Photo furnished by Frank H. Curtis, Vincennes
WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON'S HOUSE, VINCENNES, IND.

LXXXV

THE GOVERNOR'S PALACE AT VINCENNES,
INDIANA

WHERE "OLD TIPPECANOE" WELCOMED HIS GUESTS

William Henry Harrison, son of Benjamin Harrison, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, was a ward of Robert Morris. The great financier opposed the young man's purpose to enlist in the Ohio campaign against the Indians that followed the war of the Revolution, but when young Harrison applied directly to Washington he was appointed ensign and sent to the front. This was in 1791, and the new ensign was but nineteen years old.

Gallant conduct during a campaign of four years under General Anthony Wayne brought to him promotion to a captaincy, the favor of his general, and the command of Fort Washington, at what is now Cincinnati, Ohio.

This post was resigned in 1798, when there seemed no further prospect of active service. Thereupon Washington appointed the twenty-four-year-old captain Secretary of the Northwestern Territory and ex officio Lieutenant Governor. When, in 1800, the Northwestern Territory was divided, he was nominated by Thomas Jefferson Governor of Indiana Territory, including what is now Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Iowa.

Vincennes, one of the three white settlements in all this vast territory, became the seat of government. As Fort Sackville Vincennes had been made famous during the Revolution by the brilliant exploit of George Rogers Clarke, who took it from the British after an approach across Illinois and through the flooded valley of the Wabash, for which he will ever be remembered by a grateful country.

For thirteen years he was the autocrat in his remote outpost. To him were committed, in company with the Judge, all legislative powers; he was commander-in-chief of the militia, and he had the power of treaty-making with the Indians. His signature became a valid title to lands in the Indian country. His care of the interests committed to him was so satisfactory that the legislature of Indiana asked for his reappointment. He was especially successful in dealing with the Indians. The victory at Tippecanoe became a rallying cry when, in 1839, he was nominated for the Presidency.