It is not surprising that the news of the evacuation came as a shock to the few families and the traders who had built their log houses just outside the fort. When the day of departure came, the few settlers who comprised the village felt a loneliness as their sense of security gave way for the moment to a realization of the coming days of isolation and possible danger. In every direction stretched unbroken wilderness and while the Indians had been subdued, the abundance of whiskey given them by the traders made them at times a menace to the safety of the village. The fort buildings, vacated by the military, now came under the control of the civil authorities, represented by the Indian agent, Benjamin Stickney. For a number of years thereafter the wooden fort with its bastioned blockhouses, officers’ quarters, and barracks, housed such civil, governmental, and private enterprises as the Indian agency, the United States land office, and the first Protestant mission school. Moreover, the opening of the barracks to the settlers not only made safe and comfortable living quarters for those already located there, but induced other settlers to choose this immediate region. Even at this period, the shelter of the stockade brought a feeling of security, and the fort was not without its convenient firearms and supply of ammunition. For a considerable period all but those of stoutest heart sought refuge within its walls with the coming of darkness. Although the depression of 1819 in the Northwest checked the tide of immigration temporarily, there were some travelers and homeseekers who came to stamp their names upon the small settlement, which continued to be known as Fort Wayne even after the evacuation of the troops. These settlers included James Barnett, who was with Harrison’s army of relief in 1812 and who returned in 1818 as a permanent resident and trader; Paul Taber and his sons, Cyrus and Samuel, and his daughter, Lucy, all of whom came in 1819; Francis Comparet, who came in 1819, and who in 1820, together with Alexis Coquillard and Benjamin B. Kercheval, established a post for the American Fur Company at Fort Wayne; Dr. William Turner, a former post surgeon, who returned to Fort Wayne in 1819 and later served for a short time as Indian agent; and James Aveline who with his family came from Vincennes to Fort Wayne in January, 1820.