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]