Fort Wayne Jounal Gazette - Sunday - November 6, 2005
http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/journalgazette/13096249.htm
1780 Battle Site Commemorated
Miami Indians victorious in Revolutionary War fight
By Sarah A. Meisch
The Journal Gazette
Drum beats and chanting American Indian voices rose above the brisk wind battering tents set up for the commemoration of a Revolutionary War battle 225 years ago.
On Nov. 5, 1780, near the Allen-Whitley County line along the Eel River, Col. Augustin de La Balme and his soldiers were killed in battle with the Miami Indians under Chief Little Turtle.
A marker was placed at the site in 1930 by the Daughters of the American Revolution, but until Saturday, the site had gone mostly uncelebrated.
"We"re here to pay honor to those who died at this site," Roger Barnhart, national trustee for the Indiana Society of the Sons of the American Revolution, said to the nearly 100 people gathered, many sitting inside a tent.
During the ceremony, a color guard presented 14 flags, an invocation was offered in English and the Miami language, a proclamation from Gov. Mitch Daniels was read, wreaths were laid, muskets fired and taps played. Representatives from the Miami Nation of Indians of Indiana played music, and numerous officials spoke.
"I think it"s great that we all came out here today to commemorate history and remember those who walked here before us," said state Sen. Gary Dillon, R-Pierceton.
Clark Waterfall, a member of the Whitley County Historical Society, spoke about the battle"s history.
"This is one of two sites of Revolutionary War battles in Indiana," Waterfall said. "It"s quite a historic site .. it was important on the fur trade route. The Indians had been here for 200 years and lost it but de La Balme lost first."
A Frenchman fighting for the United States, de La Balme was a man who loved action, Waterfall said. He decided he wanted to gain Kekionga (now Fort Wayne) and Detroit for the Americans. He and about 100 men raided Kekionga and made off with booty, Waterfall said. After wrongly thinking they"d reached a peace agreement with the Miami Indians, they camped near the spot where the battle took place and were attacked by Little Turtle and his warriors.
The fur trade the Indians took part in had become controlled by the British, as was Detroit, and after the raid on Kekionga, two prominent British-friendly fur traders urged the Indians to seek revenge.
Few of de La Balme"s men survived and the battle became known as the La Balme Massacre.
But no one seemed to have bad feelings toward the Miami Indians at Saturday"s event.
"Isn"t it ironic?" asked Brian Buchanan, chief of the Miami Nation of Indians of Indiana. "We"re grateful to be accepted in today"s society. It"s sad, too. Indians didn"t get a lot of luck in historical days."
Barnhart, who organized the event, said including the Miami Indians was important.
"They had a great part to do with this," he said. "The challenge was how to work them into the program and not say anything that was wrong."
For Sharolyn Heffron of Fort Wayne, the event was a learning experience.
"I didn"t even know this was here before," Heffron said. "There"s a lot of history those of us living here don"t know about."
Wade Harshman fires his gun Saturday during an event marking the 225th anniversary of an American Revolution battle in eastern Whitley County.
Clayton Pendergrass, chief of the Golden Eagle Band of St. Joseph County, chants with members of the Miami Nation of Indians of Indiana during Saturday’s event honoring a Revolutionary War battle along the Eel River.
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since July 17,
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