Day 18

Last night was the first time the temperature was comfortable in our tent. I had to tuck myself inside my sleeping bag to stay warm. When we woke up this morning, it was 63°. If only had been like this the entire trip the both of us would have slept so much better.

We visited Elephant Rocks State Park this morning. We got there at 7:51, nine minutes before the gates opened. The weather, the temperature were perfect today. It’s the type of weather you can hike all day. The last thing I want to be doing is heading home and spending much of the day in the car. But at least we got to spend some time with the Elephant Rocks first, even though they were somewhat anti-climatic. We were hoping to see rocks that really looked like elephants. Allegedly, the boulders resemble elephants lined up head to tail, as if in a parade. I suppose if you really twist your imagination, you can get them to look like elephants, but mostly they look like huge boulders. We walked the trail around the rocks, which is short, only a mile. And then we climbed on the rocks for awhile before getting back into the car. G3‘s favorite part of the visit was climbing the rocks.

Next, was a long drive through rural Illinois. I had no idea they grew so much corn. For many long miles there was nothing to see but farms. Our destination was right across the Wabash river in Vincennes, a quaint historic city in Indiana. Grouseland was President William Henry Harrison’s home when he was Governor of Indiana Territory. He named it Grouseland because of all the grouse that used to wander around on the property. Plus grouse and asparagus was his favorite meal. It was the first house in Indiana built from bricks.

When we told the tour guide we were from New York and New Jersey she told us that Harrison had ties to that area via his wife. Anna was born in Morristown, New Jersey. Her mother died when she very young. Her father couldn’t take care of her so he dressed as a Redcoat and smuggled her across British lines during the Revolutionary War. He delivered her to her grandparents in Long Island and they raised her.

Harrison was born in Virginia. He was the last American president to have been born a British subject. His father signed the Declaration of Independence. Harrison went to school to be a doctor. It was his father’s ambition for him. However, his father died before he could finish school, and without funding to continue, he dropped out and joined the military.

At 25 he became Governor of the Indiana Territory. President Jefferson told him he needed to tend to the “Indian Problem.” At the time Tecumseh, the Shawnee warrior, was the biggest threat since he was trying to put together a confederacy of Native American tribes. Harrison met with him right outside Grouseland and tried to get him to sign a treaty. Tecumseh refused. They met again on the battlefield at Tippecanoe. While casualties were equal on both sides, the Americans claim victory because they drove the Natives out of Indiana. This victory would come back in the election of 1840 with the slogan of “Tippecanoe and Tyler too.” Harrison and Tecumseh would fight once more in the Battle of the Thames in Canada during the War of 1812. Harrison drove off the British and defeated Tecumseh’s Confederacy. Tecumseh was killed in the battle.

William Henry Harrison gave the longest inaugural speech of any president, he also served the shortest amount of time—32 days. He was sworn in on March 4, 1841 and on April 4th he became the first president to die in office. For years, it was believed that he died of pneumonia contracted on inauguration day after standing outside in the freezing air without a jacket. Now, science believes he died from drinking water contaminated by sewage. His wife never officially served as First Lady. She was sick when he moved to Washington. She intended to join him when she got better, but he died before she got there. Still, she was the oldest First Lady until Joe Biden was elected and Jill Biden served as First Lady.

As I was driving to Grouseland, I noticed a sign for George Rogers Clark National Historical Park. So of course, once we finished the tour, I had to check it out. I never heard of George Rogers Clark, and therefore, I couldn’t resist the urge to learn something new. We got there a half hour before they closed so my time was extremely limited which severely cut down on how much I could learn. But some knowledge is always preferable to no knowledge.

During the Revolutionary War in 1779, Clark and his men defeated the British who served under Lieutenant Governor Henry Hamilton. Clark captured Vincennes and greatly weakened British influence in the Northwest Territory. He is known as “The Conqueror of the Old Northwest.” He hated the Native Americans and executed the Native American prisoners who had sided with the British. After his campaign, native raids did not occur as frequently. However, Native Americans fought against Americans who invaded their territory until the end of Black Hawks War in 1832. While I had no idea who Clark was. I am very familiar with his younger brother—the guy who accompanied Lewis on an excursion out west.

I would have loved to have spent more time in Vincennes. Not only did it appear to have a certain charm, there was a great deal more history to explore since it was the capital of the Indiana Territory. But Kati is not please that I am away and she wants me home tomorrow—a day earlier than I planned to be home to get G3 ready for camp—in order to help with moving. So instead of lingering there for the night as planned, I pushed on until I got to Ohio.