Mississinewa 1812 - Re-Enactment Visit of 2003

the Miami and Delaware Indians, known allies to the British Army. In a bloody battle among Americans, Britons and Indians, the United States gained control of the area and the river, and marched forward in glorious victory.

IT was the morning of October 11, 2003, and Captain Mario Melgar of the 112th Historical Battalion - under General James Zenes - gathered his troops from the Chicago area and headed eastward toward Marion, Indiana. The assignment was to investigate the site of an historic battle, journal any discoveries made, and report these findings back to the General in the form of an essay. The soldiers were eager to begin the expedition, as they had been guaranteed a rather extravagant bounty of 50 extra-credit points upon t

Our encounter with the hunter made the rest of the group a bit hungry, so we ventured back toward the marketplace for a ration of food. Pork chops grilled on an open fire were the order of the day, served on a piece of cardboard and accompanied by English Trap pies. Although we all had a taste for some freshly brewed Root Beer, the line was entirely too long and the day too hot to be capricious; so, we settled on cold lemonade instead. As an added treat we had funnel cakes loaded with powdered sugar and cinnamon, and some of the group had fruit pies as well.

Once it was apparent that the Indians were not hostile towards us, we approached one of the natives who seemed to be weaving. I asked the Indian to what tribe he belonged and he confirmed our Captain’s suspicion that he was of the Miami Nation. I further inquired about the work he was performing; it was a sash, common among all members of the tribe, and consisting of a standard length, width and coloring. The Indian informed me that I could purchase a similar sash from one of the stands in the market nearby, then returned to his work.

With no specific orders from the General to either join or impede the fighting, my group and I just stood back and watched. A narrator explained all that was going on, which was but a summary of what had transpired almost 200 years ago. The Americans repelled the British invasion and devastated the population of Miami and Delaware Indians, thereby taking the river and its surrounding land for the United States.

A few yards along our journey, the group came across a clearing surrounded by trees. There were human figures all around - some standing, others squatted on the ground. As we got closer we realized these were Indians, apparently gathered in story-telling. So as not to be discovered and possibly captured by the natives, our group remained within the outer periphery of the crowd and listened to the tale being told. As we stood there we noticed a little village the Indians had built - straw, concave huts surrounding a central fire pit.

As we walked along the riverbank, we were stopped by a longhunter who required our assistance. It seemed he had caught a wild beast of some sort and, as it was customary for all frontier women to do, he wanted us to help prepare the fur for drying. The pelt apparently has a layer of fat between the fur and the meat which must be removed using the sharpened edge of a flint rock. The fat will later be used as bait. Since I had performed a similar service once while stationed in Puerto Rico, I took the assignment upon myself. Quite

Some topics in this essay:
Marion Indiana, Root Beer, Miami Nation, Pizza Joint, Indians Drum, Delaware Indians, Nilla Wafers, Mississinewa Battlefield, Puerto Rico, Indians United, * *, * * *, miami delaware, delaware indians, miami delaware indians, filled air,