The Historic Forks of the Wabash Greetings, today I wil
Most Strategic Site in the United States
Greetings, today I will talk about Miami Chief Richardville and what at one time was one of the most important pieces of real estate in Indiana and the United States, the Forks of the Wabash.
Historic Forks of the Wabash
The Historic Forks of the Wabash includes several log cabins and other historic buildings as well as the house Chief Richardville owned near the Forks of the Wabash. Visitors can walk a trail that leads to the Little River's junction with the Wabash, which served as the end of the Maumee/Wabash River Portage. Many councils involving the Miami Tribe took place here. The United States government signed three treaties with the native tribes here. The first section of the Wabash and Erie Canal was also here. Sections of the canal are still visible. This site at one time was one of the most strategic sites in North America, as the portage allowed traders to float all the way from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico via the Maumee, Little River, Wabash, Ohio and Mississippi Rivers. The historic structures include the Nuck Cabin, the Pioneer School and the home of Chief Richardville. Chief Richardville controlled access to the portage, enabling him to charge a toll on travelers using it. The proceeds from the toll made the chief the richest man in Indiana at one point.
A museum on site includes many artifacts, documents and exhibits. The museum does not maintain regular hours, however visitors may arrange a tour in advance. It is a popular field trip for many area schools.
Historic Forks Of The Wabash
P.O. Box 261
3011 W Park Dr
Huntington, IN 46750
(260) 356-1903
https://forksofthewabash.org/
During the late Seventeenth Century the Miami tribe controlled one of the most valuable pieces of real estate in the Ohio River Valley. The area between the St. Mary's River and Wabash River proved the shortest portage point between two great waterways, the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River. The portage, or "carrying place" in French, allowed travelers moving by water access to the Mississippi River from the St. Lawerence River and beyond. The French utilized the portage, at the pleasure of the Miami, during their early explorations into the North American interior. The Miami realized the importance of the portage, as it had been used by Amerindian tribes for centuries. The tribe allowed their friends, the French, to use it, after paying a toll.
The Importance of the Portage
Traveling by canoe, a traveler could voyage from Lake Eries up the Maumee River to the junction of three rivers, the Maumee, St. Joseph and St. Mary's. From the junction, the route turned southeast on the St. Mary's to the portage point. Canoeists needed only carry their canoes a short distance, which varied by the season of the year, only a few miles from the portage point on the St. Mary's River to the Wabash. Once in the Wabash a traveler could journey down the Wabash to the Ohio and on to the Mississippi. The French used to portage point to move goods from their colonies in New France to New Orleans. The Amerindians used it to move the furs they collected to their trading partners further east. All these travelers had to pass through the lands of the Miami Indians, who collected a toll from everyone.
Fort Wayne
Realizing the importance of the spot where the three rivers joined, the French established a trading post near the junction in 1715, followed in 1722 by a fort. The English also occupied the site after driving the French from North America at the conclusion of the French and Indian War. General Anthony Wayne built another fort on the junction during the Indian Wars. Many of the treaty negotiations between the Amerindians and the United States took place there. The portage maintained importance until the 1830's, when the Wabash-Erie Canal made it unneccesary.
Jean Baptiste Richardville (c. 1761 – August 13, 1841)
The son of French fur trader Joseph Drouet de Richerville and a Miami woman, Tacumwah Chief Richardville was a native of the Miami village of Kekionga. Kekionga was on the site of the present city of Fort Wayne. His mother was the sister of Miami chief Pacanne. His mother and sister were chiefs in the Miami tribe, a tribe that used a Matrilineality system to trace family lines. A matrilineal system is a female based system. Chief Richardville gained his tribal status from his mother. His name, Pinšiwa, means Wildcat in the Miami language.
He recieved a good education, learning to speak four languages, English, Miami, Iroquis and French. he was a signer of both the 1818 Treaty of the Miami and the 1826 Treaty of Mississinwas. Though the Miami had lost control of the portabe between the Maumee River and Little River as per the Treaty of Greenville in 1795, Richardville managed to acquire a trade license granting him a monopoly over the carry-over trade at the portage. The profits from this license and his acquistion of almost twenty square miles of property along the rivers made him one of the richest men in Indiana at his death in 1841. In 1827 he constructed the Richardville House in Fort Wayne, the first Greek Revival-style in that part of the state. Richardville tendered the use of his lands for the Miami tribe, which allowed almost half the tribe to remain in Indiana when the Federal Government removed the Amerindian from Indiana in 1846.
The Richardville home in Fort Wayne currently serves as a musuem and intrpretive center for Amerindian culture. It is the oldest Amerindian structure in the midwest. Listed with the National Historic Landmarks, the home is open to the public. For information, contact:
History Center
302 E. Berry Street
Fort Wayne, IN 46802
260.426.2882
You can find a video version of this podcast on my Mossy Feet Books You Tube channel as well as my substack newsletter, History, Gardening and stuff. A link to the newsletter is on the web site.
Information about this site and many others sites in Indiana are found in my book Road Trips in Northwest Indiana. The book is part of my 9 book Road Trip Indiana Series which has day trip destinations for every region and county in Indiana. Destinations include state and local parks, museums, wineries, farmers markets and even drive in theaters and bowling alleys. You can buy all 9 of the books in an economical box set.
You can find these books on my website, www.mossyfeetbooks.com. There are links to Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Apple as well as many other online book sellers. You can also purchase the books direct from me. Residents of southeastern Indiana can find a large selection of my books at the Walnut Street Variety Shop on George Street in downtown Batesville, Indiana.