Archaeology Magazine - March/April 1982 - 72

tenon" after the natives it served. Today,
however, these Indians are known by
their British name, the Wea.
Owingto the imprecisionof eighteenthcentury cartographers, contemporary
maps of the region offered modern researchers little help in pinpointing the
actual location of Fort Ouiatenon, even
leaving some doubt as to which side of
the Wabash River it was located on.
Estimates placed it opposite the point
where the small Wea Creek flowed into1
the Wabash from the south. A monument
was erected there in 1909, and a park
was set aside in the early 1930s to
commemorate the early French presence
in Indiana. When the city of Lafayette
was founded in the 1820s,no visible trace
remained of the old fort.
Local historical interest in Fort Ouiatenon grew during the early twentieth
century, prompting considerable archival
research. For the most part, documents
relating to the period made only passing
reference to Ouiatenon. Although payment vouchers and trade inventories provided detailed information on some of
the commercial transactions, they revealed little about life and events at the
post, let alone its exact location. Researchers were unable to find any map
or drawing of the fort itself; even the
best written accounts of Ouiatenon rendered only a meager impression of its
appearance.
Fort Ouiatenon discovered
Despite the conclusions of early researchers, many who took an interest in
Ouiatenon questioned its presumed
location. After all, there was little tangible evidence of a fort at the park site.
Their doubts were finally given support
in 1967when gun parts, ceramics, bottle
glass, iron hardware, and other artifacts
dating from the eighteenth century were
discovered in a cornfield a mile further
downstream. Excited by these finds,
researchers hoped they would at last
learn more about Ouiatenon through
archaeology.
Excavation at the cornfield began in
the summer of 1968, supported by the
Tippecanoe County Historical Association, the Indiana Historical Society and
Indiana University. James H. Kellar of
Indiana University directed the student
crews as they sought to evaluate the
archaeological remains and determine
whether the site was actually Fort Ouiatenon. Their finds confirmed the preliminary identification and enabled entry of
Ouiatenon in the National Register of
Historic Places in 1970.
The early 1970ssaw only minimal work
at the site by teams of local volunteers.
By and large, this activity was restricted to collecting artifacts from the upper
plow zone, for these amateurs did not
wish to harm the undisturbed archaeological remains that lay below. Nevertheless, the artifacts lent further support
to Kellar's conclusions and kept local
72

ARCHAEOLOGY

(Right) Fort Ouiatenon'sstockade
wall trench under excavation. The
circular stains indicate post holes.
(Below)A reconstructed French
wine bottle dating to the mid-1700s,
excavated from the wellat Fort
Ouiatenon.

interest in a continuing archaeology program high.
In 1974,research intensified when the
Tippecanoe County Historical Association requested Michigan State University to undertake extensive excavations.
After long involvement with archaeological investigations at Fort Michilimackinac, a major trading post at the tip
of Michigan's Lower Peninsula which
shared much the same history with Ouiatenon and other eighteenth-century sites,
the MSU museum staff was experienced

(Above)This individual suffered a deep
cut above the ear from an ax blow.The
circumstances of his death remain
unclear.
(Left) This lead seal was used to identify
trade goods, such as bundlesof blankets.
One side names the trading company,
the other side is dated 1743.Diameter,
2.5 centimeters.
in dealing with such sites. Charles E.
Cleland served as Principal Investigator
for the project, funded by the Historical
Association with grants-in-aid from the
Heritage Conservation and Recreation
Service of the United States Department of the Interior. Further, the archaeologists were well acquainted with
the requirements of site interpretation
programs similar to what the Tippecanoe
County Historical Association wished
to begin at Ouiatenon. Under Cleland's
guidance, Judy D. Tordoff, then a doctoral student at MSU, directed the field
crews from 1974through 1976as well as
the subsequent analyses of the excavated materials.
Exploratory excavation
Because so little was known about
Fort Ouiatenon at the outset, an exploratory strategy was used. Several trenches

Archaeology Magazine - March/April 1982

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Archaeology Magazine - March/April 1982