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Indiana University 
was to advance the money, control prices, and sell the fursd^^ 
Thus, finally, ended the fur war in Indiana. 
The years from 1846 to 1848 marked the end of the large 
fur business in the valleys of the Maumee and Wabash. The 
Indians were nearly all gone, and hunters and trappers had 
turned in large numbers to other occupations. With the ad- 
vance of settlement, large areas had been enclosed and the 
supply of fur-bearing animals decreased. The poor demand 
in Europe brought low prices in America, and fur hunting no 
longer afforded a certain means of livelihood. Farmers became 
the chief trappers, and they traded their catches to local 
merchants who shipped them to St. Louis or New York. 
The fur business had done its part toward the development 
of the Maumee and Wabash valleys. It had largely main- 
tained the towns of Fort Wayne, Noblesville, Logansport, Pe- 
ru, Kokomo, Vincennes, and Evansville, and now other indus- 
tries were arising to help them in their growth. The Ewings 
turned their attention from furs to pork and retrieved their 
fortunes. Smaller buyers became general merchants or con- 
tinued the old business in the Far West, and the fur trade in 
Indiana was at an end. 
December 17, 1848, in American Fur Company Letters. 
