In the fall of 1810, Harrison brought a libel suit against William McIntosh for slander in regard to the alleged misconduct in the treaty negotiations and general mismanagement of the Indian affairs in the territory on the part of the governor. The trial became a test between the land speculators and Indian traders and Harrison. By the time the trial was over, it included a complete examination of Harrison’s conduct as territorial governor. Connected with the affair were the “Letters of Decius”, a series of attacks on the governor by an Irish lawyer, Isaac Darneille.[11] Considerable attention was directed to the trial throughout the Northwest; the Cincinnati and Frankfort papers carried lengthy accounts of it. The jury gave a verdict in favor of Harrison, and granted him damages of four thousand dollars. In respect to Wells, it is surprising to learn that he testified at the trial in behalf of Harrison, stating that he found the governor’s manner of dealing with the Indians in the councils at all times just. At first glance, it would seem as though Harrison had been wrong in accusing Wells of scheming with McIntosh, and it is possible that Harrison may have been. However, such a contradiction of previous action is in keeping with the pattern of Wells’ character and life. William Wells was undoubtedly an intelligent and shrewd man, but with this ability was combined a capacity for intrigue for his own benefit, which prevented his superiors from relying on him and most of the Indians in his later life from trusting in him. In trying to play the part of a “Talleyrand” in Indian affairs, Wells failed miserably. Why he chose this manner of accomplishing his purposes is unknown. Possibly his connection with both the white and red races prompted him to believe himself a mediator, who, incidentally, could profit by the differences between the two. Wells had many enemies and a few friends among both races. If there is any value in the observation, it is to be noted that most of his friends were made in his early life, while his enemies were made after he became Indian agent at Fort Wayne. Among the Indians, Little Turtle was Wells’ most intimate associate, although Five Medals, Blue Jacket, and many of the older chiefs were also counted among his friends. Richardville, one of the shrewdest of the Miamis, did not trust Wells. The Prophet and Tecumseh, as well as Winamac and the White Loon hated Wells. Harrison admitted shortly before Wells’ unexpected death that Wells deserved some credit from the circumstance that the line that separated his friends among the chiefs from his enemies was precisely the same as one Harrison would have designated to separate the friends of the American cause from its enemies.