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.