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A little Hoosier history




1788  
Gen. Arthur St. Clair named first terrirorial governor of the Northwest after passage of the Northwest Ordinance. Territorial government inaugurated July 15.
1794  
Gen. "Mad Anthony" Wayne defeates Native Americans at the Battle of Fallen Timbers in Ohio. Gen. Wayne builds a stockade that eventually becomes Fort Wayne.
1800  
Vincennes named the capital of the Indiana Territory, the result of the May 7 Act of Congress to divide the Northwest Territory. William Henry Harrison declared governor.
1809  
William Henry Harrison's persuasion of Miami, Delaware and Potawatomie Indians gives the U.S. three million acreas of land. The treaty was signed on Sept. 30, and later the Wea and Kickapoo tribes also agree.
1813  
On May 11 the seat of the territorial government is moved from Vincennes to Corydon.
1816  
Delegates writing the Indiana Constitution labor in Corydon, relaxing occasionally under the Constitution Elm. Indiana officially becomes a state on Dec. 11.


Some facts out of the past


  • The name Indiana means "Land of the Indians" in Latin.
  • Indiana was the 19th state admitted to the Union, on Dec. 11, 1816.
  • The state flag -- 19 gold stars and a gold torch on a blue field -- was adopted in 1917.
  • Indiana's first governor as a state was Jonathan Jennings His negotations with Indians in 1818 left the middle third of Indiana, south of the Wabash River, free of Indian titles and opened for development.


"Mother of Vice Presidents"


Indiana earned that nickname by sending five men to Washington as vice presidents:

Schuyler Colfax, Republican, who served 1869-73 under Ulysses S. Grant. He later founded the St. Joseph Valley Register.

Thomas A. Hendricks, a Democrat, served nine months in 1885, under Grover Cleveland, before dying in office.

Charles W. Fairbanks , Repubican, served 1905-09 under Theodore Roosevelt. He was known as the "last of America's log-cabin statesmen."

Thomas R. Marshall , a Democrat from North Manchester, served a full eight years, from 1913 to 1821, under Woodrow Wilson. He considered the vice-presidency "a disease, not an office."

J. Danforth Quayle, a Republican from Huntington. Served from 1989 to 1993 under President George Bush.

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