September 17, 2013

September 17, 2013

Tucson is still in summer heat mode so we decide to take our time moseying back. We head south around the bottom of Lake Michigan into Indiana. We soon cross the Kankakee River. It looks like a canal crossing expansive cornfields. For good reason. After watching a PBS episode a few days ago I learned this river used to be a swamp covering almost the entire northwest part of Indiana. In the 19th century industrial steam shovels cut a new channel draining the swamp and turning the land into the fertile farms they are today.

Another hour south we stopped in Purdue country to visit the Tippecanoe Battlefield. In 1809, the Shawnee leader Tecumseh and his Prophet-like brother were organizing a confederation of Indian tribes to resist further westward expansion of the US. They drew the battle line at the Wabash River and created an Indian center here called Prophetstown. When Tecumseh made a trip south in 1811 to recruit more tribes, the territorial governor William Henry Harrison marched troops here hoping to provoke a reaction. Tecumseh’s impulsive brother attacked, but Harrison was prepared. He won the skirmish, scattered the tribes, and burned Prophetstown. Harrison, now a hero, rode the fame to president in 1840 using the slogan “Tippecanoe and Tyler too.”

We toured the museum and then walked the small battlefield. A hundred years after the battle a large monument was erected on the site. We also drove to nearby Prophetstown State Park, but were disappointed to learn that none of the history of that settlement remains.

Another hour brings us to Indianapolis where we plan to visit Benjamin Harrison’s house. Like his granfather, Ben was also a war hero and President (elected 1888). Unfortunately the highway is closed downtown so we decide to punt and bypass Indy. We end our day crossing into the rolling hills of southern Ohio stopping at a pretty little public campground in the Whitewater Forest.