Time Traveling Over the Holidays: Part two ; )

Since we were already in Palestine, Il., we decided to travel further back in time to see what it was like when the first settlers arrived on the banks of the Wabash River. We arrived at Fort LaMotte in 1814.



The fort population consisted of 26 families and 90 rangers, under the command of Captain Pierce Andrews.



The fort was built to protect the new settlers from hostile Indians, but those seemed to be in short supply, since there was only one small battle, and that was not at the fort itself, but at nearby Africa Point. It is unknown if the Indians even intended to attack the fort. Some men from the fort had seen signs of Indians at Africa Point and had reported it to the rangers, who organized themselves into two groups and went to investigate. They found canoes. When they proceeded, they were fired upon and fought back in a disorganized fashion, that resulted in the rangers retreating back to the fort. The second group of rangers, who were to be the reinforcements, were actually the first to retreat.