In 1929, President Calvin Coolidge used his bully pulpit to help the state of Indiana obtain the support and funds needed to dedicate a memorial to Commander George Rogers Clark who led an expedition across the old Northwest to capture the British Fort Sackville, opening what was then known as the Illinois Country, frontier land nearly as large as the original 13 states. The George Rogers Clark Memorial towers over the George Rogers National Historical Park in Vincennes Indiana.
On February 5, 1779 Commander George Rogers Clark led 170 militia men on an expedition to capture the British Fort Sackville in present day Vincennes, Indiana. Clark and his men traveled 180 miles across what is now the state of Illinois during a wet but not very cold winter. On February 20, they reached the Wabash river, still undetected. After crossing the river, they had to march through a flooded plain about 4 miles wide with water sometimes up to their shoulders. Clark and his men finally reached Vincennes as night approached on the 23rd of February. Clark maneuvered his troops to create the impression that 1,000 men were approaching while a smaller detachment began firing at the for. The next morning, Clark sent a message to Lieutenant Governor Henry Hamilton in charge over the British Garrison demanding surrender. Hamilton initially refused, but after the Americans continued to fire at the fort, he sent out Captain Leonard Helm to offer terms of surrender. Clark demanded the surrender be unconditional and threatened to storm the fort. Hamilton again refused, but at 10:00 AM on February 25, Harrison and Clark met to sign terms of surrender. Clark's men raised the American flag over the fort gave it then new name of Fort Patrick Henry. Clark was hailed a hearo for capturing the fort without losing a single soldier. The victory opened the door to the entire Illinois country that later became the Northwest Territory of the United Sates.
Despite the significance of the victory and the of Fort Sackville, the event entered into obscurity over the next century. In the mid-1920s as the sesquicentennial of the capture was approaching, several citizens of Vincennes, Indiana wanted to change that. They convinced the Indiana General Assembly and the Indiana Historical Society to erect a statue of Captain Clark near the Indiana approach to the Wabash River bridge and began formulating a plan of action to build a memorial at the site where the Fort once stood. In 1927, Republican controlled General Assembly approved a 15-member committee with authorization to purchase the land where the fort once stood and erect buildings to commemorate the victory. Indiana Governor Edward Jackson signed the bill, making the George Rogers Clark Memorial Commission official. The Commission then called for a National Commission to be held and lobbied Congress, but when no action was taken at the short session of the 69th Congress, the Indiana Commission called on President Coolidge. Coolidge, promised to give the Fort Sackville memorial a special mention in his 1929 address to Congress.
"February 25, 1929, is the 150th Anniversary of the capture of Fort Sackville at Vincennes, in the State of Indiana. This eventually brought into the Union what was known as the Northwest Territory, embracing the region north of the Ohio River between the Alleghenies and the Mississippi River. This expedition was led by George Rogers Clark. His heroic character and the importance of his victory are too little known and understood. They gave us not only the Northwest Territory but by means of that a prospect of reaching the Pacific. The State of Indiana is proposing to dedicate the site of Fort Sackville as a National Shrine. The Federal Government may well make some provision for the erection, under its own management, of a fitting memorial at that point."
On May 23, 1928 President Coolidge signed into law the public resolution establishing the 15-member national George Rogers Clark Sesquicentennial Commission. Congress appropriated $1.5 million dollars for the memorial contingent on the state of Indiana providing a site as well as future maintenance of the site. Construction of the George Rogers Clark Memorial began in September of 1931 and was completed in 1933. Inside the memorial rotunda, there is a 12-ton statue of George Rogers Clark made of marble weighing 12 tons including the pedestal. Upon the walls of the rotunda are seven murals depicting the Clark expedition.
References
"Fifth Annual Message | The American Presidency Project". Presidency.Ucsb.Edu, 2021, https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/fifth-annual-message-5.
"Congress Acts And A Clark Memorial Is Assured". National Park Service, 2021, https://www.nps.gov/parkhistory/online_books/gero/chap2.htm. Accessed 19 Apr 2021.
"George Rogers Clark Memorial". National Park Service, 2021, https://www.nps.gov/gero/learn/historyculture/inside.htm. Accessed 19 Apr 2021.
"Siege Of Fort Vincennes - Wikipedia". En.Wikipedia.Org, 2021, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Fort_Vincennes.
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