Tippecanoe Battlefield — Lafayette, Indiana

Posted on June 8, 2004 by Roger

I took my family on a short vacation through Indiana and Kentucky. On the first day, we stopped at the Tippecanoe Battlefield, site of an Indian fight in 1811.

When Tecumseh and his brother, the Prophet, organized Indians from various tribes to unite in defense against the whites, the American settlers got nervous. Governor of Indiana Territory, General William Henry Harrison raised an army of about 1,000 men and set out to destroy the Indian town. They camped nearby on November 6, and the Indians attacked that night. After a bloody battle, the Indians were driven off. Harrison and his army destroyed the Indian town and eliminated the threat.

In the small, unimpressive visitor center, we watched a light map show of the battle and looked at the few displays. The battlefield itself was about eight acres of open park with scattered old trees (some of which were there during the battle). There was a large monument to Harrison and smaller markers for soldiers who died in the battle. My family sat on the steps of the monument while I wandered around for 10 minutes or so taking photos.

Looking southwest down the length of the battlefield from near the monument.Another view of the battlefield. There's a bluff behind the trees on the left. Burnett Creek is behind the trees on the right.Looking north along Burnett Creek near where the first attack took place.

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White Sox vs. Angels — U.S. Cellular Field

Posted on May 28, 2004 by Roger

My younger daughter and I went to this game with a group from our church. It was supposed to be a junior-high social, but only 12 showed up — and that included me, one of the pastors and his young son and some other parents. My daughter hung around with the only other girl and I sat with the pastor. It was chilly, but not miserably so. Our seats were in the upper deck, just beyond third base.

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The White Sox came from behind with a run in the eighth and another in the ninth to win 4-3. There was a fireworks show after the game, so we didn’t get home until 12:45 am.

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Bird #418 — Harlequin Duck

Posted on February 14, 2004 by Roger

histrionicus histrionicus (from histro, actor, referring to its brightly patterned, clown-like feathers)

Saturday, February 14, 2004 — 1:50 pm

Zion, Illinois — North Point Marina — Lake Michigan

This bird was reported on IBET earlier in the week. I drove up after lunch and saw it within five minutes of getting out of the car. It was swimming along the harbor breakwater with two female Common Goldeneyes. They soon passed it, and it turned toward the center of the harbor, swimming steadily.

A little while later, it was back along the breakwater, swimming in a small area and diving frequently. The dives usually lasted about 20 seconds. It would hop up a bit and extend its neck before diving. When it resurfaced, it bobbed to the surface as though it had a lot of buoyancy.

I returned to the car to get my camera. When I got back to where I could see it, it was near the harbor mouth swimming with a flock of goldeneyes. At one point, it reared up and flapped its wings. It was a smallish duck, about the size of the goldeneyes, with a tiny gray bill. It was steely blue overall with startling contrasting patches of while outlined by black. Its flanks and a small patch on the crown were a rich brick red. It looked particularly interesting when swimming head-on to me. The white crescents on either side of its face were only separated by a thin dark line. This gave it a rather bizarre look. It’s long tail was usually held straight out right at the water surface, but occasionally it was held out of the water.

I didn’t stay too long because the wind off the lake was making me miserable.

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Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Site — St. Louis, Missouri

Posted on December 27, 2003 by Roger

The house, White Haven, has only recently been restored. It was the house where Julia Grant’s parents lived. Ulysses and Julia met here and lived here for several years before the Civil War.

None of the Grant’s furniture has survived. The Park Service has decided not to refurnish the house, so our tour was through a series of empty rooms. Our ranger guide was a bit of a dork, but he knew his stuff. The tour took about 45 minutes, including a video.

There were several outbuildings on the grounds — a stone kitchen, a chicken coop and an ice house. I stood up in the ice house and smacked my forehead on the door. It hurt a lot and left me with a welt. The visitor center is in an old barn that Grant built for his horses.

White Haven - front viewWhite Haven - side viewWhite Haven - back view

A few blocks from White Haven, we passed Hardscrabble, a log cabin that the Grants lived in for three months during their time in St. Louis.

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Fort Kaskaskia State Historical Site, Illinois

Posted on December 21, 2003 by Roger

Our family spent the night in Chester, Illinois (home of Elzie C. Segar, the creator of Popeye). In the morning, we drove north to Fort Kaskaskia. It features mounds and ditches that mark the site of an old French fort built in the early 1700’s. It was located on a bluff high above the Mississippi River. It was cold. The girls stayed in the car. My wife and I walked around the fort ruins for a few minutes.

Fort Kaskaskia State Historical Site, Illinois - December, 2003  Fort Kaskaskia State Historical Site - December, 2003

There wasn’t much to the place (as you can see from the photos) and not much to the history of the place either. The French occupied the spot from 1703 to 1763. It’s thought they never got around to completing the fort. The British took over from 1763 to 1778, but they did nothing of substance. The U.S. gained the territory during the Revolutionary War. They build some buildings and stationed troops here for a few years in the early 1800’s. The fort was used as a haven by local residents fearing Indian attacks during the War of 1812. Lewis and Clark stopped here briefly in 1803, recruiting 12 men  for their cross-country trek.

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