Near Shadeland in Tippecanoe County, Indiana — The American Midwest (Great Lakes)
Against the Wea
Just after noon, June 1, 1791, from the elevation to the south, now known as “High Gap”, Brigadier General Charles Scott, his 33 officers, and 760 mounted Kentucky Militiamen rode toward the smoke of cooking fires rising four miles to the north over the principal town of the Ouiatenons (Weas). After the Revolutionary War, Ouiatenon, a fortified century old trading town, became a rendezvous for Wea, Kickapoo, and Mascouten Native Americans conducting raids against American settlements along the Ohio and Kentucky Frontier. The Wabash towns and their Miami and Shawnee allies on the Maumee River, were subject to continuing British encouragement from Detroit to violently resist American encroachment into the Northwest Territory.
In March, 1791, peace efforts exhausted, President George Washington reluctantly ordered Secretary of War Henry Knox to direct a punitive raid against the Wea, using the Kentucky militia. Scott’s force mustered near Cincinnati, then marched 160 miles to Ouiatenon in 8 days. Upon arrival, they engaged the several villages comprising the Grand Ouiatenon. An unmounted detachment of 350 men, under the command of lt. Colonel James Wilkinson destroyed the important town, Kethtippecanuck, near the mouth of the Tippecanoe River. Scott burned the villages
Erected 2004 by Through Donations, Tippecanoe County Historical Association.
Location. 40° 21.531′ N, 86° 58.533′ W. Marker is near Shadeland, Indiana, in Tippecanoe County. Marker is on County Road S 375 W south of State Road 25, on the right when traveling south. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Lafayette IN 47909, United States of America.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 5 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies. Farmers Institute Academy (approx. 2.7 miles away); Post Ouiatenon Site (approx. 3.3 miles away); Site of the Birth Place of Rev. Anthony Foucher (approx. 3.3 miles away); Fort Quiatenon (approx. 3.4 miles away); Liberty Tree (approx. 3.4 miles away); Underground Railroad (approx. 3.4 miles away); The Wea Plains (approx. 4.2 miles away); Granville (approx. 4.6 miles away).
Categories. • Native Americans • Settlements & Settlers •
Credits. This page was last revised on June 16, 2016. This page originally submitted on August 27, 2010, by Al Wolf of Veedersburg, Indiana. This page has been viewed 704 times since then and 21 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4. submitted on August 27, 2010, by Al Wolf of Veedersburg, Indiana. • Bill Pfingsten was the editor who published this page.