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.