The Forts of Fort Wayne: Twenty-Five Years of Army Occupation at the Three Rivers Main Menu Why Fort Wayne Matters The Goals of this Project 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

The Birth of a City: Civilians, 1815-1819

4 Why Fort Wayne Matters The Goals of this Project
The end of the War of 1812 brought a flood of new settlers into the Old Northwest. The village around Fort Wayne was no exception. Buildings that were burned during the siege were rebuilt and new residents established homesteads near to the garrison. However, this new competition for timber and land caused issues for the soldiers. The three miles around the Fort were supposed to be reserved for the military but this rule was largely overlooked by the locals. Whistler was forced to issue a somewhat exasperated order to the population around the Fort:

Any Citizen or other person who has built or who may hereafter build or erect any Messuage,[1] Barn Stable, or other Buildings Within three miles of this Garrison, shall cause such Messuage, Barn, Stable, or other building, to be Razed or demolished at his, her or their own expense and trouble When ever the Commanding officer shall deem such Messuage, Barn, Stable or other building a Nuisance, or in any way dangerous or injurious to the safety health or convenience of the Garrison or the Troops thereof, or Whenever they shall be thereunto required by my legal authority of the United States.
John Whistler Major Commanding.[2]


The citizens in the area who were willing to oblige signed their names to the order, which provides an exact list of how many households were within the military reservation in 1815. Out of the seven names listed, at least two men (Antoine Bondie and Charles Peltier) were federal employees working for the Indian Agency. Benjamin Franklin Stickney, who had taken over the Indian Agency at Fort Wayne, had grand visions for his place within the area. Stickney was a New Hampshire native, born in 1775. His wife, Mary Molly Stark, and he had five children. Stickney was known to be an eccentric man, his great uncle was, after all, the Benjamin Franklin. The Stickneys had four children that lived to adulthood. The two sons, aptly named ‘One’ and ‘Two,’ grew up at the post along with their sisters Mary and Indiana.[3]

Stickney and Whistler frequently clashed over authority. One key point of contention was the use of soldier labor to fulfill the needs of the Indian Agency. Stickney had several major projects that were concurrent with the construction of the new fort, most importantly the rebuilding of a two story council house that could be used for treaty negotiations and his own personal residence. This was a major undertaking that required far more labor than the handful of employees the Agency had could provide. While construction lagged, Stickney and his family were forced to reside in the Fort. This hampered his ability to have meetings with local Native American leaders, as access to the Fort was limited as much as possible in the name of security. Stickney bombarded his superiors in the meantime for additional labor to build the council house.[4] After much pleading and additional resources being granted, the council house was complete by late 1817.

Some of the earliest talks to take place in the new council house involved the 1818 Treaty of St. Mary’s. This treaty represented yet another step in the process of land being removed from the possession of the Myaamia so more settlers could move into the new state. However, there were nearly two hundred acres put aside in an area just south of the Fort for the family of Chief Richardville. This close connection to the Richardville family and the place of their reservation was a key influence on the development of Fort Wayne as city.[5]

The departure of the garrison on April 19th, 1819 was a shock to the local settlers. They had grown accustomed to the security that the Fort provided, but ultimately it became clear there would be no more fighting in the area. Stickney took over the vacant buildings and they were repurposed to meet the needs of the growing population. The area’s first United States land office and Protestant mission school were both housed in the old buildings of the Fort. The American Fur Company established an office in 1820 under the direction of Francis Comparet, Alexis Coquillard, and Benjamin B. Kercheval. Men that would later become instrumental in building and designing the Wabash and Erie Canal arrived in the early 1820s, including Samuel Hanna, trader, judge, legislator, banker, and James Riley, a civil engineer.[6]

The foundations for the city of Fort Wayne were set, growing up from the community of Francophone and American settlers who had slowly transformed the area into their own. The Myaamia influence remained strong, despite the stripping away of their lands. The area remembered their history when it came to naming their new city in 1823: Fort Wayne.
 
[1] House in Old French.
[2] “Orders for the Government of Citizens residing on the United States reserved for this Garrison,” John Whistler, 6 November 1815.
[3] Bert J. Griswold, Fort Wayne: Gateway of the West, 1802-1813 (Indianapolis: Indiana Library and Historical Department, 1927), 50.
[4] Benjamin Franklin Stickney to Secretary of War Crawford, November 5 1815.
[5] Charles Poinsatte, Outpost in the Wilderness: Fort Wayne, 1706-1828 (Fort Wayne: Allen County - Fort Wayne Historical Society, 1976), 81.
[6] Poinsatte, Outpost in the Wilderness: Fort Wayne, 1706-1828, 83-86.

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