Chapter III
The Impending Conflict

A dozen years had passed since the battle of Fallen Timbers and the defeat suffered by the Indians at that time was growing dim in their memories. English traders and military officials at Malden encouraged the red men to strike once again the Americans who were fast turning their hunting lands into farms and settlements. The occasion awaited only a second Pontiac. That leader came in the person of Tecumseh, the Shawnee. Tecumseh saw his race driven from their native land, their morals debased, their independence destroyed, and their means of subsistence cut off. He looked for the cause of these evils, and believed he found it in the flood of white immigration.

With Tecumseh came his brother Elskwatwa, better known as “the Prophet”. The Prophet prophesied the resurgence of the Indians, and although his character was not as great as Tecumseh’s, for a time he overshadowed Tecumseh. As Pontiac had conspired against the British, so Tecumseh and the Prophet came to destroy the Americans. Unfortunately for the white settlers on the frontier, their great scheme neared its climax simultaneously with the outbreak of war between the United States and Great Britain.

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]

Having heard that Wells might be reinstated in the Indian Department, John Johnston, Wells’ bitterest enemy at Fort Wayne, wrote immediately to Harrison saying:

I think you will have to give up all idea of taking up —— [Johnston usually referred to Wells by a dash in the letter] again. He is too unprincipled to be employed anywhere, except as an interpreter, and under your own eye.... I could detail to you a thousand instances of his total disregard of everything that is held sacred by honest and honorable men. Admitting he was restored here again ... he would be useless to you and the government; for the latter never would put any confidence in his representations, and the public interest would thereby suffer. He has so long travelled in the crooked, miry paths of intrigue and deception, that he never could be made to retrace his steps, and pursue a straight, fair, and honorable course, such as might be creditable to himself and useful to his country. My opinion of him is made up from a long residence at this post, and an intimate knowledge of his character, both public and private ... the sooner all hope of his reestablishment is at an end, it will be the better, for he is becoming a pest here, and will move off if he finds he cannot be reinstated.[8]

Under Article 9 of the treaty of Fort Wayne, part of the land cession of the Indians was valid only with the consent of the Kickapoo tribe. On December 9, they signed a separate treaty and in it added another tract this time subject to the consent of the Miamis. Johnston accused Wells and Little Turtle of stirring up opposition among the Miamis against the new cession of land.

Harrison’s displeasure with Wells became more intense when he learned that a false story was circulated among the Indians around Fort Wayne after the treaty, charging Harrison with buying the lands for his own use and that of the people of Vincennes. What part Wells played in this is not clear. Harrison believed him to be to a large extent responsible, primarily by acting as an agent for William McIntosh, a Scotch Tory. McIntosh was eager to prevent the settling of the new land, as he had acquired title to it from the French at Vincennes.

The situation was made even more delicate and dangerous by the fact that Tecumseh and the Prophet refused absolutely to recognize the validity of the Fort Wayne treaty.

In October, the Indians were called to Fort Wayne on Harrison’s order, in order that Johnston might stop the spread of false stories circulating about the treaty. During the council, Johnston brought up the question that he found was being agitated among the Indians, that is petitioning for the removal of Governor Harrison, on the grounds of misconduct in office. Johnston thought that Wells was the one responsible for the petition, and told the Indians, “that whoever advised them to it was a wicked bad man and not their friend.”[9] The Owl, a Miami chief, maintained that all the mischief going on among them had sprung from Wells and Little Turtle. Johnston also reported that Wells had gone to Washington in an attempt to regain his old position as Indian agent, and Johnston hoped that if Wells failed, he would leave Fort Wayne.

Johnston’s report confirmed Harrison in his belief that Wells was acting as an agent for William McIntosh, by spreading the false stories concerning the governor’s relations with the tribes. The question of Wells’ connection with McIntosh deserves some attention as the quarrel between McIntosh and Harrison was more than one of mere personalities. Their dispute was involved in that of the land speculators and Indian traders on the one hand and the government authority, represented primarily by the governor, on the other. Harrison did all in his power to check the purchase of the Indian lands by speculators and traders. It has been noted above that he prevented the sale of the Fort Wayne lands owned by the government for fear of these lands being purchased by unscrupulous traders. It is possible that Wells fell in line with McIntosh in the latter’s quarrel with the governor. Johnston hints that Wells was eager to trade with the Indians himself, and it is to be remembered that Wells and Peter Audrian tried to prevent the execution of the treaty with the Delawares in 1805.[10]

In the fall of 1810, Harrison brought a libel suit against William McIntosh for slander in regard to the alleged misconduct in the treaty negotiations and general mismanagement of the Indian affairs in the territory on the part of the governor. The trial became a test between the land speculators and Indian traders and Harrison. By the time the trial was over, it included a complete examination of Harrison’s conduct as territorial governor. Connected with the affair were the “Letters of Decius”, a series of attacks on the governor by an Irish lawyer, Isaac Darneille.[11] Considerable attention was directed to the trial throughout the Northwest; the Cincinnati and Frankfort papers carried lengthy accounts of it. The jury gave a verdict in favor of Harrison, and granted him damages of four thousand dollars.

In respect to Wells, it is surprising to learn that he testified at the trial in behalf of Harrison, stating that he found the governor’s manner of dealing with the Indians in the councils at all times just. At first glance, it would seem as though Harrison had been wrong in accusing Wells of scheming with McIntosh, and it is possible that Harrison may have been. However, such a contradiction of previous action is in keeping with the pattern of Wells’ character and life. William Wells was undoubtedly an intelligent and shrewd man, but with this ability was combined a capacity for intrigue for his own benefit, which prevented his superiors from relying on him and most of the Indians in his later life from trusting in him. In trying to play the part of a “Talleyrand” in Indian affairs, Wells failed miserably. Why he chose this manner of accomplishing his purposes is unknown. Possibly his connection with both the white and red races prompted him to believe himself a mediator, who, incidentally, could profit by the differences between the two.

Wells had many enemies and a few friends among both races. If there is any value in the observation, it is to be noted that most of his friends were made in his early life, while his enemies were made after he became Indian agent at Fort Wayne. Among the Indians, Little Turtle was Wells’ most intimate associate, although Five Medals, Blue Jacket, and many of the older chiefs were also counted among his friends. Richardville, one of the shrewdest of the Miamis, did not trust Wells. The Prophet and Tecumseh, as well as Winamac and the White Loon hated Wells. Harrison admitted shortly before Wells’ unexpected death that Wells deserved some credit from the circumstance that the line that separated his friends among the chiefs from his enemies was precisely the same as one Harrison would have designated to separate the friends of the American cause from its enemies.

Among Wells’ white friends were General Wayne, who valued his services immensely, and Colonel Hamtramck, who was also Wells’ business associate. Other commanders at Fort Wayne, notably Captain Heald thought highly of him. On the other hand, his superiors—Harrison, Dearborn, and Eustis—felt that he was unfaithful and not worthy of their trust, while John Johnston despised him.

Considering all this, it is no wonder that Harrison wrote to the Secretary of War in one of his last letters concerning William Wells:

If my letters and opinions on the subject of Wells have appeared to you in any degree inconsistent and contradictory I can not say that they have not exhibited a faithful presentation of what has passed in my mind. You will do me justice in believing that this has not proceeded from fickleness of temper or any less worthy cause but from the contradictory impressions which a knowledge of his superior talents for an appointment in the Indian Department and the fear of his possessing dispositions which might in some degree prove dangerous, have made upon me. Without troubling you again with observations upon his character which I have before frequently made I will merely mention the conclusions which my mind has arrived at after much reflection. Could I be allowed to dispose of Wells as I thought proper my first wish would be to place him in the Interiour of our settlements where he would never see and scarely hear of an Indian. But as this is impossible from his being located in such a manner at Fort Wayne, that he cannot be removed without very considerable expence my next wish is to get him such an appointment as he could consider an object where he might be used to advantage but at the same time so limited as to prevent his doing mischief. I sincerely believe that he would now be faithful. His activities and talents need not be doubted.[11a]

Harrison still found Wells’ ability worth while and made use of this despite the latter’s severance from the Indian department. In April, Wells and John Conner were sent to the Prophet’s town to investigate the murder of four white people in the neighborhood. Wells had a prolonged conversation with Tecumseh during which the Shawnee openly declared his intention to resist the white encroachments. In July, Tecumseh came to Vincennes with a large body of Indians and once more protested strongly against the agreements of the Fort Wayne treaty of 1809.

In the midst of this agitation, Captain Heald, the commander at Fort Wayne, was transferred to the post at Fort Dearborn. Captain Heald was followed shortly by his young bride, Rebekah Wells, the favorite niece of William Wells. Arriving on May 15, 1810, Capt. James Rhea took over the command of Fort Wayne. Rhea was a native of New Jersey, and had received a commission in the army in 1791. He was promoted to first lieutenant in 1800, and was commissioned a captain in 1807. He had served with Wayne’s army and for a time was assigned to the command of Fort Industry on the Maumee River. Shortly before coming to Fort Wayne, Captain Rhea married Polly Forsyth, the 18 year old daughter of James Forsyth, a wealthy Detroit merchant.[12]

Two days after his arrival at Fort Wayne, Captain Rhea wrote to his superior, Colonel Kingsbury:

... I found Capt. Heald at this Place; he starts in the morning ... I am much pleased with my Command; I hope to be continued here ... at this Post every thing has been going on very correct; I mean to take the Tract of Capt. Heald as near as possible ... I have been very ill with Rheumatism Pains ever since I left you. I don’t know if ever I shall recover, I have not had a Night Sleep in two Weeks.[13]

The following month Captain Rhea reported that he was still suffering a great deal from the rheumatic attacks; nevertheless during his first year at Fort Wayne, the captain displayed the qualities of a good commander. He made considerable repairs on the fort and carried out a program of sanitation and land clearance. He knew of the impending trouble with the Indians, but he failed, when the time came, to grasp the opportunity of achieving recognition. At the critical moment, Captain Rhea proved to be a weak character, given somewhat to alarmist tendencies. During the siege of Fort Wayne, he displayed appalling cowardice and a fondness for whiskey which proved his undoing. Whether or not he sought to relieve his continued attacks of rheumatism by alcohol can only be surmised, but his decline from the position taken in his first garrison order at Fort Wayne to that of a slave of alcohol in 1812, forms a striking reversal. In his first order on May 20, 1810, he noted the “abonimable [sic] practice” of drunkenness among the men, and commented that he was “much hurt to see so much intoxication.”[14]

From the captain’s first quarterly report for the months of April, May, and June, 1810, we have the following information in regard to the garrison:

Officers: Captain, James Rhea; First Lieutenant, William Whistler; Second Lieutenant, Philip Ostrander; Composition of the Company; Native Americans, 36; Englishmen, 1; Irishmen, 11; Frenchmen 2; total, 50. Strength of the Company: 1 captain, 2 subalterns, 3 sergeants, 2 corporals, 3 musicians, 39 privates.[15]

Captain Rhea’s report for November was almost identical in regard to the number of his men, but he added that the garrison was 31 men short of its required strength of 81 men. He also felt that the arms of the garrison were in bad condition, while on the other hand, the clothing of the men was in good condition and the fort was regularly supplied with provisions and ammunition. Captain Rhea reported the discipline of the troops to be good, but actually it could have been no better than usual, judging from the numerous court martials recorded in the garrison orders during his command.[16]

During the summer of 1811, Fort Wayne became for the Indians the central point between the Prophet’s Town on the Tippecanoe river and Malden, the British post across from Detroit where arms and ammunition were distributed to the red men. On August 11, 1811, John Shaw, the assistant government agent at Fort Wayne, reported to the Secretary of War that the situation in regard to the Prophet was growing serious, and many of the neutral tribes were coming to him for advice.[17] To determine the exact disposition of these neutral tribes, in particular the Miamis, Delawares, and Potawatomis, Governor Harrison dispatched Toussaint Dubois to Fort Wayne. In a council on the 4th of September, Dubois found the Indians divided almost equally for and against the Prophet’s schemes. After receiving Dubois’ report, Harrison instructed John Johnston to separate the friendly Indians from the others and to place them, if possible, in settlements on the White River, where they would be safe from the contemplated attack of the American army on the Prophet’s town.

With regular troops and militia, Governor Harrison advanced up the Wabash in October towards the Prophet’s town on the Tippecanoe river. Early in the morning of November 7, 1811, on the fields of Tippecanoe, the Prophet’s forces attacked Harrison’s Army, but were driven back after a hard fought battle. At Fort Wayne the first reports of the engagement indicated that the Americans had suffered a severe defeat. Until the correct information was received a week later, the garrison and populace were in a state of great anxiety.

Two weeks after the battle, on the 22 of November, the period for the annual meeting of the Indians to receive their annuities having arrived, the tribes assembled at Fort Wayne in great numbers. Many of the chiefs were fresh from Tippecanoe, but they claimed their annuities along with peaceful tribes, saying that the Prophet alone was to blame for the hostilities, and that he had been imprisoned by his own followers. Although entirely untrue, these stories had the desired effect on John Johnston, and he was thereby induced to grant the Indians their annuities. Many of the tribes were sincere in seeking peace at this time, but Johnston’s hasty action in granting the annuities provoked Harrison, who heretofore had never criticized the factor’s decisions.

Shortly after this incident, Johnston was transferred to Piqua, Ohio, to act as principal agent for the Shawnee tribe. His precipitate action in regard to the annuities had nothing to do with the transfer, since Johnston himself had applied for the change in positions, five months before the battle of Tippecanoe, in order to be near his farm at Piqua, Ohio.

Johnston’s successor, Major Benjamin Franklin Stickney was a singularly brave man, but very eccentric and headstrong. A suggestion of his eccentric character is found in the choice of names for his children. The sons were styled, “One, Two, and Three” and the daughters bore the names of states of the union. Benjamin Stickney had been in the government service at Upper Sandusky, Ohio, prior to coming to Fort Wayne. While at Fort Wayne, he and his family occupied the council house, located just outside the stockade of the fort.

Stickney was rather cold and heartless in his attitude towards the Indians. In 1815, testifying before a Senate committee, he stated:

... it is cheaper to reduce them [Indians] by meat and bread than by force of arms; and from the observations I have had the opportunity of making, three or four months full feeding on meat and bread ... will bring on disease, and in six or eight months great mortality ... I believe that more Indians might be killed with the expense of $100,000 in this way than $1,000,000 expended in the support of armies to go against them.[18]

In December Tecumseh visited Fort Wayne. He had not been a participant in the battle of Tippecanoe, as the conflict had been instigated by the Prophet while Tecumseh was visiting the tribes along the Ohio river. The outcome of the battle had ruined his plan of an Indian confederation, but Tecumseh was still confident he could succeed with the help of the British. At Fort Wayne he made bitter reproaches against Governor Harrison; and at the same time demanded ammunition from Captain Rhea, who refused. McAfee relates that Tecumseh “then said he would go to his British father, who would not deny him. He appeared thoughtful a while, and then gave the warwhoop and went off.”[19]

Such was the spirit in which Tecumseh left Fort Wayne. The year 1812 became a period of terror throughout the West. Fort Wayne, in the center of the turmoil and uncertainty preceding the outbreak of the war, became an excellent listening-post for the news passing between Malden and the Indians along the Wabash. Harrison and the officials of the War Department paid particular attention to the information gathered by Wells, Stickney and John Shaw at Fort Wayne. On February 10, Wells reported that two British emissaries passed Fort Wayne on their way to the Prophet’s village. He added that the Potawatomis were ready to strike the Americans at Fort Dearborn and Fort Wayne whenever war was declared between the United States and Great Britain.[20]

On March 1, Wells wrote that Tecumseh had arrived on the Wabash and that “he has determined to raise all the Indians he can, immediately, with an intention, no doubt, to attack our frontiers.”[21] Writing to General Hull, Benjamin Stickney came to the conclusion, somewhat belatedly, that it was necessary to cut off all communication between the Indians within the territory of the United States and Canada.[22] Stickney was also extremely annoyed by the activities of Esidore Chaine, a clever agitator employed by the British to maintain connections with the Indians in the Fort Wayne area. Chaine had held several conferences with the Indians, advising them to remain at peace with the Americans until war broke out between Great Britain and the United States.

The last report of Tecumseh’s actions before the outbreak of the war came from Wells at Fort Wayne. On June 17, Tecumseh stopped long enough at Fort Wayne for Wells to find out that the chief was on his way to Malden to receive from the British twelve horse loads of ammunition for the use of his people at Tippecanoe. The following day, Congress declared war against Great Britain. A week later the news arrived at Fort Wayne and the other Northwestern posts.

Even at this hour the question of whether Harrison had full control over the Indian factor at Fort Wayne or not remained unsettled. This time Benjamin Stickney, rather than Wells, chose to display his independence of the Governor. However, the matter did relate to Captain Wells, who at the time intended to retire altogether from governmental service at Fort Wayne and move to Kentucky. Having been informed of this by Colonel Geiger, Wells’ father-in-law, and believing the presence of Wells at Fort Wayne was necessary at this critical time, Governor Harrison wrote to Benjamin Stickney, saying that Stickney should consider Wells under his immediate orders and that he should employ Wells wherever possible and beneficial for the government.

To this order Stickney replied:

In all my instructions from the secretary of war ... he has not given me the least intimation that I was to consider myself under the direction of any other officer than himself. And as I received my appointment from the secretary of war by the approbation of the President it appears to be a dictate of common sense that I should consider his instructions as the rule of my conduct. And he has instructed me to have nothing to do with Wells and that Wells is to have nothing to do with Indian affairs at Fort Wayne. Nevertheless every communication from you shall be attended to by me with the greatest cheerfullness and conformed to as far as my instructions with the Department will permit.[23]

Stickney’s attitude provoked Harrison a great deal. The governor immediately dispatched a lengthy letter to the Secretary of War in which he brought up the entire question of his authority over the Indian agents in Indiana Territory, and he urged the War Department to correct any misconceptions relating to it. Reference was made by Harrison to the incident of Wells acting independently in 1803 and the vindication of Harrison’s authority over Wells at that time. Finally, Harrison caustically observed that “it has been reserved for the ‘Common sense’ of Mr. Stickney to discover that no such obligation existed because he derived his appointment immediately from you.”[24]

Truly the situation did call for the utmost vigilance from the members of the Indian department and demanded harmony and concert in their measures. If Stickney would have been permitted to stand upon ground independent of the governor, their plans could have resulted in contradiction that would have produced a discord fatal to the interests of the nation. Harrison had directed Stickney to correspond regularly with him concerning the trend of events at Fort Wayne and to send copies of all such correspondence to the War Department in order that it might be fully and immediately informed of the important happenings at Fort Wayne. Harrison had also ordered Wells to send any messages directed to him through Stickney. However, Wells naturally disregarded these instructions whenever he wrote to Harrison concerning Stickney’s actions.

Stickney was the subject matter of Wells’ last two letters to the Governor. On July 22, Wells reported that the Prophet with one hundred of his followers had been at Fort Wayne for ten days and planned to leave that day. During this interval Major Stickney appeared to have been completely beguiled by the Prophet’s declarations of neutrality. Despite Tippecanoe and the fact that Tecumseh was already allied with the British, Stickney allowed the Prophet to take the lead in the councils with Indians and freely gave the Prophet ammunition and supplies. On July 19, the Prophet received word from Tecumseh to send the women and children west of the Mississippi and to unite the warriors for a blow at Vincennes. In order to make better time the Prophet’s men stole two riding horses from Wells’ farm and proceeded westward. To make sure that Stickney would suspect nothing, the Prophet informed him of the theft of the horses and dispatched two men on foot, supposedly to find the thieves. According to Wells, Stickney swallowed this bait and congratulated the Prophet on his honesty.[25]

Two weeks before his death at Fort Dearborn, Wells wrote to Harrison, stating that Stickney, “does not consider himself under your constraint. He declares publicly that you have no authority over him. Your speech to the Indians has been here seven weeks and has never been communicated to the Indians by the agent.”[26] Thus in his last letter, Wells had completed the circle of contradiction and now stood with Harrison in an attempt to uphold the governor’s authority over the agent at Fort Wayne.

To his credit, Harrison saw the importance of having Wells remain at Fort Wayne during this crucial time. Concerning this, Harrison wrote to the Secretary of War, “He [Wells] is ... able from his influence over a few chiefs of great ability to effect more than any other person particularly with regard to the now all important point of obtaining information.”[27]

Three days after Harrison wrote this, Wells’ most intimate friend and greatest of the chiefs, Little Turtle, died at Fort Wayne. The chief had long suffered from the gout, and in order that he might have the attendance of the post surgeon, he was brought from his village on the Eel river to the home of Wells. Little Turtle was buried with full military honors on Captain Wells’ farm, Captain Rhea and the officers of the garrison being present.[28]

Within a period of two weeks after the death of Little Turtle, General William Hull, governor of Michigan and commandant of a strong American force at Detroit, sent an order to Fort Dearborn, instructing the commander Captain Nathan Heald to evacuate the fort and transfer the occupants of the lonely post to Fort Wayne. Hull also sent word of the intended evacuation to Fort Wayne, ordering the officers there to cooperate in the movement by rendering Captain Heald any information and assistance in their power. Captain Wells, spurred by a desire to aid in the evacuation and by the fact of his close relationship with Mrs. Heald, organized a company of thirty friendly Miamis and with Corporal W. K. Jordan from the garrison started for Fort Dearborn on August 8, 1812. Milo Quaife asserts that the arrival of Wells five days later afforded the only ray of cheer and hope which came to the settlement in this time of danger.[29] Preparations for departure were under way when Wells arrived. Wells was downcast. To remain in the fort now meant death from starvation as all the supplies except the little needed for the journey had been destroyed or given to the Indians. The attempt to reach Fort Wayne was the only alternative.

The story of the anguished departure from the fort on the morning of August 15 and the subsequent massacre need not be related here. Suffice it to say that Captain Wells was killed during the battle in an attempt to save the women and children. The Indians paid their sincerest tribute of respect to his bravery by cutting out his heart and eating it, thinking thus to imbibe the qualities of its owner in life. Quaife writes, “Wells was the real hero of the Chicago masacre, giving his life voluntarily to save his friends.”[30] Thus, Captain Wells’ colorful career was brought to a close. Paradoxically, he died while fighting against the Indians, although in his first battles he had fought on their side. In death as in life Wells remained an enigmatic figure, one who deserves far more attention by those endeavoring to understand the frontier with its curious mixture of romanticism and realism. Wells’ companion from Fort Wayne, Corporal Jordan, was captured by the Indians but later made his escape, finally reaching the safety of Fort Wayne on August 26 after seven days in the wilderness.