| Fort Ouiatenon | |
|---|---|
| West Lafayette, Indiana | |
 The replica of the blockhouse | |
| Type | Fort |
| Site information | |
| Controlled by | New France; Great Britain; First Nations |
| Site history | |
| Built | 1717 |
| In use | 1717–1763 |
| Garrison information | |
| Past commanders | François-Marie Bissot(Fr); Edward Jenkins(Br) |
Fort Ouiatenon Archeological District | |
 Fields at the site | |
    | |
| Nearest city | Lafayette, Indiana |
| Area | 17.5 acres (7.1 ha) |
| Built | 1717 |
| NRHP reference No. | 70000008, 100006239[1] |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | February 16, 1970 |
| Designated NHLD | January 13, 2021 |
Fort Ouiatenon, built in 1717, was the first fortified European settlement in what is now Indiana, United States.[2] It was a palisade stockade with log blockhouse used as a French trading post on the Wabash River located approximately three miles southwest of modern-day West Lafayette.[3] The name 'Ouiatenon' is a French rendering of the name in the Wea language, waayaahtanonki, meaning 'place of the whirlpool'. It was one of three French forts built during the 18th century in what was then New France, later the Northwest Territory and today the state of Indiana, the other two being Fort Miami and Fort Vincennes. A substantial French settlement grew up around the fort in the mid-18th century. It was ceded to the British and abandoned after the French and Indian War. Later, it passed into Indian hands and was destroyed in 1791 by American militia during the Northwest Indian War. It was never a U.S. fort. The original site was rediscovered in the 1960s; the archaeological site was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1970, and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 2021.[4]
Every year between the end of September and the month of October, a reenactment of pioneer life called the Feast of the Hunters' Moon is held at a replica of the fort built a short distance from the original site.[5]
- ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
- ^ "The Ouiatenon Preserve" Tippecanoe County Historical Association
- ^ Encyclopædia Britannica Online s. v. "West Lafayette," http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9076617?query=Wabash&ct= (Accessed May 17, 2006).
- ^ "Weekly List 2021 01 29 - National Register of Historic Places". National Park Service.
- ^ "Feast of the Hunters' Moon". www.tcha.mus.in.us. Archived from the original on June 20, 2009. Retrieved January 19, 2016.