were actually -needed.[61] - -In their report to Governor Harrison, Gibson and Vigo concluded: - - “... no noise or clamor respecting the treaty last summer with the - Delawares ... would have been made had it not been occasioned by the - Little Turtle and Wells, the latter of whom seems more attentive to - the Indians than the people of the United States.”[62] - -In his report to the Secretary of War, Harrison added that Wells’ -services were highly useful and that he discharged his duties on -occasions with great zeal and industry. Early in August, 1805, Wells, -accompanied by Little Turtle, came to Vincennes. “Both are here,” wrote -Harrison to Dearborn, “and I have received from each a positive -assurance of a friendly dispostion as well toward the government as -myself individually. With Captain Wells, I have had an explanation, and -have agreed to a general amnesty and act of oblivion for the past.”[63] - -Notwithstanding this seemingly peaceful settlement of the difficulty, -the official relationship between Wells and the governor remained -strained, and we find Harrison as late as April 23, 1811, writing to the -new Secretary of War, Eustis: - - “Could I be allowed to dispose of Wells as I thought proper, my first - wish would be to place him in the interiour of our settlement where he - would never see and scarcely hear of an Indian. But as this is - impossible, from his being located in such a manner at Fort Wayne, - that he cannot be removed without a very considerable expense, my next - wish is to get such an appointment as he could consider an object, - where he might be used to advantage, but at the same time so limited - as to prevent his doing mischief.”[64] - -While Governor Harrison was doing his utmost to secure more territory -from the Indians, he did not wish the newly purchased lands to fall into -the hands of unscrupulous traders who used the bargaining power of -whiskey to rob the Indians of their furs. This was especially true of -the United States land around Fort Wayne, which was too distant from -Vincennes to be under his effective control. When, in 1805, Harrison -heard that it was intended to sell the government land around Fort Wayne -immediately, he objected strongly. “I am very certain,” he wrote to the -Secretary of War, “that the money which will be put into the Treasury by -the sale of it will not counterbalance the inconveniences which will -arise from having it settled with the description of people who will -naturally buy it.”[65] He then pointed out that Fort Wayne was too far -removed from any other settlement to entice American farmers to go -there, and in all probability, only Indian traders would buy the land -and would thus be out of the reach of the laws of the United States -regulating Indian trade and commerce. He conceded that the Fort Wayne -was fertile enough for farming and concluded by saying, “If the -immediate settlement of it is an object I think it would be better to -sell it by contract upon the condition that there would be within a -given time a certain number of American farmers upon it.”[66] - -The government officials apparently accepted Harrison’s advice since the -proposal to sell the Fort Wayne lands was laid aside. It is fortunate -that this land was not sold, for it is unlikely that any farmers would -have been attracted to this remote spot in northern Indiana during the -forthcoming years of Indian difficulties on the frontier. If any -settlers had come, it is doubtful that they could have survived the War -of 1812. Consequently, Fort Wayne was destined to remain until the end -of that war primarily a government outpost of diplomacy, defense, and -trade, represented by the Indian agency, the military garrison, and the -government factory. There were a few farms of value, such as those of -Wells and the officers, but while the land was fertile, the market was -too distant for the crops to bring any considerable return. The -civilians living in the neighborhood were, for the most part, French -families who still found the fur trade profitable, along with a few -American traders and sutlers. None of these people held any title to the -lands they occupied. - - -[1]Lieut. John Boyer, “Daily Journal of Wayne’s Campaign,” _Michigan - Pioneer and Historical Collections_, XXXIV, 554. - -[2]T. B. Helm, _History of Allen County, Indiana_, p. 37. - -[3]Lieut. William Clark, famous explorer of the great Northwest, was an - officer in Wayne’s Legion at the time of the construction of Fort - Wayne. - -[4]Lieut. Boyer, _loc. cit._, p. 556. - -[5]Wayne to Knox, Oct. 17, 1794, quoted in Charles Slocum. _Op. cit._, - p. 217. - -[6]Lieut. Boyer, _loc. cit._, p. 561. - -[7]Charles Slocum, _op. cit._, p. 221. - -[8]Hamtramck to Wayne, Aug. 13, 1795, Hamtramck Papers, Burton - Historical Collection. - -[9]Hamtramck to Wayne, Dec. 5, 1794, _Michigan Pioneer and Historical - Collections_, XXXLV, 734. - -[10]Concerning Jacques Lasselle see _Above_, [p. 14.] - -[11]Charlotte Reeve Conover, _Concerning the Forefathers_, p. 69. - -[12]Harry Wildes, _Anthony Wayne_, p. 438. - -[13]H. S. Knapp, _op. cit._, p. 357. - -[14]_Ibid._, p. 357. - -[15]Otho Winger, _The Last of the Miamis_, p. 8. - -[16]Comte De Volney, _View of the Climate and Soil of the United States - of America_, p. 413. - -[17]Hamtramck to Wayne, July 18, 1793, Hamtramck Papers, Penn Historical - Society, microfilm at Burton Historical Collection. - -[18]Milo N. Quaife, _Chicago From Indian Wigwam to Modern City_, p. 122. - -[19]Harry Wildes, _op. cit._, p. 435. - -[20]_Indiana Historical Collections, XV, Fort Wayne Gateway of the West, - Garrison Orderly Books, Indian Agency Account Book_, ed. Bert J. - Griswold, p. 87 ff. - -[21]Philip Ostrander to George Hoffman, Oct. 4, 1807, Kingsbury Papers, - Chicago Historical Society Library. - -[22]John Whipple to J. Kingsbury, Sept. 10, 1804, Kingsbury Papers, - Chicago Historical Society Library. - -[23]_Michigan Pioneer and Historical Collections_, VIII, 445. - -[24]Comte de Volney, _op. cit._, p. 332. - -[25]_Fort Wayne Garrison Orderly Books_, _IHC_, XV, ed. B. J. Griswold, - pp. 173-4, 150, 251, 255, 281-6. - -[26]Francis Parkman, _The Conspiracy of Pontiac_, I, 260, 280. - -[27]These two roads later came to be called Columbia and Barr streets. - For a long time Wayne’s Trace was known as the “Bloody Path” because - of Harmar’s and St. Clair’s defeats along this route. - -[28]_IHC_, XV, _Fort Wayne Orderly Books_, ed. Griswold, pp. 201-2. - -[29]Wells to Hamtramck, Oct. 29, 1801, Hamtramck Papers, Burton - Historical Library. - -[30]Although slavery was forbidden in the Indiana Territory by the - Northwest Ordinance of 1787, government officials and army officers - stationed at Fort Wayne occasionally kept one or two blacks as - slaves. This practice existed at other posts and in the case of Fort - Snelling, Minnesota led to the series of events behind the famous - Dred Scott decision in 1857. - -[31]Wilkinson to Major James Bruff, June 18, 1797, _American State - Papers, Miscellaneous Affairs_, Vol. I, p. 586. - -[32]General Orders, July 9, 1797, General Orders—General James - Wilkinson, 1797-1808 War Department Archives, Old Records Division, - Photostat in Burton Historical Collection. - -[33]Frances B. Heitman, _Historical Register and Dictionary of the - United States Army, from its organization September 29, 1789 to - March 2, 1903_, I, 557. - -[34]Gerard T. Hopkins, _A Mission to the Indians from the Committee of - Baltimore Yearly Meeting to Fort Wayne in 1804_, p. 55. - -[35]Dearborn to Col. Kingsbury, July 9, 1803, and Dearborn to Burbeck - July 20, 1803, Kingsbury Papers, Chicago Historical Society Library. - -[36]Pike to Kingsbury, June 29, 1803, Kingsbury Papers, Chicago - Historical Society Library. - -[37]Gerard T. Hopkins, _op. cit._, p. 60. - -[38]_See below_, pp. [p 64-68.] - -[39]Comte de Volney, _op. cit._, p. 401. - -[40]Hamtramck to Wells; June 27, 1796, Hamtramck Papers, Burton - Historical Collection. - -[41]Wells to Hamtramck, March 15, 1797, Hamtramck Papers, Burton - Historical Collection. - -[42]Charlotte Reeve Conover, _Concerning the Forefathers, being a memoir - ... of two pioneers, Colonel Robert Patterson and Colonel John - Johnson_, p. 52. - -[43]_ASP, Indian Affairs_, II, 82-5. - -[44]_IHC, XV, Indian Agency Account Book_, ed. Bert Griswold, pp. - 453-466. - -[45]Charlotte Reeve Conover, _op. cit._, p. 42; _ASP, Indian Affairs_, - II, 84. - -[46]_IHC_, XV, _Fort Wayne Orderly Books_, ed. Bert Griswold, pp. 268-9. - -[47]_ASP, Indian Affairs_, I, 773. - -[48]_Ibid._, p. 791. - -[49]_IHC_, XV, _Indian Agency Account Book_, pp. 660, 650, 637, 618, - 581. - -[50]Wells to Hamtramck, November 3, 1800, Hamtramck Papers, Burton - Historical Collection. - -[51]_IHC_, VII, _Harrison’s Messages and Letters_, ed. Logan Esarey, p. - 80. - -[52]_IHC_, VII, _Harrison’s Messages and Letters_, ed. Logan Esarey, p. - 125. - -[53]_Ibid._, p. 81. - -[54]_Ibid._, pp. 148-9. - -[55]_IHC_, VII, _Harrison’s Messages and Letters_, ed. Logan Esarey, p. - 81. - -[56]Calvin Young, _Little Turtle_, p. 175. - -[57]cf. Gerard T. Hopkins, _A Mission to the Indians from the Committee - of Baltimore Yearly Meeting to Fort Wayne in 1804_. - -[58]_IHC_, VII, _Harrison’s Messages and Letters_, ed. Logan Esarey, p. - 133. - -[59]Francis Vigo was a Sardinian adventurer who came to America with a - Spanish regiment. He was unstinting with his aid to George Rogers - Clark before and after the capture of Vincennes by the Americans. - Harrison considered Vigo as one of his most valuable assistants. - -[60]_IHC_, VII, _Harrison’s Messages and Letters_, ed. Logan Esarey, p. - 146. - -[61]Wells to Friends at Baltimore, May 10, 1805, quoted in Kathryn - Troxel, “A Quaker Mission Among the Indians”, _Old Fort News_, VII, - (1942) 11. - -[62]_IHC_, VII, _Harrison’s Messages and Letters_, ed. Logan Esarey, p. - 146. - -[63]_Ibid._, p. 161. - -[64]_Ibid._, pp. 508-9. - -[65]_Ibid._, p. 149. - -[66]_Ibid._, p. 149. - - - - - Chapter III - The Impending Conflict - - -A dozen years had passed since the battle of Fallen Timbers and the -defeat suffered by the Indians at that time was growing dim in their -memories. English traders and military officials at Malden encouraged -the red men to strike once again the Americans who were fast turning -their hunting lands into farms and settlements. The occasion awaited -only a second Pontiac. That leader came in the person of Tecumseh, the -Shawnee. Tecumseh saw his race driven from their native land, their -morals debased, their independence destroyed, and their means of -subsistence cut off. He looked for the cause of these evils, and -believed he found it in the flood of white immigration. - -With Tecumseh came his brother Elskwatwa, better known as “the Prophet”. -The Prophet prophesied the resurgence of the Indians, and although his -character was not as great as Tecumseh’s, for a time he overshadowed -Tecumseh. As Pontiac had conspired against the British, so Tecumseh and -the Prophet came to destroy the Americans. Unfortunately for the white -settlers on the frontier, their great scheme neared its climax -simultaneously with the outbreak of war between the United States and -Great Britain. - -The small outpost at Fort Wayne was to play an important part in the -events preceding the conflict as well as in the war itself. Captain -Wells, through his close acquaintanceship with the Indians, kept well -informed of conditions. He was the first to notify the Secretary of War, -Dearborn, of the new danger emanating from the Prophet’s power.[1] In -June, 1807, Wells reported that a sort of religious madness had spread -among the Indians. A constant stream of warriors had passed Fort Wayne, -on the way to the Prophet during April and May; at least 1,500, he -estimated, had made the pilgrimage to Greenville, and many more were due -in August and September, after the Indian crops had ripened. A month -later he wrote to Governor Harrison: - - Two confidential Indians that I sent to that quarter [Mackinac] have - returned today and say that all the Indians in that quarter believe in - what the Prophet tells them.... I am also informed by a letter from - Detroit that the inhabitants of that place are fortifying themselves. - We are all alarmed at this place, myself excepted, as I can see no - danger as yet at our doors. Something must be done. It cannot be done - too soon.[2] - -Wells had sized up the situation correctly. The threat was real and -dangerous, but not immediate. That winter he informed Harrison that -there was a very unusual assemblage of Potawatomis in the vicinity of -Fort Wayne; however, he added that he thought their intentions were -pacific. Harrison was not so certain of their friendly intentions and -requested Wells to send two or three chiefs to him that he might -ascertain their true purpose. The Secretary of War was even more alarmed -at the news, and he urged Harrison to visit Fort Wayne in order to find -out their real object. Dearborn also mistrusted Wells, who, he thought, -was “too attentive to pecuniary considerations.”[3] - -Despite the reports of dissatisfaction with the conduct of Wells by his -superiors, Harrison and Dearborn, Congress, in 1808, in recognition of -his past services, granted him the right of pre-emption to one section -of land in the present Spy Run and Bloomingdale districts of Fort Wayne -at $1.25 an acre. It was in this section that Wells had already -established his farm. Wells died before he could pre-empt the land, but -his children took advantage of the government’s offer and entered the -property in 1823. - -To Fort Wayne, in September, 1809, came Governor Harrison, in spite of -the threatening conditions of the community, to make what proved to be -his final treaty with the Indians in Indiana Territory. The scene that -was enacted was a memorable one. On the one side were arrayed the -Governor with his servant, his secretary, four Indian interpreters, and -the officers of the fort; on the other, the painted warriors of the -Miamis, the Potawatomis, the Delawares, and the Weas. On the third day -of the council, 892 warriors were present, on the day of actual signing -of the treaty, 1,390 were there.[4] Never before had such a large number -of Indians been assembled to meet a commissioner of the United States. -There were enough supplies on hand to meet this unexpected demand, -although the garrison lacked necessary provisions for some time -afterward. - -By adroit maneuvering and clever diplomacy, Governor Harrison secured -his objective. The agreement, signed on the 17th of September, added to -the domain of the United States an area of 2,900,000 acres, the greater -portion of which was situated north of the old Vincennes tract. For this -were exchanged the usual annuities to be paid to the Indians, a great -deal of these being in the form of domestic animals to be delivered at -Fort Wayne. Moreover, an armorer was to be employed at Fort Wayne for -the benefit of the Indians. The result of the treaty had little direct -effect on Fort Wayne, other than making it possible for the line of -civilization to move closer to it. - -In connection with the treaty of Fort Wayne, the complex question of -Captain Wells arose once more to plague the Governor. On April 8, 1809, -prior to Harrison’s coming to Fort Wayne, Wells wrote to him in detail -concerning the activities of the Prophet. In the letter Wells offered -his assistance in forthcoming treaty negotiations.[5] Two weeks after -writing this letter, Wells was dismissed as Indian agent at Fort Wayne -by Secretary of War, Dearborn. This was shortly before the latter left -the War Department. Apparently General Dearborn believed that Wells did -not always use the public funds for the best interest of the government. -The surprising fact is that Harrison, supposedly the immediate superior -of Wells, first learned of the agent’s dismissal when he arrived at Fort -Wayne to negotiate the treaty. Harrison was surprised and also a little -angered at not being consulted in the matter. - -Upon the governor’s arrival, Wells solicited Harrison’s intervention in -his behalf and again tendered his aid in bringing the contemplated -treaty to a successful conclusion. After the treaty was signed, and -while he was still at Fort Wayne, Harrison wrote to William Eustis, -Dearborn’s successor about the matter, saying that Wells had rendered -most essential services during the negotiations. Harrison then added: - - “He [Wells] professes himself to be unconscious of any crime which - merits the treatment he has received. I think from his former services - he deserves a hearing, and if his removal has been occasioned by - misrepresentations, and a vacancy should occur in the Indian - Department the government would find it to their account in placing - him in it.”[6] - -Back at Vincennes, two months later, Harrison wrote to Eustis in a -somewhat different tone. First he gave a detailed account of Wells’ -career, mentioning his natural abilities as well as the defects in his -character. Harrison then said that since the treaty of Fort Wayne, -Wells’ conduct was so unfavorable that it did away with all favorable -impressions which his zeal for the treaty had created. However, he -concluded that it would be better to employ Wells in some position -within the Department than not to make use of him at all.[7] - -Having heard that Wells might be reinstated in the Indian Department, -John Johnston, Wells’ bitterest enemy at Fort Wayne, wrote immediately -to Harrison saying: - - I think you will have to give up all idea of taking up —— [Johnston - usually referred to Wells by a dash in the letter] again. He is too - unprincipled to be employed anywhere, except as an interpreter, and - under your own eye.... I could detail to you a thousand instances of - his total disregard of everything that is held sacred by honest and - honorable men. Admitting he was restored here again ... he would be - useless to you and the government; for the latter never would put any - confidence in his representations, and the public interest would - thereby suffer. He has so long travelled in the crooked, miry paths of - intrigue and deception, that he never could be made to retrace his - steps, and pursue a straight, fair, and honorable course, such as - might be creditable to himself and useful to his country. My opinion - of him is made up from a long residence at this post, and an intimate - knowledge of his character, both public and private ... the sooner all - hope of his reestablishment is at an end, it will be the better, for - he is becoming a pest here, and will move off if he finds he cannot be - reinstated.[8] - -Under Article 9 of the treaty of Fort Wayne, part of the land cession of -the Indians was valid only with the consent of the Kickapoo tribe. On -December 9, they signed a separate treaty and in it added another tract -this time subject to the consent of the Miamis. Johnston accused Wells -and Little Turtle of stirring up opposition among the Miamis against the -new cession of land. - -Harrison’s displeasure with Wells became more intense when he learned -that a false story was circulated among the Indians around Fort Wayne -after the treaty, charging Harrison with buying the lands for his own -use and that of the people of Vincennes. What part Wells played in this -is not clear. Harrison believed him to be to a large extent responsible, -primarily by acting as an agent for William McIntosh, a Scotch Tory. -McIntosh was eager to prevent the settling of the new land, as he had -acquired title to it from the French at Vincennes. - -The situation was made even more delicate and dangerous by the fact that -Tecumseh and the Prophet refused absolutely to recognize the validity of -the Fort Wayne treaty. - -In October, the Indians were called to Fort Wayne on Harrison’s order, -in order that Johnston might stop the spread of false stories -circulating about the treaty. During the council, Johnston brought up -the question that he found was being agitated among the Indians, that is -petitioning for the removal of Governor Harrison, on the grounds of -misconduct in office. Johnston thought that Wells was the one -responsible for the petition, and told the Indians, “that whoever -advised them to it was a wicked bad man and not their friend.”[9] The -Owl, a Miami chief, maintained that all the mischief going on among them -had sprung from Wells and Little Turtle. Johnston also reported that -Wells had gone to Washington in an attempt to regain his old position as -Indian agent, and Johnston hoped that if Wells failed, he would leave -Fort Wayne. - -Johnston’s report confirmed Harrison in his belief that Wells was acting -as an agent for William McIntosh, by spreading the false stories -concerning the governor’s relations with the tribes. The question of -Wells’ connection with McIntosh deserves some attention as the quarrel -between McIntosh and Harrison was more than one of mere personalities. -Their dispute was involved in that of the land speculators and Indian -traders on the one hand and the government authority, represented -primarily by the governor, on the other. Harrison did all in his power -to check the purchase of the Indian lands by speculators and traders. It -has been noted above that he prevented the sale of the Fort Wayne lands -owned by the government for fear of these lands being purchased by -unscrupulous traders. It is possible that Wells fell in line with -McIntosh in the latter’s quarrel with the governor. Johnston hints that -Wells was eager to trade with the Indians himself, and it is to be -remembered that Wells and Peter Audrian tried to prevent the execution -of the treaty with the Delawares in 1805.[10] - -In the fall of 1810, Harrison brought a libel suit against William -McIntosh for slander in regard to the alleged misconduct in the treaty -negotiations and general mismanagement of the Indian affairs in the -territory on the part of the governor. The trial became a test between -the land speculators and Indian traders and Harrison. By the time the -trial was over, it included a complete examination of Harrison’s conduct -as territorial governor. Connected with the affair were the “Letters of -Decius”, a series of attacks on the governor by an Irish lawyer, Isaac -Darneille.[11] Considerable attention was directed to the trial -throughout the Northwest; the Cincinnati and Frankfort papers carried -lengthy accounts of it. The jury gave a verdict in favor of Harrison, -and granted him damages of four thousand dollars. - -In respect to Wells, it is surprising to learn that he testified at the -trial in behalf of Harrison, stating that he found the governor’s manner -of dealing with the Indians in the councils at all times just. At first -glance, it would seem as though Harrison had been wrong in accusing -Wells of scheming with McIntosh, and it is possible that Harrison may -have been. However, such a contradiction of previous action is in -keeping with the pattern of Wells’ character and life. William Wells was -undoubtedly an intelligent and shrewd man, but with this ability was -combined a capacity for intrigue for his own benefit, which prevented -his superiors from relying on him and most of the Indians in his later -life from trusting in him. In trying to play the part of a “Talleyrand” -in Indian affairs, Wells failed miserably. Why he chose this manner of -accomplishing his purposes is unknown. Possibly his connection with both -the white and red races prompted him to believe himself a mediator, who, -incidentally, could profit by the differences between the two. - -Wells had many enemies and a few friends among both races. If there is -any value in the observation, it is to be noted that most of his friends -were made in his early life, while his enemies were made after he became -Indian agent at Fort Wayne. Among the Indians, Little Turtle was Wells’ -most intimate associate, although Five Medals, Blue Jacket, and many of -the older chiefs were also counted among his friends. Richardville, one -of the shrewdest of the Miamis, did not trust Wells. The Prophet and -Tecumseh, as well as Winamac and the White Loon hated Wells. Harrison -admitted shortly before Wells’ unexpected death that Wells deserved some -credit from the circumstance that the line that separated his friends -among the chiefs from his enemies was precisely the same as one Harrison -would have designated to separate the friends of the American cause from -its enemies. - -Among Wells’ white friends were General Wayne, who valued his services -immensely, and Colonel Hamtramck, who was also Wells’ business -associate. Other commanders at Fort Wayne, notably Captain Heald thought -highly of him. On the other hand, his superiors—Harrison, Dearborn, and -Eustis—felt that he was unfaithful and not worthy of their trust, while -John Johnston despised him. - -Considering all this, it is no wonder that Harrison wrote to the -Secretary of War in one of his last letters concerning William Wells: - - If my letters and opinions on the subject of Wells have appeared to - you in any degree inconsistent and contradictory I can not say that - they have not exhibited a faithful presentation of what has passed in - my mind. You will do me justice in believing that this has not - proceeded from fickleness of temper or any less worthy cause but from - the contradictory impressions which a knowledge of his superior - talents for an appointment in the Indian Department and the fear of - his possessing dispositions which might in some degree prove - dangerous, have made upon me. Without troubling you again with - observations upon his character which I have before frequently made I - will merely mention the conclusions which my mind has arrived at after - much reflection. Could I be allowed to dispose of Wells as I thought - proper my first wish would be to place him in the Interiour of our - settlements where he would never see and scarely hear of an Indian. - But as this is impossible from his being located in such a manner at - Fort Wayne, that he cannot be removed without very considerable - expence my next wish is to get him such an appointment as he could - consider an object where he might be used to advantage but at the same - time so limited as to prevent his doing mischief. I sincerely believe - that he would now be faithful. His activities and talents need not be - doubted.[11a] - -Harrison still found Wells’ ability worth while and made use of this -despite the latter’s severance from the Indian department. In April, -Wells and John Conner were sent to the Prophet’s town to investigate the -murder of four white people in the neighborhood. Wells had a prolonged -conversation with Tecumseh during which the Shawnee openly declared his -intention to resist the white encroachments. In July, Tecumseh came to -Vincennes with a large body of Indians and once more protested strongly -against the agreements of the Fort Wayne treaty of 1809. - -In the midst of this agitation, Captain Heald, the commander at Fort -Wayne, was transferred to the post at Fort Dearborn. Captain Heald was -followed shortly by his young bride, Rebekah Wells, the favorite niece -of William Wells. Arriving on May 15, 1810, Capt. James Rhea took over -the command of Fort Wayne. Rhea was a native of New Jersey, and had -received a commission in the army in 1791. He was promoted to first -lieutenant in 1800, and was commissioned a captain in 1807. He had -served with Wayne’s army and for a time was assigned to the command of -Fort Industry on the Maumee River. Shortly before coming to Fort Wayne, -Captain Rhea married Polly Forsyth, the 18 year old daughter of James -Forsyth, a wealthy Detroit merchant.[12] - -Two days after his arrival at Fort Wayne, Captain Rhea wrote to his -superior, Colonel Kingsbury: - - ... I found Capt. Heald at this Place; he starts in the morning ... I - am much pleased with my Command; I hope to be continued here ... at - this Post every thing has been going on very correct; I mean to take - the Tract of Capt. Heald as near as possible ... I have been very ill - with Rheumatism Pains ever since I left you. I don’t know if ever I - shall recover, I have not had a Night Sleep in two Weeks.[13] - -The following month Captain Rhea reported that he was still suffering a -great deal from the rheumatic attacks; nevertheless during his first -year at Fort Wayne, the captain displayed the qualities of a good -commander. He made considerable repairs on the fort and carried out a -program of sanitation and land clearance. He knew of the impending -trouble with the Indians, but he failed, when the time came, to grasp -the opportunity of achieving recognition. At the critical moment, -Captain Rhea proved to be a weak character, given somewhat to alarmist -tendencies. During the siege of Fort Wayne, he displayed appalling -cowardice and a fondness for whiskey which proved his undoing. Whether -or not he sought to relieve his continued attacks of rheumatism by -alcohol can only be surmised, but his decline from the position taken in -his first garrison order at Fort Wayne to that of a slave of alcohol in -1812, forms a striking reversal. In his first order on May 20, 1810, he -noted the “abonimable [sic] practice” of drunkenness among the men, and -commented that he was “much hurt to see so much intoxication.”[14] - -From the captain’s first quarterly report for the months of April, May, -and June, 1810, we have the following information in regard to the -garrison: - - Officers: Captain, James Rhea; First Lieutenant, William Whistler; - Second Lieutenant, Philip Ostrander; Composition of the Company; - Native Americans, 36; Englishmen, 1; Irishmen, 11; Frenchmen 2; total, - 50. Strength of the Company: 1 captain, 2 subalterns, 3 sergeants, 2 - corporals, 3 musicians, 39 privates.[15] - -Captain Rhea’s report for November was almost identical in regard to the -number of his men, but he added that the garrison was 31 men short of -its required strength of 81 men. He also felt that the arms of the -garrison were in bad condition, while on the other hand, the clothing of -the men was in good condition and the fort was regularly supplied with -provisions and ammunition. Captain Rhea reported the discipline of the -troops to be good, but actually it could have been no better than usual, -judging from the numerous court martials recorded in the garrison orders -during his command.[16] - -During the summer of 1811, Fort Wayne became for the Indians the central -point between the Prophet’s Town on the Tippecanoe river and Malden, the -British post across from Detroit where arms and ammunition were -distributed to the red men. On August 11, 1811, John Shaw, the assistant -government agent at Fort Wayne, reported to the Secretary of War that -the situation in regard to the Prophet was growing serious, and many of -the neutral tribes were coming to him for advice.[17] To determine the -exact disposition of these neutral tribes, in particular the Miamis, -Delawares, and Potawatomis, Governor Harrison dispatched Toussaint -Dubois to Fort Wayne. In a council on the 4th of September, Dubois found -the Indians divided almost equally for and against the Prophet’s -schemes. After receiving Dubois’ report, Harrison instructed John -Johnston to separate the friendly Indians from the others and to place -them, if possible, in settlements on the White River, where they would -be safe from the contemplated attack of the American army on the -Prophet’s town. - -With regular troops and militia, Governor Harrison advanced up the -Wabash in October towards the Prophet’s town on the Tippecanoe river. -Early in the morning of November 7, 1811, on the fields of Tippecanoe, -the Prophet’s forces attacked Harrison’s Army, but were driven back -after a hard fought battle. At Fort Wayne the first reports of the -engagement indicated that the Americans had suffered a severe defeat. -Until the correct information was received a week later, the garrison -and populace were in a state of great anxiety. - -Two weeks after the battle, on the 22 of November, the period for the -annual meeting of the Indians to receive their annuities having arrived, -the tribes assembled at Fort Wayne in great numbers. Many of the chiefs -were fresh from Tippecanoe, but they claimed their annuities along with -peaceful tribes, saying that the Prophet alone was to blame for the -hostilities, and that he had been imprisoned by his own followers. -Although entirely untrue, these stories had the desired effect on John -Johnston, and he was thereby induced to grant the Indians their -annuities. Many of the tribes were sincere in seeking peace at this -time, but Johnston’s hasty action in granting the annuities provoked -Harrison, who heretofore had never criticized the factor’s decisions. - -Shortly after this incident, Johnston was transferred to Piqua, Ohio, to -act as principal agent for the Shawnee tribe. His precipitate action in -regard to the annuities had nothing to do with the transfer, since -Johnston himself had applied for the change in positions, five months -before the battle of Tippecanoe, in order to be near his farm at Piqua, -Ohio. - -Johnston’s successor, Major Benjamin Franklin Stickney was a singularly -brave man, but very eccentric and headstrong. A suggestion of his -eccentric character is found in the choice of names for his children. -The sons were styled, “One, Two, and Three” and the daughters bore the -names of states of the union. Benjamin Stickney had been in the -government service at Upper Sandusky, Ohio, prior to coming to Fort -Wayne. While at Fort Wayne, he and his family occupied the council -house, located just outside the stockade of the fort. - -Stickney was rather cold and heartless in his attitude towards the -Indians. In 1815, testifying before a Senate committee, he stated: - - ... it is cheaper to reduce them [Indians] by meat and bread than by - force of arms; and from the observations I have had the opportunity of - making, three or four months full feeding on meat and bread ... will - bring on disease, and in six or eight months great mortality ... I - believe that more Indians might be killed with the expense of $100,000 - in this way than $1,000,000 expended in the support of armies to go - against them.[18] - -In December Tecumseh visited Fort Wayne. He had not been a participant -in the battle of Tippecanoe, as the conflict had been instigated by the -Prophet while Tecumseh was visiting the tribes along the Ohio river. The -outcome of the battle had ruined his plan of an Indian confederation, -but Tecumseh was still confident he could succeed with the help of the -British. At Fort Wayne he made bitter reproaches against Governor -Harrison; and at the same time demanded ammunition from Captain Rhea, -who refused. McAfee relates that Tecumseh “then said he would go to his -British father, who would not deny him. He appeared thoughtful a while, -and then gave the warwhoop and went off.”[19] - -Such was the spirit in which Tecumseh left Fort Wayne. The year 1812 -became a period of terror throughout the West. Fort Wayne, in the center -of the turmoil and uncertainty preceding the outbreak of the war, became -an excellent listening-post for the news passing between Malden and the -Indians along the Wabash. Harrison and the officials of the War -Department paid particular attention to the information gathered by -Wells, Stickney and John Shaw at Fort Wayne. On February 10, Wells -reported that two British emissaries passed Fort Wayne on their way to -the Prophet’s village. He added that the Potawatomis were ready to -strike the Americans at Fort Dearborn and Fort Wayne whenever war was -declared between the United States and Great Britain.[20] - -On March 1, Wells wrote that Tecumseh had arrived on the Wabash and that -“he has determined to raise all the Indians he can, immediately, with an -intention, no doubt, to attack our frontiers.”[21] Writing to General -Hull, Benjamin Stickney came to the conclusion, somewhat belatedly, that -it was necessary to cut off all communication between the Indians within -the territory of the United States and Canada.[22] Stickney was also -extremely annoyed by the activities of Esidore Chaine, a clever agitator -employed by the British to maintain connections with the Indians in the -Fort Wayne area. Chaine had held several conferences with the Indians, -advising them to remain at peace with the Americans until war broke out -between Great Britain and the United States. - -The last report of Tecumseh’s actions before the outbreak of the war -came from Wells at Fort Wayne. On June 17, Tecumseh stopped long enough -at Fort Wayne for Wells to find out that the chief was on his way to -Malden to receive from the British twelve horse loads of ammunition for -the use of his people at Tippecanoe. The following day, Congress -declared war against Great Britain. A week later the news arrived at -Fort Wayne and the other Northwestern posts. - -Even at this hour the question of whether Harrison had full control over -the Indian factor at Fort Wayne or not remained unsettled. This time -Benjamin Stickney, rather than Wells, chose to display his independence -of the Governor. However, the matter did relate to Captain Wells, who at -the time intended to retire altogether from governmental service at Fort -Wayne and move to Kentucky. Having been informed of this by Colonel -Geiger, Wells’ father-in-law, and believing the presence of Wells at -Fort Wayne was necessary at this critical time, Governor Harrison wrote -to Benjamin Stickney, saying that Stickney should consider Wells under -his immediate orders and that he should employ Wells wherever possible -and beneficial for the government. - -To this order Stickney replied: - - In all my instructions from the secretary of war ... he has not given - me the least intimation that I was to consider myself under the - direction of any other officer than himself. And as I received my - appointment from the secretary of war by the approbation of the - President it appears to be a dictate of common sense that I should - consider his instructions as the rule of my conduct. And he has - instructed me to have nothing to do with Wells and that Wells is to - have nothing to do with Indian affairs at Fort Wayne. Nevertheless - every communication from you shall be attended to by me with the - greatest cheerfullness and conformed to as far as my instructions with - the Department will permit.[23] - -Stickney’s attitude provoked Harrison a great deal. The governor -immediately dispatched a lengthy letter to the Secretary of War in which -he brought up the entire question of his authority over the Indian -agents in Indiana Territory, and he urged the War Department to correct -any misconceptions relating to it. Reference was made by Harrison to the -incident of Wells acting independently in 1803 and the vindication of -Harrison’s authority over Wells at that time. Finally, Harrison -caustically observed that “it has been reserved for the ‘Common sense’ -of Mr. Stickney to discover that no such obligation existed because he -derived his appointment immediately from you.”[24] - -Truly the situation did call for the utmost vigilance from the members -of the Indian department and demanded harmony and concert in their -measures. If Stickney would have been permitted to stand upon ground -independent of the governor, their plans could have resulted in -contradiction that would have produced a discord fatal to the interests -of the nation. Harrison had directed Stickney to correspond regularly -with him concerning the trend of events at Fort Wayne and to send copies -of all such correspondence to the War Department in order that it might -be fully and immediately informed of the important happenings at Fort -Wayne. Harrison had also ordered Wells to send any messages directed to -him through Stickney. However, Wells naturally disregarded these -instructions whenever he wrote to Harrison concerning Stickney’s -actions. - -Stickney was the subject matter of Wells’ last two letters to the -Governor. On July 22, Wells reported that the Prophet with one hundred -of his followers had been at Fort Wayne for ten days and planned to -leave that day. During this interval Major Stickney appeared to have -been completely beguiled by the Prophet’s declarations of neutrality. -Despite Tippecanoe and the fact that Tecumseh was already allied with -the British, Stickney allowed the Prophet to take the lead in the -councils with Indians and freely gave the Prophet ammunition and -supplies. On July 19, the Prophet received word from Tecumseh to send -the women and children west of the Mississippi and to unite the warriors -for a blow at Vincennes. In order to make better time the Prophet’s men -stole two riding horses from Wells’ farm and proceeded westward. To make -sure that Stickney would suspect nothing, the Prophet informed him of -the theft of the horses and dispatched two men on foot, supposedly to -find the thieves. According to Wells, Stickney swallowed this bait and -congratulated the Prophet on his honesty.[25] - -Two weeks before his death at Fort Dearborn, Wells wrote to Harrison, -stating that Stickney, “does not consider himself under your constraint. -He declares publicly that you have no authority over him. Your speech to -the Indians has been here seven weeks and has never been communicated to -the Indians by the agent.”[26] Thus in his last letter, Wells had -completed the circle of contradiction and now stood with Harrison in an -attempt to uphold the governor’s authority over the agent at Fort Wayne. - -To his credit, Harrison saw the importance of having Wells remain at -Fort Wayne during this crucial time. Concerning this, Harrison wrote to -the Secretary of War, “He [Wells] is ... able from his influence over a -few chiefs of great ability to effect more than any other person -particularly with regard to the _now_ all important point of obtaining -information.”[27] - -Three days after Harrison wrote this, Wells’ most intimate friend and -greatest of the chiefs, Little Turtle, died at Fort Wayne. The chief had -long suffered from the gout, and in order that he might have the -attendance of the post surgeon, he was brought from his village on the -Eel river to the home of Wells. Little Turtle was buried with full -military honors on Captain Wells’ farm, Captain Rhea and the officers of -the garrison being present.[28] - -Within a period of two weeks after the death of Little Turtle, General -William Hull, governor of Michigan and commandant of a strong American -force at Detroit, sent an order to Fort Dearborn, instructing the -commander Captain Nathan Heald to evacuate the fort and transfer the -occupants of the lonely post to Fort Wayne. Hull also sent word of the -intended evacuation to Fort Wayne, ordering the officers there to -cooperate in the movement by rendering Captain Heald any information and -assistance in their power. Captain Wells, spurred by a desire to aid in -the evacuation and by the fact of his close relationship with Mrs. -Heald, organized a company of thirty friendly Miamis and with Corporal -W. K. Jordan from the garrison started for Fort Dearborn on August 8, -1812. Milo Quaife asserts that the arrival of Wells five days later -afforded the only ray of cheer and hope which came to the settlement in -this time of danger.[29] Preparations for departure were under way when -Wells arrived. Wells was downcast. To remain in the fort now meant death -from starvation as all the supplies except the little needed for the -journey had been destroyed or given to the Indians. The attempt to reach -Fort Wayne was the only alternative. - -The story of the anguished departure from the fort on the morning of -August 15 and the subsequent massacre need not be related here. Suffice -it to say that Captain Wells was killed during the battle in an attempt -to save the women and children. The Indians paid their sincerest tribute -of respect to his bravery by cutting out his heart and eating it, -thinking thus to imbibe the qualities of its owner in life. Quaife -writes, “Wells was the real hero of the Chicago masacre, giving his life -voluntarily to save his friends.”[30] Thus, Captain Wells’ colorful -career was brought to a close. Paradoxically, he died while fighting -against the Indians, although in his first battles he had fought on -their side. In death as in life Wells remained an enigmatic figure, one -who deserves far more attention by those endeavoring to understand the -frontier with its curious mixture of romanticism and realism. Wells’ -companion from Fort Wayne, Corporal Jordan, was captured by the Indians -but later made his escape, finally reaching the safety of Fort Wayne on -August 26 after seven days in the wilderness. - - -[1]_IHC_, VII, _Harrison’s Messages and Letters_, ed. Logan Esarey, p. - 223. - -[2]_Ibid._, p. 242. - -[3]_Ibid._, p. 285. - -[4]Elmore Barce, “Harrison and the Treaty of Fort Wayne, Indiana”, - _Indiana Magazine of History_, II, 361. - -[5]_IHC_, VII, _Harrison’s Messages and Letters_, p. 337. - -[6]Harrison to Eustis, Oct. 3, 1809, this letter was copied by Capt. - Heald and sent to Colonel Kingsbury. This copy is to be found in the - Kingsbury Papers, Chicago Historical Society Library. - -[7]_IHC_, VII, _Harrison’s Messages and Letters_, ed. Logan Esarey, pp. - 393-5. - -[8]_Ibid._, p. 432. - -[9]_Ibid._, p. 477. - -[10]It must be remembered that the Indians were never completely passive - to the surrender of their lands. This, Harrison often failed to take - into account, when alleging instigation of the Indians by white men. - -[11]_cf._ Henry Adams, _History of the United States_, VI, 107. - -[11a]_IHC_, VII, _Harrison’s Messages and Letters_, ed. Logan Esarey, - pp. 508-9. - -[12]Capt. Rhea to Col. Kingsbury, March 18, 1810, Kingsbury Papers, - Chicago Historical Society Library. - -[13]Capt. Rhea to Col. Kingsbury, May 17, 1810, Kingsbury Papers, - Chicago Historical Society Library. - -[14]_IHC_, XV, Fort Wayne Orderly Books, ed. B. J. Griswold, 302. - -[15]Capt. Rhea to Col. Kingsbury, July 1, 1810, Kingsbury Papers, Misc. - Letters, 1804-1813, Chicago Historical Society Library. - -[16]_IHC_, XV, ed. B. J. Griswold, pp. 302-350 _passim_. - -[17]_IHC_, VII, _Harrison’s Messages and Letters_, ed. Logan Esarey, p. - 557. - -[18]_American State Papers, Indian Affairs_, II, 84-5. - -[19]McAfee, _History of the Late War in the Western Country_, p. 128. - -[20]_IHC_, IX, _Harrison’s Messages and Letters_, ed. Logan Esarey, pp. - 21-2. - -[21]_Ibid._, p. 27. - -[22]_Ibid._, p. 53. - -[23]_IHC_, IX, _Harrison’s Messages and Letters_, ed. Logan Esarey, p. - 68. - -[24]_Ibid._, p. 69. - -[25]_IHC_, IX, _Harrison’s Messages and Letters_, ed. Logan Esarey, pp. - 77-78. - -[26]Wells to Harrison, July 30, 1812, Burton Historical Collection. - -[27]_IHC_, IX, _Harrison’s Messages and Letters_, ed. Logan Esarey, p. - 70. - -[28]What is believed to be the grave of Little Turtle was discovered in - 1912 at the home of Dr. George Gillie in the Spy Run section. - -[29]M. M. Quaife, _Chicago and the Old Northwest, 1673-1835_, p. 225. - -[30]_Ibid._, p. 217. - - - - - Chapter IV - The Siege of Fort Wayne - - -At last the savages had struck their long deferred blow. The little -garrison of eighty-five men at Fort Wayne received with alarm the first -account of the massacre at Fort Dearborn. The news was conveyed by one -of the friendly Miamis who had accompanied Wells to Fort Dearborn. -Unknown to the garrison at this date was the fact that Detroit—the -protecting center of the other northwestern posts—had been ingloriously -surrendered on August 16 to a British-Indian force by General William -Hull. Mackinac had already fallen to the British. Tecumseh and the -British now turned their attention to the reduction of Fort Wayne and -Fort Harrison (near Terre Haute, Indiana), as the principal remaining -obstacles to prevent them from driving the white inhabitants beyond the -Ohio river. After their success at Dearborn, a council was held by the -Indian tribes and British officers at the Potawatomie villages. Here it -was determined that the Potawatomies together with the Ottawas were to -be assisted in the proposed siege of Fort Wayne by a British force under -Major Muir. Meanwhile the Winnebagoes and Miamis would direct their -attention toward Fort Harrison. - -When the people of Fort Wayne became aware of the gravity of their -situation, it was determined to send the women and children to a safe -refuge, the closest being Piqua, Ohio. In order to accomplish this, -Captain John Logan, a Shawnee Indian, was sent by John Johnston from -Piqua to conduct the group which numbered close to twenty-five. Among -Logan’s charges on the hundred-mile journey were Ann, Rebecca, and Mary -Wells, and the wives and children of Antoine Bondie, William Bailey, and -Stephen Johnston. This was but the first of many acts of heroism on the -part of the Shawnee brave, John Logan, during the war.[1] - -None too soon were the women and children removed to a place of safety, -for in a short time about five hundred warriors began to gather quietly -about Fort Wayne, encamping in the forest and seeking to avoid open -evidence of hostility. Theirs was a waiting game, as the British had -promised troops and artillery within a period of twenty days. - -Fortunately for the garrison and the people remaining near Fort Wayne, -the Indian plan to attack the fort was discovered beforehand in much the -same manner as Pontiac’s famous plan to capture Detroit had been -revealed to the British at an earlier date in history. On the night of -August 20, Metea, a Potawatomie chief, made his way under cover of -darkness to the cabin of Antoine Bondie outside of the fort enclosure -and there revealed to Bondie the plans of attack in order that Bondie -and his Indian wife might escape death. Antoine Bondie, a French trader, -was then about fifty years old and had lived with the Indians since he -was twelve near the vicinity of Fort Wayne. Metea naturally thought that -Bondie would join them and when the Frenchman did not decline the -chief’s offer, he suspected nothing. - -However, Bondie accompanied by Charles Peltier, another French trader, -went to Benjamin Stickney the following morning and informed the agent -of the plot.[2] Stickney, who at a later date wrote his account of the -siege, gave himself most of the credit for the turn the events then -took.[3] At first, he relates, he was inclined to reject Bondie’s -information as false, since a mistake in a matter of so much importance -would have proved ruinous to his character and would have resulted in -his disgraceful ejection from office. However, he informed Captain Rhea -of the situation, and despite the fact that the Captain discredited -Bondie’s story on the grounds that the latter was untrustworthy, -Stickney determined to send an express to Harrison at Cincinnati and -another to Captain Taylor at Terre Haute informing them of the state of -affairs. - -Why Captain Rhea should have refused and Stickney should have hesitated -to believe that an attack was imminent even though they knew of the -massacre at Fort Dearborn is difficult to understand. It can be said in -their defense that when Bondie revealed to them the plot of the red men, -they had not yet heard of the surrender of Detroit; consequently, did -not realize their position was so precarious. Lt. Curtis in his account -of the siege of Fort Wayne states that many attempts were made to send -messages through to Detroit, but that they all failed.[4] Earlier in the -same day that Metea informed Bondie of the coming attack on Fort Wayne, -Captain Rhea expressed the rather naive belief that the Potawatomies -gathering about the fort intended to proceed to Piqua for a conference -with the U. S. commissioners, and requested Governor Meigs of Ohio to -send him instructions concerning the matter. At the same time Captain -Rhea asked for information in regard to General Hull’s movements at -Detroit, which indicated he knew nothing of the surrender.[5] - -Four days later it was becoming increasingly apparent that the -information furnished by Antoine Bondie was no mere fiction. Stephen -Johnston, who served as a clerk at the Fort Wayne factory after the -departure of his older brother, described conditions surrounding the -fort in a letter written August 24, 1812, to his wife at Piqua: - - “We have about four hundred Indians here. Their intentions are very - suspicious. I have moved all the public goods into the garrison, so - that I am now unincumbered by the business, and if it were not for Mr. - Stickney’s illness, and having to attend to his department, I would - leave the place for the present, as the trading establishment is at an - end for the time being.”[6] - -On the 24 or 25 of August, Captain Rhea dispatched a message to General -Worthington and Governor Meigs of Ohio, stating that he expected the -fort to be attacked that night.[7] This was the last communication -received from the garrison prior to the start of the siege. It is -fortunate that these appeals for aid were sent by Benjamin Stickney and -Captain Rhea as they served to hasten Harrison’s army of relief in time -to save the fort. By August 28, Harrison, realizing the gravity of the -situation, wrote to the Secretary of War, “The relief of Fort Wayne will -be my first object.”[8] - -Meanwhile at Fort Wayne, both parties wished to delay the final -conflict, the garrison in order to give time to Harrison to bring the -necessary relief, and the Indians, from daily expectation of the arrival -of the British force which had been promised them. Within the fort, the -situation was rendered highly embarrassing and hazardous by the -condition of Captain Rhea who began to drink heavily and was incapable -of handling any duties. It is evident also that ill-feeling between -Benjamin Stickney and the two lieutenants, Curtis and Ostrander, was not -lacking. In his account, Stickney wrote, “The commanding officer was -drunk nearly all the time, and the two lieutenants were inefficient men, -entirely unfit to hold commissions of any grade.”[9] This last statement -must be taken with some allowance, as Philip Ostrander was later made -temporary commander of Fort Wayne with Harrison’s approval, and Daniel -Curtis rose to the rank of captain after creditable service during the -war. - -By August 28, the post was definitely in a state of siege. About ten -o’clock that night Stephen Johnston, accompanied by Peter Oliver and a -recently discharged soldier set out for Piqua, as Johnston was eager to -join his wife there. When the three men had arrived at a point a short -distance south of the fort, near what was the Hanna homestead, they were -fired upon by the Indians. Johnston was killed instantly. The other two -men fled back to the fort. A reward of twenty dollars, offered by -Antoine Bondie the next day for the return of Johnston’s body to the -fort—a work performed by a young chief, White Racoon—revealed the fact -that Johnston had been scalped and tomahawked in a most brutal manner. - -No further proof of the attitude of the Indians was needed; however the -next morning an Indian approached the fort and asked Stickney for a -white flag in order that some of the chiefs might come and speak with -him. The flag was granted under a promise of its being returned that -day, but the Indians kept it several days during which time they were -constantly plundering the gardens and cornfields and were killing and -carrying away the cattle and hogs. This they did right under the guns of -the fort, and comments Lt. Curtis, “we poor soldiers, either from -cowardice or some other agency in our captain, were not suffered to fire -a gun but obliged their repeated insults to pass with impunity.”[10] - -On one occasion a party of soldiers left the fort to check the Indians. -For this the lieutenants were rebuked by Captain Rhea in an official -order.[11] Finally the Indians bearing the flag before themselves -approached the fort in large number, hoping evidently to be allowed to -enter in such force as to be able to overpower the occupants. But only a -few were admitted by Stickney, who designated thirteen chiefs who would -be welcomed. Each chief was disarmed on entering the stockade and the -party followed the agent to his quarters. At the request of Stickney the -troops were paraded during the council which followed. When the council -pipes were finished, Winamac addressing the agent disclaimed any part in -the death of Johnston. “But,” he added, “if my father wishes for war, I -am a man.”[12] With this expression he struck his hand upon a knife that -was concealed under his blanket. Stickney at the time did not understand -the language, but Antoine Bondie who was present and understood the -whole force of what was said, sprang to his feet and, striking his own -knife, shouted in Potawatomie, “I, too, am a man.”[13] His dramatic -action, together with the appearance of the soldiers, fully armed, -brought the plot to a finish. The Indians had hoped through the murder -of Stickney and the officers, to be able to control the situation within -the fort, even to the opening of the gates to allow the entrance of -their warriors. However, they filed back to their encampment -disappointed. - -The garrison was cheered on September 1 by the arrival of William Oliver -who brought news of the approach of Harrison’s army. Oliver, who was -then twenty-five years of age, had been connected with the fort as a -sutler. While the Indians were gathering about the fort he was absent in -Cincinnati purchasing supplies, and there he learned of the state of -affairs at Fort Wayne. He enlisted with the Ohio troops and offered his -services to General Harrison with the proposition that the general allow -him to proceed from St. Mary’s, Ohio, to Fort Wayne with a small company -as an advance detachment of the army of relief. This he did, but when -the group of ninety-four men came within twenty-four miles of Fort -Wayne, they ascertained the size of the besieging forces to be larger -than they could safely meet in an open encounter. Oliver continued on, -however, with three Shawnees—Captain John Logan, Captain Johnny, and -Brighthorn. Well mounted and well armed, they eluded the vigilance of -the besiegers and succeeded in reaching the Maumee river at a point one -and a half miles east of the fort. Here they left their horses in order -to make a preliminary reconnoiter. The enemy was conferring on a -strategem for the capture of the garrison and had gathered on the west -and south sides of the fort. Returning to their horses, the four -messengers rode stealthily along the Maumee and up the bank to the east -wall of the fort. No member of the garrison was in sight. In despair, -they rode down the river bank and skirted the shore as they turned their -horses to the west to follow the St. Mary’s river. Then, in full view of -the Indians, they dashed up the river bank and made straight for the -north gate of the fort, at a moment when Winamac and four other chiefs -were rounding the northwest corner of the fort with a flag of truce to -hold another conference with the commandant. The sudden appearance of -the riders disconcerted the besiegers who believed them to be the -advance of a large relieving force. Winamac retired after a mere -handshake. Lt. Curtis later stated, “The safe arrival of Mr. Oliver at -that particular juncture may justly be considered most miraculous. One -hour sooner or one hour later would no doubt have been inevitable -destruction both to himself and escort.”[14] - -Once within the fort Oliver announced the approach of Harrison’s army -and immediately dispatched a note to Harrison by John Logan and his -companions, who succeeded in evading the besiegers once again. - -In the meantime Harrison’s force had reached Piqua on September 1. Here -he found the whole “country in dreadful alarm on account of the fall of -Detroit and Chicago and the supposed investiture of Fort Wayne by the -Indians.”[15] A body of 700 volunteers for the relief of Fort Wayne was -unwilling to go beyond Shane’s Crossing on the St. Mary’s without -reinforcements. On September 4, Harrison received information that a -British and Indian force was advancing toward Fort Wayne from Malden. -Actually, the British detachment under Major Muir did not leave Malden -until September 16, four days after the siege was abandoned by the -Indians. This delay by the British was occasioned by the temporary -armistice arranged between General George Prevost and General Dearborn. -Had the British sent support to the besieging Indians sooner, or had not -Harrison been so prompt in bringing relief, the outcome of the siege of -Fort Wayne might have been far different. As it was the garrison being -well supplied with provisions was able to withstand the attacks made by -the Indians. - -Nevertheless, the situation at Fort Wayne was fairly critical from -September 3, to September 12. On September 3, Captain Rhea published his -final garrison order, saying, “It is earnestly hoped by the Commanding -Officer that for this night every man will be at his post,—relief is at -hand but means may be taken to cut us off from that relief. Should any -man be found inattentive to his duty, punishment ensues; For on this -night, our fame, our honor and every thing that is near & dear depends. -—be therefore Cautious and brave—“[16] For the following twenty-seven -days no entry was placed in the Orderly Book. The next morning, despite -his dramatic order, Captain Rhea, inwardly disheartened and apprehensive -of the doom of the garrison and its occupants, took to drink to bolster -his despairing nature. - -On the same day the chiefs again approached the fort with a flag of -truce, and being asked whether they wished war or peace, Winemac -replied, “You know that Mackinaw is taken, Detroit is in the hands of -the British, and Chicago has fallen; and you must expect to fall next, -and that in a short time! Immediately”, Lt. Curtis continues, “our great -captain invited the savage over to his headquarters and after drinking -three glasses of wine with him rose from his seat and observed: ‘My good -friend, I love you; I will fight for you; I will die by your side. You -must save me!’ and then gave him a half dollar as a token of friendship, -inviting him at the same time to come and breakfast with him the next -morning.”[17] - -Winamac failed to accept the Captain’s invitation to breakfast, but -instead sent five warriors who secreted themselves behind a small -building and shot two members of the garrison. From then on the siege -became active. That night the Indians made a general attack, but were -driven off by the four howitzers of the fort. Almost continuous firing -was kept up day and night until September 10; several times the -buildings were set on fire by flaming arrows, but the vigilance of the -garrison prevented a conflagration. - -During this time, Captain Rhea continued “drunk as a fool, and perfectly -incapable of exercising rationality on any subject whatsoever, but was -constantly abusing and illtreating everyone that came in his -presence.”[18] The disorder and confusion he created among the men was -one of the greatest dangers of the siege. At one time Lieutenants Curtis -and Ostrander considered placing him under arrest in order to silence -his clamor. The captain would frequently talk of surrendering if the -Indian attacks grew stronger and particularly if they or the British -would bring up the cannon they had captured at Chicago. When Captain -Rhea was told by Lt. Ostrander that the largest piece at Chicago was a -three-pounder and that the first person in the garrison who should offer -to surrender at the approach of no heavier piece than a three-pounder -should instantly be shot, he remained silent on the subject. - -Meanwhile, instead of waiting at Piqua for the arrival of General James -Winchester, who had been assigned to the command of the northwestern -army, Harrison issued the following call: - - Mounted Volunteers! I requested you, in my late address to rendezvous - at Dayton on the 15th instant. I have now a more pressing call for - your services! The British and Indians have invaded our country and - are now besieging (perhaps have taken) Fort Wayne. Every friend to his - country, who is able to do so, will join me as soon as possible, well - mounted, with a good rifle and twenty or thirty days provisions.[19] - -Although Harrison was eager to press forward, the army was detained at -Piqua for lack of flints and did not move until September 6. Two days -later it reached Girty’s Town, now St. Mary’s, Ohio. By that time the -army numbered 2,200 men, and the scouts sent out by the Indians returned -to their camp with the report that “Kentuck is coming as numerous as the -trees.”[20] - -At Fort Wayne comparative calm had set in, according to Lt. Curtis’ -account. “After the 10th we rested in tranquility, but could see large -bodies of Indians between that time and the 12th running in great haste -across the prairies and many without arms.”[21] On the night of the -11th, while still seventeen miles from Fort Wayne, Harrison wrote to the -Secretary of War that he fully expected a major engagement the following -day. The Indians were prepared to give battle at a swamp five miles -southeast of the fort, but finding Harrison’s army too strong to attack, -they kindled extensive fires to create the impression within the fort -that a battle had occurred. They hoped thereby to draw the troops out of -the fort, but his final ruse failed, and the Indians withdrew, some only -a few minutes before the arrival of Harrison’s advance guard. - -The arrival of the army around three o’clock that afternoon was an -occasion of great joy to the troops and people who had taken refuge -within the fort. Harrison’s men encamped outside the walls of the fort -where, McAfee relates, “a few days previous there had been a handsome -little village; but it was now in ruins.”[22] The government factory had -been burned by the Indians as well as the large council house. Captain -Wells’ farm had been overrun and laid waste, while all the outlying -homes were destroyed. The corn which had been cultivated by the -villagers was nearly all gone and the remainder served as forage for -Harrison’s cavalry. - -Fort Wayne was described by McAfee as: - - Delightfully situated on an eminence on the south bank of the Miami of - the Lake [Maumee river] immediately below the formation that river by - the junction of the St. Marys with the St. Josephs ... It is well - constructed of block houses and picketting, but could not resist a - British force, as there are several eminences on the south side, from - which it could be commanded by a six or nine pounder.[23] - -After referring to the proximity of the Wabash river to that of the St. -Mary’s, McAfee added, “A canal at some future day will unite these -rivers and thus render a town at Fort Wayne, as formerly, the most -considerable place in all that country.”[24] - -From a military viewpoint, Fort Wayne had successfully withstood the -siege, but the destruction of the village and trade must be considered -as a major setback to the community. McAfee indicated this even though -he foresaw a more promising future. As late as 1821, Thomas Teas wrote -after visiting Fort Wayne, “The village before the late war was much -larger than at present.”[25] Many of the families who left Fort Wayne in -1812 never returned. - -On the day following Harrison’s arrival, detachments, using Fort Wayne -as their base of operations, commenced the destruction of the Indian -villages of the entire region. The men who remained at Fort Wayne -proceeded to remove all the underbrush surrounding the fort. The land -was cleared on both sides of each river for a mile in every direction. - -After arranging his camp, Harrison summoned the officers and agent of -the fort and there, from Lieutenants Curtis and Ostrander, with Benjamin -Stickney as a corroborative witness, heard the charges preferred against -Captain Rhea. Rhea was placed under arrest and after a careful -consideration of the charges, Harrison was in favor of having him -brought before a court martial. However, on account of his age and his -having a young family, Rhea was allowed to resign. He was given until -December 20 to return home, at which time his pay and emoluments ceased. - -On September 18, General James Winchester arrived at Fort Wayne to take -command of the army. It was only after the troops had been promised that -Harrison would soon be re-appointed commander that they consented to -march toward Detroit under Winchester. - -General Winchester chose to follow the usual route to Detroit by moving -down the north bank of the Maumee. The American army left Fort Wayne on -September 22. Meanwhile unaware that the siege of Fort Wayne had been -lifted, the British commander at Detroit, Colonel Proctor, dispatched -two hundred British regulars under Major Muir together with a thousand -Indians under Captain Elliot to assist in taking Fort Wayne. Having -brought their baggage and artillery up the Maumee as far as Fort -Defiance, the British discovered the approach of Winchester’s stronger -army. A hasty retreat on the part of the British followed. Their cannon -and heavy equipment were thrown into the river. - -As pointed out previously the British had delayed sending this -expedition because of the temporary armistice. Had the force under Major -Muir reached Fort Wayne before Harrison’s army, it is likely that the -fort would have fallen, which would have rendered the recapture of -Detroit much more difficult. General Brock in writing to his superior, -Sir George Prevost, expressed the belief that Fort Wayne would surely -fall to Major Muir and added, “The Indians were likewise looking to us -for assistance. They heard of the Armistice with every mark of jealousy, -and had we refused joining them in the expedition it is impossible to -calculate the consequences.”[26] That the British troops were prepared -to batter down the palisades of Fort Wayne is shown by the official -report of Major Muir to Colonel Proctor. Some of his officers endeavored -to induce Major Muir to hold his position at Defiance and use their -cannon to prevent the advance of Winchester’s troops. “I told them”, -Major Muir wrote, “that the guns were brought for the purposes of -battering Fort Wayne, but would not answer to fight in the woods.”[27] -Colonel Proctor, in turn explaining the movement to General Brock, -wrote, “The delay occasioned by the armistice prevented the attainment -of the object of our expedition, which was destruction of Fort -Wayne.”[28] - -After the departure of Captain Rhea, Lt. Philip Ostrander was left in -temporary charge of Fort Wayne for a period of nine weeks. During -October, Ostrander reported that over half the garrison was sick. For -these men there was no medicine, while all the men were destitute of -clothing and blankets. Concerning the Indian menace, the situation had -improved, but the danger from attack had not passed. Lt. Ostrander -issued a stern warning to his men not to leave the fort without -permission.[29] - -Word that the Indians were again collecting around Fort Wayne induced -Harrison to send Colonel Allen Trimble and five hundred mounted -volunteers to the fort. A battalion of Ohio infantry was also sent to -Fort Wayne with much needed provisions. While at Fort Wayne this group -collected firewood since the garrison was unable to do so with the -hostile Indians lurking in the woods. - -On November 22, 1812, Captain Hugh Moore arrived at Fort Wayne to take -command of the post. Little is known about Captain Moore. He had been -with Harrison from the outbreak of the war. At Fort Wayne he served as -commander until the summer of 1813 when he was succeeded by Major Joseph -Jenkinson. Captain Moore’s first order was the appointment of Antoine -Bondie as issuing agent at the post. This was obviously in recognition -of Bondie’s service during the siege. This position enabled Bondie to -support his family, as his trading establishment was all but ruined. -Later Bondie was also appointed captain of the scouts which were sent -out occasionally from the fort. - -On April 28, 1813, Captain Moore issued an order placing Lt. Philip -Ostrander under arrest and prohibiting any member of the garrison from -communicating with the younger officer. Lt. Ostrander was never brought -before a military court, but died on July 13, 1813, while still -imprisoned. There is no reason given for the arrest in the orderly book, -other than the statement, “circumstances have transpired within this -garrison of a most destructive, injurious and dangerous nature to the -service.”[30] Brice in his short history of Fort Wayne says: “Lieutenant -Ostrander ... who had unthoughtfully fired upon a flock of birds passing -over the fort, had been reprimanded by Captain Ray [Rhea], and because -of his refusal to be tried by courtmartial, was confined in a small room -in the garrison, where he subsequently died.”[31] - -This account is rendered impossible from the fact that Ostrander acted -as commandant from the time of Rhea’s departure in disgrace, until the -arrival of Captain Moore. As late as January 5, 1813, Lt. Ostrander was -a member of a court martial, which found Alexander Scott guilty of -contemptuous conduct to one of the officers, possibly Ostrander himself. -After that date his name does not appear in the record until April 27, -1813, the day prior to his arrest, when the same Alexander Scott was -tried and acquitted on a charge of traducing Lt. Ostrander’s -character.[32] In what manner Scott supposedly slandered Lt. Ostrander -is not stated in the proceedings of the trial; however, it is possible -to surmise that there was some connection between the charge and Lt. -Ostrander’s arrest the following day. - -During the year 1813, Fort Wayne became the natural center for supplies -used by the American armies operating in northern Ohio and eastern -Michigan. In May of that year, Harrison addressed the Secretary of War, -saying: - - “I am persuaded that a demonstration in the direction of Fort Wayne by - a body of mounted men would be attended by very happy effects. I am - not entirely at ease on the subject of the garrisons in that - direction. The enemy, if they understood their business will certainly - make an attempt to carry some of our weak posts where we have large - deposits ... I have always been partial to the assembling a body of - Troops in the Vicinity of Fort Wayne. It is in the immediate line of - communication between the Indians of the Wabash, Illinois, - Mississippi, and the South and West sides of Lake Michigan and - Malden.”[33] - -Following this logic, Harrison ordered Colonel Richard M. Johnson to -proceed to Fort Wayne and from thence to scour the northwestern -frontiers. After a difficult journey over the swollen St. Mary’s river -and flooded countryside, Johnson’s men reached Fort Wayne on June 7. -Grim excitement greeted their arrival. One of the ten flatboats bringing -provisions to Fort Wayne had struck on a bar within sight of the fort. -Before help could arrive, the three crewmen were killed by Indians -lurking near the fort. Johnson’s cavalry pursued the red men, but -nightfall and rain ended their endeavor. - -Leaving their heavy baggage at Fort Wayne, the regiment moved across the -St. Mary’s and established their camp in the present Spy Run district of -Fort Wayne. After a day’s rest, Johnson’s men began a march two hundred -miles in the region to the northwest of Fort Wayne. They returned to the -fort on June 14. The result of this excursion was important, for never -before had this land been traversed by such a large body of white men. -The knowledge gained at this time, together with the information -published by Capt. McAfee, played a significant part in the development -of the northwestern part of Indiana. - -After spending a few days at Fort Wayne, Johnson’s regiment proceeded -down the Maumee to join Harrison’s army, and aid in the recapture of -Detroit. On October 5, 1813, the British and Indian forces were routed -at the battle of the Thames by the American army under Harrison. -Tecumseh was killed in the battle, and in effect, the Indian power was -broken forever in the old Northwest. This battle, following closely upon -Perry’s victory on Lake Erie, brought the war to an unofficial close in -this region. - -The danger of Indian hostilities at Fort Wayne was never again critical, -but the safety of the people about the fort was still menaced by -occasional attacks. Such a one occurred late in 1813, when Major Joseph -Jenkinson arrived to succeed Captain Hugh Moore as commander of Fort -Wayne. On the march from Newport, Kentucky, three companies of militia -which accompanied Major Jenkinson found it convenient, in the latter -part of their journey, to convey their supplies by flatboats on the St. -Mary’s river. At a sharp bend in the stream about a mile from the fort, -the Indians ambushed the last of the boats and killed the men who were -guiding it. - -Major Jenkinson’s period of service at Fort Wayne was brief. His family -did not accompany him to the post, and after six months he chose to -return to Kentucky where he was appointed adjutant of the state militia. -The only existent letter of Major Jenkinson while he was stationed at -Fort Wayne, throws some light on the attitude of the local French people -toward slavery. The major, writing to his wife, complained that some of -the French men living near Fort Wayne had thoroughly “corrupted Ephraim -[the major’s slave] by their ideas”; so much so that it was necessary -“to cool the fellow off, by two very hard whippings.”[34] - -In May, 1814, the command of Fort Wayne was given to Major John Whistler -of the First United States Infantry. Major Whistler was not a stranger -to Fort Wayne. As a lieutenant he had accompanied Wayne on his western -campaign, and was here to assist in the building of the original fort. -He remained as a special officer to oversee the maintenance of the forts -of the surrounding region. Later, his wife joined him at Fort Wayne, and -it was here that their son, George Washington Whistler was born in -1800.[35] Following Major John Whistler’s early service at Fort Wayne, -he was transferred to Detroit, and from thence to Chicago, where he -built Fort Dearborn and became its first commandant. - -Major Whistler was chronically in debt. In fact, his financial outlook -was almost hopeless. With a salary, as a captain, of $40.00 a month, he -had a family of fifteen children to maintain. To make matters worse, the -visits of the government paymaster were highly irregular. On one -occasion, he wrote to a creditor that he had received no pay in a period -of more than two years. “I hope you will not think I complain against my -government for detaining my pay,” he added, “No, but necessity forces me -to make the real statement to satisfy my creditor.”[36] It is distinctly -to Major Whistler’s credit that even in the act of pressing for payment -his creditors frequently paused to express confidence in his honesty and -sympathy for his lot. - -The year 1814, which marked the return of the Whistler family also marks -the re-establishment of family life in and about Fort Wayne. While the -Maloch and Peltier families remained at Fort Wayne throughout the war, -the other Fort Wayne families had taken refuge mainly in the more -settled areas along the Ohio river. Some of the families never did -return, but among those who did was the Louis Bourie family. Bourie as -early as 1786 maintained a profitable enterprise at the portage by -keeping pack-horses and a warehouse for the deposit and transportation -of merchandise and peltries. During the war, he moved to Detroit with -his wife and two children. Soon after his return to Fort Wayne in 1814, -Bourie was given a contract to provide bread for the soldiers, and in -1815, he built a bakery at the corner of the present Clinton and -Columbia streets. A short time later he established a general store and -erected a log residence adjoining the building. - -George Hunt, who had served as a sutler prior to the war, also returned -to Fort Wayne in 1814. He was the son of Colonel Thomas Hunt, the third -commander at Fort Wayne. With George Hunt came his younger brother, John -Elliott Hunt. - -Lt. Daniel Curtis, to whom we are indebted for the best account of the -siege, was still connected with the post in 1814. Other residents of the -fort in that year included Benjamin Stickney, who remained as Indian -agent; Benjamin Berry Kercheval and Peter Oliver, clerks of the agent; -Charles Peltier a fur trader; John P. Hedges, who had first visited the -fort in 1812 and who was now stationed at the fort as a storekeeper; Dr. -Daniel Smith, the post surgeon; Robert Forsythe, who later became a -paymaster in the United States army; and a French blacksmith, -Louisaneau, who had a government appointment to do work for the troops -as well as the Indians about the fort. - -One of the new arrivals at Fort Wayne at this time was William -Suttenfield. Suttenfield had first visited Fort Wayne in 1811, at which -time he was in Colonel John Johnston’s employ, being in charge of a pack -train hauling military and Indian stores from Piqua, Ohio, to the fort. -In 1814, he brought his wife, formerly Laura Taylor, and his infant son, -William F. Suttenfield, to Fort Wayne by way of the St. Mary’s river, -the route used most frequently by travelers from southwestern Ohio. -Suttenfield was for many months after his arrival employed in bringing -provisions to the fort from Piqua and other points. He was short, -slender, and very active and agile. For these reasons he boasted that -the Indians could not catch him while he was bringing in supplies. Soon -after their arrival, the Suttenfields built a log house outside the -fort. This was the first home erected beyond the protecting walls of the -fort, following the siege. It stood near the river to the south of the -fort. - -Mrs. Laura Suttenfield lived until 1886. Before her death, she left an -impressive description of a 4th of July celebration in 1814. The -isolation and quietude of Fort Wayne in that year is suggested by her -account: - - The fort at that time contained sixty men of the regular army, all - patriotic and anxious to celebrate one day in the year. They made - three green bowers, 100 feet from the pickets of the fort ... one - bower for the dinner table, one for the cooks and one for the music. - Major Whistler had two German cooks and they prepared the dinner.... - Our dinner consisted of one fine turkey, a side of venison, boiled - ham, vegetables in abundance, cranberries and green currents. As for - dessert, we had none. Eggs were not known here for three years from - that time. There were but three bottles of wine sent here from - Cincinnati; but one was made use of. Then there were a few toasts, - and, after three guns and music, they went into the fort and the - ladies changed their dresses. Then Major Whistler called for the - music, which consisted of one bass drum, two small ones, one fife, - violin and flute. There was a long gallery in the fort; the musicians - took their seats there.... A french four passed off very well for an - hour. Then the gates of the fort were closed at sundown, which gave it - a gloomy appearance. No children, no younger persons for amusement, - all retired to their rooms. All was quiet and still. The sentinel on - his lonely round would give us the hour of the night. In the morning - we were aroused by the beating of the reveille.[37] - -The lives of these residents of Fort Wayne in 1814 were never without -some fear of possible attack from the Indians, even though the danger -had diminished. That Major Whistler expected just such an attack is -evident by his letter of July 1 to Brigadier General Duncan McArthur, in -which he asked for additional men or permission to reconstruct the fort. -Said he “The Indians show a bad disposition to attend the Treaty [This -treaty was held at Greenville]. I have Received an Account from Mr. -Johnston that the Potawatomies and Taways and the Other Indians -Bordering on Lake Michigan are intending to join the British and take -Detroit, Malden and this Place this Moon.”[38] - -The conduct of Chief Richardville had been especially annoying to Major -Whistler. At the outbreak of the war, Richardville hurriedly gathered -his effects and fled with his family to the British lines and there -remained, without taking an active part in the trouble, until 1814. When -he returned to his home six miles east of Fort Wayne, Major Whistler -invited him to a conference. He responded, but he appeared reluctant to -attend the conference at Greenville. Finally he came, in company with -Chief Chondonnai, a participant in the Fort Dearborn massacre, and -placed his signature to the treaty. - -In May, 1815, Major Whistler again informed General McArthur of his -intention to rebuild the fort, provided he could receive permission from -the War Department. Permission was granted and in the fall of 1815, -Major Whistler directed the construction of the new fort to take the -place of the one erected by the troops of Colonel Hunt fifteen years -before. Thus it fell to the lot of the builder of the first Fort -Dearborn to become in turn the builder of the last Fort Wayne. Although -the troops were destined to remain in this fort only four more years, -parts of it remained standing until 1852, and for a long time after the -garrison evacuated it, the fort served the government agencies and some -of the citizens as a useful shelter. - -The best source of information in regard to this last fort is in the -record of John W. Dawson, who, in 1858, gathered information from the -early settlers and wrote a series of articles for the local paper.[39] -According to Dawson, the fort enclosed an area about 150 feet square. -The pickets were ten feet high, and set in the ground, with block houses -at the southeast and northwest corners, which were two stories high. The -second floor projected and formed a bastion in each blockhouse where the -guns were rigged; that on the southeast corner commanding the south and -east sides of the fort, and that on the northwest corner, the north and -west sides. The officers’ quarters, commissary department and other -buildings located on different sides formed part of the walls, and in -the center stood the liberty pole from which the flag flew. - -The plaza, in the enclosure was smooth and gravelly. The roofs of the -houses all declined within the stockade after the shed fashion, to -prevent the enemy from setting them on fire, and if fired, to protect -the men in putting it out. The rainwater was carried along by wooden -troughs, just below the surface of the ground to the flagstaff, and from -thence led by a sluiceway to the Maumee. - -Dawson believed that when Major Whistler rebuilt the fort, he did not -include all of the ground covered by the fort built under Colonel Hunt’s -direction. This conviction is substantiated by the fact that before -building the new fort, Whistler expressed the opinion that the old fort -was too large for the number of troops he had to defend it.[40] - -Writing to General McArthur on October 17, 1815, Major Whistler reported -that the new fort was almost completed. Only one section of the old fort -needed to be taken down and replaced by the new. Whistler expressed the -belief that the new fort was the most substantial in the West. “The -pickets”, he wrote, “were 12½ feet long and were put in sets of six, -with a cross-piece two feet from the top, set in and spiked, and a -trench dug 2½ feet deep, into which they were raised.”[41] The major -added that he was anxious to complete the work as he expected -difficulties with the Indians, who declared their intention to continue -the war against the United States. Benjamin Stickney, also writing from -Fort Wayne, expressed the same belief.[42] - -However, the threatened outbreak of the Indians did not materialize. -British intrigue had come to an end, and the red men lacked another -leader as capable as Tecumseh. Many Indians continued to congregate at -Fort Wayne in the years following the War of 1812. They came for reasons -of trade or to receive their annuities or possibly from a feeling of -sympathy and attraction for the scenes of their old home and gathering -place, but aside from some petty quarrels among themselves, nothing -war-like was ever again manifested in the relations of the Indians and -whites at Fort Wayne. - - -[1]John Logan as a small child had been adopted by General Benjamin - Logan of Kentucky. In 1813, Logan was killed while undertaking a - most hazardous mission. “More firmness and consummate bravery has - seldom appeared in the military theatre.”, wrote General Winchester - in his report to Harrison. - -[2]After the war, Bondie was rewarded by being appointed issuing - commissary for the Fort Wayne garrison. - -[3]Stickney’s account of the siege first appeared in the _Fort Wayne - Times_, May 27, 1856. - -[4]Daniel Curtis to Col. Kingsbury, Sept. 21, 1812, Kingsbury Papers, - Chicago Historical Library. Curtis also wrote to a friend named - James Cullen C. Witherell on Oct. 4, 1812, concerning the siege. - This second letter is almost a copy of the one sent to Kingsbury and - is found in the Indiana Historical Society Library. - -[5]_IHC_, IX, _Harrison’s Messages and Letters_, ed. Logan Esarey, p. - 89. - -[6]T. B. Helm, _History of Allen County, Indiana_, p. 39. - -[7]_IHC_, IX, _Harrison’s Messages and Letters_, ed. Logan Esarey, p. - 99. - -[8]_Ibid._, p. 99. - -[9]_Fort Wayne Times_, May 27, 1856. - -[10]Curtis to Kingsbury, Sept. 21, 1812, Chicago Historical Society - Library. - -[11]_IHC_, XV, _Fort Wayne Garrison Orderly Books_, ed. Bert J. - Griswold, p. 371. - -[12]_Fort Wayne Times_, May 27, 1856. - -[13]_Ibid._ - -[14]Benjamin Drake, _Life of Tecumseh and of his Brother and Prophet_, - p. 50. - -[15]_IHC_, IX, _Harrison’s Messages and Letters_, ed. Logan Esarey, p. - 108. - -[16]_IHC_, XV, _Fort Wayne Garrison Orderly Books_, ed. Bert J. - Griswold, pp. 371-2. - -[17]Curtis to Kingsbury, Sept. 21, 1812, Kingsbury Papers, Chicago - Historical Society Library. - -[18]_Ibid._ - -[19]_IHC_, IX, _Harrison’s Messages and Letters_, ed. Logan Esarey, p. - 131. - -[20]Robert McAfee, _History of the Late War_, p. 123. - -[21]Lt. Curtis to Col. Kingsbury, Sept. 21, 1812, Kingsbury Papers, - Chicago Historical Society Library. - -[22]Robert McAfee, _op. cit._, p. 126. - -[23]_Ibid._, p. 127. - -[24]_Ibid._, p. 127. - -[25]_Indiana as Seen by Early Travelers_, ed. Harlow Lindley, p. 243. - -[26]Major Brock to Sir George Prevost, Sept. 18, 1812, _Michigan - Historical Collections_, XV, 88. - -[27]Major Muir to Colonel Procter, Sept. 29, 1812, _Michigan Historical - Collections_, XV, 93. - -[28]Colonel Proctor to General Brock, Oct. 5, 1812, _Michigan Historical - Collections_, XV, 97. - -[29]_IHC_, XV, _Fort Wayne Garrison Orderly Books_, ed. Bert J. - Griswold, p. 373. - -[30]_Ibid._, p. 390. - -[31]Wallace Brice, _History of Fort Wayne_, p. 134. - -[32]_IHC_, XV, _Fort Wayne Garrison Orderly Books_, ed. Bert J. - Griswold, pp. 381 and 389. - -[33]_IHC_, IX, _Harrison’s Messages and Letters_, ed. Logan Esarey, p. - 157. - -[34]Major Jenkinson to Mrs. Jenkinson, March 14, 1814, Fort Wayne Public - Library. - -[35]George Washington Whistler rose to fame in the topographical service - of the government. His death occurred in Russia in 1849, while he - was superintending the construction of the St. Petersburg to Moscow - railroad. His son, James Abbott McNeil Whistler, became one of the - most famous artists. - -[36]M. M. Quaife, “Detroit Biographies: John Whistler”, _Burton - Historical Collection Leaflet_, V (1926), p. 4. - -[37]_Fort Wayne Times_, Oct. 17, 1869, Fort Wayne Public Library. - -[38]Major Whistler to General McArthur, July 1, 1814, Burton Historical - Collection. - -[39]_Fort Wayne Times_, April 7 to April 15, 1858, Fort Wayne Public - Library. - -[40]Whistler to McArthur, July 1, 1814, Burton Historical Collection. - -[41]Whistler to McArthur, October 17, 1815, Burton Historical - Collection. - -[42]Stickney to Secretary of War, April 30, 1815, _Michigan Pioneer - Collection_, XVI, p. 87. - - - - - Chapter V - Evacuation of the Fort and the Increased Indian Trade - - -After peace came finally with the end of the struggles of 1812-15, the -scene around the fort was one of rare beauty. The extensive clearing -made by order of General Wayne in 1794, and again by General Harrison in -1812, was covered with waving grass. Circling this was the green forest, -pierced by three gates through which flowed the gleaming rivers. The -days of Indian warfare had come to an end, the day of white settlement -in numbers was yet in anticipation. - -The first year of peace, 1816, brought to the troops and the few -families at Fort Wayne a well founded feeling of security and comfort. -This feeling of security and comfort was not based upon the standard of -today, for few could endure now in comfort the life typified by the -tallow dip and open fire, the ox-cart and the pirogue. The national -government realized the permanent return of peace, and already had -removed from the other western posts the troops stationed there for the -protection of the pioneers. But the time had not yet arrived when the -Washington authorities considered it wise to remove the military -garrison from Fort Wayne. The Indians still thronged here in large -numbers. Their periods of gathering to receive their annuities brought -hundreds to the little settlement and here, ofttimes, they remained for -several weeks. - -Following the war, there was no settlement nearer than St. Mary’s in -Ohio, and between Fort Wayne and Fort Dearborn (Chicago) only one white -man, a fur trader named Joseph Bertrand, had ventured to establish his -abode near the site of the present city of South Bend, Indiana. Until -1818, all of northern Indiana was considered Indian territory. - -However, this was not true in central and southern Indiana where -ever-increasing numbers of pioneers were settling. After the end of the -War of 1812 and the Napoleonic conflicts, a commercial depression hit -the eastern states, and multitudes sought new homes in the West. The -seaboard could no longer furnish the returned soldier nor the ruined -merchant with opportunities. This led to a rush of the people into the -new country beyond the mountains. The westward movement, in turn, gave -an immediate demand for highways of transportation. - -Traffic over the rivers showed a steady increase over former years, and -the Maumee-Wabash portage once again became a busy pathway of commerce. -Chief Jean Baptiste Richardville, who was granted a license to trade at -Fort Wayne in 1815, nearly monopolized the carrying-trade over the -portage. Through this profitable business, and by the sale of the land -granted to him as chief of the Miamis in various treaties, Richardville -became the wealthiest Indian then living in American. In five treaties -he acquired over 44 sections of land and $31,800. It is known that he -had $200,000 in silver alone at the time of his death in 1841.[1] - -The Miami chief established a place of business on the present Columbia -street in Fort Wayne and also one of his reserves was on the Wabash -river southwest of Fort Wayne. - -In common with the people of the territory of Indiana, the citizens of -Fort Wayne rejoiced in the transformation of the territory into a state -on April 29, 1816. At the time of the creation of the state of Indiana, -all of northeastern Indiana was included in Knox county, of which -Vincennes was the seat of government. In 1818, Randolph county was -organized with Winchester as the county seat. Fort Wayne was included in -this latter subdivision. - -The new governor, Jonathan Jennings, in his first message to the Indiana -legislature, urged a prompt consideration of the establishment of -internal improvements, and especially a canal to connect the Maumee and -Wabash—a waterway which would supplant the centuries-old portage at Fort -Wayne. Despite the enthusiasm of many proponents of the canal, the -difficulties were many and work was not to begin on it for sixteen -years. - -The westward movement of the settlers brought about the transfer of -Major Whistler from Fort Wayne to St. Louis in 1817. The government -authorities assigned to the command of Fort Wayne, Major Josiah N. Vose -of the Fifth United States Infantry Regiment, who was destined to be the -final commandant of the post at the head of the Maumee.[2] During a -period of about three months, from February 15 to May 31, 1817, before -Major Vose assumed his new duties, the garrison was under the command of -First Lieutenant Daniel Curtis, who had served with credit during the -siege of 1812 and whose lively account of his experiences has been -quoted.[3] - -A significant characteristic of Major Vose was his strict adherence to -the observance of Sunday in a religious way. John Johnston, who knew -Major Vose well, said in a letter written in 1859, that he was the only -commandant of the fort who publicly professed Christianity. It was his -constant practice, according to Johnston, to assemble his men on Sunday, -read the Scriptures to them, and talk with them in a conversational -manner about religion. Colonel Johnston adds, “The conduct of such a man -and under such circumstances, can only be appreciated by persons -familiar with the allurements and temptations of military life.”[4] - -With Major Vose came Dr. Trevitt, assigned to the post as surgeon’s mate -and Lieutenant James Clark. One of the first tasks undertaken under -Major Vose’s direction was the erection of a new council house to -replace the one burned during the siege. It was a two-story structure, -which in later years was used as a school house and as a residence. The -garrison in 1817 consisted of fifty-six men. - -On October 6, 1818, the Miami nation ceded to the United States that -part of their land to the south and southwest of Fort Wayne. This -section of land lay between the Wabash near the mouth of the Racoon -Creek and St. Mary’s river as far north as the portage at Fort Wayne. -The treaty was concluded at St. Mary’s, Ohio, with Governor Jennings, -Lewis Cass, and Benjamin Parke, serving as commissioners of the United -States and Chief Richardville acting as principal spokesman for the -Miamis. This treaty, together with one concluded with the Wyandots the -previous year, gave to the United States complete ownership of the -territory south of the Maumee and Wabash rivers. Thus the way was opened -for travel and settlement in Indiana as far north as Fort Wayne. - -According to the treaty of St. Mary’s, many sections of land near Fort -Wayne were reserved for individuals designated by the Miamis. These -individuals included the following: Chief Jean Baptiste Richardville, -Joseph Richardville (the chief’s son), Francis LaFontaine, the son of -George Hunt, Little Little Turtle, Josette Beaubien, Eliza C. Kercheval -(daughter of Benjamin Kercheval, sub-agent at Fort Wayne) John B. -Bourie, Ann Hackley (the daughter of William Wells), and the children of -Maria Christina DeRome and LaCros. A reading of these names indicates -the strong influence the early French traders had acquired over the -Miamis by intermarriage. As mentioned in an earlier chapter, -Richardville’s father, Joseph Drouet de Richerville was a French trader. - -The granting of individual reserves to the chiefs and other men favored -by the Indians in the treaty of 1818 led to a dangerous innovation in -land and Indian policy which later permitted the traders to grab the -choice land sites before the government attained control of it. In the -later treaties the Indian traders and agents combined their resources to -secure the best sections of land through the consent of the Indians in -payment of actual or supposed debts. - -The year 1819 witnessed an important and significant change at Fort -Wayne, the departure of the troops and the abandonment of the fort as a -military stronghold. The formal evacuation took place on April 19, 1819, -in pursuance of orders issued by the Secretary of War. The treaty of St. -Mary’s and the westward movement of the settlers had carried the -frontier beyond Fort Wayne. At the time of the departure of the troops, -the garrison consisted of Major Vose, one post surgeon, two captains, -one first lieutenant, five sergeants, four corporals, four musicians and -seventy-five artillerymen and privates—ninety-six men in all—in addition -to a group of women and children. Major Vose and his men went directly -to Detroit by way of the Maumee, in pirogues. They took from the fort -its equipment of heavy armament, including one six and one -twelve-pounder cannon. Fort Wayne was the last of the Indiana posts -maintained by the government and had served as an American fort for more -than a quarter of a century. - -It is not surprising that the news of the evacuation came as a shock to -the few families and the traders who had built their log houses just -outside the fort. When the day of departure came, the few settlers who -comprised the village felt a loneliness as their sense of security gave -way for the moment to a realization of the coming days of isolation and -possible danger. In every direction stretched unbroken wilderness and -while the Indians had been subdued, the abundance of whiskey given them -by the traders made them at times a menace to the safety of the village. - -The fort buildings, vacated by the military, now came under the control -of the civil authorities, represented by the Indian agent, Benjamin -Stickney. For a number of years thereafter the wooden fort with its -bastioned blockhouses, officers’ quarters, and barracks, housed such -civil, governmental, and private enterprises as the Indian agency, the -United States land office, and the first Protestant mission school. -Moreover, the opening of the barracks to the settlers not only made safe -and comfortable living quarters for those already located there, but -induced other settlers to choose this immediate region. Even at this -period, the shelter of the stockade brought a feeling of security, and -the fort was not without its convenient firearms and supply of -ammunition. For a considerable period all but those of stoutest heart -sought refuge within its walls with the coming of darkness. - -Although the depression of 1819 in the Northwest checked the tide of -immigration temporarily, there were some travelers and homeseekers who -came to stamp their names upon the small settlement, which continued to -be known as Fort Wayne even after the evacuation of the troops. These -settlers included James Barnett, who was with Harrison’s army of relief -in 1812 and who returned in 1818 as a permanent resident and trader; -Paul Taber and his sons, Cyrus and Samuel, and his daughter, Lucy, all -of whom came in 1819; Francis Comparet, who came in 1819, and who in -1820, together with Alexis Coquillard and Benjamin B. Kercheval, -established a post for the American Fur Company at Fort Wayne; Dr. -William Turner, a former post surgeon, who returned to Fort Wayne in -1819 and later served for a short time as Indian agent; and James -Aveline who with his family came from Vincennes to Fort Wayne in -January, 1820. - -Among these early settlers who found their way to Fort Wayne in 1819, -was Samuel Hanna, pioneer trader, judge, legislator, canal builder, -railroad enterpriser, and banker. In many respects, Samuel Hanna was to -become Fort Wayne’s most active citizen as the small community grew from -a mere village to a city during his lifetime. Born in Scott county, -Kentucky, in October, 1797, and later moving to Dayton, Ohio, with his -parents, he came to Fort Wayne from St. Mary’s Ohio, where he had been -engaged in supplying goods for the government during the Indian treaties -of 1818. He was twenty-two years old when he came to Fort Wayne. Hanna -built at once a log house on the site which later became the northwest -corner of Barr and Columbia streets. Here, having formed a partnership -with his brother-in-law, James Barnett, a trading post was opened. Many -of their goods which came from the east were purchased from Abbott -Lawrence at Boston; the shipments were made by water to New York, thence -up the Hudson river and across to Buffalo, and from there to Fort Wayne -by way of Lake Erie and the Maumee. - -Upon the abandonment of the fort by the military, the government sent -James Riley, a civil engineer, to Fort Wayne to survey the lands around -the fort belonging to the United States, preparatory to the sale of a -portion of the military reservation to the settlers. Riley was a noted -author of that day, having published in 1817 _Riley’s Narrative_, a 554 -page book on his experiences in Africa as a slave of the Arabs. His -prominence and the fact that he was well known in Washington because he -had spent several years there, lent weight to his recommendations -concerning the Fort Wayne lands. - -On November 24, 1819, Riley wrote a letter from Fort Wayne to B. -Sanford, Esq., advising him that he had concluded his surveys for the -season but wanted: - - “... to examine for myself the practicality of so uniting the Wabash - with the Maumee as to render intercourse by water between the Ohio - river and Lake Erie safe and easy through this channel.... The little - Wabash rises in an elevated swamp prairie six miles south of Fort - Wayne, and joins the Wabash eighteen miles hence. Thus in high stages - of water, a portage of only six miles carries merchandise from the - level of the Maumee into the navigable waters of the Wabash (and vice - versa).”[5] - -These observations by Riley on the possibility of a canal were -supplemented in the same letter by his early impression of Fort Wayne as -a future center of population. He stated to Mr. Sanford: - - The country around Fort Wayne is very fertile. The situation is - commanding and healthful.... Here will arise a town of great - importance, which must become a depot of immense trade. The fort is - now only a small stockade; no troops are stationed here, and less than - thirty dwelling houses occupied by French and American families form - the whole settlement.[6] - -Riley added that the departure of the soldiers had left this little band -of residents extremely lonely, but he predicted that as soon as the -lands were opened for sale the settlers would flock to this region. The -people living at Fort Wayne at this time had no right to the land and -were considered as “squatters” by the government officials. - -Possibly the most interesting letter that James Riley wrote from Fort -Wayne was written near the close of the surveying season in 1820. It was -addressed to Edward Tiffin, Surveyor General. Riley had been in the -neighborhood of Fort Wayne, when a snow storm forced him to discontinue -his work temporarily. Taking advantage of his free time, Riley came to -Fort Wayne to witness the annual distribution of the annuities to the -Indians gathered there. After speaking highly of the natural advantages -of the site of Fort Wayne, Riley urged that the government land be -offered for sale as soon as possible, saying: - - There are now in its [Fort Wayne] immediate vicinity, more than 40 - families of ‘Squatters’ and traders, besides a great number of young - men each with his _bundle_ or shop, of goods and trinkets; all of whom - are depredating on the public lands, for timber for their numberous - buildings, for fire-wood, &c. &c.; and as they have not interest in - the soil, and little hope of being able to purchase the land when - sold, a system of waste and destruction is going on, and is apparently - entered into by all.[6a] - -Riley then added another reason why the lands should be sold. He wrote: - - There are now assembled, as I should judge, at least one thousand - persons from Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, and New York, whose object is - stated to be that of trade with the Indians, in order to carry off - some of their specie, paid them by the Government. They have brought - whiskey in abundance, which they pretend to deposit with agent, until - he shall have finished his business with the Indians, but yet contrive - to deal out large quantities from their deposits in the woods, so that - the savages are kept continually drunk, and unfit for any business. - Horse-racing, drinking, gambling, and every kind of debauchery, - extravagance and waste, are the order of the day, and night too; and - in my opinion, the savages themselves are the most christianized, and - least savage, of the two classes now congregated here. Here the whites - set example to the Indians too indelicate to mention, and that cannot - fail to produce in their minds disgust for the American character.[7] - -Riley concluded by saying: - - The only means that occurs to my mind, of stopping this career of vice - and immorality, is the speedy survey and sale of the lands from the - mouth of the Maumee to this place; and from hence down and along the - banks of the Wabash.... Thus, a cordon of hardy and respectable - settlers ... would be formed along the Maumee and Wabash.... At - present, there is no security to him who locates himself on the public - lands, nor do I wish there should be; because every citizen ought to - enjoy equal advantages. This place, if laid out as a town and sold by - the government, would bring a large sum of money. The St. Mary’s has - been covered with boats, every freshet, for several years past. This - is a central spot, combining more natural advantages to build up and - support a town of importance, as a place of deposit and trade ... than - any point I have yet seen in the western country.[8] - -This letter of Riley, which also contained a strong recommendation for -the careful survey of a canal route connecting the Wabash and the -Maumee, became a part of the official records of the surveyor-general’s -office, and through this channel found its way into the congressional -debates concerning the Wabash and Erie canal. - -Lest James Riley’s severe arraignment of the white traders present -during the time of the annuity payments appear unjust, let us compare it -with the opinion of Reverend J. B. Finney, who visited the village -during the same period in the previous year. He writes: - - This was an awful scene for a sober man to look upon ... men and - women, raving maniacs, singing, dancing, fighting, stabbing and - tomahawking one another—and there were the rum-sellers watering their - whiskey until it was not strong grog, and selling it for four dollars - a gallon, their hired men gathering up all the skins and furs and - their silver brooches ... and their guns, tomahawks and blankets, till - they were literally stripped naked, and three or four were killed.... - The reader may set what estimates he pleases, or call him by what - name; yet, if there were ever a greater robber, or a meaner thief, or - a dirtier murderer than these rum sellers, he is yet to be seen.[9] - -The laws for preventing the introduction of alcoholic drinks among the -Indians, though very severe, were ineffectual. A person might have -remained in the woods within five or six miles of Fort Wayne for a year -without being discovered by any government agent. It was the custom of -the traders to bring whiskey in kegs and hide it in the woods about half -a mile from the fort, a short time previous to the paying of the -annuity, and when the Indians came to the fort, to give information to -such of the Indians who could be confided in that there was whiskey to -be had at those places. As soon as the Indians received their money they -would go off to the appointed places. - -Another reason that the Trade and Intercourse Act was so ineffectual at -Fort Wayne was the fact that it was almost impossible to bring any -offender to trial. The nearest court was at Winchester, Indiana, eighty -miles away. A few of the better traders of the region formed a society -to prohibit this illegal trade, but it soon dissolved when they found -that their regulations could be inforced only by action of the courts. -When John Hays, Indian agent at Fort Wayne reported that all the traders -were guilty of selling whiskey to the Indians, and asked for special -authority to deal with them as he saw fit, the government officials -replied that they did not believe such authority was necessary. No -action was taken. - -But these conditions at Fort Wayne prevailed to a large extent only -during the periods of the annuity distributions. It is of interest, -then, to quote the words of a man who made a “between-times” visit to -the village. We find him in the person of Major Stephen H. Long, a -topographical engineer, who visited the village in 1823. Wrote Major -Long: - - At Fort Wayne we made a stay of three days, and to a person visiting - the Indian country for the first time, this place offers many - characteristic and singular features. The village is small—it has - grown under the shelter of the fort.... The inhabitants are chiefly of - Canadian origin, all more or less inbued with the Indian blood. The - confusion of tongues, owing to the diversity of the Indian tribes - which generally collect near a fort, make the traveler imagine himself - in a real babel.[10] - -From the fort, a cart track angled down to the river bank and -boatlanding, the bustling center of the town’s traffic in furs; and -three embryonic roads, boggy and stump filled, let respectively -northeast to Detroit, northwest to Fort Dearborn and Lake Michigan, and -southeast to Fort Recovery, Ohio. Thomas Scattergood Teas, who visited -the village in 1821, wrote - - The settlement at this place consisted of about thirty log cabins and - two tolerably decent farm houses. The inhabitants are nearly all - French-Canadians. The fort stands at the lower end of the village ... - the barracks are occupied by the Indian agent, the Baptist missionary - and some private families.[11] - -The Baptist missionary, of whom Teas speaks, was the Reverend Isaac -McCoy who came with his wife and seven children to Fort Wayne on May 15, -1820, and stayed for over two years at the fort. McCoy wished to go -farther into the Indian country, but as he states, “necessity not choice -compelled us to consent to go to Fort Wayne.”[12] Despite the -predilection of some of the Indians for the Catholic faith as a result -of long contacts with French traders and past remembrances of the French -Jesuits, McCoy collected a fairly large number of Indian children for -his school at Fort Wayne.[13] The authorities at Fort Wayne afforded -McCoy every encouragement, although the Indian agent, John Hays, later -regretted the fact that he allowed McCoy to use the barracks for housing -the children. The forty half-civilized children racing around his -offices, nearly drove the agent to distraction, besides destroying a -great deal of government property. - -Of the five instructors engaged from time to time to aid in teaching the -Indians, none remained over a period of three months. The McCoys found -the necessities of life very dear at Fort Wayne; flour was obtainable -only by long transportation and corn was also scarce. In the year 1821, -the mission was saved from closing by receipt from the United States -Government of four hundred and fifty dollars. This money was taken from -a fund of ten thousand dollars appropriated by Congress for civilizing -the Indians. Because of the steady demoralization of the Indians around -Fort Wayne brought about by the traders’ whiskey, McCoy decided to move -his mission in 1822. A new mission was established one hundred miles -northwest of Fort Wayne on the St. Joseph of Lake Michigan River. - -A change in the management of the Indian agency at Fort Wayne took place -in 1819 when Benjamin F. Stickney was transferred to a post on the lower -Maumee and Dr. William Turner was named to succeed him. Stickney had -served for nine years, and during this time, like all agents, had made -many enemies. General Duncan McArthur writing from Chillicothe, Ohio, as -early as March, 1815, informed Secretary of War James Monroe, that -Colonel Lewis, a Shawnee chief had placed before him severe criticisms -of Stickney’s methods. “The Indians are generally displeased with Mr. -Stickney as an agent,” added General McArthur, “and several of them have -requested me to make it known to the president and solicit his removal. -He is certainly not well qualified to discharge the duties of an Indian -agent.”[14] - -As a federal Indian agent, Stickney was responsible for the fate of -numerous whites and Indians. Among his duties at that time were the -licensing of traders and the settlement of their claims and disputes -with the tribes, enforcement of the intercourse regulations, -disbursement of annuities and gifts, and expenditure of funds for -improvements, and the punishment of unruly Indians. Tactful handling of -these problems and of numerous squabbles between the two races was an -invaluable factor in preventing bloodshed and preserving good relations. -Stickney was inclined to be too arrogant in dealing with the Indians, -and at times seemed to lack any humanitarian feeling toward those under -his care. - -On April 20, 1818, Congress passed an act which consolidated the -agencies of Fort Wayne and Piqua, and John Johnston was appointed agent -for the agency thus formed. In effect this left Stickney out of the -service, but as it was impossible for Johnston to take care of the Fort -Wayne agency as well as that of Piqua, Stickney remained at Fort Wayne -as sub-agent. - -Stickney continued to serve under this arrangement through the year -1818, though there appears to have developed a degree of friction -between the sub-agent and his superiors. Governor Lewis Cass of -Michigan, writing in January, 1819, to John Calhoun, Secretary of War, -said, “... circumstances have occurred at Fort Wayne which have had a -tendency to injure the usefulness of Mr. Stickney there.”[15] What these -circumstances were we do not know, other than a supposition that -Stickney might have made many powerful enemies among the traders at Fort -Wayne. This was quite likely due to the nature of the Indian trade and -the power of the agent. Lewis Cass was not one to disregard the -complaints of the traders, as he usually supported the large trading -companies, in particular Astor’s American Fur Company. As a perennial -political appointee, Cass found it worthwhile to have friends among -these influential traders, and as Stickney’s superior in the Indian -Department, Cass was in all likelihood inclined to support the traders -in any quarrel that might have developed. In commenting on the charges -brought against himself by some of the traders at Fort Wayne in 1824, -John Tipton, another agent, wrote to John Calhoun, “You will no doubt -recollect that Mr. Stickney while Agt here was harassed with charges and -all kinds of persecution.”[16] - -Under these circumstances, which we can only surmise, Benjamin Stickney -left the agency in 1820 and moved to Toledo, where he later gained -prominence as a leader in the fight to keep that section of the country -under the government of the state of Ohio rather than the state of -Michigan. - -Dr. William Turner, Stickney’s successor, had been stationed at Fort -Wayne between 1810-12 as garrison surgeon’s mate. On April 7, 1813, he -was promoted to surgeon in the Seventeenth Infantry. He resigned from -the army on January 31, 1815, returned to Fort Wayne as a private -citizen, and married Anne Wells, daughter to Captain William Wells. On -March 6, 1819, he was appointed agent for the Miami, Eel River, and -other Indians, and in 1820, assumed all of Stickney’s duties. Because of -ill health, Turner began to drink considerably, and within a year, on -May 24, 1820, Calhoun informed him of his removal from office in -consequence of “unsatisfactory conduct.”[17] However, the affairs of the -agency were not turned over to his successor, John Hays, until August, -1820. Turner died at Fort Wayne in 1821. - -At a time when the story of Indian relations was a sordid and corrupt -one, revealing on the part of traders, agents, and officials of the -Indian administration a baseness and moral depravity that was unusual -even for the nineteenth century, John Hays stands out as one of the few -agents who could not be classed in such a group. Hays was born in New -York City in 1770. While a youth, he engaged in the Indian trade as a -clerk in a trading house in Canada. In 1793 he settled at Cahokia, -Illinois, where he held a number of government positions until his -appointment at Fort Wayne. Unfortunately for the Indians of this area, -Hays remained at Fort Wayne less than three years. - -John Hays was never happy at Fort Wayne, despite his good work. He could -not bring his family here, as they were too numerous to move a great -distance, and the five hundred miles to Cahokia was also too far for -Hays to visit them. Furthermore, Hays became disgusted when he found -that by his own efforts, he was helpless in checking the traders from -furnishing the Indians whiskey. On one occasion the traders combined -against him to prevent the issuance of a presidential order curtailing -the amount of whiskey brought to Fort Wayne. - -Hays also urged the appointment of a sub-agent to assist him in -controlling the situation, and the reestablishment of a military force -at Fort Wayne. “It is neither [at] Chicago, Green Bay, Prairie du Chien, -Falls of St. Anthony, Rock River, or any part of the Mississippi or even -Michilimakanac ... that in my opinion a Military force would be more -necessary.”[18] he wrote to John Calhoun. The opinion of Hays was not -one to be lightly put aside, as it was he, who on the strength of his -wide experience, furnished information on the routes for the armies and -the distribution of forces from Montreal to Michilimackinac during the -War of 1812. - -Owing to the disapproval of his proposal by Governor Cass, head of the -Fort Wayne agency, none of Hays’ suggestions were adopted, however. Hays -was often at odds with Cass as to the manner of dealing with the -Indians. In one instance, Hays had been having particular trouble with -the Potawatomies under Metea. These Indians objected to traveling to -Detroit to receive their annuity rather than coming to Fort Wayne, which -was almost a hundred miles closer to their village, near the present -site of South Bend, Indiana. Hays, therefore, agreed that the next -payments should be made at Fort Wayne, but Cass ignored the agreement -and ordered the Indians to come to Detroit. After they arrived, Cass -reproached them for crossing into Canada to receive British gifts. Metea -bitingly replied that they would gladly give up the practice, if the -Americans gave out the annuities at Fort Wayne. - -During his second year at Fort Wayne, Hays was obliged to reduce his -expenditures from $5,000 to less than $3,000 in line with a general -reduction of funds for the Indian Department. At the same time, he -needed money to repair the agency quarters within the fort, which were -fast decaying. Added to the decay was the destruction brought about by -Reverend Isaac McCoy’s Indian school children living within the fort. -The property of the agency at this time was listed as “public dwellings -inside the stockade, five dwelling houses outside the fort, one -blacksmith shop, one coal house, one root house, one stable, two -pastures, one timothy meadow, and one field all fenced.”[19] - -While John Hays was Indian agent at Fort Wayne, Benjamin Berry Kercheval -served as his assistant at a salary of $500 a year. Kercheval was born -at Winchester, Virginia, April 9, 1793, and went to Detroit when he was -eighteen. Around 1818, Kercheval came to Fort Wayne and here served for -a time as an interpreter for Benjamin Stickney. Later he became a -representative of the American Fur Company, a position he held when he -was employed by Hays. Hays used Kercheval a great deal and trusted him -implicitly. In 1821, the birth of a daughter to Benjamin Kercheval and -his wife, formerly Maria Forsythe, was an event of such interest to the -Indians that they shortly adopted the child with solemn ceremonies as a -member of the Miami tribe. - -The national government recognized the growing importance of Fort Wayne -in the establishment of a post office in 1820. Although Samuel Hanna was -in reality the first man to serve as postmaster at Fort Wayne, Kercheval -whose commission bore the date of February 4, was the first appointee of -President Monroe. Hanna established the office in his store, after -Kercheval evidently had declined to serve. - -At this time there was one mail every two weeks from Cincinnati, and the -only newspaper to find its way to the pioneer village regularly was the -_Liberty Hall_ from Cincinnati. In 1822, in response to the demands of -the town, the government established regular routes between Fort Wayne -and Chicago, as well as the Ohio villages on the St. Mary’s. - -The chief industry of the village in these early years continued to be -trade with the Indians, either for their furs and peltries or for their -annuity money. With the end of the Indian wars, the Miamis and -neighboring tribes once more found time for hunting and trapping. At the -same time the establishment of European peace in 1815, at the end of the -Napoleonic era, brought about a sharp rise in the price of furs. New and -powerful traders began to operate in the Maumee-Wabash area with many -coming to Fort Wayne as the central point of the region. - -We have already noted the firm established by Samuel Hanna and his -brother-in-law, James Barnett in 1819. A year later the American Fur -Company, operating from Detroit and owned by John Jacob Astor, -established an important branch at Fort Wayne. Benjamin Kercheval, -Alexis Coquillard, and Francis Comparet were its first representatives. -Comparet and Coquillard, both came directly from Detroit for the purpose -of establishing the company’s branch house at Fort Wayne. Comparet -remained at Fort Wayne permanently, but Coquillard later established a -trading station on the St. Joseph river of Lake Michigan, on the site of -the city of South Bend, as an outpost of the company’s establishment at -Fort Wayne. - -In 1822, the family of Alexander Ewing came to Fort Wayne from Troy, -Ohio. The Ewing family consisted of Alexander Ewing, an old Pennsylvania -trader, his wife, Charlotte, three daughters—Charlott, Lavina, and -Louisa—, and four sons—Charles, who became president judge of the -circuit court of Indiana, Alexander H., who later became a prosperous -Cincinnati merchant, and George W. and William G., who became associated -with their father in the trading establishment. - -Alexander Ewing with his sons, George W. and William G., did business -under the name of “A. Ewing and Sons”. After the older Ewing’s death in -1826, the firm became “W. G. and G. W. Ewing.” The Ewings became known -for their real-estate and fur-trading operations, the latter on a scale -that made them rivals of the American Fur Company in the Great Lakes -region. At first the two firms were friendly toward each other, but a -trade war which eventually broke out between the two companies in 1828 -resulted in the bankruptcy of the American Fur Company five year later. -The Ewings also found it profitable to advance goods to the Indians, -thereby presenting large claims against the annuity payments for the -Indians. The Ewings had branch houses in Logansport, Largro, and Peru, -and posts in Missouri, Iowa, Michigan, Kansas, Wisconsin, and Minnesota, -at the height of their business interests. - -The year 1822 also brought to Fort Wayne the families of William Nesbit -Hood and his brother, Robert Hood, who came from Dayton, Ohio. The Hoods -also secured a license for trading with the Indians. Although successful -in their operations, they never entered into large scale trading such as -the Ewings, and later became involved in politics and real estate -speculation. - -Most of the traders at Fort Wayne seldom left town, but had a number of -men called “engages” in their service who accompanied the Indians in -their hunts, supplied them with goods in small quantities, and watched -them that they did not sell their furs to traders other than their -employers. The furs brought in consisted principally of deer and raccoon -skins. Bear, otter, and beaver were becoming scarce. In the -eighteen-thirties, when the beaver prices tumbled and the raccoon skins -became popular, the Maumee-Wabash region became for a few years the -center of interest of the American fur trade, as this area produced -large numbers of raccoons. - -The skins when brought in were loosely rolled or tied, but they were -afterward made into packs which were three feet long and eighteen inches -wide after being subjected to a heavy pressure in a wedge press. The -values of the furs were nominal, as they were paid for in goods passed -off to the Indians for two or three times their actual worth. Moreover, -fur prices fluctuated greatly, depending upon the fashion. - -On February 24, 1823, John Hays wrote to Calhoun tendering his -resignation as Indian agent at Fort Wayne, pointing out that he was too -far from his home at Cahokia, Illinois. After elaborating on the -benefits the Indians had received under his administration of the -agency, he strongly recommended that Benjamin B. Kercheval, his present -assistant, be appointed as his successor. Kercheval was an excellent man -for the position, but did not receive the appointment, as Hays had -allowed the news of his intended resignation to leak out before writing -to Calhoun. As the fears of British intrigue around Fort Wayne had -vanished after the War of 1812, the agency at Fort Wayne came to be -regarded as a political plum. The state delegation in Congress had been -exerting pressure on the president for some time to appoint citizens of -Indiana to positions in the state. Calhoun, early in 1822, had refused -to remove Hays in order that John Tipton, a native of Indiana, could be -appointed in his place. However, when the Indiana delegation heard of -Hay’s intended resignation, they carried the matter of their -recommendation of Tipton directly to President Monroe and secured his -approval before Calhoun had the opportunity to recommend Kercheval. When -Kercheval brought the news of his failure to Hays, the latter wrote to -Lewis Cass, “I never was more disappointed and mortified than on the -arrival of Mr. Kercheval. I certainly should not have resigned at this -moment, had I not thought Mr. Kercheval would be successfull.”[22] - -Hays remained at Fort Wayne until June 5, 1823, and for a short time -both he and Tipton were present at the agency. John Tipton was a product -of the east Tennessee frontier, where he was born in 1786. When he was -seven, his father was killed by an Indian. In 1807, the Tipton family -moved to Harrison County, Indiana. Although he lacked any formal -education, Tipton’s dynamic qualities as a leader more than compensated -for his educational shortcomings. In later life, Tipton learned to read -and write, but it always remained a difficult task for him, judging by -his letters. In 1811, Tipton took part as a common soldier in the battle -of Tippecanoe. Afterward his advancement in the army was astonishingly -rapid, for in six years, he became a brigadier general. After the War of -1812, Tipton’s rise in the political field was equally as rapid and his -influence became statewide. The political positions he held were as -follows: justice of the peace, deputy sheriff, sheriff, member of the -state legislature, state commissioner, Indian agent at Fort Wayne, and -finally U. S. Senator. - -In 1823, Tipton was glad to accept the position as Indian agent at Fort -Wayne for life at Corydon, his former home, had become unpleasantly -complicated by financial and domestic difficulties. His marriage to -Martha Shields had ended with a divorce in 1817. The salary of the -Indian agent was $1,200 a year, a fair income in those days. The -position also gave Tipton special advantages in the treaty negotiations -to secure choice sites of land either for his friends or for himself. It -was primarily through this means that Tipton was well on his way to -becoming one of the wealthiest men in the state at the time of his -death. Obviously Tipton’s financial and political success were closely -linked. In today’s society the public and private “conflict of interest” -in his career would be grist for many crusading journalists. However in -an age when the “Spoils System” would soon become acceptable and in a -small isolated frontier community where the agent had to deal constantly -with the same few individuals, his career should also be judged in -relation to the time and place. Tipton was not insensible to the needs -of the Indians under his care, but he usually decided on the issues with -his personal and political future in mind. - -When Tipton received his appointment there were only 2,441 Miami, -Potawatomie and Eel River Indians left in the territory covered by the -Fort Wayne agency. In 1824, their annuities amounted to $17,300 for the -Miamis, $1,100 for the Eel River Indians, and $1,700 for the -Potawatomies. These annuities, which increased threefold during Tipton’s -administration, were a stake well worth effort of the traders. Moreover, -added to these annuities were the gifts and other contingencies which -the government furnished the Indians and had to buy from the traders. -The traders in the vicinity of Fort Wayne realized the fur trade was -declining, but they also knew the Indians sill needed their goods and -encouraged then to buy heavily on credit. The Indians recognized these -debts, some of which were artificial even, and before the annuities were -paid, the traders made sure they received their payments. What was left -for the Indians was either spent on whiskey or in buying more goods. -There was no limit to the greed of many of the traders. Finding the -annuities inadequate, they joined with the Indians in asking for -increased payments by the government and conspired to hold up treaty -agreements until demands were granted. - -The outstanding incident of Tipton’s second year as agent was his -seizure of goods belonging to the powerful American Fur Company for -violation of the Intercourse Act on the part of two of their clerks at -Fort Wayne. Tipton’s action was upheld by a jury in the United States -district court, and the goods were declared forfeited. However, when the -case was carried to the United States Supreme Court, the judgement was -reversed, and the case was ordered back to the district court, where it -was finally dismissed.[23] Whatever the legal merits of the case, it was -clear that not even someone with Tipton’s political influence could -challenge the important traders, especially Astor’s American Fur -Company. - - -[1]_John Tipton Papers_ I, _IHC_, XXIV ed. Nellie Robertson and Dorothy - Riker, p. 49. - -[2]Major Vose was a native of Manchester, New Hampshire. He was - commissioned a captain in the twenty-first infantry in 1812 and - promoted to major during the war. In 1842, he received the - commission of colonel. His death occurred at New Orleans Barracks, - in Louisiana, in 1845. - -[3]_Above_, pp. [p 66-69.] - -[4]J. L. Williams, _Historical Sketch of the First Presbyterian Church, - Fort Wayne, Indiana_, p. 12. - -[5]Riley to Sanford, Nov. 24, 1819, quoted in Riley W. Willshire’s - _Sequel to Riley’s Narrative_, pp. 401-404. - -[6]_Ibid._, p. 403. - -[6a]Riley to Tiffin, Nov. 14, 1820, quoted in T. B. Helm, _History of - Wabash County_, p. 78. - -[7]_Ibid._, p. 78. - -[8]_Ibid._, p. 78. - -[9]Rev. J. B. Finney, _Life Among the Indians_, p. 34. - -[10]William H. Keating (comp) _Narrative of an Expedition to the Source - of St. Peter’s River ... 1823 ... under the command of Stephen H. - Long_, I: 81. - -[11]“Journal of Thomas Scattergood Teas”, _Indiana as Seen by Early - Travelers_, ed. Harlow Lindley, p. 98. - -[12]Isaac McCoy, _History of Baptist Indian Missions_, p. 68. - -[13]Chief Richardville, himself a staunch Catholic, sent his son to - McCoy’s school. Later his son died a drunkard. After that - Richardville would allow no school to be established for boys of his - tribe unless they were instructed by a Catholic. See, _John Tipton - Papers_, II: 134. - -[14]Duncan McArthur to James Monroe, March 16, 1815, McArthur Papers, - Burton Historical Collection. - -[15]Lewis Cass to John Calhoun, January 7, 1819, _Michigan Pioneer and - Historical Collection_, 28 91. - -[16]_John Tipton Papers I, Indiana Historical Collection_, XXIV, ed. - Nellie Armstrong Robertson and Dorothy Riker, p. 432. - -[17]Calhoun to Turner, May 24, 1820, _Tipton Papers_, I, _IHC_, XXIV, - ed. Nellie Armstrong Robertson and Dorothy Riker, pp. 535-6. - -[18]Nellie A. Robertson “John Hays and the Fort Wayne Agency”, _Indiana - Magazine of History_, 39: 230. - -[19]Nellie A. Robertson, “John Hays and the Fort Wayne Agency”, _Indiana - Magazine of History_, 39: 226. - -[22]_John Tipton Papers_, I, _IHC_, XXIV, ed. Nellie A. Robertson and - Dorothy Riker, p. 303. - -[23]_John Tipton Papers_, I, _IHC_, XXIV, 434-5; 439-40; 782-3. - - - - - Chapter VI - Platting of Fort Wayne and the First Local Government - - -While the traders, large and small alike, were thus successfully evading -any effective control over their operations, Fort Wayne was developing -from a frontier army post and portage center into a very prosperous -community. Its strategic location, the opening of a land office in 1822 -and its selection as the county seat of Allen county brought many new -settlers to the area. - -The land office was established at Fort Wayne by an act of Congress on -May 8, 1822.[1] The coming of Joseph Holman of Wayne county, appointed -by President Monroe to serve as the first register of the land office, -and Captain Samuel C. Vance of Dearborn county, as the receiver of the -public moneys, was the signal for great activity in securing the -choicest sites when the sale should open in the fall of 1823. - -Register Holman and Captain Vance established their office in the old -fort where much of the clerical work of the business came under the -direct supervision of a young man who accompanied Captain Vance as his -assistant, Allen Hamilton. Hamilton later became one of the most -foremost merchants in the Fort Wayne area. He was born in Tyrone county, -Ireland in 1798 and came to America in 1817 to retrieve the family -wealth which had been lost by his father. In this he was quite -successful after arriving at Fort Wayne. As a trader, he became a good -friend of the Miamis, and in particular Chief Richardville. In this -manner he was generally able to obtain choice land sites from the -Indians in exchange for payment of their debts. He and Tipton later -became partners in buying and improving Indian lands for speculation. In -political affairs he was not so successful, later incurring the powerful -opposition of the Ewings by reason of his friendship with the American -Fur Company. - -The act that set up the land office at Fort Wayne provided that all -public lands for which the Indian title had been extinguished and which -had not been granted to or secured for the use of any individual or -individuals or appropriated and reserved for any other purpose were to -be opened for sale. It was necessary to make some decision about the -fort and public buildings which had been used by the Indian agency since -the withdrawal of the garrison in 1819. Upon the recommendation of Lewis -Cass, the site of the fort and thirty acres additional were withheld -from the sale in order that the Indians assembling for councils or -annuity payments might have a place for encampment. The land speculators -were bitterly disappointed and made periodic efforts to secure part of -the valuable reserve. Tipton was one of the principal opponents of its -sale as long as the agency remained at Fort Wayne.[2] - -On October 22, 1823—the thirty-third anniversary of Harmar’s defeat on -this same spot, and the twenty-ninth anniversary of the dedication of -the original fort—the government land sale was opened in the fort. John -T. Barr, a merchant of Baltimore, Maryland, and John McCorkle, an active -citizen of Piqua, Ohio, combined their resources and purchased the tract -which is known as the Original Plat. - -Neither of these original proprietors of Fort Wayne chose to make his -home here. Nothing is known of the activities of John T. Barr in -Baltimore, beyond the showing of the Baltimore city directories of his -period, which refer to him as a merchant. More is known, however, of the -activities of John McCorkle. He was born at Piqua in 1791. As the owner -of a carding mill, gristmill and oil mill, he laid the foundation for a -prosperous future and became Piqua’s most enterprising citizen. In 1819, -together with John Hedges, he furnished supplies of beef and bread to -the Indians at Fort Wayne while they were awaiting their annuity -payments. Two years later he founded St. Mary’s, Ohio. He was actively -engaged in state and national politics in 1829, when he died at the age -of thirty-eight. - -Barr and McCorkle came to the Fort Wayne land sale together, in a -bateau, which they propelled down the St. Mary’s river. For the original -tract, they paid twenty-six dollars per acre, in that year an -extravagant price for western land.[3] They took immediate steps to plat -the property and to offer it for sale in the form of business and -residence lots. A surveyor was employed to lay out the property which -today would include that part of Downtown Fort Wayne bounded on the -north by the Nickel Plate Railroad, on the east by Barr Street, on the -south by Washington Boulevard, and on the west by the alley between -Calhoun and Harrison streets. The plat consisted originally of 110 lots. -There were four north-and-south streets and five east-and-west streets. - -Alexander Ewing secured eighty acres of ground immediately west of the -Barr and McCorkle tract. This later became known as “Ewing’s addition”. -The tract known as “Wells pre-emption”, lying between the forks of the -St. Mary’s and St. Joseph rivers, having been set aside by Congress for -Captain Wells as early as 1808, was purchased by his heirs at the -minimum price of $1.25 an acre. - -The land offices were continued at Fort Wayne during the period of -twenty-one years. The positions connected with it were considered -excellent rewards for political service. Thus, with the inauguration of -Jackson in 1829 Holman and Vance were removed. Later appointees were -also appointed or removed according to the political fortune of their -parties. - -While the proprietors of their newly purchased land were busy preparing -for the sale of lots, the state legislature on December 11, 1823, passed -an act creating the county of Allen, with jurisdiction over what is now -Wells, Adams, DeKalb, and Steuben counties and portions of Noble, -LaGrange, Huntington, and Whitley counties.[4] This area included -practically all of northwestern Indiana. The name of Allen county was -suggested by John Tipton, who was an ardent admirer of Colonel John -Allen, the gallant Kentuckian who, after aiding in the relief of Fort -Wayne in 1812, lost his life at the battle of the River Raisin in -Michigan. - -Barr and McCorkle awaited the organization of the county government, -after which they proceeded with the work of securing returns on their -investments. At this time there were no streets beyond beaten paths and -driveways which had, by chance, come into accepted use whenever one man -chose to walk or drive over a route taken by another before him. -However, with the laying out of the streets for the future town, the -site assumed an air of order and enterprises. There was work for all. - -The legislative act creating Allen county took effect April 1, 1824. Six -days previous to this date, four state commissioners arrived to select -the seat of government for the new county. Throughout the West the -various town promoters frequently fought vigorously to have _their_ -community selected as county seat. This usually led to fierce rivalries -between neighboring towns. However in the case of Allen county, Fort -Wayne faced no competition due to its dominant position in location and -population, it being the only village of any size in northeastern -Indiana. These commissioners, in accordance with instructions from the -state legislature, held their session at the tavern of Alexander Ewing, -known as Washington Hall, and soon completed the formalities of their -mission. - -The first election of county officers occurred on May 22. Previous to -this, Governor William Hendricks had named Allen Hamilton to serve as -sheriff of Allen county. The election of county officers was held in -accordance with the sheriff’s proclamation. Although partisan politics -did not enter into it, the race was a heated one, as indicated by the -attempt of the defeated candidates to contest the election. - -The voters selected Samuel Hanna and Benjamin Cushman for associate -circuit court judges; Anthony Davis for clerk and recorder; and William -Rockhill, James Wyman, and Francis Comparet for county commissioners. -Alexander Ewing, a rival of Samuel Hanna, and Marshall K. Taylor, who -ran against Comparet, contested the election, claiming that there was an -unfair count of the ballots. However, they failed to prove their -charges. - -At the first meeting of the commissioners, John Tipton was appointed to -the important post of county agent. The commissioners also fixed the -following figures to regulate the rates to be charged by tavernkeepers, -who were required to pay an annual license fee of $12.50 to conduct -their business: Dinner, breakfast, and supper 25 cents; keeping horse, -night and day, 50 cents; lodging per night 12½ cents; whiskey, per half -pint 12½ cents; brandy, per half pint, 50 cents; gin per half pint, 37½ -cents; cider, per quart, 18 cents. - -The board also decided upon the following rates for assessment on -personal property for the year of 1824: Male person, over the age of 21 -years, 50 cents; horse or mule, 37½ cents; work oxen, 19 cents; gold -watch, $1; silver watch, 25 cents; pinchbeck watch, 25 cents; pleasure -carriage, four wheels, $1.50; pleasure carriage, two wheels, $1.00.[5] - -Treasurer Holman reported that in 1824 the county was entitled to -$111.62 from taxes. The state at that time, and for a long period to -follow, paid a bounty on all wolf scalps taken; the certificates thus -issued were receivable for tax payments. For the first years, nearly all -the taxes of Allen county were paid off in these certificates, a clear -indication of the wild nature of the Fort Wayne area. - -The first session of the Allen County circuit court was held beginning -August 9, 1824, at Ewing’s tavern, with Judges Cushman and Hanna -presiding. The records of the opening years of the county’s judicial -history reveal the fact that very few of the leading citizens escaped -indictment on charges of selling liquor illegally, larceny, assault and -battery, gambling, defamation of character, or trespassing, while the -civil and chancery cases were numerous from the beginning.[6] - -The report of the first grand jury, which was received no doubt with -complacency by the community, would if duplicated at the present time -precipitate official investigations and loss of positions. But it -reflects the spirit of the time in early Fort Wayne. Both of the -associate judges were indicted for minor offenses. Of the nine -defendants charged with illegal sale of liquors, the large part were men -whose names are synonymous with the builders of early Fort Wayne. Six of -those accused of the illegal sale of liquor paid fines of three dollars, -while the remaining three drew fines of four dollars each. Apparently it -was well worth such small fines to be able to trade with the Indians, -and the practice continued. - -The most important matter to come before the county commissioners in -1824 was the proposition of John T. Barr and John McCorkle in regard to -the town plat which they had laid out in August. The offer included a -grant to the county treasury of $500 cash and the donation to the county -of one square for the use of public buildings (the present Court House -square), one lot for a school building, and one lot for a church of no -particular denomination, but free to all. In addition to this, Barr and -McCorkle offered various other lots located throughout the plat to be -disposed of by the county. - -The commissioners lost little time in accepting this offer, and the town -of Fort Wayne consisting of about sixteen square blocks came into -existence. The deed was made out to John Tipton, the county agent. The -first lots were sold September 18, 1824, under the direction of Tipton. -The buyers were Francis Comparet, William Barbee, William Suttenfield, -Edward Mitchel, Thomas Rue, Charles W. Ewing, Rees Goodwin, John J. -Griggs, Benjamin Kercheval, Christopher Vallequitte, Jean B. -Richardville, Alexander Ewing, William Murphy, Benjamin Archer, Moses -Scott, James Scott, William N. Hood, Jacob Everly, Walker and Davis, -Samuel Hanna, and Benjamin and Jacob Glossbruner.[7] - -Some of these lots, in the heart of the present city, sold for $10.25; -the highest brought only $25. The entire thirty-six lots comprising this -original sale netted only $690.50, an average of less than $20. per lot. -Most of the purchasers made a down payment of half the purchase price. -After the sale of some of the remaining lots, Tipton resigned as county -agent on September 5, 1825, and Charles W. Ewing was appointed to fill -the vacancy. - -With the selection of Fort Wayne as the county seat and the improvement -and sale of the public lands, new settlers began to arrive in 1824. One -of these was Hugh Hanna, the brother of Samuel Hanna, who established -the first cabinet and carpenter shop. The villagers were becoming -prosperous enough to build more permanent homes and furnish them with -better furniture. Chief Richardville and Samuel Hanna, following the -best tradition in the East, imported most of their household furnishings -from France. - -Another indication that Fort Wayne was becoming a village for the more -permanent type of settler was the establishment of a small brick factory -north of the town by Benjamin Archer who also arrived in 1824. From the -products of his yards the first brick building at Fort Wayne was -constructed near the end of that year. - -Other settlers of 1824 were Mrs. Peter Edsall and her nine children. At -Fort Wayne the family purchased a farm. Later her sons—Samuel, John -Simon, and William—became identified in the developments of the town, -establishing saw mills, laying plank roads, and finally contracting for -the construction of the first railroad to reach Fort Wayne. William -Stewart, Smalwood Noel, John Bruno, Charles and Francis Minie, Richard -Chobert, and Joseph Barron also came to the village in 1824. Most of -these people came from Ohio, Kentucky and Virginia by way of the Ohio -and St. Mary’s rivers. A few of them came from the Detroit region or -from New York state by way of Lake Erie and the Maumee river. - - -[1]_U. S. Statutes at Large_, 3: 701-2; 6:448. - -[2]At a later date part of the reserve was taken over by the state in - connection with the opening of the Wabash-Erie canal; the remaining - twenty acres were purchased by Cyrus Taber and opened for sale in - 1835. It appears from John Tipton’s correspondence at the time that - he and Allen Hamilton also had an interest in Taber’s purchase. - -[3]_John Tipton Papers_, II, _IHC_, XXV, p. 18. - -[4]_Revised Laws of Indiana, 1823-24_, p. 109. This legislative act took - effect April 1, 1824. - -[5]Treasurer’s Report for Allen County, 1824, Allen County Historical - Society Archives. - -[6]Judge Allen Zollars, “Bench and Bar of Allen County” quoted in - Charles Slocum, _Valley of the Upper Maumee River_, II, p. 439. - -[7]_Tipton Papers_, I, _IHC_, XXIV, p. 405. - - - - - Chapter VII - The Treaty of 1826 and the Removal of the Indian Agency - - -The year 1825 found the village of Fort Wayne had developed to a town of -nearly one hundred and fifty people—that is to say of persons considered -more or less permanently settled. The town was in the pathway of many -who traveled by way of the rivers, passing chiefly to the southwest; so -there was a closer business and social connection with the busy eastern -centers than had prevailed during the earlier years. - -In many respects the growth of Fort Wayne was typical of what was -happening elsewhere in the West. The Indian country, opened to the -whites by the treaties between 1795 and 1818, was being speedily -settled. The “New Purchase” acquired from the Miami and Potawatomie in -1818 was carved into twenty-two counties and a flood of settlers rushed -in to take up the choice locations. In 1829 it was estimated that a -hundred thousand people were living in the New Purchase. In 1820, but -four years a state, Indiana boasted a population of 147,178 people, and -the next census revealed the addition of 195,853. In 1826, the northern -third of Indiana was held by less than three thousand Indians while the -southern two-thirds was settled by one hundred times as many whites. -Within a short time pressure of the whites, who lusted for the rich land -north of the Wabash-Maumee line, led to an inexorable demand for Indian -removal. - -Fort Wayne as a central point along this line of the Maumee and Wabash -river, and at the edge of the white civilization, while touching the -Indian country, held a unique and paradoxical position. The traders and -land speculators at Fort Wayne—the Ewings, Hamilton, Hanna, Barnett, -Hood, Comparet, Coquillard, and others—were making a handsome profit in -their dealings with the Indians. As long as the Indian agency remained -at Fort Wayne, and as long as the Indians remained in this area and -received ever-better annuities, these men profited. Removal of the -Indians, as William G. Ewing pointed out, would deprive the area of many -thousands of dollars distributed annually. This money, he maintained, -contributed to the upbuilding of the area.[1] - -However, it must be remembered that there was a factor, especially -important at Fort Wayne, which made the removal of the Indians very -desirable. The craze for internal improvements had struck throughout the -West in the eighteen-twenties. In Indiana the most-discussed and -most-promising project was the proposed Wabash and Erie Canal, for which -the portage at Fort Wayne was the focal point. Many of these traders at -Fort Wayne had through their astuteness in business with the Indians -acquired valuable property along the route of the proposed canal. -Nevertheless, the Indians still held the territory north of the Wabash -and Maumee, and their removal was necessary for the work to be able to -proceed. In the final analysis, it became a question of which interest -was more powerful, the Indian traders and fur companies or the larger -group of land speculators, town-site promoters, merchants, and settlers -of the Wabash and Maumee valleys. It was inevitable that the latter -group should win out, but at Fort Wayne the struggle was a bitter one. -Here we see some of the traders, such as Hanna, placed in the -paradoxical position of agitating for the removal of the Indians, while -at the same time eager to retain their trade. Others, in particular the -Ewings, opposed their removal. Both groups had acquired valuable -property along the proposed canal line, but those who sided with the -Ewings had more money invested in their trading operations with the -Indians and usually dealt in the fur trade also.[2] - -Somewhere between both groups stood John Tipton, Indian agent. Tipton -never doubted that Indiana was destined to be a white man’s country. He -thoroughly agreed with the popular demand for internal improvements and -for the removal of the Indians. He himself was one of the major holders -of choice land, which he had acquired from the Indians and which he -hoped to develop. But as Indian agent he had to account for his acts to -the Washington officials as well as to opinion in Indiana. Moreover, he -was not callous to the sorry plight of the once powerful Miami and -Potawatomie, whose contact with the white traders had reduced them to -pitiful tribes. Then, too, Tipton could not openly flaunt the powerful -traders, who wanted the Indians to remain. Tipton’s position as Indian -agent was recognized as one of the best political appointments in -Indiana. His hold on his position depended on his ability to keep in the -good graces of the Indiana delegation in Congress, and this in turn -necessitated making as few enemies as possible. Moreover, Tipton -realized that the traders could prevent the negotiation of any treaty -and the cession of land by the Indians by reason of their powerful -influence with the chiefs. Failure to secure these cessions periodically -would ruin any Indian agent. - -By 1826 Tipton was ready to act. He felt that the Miamis and -Potawatomies were sufficiently softened by their growing dependence on -government annuities and on the whiskey and other goods furnished by the -traders to be amenable to proposals for another land cession. -Accordingly, a commission of Tipton, Lewis Cass, and Governor James Ray -of Indiana was appointed to deal with the Indians. - -By this time, the procedure in negotiating Indian treaties had become -fairly stereotyped. The Indians were gathered together by agents who -made glowing promises of good things to come. At the meeting place -preparations were made for feeding great numbers of people; traders were -encouraged to attend with attractive selections of goods, numerous -barrels of whiskey were imported; and every precaution was taken to -satisfy the appetites and desires of the Indians. At the proper time the -agent in charge assembled the braves, to whom he read a stilted and -pompous message from the Great White Father in which the Indians were -upbraided for their depredations, drunkenness, and other misconduct, and -reminded of the forbearance, generosity, and friendliness of the whites. -Then the Indians were asked what lands they would surrender and if they -would move farther west. - -Neither the Miamis nor the Potawatomies wanted to leave their lands in -1826, but after food and whiskey had been consumed and goods given out -to the value of $61,588, they showed signs of weakening. However, it was -apparent that the commissioners could get nowhere unless they could -secure the support of the traders. The latter desired to have their -claims—sometimes two or three times the actual amount of credit they had -extended to the Indians—allowed and paid for out of the annuities. They -also wished to gain control of more desirable land through the treaty, -thus obtaining it without the land being put up at public auction as was -the legal requirement. - -There had grown up in the administration of Indian affairs a way of -passing Indian lands to the whites without subjecting them to the land -laws of the United States. The proper legal procedure of land disposal -was for the Indians to cede land to the United States, whereupon it -became subject to the administration of the General Land Office. The -land would then be surveyed and sold at auction to the highest bidder. -The remaining land was sold for $1.25 an acre. This method was fair and -democratic. The nonstatutory method of land disposal worked in this way; -trader and Indian agents, who generally cooperated closely with one -another, would include in the Indian treaties provisions authorizing the -patenting of certain lands to the chiefs, half-breeds, or ordinary -members of the tribes. In turn these individuals conveyed their rights -to traders in payment of real or imaginary debts before the treaty was -signed or shortly thereafter. Although presidential approval for such -conveyances was necessary, in most cases the approval could be secured -easily, provided the agents would report that the Indians had received a -fair price for their land. As the agents were either under obligation to -the traders for support in treaty negotiations or were personally -interested in some of the reserves, they could usually be induced to -send in a favorable report even though the Indians might have bartered -their land away for some trinkets or a few drinks. - -The Ewings, Hanna, Coquillard, Hamilton, Taber, Tipton, and Vermilya, -all acquired interests in individual reserves to the amount of thousands -of acres. All of these men were involved in the promotion of certain -projects (towns, roads, canals) for which their land was valuable. - -Thus we see the traders were in full force at the treaty grounds in -1826, fighting for their interests. They worked through the chiefs and -headmen of the tribes to whom they gave gifts and loans. To take care of -the traders claims, present and prospective, it was necessary to -increase the annuities and agree to pay the Indian debts. In addition, -goods to the value of $41,259 were to be distributed to the Miamis for -two years following the treaty. For these stipulations the Indians -surrendered 976,000 acres, the main part of which was along the Wabash -and Maumee rivers. From this cession, the Miamis were permitted to -retain 81,800 acres for special groups and 13,920 for individual -reserves.[3] - -The primary importance of this treaty, aside from the surrender of land -wanted by actual settlers, is that it opened the way for the -construction of the Wabash and Erie canal. The treaty of 1826 and the -enlarged annuities it provided also made the ultimate removal of the -Indians from this area even more difficult. The frontier community of -Fort Wayne could not be disdainful of payments of specie which ran as -high as $100,000 in some years. The payments of annuities, the -distribution of gifts bought from traders and the assumption of Indian -debts were followed by a period of prosperity for agents, traders, and -land speculators. - -It is no wonder that when the people of Fort Wayne learned that Tipton -had applied to the government officials to move the Indian agency from -Fort Wayne, many protested vigorously. For a long time, Tipton had -desired to remove the agency to a more central location in the Indian -country. The exploitation of the Indians at Fort Wayne was reason -enough, but Tipton had to wait for a while as the opposition was too -strong. The attitude of the traders at the treaty of 1826 gave Tipton -plenty of excuse to push the project of removal once more. In a letter -written February 7, 1827, which eventually found its way onto the Senate -floor, Tipton listed seven reasons why the agency should be removed from -Fort Wayne.[4] Not only was the agency too remote from the Indians, -argued Tipton, but it was also too close to numerous grog shops and to -the traders who sold his wards whiskey, encouraged them to run up debts -which must later be deducted from annuities, and cheated them in a -hundred different ways. Tipton cited one case in which a white woman at -Fort Wayne had purchased a shawl from a drunk squaw for seven apples and -12½ cents. This shawl had cost the squaw $3.50. - -Since the removal of the Indian agency would destroy their highly -lucrative business, the traders at Fort Wayne put aside petty quarrels -and joined in common defense to prevent it. John McCorkle, as a -principal owner of real estate at Fort Wayne, wrote to Representative -William McLean from Indiana: - - This settlement has been formed in consequence of the establishment of - the agency at that place. Reserves were made for the use of the agent, - thereby holding out a guarantee to the purchasers of public lands and - property, that this agency would be continued at that place until the - Indians should be removed from that country. Among others, I became a - considerable purchaser of considerable public lands, for which I paid - an extravagant price. One tract, near and adjoining the reservation - for the agency, I paid $26 per acre for.... If a removal should take - place, the Indians, as well as the inhabitants at Wayne, who have - expended their all there, will be greatly disobliged.[5] - -Judging from an earlier letter of McCorkle to Tipton, the former -believed that the agent had misled him at the time the Fort Wayne lands -were sold by the government. McCorkle sincerely believed that the agency -would remain at Fort Wayne when he purchased the original plat.[6] After -the agency was removed from Fort Wayne, McCorkle and Tipton became -bitter enemies. - -Meanwhile some traders at Fort Wayne raised the old cry of mismanagement -and misuse of government funds and sought the dismissal of Tipton. -Tipton’s perennial enemies—Robert Hood, Benjamin Cushman, and Elisha -Harris—brought five charges of misconduct against Tipton before the -Secretary of War, James Barbour.[7] - -In answering these charges Tipton wrote: - - Although it is improper for a man to speak of his neighbours faults - and follies, yet both self defence and truth Justifies the assertion - that a majority of the Citizens of this village are of the lowest - order of society, such as discharged soldiers and dishonourable men. - In this latter class is Robert Hood, Ben Cushman and Elisha B. Harris, - who have fled from the offended laws of their Country elsewhere and - have stopped here on account of the quantity of money annualy - disbursed at this place. Their constant practice is to get money from - the Indians by every artifice in their power ... we should not be - surprised at the unexampled exertion made to oust me, when we reflect - on fate of all my predecessors that Wells and Turner were dismissed, - Stickney put out by address, and M. Hays almost compelled by the - society here to resign. The superintendant knows me and is not wholy - unacquainted with the character of a part of the inhabitants of this - village.... He can satisfy you what kind of people I have to deal - with.[8] - -Elisha Harris, one of the men who filed charges against Tipton, had a -very questionable record. He was indicted several times for stealing -horses from the Indians. The other men, Cushman and Hood, who filed the -charges against Tipton, were both elected judges of Allen county and -apparently had some standing in the community. Cushman was indicted once -for carrying concealed weapons, but he was never convicted on any -charge. Indeed there were few leading men in the county who escaped -being brought before the court. Subpoenas were served on the Ewings, -Suttenfield, and others. Nor was Tipton innocent of all charges. His -enemies could truthfully say that he had used his position as Indian -agent to gain control of some of the most valuable land in northern -Indiana, but this they would not do, as they would expose themselves -also. - -Despite the vigorous protests and charges leveled against him, Tipton -was able to accomplish his purpose, the removal of the Indian agency -from Fort Wayne. Through the controversy, Tipton was supported by Lewis -Cass, his immediate superior, who in this instance became convinced that -the welfare of the Indians and the greater convenience of Tipton -required removal. With Cass’ influence on his side, the transfer was -authorized on March 14, 1828. - -Tipton had a personal interest in securing the removal of the agency to -a spot near the junction of the Wabash and Eel rivers. He and his -friends were able to lay out to the best advantage and to buy control of -the Indian reserves there. Shortly thereafter, Tipton and his associates -established the town of Logansport. The new town attracted many of those -traders whose prosperity depended on the Indian annuities, among them -being Cyrus Taber and one member of the Ewing firm, George W. Ewing. -Whiskey became as plentiful at Logansport as at Fort Wayne, and the -Indians were persuaded to overpurchase as often and defrauded as badly. -One can hardly see what benefit had been attained by the removal of the -agency to Logansport other than the enrichment of Tipton and his -associates. - -Although the Indians failed to secure any benefits from the removal of -the agency, actually it produced a blessing in disguise for the village -of Fort Wayne. While the change was not immediately apparent, the -removal of the agency meant that the town would secure a higher type of -settler than before, and that its growth would depend more on its own -natural advantages and industry than on the artificial boom of the -annuity payments. Most important of all, the removal of the agency -turned the attention of the villagers to new enterprises. Chief among -these was the construction of the Wabash-Erie canal, which proved the -means by which Fort Wayne achieved a new and more permanent reason for -existence. The removal of the Indians in 1826 had made the land -available for the canal. Now the removal of the Indian agency indirectly -resulted in local enthusiasm for its construction. - -On the other hand the agency played an important role in the early -development of Fort Wayne. While it was in existence here, the agency -attracted many men to this area, such as Hanna, Comparet, and the -Ewings, who later remained to build a city. The Indian agency also -contributed indirectly to the ultimate construction of the canal. Many -of the leading traders, in particular Samuel Hanna, had secured by means -of trading with the Indians the choice lands they hoped to develop -through the construction of the canal. Consequently, they vigorously -championed the Wabash-Erie canal program. - -For a short time after the principal Indian agency had been removed, a -sub-agency was maintained at Fort Wayne with Samuel Lewis and Abel C. -Pepper in charge. When, on December 30, 1829, Pepper reported that the -public buildings were in such a state of decay that a hundred dollars -would be needed to repair them, the government officials determined to -discontinue even the sub-agency.[9] Thus early in 1830, Congress -authorized the sale of the public lands yet retained by the government -at Fort Wayne. This act sounded the death-knell of the old fort, which -was purchased by a land company from New Haven, Connecticut. The other -twenty acres were purchased by the county. - - -[1]_John Tipton Papers_, I, _IHC_, XXIV, ed. Nellie Robertson and - Dorothy Riker, p. 13. - -[2]By the late 1820’s, a distinction must be made between the Indian - trade and the fur trade. The latter was still valuable but an - increasing number of furs were being trapped by whites, as the - Indians of the area were becoming less industrious. - -[3]C. Poinsatte, _Fort Wayne During the Canal Era_, p. 15. - -[4]_John Tipton Papers_, I, _IHC_, XXIV, ed. Nellie Robertson and - Dorothy Riker, pp. 651-2. - -[5]_John Tipton Papers_, II, _IHC_, XXV, 18. - -[6]_John Tipton Papers_, I, _IHC_, XXIV, 527. - -[7]_Ibid._, pp. 631-3. - -[8]_John Tipton Papers_, I, _IHC_, XXIV, 662-3. - -[9]_John Tipton Papers_, II, _IHC_, XXV, 233. - - - - - BIBLIOGRAPHY - - -UNPUBLISHED PAPERS AND MANUSCRIPTS - - _Allen County-Fort Wayne Historical Society Archives_ - _Allen County Cemetery Inscriptions._ Ms compiled by the Mary - Penrose Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution. - Allen County Records and Archives, Fort Wayne, Indiana - Allen County Deed Books, A-J. - Allen County Commissioners’ Records, 1824-1828. - Allen County Court Records, 1824-1840. - Allen County Treasurers’ Reports, 1824-1830. - _Archives de la Province Quebec_, Quebec - Vaudreuil Papers. - _Archives des Colonies_, Paris - Series B, C. - British Museum, London - Haldimand Papers, Department of Manuscripts - LaBalme’s Papers, Department of Manuscripts - Burton Historical Collection, Detroit, Michigan - Gladwyn Papers - Hamtramck Papers - McArthur Papers - Whistler Papers - Wilkinson Records. 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L. _Historical Sketch of the First Presbyterian Church of - Fort Wayne._ Fort Wayne: Daily News Printing House, 1881. - -Willshire, Riley W. _Sequel to Riley’s Narrative._ Cincinnati, 1835. - -Winsor, Justin. _Cartier to Frontenac ... Geographical discovery in - America ... 1534-1700._ Boston & New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1894. - -Winger, Otto. _Last of the Miamis._ North Manchester, Indiana, 1935. - -_Wisconsin State Historical Society Collections._ (Madison, 1855-____) - Volumes II, XI, XVI, XVII, XVIII. - -Young, Calvin. _Little Turtle._ Indianapolis: Sentinel Printing Co., - 1917. - - - - - _INDEX_ - - - A - A. Ewing and Sons 90 - Abbott, James 20 - Agriculture 45 - Allen, John 96 - American Fur Co. 42, 82, 87, 92 - Anahquah 31 - Annuities 79, 84, 87, 92, 99, 102, 104 - Annuity Money 89 - Aquenochqua 10 - Archer, Benjamin 98 - Assessment Rates 97 - Astor, John 90 - Aveline, James 82 - - - B - Bailey, William 63 - Baptist Missionary 86 - Barbee, William 98 - Barnett, James 82, 83, 90 - Barr, John T. 95 - Barron, Joseph 98 - Battle of Tippecanoe 38 - Beaubien, Charles 14 - Beaubien, Josette 81 - Beaver 91 - Beaver Skins 4 - Beef 95 - Besiegers 67 - Bienville, Sieur De 9 - Bienville, Celeron De 5 - Bissot, Jean Baptiste 5 - Blacksmith 74 - Blacksmith Shop 89 - Blankets 71 - Blockhouse 76 - Blue Jacket 19, 54 - Boatmen 42 - Bondie, Antoine 63, 64, 66, 71 - Bonnecamps, Joseph Pierre De 5 - Boone, Daniel 15 - Boston 83 - Bougainville 7 - Bourie, John B. 81 - Bourie, Louis 35, 74 - Boyer, John 27 - Bread 95 - Brick Building 98 - Brick Factory 98 - Bruno, John 98 - Burbeck, Henry 37 - - - C - Cadillac 3 - Canada 89 - Canadian 86 - Canal 45, 80, 83 - Cannon 28, 71, 81 - Carpenter Shop 98 - Carrying-Trade 80 - Cart Track 86 - Cass, Lewis 81, 87, 91, 104 - Catholic Faith 86 - Cattle and Hogs 66 - Celoron, Pierre Joseph 9 - Cession of Lands 40 - Chapeau 18 - Chapeteau, Angeline 35 - Chene, Money 12 - Chief Chondonnai 75 - Chief Cold Foot 9 - Chief Richardville 75, 81, 94 - Chippewas 22 - Christianity 80 - Circuit Court 97 - Clark, George Rogers 15 - Clark, James 80 - Clark, William 27 - Clinton, George 10 - Coal House 89 - Columbia Street 80 - Comparet, Francis 82, 90, 96, 98 - Congress 59 - Congressional Debates 85 - Conner, John 55 - Coquillard, Alexis 82, 90 - Corn 8, 22, 69, 86 - Cornfields 65 - Council House 36, 80 - Council of Marine 6 - County Officers 96 - Credit 92 - Croghan, George 13, 34 - Curtis, Daniel 74, 80 - Cushman, Benjamin 96 - - - D - Dancing 18, 19 - Daniel Boone 15 - Darnaud 6 - Darneille, Isaac 54 - Davis, Anthony 96 - Dawson, John W. 76 - Debauchery 84 - Delawares 4, 13, 20, 43, 51 - Dennis, Philip 45 - DePeyster, Arent S. 14 - DeRaymond, Charles 8 - DeRome 81 - Detroit 3, 7, 20, 32, 61, 73, 98 - Dresses 75 - Drinking 19, 84 - Drunkenness 56, 101 - Dubuisson 5 - Duplessy 16 - - - E - Edsall, Mrs. Peter 98 - Eel River 88 - Eggs 75 - Election 96 - Ellicott, George 45 - Elskwatwa 50 - English Traders 8 - Erie Canal 100 - Evacuation 81 - Everly, Jacob 98 - Ewing, Alexander 90, 96, 98 - Ewing, Charles W. 98 - Ewing, George W. 104 - Ewing, William G. 99 - - - F - Fallen Timbers 23, 31, 50 - Fines 97 - Finney, J. B. 85 - Flagstaff 76 - Flaming Arrows 68 - Flatboats 72 - Flour 86 - Forsyth, James 56 - Forsyth, Polly 56 - Forsythe, Maria 89 - Forsythe, Robert 74 - Fort Dearborn 63, 64, 73, 79, 86 - Fort Dearborn Massacre 75 - Fort Defiance 37, 70 - Fort Harrison 63 - Fort Recovery 23, 86 - Fox Indians 3 - French 83 - French Families 14 - French Jesuits 86 - Frenchtown 34 - Friends 45 - Fur Companies 100 - Fur Prices 91 - Fur Trade 11, 17, 48, 100 - Fur Traders 74 - Fur Trading 42 - Furs 42, 86, 89 - - - G - Gambling 84 - Gamelin, Antoine 20 - Garrison 63, 67, 81 - Garrison Life 32 - General Store 74 - Gibson, John 46 - Girties 13 - Girty, George 19 - Girty, James 19 - Girty’s Town 69 - Glossbruner, Benjamin 98 - Glossbruner, Jacob 98 - Godefroy, Jacques 12 - Goodwin, Rees 98 - Gouin 16 - Gray, David 17 - Great Britain 43 - Great White Father 101 - Greenville 28, 29, 44, 75 - Griggs, John J. 98 - Grog Shops 102 - Guns 66 - - - H - Hackley, Ann 81 - Hamilton, Allen 94, 96 - Hamilton, Henry 14 - Hamtramck, John Francis 28 - Hanna, Hugh 98 - Hanna, Samuel 82, 89, 96, 98, 104 - Harmar 20, 28 - Harris, Elisha 103 - Harrison 40, 52, 60, 69, 70, 79 - Harrison, William H. 42 - Hay, Henry 18 - Hays, John 85, 86, 88, 91 - Heald 56 - Heald, Nathan 38 - Hedges, John 95 - Hedges, John P. 74 - Hendricks, William 96 - Hoffman, George 33 - Holman, Joseph 94 - Holmes, Robert 12 - Homeseekers 82 - Hood, Robert 90 - Hood, William 90 - Hood, William N. 98 - Hopkins, Gerard T. 45 - Horse-Racing 84 - Howitzers 68 - Hull, William 61 - Hunt, George 74, 81 - Hunt, John 74 - Hunt, Thomas 37, 74 - - - I - Illinois Country 8 - Immigration 82 - Indian Agency 39, 86, 102 - Indian Agent 82, 86, 87, 91, 100 - Indian Agents 39 - Indian Blood 86 - Indian Country 99 - Indian Crops 50 - Indian Debts 102 - Indian Dialects 39 - Indian Factor 40 - Indian Goods 41 - Indian Removal 99 - Indian School 89 - Indian Stores 74 - Indian Trade 79, 87 - Indian Traders 47, 54, 100 - Indian Treaties 82, 101 - Indian Villages 70 - Indiana Delegation 100 - Indiana Territory 30, 46, 59 - Indians 29, 41, 46, 58 - Intercourse Act 92 - Internal Improvements 100 - Ironside, George 18 - Iroquois 6 - Irvine, William 40 - - - J - Jay Treaty 42 - Jenkinson, Joseph 71 - Jennings, Jonathan 80 - Jew 16 - Johnson, Richard M. 72 - Johnson, William 14 - Johnston, John 40, 52, 57, 74, 80, 87 - Johnston, Stephen 41, 63, 65 - Jonquiere, Marquis De La 10 - Jordan, W. K. 61 - - - K - Kaskaskia 43 - Kekionga 1, 29, 34 - Kercheval, Benjamin 74, 81, 89, 98 - Kercheval, Benjamin B. 82, 91 - Kercheval, Eliza C. 81 - Kickapoo 43 - Kinzie, John 18 - - - L - LaBalme 15 - LaBerche 18 - LaCros 81 - Ladies 18 - LaFontaine, Francis 81 - LaFontaine, Peter 14 - Lamberville, Jean De 3 - Land Disposal 101 - Land Office 82, 94 - Land Sites 81 - Land Speculators 99, 100, 102 - Largro 90 - LaSalle 3 - Lasselle 16 - Lasselle Brothers 29 - Lasselle, Antoine 20, 34 - Lasselle, Hyacinth 34 - Lasselle, Jacques 14, 34 - Lawrence, Abbott 83 - LeGris 19, 28 - Lewis, Samuel 104 - License Fee 97 - Licensing of Traders 87 - Liquor 12, 18 - Little Turtle 1, 16, 19, 28, 30, 31, 39, 43, 44, 53, 61, 81 - Log Barracks 37 - Logan, John 63, 66 - Logansport 90, 104 - Long, Stephen H. 85 - Longueuil, M. De 8 - Lorimer 15 - Lorrance 16 - Louisaneau 74 - - - M - Maloch, Jean Baptiste 35 - Maple Sugar 45 - Married Officers 32 - Mason, John 40 - Maumee 80 - Maumee-Wabash Portage 1, 29 - McArthur, Duncan 75, 87 - McCorkle, John 95, 102 - McCoy, Isaac 86 - McIntosh, William 53 - McKee, Alexander 19 - Medicine 71 - Metea 63 - Miamis 13, 43, 63, 88, 99 - Miami Villages 30 - Michilimackinac 8 - Militia 57 - Militiamen 27 - Minie, Charles 98 - Minie, Francis 98 - Mission School 82 - Mitchel, Edward 98 - Montreal 35 - Moore, Hugh 71, 73 - Morris, Thomas 12 - Murphy, William 98 - Music 75 - - - N - Necessities of Life 86 - Negro Slaves 36 - Neutral Tribes 57 - New Fort 28, 76 - New Purchase 99 - Noel, Smalwood 98 - Northwest Territory 20, 39 - Noyelles, Sieur De 6 - - - O - Observance Sunday 80 - Officers’ Quarters 76 - Old Fort Park 37 - Oliver, Peter 65, 74 - Oliver, William 41, 66 - Orchard 36 - Orderly Books 34 - Ostrander 72 - Ostrander, Philip 33, 56, 65 - Otter 91 - Ouiatenons 7 - - - P - Pack Train 74 - Pack-Horses 74 - Paillet 16 - Parke, Benjamin 81 - Pasteur, Thomas 37 - Pathin, John 10 - Payet, Louis 19 - Paymaster 73 - Peace 79 - Pecanne 12 - Pelletier, Francois 38 - Peltier, Charles 35, 64, 74 - Peltier, James 35 - Peltries 74 - Pepper, Abel C. 104, 105 - Peru 90 - Piankashaw 43 - Pike, Zebulon M. 38 - Piqua, Ohio 57, 67, 87 - Pirogues 42, 81 - Pontiac 50 - Pontiac’s Conspiracy 12 - Portage 1, 35, 79 - Post Surgeon 74 - Potawatomie 51, 63, 66, 89, 99, 100 - Pottevin 16 - Prevost, George 70 - Prophet 50, 53, 58 - Provisions 27 - Public Lands 103 - - - Q - Quakers 38, 45 - - - R - Raccoon Skins 91 - Rainwater 76 - Randolph County 80 - Religion 18 - Rhea, James 38, 55, 56 - Richardville 10, 28, 46, 79 - Richardville, Jean B. 98 - Richerville, Joseph Drouet De 81 - Riley, James 83 - Rivard 18 - Rivard, Antoine 35 - Robertson, William 18 - Robinson, Rachel 40 - Rockhill, William 96 - Rue, Thomas 98 - Rum-Sellers 85 - - - S - Sale of Lots 96 - Sanosket 8 - Sargent, Winthrop 38 - School 86 - School House 81 - Scott, Alexander 72 - Scott, James 98 - Scott, Moses 98 - Scriptures 80 - Settlement 82 - Settlers 100 - Shaw, John 58 - Shawnee 4, 13, 55 - Shields, Martha 92 - Siege 56, 67 - Skins 42 - Slavery 73 - Smith, Daniel 74 - Society of Friends 45 - South Bend 9 - Speculators 53 - Spoils System 92 - Spy Run 72 - Squatters 83 - St. Clair 21 - St. Mary’s, Ohio 69, 79, 81 - Stewart, William 98 - Stickney, Benjamin 40, 58, 64, 70, 76, 86 - Stickney, Benjamin F. 86 - Streets 96 - Strong, David 33, 37 - Sunday, Observance 80 - Supplies 72, 73 - Supply Wagons 40 - Supreme Court 92 - Surgeon 80, 86 - Surveys 83 - Sutlers 35, 74 - Suttenfield, Laura 75 - Suttenfield, William 74, 98 - Suttenfield, William F. 74 - - - T - Taber, Cyrus 104 - Taber, Paul 82 - Tahcumwah 10 - Tallow Dip 79 - Tavern Rates 97 - Taylor, Laura 74 - Taylor, Marshall K. 96 - Teas, Thomas 86 - Tecumseh 45, 50, 53, 58, 59, 73, 77 - Terre Haute 63 - Thames 73 - Thompson, John 20 - Tiffin, Edward 83 - Tippecanoe 43, 57, 59, 91 - Tipton, John 100 - Town Plat 97 - Traders 4, 18, 19, 22, 34, 35, 41, 81, 82, 84, 87, 88, 92, 94, 99, - 102 - Trading Establishment 71 - Trading House 88 - Trading Post 41, 83 - Transportation 36 - Treaties 40, 99 - Treaty Grounds 102 - Troops 57, 63 - Turner, William 82, 86, 88 - - - U - Unscrupulous Traders 47 - - - V - Vallequitte, Christopher 98 - Vance, Samuel C. 94 - Vaudreuil, Marques De 5 - Vigo, Francis 46 - Villiers, Neyon De 10 - Vincennes 31, 35, 52, 60, 82 - Vincennes, Sieur De 5 - Vose, Josiah N. 80 - - - W - Wabash 80 - Wabash-Erie Canal 100, 104 - War Dances 19 - Warriors 63 - Warwhoop 58 - Washington 21 - Washington Hall 96 - Waterway 80 - Wayne, Anthony 13, 23, 27, 73, 79 - Weas 43, 51 - Well’s Family 31 - Wells, Anne 88 - Wells, Rebeckah 38 - Wells, Rebekah 55 - Wells, William 30, 36, 38, 55, 60, 81 - Western Forts 32 - Western Policy 21 - Western Posts 79 - Whipple, John 38 - Whiskey 47, 56, 82, 84, 85, 88, 92, 101, 102 - Whistler, George 73 - Whistler, John 73 - Whistler, William 56 - White Loon 54 - White Racoon 65 - Wilkinson 33 - Wilkinson, James 36 - Winamac 54, 66, 67, 68 - Winchester 80, 85 - Winchester, James 68, 70 - Wine 75 - Winnebagoes 63 - Wolf Scalps 97 - Wyandots 4, 8 - Wyman, James 96 - - - - - Transcriber’s Notes - - -—Retained publication information from the printed edition: this eBook - is public-domain in the country of publication. - -—Corrected a few palpable typos. - -—Crosslinked footnotes and references; 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