During the decade of its existence prior to the War of 1812, the Fort Wayne factory was the most prosperous of all the trading houses established by the United States government. A report submitted by the Secretary of War to Congress showed that in the three years and ten months preceding January 13, 1812, the Fort Wayne factory made a profit of $10,502.77. This was by far the largest profit shown by any of the ten factories then operated throughout the nation.[47] Another report shows that the fur and peltries received from the Indians at the Fort Wayne factory sold for $27,547.07.[48] While the government did only a small fraction of the fur trading, this is a good indication that the fur trade of the Maumee and Wabash valleys which led the French to fortify the spot was still the principal economic asset of Fort Wayne. Colonel Johnston’s account books suggest that the once abundant beaver skins were becoming scarce. Instead of beaver, racoon and deer skins were being shipped in great quantities.[49] These furs were carried by way of Lake Erie to New York and Philadelphia, where they were sold at auctions. Most of the furs obtained from the private traders were taken to Detroit where they were purchased by the American Fur Company. Skins were worth deer, $1.25; raccoon, $.50; bear, $3.00 to $5.00. These values were nominal, as the price fluctuated and the furs were paid for in goods which were passed off on the Indians for more than double the initial cost and transportation. In order to transport the skins, they were dried, compressed, and secured in packs. Each pack weighed about 100 pounds. A pirogue or boat, that was sufficiently large to carry forty packs, required the labor of four men to manage it on its voyage. In favorable stages of the river, such a vessel, under the management of skilled boatmen, was propelled by poles fifteen or twenty miles a day, against the current. On the return trips the pirogues were loaded with merchandise to be sold to the Indians. Turning our attention once more to Indian treaties and their resulting difficulties, important events centered about Fort Wayne between the years 1800 and 1809. The year 1800 in which William Henry Harrison was appointed the first governor of the Indiana Territory was one of peace in the Great Lake region of the United States. The British had evacuated the posts they had held in the northwest, according to the agreement in the Jay treaty, and the Indians appeared content. At Fort Wayne, the future appeared so calm that William Wells wrote to Hamtramck that he expected the garrison to be withdrawn shortly.[50] However, the spark that set off the flames of Indian warfare was soon to be ignited and kept aglow by British intrigue. This spark was the never ending demand for new lands by the western settlers, which resulted in the attempts of the government to satisfy this demand by gaining new land cessions from the Indians.