"That seems a pity, papa, but I suppose it was necessary."
"Yes; as no doubt those British men well knew. Wayne's men sometimes were within pistol-shot of Fort Miami, but its guns kept silence. The commander did a good deal of scolding and threatening; Wayne coolly defied him and retorted with vigor. But neither went any farther.
"Wayne and his troops remained there until the middle of September, when they went to the head of the Maumee; and at the bend of the river, just below the confluence of the St. Mary's and St. Joseph's, which form it, they built a strong fortification and called it Fort Wayne. By the latter part of October it was finished and garrisoned with infantry and artillery, under Colonel Hamtramck.
"The rest of the troops then left, some for Fort Washington, to be discharged from the service, and others for Fort Greenville, where Wayne made his headquarters for the winter. There the various tribes with whom he had been at war came to him—by deputations—and agreed upon preliminary terms of peace. They remembered that he had assured them that the British had neither the power nor the inclination to help them—and how that assurance had been verified by the silence of the guns of Fort Miami.
"They promised to meet him in council early the next summer, and did so. Early in June chiefs and sachems began to reach Fort Greenville, and on the 16th of that month a grand council was opened there. Almost 1100 Indians were present, and the council continued until the 10th of August. On the 3d of that month a satisfactory treaty was signed by all parties. And by a special treaty between the United States and Great Britain the western military posts were soon evacuated by the British, and for fifteen years the most remote frontier settlements were safe from any annoyance by the Indians."
"And that encouraged emigration to the Northwestern Territory, did it not, papa?" asked Lucilla.
"Yes," he said, "and in consequence the country grew rapidly in population of a hardy kind."
"Until the War of 1812."
"Yes; and it was in that war that Harrison did so much to distinguish himself as a patriot and a brave and skilful officer."
"And it was then he built the Fort Meigs you are taking us to, papa?"