INTO ITS PAST. >> THOUSANDS OF YEARS BEFORE THE
BANKS OF WABASH, SENT PIONEERS
IN THE GREAT NORTHWEST.
IT WAS HOME TO THE EARLIEST
KNOWN TRIBES.
KNOWN TRIBES. THEIR BURIAL GROUNDS REMAIN
UNDISTURBED FOR 130 YEARS.
BY THE 1700S, FUR TRADERS
SETTLED IN THE AREA, DRAWN BY
PLENTIFUL GAME AND THE NATURAL
WABASH RIVER, CLAIMING THE LAND
FOR THE FRENCH COLONY OF CANADA.
>> THE FRENCH HAD BEEN
DEVELOPING THE WABASH RIVER AS A
NEW ROUTE TO CONNECT NORTHERN
AREA CANADA WITH THE SOUTHERN
AREA OF LOUISIANA.
AND THEY ESTABLISHED A SERIES,
DETROIT, AND THE LOGICAL THING
WAS TO BUILD A FORT ON THE LOWER
WABASH RIVER.
WABASH RIVER. THEY CHOSE FOR THIS ONE OF THE
FRENCH CANADIAN MARINE OFFICERS,
FRANCOIS MARIE VINCENNES IN
1730, HE CAME DOWN AND BROUGHT
WITH HIM A TRIBE OF INDIANS DOWN
INTO THE LOUISIANA AND
ESTABLISHED HIS FORT HERE.
>> KNOWN AS THE COAST, BEFORE
BEING RENAMED VINCENNES IN 1735,
THE FORT BECAME THE FIRST
EUROPEAN SETTLEMENT IN INDIANA,
HOME TO A NUMBER OF
FRENCH-CANADIAN FAMILIES WHO
LIVED IN PEACE ALONGSIDE THE
NEIGHBORING VILLAGE.
NEIGHBORING VILLAGE. AFTER VINCENNES' DEATH.
>> HE DECIDED TO PUT THE TOWN ON
A MORE PERMANENT BASIS BY
ESTABLISHING AGRICULTURE.
ESTABLISHING AGRICULTURE. HE LAID OUT STREETS IN THE TOWN
AND HE ESTABLISHED A CHURCH
ALONG THE WABASH.
AND SO YOU HAD EDUCATION AND
THEN VINCENNES BECAME ON A MORE
PERMANENT BASIS.
PERMANENT BASIS. >> IN 1764, THE FRENCH AND THE
INDIAN WAR ERUPTED ACROSS THE
TERRITORY, WITH THE FRENCH
DEFEAT ALL CANADIAN LANDS
INCLUDING VINCENNES WERE PLACED
UNDER BRITISH RULE, BUT AS THE
AMERICAN REVOLUTIONARY WAR BEGAN
IN THE EAST, A YOUNG MAN BY THE
NAME OF GEORGE ROGERS CLARK
FORMED A BOLD PLAN TO CAPTURE
THE FORMER FRENCH SETTLEMENT,
THUS OPENING THE MISSISSIPPI TO
SAFE PASSAGE AND ENSURING THE
PATRIOTS WOULD CONTINUE TO
RECEIVE SUPPLIES FROM NEW
ORLEANS.
ORLEANS. ON JULY 4th OF 1778, CLARK AND
150 MEN BEGAN THEIR ATTACK.
THOUGH GREATLY OUTNUMBERED THEY
SUCCESSFULLY CAPTURED FORT,
INCLUDING VINCENNES.
INCLUDING VINCENNES. >> HENRY HAMILTON, THE BRITISH
LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR OF DETROIT
RECEIVED WORD OF THIS AND
DECIDED THIS WAS NOT GOING TO
STAND.
STAND. HE FORMED AN ARMY OF HIS OWN AND
HEADED DOWN THE WABASH RIVER,
ARRIVING INTO THE VICINITY OF
THE VINCENNES IN 1778.
>> THE HANDS WERE NO MATCH FOR
HAMILTON'S ARMY.
HAMILTON'S ARMY. HE RECAPTURED THE FORT WITHOUT
FIRING A SINGLE SHOT.
BUT BELIEVING THAT CLARK WOULD
DARE NOT ATTACK DURING WINTER,
HAMILTON RELEASED HIS ARMY FOR
HOME.
HOME. CLARK POUNCED.
CLARK POUNCED. IN FEBRUARY OF 1779, HE LAUNCHED
A BRAZEN WINTER EXPEDITION.
CLARK HAD A LARGE ARMY JUST
BEHIND HIM, HAMILTON
SURRENDERED.
SURRENDERED. IT WAS THE LARGEST LAND CONQUEST
OF THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR.
IT WAS KNOWN AS THE NORTHWEST
TERRITORY IN THE NEWLY FORMED
UNITED STATES.
UNITED STATES. >> ALL THE WESTERN PART OF THE
LAND IN 1800 BECAME THE INDIANA
TERRITORY AND VINCENNES WAS
SELECTED AS THE CAPITAL CITY OF
THIS INDIANA TERRITORY.
>> IT WAS THE HOLDEST TOWN IN
THE TERRITORY.
THE TERRITORY. IT WAS 70 YEARS OLD AT THIS
TIME, WAY OLDER THAN ANY OTHER
COMMUNITY.
COMMUNITY. IT WAS ALSO CENTRALLY LOCATED.
WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON, WHO HAD
BEEN THE SECRETARY OF STATE WAS
APPOINTED AS GOVERNOR OF THE NEW
INDIANA TERRITORY, ARRIVED OUT
HERE IN JANUARY OF 1801 TO SET
UP THE GOVERNMENT.
>> HARRISON'S ARRIVAL ENTERED IN
A NEW INTELLECTUAL ERA.
HE ESTABLISHED THE JEFFERSON
AACADEMY, TODAY KNOWN AS
VINCENNES UNIVERSITY.
VINCENNES UNIVERSITY. HE ALSO HIRED A PRESS, CREATING
THE INDIANA GAZETTE.
BUT IT WAS HARRISON'S EFFORTS
OUTSIDE OF TOWN THAT RAISED
TENSIONS.
TENSIONS. GOVERNOR HARRISON MADE TREATY
AFTER TREATY WITH THE
SURROUNDING TRIBES.
SURROUNDING TRIBES. BY THE END OF THE DECADE, HE HAD
CEDEED 75% OF THE TERRITORY FROM
THE NATIVE AMERICANS.
IN 1810, ONE OF THE TRIBES
NEGOTIATED A LAND COMPROMISE.
HARRISON WAS FUMING, AND IT LED
TO THE WAR OF 1812.
HARRISSON'S VICTORY AS COMMANDER
OF THE NORTHWEST ARMY WOULD EARN
HIM A GOLD MEDAL FOR SERVICE AND
PAVE THE WAY FOR HIS EVENTUAL
PRESIDENCY.
PRESIDENCY. IN HARRISON'S ABSENCE, HOWEVER,
POLITICIANS MOVED THE
TERRITORIAL CAPITAL FROM
VINCENNES TO CORYDON.
TODAY, 100 MILES AWAY, VINCENNES
REMAINS A TESTIMONY NOT JUST TO
THE FOUNDING OF THE STATE, BUT
THE FOUNDING OF THE AMERICAN
WEST.
WEST. >> VINCENNES HAS A PROUD PAST.
WE ARE VERY PROUD OF OUR
HISTORY.
HISTORY. WE CONSIDER OURSELVES TO BE THE
MOST HISTORICAL COMMUNITY IN
INDIANA, THE BEGINNINGS OF
RELIGION REPRESENTED BY THE OLD
CATHEDRAL AND THE OLD CATHEDRAL
LIBRARY.
LIBRARY. WE HAVE OUR TERRITORIAL CENTER
HERE, THE SITTING OF GOVERNMENT,
THE BEGINNING OF EDUCATION, WITH
THE JEFFERSON ACADEMY.
AND YOU HAVE A LOT OF
INTERPRETATION IN THE BEGINNINGS
OF INDIANA.
OF INDIANA. AND IT'S FROM THE STUDY OF THESE