The Forts of Fort Wayne: Twenty-Five Years of Army Occupation at the Three Rivers Main Menu Fortifying the Rivers The First American Fort is Built A New Century and a New Fort The Second Fort, 1800-1815 Statehood Sentry The Third Fort, 1815-1819 A Fort Reborn Preserving the Past for the Next Generation

Why Fort Wayne Matters

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The confluence of the St. Marys, St. Joseph, and Maumee Rivers has been an important place for centuries. Offering connections to areas around the continent via its waterways, the space that now forms the center of the city of Fort Wayne, Indiana, has been of regional, national, and even international importance at various moments across its history. Due to time and length constraints, this project will only address the period before the arrival of U.S. troops in a brief introduction located here and sporadically when additional context is needed. This is not to downplay or ignore the area's rich and vast history before it came under the direct control of the United States. Readers are encouraged to consult histories assembled by the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma, Charles Poinsatte's Outpost in the Wilderness: Fort Wayne, 1706-1828, the History of Fort Wayne & Allen County, Indiana, 1700-2005, and Bert Griswold's Pictorial History of Fort Wayne, Indiana. While some of these works certainly reflect their age, they remain a valuable introductory look at the region. 

Fort Wayne was the anchor for many key events in the formation of the Old Northwest Territory and state of Indiana. Oftentimes overlooked, frontier forts were the lifeblood of American expansion (at a great cost to the Native American population). This project will address the twenty-five-year period in which the U.S. Army occupied the area at the three rivers. Three forts sequentially defended the federal government's interests in the area, with garrisons that ranged in size from sixty to three hundred soldiers. The wives and children of the men carved out their own lives on the frontier while aspiring merchants and settlers plied their trades outside the walls. The Myaamia (Miami) and other Native American groups looked on, ever aware of the incursion into their lands that was there to stay.

The following sections will be divided amongst the life spans of the three original forts, 1794-1800, 1800-1815, 1815-1819; and address the modern reconstruction of the fort. Within these sections, sub-sections will focus on the officers and their families, the soldiers and their families, Anglo-American civilians in the area, and the Myaamia (Miami) during each time frame. It is hoped that this resource will serve as an asset for Fort Wayne community members, teachers, military historians, and anyone interested in this time period and its impact. While much of the source material has been in print at one point or another, most of it is no longer accessible to researchers due to limited print runs that are now too expensive to acquire or locked in personal collections away from public eyes. Digital history ensures open access for generations to come to learn their history in an interactive and constantly evolving format.

Acknowledgements:
The culmination of one’s academic career does not happen without the help of their advisors and those closest to them. Thank you to Dr. Ron Morris for serving as my advisor for this project and making sense of my jumbled ramblings about old wood buildings. Thanks as well to Jordan Bratt, Ball State University Libraries, who provided the technical support needed to get this Scalar site running smoothly. Rich Halquist, Allen County-Fort Wayne Historical Society, very graciously helped me access the vast amounts of material held in the Society’s collections about the Fort. Finally, the most important acknowledgements. Finishing a thesis project requires long stressful nights and the needs of the student are often put on the back burner. Thank you to my partner Grace who kept me fed, hydrated, and as sane as possible throughout this process. Without my parents taking me to the Air Force Museum in Dayton, Historic Fort Wayne, the Fort Wayne Philharmonic, and every other activity they could I would not be the person I am today. Thank you, Mom and Dad.
 

This page has paths:

  1. The Forts of Fort Wayne: Twenty-Five Years of Army Occupation at the Three Rivers Cory Balkenbusch

Contents of this path:

  1. Fortifying the Rivers
  2. A New Century and a New Fort
  3. Statehood Sentry
  4. A Fort Reborn

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