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]