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Indiana Important Dates


Important Dates in Indiana History

  • 1700 - 1735 The French established three outposts along the Wabash-Maumee trade route, one at the present site of Fort Wayne, one near present-day Lafayette, and the largest and most important at Vincennes.
  • 1763 The British took possession of the area and discouraged settlers, but the few hundred Frenchmen already there were permitted to remain, and Americans began filtering in.
  • 1784 Clarksville, on the north bank of the Ohio River opposite Louisville, Kentucky, became the first authorized American settlement in Indiana.
  • 1787 The United States government established the Northwest Territory to open the land to Revolutionary War veterans and other settlers.
  • 1790 Knox County was created with Vincennes as the seat of government.
  • 1800 Indiana Territory was established. The Michigan Territory was detached in 1805, and the Illinois Territory in 1809.
  • 1811 The last major battle with the Indians was fought at Tippecanoe. By 1815, there was no effective Indian opposition to settlement in Indiana.
  • 1816 Indiana became a state.
  • 1830's - 1850's New roads, canals, and railroads hastened settlement in central Indiana. The National Road reached Indianapolis in 1834. The Wabash and Erie Canal reached Terre Haute in 1850, and was completed to Evansville in 1853. Major railroad building was underway in the 1850s.
  • 1861 - 1865 Indiana remained loyal to the Union during the Civil War and contributed about 200,000 Federal troops, although the southern heritage of some communities caused trouble.

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