On 07/02/2008 we arrived at Fire Lake Camper Park in Bowling Green, OH for 1 week. The next day 07/03/2008 Cliff had our car serviced for an engine check light. Then on 07/05/2008 we visited Fallen Timbers Battlefield State Historical Site in Maumee, OH, Fort Meigs State Memorial in Perrysburg, OH, and Fort Miamis City Park Marker in Maumee, OH. The Battle of Fallen Timbers started as General Anthony Wayne moved toward the Maumee River, the Indians prepared to attack him in an area known as Fallen Timbers. It was a place where a tornado had knocked down many trees. The Indians expected the Americans to arrive on August 19, 1794, but the white soldiers did not arrive until the next day. The natives fasted before the battle for spiritual and cultural reasons and to avoid having food in their stomachs. The likelihood of infection increased if a person was wounded in the stomach and there was food in it. By August 20, the natives were weak from hunger. Although the Indians used the fallen trees for cover, Wayne’s men quickly drove the Indians from the battlefield. The fight became known as the Battle of Fallen Timbers. The picture is of Fallen Timbers State Historical Site General Wayne Monument.
The War of 1812 was fought over free trade, sailor’s rights and to decide once and for all who would control the “western country.” Great Britain was stopping American merchant ships on the Atlantic Ocean, seizing their cargo and pressing sailors into the service of the Royal Navy. In response, the United States declared war on June 18, 1812. Fort Meigs stood at the center of American military operations in the Northwest Territory. General William Henry Harrison established a fort on the south side of the Maumee River on February 2, 1813. The fort was to serve as a temporary supply depot and staging area for an invasion of Canada. Named for the Governor of Ohio, Return Jonathan Meigs, the garrison was a home for more than 2,000 men comprised of U.S. regulars and militia from Ohio, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. When the enemy laid siege to Fort Meigs on May 1, 1813, they found General Harrison ready. With a strong fort, 1,200 troops, and twenty to thirty pieces of artillery, the garrison dug in with the knowledge that reinforcements were on the way. The bombardment ended after four days, when a troop of Kentucky militia arrived to reinforce Fort Meigs. On May 9, the enemy lifted the siege and returned to Canada. The picture is of a Loading and Firing of a Canon at Fort Meigs State Historical Site.
British soldiers constructed Fort Miamis in 1794. British authorities feared that Anthony Wayne and his army planned to march against Fort Detroit, a major stronghold. Located fifty-five miles to the south of Detroit, Fort Miamis provided an additional obstacle to Wayne. Fort Miamis also afforded the British additional means to solidify Native American support against the white Americans moving into the Ohio Country. Following England’s defeat in the American Revolution, the British promised in the Treaty of Paris (1783) to remove all of their soldiers from American soil. Although they had agreed to do this in the treaty, the British subsequently refused until the Americans honored their pledges in the treaty as well. Important among these was the promise to repay debts Americans owed to England. Fort Miamis consisted of four diamond shape projections of earthen wall called bastions. The British dug a twenty-five foot deep trench around the fort and lined it with rows of stakes to slow an enemy’s assault of the fort. The British also placed fourteen cannon in the fort to thwart any attackers. The picture is of Fort Miamis City Park Sign.
Then on 07/09/2008 we travel to Waldenwoods Family Recreation Resort in Hartland, MI for 1 week. While there we visited the Croswell Cemetery, in Croswell, MI on 07/12/2008. This is where Pam’s Grandmother Coleman and Aunt Cleobelle are buried.
Then on 07/13/2008 we visited MI Capitol in Lansing, MI. Since 1847 Lansing has been home to Michigan’s state government. In 1879 the state completed and dedicated its present Capitol, designed by Elijah E. Myers. The Renaissance Revival-inspired statehouse is still the most distinctive attraction of Lansing’s downtown area. It is the third Capitol Building. The picture is of the MI Capitol’s east side.
On 07/16/2008 we drove to American Campgrounds Hartford Resort in Hartford, MI. We visited Old Michigan City Lighthouse, Michigan City East Pierhead Lighthouse in Michigan City, IN. As was the case with most of the early Great Lakes lighthouses built under the Pleasonton Administration, the design, construction and materials used in building the Michigan City lighthouse were of low quality, and by 1858, it was clear that the old 1837 structure had deteriorated to a point that it no longer served as an effective aid to navigation to the increasing volume of maritime traffic seeking entry into Trail Creek, and plans were underway to replace the aging light with a new structure, Rather than incur the costs of undertaking a completely new design for the station, an existing set of plans were used, to which stations would also be built at Grand Traverse and Port Washington, among others. The picture is of Old Michigan City Lighthouse.
