This article is about the fortified trading post. For the nearby Native American settlement, see Ouiatenon.
Fort Ouiatenon
West Lafayette, Indiana
The replica of the blockhouse
Type
Fort
Site information
Controlled by
New France; Great Britain; First Nations
Site history
Built
1717
In use
1717–1763
Garrison information
Past commanders
François-Marie Bissot(Fr); Edward Jenkins(Br)
Fort Ouiatenon Archeological District
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. National Historic Landmark District
Fields at the site
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Nearest city
Lafayette, Indiana
Area
17.5 acres (7.1 ha)
Built
1717
NRHP reference No.
70000008, 100006239[1]
Significant dates
Added to NRHP
February 16, 1970
Designated NHLD
January 13, 2021
The historical marker at Fort Ouiatenon.
Fort Ouiatenon, built in 1717, was the first fortified European settlement in what is now Indiana, United States.[2] It was a palisade stockade with log blockhouse used as a French trading post on the Wabash River located approximately three miles southwest of modern-day West Lafayette.[3] The name 'Ouiatenon' is a French rendering of the name in the Wea language, waayaahtanonki, meaning 'place of the whirlpool'. It was one of three French forts built during the 18th century in what was then New France, later the Northwest Territory and today the state of Indiana, the other two being Fort Miami and Fort Vincennes. A substantial French settlement grew up around the fort in the mid-18th century. It was ceded to the British and abandoned after the French and Indian war. Later, it passed into Indian hands and was destroyed in 1791 by American militia during the Northwest Indian War. It was never a U.S. fort. The original site was rediscovered in the 1960s; the archaeological site was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1970, and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 2021.[4]
Every year between the end of September and the month of October, a reenactment of pioneer life called the Feast of the Hunters' Moon is held at a replica of the fort built a short distance from the original site.[5]
^"National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
^"The Ouiatenon Preserve" Tippecanoe County Historical Association
^Encyclopædia Britannica Online s. v. "West Lafayette," http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9076617?query=Wabash&ct= (Accessed May 17, 2006).
^"Weekly List 2021 01 29 - National Register of Historic Places". National Park Service.
^"Feast of the Hunters' Moon". www.tcha.mus.in.us. Archived from the original on June 20, 2009. Retrieved January 19, 2016.
FortOuiatenon, built in 1717, was the first fortified European settlement in what is now Indiana, United States. It was a palisade stockade with log blockhouse...
Ouiatenon (Miami-Illinois: waayaahtanonki) was a dwelling place of members of the Wea tribe of Native Americans. The name Ouiatenon, also variously given...
Sieur de Vincennes built Fort Miami at Kekionga, now Fort Wayne. In 1717, another Canadian, Picote de Beletre, built FortOuiatenon on the Wabash River, to...
rivers, Fort Wayne, Indiana 1720–49 Portage of the Miami River, St. Joseph and Kankakee rivers unknown – 1733 Tepicon of the Wabash, FortOuiatenon, Lafayette...
Fort Knox, abandoned Fort Wayne, open to the public FortOuiatenon, destroyed during the Northwest Indian War Fort Atkinson, open to the public Fort Atkinson...
The Wabash Heritage Trail is a hiking trail running from FortOuiatenon to the Tippecanoe Battlefield Park in Battle Ground, Indiana. It is approximately...
far as FortOuiatenon. Vincennes decided to support the Americans at the urging of Father Gibault, and Captain Helm was sent to command Fort Sackville(renamed...
French Florida (occupation by Huguenots) (1562–1565) Vincennes and FortOuiatenon in Indiana French Louisiana Louisiana (New France) (1672–1764) Present-day...
established a large settlement called Ouiatenon, near what is now Lafayette, and the French colonists established FortOuiatenon, which facilitated trade with...
Sieur de Vincennes built Fort Miami at Kekionga, now Fort Wayne. In 1717, another Canadian, Picote de Beletre, built FortOuiatenon on the Wabash River, to...
British-held Fort Detroit, other tribes in Indiana rose up against the British, who were forced to surrender Fort Miamis and FortOuiatenon. In 1763, while...
of forts in the area, such as Fort de Chartres, Fort Crevecoeur, Fort Saint Louis, FortOuiatenon, Fort Miami (Michigan), Fort Miami (Indiana), Fort Saint...
French Florida (occupation by Huguenots) (1562–1565) Vincennes and FortOuiatenon in Indiana French Louisiana (23.3% of the current U.S. territory) (1801–1804)...
This is a list of forts in New France built by the French government or French chartered companies in what later became Canada, Saint Pierre and Miquelon...
of Fort Sackville February 20 – 25, 1779. Signing of the Treaty of Greenville, August 3, 1795. Battle of Tippecanoe, November 7, 1811 Siege of Fort Harrison...
Fort Dearborn (now Downtown Chicago) on Lake Michigan. Other American lands within Indian Country included Fort Detroit, Ouiatenon, Fort Wayne, Fort Miami...
a United States flag to Ouiatenon, so it is possible that he also had brought one to Vincennes. When Hamilton took the fort, he allowed Helm to take...
1702–1760 Fort Michilimackinac 1715–1780 Fort Michipicoton 1725–1904 Fort Nashwaak 1692–1700 Fort Niagara 1726– FortOuiatenon 1717–1791 Fort Paskoya 1741–...
Seminole. Ouiatenon (Miami-Illinois: waayaahtanonki) was a dwelling place of members of the Wea tribe of Native Americans? (See Wea below) FortOuiatenon is...
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