I hung around Fort Recovery for a while, visiting in addition to the big monument, the museum and the grounds.
This is a shot of the reconstructed fort, with the museum in the background. The museum may have been “professionalized” a bit since my last time here — which has its good and its bad points.
Another change was that this time I was able to find a bite to eat — at a Subway. I took my sandwich onto the battleground to eat in the shade and look at the channel of the old Wabash (behind the flowerbed) . The river here had separated some of St. Clair’s forces, which contributed to one of the worst military defeats ever suffered by the U.S. army. George Washington was hopping mad (literally) when he heard about it.
Last time here I had somehow not paid much attention to the fact that the Greenville Treaty Line passed through here, and that there was a survey marker for it. It was exactly one day after that 2000 visit that our bike ride took us across a bit of another reaty Line, which got me to thinking about how those treaties left marks on the landscape that were worth going to see.
This afternoon I was planning to visit that same treaty line. It’s a boundary of the Treaty of Fort Wayne of 1809, and it too terminates at this same marker, even though it’s not shown on the map engraved on it. This time I was planning to ride along that line wherever a present-day road marked its boundary. Last September I had done a ride along the Ten O’Clock Treaty line further to the southwest. It, too, is a line from the Treaty of 1809. But that one left fewer marks on the landscape than this portion.
I was the first visitor of the day to the museum. When I exited, there were more visitors and more bicycles parked outside. Here are some of them, with mine in the front. More people than myself were doing bicycle-history excursions that day! I seldom encounter other riders on my trips, much less other riders who are out for the historical parts. One thing I quickly became aware of was that my bike was by far the rattiest looking one of the bunch. Maybe it’s a good thing that I ride alone.
[...] The book took a big turn for the better, though, beginning with chapter 4, “The road to Hell.” There is a lot of detailed information about Harmar’s expedition in 1790 and Hardin’s defeat that I had never read before, even though I’ve read many accounts of it. Makes me want to go back and see the locations again. The same for St. Clair’s defeat in 1791. The above photo was taken at the battle site at Fort Recovery, Ohio, on July 1, 2007. I’ve already posted several articles about that day’s ride, including this one. [...]