USA > Indiana > Allen County > Fort Wayne > The pictorial history of Fort Wayne, Indiana : a review of two centuries of occupation of the region about the head of the Maumee River, Vol. I > Part 17
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General Wayne and staff rode up to the center of the line, taking a position at the foot of the flagstaff. He made us a speech in which he highly complimented the volunteers with whom he was soon to part, and thanked us for the valuable services rendered our country on the battlefields, and in the erection of this fortification. He then ordered the flag to be run up, and, as its broad stripes and stars floated in the twilight breeze, and for the first time over the strong- hold of our enemies, we made the welkin ring with loud and pro- longed cheers, which were succeeded by the deafening roar of cannon that aroused old Echo from his age of slumber. The fort was then, by Colonel Hamtramck, named Wayne, after our noble commander-in-chief. That night we got something to wet our throats which, on account of our great cheering, had become very dry."
The question as to whether the memory of Bryant was faulty or some other disturbing element enters into his description of the event is raised by a reading of the records of the dedication as left by Lieutenants Boyer and William Clark, in their respective jour- nals, and the preliminary announcement of the plans as given in Wayne's orderly book.
Wayne, on the day preceding the dedication, announced that the ceremony would take place at 7 o'clock on the morning of October 22. Boyer says, under the latter date: "This morning at 7 o'clock * * after firing fifteen rounds of cannon, Colonel Hamtramck gave it the name of Fort Wayne." Lieutenant Clark records that the event took place at 8 o'clock in the morning and that "Colonel Hamtramck took charge of the fort, after naming it after His Excellency, firing fifteen rounds and giving three cheers."
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THE PICTORIAL HISTORY OF FORT WAYNE
It appears certain, therefore, that the ceremony took place near the hour of 7 or 8 o'clock in the morning rather than during the hour when the flag floated "in the twilight breeze." Possibly, however, Private Bryant has been misquoted.
The ceremony of dedication was concluded with the formal placing of the command in the hands of Major (later Colonel) John Francis Hamtramck, a man of high character and military power-a leader whose followers confided in him during life, and upon whose death these fellow-soldiers engraved upon his tombstone one of the most remarkable tributes ever paid to a military leader.
Colonel Hamtramck had served with honor in the Revolution. At the time General Josiah Harmar was dispatched to the region
TWO WAYNE RELICS.
The upper picture is that of an ax, carried on General Wayne's western expedition. The lower sketch shows a piece of the casket in which the general was first buried at Erie, Pa. Both are to be seen in the relic room of the court house.
PUS ET CASU
WAYNE COAT OF ARMS.
The original design, in the posses- sion of Hon. William Wayne, of Paoll, Chester county, Pennsylvania, was loaned to the owners of the Anthony Hotel in Fort Wayne to guide them in the use of the design in many forms about the modern hostelry.
of the lower Ohio, to succeed George Rogers Clark, whose later conduct displeased the Virginia authorities, Hamtramck became an active participant in his campaigns. In the region of Vincennes he had been attacked by a body of savages, in 1787. He built Fort Knox (on the Wabash above Vincennes). It was he who sent Antoine Gamelin on his mission of peace to the savages in 1798, and carried an expedition against the Indians of the lower Wabash. Following the St. Clair campaign, he was active in attempts to secure peace treaties with the Indians, and then served with credit under Wayne.
Under his command at Fort Wayne came the companies of Captains Kingsbury, Greaton, Spark, Reed and Preston, and the artillery company of Captain Porter.
The destitute condition of the troops on the day of the dedica- tion is brought forcibly to mind in Wayne's order concerning shoes issued to the troops on the following day and just preceding the march to Greenville. The order reads: "A return for Shoes Actu- ally Wanted in the respective Sub Legions, under Marching orders
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THE BUILDING OF FORT WAYNE
is to be made this Afternoon at 5 O'Clock, by the Pay Masters. * *
* The number on hand being small, none but those that are Actually barefoot can be supplied at present."
General Wayne and the main portion of the army marched away from Fort Wayne on the 28th of October, and reached their former camping place at Greenville after an absence from the spot of ninety-three days. Wayne immediately reported conditions to Secretary Knox and added that "all this labor, and expense of blood and treasure will be rendered abortive and of none effect, unless speedy and efficient measures are adopted by the national legislature to raise troops to garrison these posts.''
Here Wayne waited for the chiefs of the scattered tribes to come and accept the terms of peace which Washington authorized him to offer them.2
NOTES ON CHAPTER XIV.
(1) Brigadier General Philip Reade, U. S. A., retired, who has written the biographies of three hundred and nine- teen officers of Wayne's Legion, states that between the years 1792 and 1797, eight of Wayne's officers were mur- dered by hostile Indians, four were killed in duels, thirteen were dismissed or cashiered, sixteen died in service, two committed suicide, and fifty-two resigned; total, one hundred.
(2) Captain Joseph Brandt, the great Indian chieftain of the east, hastened to the west directly after Wayne's vic- tory to attempt to assist the savages in deciding upon their future course.
To Joseph Chew, at Montreal, secretary of Indian affairs, he reported October 22-the day on which Fort Wayne was dedicated-writing from Niagara: "I am just returned from the Miamis [Maumee] and Detroit, and am sorry to say that the Indians in that quarter are much in confusion, owing to their late bad success and in bad temper by not receiving any assistance from the English. I really believe if I had not gone up, most of them would have dispersed and gone to the Mississippi." (Michigan Pioneer and Historical Col- lection.)
CHAPTER XV-1794-1805.
The Fort in the Wilderness.
Colonel Hamtramck and the incorrigible troops at Fort Wayne-The chiefs sue for peace-A winter of suffering-Wayne prepares for the treaty council-Little Turtle pleads for the retention of the site of Fort Wayne and the Maumee-Wabash portage-Wayne's diplomatic refusal-The treaty signed-Wayne's departure-Visits the president-Sent to Detroit -His death-Starving Indians at Fort Wayne-Hamtramck goes to De- troit-Major Thomas Pasteur-Colonel Hunt commands Fort Wayne- Birth of John Elliott Hunt-Marriage of Miss Ruthie Hunt and Dr. Abra- ham Edwards-Colonel Hunt transferred to Detroit-Major Henry Bur- beck, Major Zebulon Pike and Captain John Whipple in command of Fort Wayne-Treaty of 1803-Governor Harrison resents the activities of Captain William Wells-Would remove Wells from the Indian service- Colonel John Johnston, Indian agent-Little Turtle and Wells visit eastern cities-Quakers come to teach the Indians the art of agriculture-Fort Dearborn established by Major John Whistler.
C OLONEL HAMTRAMCK, on assuming command of Fort Wayne, appears to have "had his hands full." On Decem- ber 5, 1794, he wrote to General Wayne at Greenville a sug- gestion of his troubles. Said he :
"It is with a great degree of mortification that I am obliged to inform your excellency of the great propensity many of the soldiers have for larceny. I have flogged them until I am tired. The eco- nomic allowances of one hundred lashes allowed by government, does not appear a sufficient inducement for a rascal to play the part of an honest man. I have now a number in confinement and in irons for having stolen four quarters of beef on the night of the 3d instant. I could wish them to be tried by a general courtmartial, in order to make an example of some of them. I shall keep them confined until the pleasure of your excellency is known."
As late as the middle of March, 1795, the troubles continued. "I had very great hopes that the man who deserted when on his post would have been made an example of," he wrote, on St. Patrick's day, "but weakness too often appears in the shape of leniety, for he was only sentenced to receive one hundred lashes, to be branded, and drummed out. This man, from his past conduct, was perfectly entitled to the gallows."
However, many other encouraging reports passed from Ham- tramck to Wayne during these months of waiting for the chiefs to assemble at Greenville. Nearly all of these leaders of the tribes came first to Fort Wayne to interview the commandant. Extracts from Hamtramck's letters deal with many whose names have already appeared in our narrative and who figure prominently in the follow- ing chapters. Referring to the visits of leading chiefs of the Chip- pewas, Ottawas, Sacs, Shawnees and Miamis, he said: "I have shown them the necessity of withdrawing themselves from the head- quarters of corruption [the British post at Detroit] and invited them 150
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THE FORT IN THE WILDERNESS
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to come and take possession of their former habitation, which they have promised to do." Richardville, he reported, had decided to establish a village on the Salamonie river and would "open the navigation of the Wabash to the flag of the United States."
LeGris, who, as we have seen, was the village chief of Miami Town, in the Spy Run district of the present city of Fort Wayne, was one of the last to respond to the general invitation to the savages to meet the commandant. "LeGris, the village chief of the Miami nation, and one of the commanding trumps in McKee's game, has at last come in," wrote Hamtramck on March 27, 1795. "He stood out for a long time, but * * * with [Antoine] Lasselle, he has surrendered and I believe fully converted. * * * He was four days with me, during which time I had an opportunity of exam __. ng him with great attention. He is a sensible old fellow, and no ways
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BUTTONS FROM THE UNIFORMS OF SOLDIERS OF OLD FORT WAYNE.
The drawings of buttons found on the site of the old stockade of Fort Wayne by those who became tenants of the buildings were made from originals owned by L. W. Hills and R. B. Rossington, of Fort Wayne, and by R. S. Robertson, Jr., of Paducah, Kentucky, to whom a large collection of specimens was given by his father, the late Colonel R. S. Robertson. The three collections contain buttons worn by soldiers of the First, Second, Third, Fifth, Sixth, Eighth, Ninth, Tenth, Twelfth, Thirteenth and Fifteenth regiments of infantry, and a rifle regiment. "Those who wore them," wrote Colonel Robertson, "have long since departed, leaving no other record of the pioneer heroes who opened, and held open, the 'glorious gateway of the west' till the army of civilization could enter and take possession and reap the fruits of their heroic daring."
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THE PICTORIAL HISTORY OF FORT WAYNE
ignorant of the cause of the war, for which he blames the Americans, saying that they were too extravagant in their demands in their first treaties."
THE TREATY OF GREENVILLE
The winter of 1794 and 1795 was a time of intense suffering among the Indians remaining in the Maumee valley because of the utter destruction of the crops by the invading American army and the failure of the British to meet the situation. This condition con- tributed greatly to the decision of the chiefs to answer the call of Wayne to meet him at Greenville to enter upon terms of peace. In preparation for the coming of the heads of the tribes, Wayne cleared a large space of ground and supplied a vast amount of clothing and other supplies for the savages to meet their physical wants and impress them with the government's kindly intentions. In small bands, the Indians began to assemble early in June, 1795, and the general council was opened on the 16th. Many of the chiefs, how-
it may not be generally known that the remains of Anthony Wayne were first internes near the black houve which stood on the high bluff, which commands the entrance to the harbor of Eris. +they lay there until 1809, when his son wend on from Chester County , Pennsylvania , in a sultry ; a two. wheel carriage, + removed them to their present usting place. On arriving at Erie he employed "Old D'Wallace," so called to distinguish him from the present 2 Wallace, to take up his father's remains , pack them in a box in as small a space as possible , Hash them on to the kind part of his sulky, Dr Wallace took up the remains I found them in a perfect state of preservation exceptone foot. He had been buried in full uniform the boston delayed foot was also decages, while the other boot remained sound, to man by the name of Duncan ho a mate made to 't I wore them out . Duncanis foot like the Generali was very large , De Wallace cutt foiled theflesh off the tower packed them in a box, lashed them to the carriage they were thought deposited besides the rest of the family on the above named church yard.
WAYNE'S BODY IN TWO GRAVES.
The manuscript from which the above fac simile is a portion was written by Lemuel G. Olmstead, of Fort Edward, New York, to J. A. Rice, of Chicago, father of Wallace Rice, author of the book of the Fort Wayne Pageant of 1916. Wallace Rice presented the manuscript to the Mary Penrose Wayne chapter of the D. A. R. The manuscript describes Mr. Olmstead's visit to Wayne's old home in Pennsylvania and tells of the circumstances of the placing of portions of the remains of General Wayne in two widely separated graves.
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THE FORT IN THE WILDERNESS
1794 1805
ever, were tardy in arriving; these latter included Little Turtle and LeGris, who, with seventeen other Miamis, did not reach Greenville until June 23. The presence of Little Turtle brought face to face two great diplomatists-this keen thinker of the savages and General Wayne-each contending for every point in the debate which should give his people a superior advantage.
The conference did not close until August 7, the prolongation resulting from the interposition of obstacles by Little Turtle, whose main contention was for the possession of the plot of ground at the confluence of the St. Mary's and the St. Joseph rivers, where Fort Wayne stands, "that glorious gate through which all the words of our chiefs had to pass, from the north to the south and from the east to the west."
For one other thing did Little Turtle plead-a joint ownership of the famous Maumee-Wabash portage. "It was always ours," he declared. "This carrying place has heretofore proved, in a great degree, the subsistence of your younger brothers. That place has brought to us in the course of one day, the amount of one hundred dollars. Let us both own this place, and enjoy in common the advantage it affords."
General Wayne replied :
"I find there is some objection to the reservation [by the United States] at Fort Wayne. The Little Turtle observes he never heard of any cessions made at that place to the French. I have traced the lines of two forts at that point. One stood at the junction of the St. Joseph with the St. Mary's, and it is ever an established rule, among Europeans, to reserve as much ground around their forts as their cannon can command. This is a rule as well known as any other fact.
"Objection has also been made respecting the portage between Fort Wayne and the Little River ; and the reasons produced are that that road has been to the Miamis a source of wealth; that it has heretofore produced them one hundred dollars a day. It may be so; but let us inquire who, in fact, paid this heavy contribution. It is true the traders bore it in the first instance, but they laid it on their goods, and the Indians of the Wabash really, and finally, paid it; therefore, it is The Little Beaver, The Soldier, and The Sun and their tribes who have actually been so taxed."
After some further parley, Little Turtle expressed himself as satisfied with its terms and the document was signed by 1,130 In- dians, in addition to the American representatives present. The treaty provided for immediate delivery to the Indians of goods to the value of $20,000, and the promise of $9,500 worth of goods yearly, "forever hereafter." It also fixed the boundary lines between the Indian lands and those of the United States; this line began at the mouth of the Cuyahoga river, extended up that stream to the portage crossing to the Tuscarora, down that stream to Fort Laurens in Ohio, near Bolivar; thence westerly to a branch of the Miami at the head of the portage to the St. Mary's; thence to Fort Recovery, and thence to a point on the Ohio river, opposite the mouth of the Kentucky river. Fort Wayne was in the midst of the area of the Indian lands, but the treaty designated as American territory "a piece" six miles square1 at or near the confluence of the St. Mary's,
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THE PICTORIAL HISTORY OF FORT WAYNE
St. Joseph and the Maumee rivers as belonging to the United States. The city of Fort Wayne now stands within this reserved area. Simi- lar tracts surrounding Defiance, Toledo, Fremont, Detroit, St. Mary's, Sandusky, Mackinac, Chicago, Peoria and Vincennes were reserved to the United States.
His great work fully accomplished, Wayne transferred the command of his troops to General James Wilkinson, and bade fare- well to his associates and departed for the east where he made a brief visit to his old home in Radnor, Pennsylvania.
Everywhere, the people turned out en masse to give him wel- come. Four miles from Philadelphia he was met by three troops of Philadelphia light horse. A cannon salute, the ringing of bells, a great fireworks display and other demonstrations of gladness char- acterized the reception of the returned warrior.
President Washington, in a message to congress, referred in fitting terms to the achievements of Wayne and to the vast conse- quences likely to follow his victory. However, his rest from the active service of his country, was of short duration. Because of a division in the national congress during the consideration of the Jay treaty, the British proceeded with new plans to form an alliance with the Indians for a renewed invasion of the northwest. However, the appropriation for carrying the treaty into effect was finally passed by congress and President Washington chose Wayne as the government representative to visit the posts of Detroit, Niagara, Oswego and Miami, and attend to their transfer from British to American control. At Detroit, Wayne was received by noisy demon- strations by his former foes, the Indians; he remained at the post for more than two months. On the 17th of November he sailed from Detroit for Presque Isle, site of the present city of Erie, Pennsyl- vania, and when within a short distance of his destination he was suddenly seized with an attack of gout. For several weeks after reaching Presque Isle the general suffered intolerable agony. He died December 15, 1796, and his remains were interred in military ground of his own choosing.
STARVING INDIANS AT FORT WAYNE.
Colonel Hamtramck remained in command of Fort Wayne until June, 1796. Conditions at Fort Wayne previous to his transfer are pictured in a series of extracts from his letters to Generals Wayne and Wilkinson at Greenville.
The destruction by the Americans of the food supply of the Indians created the serious problem of keeping many of the savages at the head of the Maumee from starving to death. "The issues [of supplies] to the Indians would be very inconsiderable," he wrote on December 13, 1795, "if it was not for about ninety old women and children with some very old men. * *
* I have repeatedly tried to get clear of them, but without success." A month later, Hamtramck reported that he had notified the dependent savages that he could no longer supply them with food, because of its scarcity, but the warmth of his heart is shown by the added comment that "if other supplies could be got by land, I consider it politic to feed these poor creatures, who will suffer very much for want of subsistence." By the 10th of February, 1795, the condi-
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tions were so bad that he was "compelled to give to them or see them die; it was impossible to refuse."
The scarcity of wampum was the subject of another communica- tion from Colonel Hamtramck, who found that the Indian substitute for money was necessary to the transaction of business with the red men. "I am out of wampum," wrote Hamtramck to General Wilkinson. "I will be much obliged to you to send me some; for speaking to an Indian without it is like consulting a lawyer without a fee."
Wampum (also writen wampom, wam pame, wompam and wompi) was used as money and for ornament by the Indians. It was made of small shell beads, pierced and strung, or woven into belts. The shell was cut away, leaving only a small cylinder, shaped like a bugle.
At this time, Fort Wayne was made the headquarters for the group of American posts in the west-Defiance, Sandusky, Adams, Recovery, Jefferson, Loramie, Head of the Auglaise and Michili- mackinac. Colonel Hamtramck, with a detachment from Fort Wayne, moved down the Maumee in March, 1796, to counteract a demonstration by the British, intended to arouse the savages to revolt, and while encamped on the river, he received a message from General Wilkinson directing him to receive the transfer of the British Post Miami and then to proceed to Detroit to take command of the former British post-Fort Lernoult. Hamtramck arrived at Detroit July 13th, accompanied by Captain William Wells. Then occurred the relinquishment of the last British post on American soil. "Thus was accomplished," observes Dr. Slocum, "after a further struggle of thirteen years by the young republic, with the loss of much blood, what Great Britain should have at once sur- rendered at the close of the Revolutionary war, in 1783, in accord- ance with the treaty of Paris."
PASTEUR, HUNT, BURBECK, PIKE AND WHIPPLE COMMANDANTS OF FORT WAYNE
Upon the departure of Colonel Hamtramck, Fort Wayne was placed under command of Major Thomas Pasteur, also a seasoned veteran of the Revolutionary campaign. His services extended over a period of two years.
Major Pasteur was a native of North Carolina. His services in the Revolutionary war began as an ensign in the Fourth regiment of infantry from his state. His advancement through successive official positions placed him in the captaincy of a company of the First United States infantry in 1792, when Wayne's army was form- ing to invade the west. On the 4th of September, he was assigned to the First sub-legion of Wayne's army. At the close of Wayne's campaign, Pasteur was placed in command of Fort Knox in Ohio. On the 1st of November, 1796, at the time of his assignment to Fort Wayne, he had been entrusted with the command of the First regi- ment of United States infantry. In 1803, Pasteur was made major of the Second regiment of infantry. His death occurred in 1806. (See Heitman's Historical Register, 1903 Edition, Vol. I).
The period of Pasteur's administration of affairs at Fort Wayne
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THE PICTORIAL HISTORY OF FORT WAYNE
was without marked change over conditions at the close of Ham- tramck's command. The assignment of Colonel Thomas Hunt to Fort Wayne as the successor of Major Pasteur-his service begin- ning in May, 1798-gives to the story a welcome element of the more refined social life of the east, and, incidentally, the circum- stance provides a number of romantic stories which cluster about the memory of the fort in the wilderness.
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Colonel Hunt had served with distinction in the Revolution. Born in Massachusetts, he became a member of Captain Craft's com- pany of "minute men" at Lexington and Concord, in April, 1775. Later, he participated in the battles of Bunker Hill and Stony Point. Successive advancements found him in service as a major with Wayne in 1793. Following the western campaign, and the building of Fort Wayne, he went to Detroit and assisted Wayne in the trans- fer of the British post to the Americans. He was then sent to com- mand Fort Defiance, and, later, Fort Wayne. Following his service here, extending from 1798 to 1800, he was given the command of the
46 perches from the black line to the of
IT
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THE FORT IN THE WILDERNESS
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posts at Detroit, Fort Defiance, Fort Industry and Fort Mackinac. He was a member of the Order of the Cincinnati, composed of Amer- ican and French officers at the cantonments of the Continental army at the close of the Revolution in 1783.
In 1797, just previous to the assuming of the command of Fort Wayne, the family of Major Hunt came from their Boston home to Detroit. On the 11th of April, in the following year, occurred the
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