This was my first trip to the Indiana State Library.

The first item of business was to look at the microfilm copies of the newspaper that had been published in South Bend in 1832, at the time of the Black Hawk war. The public library in South Bend has a set of the microfilms, but I had found them to be nearly unreadable. The photocopies I had made from that source weren’t readable at all.

I had learned of only two other libraries/archives that have those microfilms, and the state library is one. And finally, I had a chance to take a look. The library staff was very helpful in quickly directing me to the microfilms I wanted. And I was pleased to find out that the ones here in Indianapolis really are readable.

The 2nd order of business was to examine a map that showed the location of all the Michigan Road Land parcels from the 1830s. So when I asked for it, naturally the library staff couldn’t find it. But I told them all the reasons why I knew it existed, including the fact that there had been an e-mail exchange about it earlier in the summer, when the LaPorte County historian had been trying to get information for me. The state library people had told her at that time that it was too big to photocopy for her, but it would be OK for someone to come and try to photograph it. Someone at the library had obviously laid hands on it back then.

They eventually found it. It turned out to be a book of blue-print type sheets. There were some surprises. I photographed the whole works, and now have a bunch of new bicycling destinations.

What I still don’t know, though, is who purchased all these parcels. I guess I need to make a trip to the state archives someday, to work on that part.

I also learned that just a stone’s throw away from the library was the gathering point for the Indiana state militia who were called out by the governor for service in the Black Hawk war. Unfortunately, I was concentrating on getting as much work done in the library as I could during its open hours. About the time the library closed for the day, the rains came again. We walked over to the site. The best I could do was take some photos from under a bridge where my camera wouldn’t get wet.