Fort Ouiatenon

Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. Fort Ouiatenon was the first fortified European settlement in what is now called Indiana. It was a French trading post at the joining of the Tippecanoe River and the Wabash River located approximately three miles southwest of modern-day West Lafayette.The name ''Ouiatenon'' is a French rendering of the name in the Wea language, waayaahtanonki, meaning ''place of the whirlpool''. Every year a reenactment of pioneer life is held at the now rebuilt fort called Feast of the Hunters Moon. Fort Ouiatenon was originally constructed by the French government as a military outpost to protect against Great Britain s western expansion. Its location among the unsettled woodlands of the Wabash River valley also made it a key center of trade for fur trappers. French merchants and trappers from Quebec would arrive at Fort Ouiatenon in search of beaver pelts and to take advantage of trade relations with the native Wea Indian tribes.... Mehr