Sample Chapter
Short History of Roads and Highways - Indiana Edition
Forks of Wabash
This historical marker in Huntington, County notes the location of an important portage road that linked the Great Lakes with the Mississippi River.
Title of Marker:
Forks of Wabash
Location:
Business US 24/ W. Park Drive, east of SR 9 junction, Huntington. (Huntington County, Indiana)
Installed by:
Society of Indiana Pioneers
Marker ID #:
35.1972.1
Marker Text:
The junction of the Wabash and Little rivers, 100 yards south, was the western terminus of the Maumee-Wabash long portage and, in 1835, of the first section of the Wabash and Erie Canal. During the 18th century French and English traders passed this way and, in 1778, Henry Hamilton brought 171 British troops and 350 Indians with 40 boats through the portage en-route to retake Fort Sackville at Vincennes. Three Miami villages were located here and Chiefs Richardville and LaFontaine once lived here. The Forks was the scene of many Indian councils and the Miami Treaties of 1834, 1838 and 1840.
Brief History by the Author
During the late Seventeenth Century the Miami tribe controlled one of the most valuable pieces of real estate in the Ohio River Valley. The area between the St. Mary's River and Wabash River proved the shortest portage point between two great waterways, the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River. The portage, or "carrying place" in French, allowed travelers moving by water access to the Mississippi River from the St. Lawrence River and beyond. The French utilized the portage, at the pleasure of the Miami, during their early explorations into the North American interior. The Miami realized the importance of the portage, as it had been used by Amerindian tribes for centuries. The tribe allowed their friends, the French, to use it, after paying a toll.
The Importance of the Portage
Traveling by canoe, a traveler could voyage from Lake Erie up the Maumee River to the junction of three rivers, the Maumee, St. Joseph and St. Mary's. From the junction, the route turned southeast on the St. Mary's to the portage point. Canoeists needed only carry their canoes a short distance, which varied by the season of the year, only a few miles from the portage point on the St. Mary's River to the Wabash. Once in the Wabash a traveler could journey down the Wabash to the Ohio and on to the Mississippi. The French used to portage point to move goods from their colonies in New France to New Orleans. The Amerindians used it to move the furs they collected to their trading partners further east. All these travelers had to pass through the lands of the Miami Indians, who collected a toll from everyone.
Fort Wayne
Realizing the importance of the spot where the three rivers joined, the French established a trading post near the junction in 1715, followed in 1722 by a fort. The English also occupied the site after driving the French from North America at the conclusion of the French and Indian War. General Anthony Wayne built another fort on the junction during the Indian Wars. Many of the treaty negotiations between the Amerindians and the United States took place there. The portage maintained importance until the 1830's, when the Wabash-Erie Canal made it unnecessary.
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© 2020 Paul Wonning
© 2020 Paul Wonning
