Travel Day, Air Museum, & BaseballOct 7, 2011
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| Today was the kind of day I would have dreamed of being off when I had worked! So, I was especially mindful of this gorgeous day with a temperature in the low 80 degrees and the color changing trees glistening in the bright sunlight! On our way to Crawfordsville, IN and the Sugar Creek Campground, Dan toured the Grissom Air Museum ($5 admission) in Peru, IN. Fortunately, we arrived early in the day and Dan was able to turn the coach around in their very small parking lot. We continued driving through the middle of the State of Indiana stopping at the Tippecanoe Battlefield seven miles north of Lafayette, IN ($4 each admission). The Battle of Tippecanoe was fought here on November 7, 1811, between United States forces led by Governor William Henry Harrison of the Indiana Territory and Native American warriors associated with the Shawnee leader Tecumseh. Tecumseh and his brother Tenskwatawa ("The Prophet") were leaders of a confederacy of Native Americans from various tribes that opposed U.S. expansion into Native territory. As tensions and violence increased, Governor Harrison marched with an army of about 1,000 men to disperse the confederacy's headquarters at Prophetstown, near the confluence of the Tippecanoe and Wabash Rivers. Tecumseh, not yet ready to oppose the United States by force, was away recruiting allies when Harrison's army arrived. Tenskwatawa, a spiritual leader but not a military man, was in charge. Harrison camped near Prophetstown on November 6 and arranged to meet with Tenskwatawa the following day. Early the next morning, warriors from Prophetstown attacked Harrison's army. Although the outnumbered attackers took Harrison's army by surprise, Harrison and his men stood their ground for more than two hours. The Natives were ultimately repulsed when their ammunition ran low. After the battle, the Natives abandoned Prophetstown. Harrison's men burned the town and returned home. Harrison, having accomplished his goal of destroying Prophetstown, proclaimed that he had won a decisive victory. He acquired the nickname "Tippecanoe", which was popularized in the song "Tippecanoe and Tyler too" during the election of 1840, when Harrison was elected the ninth President of the United States. (I didn't know all this information, but learned it at this very interesting museum.) The day even ended on a high note as the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Philadelphia Phillies (1-0) and won the National League Division Series. The Cardinals must now play the Milwaukee Brewers in the National League Championship Series. Yeah! |
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