Agent: William Wells

Life on the frontier for anyone connected with Natives was never easy.  These people, who were White but often adopted into Native tribes or married to Natives, faced a constant tug-of-war of emotions and loyalties.  William Wells and his relationships with his in-laws, Little Turtle and the Miami, is a classic case in point.

William Wells (c 1770-12), was born in Jacob's Creek, Pennsylvania, the son of a Revolutionary War veteran who later moved his family to Kentucky.  Wells' father died when he was nine and he was taken in by a neighbor.  At the age of 13, Wells and three other boys were captured by a raiding party of Wea and Miami and taken to Indiana.  Wells had bright red hair, earning him the name Apekonit, Miami for carrot.  He was given to a Miami chief, Porcupine, and taught the ways of a Miami warrior, which he readily became.  He eventually married a Wea woman and seemed content to remain with the Natives, though he visited his birth family in 1789.  His wife and daughter were later captured in a raid by General James Wilkinson (more on him in a later post), and Wells remained attached to Little Turtle's band of Miami, serving as a sharpshooter during the Battle of the Wabash, November, 1791. 

At this point, things became a little murky.  In 1792, Wells, still seeking his wife and daughter and other Native hostages, returned to his family in Louisville.  His brother urged him to meet with Indian Agent Rufus Putnum in Cincinnati.  There, Wells agreed to work with Putnum to urge the Natives to agree to treaty terms in return for freeing the hostages.  Putnum then hired Wells to spy on various Native counsel in 1793 and report Native plans to the Americans.  Wells thus became a double agent, and remained one the rest of his career.  He had by this time married Little Turtle's daughter, Wanagapeth (Sweet Breeze) and had four children by her.  Their three daughters married White men and his son would follow in David Moniac's footsteps at West Point.  As Wells attempted to work with the Natives behind the scenes to put an end to the Northwest Indian War (1785-1795, he was thwarted at every turn by British Agents, Alexander McKee and Simon Girty, a personal nemesis.  Wells was able to bring Wayne warning that he was facing a force of over 1500 warriors ready to attack Wayne's Legion of the United States.

Wells was given a captain's rank and become the leader of a group of scouts and spies who worked directly under Anthony Wayne's direction as scouts, spies, interpreters or whatever else needed doing.  He led Wayne's forces to the battleground of the Wabash and pointed out to him where Natives had buried the cannon left behind.  Although he was wounded in the lead-up to Fallen Timbers in 1794, he was able to give Wayne advice that helped Wayne win that battle.  Later, Wells was one of the main interpreters at the negotiations leading up to the Treaty of Greenville of 1795.  As he urged his father-in-law Little Turtle to sign the treaty, did Little Turtle know that his daughter's husband was playing a double role?  Most likely not, as Little Turtle was adamant that Wells should be the Indian Agent appointed to the Ohio Tribes. 

As Indian Agent, Wells escorted delegations of Native leaders to Philadelphia and later Washington.  He also worked to urge Natives to sign treaties with the government, then urged them quietly to back away from what they'd signed.  Like Little Turtle, he believed that the Quakers could teach the Natives better methods of farming, but he did not push other aspects of Jefferson's civilization program for Native Americans.   As Tecumseh's movement gained grounded, both sides became suspicious of Wells, who negotiated his last treaty, the Treaty of Fort Wayne, in 1809.  As the incoming Madison Administration began investigating Wells and Little Turtle on allegations of corruption, Tecumseh was also spreading mistrust of the Agent.  Wells was fired in 1809, though he continued to work unofficial as an interpreter and tried to warn the Madison Administration of the gravity of Tecumseh's movement. 

Wells
would spend the rest of his life trying to get his job back.  Fortunately, he did not have long on this earth.  In 1812 he became aware of that Potawatomi supporting the British and Tecumseh were going to attack Fort Dearborn in present-day Chicago.  He rode with a delegation of peaceful Potawatomi, among them Black Partridge, to try to warn Captain Nathan Heald, commandant of the Fort and married to William's niece, Rebekah.  Believing that it was safe to march the garrison out, on August 15, 1812, Heald led a force of regulars, militia, women and children out of Fort Dearborn, where they were ambushed by the Potawatomi in the Battle of Fort Dearborn.  Wells died trying to protect women and children.  Most likely, family, his own or anyone else's, had been his motive all along.