The Tippecanoe Battlefield Park enshrines a 96-acre park with an outsized impact on American history. Shawnee statesman Tecumseh tried to build a Native confederacy that would stop White expansion into their lands. His brother’s defeat at the 1811 Battle of Tippecanoe damaged his potential allies’ faith in victory. Furthermore, British support for the Indigenous nations already irritated the United States. The Congressional War Hawks used the battle to promote war.
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Congress declared the War of 1812 in June 1812. By the war’s end, Tecumseh was dead, and British support for an Indigenous nation ended. Because of this, the chance of an independent Indigenous country was gone forever.
Walking a battlefield and viewing its artifacts are the best ways to understand the terrain and tactics. The battlefield’s size surprised me because it seemed too small to hold its significance. We still feel its seismic changes today.
Related: Learn more about what the Greater Lafayette region has to offer.
How to visit the Tippecanoe Battlefield Park & Museum
The Tippecanoe Battlefield Park & Museum is in Battle Ground, Indiana, 15 minutes northeast of Lafayette. The museum is open daily except Wednesdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and the park is open daily from dawn to dusk.
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Lafayette is an hour northeast of Indianapolis and two hours southeast of Chicago. Purdue University Airport (LAF) provides daily round-trip flights to Chicago O’Hare Airport (ORD).
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What to see in the museum
The museum’s exhibits include a fiber-optic map of the action, a large diorama, and information about Tecumseh, Harrison, and The Prophet. It’s also an interpretive center for the early U.S. Republic, placing Tippecanoe into the historical and geopolitical context of the War of 1812’s prelude up to its aftermath.
Roxie’s reliable report: Tippecanoe may sound like an overturned boat. Instead, it’s a Miami Nation word meaning “place of the succor fish people.” Succor fish are also called buffalo fish.
Wabash Heritage Trail and Wah-ba-shik-a Nature Center
The park includes picnic areas, scenic hiking trails, and the Wah-ba-shik-a Nature Center. The battlefield is the northern terminus of the Wabash Heritage Trail, an 18-mile scenic railway that meanders along Burnett Creek to the Wabash River. It crosses Lafayette and West Lafayette before ending at Fort Ouiatenon.
At the Wah-ba-shik-a Nature Center, find trail maps and check conditions. The center features natural history exhibits, a wildlife observation window, and small taxidermy animal displays.
Roxie’s reliable report: Contact the Tippecanoe County Park and Recreation Department to reserve the park shelter.
The youngest soldier
You can learn about the youngest of Harrison’s soldiers in the museum. Fourteen-year-old James Spencer joined his father, Captain Spier Spencer, and his uncle, Private George Spencer, on the march from Vincennes. Captain Spencer commanded the elite Spencer’s Yellow Jackets. Despite his age, James acted as a regular soldier. His father died during the battle, and his uncle died of battle wounds two days later. The Captain displayed so much bravery that Indiana and Kentucky both named counties for him. Spencer, the Owen County, Indiana, seat also bears his name.
James Spencer accompanied Harrison back to Vincennes. Harrison arranged for James to attend the United States Military Academy to compensate for his losses. The younger Spencer served in the artillery for 12 years and fought in the First Seminole War.
Roxie’s reliable recommendation: The Tippecanoe Battlefield Park History Store stocks a large selection of books on 1800s Indiana, the early US republic, military history, and Native history and culture. Also, shop for reproduction historic goods, souvenir clothes, and other items.
“One of those uncommon geniuses which … produce revolutions and overturn the established order of things.”
William Henry Harrison describes Tecumseh
Tecumseh’s dream
Shawnee warrior Tecumseh dreamed of a Native American confederation, reaching from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico. He foresaw that White settlers would flood the remaining Native Americans’ lands, pushing out the original inhabitants. His younger brother, Tenskwatawa, “The Prophet,” provided spiritual support for the brothers’ movement. They built a capital called Prophet’s Town near the confluence of the Tippecanoe River with the Wabash River. Indiana Territorial Governor William Henry Harrison had negotiated land purchases from the Native nations. Tecumseh said that all Natives owned the land in common. Unless all Native nations agreed, land sales were invalid.
Roxie’s reliable report: At Tecumseh’s birth, a streaming meteor fell. The trail of fire gave Tecumseh his name, the Shooting Star, or the Celestial Panther Lying in Wait.
A clash of cultures sparks the Battle of Tippecanoe
“My son, keep your eyes fixed on me. My tomahawk is now up, but do not strike [the Americans] until I give the signal.”
Matthew Elliot, head of the British Indian Department, 1811
The Treaty of Paris of 1783 ended the Revolutionary War. It said the United States owned the land from the Atlantic Ocean to the Mississippi River. However, even 30 years later, the British fur trading companies said the land ownership was invalid. The British continued to provide munitions and other supplies to their Native allies.
Harrison blamed British meddling for Tecumseh’s stubbornness. However, Harrison’s policies were at least as responsible for Native unrest as the British ones. In the summer of 1811, Harrison and Tecumseh met at Harrison’s Grouseland mansion in Vincennes, Indiana. The men could not agree. Tecumseh left Indiana Territory to recruit southern Native nations to his confederacy. Before leaving, he asked his brother and Harrison not to cause “mischief” in his absence.
Meanwhile, Harrison lobbied President James Madison and Secretary of War William Eustis for war. Eustis prohibited aggression unless Tenskwatawa attacked. Harrison left Vincennes with about 1,000 soldiers on September 26, 1811, and established Fort Harrison at present-day Terre Haute as a staging post on the way. US forces left Terre Haute on October 29. Ten days later, they camped on Burnett’s Creek adjacent to Prophet’s Town.
The story of the Battle of Tippecanoe
Harrison formed a trapezoidal camp at the Native’s invitation. He and The Prophet planned to meet in the morning. However, the warriors decided to attack overnight. The Prophet promised that his spiritual influence would make them safe from the soldiers’ weapons. They planned to assassinate Harrison by shooting him while he was riding his light gray horse.
Because of the bitter cold, the American forces lit large fires to warm the soldiers. However, the fires destroyed the sentries’ night vision and made them more visible to attackers. At 4 a.m., Kentucky militia Corporal Steven Mars wounded an infiltrating Indian warrior. Immediately afterward, the infiltrators screamed war cries to intimidate the soldiers. Harrison mounted the first horse he could get. Colonel Abraham Owen mounted a light-colored horse, which proved fatal. The warriors immediately killed him.
The fight continued for two hours. The warriors nearly overran Harrison’s camp until the Army counterattacked at first light. The warriors had already realized that The Prophet hadn’t protected them from Army bullets. They fled. The Prophet’s deception so enraged them that they nearly killed him. Instead, most of them abandoned him.
Related: Tenskwatawa eventually lived in present-day Kansas City, Kansas. Learn more at the Wyandotte County Museum, Bonner Springs.
According to legend, Tenskwatawa encouraged his warriors from Prophet’s Rock. His song theoretically shielded them from bullets. However, the rock’s sightlines likely prevented The Prophet from seeing the battle. Explore steep wooded hiking trails at Prophet’s Rock Park. Various markers explain battle events. Some people say ghosts haunt the park.
Roxie’s reliable recommendation: The Circle of Stones at Prophetstown State Park memorializes the Indigenous nations that gathered there.
Burning of Prophet’s Town
Harrison lacked enough provisions to chase the fleeing Indigenous refugees. Instead, the soldiers looted Prophet’s Town and burned it. They then returned to Fort Harrison, left a garrison, and went back to Vincennes. The soldiers suffered 200 casualties. The warriors’ casualties were likely higher than 40.
Roxie’s reliable report: The State of Indiana bought 16 acres of the Tippecanoe battlefield in 1836. It was the first public battlefield preservation in American history. The 85-foot marble obelisk monument wasn’t erected until 1908. A Masonic marker honors Joseph Hamilton Daviess, Kentucky’s Grant Master of Masons, and the other Masons who fought with Harrison. Four states have Daviess counties.
Read more about the battle in Tippecanoe 1811 (ad).
Tecumseh after the Battle of Tippecanoe
While the loss discredited The Prophet, his brother still retained credibility. He promised the southern nations a powerful sign, and a comet appeared while he was in Alabama. After he left, the comet disappeared, but a series of earthquakes shook the Mississippi River region around New Madrid, Missouri. The defeat destroyed his dream’s first iteration, but Tecumseh allied with the British in the War of 1812.
“Remember Tippecanoe”
“The British are the principal — the Indians only hired assassins.”
The Lexington (Kentucky) Reporter
Indigenous raids continued after Harrison’s victory. Congressional War Hawks pointed to the frontier unrest as an example of British treachery. The trans-Appalachian West’s settlers wanted the war to end British collaboration with their Indigenous neighbors. “Remember Tippecanoe” became a battle cry during the war.
Harrison defeated Tecumseh and his British allies at the Battle of the Thames near Chatham, Ontario, on October 5, 1813. Tecumseh died in the battle, ending his dream of a Native nation.
Related: Visit the War of 1812’s final American loss at the Fort Morgan State Historic Site near Gulf Shores, Alabama.
Tippecanoe and Tyler, Too
“What has caused the great commotion, motion, motion, our country through? It is the ball a-rolling on for Tippecanoe and Tyler too!”
“The Great Commotion” campaign song
During the 1840 election, Harrison supporters paraded “Tippecanoe canoes.” In May 1840, over 30,000 of them flocked to the Tippecanoe battlefield in Indiana for a two-day rally. During the rally, Harrison recommended battlefield preservation.
Ironically, the Whig party promoted Harrison as a man of the people, who lived in a log cabin and drank hard cider. Ironically, Harrison was born to a wealthy Virginia family and drank little. Harrison’s vice-president, John Tyler, was also a Virginia aristocrat. In contrast, his opponent, Martin Van Buren, grew up on a small New York farm. The economic downturn during Van Buren’s administration combined with Harrison’s rustic war hero image to sweep him into office.
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The Curse of Tippecanoe
Legend says The Prophet cursed Harrison with death if he became President. This curse would also fall on any other President elected in a year ending with zero. Harrison was elected in 1840 and served 31 days before he died of pneumonia or septic shock from bad water. Eventually, Abraham Lincoln, James Garfield, William McKinley, Warren Harding, Franklin Roosevelt, and John F. Kennedy all fell victim to the “curse.” Harrison was the oldest President until Ronald Reagan, coincidentally the President who broke the curse. John Hinckley tried to assassinate Reagan in 1981, but he survived. (Zachary Taylor, the second President to die in office, won election in 1848. He died in 1850.)
Related: Trace John F. Kennedy’s and Lee Harvey Oswald’s path to JFK’s assassination. Follow the Kansas Lincoln Trail.
The Battle of Tippecanoe casts a long shadow over American history. Visit it today.
Where to eat and stay
Stay in luxury’s lap at the Union Club Hotel at Purdue University (ad). Because of its location in the Union Club, it’s perfect for exploring Purdue. I felt so pampered! For even more pampering, book an appointment at the hotel’s spa, which opened in the summer of 2024. Eat at the hotel’s 8Eleven Bistro, named for Purdue alumnus Neil Armstrong. Armstrong commanded Gemini 8, which was the first docking in space. He then commanded Apollo 11, when he was the first human to walk on the moon. Start your day right at Leaps Coffee Shop and enjoy a nightcap at the Boiler Up Bar.
Related: Read Follow the Piper’s seven Lafayette restaurant recommendations, and learn more about the Union Club Hotel.
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