Indiana - George Rogers Clark NHP

Travelling south from Wisconsin into southern Illinois and Indiana is not the most exciting drive I have been on, but in the late autumn, the leaves are somewhat still on the trees, and you can see for MILES in that flat landscape. As I do, when travelling, I go out of my way to visit National Park Service properties, and on this Wisconsin to Atlanta road trip, I visited the George Rogers Clark National Historic Park in Vincennes, Indiana.

I have to admit, I had no clue who George Rogers Clark was, what era he lived through or what he did to make his mark on our society. But… I was willing to learn. The park consists of two buildings in a park, one being the Visitor Center, and one being a massive cylinder monument. It was striking to see such a large building after traveling through farmlands for hours.

I started at the visitor center. I was a bit surprised it was open due to COVID, and due to the fact that the website said it was closed. But, it was open and I went in. One ranger was in there and no one else. He started the film for me, and I learned all about George Rogers Clark.

The short version is that during the American Revolution, the English army was so busy in the colonies that they had few troops to spare to fight against the settlers in the Territories (which this part of the country was at the time). England had a base in Detroit where they led the defense of the territories, but in the late 1700’s, news didn’t get to them very quickly. There were three outposts in southern Indiana, one of which was at this location in Vincennes. Since the English were so concentrated in the colonies, they had allied with the various Indian Nations and gave them guns and ammunition to fight on England’s behalf.

George Rogers Clark led a group of other settlers and took control of two of the outposts before the guys in Detroit heard about it. When they did, England sent people to the last outpost, at this location in Vincennes. George Roger Clark’s group was expected to winter at one of the other outposts, but instead, the made a heroic trip – mostly in water – and took control of the fort at Vincennes.

As usual, the movie was great. I had no idea of this part of history before this visit. When I was done with the movie, the ranger asked if I wanted to see the memorial, and he locked up the Visitor Center and walked me over to the memorial. Inside is a large circular room with huge murals on the walls, depicting the events in chronological order. There is a display by each one to describe the scene. Most of the information was in the movie, so this was just reinforcement.

It was a beautiful spot, and I learned a ton. I was only there for an hour or so, but it was a great visit!