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Graduate Thesis Collection Graduate Scholarship

6-1-1929

The Fur Trade around Ft. WayneWinifred C. Craig

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Recommended CitationCraig, Winifred C., "The Fur Trade around Ft. Wayne" (1929). Graduate Thesis Collection. Paper 72.

_de around Ft. ~eJne

ci ex tion Jresent.ed l.:artic:..l rc ireI:le.nt

1 :JI' B::.;ree of _l~~S tcr of ~1..I' t~ in

iGtol'Y

CamDbe~l Crat

~utler University

.e, neteen '/entv- ni ne •

(

Bi b] iogr~hy

J'lSpO, H. S., Histor¥ of the L:aumee Va]]ey)1872.

Slocum, Charles ~., History of the LaumeE Hiver Basin ]905. a - --- -~-)

Phillips, Paul C., Fur Trade in l<1aumee Wabash Countr~; Indiana

University studies # 66-68 . 91-l18.J pp.

DiJ]on, John E., History of Indiana 1Q 18]6.

Gr iswo J d, Bert J.. Pictor iel His tory £.! Fo.rt Wayne, 19] 7

Benton, E. J., Wabash Trade Houtes.

Brice, ~:;allace A., Histor;z, of ~ Wayne, 1868.

Cottman, George, Indiana, Its Historl, Constl:.tution and Pr~sent

Go vernmen t, ] 925.

Wild Anicals in Indiana, Indiana Magazine of History, 1906.

Griswold, Bert J., Ft. vVaY!l:e, Gatewe.y of the Wes.t 1802-1813.

Indian Agenc~ Accou~t Book.

tliner, Byrum D., Sketch ~~ GeorgE ~in~.

ColEman, C. B., Letters fr0E! 18th Century Ind.lana Uerchants,

Indiana Magazine of History, 1909.

Lasselle, Charles B., O_ld Indian Traders in Indiana,

Inaiana Magazine of History, 1906.

Readings in Indiana History, # G,7, 16, 26, and 38.

~wing, George v;. and William G., Indiana State Library Col1~ction

of Papers 1822-1845·- ./

Huntington Herald, Account of Day BoDle of Chief lUChardv~}J_~}83~,

Centenary ~dition, August 7, 1928.

PLAN OF PAPl'R

I. Introduction.

II. French control of Maumee-Wabash fur trade.

III.English-French struggle for control of trade 1700-1763.

IV. English-American strugg1~ for control of trade 1763-1795.

V. Fur trade around Ft. Wayne 1800-1845

1. FUr trade in general 1800-1830

2. Struggle of the Bwing Brothers for

control of trade 1830-1845.

~,'"," \/I-. ., "...

o :>',"~"" ~ct ~I~~ >.,1 Q~ .. o~')O :l~.:two,:,v 3'1l ~C)l\

(S''''~i4Ill to .~ '~Jf)l""", c ::I~o1"c)c\-.)~ ;)~~3)

~..:t QO& ~;) r"", ('flOo U!~ "D J

1

TTIO factors have contributed to the imoor t position

::;'t. Wayne ha~ occu11ied in the politicul and economic llisto

of' Horth J..r!lerica ---first, its location upon the "most Iamous . 1. swold­ portage. in Iiorth Ameri oa," alid second., the great [j bundance tor io.l tory, pp. of fur beari animals found 13.·10 the streams and in the 22

forests of this region.

Until tIle nin.eteeEth century inland. rivers r lakes

alo:ue provided .hi of travel into the interior, 80 that

orta asswrred tremendous importance. Savages reelized

this, and port s became thE; scene s of the i1' bat tles, j

s Gney bcc~m~ the points of contention on the Dart of the

hite m€ln latE::r. 711e ··"5umee-l.'"ioabasb JOl"tar:c in narticular

,vas signifioant, because it ."las t1.w connectinF; lin~: in the

shortest continuous water route from tue iJ..tlantic Ocean to

thE: Gulf of' Mexico; from the Fort ITayne cross roads one

could "u:o dm'ill thE­ ~~uumeE: to Lake­ 'Cr ie, u'O thE 3t. Joseph

a- its brener.as llorthward to Cich iGan j or up thE:: St. :Mary's

srJu'thes.sterly, th by ::,ort to t he';rea t r.:iarnito the

Ohio to Fit t sbur~, or un the ::onono~e.hele, or ·:..lle ....m ...... _'1

--------------or from ttle june tionof tl1e st. JoseF 's aLa

3t. Mary's (Ft. rrt1yne) southvie~erly across a sev,. mile

Dort!.1!":E.-----laun_c)l a canoe in the Li ttle FivE.r, a bl'2nch of ~-- -.. - - - --- --_.­ - -~---- - 2,

to3d ito the ".. , . . t th 0. lf " ".1SSlSSlJJ1)1 ~ _,_e ~.,thi

From a very early period the portt:lge was to the Indians

to Little Turtle at thB '1reenville Conference lithe glorious

e through l;~hich aLL the bood words of our chiefs have he:d

~ "'" J ~.

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to 1)3SS, from north. 4;0 sout:fl [..inc} from the East to tIle

..,t .\"!oyne L ::Test. n

he streaJfttS from the ::':'t. 'ih::ryne port- into

the heart of the contimmt abounded in oeavE::r anr .::.-1':1 t ,

the va s t fore sts were fillea 1"Ii th deer; rac coons, 'o"1i1(3 C3. t

and bear, Ie mink and otter for luxury furs, could b

trappe<1 by the thou.swuis---the abundance of such fur bear­

ing anlmalsprovcj. 'by t :L'0:Dt Ul'::.t for oveT a century anct a

half aft6T the introduction of '- L:lffi into th~ forests the

fur traae was the central interest of the territory anrt was

carri.eel Oli to the lloin:t of exterm:ination. 3mall V'wnaer the'n,

that the Indian, the :F:rencrunen, tho t!:n,n:lish and the ,di:lC3ricC1ns

realized the 0. t o.(lVaDta~'e of the snot and fought for -i ts

control.

he first Indi settlement in Vicinity of' it. Cayne

"'I8.S tha t or the i'6iamls o ;ave to the ir vi 1] the "Ie

i~e-ra-onitQ, meaning b.lackberry patch. The ;:iami villa~e ex­

tended principally along the st. Joseph Hnd reached to nithin

short distt1.llCe of the confluence of thE:.t river \7i th tne

,;.:;t. r,~ary's. Charles Lasselle notes a t "When the 1iiami s

YH:;;]"'e first v is i ted 'uy ti1e Prench authori ties at ChIcago in

16'10, they -,lore tllen a very :")owerful nation. Or the ir

villagE..) S, -r:i-on';:'l \Y&ti consider b~T the t:iarnis i:i: ost

LJITlortCi.Il t---Q S it was tht: 19.r~es't" anu most pO',t-rful ai' their

}:Josse ssions and was s i t\H~t t:d near the hea.(-\7~t~r.s of the Z

• 'os. sh J the :.. iami (I,.ltClumee ) and t hE; at. J as epI1 of' .Le.ke rHc 11 iRan. II

The first and bes'Lac{)OWlts of the Miamis com.es undou"bted­

ly from the J~suit Fathers in the 'Jesuit Relations.' From

U.l.a~ source it is learned thet in 1658, from the l':issioIJ of

3

~,

old, s-or "7". IP. ~~?

old, dis­of I't. , 11 .11

"it. h~ichael (\le~;t shor~ of ..... "" ,lichi~an) cam report of

~ colony of 2~,OO amis in 60uthYlest j'.~ichi northern :L

Indic By 1682 the site of Ii't. Wayne Yl6.J occupied by the

. s-ka-ons ana the Ottawa.s O..!iami bn:mches) for in a letter

from Jean de Lmn.berv ille to :'rontenac he fear's the annihila­

tion by the Iroquois of the ·"·iamis d their neishbors on

headwete,s of th6 -aum

mhe chare,;cter of the ~Ham.iwh ree from the cOlltami-

Un t ion. of -chI;;, Hll i t<; men seems to hevc. be, h it:;h. -';3. ther Cl

;>.110' refl:Jl'S to tJ:1urn as "Gentle, sedate and Elf blEl, 1(,ri til 2..

lani;uage in ,'i th di.'l.ni ty." The)' seldom isturbed

tJ in th.e :'orests until the coming of the hun'tinS/: sea-

SOil, usually about the fil'st of irOVBm'Uol' ; dU!'i

they hunted beaver, raCJOOll, beal' , Cleer ct!ll1 in ths earlier

'ys, buffalo, for food and for th8ir' skins. -r.'or ~uthori t~,

that tuffalo orevailed in the Liaumeft-na.bE..Sh ion, r}ris'l"old

cites letter I'ro ua"briel rJarest in which he Ss.v.s

'the quantity of' buffalo bear the oubache is increQi-

Ie" 111 from La Salle "T Ititude of buffalo is

bey lief---~ '~ '" 12-00 of the _illeu in ei,oQ;h .3

uys a st 1.)u:ri thE; Tl'6rioo. of

disputed possession of t e~~- ah port~ge the i: iam.1s

were allies of th~ the :Dl[lj.sh---later they

Allied themselves with ~. ish a~ainst the ll.D1er1c .. fear It ilOOte £: h8111.sel yes wi ~,_

'1erce tnt ·t a fOb 1" nt

for -tht. Incli3.:n., ex~terll1ination.

''',orlth,s dif'f to \'ilhen 'the wb ~ - n 1"11' at

'1o ~'.L<::u.p., ~:lorta£:e to i'j'i1Ei II mud is first

sett In Gr is'i1O ld 's _'ic t()r . =1:istory of Ft.

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J' ...-:;--Q ... _ ... _ J. '&"" "-4-~ ..,;) .... U ..W.tll <.;..;,...l -(t, ~"~rl +""'rorn ~;-nU<"O,.,~" j"-''''''-'rr'tl've

s'nd Critical Histo.r:r iea) uhi dl tI'8 GE: the Gl"C>'l1it-h

.~ i01'" .osr' oi' th e on of t .' t. ,- .... ets

rivers. On C of 1532 th .st. Joseph

t. ~arv's rivers app Ii oes r~ot "owe~

that'Cnamnlain ever visit lla~cs---it 13 rather be­

lieved the. t h<.. ~i ned his kno~jled0 of tnem froID Indi~ns,

ut t11eir nresence on tho map cert n~v urove the iumortance

of these rivers as a Gonnectin l'y;ay into 'tn~

..~aill, the IHcoles Sanson ma l) of' 1656 31wws th8 .<.i vel',

,)ld1. IIis­ Ie site of l't. ';al~'11e, h.,k(.3 ;·ic!ltg9.11 E.Wl Huro , the r; t • flit.

~~,.?p .-~7 -28 , Long ..lsla.nd, CUtlC Cod ena the Che c,o?\n£< J.

._~d finallY in 16'74 Louis Jollt;t's (note inclu~ed illus­

tration) pictures in uncertain relation to 8Qch other, not

only tIle ::>i te ]' t. ~'l a711e , th its adjacent rivers, but

also the Ohio an rivers, ~akes Ontario, 3rie, ~ichi-

an, huron .:superior, on to the Illinois, isconsin and L.

M1ssissinpi .i'iivers to tl e

_"I.uthor1 ties again differ ~s t~ the first Prench settle­

ment upon the site of Fort TI~yne. 1hat ~ 0611e WQS ac­

ld, His­ quaillted ~ith the portage is shown by 5. l~tter in 1680, oJ T.i't. ,p{).28-29 i hi h report to the Canadian a

olloTIs: ~there is, at t o ie, teu 1 e.tll.ii:ue

be1o~., ,;:.,'trai t (Detroi t ·ver?) a river h1c11 we could 2­

-'­old, His­ s ~ I" the rOUl; t 8 ver~ en. And in t!wr of 7t. '00.28- ..... · let ter, he stlea}:s of a short <Jut route ~6 !l shorte s t ofI . ~

3all." 'l'his ste.tement hm'8ver, is questioned by E. L Taylor

of Columuus, Ohio, as' probable, but not certain to be true.

udgeLa'lll in s Coloni::~l History of Vincennes concl

5

th9!t the r'rencll e their first settle:Jment there aLout

1710-1'711. ter into consi io h Ycnt£.1{;es

of th6 J')ortc,ge 1'01' communicat iot, , t he nearness of t oint

to the 1;...ll:8S . the abu of ~Jl the vicinity, Brice

believes tbat a settlement TI~S e at the confluence of

the river s (Ft. '.7a: r ne) ::;Jrior to the. t of VinCellD.eS---~os-

Isibly a temporary post wa~ es , istted 1682. ~'-lis COLl­

elusion is based unon ! Icster ala -0.62­

, History 63) that ailE; "falla'll in--( along the or divide • '7a. me

whidl S TG.t6S th thut flow into the Ohio River 1.

from those that flo~ into L r'ri €;" reached his desti ­

nation in saf "rom tiie same source Brice finds t

La 5E-lle spent the fall of 1679 in tilE: erect ion of a fort

T~istory at the mouth of 3t. Jose!>h river, I sounding the cbannel ,,_e,

of that atr , and established "a de"Dot for sup)lies and

good " ;L.

_..~aiIl, Brice finds au tnori ty for hi s beJLief in the

este.blishment of a post at Ft. \1 in the 17th cen~ury,

:'roln J'uther fienneoin who in 1698 (stat~s .and Territories

of tne GrE;a t nest, pp. 68-69) v/TitEts "the route bv the

~jaUIl1:ee and ";'i"abash is the most direct to the: great £iv-er.'"

l:~lso F£:.th",r Hennepin 6i ves &n intE;;restinc account of the

e:ction of a post \7i thin the territories of the :L~amis

cOIlnects t 'oui ld inz of' the o::>t v.'ith th Ul' t r8..ue

by recouuti the difficulties met in the work of convertin3

tht: Inc.i:ms- -~ rna Ch ~iffuclties jeem to hav

bee'" tro.j~r-s ;:Jno deal com:r.only with the s toIf"

in bv their traffic----------- use all manner of

stra.tap:ems to get thE. furs of the sa es cheap. '~ley

()

e use or lie", c to gain ...ule t'

s wlthout a do ..L !" , rsio re­

igioll, Y1hioh th see accompanied by the professors 0

1 ~i t' rtifice ts."

In 168-: e, (;.overl1or General 0 ouada t

e, Lis- remonstrated to th uthoities at Alb· ec;;.use of , 1p.S-6 the Iroquois had bee. , i termeddli , wi th th richts

and proper of F .... 11 t L in ouncil held

with tll ive tio e V arre accused the ~roquois

of robbins an the "'Tench tr:l<lers as theY "moved 2,

estward." Tnus, :VS of' the 18th c

Frenc laid claim t ~l soil Ivil.L>i 'oet\7een Cen

d and to ~i ve etia ':Jetu8 to

l' tr~~c.(;;, 'then ba(;omin~ €xtensi ve, tog~~her with a de­. ire to convert the Ind.it,lns, the :'renah gove.rnme

1'oceeded "tiO erec t forts ~na t rad.i ns ~osts fAt no

. ted for such • ~illon in his researches is

~or the statement, "The Eiami villages wh~ch stood at t

head of' the river Haumes, the iTea vill!.g~s near Ouiateno

on the ~abasL and the Piankeshaw ~illa£e (near wnere

incennes is now) \':Tere I it seems Teg~rded by the early

r-rench fur trad.ers as sui table places for establ ishin

-~radinh: nost s. It 1s nrobnble that ten'Oorary tradinR 'lJOst.:s

ted on tl.n. si tes of :Cart /,rayne , Quia tenon and

ore thL end of the year 1719. ~'hese points

hau, ti. is believed, been of tell vi~ited b7 traders before :{

1'700. "

---

7

T ual (militaT ' ... C iB l} G, f t h

h-" ivlti o:f ~ I~ ir s t C oIUlUundan t ,

JOB: p~iste 3issot, Sieur de Vincennes o nrobably came

to umee lioout 1 is re T .... ­

rna to the 5i te Q' (3 receive

't1as ordered to ost ana ~o

II lore about fighti t-

lv b. en an.:ta£:ed ill t. c.

t e

t intere~t of the s an element

of French occupation i .~O cLelmoDstrated by tl ure1y

TC ial nature of' t aeti1ls.c nost at Detroit whi

to have been occupi to "maiu t in b er

rt "'01' sh1nment e to 'France. trne

.eX"tent of thE:l sure d lJY the the tue tth

ot'fered 10 J 00 eLusive right for

its c""" v. ~ .... t Jetroit. ortis of this post it

en fou t in 1702

from t 01...", •

TIli r tr.:J.u t

"aba sn io missio45 of 8(;6. To tl tnt:

riod. VI' 1001(eo. as a sort ':'hI

:"rench n ilv accommodated itself to life o~

th ores~. S, (me o betlf~ld .~eri

ito 1 lisied thems e i

rly tr~Cl..eJ i16T"'- 10 o th int

. li anicably them. e a us s i

of go.od F:aneral i ae) 0'-0 lize

ense !,l"or" i 1:. .1 he traffic fur", •

8

~he trsde itself wad ca~ried on by means of men, called

voyageUl·s, engages. and coureUl·S des bois, who were

hired to manage thfl small vessel s on the lakes, and to

paddle the canoes along the lake shores and the rivers;

and to carry the merchandise from trading posts to the

villages of the Indians, alliej with the ?rench. Coarse

blue and red c~oth, fine scarlet, guns, powder, lead

balls, kruves, hatchets, kettles, blankets, ribbons, beada,

vermiJ 1ion, tobacco and liquor Wflr rc given in exchange for

vHluable furs, which ~Erp carried back to the place of

deposit for shipment.

Fro::n 1683 to 1750 the French faced two problems,

closely relatpd to each other, one to keep bac~ the west­

ward movement of the ~nglish from the Atlantic seaboard /

and second, to predrrve the friendship of the Indians and

avert an Indian-English alJianoe. al~3Ys a danger to French

profits in the fur tradr. ~ngJish interest in the terri­

tory and in the fur trade made them give earnest thought

to driving out the Fxench from the interior. and at the

Same time, to the gaining of th~ good wi] 1 of the Ind ians.

In the latter entergriae the ~nglish had definite advantages

over the French. Their presFnts were more attractive and

more abundant than WErF possible to thr Fr~nch; they could

pay higher prices for peltri€8 and they were able to Offer

cheaper prices for .goods exchanged, due to thA fact that

the French could not buy bright Indian goods as cheaply

as th~ ?nglish could maAe them, and a]ao to the fact that

the French cor.'1panifS were obl iged to ilpay a duty to the

king." which enabled thfl traders of New York to aell thE"ir

goods to the Indians at half the price possible for the

French in Canadu. By 1724 British merchants in New York

were paying double the price for beaver allowed by the

French company in ~ontreul. The French were thus unable

to keep the English. thoroughly alive to their trade in­

terests in the 'Ohio country,' from contact with the Indians.

The French Wf·re !urthpr handicapped in their attempts to

hold the Great Lake region fur t£ade through the defiance

of the ~rench coureurs des bois, whose reversion to bar­

barism, due to life of unbridled licentiousness among the

Indians. had been rapid. Due to the prohibiting of trade

to all except a few favored companies by the French govern­

ment. and more and more rigidly enforced monarchical re-

striations. these coureur des boii carried their Bklna~

and pel tries to the ~nglish trading posts, a measure which

caused additional apprehension to the French fur· companies

and to the royal government in France. Force proving un­

successful. concessions ~er€ granted these free booters

and they became guides and voyageurs for the French com­

panies, thus deprivi~g thE British of this lucrative trad~

and making them increase their efforts to extend the ac­

tivlties of their own traders further westward into the

country of the Indians.

The Indians, of cour~e, W"'l.'''' the great source o·f the

peltry sup6ly~ and competition for their friendship and

trade bec8m~ one and the same thing. The Inglish and the

French wsre both aggressive, and the Indians w€r~ fic~le

and treacherous. "The ~ngli8h and the Indians are in

9

good correspondence," wrote Colonel Ingoldsby to the

British Trade Commission, "but the French out do us much

in caressing them.~·

so/through seeking the trade of the Indians, England

and France Were kept in almost constant warfare in Ameri­

ca throughout the first half of the eighteenth century.

The British became more and more alive to the profits in

fur to be ,obtained by trade with the Miamis/and sent traders

into the Maumee-Wabash region with telling effeot. The

MiamiS were outwardly loyal to the French, but could not

resist the higher fur and lower goods prices paid by the

Engl ish tradeT~ who sought to wean them away from. their

French allegisnce. AftEr 1733, slowly but surely, the Fn­

glish gained the fri~ndhsip of the Pastern Indians and even

made such headway among the Miamis that their friendship

for the ~rench became a doubtful asset. The strife in the

Maumee-Wabash region showed the waning powpr of the French

in America. ~he last grE-at war, formally declared by Eng­

land in 1756, caused rnainJy by rivalries in America, waS

the natural culmination of the years of continual hosti­

lities and growing aggressiveness of the local nationali­

ties. fJo great battle in this war was ,f-ought in the l!8uijlee­

WabaSh region. The contest in this territory was a con­

test between Wnglish trad~rs and agents among the Indian~

and French agents and traders, each of whom sought to hold

the Indians closely to the m€rcantil~ interest each repre­

sented---a reminder of the grOWing import811Ce of the fur

trade, the protection of which had brought theSe men into

10

~ 1,

.fL JI/st/­

. l'Var;1L, r" 7

these vall eys. ~he frequent encounters betwee.n these

rivals did not entirely oease. even with the fall of

Quebec in 1760. However, the surrender of Detroit,

September 29, 1760 thFew the whole Maumee-Wabash region

into the hands 0 f the Br i t1sh and a formal transfer of the

Miami post in Decem!Jer began British control of the fur

trade around Fort Wayne.

The end of the French and Indian War brought the

English face to face with the probl~m of contro1 of the

fur trade in the Indiana region. a problem of serious

concern in British politics. The imperialists, on one ~~

hand, wiShed~full control of thE traffic in skins and furs

to be placed in the hanua of royal officials, preferably

super intententB of Ind.ian affa irs, whil e the trad ers, on

the other, cried aloud for the decentralized system of the

~nglish colonies, wh@re the royal governors, supposedly,

were the regulators of the trade. To hold the Indians

as allies, in case of a break with the American colonies/

became a matt€~ close to the hearts of official ~ngland,

which feared .an" Indian colonial alliance and a loss of

blYth terr i to!'y and trade. '.rhis fear led Sir Will iam Johl1­

aon to ask the Fngllsh government to strengthen and re­

occupy the post at the Miami Village. Be noted twe posts-­

"St. Joseph, a post on the St. Josephs which flows into

Lake Michigan and the Mlami's~---neither of which had been

re-established; "The former is of less consequence for the

fur trade than the latter, which is a place of some im­

portance. I' t

11

12

Fngland's first att~mpt at regulation of the WES­

tern fur trade came through the Proclawltion of 1763.

This edict reserved all land west of the proclamation

line to the Indians and forbade white purchases, thus

closing the door to colonial expansion on the one hand,

while offering a bid for Indian allegiance on the oth~r.

F-:eee trade with the Indians to all f'our subjects" was

granted, on condition that the trader took out a license

in the colony in which he resided and gave bond to obey

all royal regu]ations for control of trade. The purpose

sought by the Proclamation, that of fur trade regulation,

failed completely, partly because. thp. colonial authori­

,ties were too busy to pay att~ntion to the trade, and

partly because the traders Saw no rEason for taking out

licenses, nor for taKing h€fd of the "fair price' and

no liquor selling" royal regulations. So the Maumee­

Wabash regi on teemf'd wi th unl icens ed trad E'J."S, ma inl y

French, an idle lazy lot, often times worse than the

Indians themselves; they attended all Indian Assemblies,

ma~::ing thf' Indians druIllC and securing trading articl ~s

over again, in payment for more liquor---and the super­

intentents of I~dian affairs Wfre unable to stop them.

~vil corr~tIons prevailed---the traders treated the Indians

bruta1Iy--the Indiana begged the government unsuccessfully.~

to help them. The British traders lost in the battle for

the fur proflts---the French traders from Canada continued

to prosper.

- -

... L,UI.• ,&",I..

this endeavor 1s shown bv the fact, that

th.e ~~umEe-Wab8511 ref.~ion remu ined Eri t i3~, untl1 the bUil

rs ar'ter Lhe br11~iant

ri to.TY. ![h€ value Qf tl.l

. BDI

fDr in E~itis~ ~OOd8.

h

terests.. the forts remnined in the hanlis or the "Sri tisr

rs continued to Co to Detroit.

town the re sid13l1ts \.'Ere nee):' 1'1 all

"~itish, EO

~t 0 ica1l5 in their 5tt e

fruitful valJ eys, meant in the- long run, Pl'E.:3€:cvatioll of

the fur" trade to the French in residence there. rrhey

bought furs from the Indians, sold them at"Detroit for

Montreal and Furopean merchants. anything that turned

the Indians from trapping to fighting destroyed their

hopes for profits, hence the deSire of the ~ench resi­

dents at Miamitown to preSFrve the status quo.

During this period new merchants and great onES began

trading on tbe t:allrnee. rrwo of the 1 eadE ..C~; oj' thf busilless

among thE ri€\"comfrsjv.1ere David Gray and G€orge Ironside,

who concentrated their efforts at Miamitown. These H:eW. <

mer~in com~any witb such traders as Jaques LassElle and

PetrI' La Fontalne,who had come to the tDwn under British

licenSE during thF- l-~evD}r!tlont tad practical control of

all the traffic in peJtries, which pas3~6 over the portage

throvgh j.,:iami-town to Detroi t to increase thE profi ts of

the MDntreal merchant~.

Besides thesF IDFrchants thE VillagE cDnsisted of a

cluster of "irellch hDmes,! and thE vilJagEOs of the M.iamis

and the Shaw11ees, creating a s€r!!i"'civUized situatiDn)

and making thE' viJJagF tce heart of the Anti.-American

hetred and cDnspiraci~s. Something of the situation in

~iamitown in this p~riod (1784-1795) is shown in the

Journal Df Henry Hay of Detroit WhD re8ch~d the Village

in 17'89 as an employee of Georg€' Leith, a Detroit mf'rchant.

He writes as fDJ]OWS, "Almost PVfl'~' ilJdiviotJa] (except

the engages) is an Indian traafr----e~fry Dne tries tD

15

16

get what he can eithEl' l:;y 'fowl'play or otherwise, thut is

by traducing one another's characters or merchandise---in

short. I cannot tErm it in bettel' manner than cal] ing it 1

a ~1asca] J:' scrarnbl ing Trade. ,t~

~he methods of tradiLg during this period arp i1­

Justrated in the trade of John As~in. who at this time

was located at Detroit. A large num~er of traders were

sent among the Indians to obtain ~FltriEs. The prices

offerEd WfTF high enough to keep out the lim~Yical1 tradFrs

from the East/and the Spanish from thE Mississippi. The

traders boul£ht on comrr..ission and comp~ted among themselves,

which led to buying a~l kinds of fnrs---the poorer quali­

ties failing to sel] for profit abroad. Askin shipped his

furs to Todd Bud ~cGilJ in ~ontreal. who in return fur­

nished Askin with all kinds of trading goods, advanced

cash to him and soJd his furs. In this business the com­

missions and interest charges on advances must hav~ ab-

sorted a good pFrcentag~ of returna. Todd and McGill

shipped collected furs to a London firm whFre charges and

l\commissions 8q.ual1E-d 30?; of the sul€:' price. \ I

In the years 1784-1795 the trade was 000r and appar­

ently becoming poorer. The merchants in Detroit and at

•.Hami to'v\'n faced the constant dang"Fr of losing the export

trade to the port of ~EW Orleans. The Indians always UD-yo, /

certain, bE-came at times actually hostile. They believed

that the AmFricans wanted to rob them of their lands, and

under British influence, rFsisted American occupation.

t of th I cou ~)lec1

9.,'iL the !IlUDle6­

fur tl'

n ~ the .La.sst':; 11 e le t ters in the

Tnr: i e of Lis-tory i1.l. f

'men 1) n I,avid rous l.de S I in-.~e tro i t a.nd i to\'m, present e graphic pic e of co

tiOl1S pre li~ in 1,he l"{lumee-Ilabe..sh val Ti .8 de-a cade rolloTIing the close 0 volution. he

eal tilE. ev t In0.h.;ns,

the de~l:'th 0 ·... r~ for t of fi:rms

5upplv the ')ossibi of Detroit

'or -i o trude with the InQi .osts, due to increasi

ers of transpor~a~ion. weatller to t'

in«.;r,::asin~: fiI1B.ncial glOorll of t "for in 0 let­

ter thE; \vri tar lan:..en I. s II tnE> sno •. t beeIl. Ulan t u

.1. OV(;\j1hht deJs thE; whole r. II

Since there could be no furs whil he Indians i'ou1ht,

ton€:. t.;-- ·'t -arme.r f S c3mnai:., 1790, the itish

merChEtlltc, see ifi_" 1 i ttle nope ce" "'1,1.h the

1M in· ·beat of bll t rea at their ruined

viII s, 'itioneu ttl it is l'nman t for urotect

of r "Sout ru of Detroi Vie- are

old, ::ris-ver:; l'.irt'~Elv inters sted--- ----thLo trader::> d 00"­of Ft. ,p.113 sider~Lle loss lest y~ar ill consequence of of

he !~ir.lai villc.r:es. '~he loss of' their houses and coocts ~

.f.S oeen severely felt." 'lhe Petition ended With an ap-peal

17

I""

l.' Bri ti gov~:r.IllllBIl' de t io..I1 i j,X<.:Ll..: about0.::,'

y'c 16 t··· ... ! d t eric '=', :in ord~r to

v~tore traue conditions to so stabili

H'JVer, Ll 3t. Cla.ir's dei"ea t (1'191) th ri'ti r-

c ce­ to push ~erlcans of t u­

6~- y 6d to establis 11

vOUUn:y south L ISS, free from iCEl u ri t~ t

1th ~ i tis v€-rnmenti holdi ht fo~ts for orotec­

tion of th~ fur business. hEir€; fo~ .,0 thi s end they

r:.orf G i such meoiation ' ell the Indi:"lls i-

c<:l.ns---c; '11i Of. ted sta tes gou""T''n'rnr, e,u'­

tically ref'~~.........

c"lle need of a grea t le~.deI' brought General ~':ayne au

at" .!"E;t,iJ"e1lk;nt an.c.. .made hit the the comrr~lld6r a o8inst tlle

"'- in the r.orthl7est, Hit; def~&t of the llidian'"

lIen '1 iDbttl" ',"Tas hailed with JOY whe~ the new:.:: rea~hed tIl€:

:~erican Bettlements. hoosevelt l~s declared that 1l',V'ayl1e ' s

victorious campai~n was th€ most notenorthy ever carried

on I?ll:ainst the Indians," becas'U(; it "brought the fir

lastill£; pc~ce on the "border a.nd put an_end to the bloody

tu.rmoil of fortv y~er~ fit?;htin,f1,,: It ma outj of the most

striking and migh~ feat s in thE:l T1inninG of the ~es t."

us J "tue Treaty of GTeenville (1795) at TIhich Little

urtle strove so vainly to obtain for his peo'Ple "that

gloriol..s gate" th, ... t l"ia..mito'~i, enu.(;d " power

0-;: nl. i:.... in the IJorthwe::>t r 1'6 for

thE: do all of ritish control of ul' traue.

t n .he t t

1. J...::lut:-g

n~ of

,el" 10 Brit1 0

cOli'tro1 r " oL.'

a'· tl::) hI. ..... .t .0

t 17 o 1", o

"art :7ayne) a to

e (.6,

the t'fioto

repr~ the ."":OVUrDmI;)D t, e

o tve bu t 'since the l'unc

anpert.. tne tl tl es w,e.re used mcu,sc.I'l.mina tely, and lata

a;;:enc I anrt al!en:t. ,,001'': Dl.d<ie Ol' HIC'torY uno lac-CO~·. l'ni

an or hav1nl: b ,res1.den't. I'_9pr~senta't:l.V~. a:mOM"tn~ I~_ ...~ ......

als jte{ rran th COli.'­

tr the ne17 fj"st8:TI 0

88 a. rel)l'esenllU"tlve 0

T . ~ ia.na cnr \..lnl0. 17QS

r'Y of -1,000 from tne

e, 'Oaitl fro

unus rdoelved .~t ,tne a~cnc~ rrom tr~a . Undel~ I11S rna..

"ment, thousands or dolla=3 north o~ supp11e~ 001'l~ ln

rrlS')ll, end in ..'ifts and annu1 ti~s ror th" Ind.­

ians ) 4~Q. in return, thou sands of dolleloS wort.tl 0 i ~ ,

pel. t;ri ... s )urohnsel']

from the Indians) went eastward fr

eflll anc1 consci~ntious he has 1e

20

in the lifelEss figur€s of his account book" a valuable

economic redord of the fur trade and other cOIIlrIJercia1

conditions along the Maumep-Wabash portage, from 1802­I.

18]1.

It is from his record and from the researches of

C. B. LaBsel1e (a life time student of the history of

the valley) that the story of thF fur trade around Ft.

Wayne during the firat decade of thE nineteenth century

is made I.:IlOwn. From a ] ist of tradfrs 1 icense,d by Gen­

eral Harrison, in the possession of C. B. LasselJe,(the

original document in the hand writing of John Rice Jones,

Clerk for John Gibson, Secretary of the territory) we

find the following lic€'nses gr~mt€'d.

B. 1. Louis Boure, NovEmber 30, 1801, who was licensed

to trade wi th the 'Potawatimie' nations at their town of

Couer de serf (Flks Hpart) on F1k Heart River. After­

wards in 1803-1809 he was licensed to trade at Ft. Wayne

and "kept pack horsf-s and 8. warehouse for the deposit of

merchandise and p€ltries in transit at the portag~ be­

tween the !.liami and the Wabash," Apparently traders de­

posited goods with him, during their absence from Ft.

Vlayne---for which he issued receipts and paid off charges

and dutifs at the post. The traders would buy goods in

!Ilontreal. SUITtmfr and fa1 l, bring them in pirogues to Ft.

Wayne, and on to respective trading stations. In th~.

spring they ret,urne<1 with furs" to be sold iIl Detroit or

Canada. Louis Boure acted as a middleman in both trans­

actions, in addition to his own traffic in peltries.L,

21

His­! Ft.

.Appen­25-26

2. Hyacinth Laselle was licensed to trade with the u

Miamis at their tnwn of Uississino»i, 1801. He was born

in iCe-=a-on-ga in 1777, son of James, who fl ed a t the

coming of La Balme in 1780. The father returned in 1795--­

in 18D1 his son. Hyacinth took over the business of trad ing

at a station near Peru. He had great capacity as a trader

and was h~ld in high esteem by the Indians, especially

by the i,Iiamis who gaVE him, duE' to his birth among them, 1·

the name of :~i-..ci-ah or "Little Miaml. I'

B. 3. Benoit Besayon 180] was licensed to trade with the

Pottawattomies at their town of ~el Creek. Be also traded

with the Miamis as late as 1807. 1

The trad~Fs mentioned above, in addition to thOse 81­

ready res,ident in Jt.• vlayne carried on thf' trade in furs

and pel triES at the time of John Johnston's agency there.

Under JOhnston's supervision the Ft. Wayne Agency

be<:ame ODE of the most import!2.nt in the Uni te,d S·tateS.

It dispensed large 8IUlUi ties to the Indians for land

sessions and financed an extensive purchase of land at Ft.

Wa~,ne. r It brought from the Indians tremendous quantities

of furs and pelts which WErE shipped to Philadelphia and.

New York for auction. (Until 1809 export by Eovernment

agencies was forbidden.) It dealt in suppJies, supp1e­

menting ttose furnish~d the garrison by the war depart­

ment, and its business thprefo£E' amounted to thousands @f J

dollars. In a statement showing the amount of estimated

ga in and 1bss on each 0 f the Uni ted .3ta tes IHdian I!'actor i es

from the 31st of December 1807 to the 30th of September

181~ submitted to the House of Representatives, January

15. 1812 by the Secretary of War, "the Ft. Wayne Factory

showed a profit of $10,502.77 the largest profit of any /.

of the ten factories then operated."

(Typical Indian merchandise for Bale and exchange

by Indian agent at Ft. Wayne is shown by JOrul Johnston

in his record book as fo]]ows:

ton's re­ "I. 20 dozen scalping ~nives

book Ft. , Gateway 2. assortment of garden seeds for vegetables, with fh~

i'ifst. comment~these will be very necessary in promoting

our plan of olvilization"

3. 40,000 gray or purple wampum

4. 5,000 whit€ and black wampum

5. 16,000 large and small brooches

6. 600 small cross€s

7. sewing sUk all co]ors. ") Z,

(Wampum was Indian money. In 1796 Colonel Hamtramck wrote old, Ft. ,Gate- to General Wilkinson. III am out of wampum. Viill bl=' v~ry

o the tP.26 much obliged if you will send me some, for speaking to

an Indian without it. is ]ixe consulting a lawyer without

a fee:") 3

An intfr~Bting list of the furs and peltries forwarded

by John Johnston, U. S. Factor from Ft. Wayne, from ]805

to 181]. is found in the 6ecord book of the Agency included

in Griswold's ·'Ft. :fJayne. Gat€way to the West.'f The lists

and the accompanying recapitulation may be usrd to draw

certain conclusions about the fur trade in Ft. wayne

prior to the ~ar of ]812. Beaver skins seemed to have

been scarce whUp raccoor.s ali) deer. wild cat and othfr

22

of ~'urs and Pe>ltry, Forwarded by John Johnston, U.S. Factor,from };'t.V:ayne

"'i ~ ,~ ""l

, ,- .

(..) l~ : ' ~ '-'\ ~ .!' \'-: r l~ - ~ ; .... ~ :, ~ ~ ~~ ''ll .... ..;: I '\: '-\ ~ .

..,j .t V"j ""\ ~ -,:' ~ :\ ~ ~~ ,~ , " ~ 'j ~ ~ -...!. ,~ .'*- -..... oJ " ,~ "'\

~ J (."t'-\i ~"'z 'i-""'4 ' ~ "-\-- ....

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ '" ~~ ~

73 . - . 726 '/ J 285 22 75 10 J 2 6

27 I Philad,1 phia I:' 'I , J I

44 , Detroi t 678 2946 23 I 109 33 426 28 46i ! ­ n_

110 Detroit 8 2052 7894 ]30 248 24 254 94 47

I 157 Detroit 3 1140 26839 94 773 37 251 83 26

.----­ -43 I Detroi t :3 662 5421 i 121 198 0,8 491 32 37!

----,-- , ­

50 I Detroit I 15 1227 3441 80 123 I 14 1 458 I 29 I 2

39 Detroit 866 2420 69 20 2715 I 43 I 3 --"r-, I

I I~'-* peak

# p~ge torn 8 1Jiay. Totals' c~mpu,ed by ,

~ ! . I Colonel John John$ton'ls Indi 11 i:l.genc.y Account Book 18021-1811

I T. sarlsberty, boder$on,

rraken from Ft~ Wairne, IGatewaw of the ~est 1802-1813 I I I

Garrison Orderly ~OOk~, Indirn Agency ACiountIBoo~, edi"ted

by Bert. J. GtisW~ld-~-PUb]irhed by Hist~ricai Bureau ~f

Indiana Library and B~storica1 Depa~tment. 1927. .,

- -

--

-----

Hecapitulation

Raccoons r @ .25 I 860.25

. ,-, ... L •De.erskins (B and D) .' .';: I.:' f@ • 5~ 613.50

f "

",If II f ,. .

.uskrats .25 l14.50 _e -I- (

- f" : I' i , .25 ,Cats, foxes and fisbers --- 30.75" ." r' (!.J: I L ','

-: fie' :, , . .-' \l~ : ',,"

Otters 2.00 58.00

, Minks 3.50

~'25

f­

' 2.00Bears I 160.00

. ... .Beav€~ . - ..... _.. I I 4.00'"

oles ~ I 1.00 ~ I' ~

Dressed s~ins .75 56.25I .'

Pair fine moccasins .50 8.50 L -.

, , .~ ..-' ~ C'. II -.; L: C ' 1!1Fair fine ooccasins r • ~ 3.75

Com. moccasins .25 8.00I + ~l922.00

23

small animals were qUite plf''l'l.tiful. Luxury furs, otter,

mink and so_forth were present in small quantities. Pri ­

vate traders as well as the government factory engaged

in the business of furs and pel tries. Fventually, that

is, after 1815, these private traders monopolized the

4business entirel i/o ~lany of these traul?J. s o,bitaineCi furs

by send ingbuyers wi th the Indians on their hunts. Prices

paid for furs wer~ nominal, and wrre ~aid in goods ~t

double the cost of production and tr8de. Some of the

prices noted at the time are:

~eer, buck-------~1.25

doe-------- 1.00

.!"\accoon---------- .50

Bear---------~---,;-- 3.00 to 5.00

The furs wprf: sent down th~ Maumee to Lake 'll"rie, thence to

Detroit, to be purchased usually, before 1815, by the

American ~ur Company.

After the War of 1812 a period of confusion developed

iI: the region of F"ort 1f!a;YLl€ and other !.laumfe-Wabash trad­

ing centers. Many of th~ old traders had left the country;

some, Fng1isf1, WEre forbidden to trade after 1816, and others.

American, had 0 ffend ed t he In.,., d ians during the wa17 and Vii€re

unable to regain th~ir old influence with them. New traders /

both american Fur Company men alld indepf'ndent tradei's /

en­

tered tel" i'iel d to engagE: irl competi tion betweEn them­

sel ves and 'wi th the oJder traders who remai.ned after the

war. The fur business be·came the principal industry there­

"l..­

8-

traaa bfoueht great' gain t~ truder~, even e s 1L te o-if5 1?>3

hen'the Tottawattam1es MigTsted west 0

ri v'aT. In tru'th, so extensive did the bU

e~ts oecvme the ourrency 01 the re:ior:.. 'OlCi and si 1 var b·-<­

came rarely seen, not ee were 1JUI.de uprotlus

and eel tries. II .and used '1;0 buy c

gooc"i

e SOlei at exorbita.nt u1'i JaS to the Ind ians -rOl" mort: f:J .....s

Blt:r l::;~

ass ~oe g~l"-

ta.Re from the Ml bash, and by LJirocues wara shtpped 'Ii'C lJe­

trait and other poiLts below. The boa t landi!lg at lit.

"B.'tne was just below the pos'~ (Brice says "ubout ~here the

a

25

pany the Indians during their summer hunts, supply them

with goods in small quanti tips. anu ~eep an eye upon

th~m. so that thfY s~~ll not defraud their employers by

selling to othpr~ thE: produce of their hunts. i.'he furs

brot here cons ist pr inc ipal 1y 0 f deer and raccoon sl~il1S;

bear, otteL and beav€~ havE become very rare. ~he skins ,

~hen brot in b~ the Indians are loosely tied and rolled;

they are separated, folded a~d made into packs three feet

long and 18 inches wide. which are exposed to a heavy

press ure under a we dge press. II

This trade. according to the Lassel1e list of trad~rs

licensed after 1815 W33 in the hands of the following

men and compani~s:

~1. John B. ~ichardvil1€ ] 815-1836

2. Alexis Coquillar'd ' , 1821-1835

3. Francis Co~paret 1821-1835

4. Hollister and Hunt 1820-1838

5. John B. Godfrey ,

1820-1838

o. James Peltier 1820-1838

7. 'l:m. G. and G. V':. Ewing 1022-1828

(trade conti.l1ued at Ft. Wayne and Logansport to 1846) POUl'e­

8. John D. ~ 1822-1838

9. Francis D. Lasse11e 1828-1836

lO.Allen Hamilton 1828-1838

(co-incident with the r.wings carried on trade more

extensively than othe~ traders.)

11.Wm. S. 'Fdsal l( Huntington) 1834-1837

26

Jean Baptidtf- de Richardville, of whom Brice speaks

as 'a late chief of the Miamis,' was the son of JosFph

Drol1et de Richardville, who came to Fort viayne attracted

by the fur trade of the lIauffiPe-Wabash valleys. He mar­

ried Tah-cum-wah, the daughter of the reigning Miami

chief---a sister of Little Turtle, sometimes called "the

greatest Indians of all times," Henry Hay in his Journal

in 178::.3 mentions the younge~r ~Uchardville as "the young

man who is so bashful that hE never speaks in council--­

his mother, who is very clever, is obliged to do it for him."

Clever she certainly :-eust have @een to rule "wi th a SW3;)T

and a power no other woman of the nation ever attained;!!

her business c~pacity refle.ctFd itself in the business

life of her son, since throDgh her influence, he gained

a start in thE' fur traffic, which made him eventually the

wealthif'!st Indian of the Northwest. He practically monopo­

lized for a time the fur trade across the portage through

which he accumu1atrd a fortune estioated by Schoolcraft

ce, Ft.Wayneas about ~200,OOO in specie, much of which he had buried 285-286 ,

in the earth so long that the bozes w,:"xe decayf:u and the

silver rusted and 1.:.

blacr::.ened. That Richardvine's trade

prosperity continued throughout the thirties is shown by

the discovery of one of hiS old day boo~s used in 1832.

In August 1928, the Huntington Herald of Huntington, Ind,i.:­

ana issued a centenary edition. In this issue W3d an, ac­

count of the old day book of RichardvilJe, which shows

the variety of furs and the current prices paid for them

in 1832. Under the date, October 6, ~832 is noted a

shipment of furs to John B. Bruno of Ft. Wayne, and in-

eludes, among others, the following articles:

Quantity Article Price each r- r

"c.

7 bear skins ~ ';-_ ~\ '[. ~ l.~l:i I ~ $4.50

4 cubs 2.25 I\,1

. I}-, ~·,r -"-1 otter F' " I ~ -- c:': - 1.00

r, -,.34 wild cats & foxes .37~- - ,

1300 ., good raccoon "L:' -.:.~~ j;..; -_. ..i. ,

"

.53"

,34 bad raccoon . r .211

495 red deer skins .60II I.

54 (

( gray and bl ue, deer no price

103 muskrats .25~ 'r

'- P'o:. I c.:. I ... ~-t _ ~ r

,~1 , wolf I .. f' I. • f> r- <:; .25

. ~': p,1, mink .. .31•

The .American Fur Company, recognizing the adrcirabl e

situation of the portage in relation to fur collection

and transportation, established an important branch sta­

tion at Fort Wayne in 1822. The Company organized its

business in this region in two groups:

(a) an upper \"iabash outfit, with Ft. Wayne as head­

( quarters "", ",.-/.1 if ....-vllt/I £5

(b) a lower Wabash outfit, centering its~at Vin­

cennes.

The two outfits controlled about 15 posts in all. The

small traders sold mainly to the Astors, while such large

27

28

outf.its as those of Allen Hamilton and Cyrus Tabor. sold

only partly to the hstord but remained friendly to them at

311 times. Of the lic~nsed trad~rs mentioned in Lasse11e's

list, Alexis Coquil1ard and Francis Comparet were ~m€ri-

can Fur Company agents at Ft. Wayne. In company with

Benjamin A:excheval and John Duret they maintained the

business of the company in Indiana and bore their part in

the intense rivalry and competition of the ~wing brothers

With the American Fur Company later.

After 1830 the most important independent fur traders

were the ~wing brothers, George W. and William G. ¥Wing.

who were sons of Alexander Ewing, an Indian trader who came

to Ft. Wayne in 1822 to engage in the fur business. An

old receipt dated 1823 for ~9.00 for services as a hand on

a"pirogue from this place to Detroit" frow. alexander 't;'wing ( I'1t1.YI()'

to John Ger~o by{XJ shows that the Fwing fur business had

already taken root in the town, WhEre the name Ewing waS r •

to remain associated with furs. land deals and other I.

busin~sses for a half century or more.

There are but few of the earlier pap~rs in the ~ing

Collection prior to 1826/ which bear direct1 y upon the ,fur

intere3ts of the company. From lettei's written between

members of the family it is evident that Alexander Ewing

Sr. took his sons GeGrge and Will iam G. 1!W'ing lnto part­

nership in 1825 and that they engaged in buying and shipping

furs; sometimes dealing directly with the market, often­

times selling to thf; American Fur Company. An old fur

29

,}ill, June 17,1825 notes 'ch" receipt' John ),.;100(1,

from ,Ale xand.er lng of "I ck of fur, containi 110

rackoon and 153 muskrats a 2 foxes all in ~ood

oruer" VJhich the said John Blood promises to del i ver at L.

"Ft. ~eigs to ~r. Hunt i lil: ood o:rder."

By 1826, as bero ntioned, Alexander ~TIin- d

r AtaKen sons (G. G.) into part rsniI •

is f(i.ili health (noted in a letter fro SOil in Ciu­

cim. i, hat lackin{1:. in SU:D~')osedly old ti i11al

respect, "I s sorry to hear of the 'old sents' con­

ditioll but of th~ :lL ich he disnoses of

his Dl'OP 'f") re Ited in the death of "fa the:.::' I:.i. Ii

be of the joi re.ti 0-'

tfie ess "illed to be title 0 d

}ear . :\·(-ln~. eed that bv "Their articles of

co-p8.rtnershi all th~ir esta~e~ of an~ name and nature

become and 1'",111 to be, the common .f)I'01..)6rt-:;r 0 f t; b ;;.;

firm. " )USlllESB at F't • ,,;,ayne f!'orr~ In.

to 185G on bv the brolilers u.:nner

the aoove tit of nartiners

-'­11 Ib2G tn­ iw:r;s uscu lJHtJ f'u et of nell Yorb'

for shipment the ser\rices 01' 50 of t

ci ty as busirles5 :u,,;onts W'lD ed tra0tng Good fOl

tr , rece i ..<;old or i onea to fO:l"e].

ts t1H~ir hitles. skL..s,

d -6 011 f: securi t:-, .

kat condi

arter the int· ...· of tho

30 L iT to !~h£ f1

of

j or part 0'" .- ~Gllection of' pape , if. tio' t ~ at :'t. 8.

7je~ ; - d m ised s

hE. th aE':·dull, ' bee!. 0:: S .e time,

"'i .. ,.tha t tne overs tocl:ed !..t, due

to t Lv lsr collection 01 the ~ear beror

.t ly no dE..fl1·::wl fo= Yac~oon at all

ill t flo to shi 1 ru:::'ll :hav6 ~ot a :;iood 6ef,1 L

ou.t of usc." !-'ril 1827 the fur business '\'tfiS 0::'­

tlv 1001::i up sInce Boyd. rote, "tf~c ud­

vic .avi <1 rc C (J 1 ~.' e d .!'l.'om pla t th

collect t S 'ilQulr:;' lJ s

30Dtc.; .... 5 (, i n

.t - ... or t" 11'

h f# h hi"her ~ected--------

1 ..•1 S 'believe tho articL Q ...

ri to tJle intc.!" 0 ....· o

sr>eculet· t:I!'iccs

~~ ~ __f; !" ;Z

de 01 'til

oW'S itself ious .1e··­

_....e , oth.... r " ~

lat o ct10ns and t 1

... ... eT tha t

o i e to bu

31

at low prices. stone. an aggressive and strong inde­

pendent dealer, doubted the 'l quantity of muskrat would

be diminished'i as much as was expected. since even with

less number of skins collected per trader there were

a grea ter number of traders a fter the s.c:ins. II I pre­

sume. '1 wrote Stone. "the iimerican .B'ur Company will do as I·

well for your inte rES ts as anyone." Thus in 1827 the

~wings. while on good terms with the American ?ur Com­

pany. selling to/and tuying goods fr~m them, were al­

ready dissatisfied with doing business with the monopoly

and were seeking 0 ther COill1ec t ions, poss i bl Y wi th stone,

the shrewdest of independents.

In the years 1828. 1829 and 1830. the reports from

30yd and Suydam showed little encouragement to the fur

dealers at Ft. Wayne. 1he ~ales of the American Fur Com­

pany showed that that orga~ization govprned the prices

of all ,~inds of furs---prices remained low and the market

continued dull. The fur dealers i~ the ~ast w~r€ either

unwilling or unable to give opinions as to any season's

prospects. lhe gEneral depression over thp country re-

fleeted itself in a note from 1). Housseau at "Helle Hart"

to the Fwings i~l Which he says I'to te 11 the tru th i have

not 20 do11brs worth of furs yet and the season is so

unfavorable For the Indiana to hunt that i am afraid if

it Continues that all that we haVE t3~En in is nar1y :z­

all that we wi] 1 ma~e this season.'1 U'ven in 1831 the

dullness continued. although Boyd and Suydam seemed oon­

..,'"...... ~-c .0 fi' 6 II

v 1

_tirane wer to

or neer

.8 to

.:'.. dellse

so ." ill e

unuoubtedl~'" de­

avne for voars

t

Gt;) come----,.,.--'·reoollect :-rou e li extremel o ljte

e u no-", o bet­

ter hat su rgument ec, 'ITe ;,(EOW,

c e.nterprises orte..nt re r .­

u.v. yne busine e ole of 'the

'IidQle Period.'

e'C\70en 1830-1840 a definite change fo,r the batt

took 'CIa,ce in the ful" business in the nhole g

,6.08sJ1 re~r:i.ou and this (~hfillbe naturall

connitioll of the fur traffic ill rc. ifia-me. LTusl:ra t galVe

y ~o nutria as a material for chesper hats. in fJJJ.E ri ca

in -urone) snd silk hots became the mode instead of

beav~r ones on both cOLtinents. ':'h~s muskra t and oeav

(already scarce) declined in price, at a time When rgc­

up. 'l'he ::ao8sh-Ua.\llnee river

llc"rs abounded in .r(lC~":DO,1.1. an\.. the hunt 1'01' raccoo~.

8

kins [) ,_. ,1';;.1

"":~Indiana. "" ,tV •

in relation to t 10

Teat importance in this industr

'- t t, rothers 1

...olel the ericf.n

fie tt t to moho-:lolize the fur tr.~ de,

o"t Q i vicini of Fort u . rough6ut

th~ ion drained by all th jCice:nt ri .:>ys-­

e •

_s a nart of their riv81ry to .....,p Y th . ilb nlisted the- services or t.l'!lUel'S at St.

JO ha, oie:, '.rir:cennes, peru, t

d other Qepots for collecti . iIlpin:

e~~ e s+ iness relations Iri tlI man~'" irmortant

acents, . c. ~ousseuu at Elkhart anu Jt. Josephs,

J s Ava1 in ,,111i Godfrev, 2. M. Dro~illard an~

.~illi' 6rt I saae Covert of ''Jell T. it.

over, "sael c~ org€

ctivities took the an ces.

Lette~s "'"enl.s t s fra ,,~1"-,;

~·.',!iMS turn, and.. 'betv;le r

and tUJ s r'e~ister the story of tIl

inceution the ee.~·l 11rti88 to its s ous

eUU-J.1lb i11 t "oTti ctual e

J'lono )01~ . the ro

. out 1831 ~s is

J;letter fl' t to 'orce t.

35

""v:ing, Decfmber 31, 1831, in which hE> writes: "With

regard to the price of skins, I havp no doubt but they

arf falling, Cornpar~t is taking two ti8ccoon for ~l from

Indians, he deni~s giving so much but I am convinced it

is true; I had much difficulty V'Jith an Indian today who

was indebted to us and was compejled to take his skins for

50¢ each---it was an o]d friend and customer and I took

the skins at re gard, but 'w 1] J lJI!ai t for adv ice from you

beforf" I ta~e allY more at that price, as I am sathdied

they are fa]]ing--------------

Uy dear Sir, you compJain of dull times then". but 1.

I assurf you we have had OUT full share here. n -

However the great battle for control of the fur busi­

ness in the central west I'P[iohed it::3 [r€8test intEnsity

from 1836 to ]840. In 1837 the r.-wings, contracted with

Suydam and ,sage and Company of new York to act as com­

mission men fO'r the Ti'wings, an act which seemingly brought

them into OpEll rivalry with the American Fur Company. 'By

the contract made at this time Suydam and Sage agreed to

furnish the ~ings with trading goods, to honor ~wings

drafts on seourity of fur coDe-ctions, ~-::eEp the "wings

informed of market condi tions. sell the '!<wing furs in

...,.merican and Tiuropean markets, on a 3% commission on gross

sal~s, ooup]ed with an inteT~st charge Oil all advances of

goods and capital.

During these first years of the competition, the

Ewings showEd th-€Olsf] VES mEn of abil i ty in hand] ing fur

36

traders and emp]oye~s in the business. In all the corres­

pondemce George W. 1i'Viing shows hikself to be the dominating

charactFr---his lstters to his brother are filled with plans,

sometimes scrupulous, oftener not, by which thFir rivals

are to be confounded and throu.gh Which the ~ings are to

push through to an al~ays righteous Victory. These plans

even included membership by ColoneJ George ~win£ in the

state legislature, where lafts were to be mad~ disconcerting

to the ~mprican Fur Company. Colonel rWing showed a real,

if cynical; apprf'cietion of th~ lack lof discernmEnt upon the

part of the electorate, When, in discussion of his campaign

he, wrotE to his brother riil} iam "Tal~ of buil dings and a] 1 Iv

that sort of thing---disguise our real intention. 'I (to tam­

per the Amf'r iean Fur Company's efforts b;y a tax on their

operations i1: Indiana,) "all of our oppositior: proceeds --(

from the malevolence and hatred of our personal enemies."

The years 1837, 1828 and 1839 mark the peak of the

rivalry between thE' two companies. VHlliam Brewst€T, the

American Fur Company agent at Detroit, with advance in­

formation of new demands. with plf'llty of capital supplied

him by the monopoJ y, at .first bought- carefully and made

good profits for the company. He see,ms to ha\"e bH:.n less

able in his handling of men than WErE the ~wings, because

through lac1: of tact he angfrf'd SOr.t~ of the COrLp8.ny's best

traders t inc] u alng James Abbott t Compar€t and Coqu illard,

into independent buying.

The 'r.'wings too~{: acivant~l€ of eVEry unfortunate mOVE

ou thp part of their adver8ary---and in order to hold some

of the ambitious traders to them~eJve8, under the active

3'7

comp~ti tion in which th.€y found th~I:ls~'J ves. they formed a

nUmb€l' 0 f 0 thE'I' c ompanie.s clue h as 'Wwing/ Edsal J and Com­

pany, and ~wing, Walker and Company whose names figure

largfly in the correspoudFllC~ of these years. Some of the

mer ican ]'ur Company! s bE-st buyers ---George Hunt and Wil­

liem Sellers---w€re induced to buy for the rWings rather

than for the MonopoJy---and other buyers, not of the Com­

pany, Wfr€ induced to sign contracts to buy excJusiveJy

for the ~wings. The Pwllig pap~rs (1837-1842) have in them

many of such contracts, an example of which(that of Hora­

tio Curtis) serves as a description of al] of the others­

--"'Horatio Curtis agreed to I(

traverSE c'ountry for furs and

pel tries, and to ma~e contracts with m~rch3nt6 for their

coJJ~ctiOL.~ H~ was to rpceive ~50 per month and to de­

vote aJl his time and attention to the "interests of the 1.

Ti'wingsrl---his traveling expellses to be paid by the EV\'ings-:

That the buyers wer€ busy in 1838 shows itself in the re­

cords of the shipments of the Ewing companies of that

year. ~he yeat 1837 had been an uncertain one, for various

reasons---the land speculations resulting in the panic of

183'7 had made money scarce and business men wary---a Ger­

man bUyEr. El1tte. in Detroi t began buying i,ndependentJy,

and. the Hudson Be:>r Company importe.d large numbers of pel-

tries from Canada which. as expected, ]owered prices. But

in l8Z8. thE' ~~mer ican Fur Company had broken up the c om-

petition 0:: thf: GEOrrnan HCJtte, and with the full backing

of the resources of the monopoly, Brewster at DE"troit, pushed

up the price of furs and skins ~nd proceeded to go after

all of the peltries of the kaume~-Wabash region. It was

at this poi~t that thf open warfare began. ~he Ewings,

aided financial]y by Suydam, Sage and Company, mad~ a real

bid for control of the fur business. Receipt aftFr re­

ceipt for skins, contract aftpr contract with buyers, re­

cord after re-cord of shipments of furs, main) y deer and

raccoon skins,with some mixed packs/are included in the

papers of th6se years of rivalry. A copy of the bill

sent to fie G. 'ti"wing by Samuel .rlushman in 1838 is but one ~

Papers of th~ many in th~ ~wing col]ection of 1838-1842. ~.

,-~uantit¥ Article Price

6 pac};:s prime naccoon s~ins ~112.50 1 pack mlxed(15 cat, 1] fox,

6 mink) 12.00

11 poor 'rackoons' 2.06

10 packs good deer(120) 72.00

1 pack poor deer( 13) 3.90

21 fawn skins 3.99

Total 206,45

~ompetitive. businessfs were opened up by the "!="Wings

at ~vansvil1e, Vincennes and St. Louis; buyers were seDt

into l!ichigan to bring the co~petition to the very doors

of Brewster. the American Fur Company's agent, himself.

By 1839 thp. struggle grew more grim and determined.

The prices of furs went high~r and highpr, the furs bought

in many caSfS were poorer and poor~r. The American ~ur

'9

Company was tired of the rivalry of the ~wings and became

determined to brEa~::: the independents and to forestall, in

this way, competition in th€ future. Phi11ips quotes a

letter from Crooks to Brewster in which the agent is told

to go ahead and "kill them your own way." The struggle,

while not so hard on the monopoly as on the EWings, was

not an easy one at best. ~he nearness to the panic year

(l83?) made capital scarce and cash hard to get---and it

was cash that the buyers and trad~rs wanted. Interest rates

were high and furs cost more than th~y would bring, when

the amount of interest on money necessary to bUy them.

waS taken into account. Both sides had spent enormous

sums in thp coopetition. At this point a compromise agree­

ment to end the strugglp was cont Jated /

but the matter

ended without the agreement going into effect, and th~ 'war­

fare continued. In the early days of 1839, Hunt, who had

been induced to leave thf' Americ8.n Fur Company the year be­

fore, was sEnt to St. Louis with instructions to "see all

the tradl"l"s up the Vissouri. and the principal tradpl's on

the. Lansas and on thE.- 1'latte---the Ar.i{ansas trip is a secon­

dary concern---if you have time aftfr navigation opens up.

welJ and good---pur principal object is to secure the

Papers Missouri trade. Do ~the Indian s~ins.-------Try the

traders at ~ock Island and Prairie de Chine in the~spring.

Make st. Louis your headquartel's---from there go where ever 1.­

yon can best succeed in getting Indian siciIlS:"

The grOWing rivalry bec3f<H? r'1OrF and more a source of

anxiFty to the rWings and their associated partners, ~d-

40

sa11 and Walker. lhe heart breaking co~oetition of 1839

was b~ginnine: to tell upon the indepfndents. I>iany let­

ters reflfcting the strain of business rivalry passfd be­

tween th~ various partners---in illustration, is the fol­

lowing extract from Vdsal] to Ewing Brothers ~arly in 1839:

Papers "You have e.o idea thf', eXfrtions that are being made

on all hands to get skins. Hollister is bidding 70 to BO¢

for coon and says Curtis shall not have a s~in for less

than 80¢. Curtis is doing all he can---he has expended

all ovr money and 1500 0 f his own. Curtis wi]], if suppl ied

with f'unds, do all he can do. Hollister's men have gone

by this place to do all they can on t.hite River. HcClure

will no d011bt receive a hig'h bid frow thosE' fellDvifs. Da­

vis at Curtis' town has a finf lot of about 1000 of the

finest coon I ever saw---All Indian hancled---Hollister­7­

says we OQst pay 81¢ for them or not get theo~~ (Indian

handled s~ins were apparently much morE deSirable than

thos~ prepared by whitf men. crom thp letters from Suy­

dam, Sage and Comp8ny to the ~wings, it 13 evident that

the white man handled s~ins were neither dried nor packed

,care fu) I :y"---the packs upo r. be ing opened 0 ft~nt iI:1es re­

vealed s;dr:.s entirely ruined by worms.)

As 1639 progress~d thE rivalry spread farther and

farther afield. ~he partnfrs thEmselves, ~dsall of one

cOI:lpan~~ and '?ielker of anothfr madp business trips to far

away depots to bid for skins with the buyers for the mono­

poly. 30metimes thE: independents got the sA:ins---often­

times they lost to thf sup~rior ~war chest" facilitiES of

41

their rivals. r.dsall IS letter's regi3ter, sometimes en­

courage'ment as "I have this day purchased the whol e. Fdfer

Collection, US30 skillS in all ---nrout 900 go_ad coons;"

again deep depression as "All 1s fone---the dog is dead:

I have' d one my bes t. but cant bu y D and P' s skins; upon

second examination after getting. the offer I cannot go

it: I have this afternoon got through, after a perfect

hel} of 3 or 4 days---s.~ins 8.!'E too high in m-j judgment

for ~!'

crhat at tir;:es the partners were somev!hat optimistic

over a sHtisfnctor;y ontcOfl!e of the competition is re­

vealed in a le'ttEr from George r;'alker to the FvviligS in

wl:.lch ile v;Ti tes a:::> fol] Q,','iiS: "It i.3 reported tha t ~1.1)ssian

and English govern~ents havp ord~red the ~accoon caps for

soldiers---if 30 prices wilJ keep Upr---------- ~Jlowing

that our purchasc3.are large and 3iqbiJities grEat no

time should be lost."------------"1/:.G-.Jl. thin.cs our oppo­

sition 1s some discouraged and wiJl not sta."ld it more than

one yr. more. Our cuts at St. Louis and other places

make them feel very sic~---and if those high prices we

have beE" n paying don't IDax:::e ~ fee 1 ali ttl € S qU-E'smish

I wi11 be satisfied---but from your information and pros-

pee ts ahead I thin..:: .!!!. he ve no thing t"o fear. "

The success of the dozens of buyers for the ~wings

is D\leasured by the shipme,nt re.cords for the sumnlFr of

1839. -f.

g Papers In June they s ent for~oj!Jard for sal e in t he ~as t:.k.

Indiana Shi:;,ement

2917 deer

1 2,200 raccoon

42

226 otter

1957 mink

155 fox

196 wi! d cat

12 wol f

1J 4 I ar fee bear

2~ sma!] bEar

7 fishers

Indiana 3hipment---In July

3993 deer s-,,:ins

t)172 raccoon

234 wild cat

29 grey fox

109 wolf

374 otter

55 mink

194 beaver

30 bear

33 rat

6 badger

Indiana Shipment ---In AugJst

2851 deer

3840 race oon

3 fishers

83 wild cat

35 fox

27 wolf

2083 mink

20 bEar

43

128 otter

72 fawns

Indian! Shipment---In September

581 rat

7 ma:ctin

4 elk

.-:. bear( 1arge)

2 bear( l:3mall )

6 mink

8 dfE'!'

22 raccoon

'l'he efforts of 1839 brought the stocre of Wa11::er high

with the ~wings---but reduced that of Edsall to a mini­

mum. In a letter frota George (·who as ever tOOk the ini­

tiat i ve in businesl:3 affairs) he says !'Walk~r will ma~~e

/

fondest exertions for sKins among thf whit~ peo~le---he

will no doulJt have 0FPosition, but no roott':"r---we ~iill

of get OUI' share and should be content;" but"F:dsall (whose

partners hi!? 0 f course had be,:, 11 du e entice'l y to exped iency)

he is-nat so cOr.J.pl imentary, "Get rid of ii'dsall easy if you

can, but lEt us keep free from such d----d cancers and

ulcers upon our bard earned business---to hell with such

upstarts. as n:<isaJ 1 1 say. I want no such partner---but

in ge t ting rid 0 f him you ruus t bF prud ~nt and do l_t ami­

cably, if possible, so aa to retuin his gOOd feeling.~

A few days later despondency has again overtaLen

George Fwing and once more he writes to his brother in

rf-gard to the TI'dsal 1 partnership: "1 cannot but sometimes

fear that we may ever reach ourselves. Your Indian 0pE'r~-

tioD, at last, is thf> best one. !Jor is it worth while

trying to muke money off the whites---thEy wi]] eat it

up.

"Sl.'he skin business is good if we can ho] d on to it

but here I am---half worn out---want a partner, yet dare

not have one. If I shake off this Fdsall, his drive will

be to the AmErican Fur Company and push at Skins and lands

---·r fear he would be in your way---and I own fear---that Sa.-1'VJ 1/ ~ ~dsal1 may go to the Co. he is the most energetic of them

all.

'11 am confused and confounded---want such a man as

Wm. Fds.all- .. -yet am afruid to A:eep hirnl rl l'hese lettE-rs

anticipatl'O the dissolution of the partnership of "Uwing

Edsall and Company, ill 1841, after great losses had been

sustained by all parties concerned.

The corr€:3pondence of 1840-1841 show the 'l'Viing bro­

thers reaay to retire from thE struggle with the Ameri­

can Fur Company in the Maumee-Wabash region. The most

interesting letters during thid p~riod are between the

Ewings and Suydam Sage and Company anj thosE' between the

Ew ings and George Hunt. who was rep.tea enting them as a

buyer in the Des Moines region. The Hunt letters sho,"'"

how far afield the struggle haJ.,carried the Fwings,

southwest as far as W.estport Missouri, and northwest

into the Iowa country. Hunt seems to have ~e'en a like­

able sort of rascsl, always optimistic. always surE that

he was on the eve of securing the most wonderful collec­

46

tion of skins, and upon being: worstEd, always sure that

the n~w plans suggested would "do the trick for us, and

the Company can't help th~!IlselvE:;).'1 Toward the end of

the Hunt correspondence, Hunt's double dealing becomes

manifest. It becomes evident that the earlier coup of

the '!?wings in alienating Hunt from th~ American Fur Com­

pany was something in the nature of a boomerang, since

the 1ett~rs to him from the ~wings become more and more

accusatory, his, more and mor~ explanatory until he is

finally dismissed from the ~ings employ.

The letters passing b~tween Suydam, Sage and Company

and the ~wings mark th~ bfginning of the end of the VWing

attempt to monopolize the fur business in th~ Northwest.

Suydam and Sage wrote earnestly, urging prudence in busi­

ness transactions, curtailment of business on a large scale

and in poor skins, cite the money still to be made in

careful and honest business. "The times are out of the

Papers ordinary." wrote th~ commissioll men in 1840. "this year

it will be impossible to advance money before the furs

arr ive -----------as to bank fae i1 i ties ~ou speak of.

there is no dependence upon such things this year---the

Banks take care. of thArnslev~s and the merchants havf' to k

depend upon their own resources."

Again in August 1840 Suydam and Sage made a report

of the business affairs of the Pwings for the year up

to that date. The shipments up to August 1st, were of

835 packs containing in all 102,201 skins---the major

number being of raccoons (46,529) deer (44,688) mink

46

(4150) cats and foxes (2784) dat (1132) and the remainder.

mixed of martin. fishers. bears. beaver, otters. foxes,

wolves, badgers. etc. The amount of acceptances for th~

diff~~ent firms amount~d to thousands of dollars, and

w~re for such large amounts and covered such long periods

that the commission men were well within their rights

g Papers when they complained plaintive1y---"You will observe that o

this foots up to a large sum and we don't think you have

any reaaon to say that we have not stood by you, or fail 1·

to show any amount of confidence in you."

A9parently the ~wings wer~ influenced, either by the

admoni tions of Suydam and Sage, or the mo~e potent argu­

ment of ~150,000 owed to the cOrninission men. to change

their plans of op~ration. bec~u~e they replied in an

amicable way to this letter, and outlined their business

operations in such a way that the approval and backing

of the N~w York Company was restored to them with the

message "we are glad that you wil 1 act prUdently in the

future and will push only for good skJ:ns-----------that

is the wail that mone y l-s made l I' The plan of operation for 1841 was outlined by George

~wing to his brother Will iam in November 1840. The fo1­

lOWing excerpts show what the business operations of the 2,

Fwings were to be in the future:

g Papers 1. To avoid a~ far as possible investing in Furs and 1840

skins, especially deer skins until those on hand were

released, and to restore the Fwings to their former

limited and prOSperous business by

a. ~uitting all purchase at Detroit, "let Griggs

as hEr~tofore purchas~ a few s~ins in Michigan

47

and Canada"

b. Quit all purchases on the Ohio Jiver and

make none south of Greenville.

c. Quit businfss entirely at St. Louis---"they

are not Indian handled skins, as are supposed,

and only a shade bftter than those of the Ohio

~u ver. II Avo id ErE-wster and Cho~teau a t their

own door, but send oufits to the frontier.

d. Give more definite orders to Fwing, Fdsall

and Company---"your peopl~ must curtaill let =

country merchants purchase to .;5000 instead of

010,000 as they do now. Avoid engagements by

clf;rks and runners where the market will per­

mit---avoid deer skins unleds 1st and 2nd quali­

ties."

--------"All this is in our power to do," wrote George

Ewing and "we must do it and get back to our old business

in good skins and Indian goods to a r€8sonable amount. N .

.bfter Bunt arra,ges the VI!estern outfit let him leave st.

Louis and return to Vincennes or go home to Detroit to

help in the North."

not wi thstanding the great losses of 1840, the Ti'wings

continued buying on a smaller scale in 1841. 7heir in­

structions to Hunt, still in their employ. show their

transactions to have reached out into the Iowa country with

headquarters at Des lloines. The financial negotiations

oontinued between the ~ings and Suydam, Sage and Company,

the co~~ission men assuring the ~ings that they knew that

48

Papers the Fwings 'would do everything in their power to relieve

the situation,' and congratulating them opon the curtail­

ment of their operations to a mor~ prudent and legitimate

businessJ' 'lhat curtailment showed itself in the breaking

up of the partnerships formed in thE" days of the great

competition, ~ing, Barlow and Company dissolving in July,

and Fwing, Edsall and Company in August. 1841.

The last cha~ter in the story of the Fur Trade as

an important factor in the history of Ft. riayne and the

Maumee-~abash valleys is found in the letters and papers

of the Pwings from 1842-J845. The American Fur Company

failed, due to hard times and another attempt to corner

the market in raccoon skins in 1842. the price of which

bad risen, due to a scarcity on thF mar~p.t. This failure

gavf rise to small competitors among whom the rwings were

able to bold their own, and made a fair profit in 1843.

The pess ililis ti c s tra in of many 0 f the ] et tf'l'S pre­

sages a change to other lines of busifless. 70 George

:alker. in December, 1842, in final settlement of their

business rf-1ations. George "'wing wrote, f1'v'Je have been

driven from post to pillar 1ilce slaves the last three

years---------I meet with nothing but lOSSES and adversi­

ty in our bt18iness.-.=-----------~T;~·eshall havF little left

kg Pap€-rs out of the wreck and thl': destructive result of the l'.iami 2-1845

treaty. the heavy losses, the decline in propprty, taken 2..

into connection with our enormous expenses."

And closing. the long chapter of corrEspondence with

Hunt, after dismissing him from the "t"wing employ, George

"wing again s tr ikes a pess lruis tic no te in WI' i t ing, "Hoth­

ing but the grEatest econom:y and I'etre,nchrnent in eVfry

branch of our b1clsinFss wi] 1 right the "'wings from their

losses in the s.~ir~ tusiness. I am sorr~' to say that the

fur and skins h~Jvf gone dOW~l to almost notr~ing----------

W~ are doing nothIng but settling and closing with alJ

our hands. ~ wish to bring ovr affairs to'a closf: and gEt

out of this dangfrolls scene.lhe. WholE COUlltI'~1 is threateued.

wi th ban~~:rul)tcy. rl

~he !wings were able to ma~€ satisfactory terms with

Suydam. SagE and Company and rehabilitatfd their fortvnps

along other liufs of businESS endEavor, with such marKed

SUCCESS that at the time of th~ deaths of each. . 11 iam

FwiLg left an estatF of ~·?50.000 and GAor£E "{.'. 'r.wing, 0118

of over a million dollars. ith their wittdrawal from

competition in the fur 'rusiness as thEir main activity,

the story of the rEa] fur tradf of thE UaumF~-Wabash por­

tage corr;f·S to an end. The rea] Indian trade ended in 184.5

with the migration of th .iami Indians across the r.UsSis­

sippi. ThA Indians were all gone, the hunters and trap­

pel's Wfre S~~kir.g new homes or nEn occupations. The ad­

vance of se.ttlE':ment made had made farms out of forests /

and the destruction of fur bearing animals had decreased

the supply of furs and peltries. Fashions changed, woolens

were USEd instEad 0: furs and cattle skins took thE nlace / "

of deer s~ins. Dany of the trappers became farmFrs---and

50

as farmers reI:1ained trappfTs---th~y trapped dur hi§ thf.

fur season and sold to buyers or leco] I:1Frchunts who in

turn shipped to 3t. Louis or othe= mBr~Fts. Years of

exteI"Llinatiol1 failed to rout entiJ.'EJy the fur bearir.g

animals froID thfir old haulits. ~ed fox, muskrat, rac­

COOD and min~ are stl]] hunted and trapped in Indiana,

but the glory of the ?ur trade, around its mo~t iffipor­

tant center, Ft. ·t;ayne, e:nd~d with the withdrawal of the

~~ings from the fur traffic in thp 'Forti~s.'