Vincennes or Bust

            Last week we followed the adventures of Capt. Congreve and his men as they traveled down the Ohio from what is now Pittsburgh to the mouth of the Wabash River, then up the Wabash a few miles past Bone Bank in what is now Point Township. 

            Aside from an aborted Indian attack and the challenge of the falls of the Ohio at what is now Louisville, the trip down the Ohio was uneventful and mostly pleasant.  All that changed when the left they Ohio and started up the Wabash. 

            An Indian attack left four of the nine-man expedition dead.  A chain of rocks in the river made for dangerous navigation through swift current.  Then a second Indian attack left one man dead and two wounded, leaving only two able-bodied men.

            Although today a trip from New Harmony to Vincennes would take only an hour or so, in 1755 the men were still facing a long and dangerous journey.  Could they make it?  Here is where we will take up the story again.

The following article is taken from an account written by New Harmony native, geologist and member of the Working Men’s Institute, E.T. Cox.  It was sent to Louis Pelham in 1894 and is part of the Pelham Collection in the Branigin Archive. 

            It is exciting as are all stories of hidden treasures.  But more importantly, it reminds us that this beautiful spot on the Wabash we call home, and our country in general, were experienced quiet differently by the first Europeans brave enough to make their way west.

Boys and girls are back in their air-conditioned schools working on computers and looking forward to going home to play their latest video games or call a friend on their cell phones.  But life in rural Indiana years ago was quite different.  The one-room schools lacked the modern conveniences, and electronic gadgets did not fill free time.  Children had to invent their own fun.  Such was life in Bugtown as related from the Leland Anderson papers.

Whether it is called Stillwell, Winfield, Rapture or Bugtown, almost all that is left of the village today is memories.  Like so many small hamlets across our country, the bustling life of a century ago is nearly forgotten.  The WMI is fortunate to have in the Leland Alfred Anderson Collection some remembrances of a town that a number of Posey County folks lovingly called home.  Let’s remember Bugtown from the words of Leland Anderson.