Fred and Wilma’s 46th

Tuesday October 30, 2012

We woke up this morning in the Lincoln State Park CG in Lincoln, IN. It was kind of a late morning because the campground is right on the line between the Eastern and Central time zones. We wanted to get into the Lincoln Boyhood Home VC but if it didn’t open till nine we thought we should wait till 9 Central or 10 Eastern. At any rate we all slept in a little and made use of the showers. And at about 10 Eastern time we headed for the monument. 

They showed us a video that was really well done on Lincoln’s youth. His family moved to Indiana when he was 7 years old. He lived in Indiana until he was 22. The Lincoln farm was 160 acres. There is a working historical farm on the monument but it was closed for the season. His mother died of milk sickness when he was 9 years old and is buried in a pioneer cemetery on the monument grounds. It was cloudy and the wind was cold so we didn’t do too much looking at the grounds. We watched the video and then got down to the business of stamping. The ranger at the desk set out 2 stamps and said that was all they had so they went into the books. After we looked at the inside of the monument building, Fred asked another ranger if they had any other stamps and he pulled out 2 more from the same place the other 2 were stored. Even Park Service Rangers have bad hair days! There is a US Post Office inside the memorial building, which according to the postmistress is the smallest post office in Indiana. She said it is 32 square feet, the same as a 4 X 8 sheet of plywood….pretty small. There is also a very nice chapel in the building and a meeting room that is built in period wood and furnishings. There is a small exhibit hall with information and furnishings from the period.

We drove north on route 62 then west on I-64 and north on route 41 to Vincennes, IN. In Vincennes we stopped at the George Rogers Clark National Memorial. Now I bet many of you are asking; ”Who is George Rogers Clark?” and you are probably not alone. During the Revolutionary War the British had a garrison at Fort Detroit, in Quebec, near Lake Erie. The British had convinced the Indian tribes in the Great Lakes area that the US was their enemy and was arming and sending out war parties against the settlers moving into their areas. After an interesting campaign with a small number of well-trained frontiersmen Clark captured British Lt Governor Henry Hamilton. Hamilton’s capture weakened the control of the British west of the Appalachians and helped the efforts of the US to acquire all of the land east of the Mississippi. This was a very interesting and informative stop. Clark was one of 4 sons of a wealthy Virginia farmer. You are no-doubt more familiar with his youngest brother William, of Lewis and Clark fame.

Inside the monument we were each given headsets to wear so we could hear the story. It told us what all of the murals represented. There was a dramatic echo inside the monument, and even when the ranger was talking very softly it bounced around and around. With the headsets you could concentrate on the story.

From Vincennes, IN we drove west on route 50 across the Wabash River and into Illinois. We are currently in Stephen A. Forbes State Recreation Area CG a few miles southeast of Kinmundy, IL. We are all settled in for the night.

More on the old stone slab tomorrow.