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Indiana Byways

© Annie Johnson

Indiana literally means Land of the Indians. The Hoosier State; colloquial nickname in answer to a query made by early settlers in the territory from behind their barred doors to a visitor knocking on their door, "Who's There?" Indiana territory was established as part of the Northwest Territory, of which William Henry Harrison was established as the governor of the territory in 1795.

Exploration of the vastness of what was to become the United States was still being done to map rivers, mountain and plains. In 1803 Meriwether Lewis and William Clark left from what is now Clarksville in southern Indiana to make the longest trek in our history, to map the plains and rivers and mountains in the vast unexplored region of America.

William Henry Harrison was given orders from our capital in the already established first thirteen states, to wrest all the land from the natives in Indiana territory by treaty for the purpose of new settlements. Thus was set the practice of making treaties with all the tribes in Indiana territory to take their land from them. Native Americans did not own land! They lived by a simple concept that land was a gift to all life from The Great Spirit; it was nothing that any one individual could own. It was a gift that provided from nature all that a being required to survive the cold, to nourish the body and to worship the Great Spirit. So treaties didn't mean anything to them because of that concept. Thus they made it easy for the greedy to usurp what was thought by them to be a place for all comers to hunt and fish and live.

Vincennes was the capital of Indiana Territory, and it was a major fort in our history. It was located in the southwestern part of the territory. It had the high stockade fence around it to stave off Indian attacks. There were many tribes in Indiana, too numerous to mention, but the largest tribe was major in our history - The Shawnee. They were fierce, savage warriors; the women brave and strong and the children hardy. Anyone captured by a Shawnee Warrior was tortured to death in an unspeakable manner; they believed that great pain emptied out your soul and sent it as a perfect offering to the Great Spirit. Many who were the bravest and survived their torture without crying out were freed or made a member of the tribe. Bravery was admired above all traits. It was a sign that you were favored by the Great Spirit and nothing could touch you!