The Battle of Lake Erie and Its Aftermath: A Reassessment

The Aftermath of Victory: The Settlement of Fort Wayne, Indiana, and the Surrounding Region

the settlement of fort wayne and the surrounding region 157 The Aftermath of Victory The Settlement of Fort Wayne, Indiana, and the Surrounding Region Phyllis Gernhardt In1805,justtenyearsaftertheTreatyofGreenvillehadestablishedafragile peace with the Great Lakes Indian nations, the small number of settlers who lived in the shadow of Fort Wayne turned their attention toward issues that would encourage population growth in the surrounding region. They believed that the conditions were perfect for settlement in the Great Lakes area, yet they were unaware that in just seven years a new war between the young United States and Great Britain would erupt. Their focus was on the present, however, and the two most pressing concerns, they felt, were better transportation and communication with families, friends, and the government in the East. Most significantly, they called for the sale of the public lands. The conditions of transportation and communication posed difficulties. Before the War of 1812, Fort Wayne remained very much an outpost, distant from settlements both in the East and to the South. Transportation routes were primitive. A portage road ran eight miles southwest from the garrison to a tributary of the Wabash River, where for decades traders had landed their goods. Other roadways consisted of traces that led from Fort Wayne to Fort Recovery, into today’s Adams County, Ohio, and toward present-day Chicago, as well as following each side of the Maumee River.1 The residents of Fort Wayne found the personal inconveniences as well as themilitaryramificationsofunreliablecommunicationdisconcerting.In1807 the population at the fort petitioned the federal government for a mail route to their area. The nearest post office, in Staunton, Ohio, was about 100 miles from the garrison, and their personal mail as well as “publick dispatches of great importance” frequently remained there for months before they reached – 157 – 158 consequences Fort Wayne. Inhabitants desired a post road for the “benefit to the Publick and to Individuals.” Twenty-two residents signed the petition. It was rejected at the time, but one year later the U.S. government established a post office at Fort Wayne.2 Fromthenationalgovernment’spointofview,theirmainpriorityregarding the Great Lakes region focused on establishing routes between the military posts within Indian country rather than routes connecting the frontier to the easternsectionoftheUnited Statesorpromoting settlement.In1803,plansfor a fort west of Fort Wayne were under way, and the Secretary of War requested that William Wells, the Indian agent at Fort Wayne, find the most direct path or bridle road from Fort Wayne to this newly established Fort Dearborn. He also requested that a “Mr. Burnet,” the only known settler between the posts, supply goods for the new garrison.3 The presence of the military post built at the Maumee-Wabash portage in 1794 had brought a sense of peace to the region. As the situation with the natives in the area calmed, the conditions for American settlement improved. As early as 1800, Fort Wayne’s Indian agent, William Wells, expected that the garrison would soon be withdrawn. Indeed, plans to sell the government land around the fort were under consideration in 1805. Yet many government officials believed that Fort Wayne still stood too far from compact settlement and that the purchased lands would fall into the hands of unscrupulous traders. These traders, they feared, would create problems with the Indians. Any such conflicts would prove too much for the distant government for the Indiana Territory (established in 1803 and centered at Vincennes) to control effectively. They also expressed concern about the negative impact such instability in the region would have on potential settlers and felt that American farmers would hesitate to settle at Fort Wayne because of its remote location.4 These conditions needed to be remedied before settlement could move forward in the orderly fashion that the government desired. Several years later, Fort Wayne residents still urged Washington to establish policies that would bring “actual settlers” to the region. They argued that Americans in the “heart of the Indian Country” would be a sufficient means of controlling the region through its volunteer militia, thus lessening the responsibility of regular troops. They also argued that it would bring the Indians into greater and more intimate contact with Americans, thus forging a stronger bond between the native inhabitants and the American republic and destroying the influence of the British. Their very specific recommenda- the settlement of fort wayne and the surrounding region 159 tions for accomplishing these measures included allowing settlers...