Wea Indian Trail - Sullivan County, IN
Posted by: 
YoSam.
N 39° 06.978 W 087° 34.968
16S E 449616 N 4329844
Sometimes, now called the Harrison Trail. On his way to Tippeconoe
Waymark Code: WMN3J1
Location: Indiana, United States
Date Posted: 12/20/2014
Views: 2
County of marker: Sullivan County
location of marker: Eslinger Place (IN-154), Big Springs Farm, 1 mile W. of Graysville
Marker erected by: Sullivan County Historical Society
Marker text:
WEA INDIAN TRAIL
Gen. Wm. H. Harrison Route
General Wm. H. Harrison's army made its last camp in Sullivan County here at Big Springs on Sept. 29, 1811. Harrison used Benjamin Turman's fort as his headquarters. With spring water available, it was an ideal location for 1000 men including 160 dragoons and 60 mounted riflemen. A Kentucky soldier killed a fellow Kentuckian, Clark, either accidentally or in a grudge fight. The deceased, was buried at the top of a hill that became the Mann~Turman Cemetery. Gen. Harrison and his troops continued north on the Wea Indian Trail to build Fort Harrison and then go on to the Battle of Tippecanoe.
"The lands about Vincennes were, as already stated, ceded by the
Indians to the French in 1742. But on June 7, 1803, General Harrison concluded a treaty with the Delawares, Shawnees, Pottawatomies, jMiamis, Eel River Weeas, Kickapoos, Piankeshaws and Kaskaskias, which confirmed this cession. The northern boundary of this cession, as described in the treaty, is a matter of history in Sullivan county. Pointe Coupee on the Wabash, just above the mouth of the Busseron, was the principal point on this boundary. The line did not run due east and west through this point, but at an angle of 12 degrees from this direction, its general course being from northwest to southeast. The treaty also provided that in case some of settlements and locations of land made by the citizens of the United States should fall in the Indian country, the boundary might be altered to include these settlements.
"The Ledgerwood family settled west of Carlisle. When they constructed a habitation they also made it a castle of defense against the Indians. The distinguishing feature of the "block houses" or "forts," of which there were several in the southern part of the county in the first decade of the last century, was the projecting upper story, with numerous loopholes, from which the assailants were exposed to the guns of the defenders above, and all entrances to the building w^ere thus guarded by the overhanging story.
"These block houses were built of the very strongest timbers that
could be obtained, and required both more time and labor for building than the ordinary log homes of the early settlers. When built they served not alone for the protection of the individual household, but each became a central gathering place and fortress for the entire neighborhood during times of danger. ~ History of Sullivan County