Somehow, after clicking one link to another in the World Wide Web, I discovered the Historical Marker Database (HMdb). The database is a website collection of historical and other markers and monuments that have been visited by self-directed volunteers who document the markers and monuments and post them on the website to share with everyone. With my interests in the past and geography, I have always been interested by and drawn to roadside markers and soon became mesmerized by the cornucopia of information readily available in the HMdb. With the bicentennial of the War of 1812 upon us and the resources of the HMdb at my fingertips, I thought the time was right. The time to put together a tour of Native American sites in the counties south of Elkhart via historical markers.
My historical marker itinerary would take me to the upper Eel River in Kosciusko, Noble, and Whitley counties and launch me as a contributor to the HMdb. Using the information in the HMdb on the markers in these counties, I plotted a driving route to take me to each marker in a most efficient manner. My driving route started in Goshen and took me south on US 33, County Road 33, and State Road 13 and to my first historical marker of the day.
First Day, Stop #1
My first marker was in Syracuse in Kosciusko County and is titled Indian Hill. The marker is approximately 100 feet north of the bank of Syracuse Lake in a single family residential neighborhood. Although located in the street right-of-way or a public utility easement, the marker is incorporated into a flower bed in the front yard and next to the driveway of a lakeside home. Across the road from the marker is the “hill”, a small knoll with a single family house on the top of the hill. You can understand why this hill was a burial place for the local Indians. It was located away from the Indian villages along Lake Wawasee and Syracuse Lake, but was easily accessible from the villages by canoe.
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| Indian Hill Marker |
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| Papakeechie's Reserve Marker |
