This is another photo of the Nuck House.

This is the home of the man the Nuck’s worked for, Chief Francis Lafontaine. His name in Miami was Topeah, which is said to mean something like Frost on Leaves or Frost on Bushes.

This house, too, was moved from its original location. It was in the way of US-24 when that road was widened, and was moved here. US-24 runs right alongside the Forks of the Wabash, so it was not a distant move. The building still has much the same relationship to the terrain that it had at its original location.

Stewart Rafert’s book, “The Miami Indians of Indiana: A persistent people 1654-1994″ (1996) has some information about him. He was almost more a representative of the U.S. Indian Agent, who was working for Indian removal, than of his own people. The Miami people did not want to be removed, and they resisted his authority. “Lafontaine went west with the removal group and died suddenly in the spring of 1847 at Lafayette on his journey home from Kansas. Lafontaine’s death freed the village chiefs from further interference from the federal government and traders in Indiana. The Miami were able at last to maintain a tribal council form of government without a compromised chief.”

Writing about this bike ride is refreshing my memory. I actually stopped my bike ride not five miles short of the campground, nor ten miles, but about 20 miles from it. It took me a while to get two different bike rides to that campground unconfused in my mind.

Next morning Myra had business back in Michigan, and I rode to the Historic Forks of the Wabash at Huntington.

I had called ahead and learned that the place is mostly oriented toward group tours. Since I was going to be a group of only one, they suggested I could tag along with a school group that was coming for a field trip.

That sounded fine to me, but I almost didn’t get there on time. I got lost in Andrew — couldn’t figure out how to get out of town and ride east to Huntington on the south side of the Wabash river. Then I couldn’t find the place when I got there. And it was harder than I would have expected to find someone to ask for directions. I finally pulled into the place a few minutes late — and learned that the school group was going to be even later.

It turned out to be a Lutheran school group from Fort Wayne. I don’t know if I bothered to mention to any of the people in the group that I had been a teacher in Lutheran schools myself for five years. But that was a long time ago, and the docents at the Forks had a busy program for the group.

One of the main attractions is this old log cabin. It was built by a German couple who had come here, and who worked as hired help for Chief Lafontaine of the Miami people for a few years before getting their own place. There is a nice writeup about the family here. This was the house they built when they got their own land.

But their house was not built at the site where it stands now. In the late 70s the owners didn’t even realize it was a log house until they started to tear it down. It was moved here to preserve it.

I don’t like historic buildings that are not on their original sites — I could go onto a long rant about it — but it’s better they are preserved than torn down.

More later about the Forks of the Wabash. I see I’m still on their mailing list. I got a copy of their latest newsletter just yesterday, and from it I learn that 54 school groups visited the Forks last year — 3738 students and sponsors altogether. I can attest that there is a fine group of volunteers at the Forks who make the experience worthwhile for them.