The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1896-03-15
HOME FOR VETERANS
WHAT INDIANA Is DOING FOR HER
INDECENT L SOLDIERS.
Descriptions OF Lafayette Home and
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ON Tecum-
seh's Old Camping Ground.

nous battle ground or Iippecanoe, Wnere
William Henry Harrison and other brave
soldiers fought the battle that opened the
great Northwest Territory to the whites. Is
situated the new home for Indiana's vet
Grams Of the late war. The location, senti-
mentally considered. is all that could be
asked for. and when looked upon from a
more commonplace. but practical. point. it
cannot be denied that a better situation
would be extremely hard to find.
From Lafayette a public road winds along
the west bank of the Wabash. between the
Dlacid waters OF the stream and the irreg-
ular hills that come down almost TO the
waters edge. Three miles and a half from
the city the road begins to ascend the hills,
leaving the river several hundred feet to the
right. 1t is here that the great chief Tecum-
sch camped. and IL is here that INDECENT veter-
ans are now being cared for. After the road
ascends the hills for a few hundred feet, a
new road leaves It and by a winding route
finally reaches the top of the plain that lies
TO the west OF the river. This is the road
that leads to the home.
A year ago the top Of this plain was 2
mere wilderness. and a more uninviting spot
could scarcely have been found in the State.
Its natural beauty was great. but the heavy
timber and thick underground that covered
- LAd4C VI AZ NAfOl a VII db0 unpIClcu
tious spot that scarcely seemed susceptible
of real improvement. Spur hills extended
from the plain toward the river, between
them being great ~ravines, in some places
forming actual cliffs that would be danger
Gus to a night wanderer. While the part Of
the tract of land that faces the river Is very
much broken with these spur hills. the top
IS just rolling enough to give good drain
age and lessen the work of the landscape
gardener when the time comes to put the
finishing touches to the grounds.
At the present time the grounds are in a
very muddy condition. Walks have not been
laid, with the exception of one from the old
peoples building to the dining hall. Every
thing is crude and uninvitlng, but such is
the condition OF all things in their earlier
stages. Even the casual observer cannot fail
10 detect all the necessary natural environ
ments to turn it into a most beautiful spot.
The history of the place and surroundings
Is a thing that adds to its natural suitability
for such a home. In speaking Of the story
of the past, which is closely woven with all
the crooks and turns in the upper Wabash,
B. Wilson Smith. OF Lafayette, said, when
addressing the Senate committee that had
the matter in charge at the last meeting of
the Legislature:
NO lovelier or more historic spot could
have been chosen by the Grand Army of
the Republic than this for a soldiers home.
1t is located on the west bank of the
Wabash. with two thousand feet of water
front From the river the bluff rises alb
ruptly about seventy-ffve feet and is COW
cred with a dense growth of forest trees
of every variety, growing down to the
waters edge. From the top OF the bluff
west, a distance of one thousand feet. the
land is level. rising then with a gentle
slope TO the upper plateau, more than two
hundred feet above the river. overlooking
a country grand and beautiful. On the
waters Of this almost classic Wabash once
fioated the canoes of Jesuit enthusiasts like
Ia Sale. and his iron-handed Lieutenant
Touty and their dusky confreres, as they
came and went from Fort Miami of the
lakes to the St Louis on the Mississippi,
or visited the tribes of the Wabash. urging
them into the great Algonquin confederacy,
that they might be removed from and be
able 10 cope with the warlike Iroquois.
FAMOUS INDIAN SITES.
From the lookout on the summit of the
grounds the view is marvellous and to one
acquainted with the history OF the Indian
tribes and early settlements, many i'm
portant places can be pointed out. To the
northeast, at the mouth of the Tippe-
canoe, is the site Of the great village of
kepth-tip-pe-ca-nunk, captured in 1871 by
Col Wilkinson, who destroyed the village
by fire, after putting the inhabitants TO
flight Seventy houses with single roofs
were burned; also a tavern, marking a
degree of civilization only possible by the
presence of many French traders. South
ward stretch out for miles the great Wea
Plains, and the home of magnificent Miamis
and on whose lovely bosom nestled five
large Indian villages-the most noted of
these, the famous Ouiatenon, which, with
the others. after a most remarkable history
of over a century, were destroyed by Gen.
eral Scott, near the close Of tho eighteenth
century. Across the river from the plains
is the site OF old Fort Ouiatenon, estab-
hshed In 1720, and captured by the Indians
during the Pontiac conspiracy in 1855.
From this same height one can see the
site OF the Winnebago village on the Wild
cat, n the Kickapoo villages above and
below on the Wabash.
Through the grounds from east to west
runs for more than three-quarters of a mile.
the ~el1-know Indian trail. leading from
Prophets Town, near the mouth Of the Tip
pecanoe river, TO the Indian towns on the
Wea Plains. The historian has with full
authority named this Tecumseh' Trail Tt
was the great Indian highway that con-
nected these river villages, and to-day is as
distinct and clear in many places as it was
a hundred years ago. Along the north and
south sides, and along the river front, are
many valuable springs of mineral water.
There are springs OF Chalybeate and sui
phur water and other with no trace of min
erals in them. and all OF the highest me-
dicinal quality.
ct Is not strange that at this place so
much that is historic is gathered when we
remember that Fort Ouiatenon is older
than the French fort at Vincennes. and that
during the existence OF this fort with a
French garrison. and even during the Eng
lish supremacy. the fur trade amounted to
more than $4,000 annually, all of which
commerce was carried on in sight of this To-
cation. and the carrying trade OF which,
immense as it was in those d~ays-furs be-
ing then very ~cheap-was on the placid
waters Of the Wabash past the very place
which Indiana viii dedicate to her veteran
soldiers as a home.
And i must not forget that in full view