Indiana: A Historical Timeline

Prior to 1700 Pre-European Settlement
11,000 BCE	Prehistoric Native Americans arrive in the area that would be Indiana. Some of the prehistoric people are hunters-gatherers while others are farmers. They leave behind mounds that were used as burial sites, temples, platforms for religious structures, and earthen forts. When European explorers enter the region, only a few hundred Native Americans remain. Most belong to the Miami tribe.
1614–15	Samuel de Champlain, the governor of New France (a nation based in present-day Canada) and the founder of Quebec, is believed to be the first French explorer to discover the Maumee River region of northeastern Indiana.
1679	French explorer René-Robert Cavalier and Louis de Baude de Frontenac, Governor of New France, visit the region and gain control of the Maumee-Wabash trade route. They claim the land for New France.
1700–1799 Early European Exploration and Settlement
1702	French fur traders establish the first permanent settlement at Vincennes.
1717	François-Marie Picoté de Belestre establishes the French Fort Quiatenon, near the present city of Lafayette, to protect the western frontier.
1721	Pierre Charlevois witnesses and describes the Miami Native American game of lacrosse.
1752	A smallpox epidemic breaks out. Over the next ten year, it decimates the Native American population.
1754	The French and Indian War begins. By 1761 the French are entirely forced out of Indiana. At the end of the war, England gains control of the Indiana region and Vincennes. The proclamation of 1763 forbids the settlement of lands west of the Appalachian Mountains. From their posts north of the Ohio River, the British send Native American war parties against the settlers who ignore the proclamation line.
1763–66	Pontiac’s Rebellion. Native American tribes from the Great Lakes region, dissatisfied after the British victory in the French and Indian War, unsuccessfully try to drive the British out of the region. The uprising prompts Britain to modify the policies that had provoked the conflict. As a concession, Britain issues a proclamation that the territory west of the Appalachian Mountains is to be reserved for Native Americans.
1772	British general Thomas Gage orders the French in the Wabash Valley to leave their settlements and demands the title deeds to their lands.
1774	John Chapman, later known as Johnny Appleseed, collects apple seedlings from western Pennsylvania and introduces apple orchards and nurseries to Indiana. The Quebec Act by Great Britain brings the territory of Indiana under the administration of Quebec, thus appeasing Indiana’s French population. American colonists, believing they are entitled to the territory for their support of Great Britain during the French and Indian War, are incensed that it is given to the "enemy," citing it as one of the Intolerable Acts leading to the Revolutionary War.
1778	American forces capture Fort Sackville, forcing the British to retreat to Detroit. Six months later, the British return and recapture the fort.
1779	(February) With the British surrender of Fort Sackville, American forces gain control of the Northwest, helping them to emerge victorious in the war.
1783	Britain cedes the area of Indiana to the U.S.
1787	(July 13) The Congress of the Confederation forms the Northwest Territory, which includes all the land between the Appalachian Mountains, the Mississippi River, the Great Lakes, and the Ohio River.
Late 1700s	The Potawatomi are the last group of Native Americans to enter Indiana and the last to leave. They build villages in the northeastern part of the region in the late 1700s. By 1838, many have sold their land to the government or been driven out by the military.
1800–1849 State of Indiana
1800	(July 4) In preparation for Ohio’s statehood, Congress divides the Northwest Territory: the western part becomes the Indiana Territory (which also includes Illinois) and the eastern section remains the Northwest Territory.
1803	Native American tribes cede parts of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois to the U.S. government.
1805	Michigan Territory separates from the Indiana Territory.
1809	Illinois Territory separates from the Indiana Territory.
1811	Voting is restricted to free white males, 21 years or older, who have paid a county or territorial tax and have resided in the Indiana Territory for one year.
1816	(December 11) Indiana becomes the 19th state.
1818	The Delaware, Wea, Kickapoo, Miami, and Potawatomi tribes give up their claim to a portion of central Indiana in a deal dubbed the "New Purchase."
1820	The Indiana Supreme Court case of Polly v. Lasselle, involving abolitionists attempting to free a slave from her master, results in the court ordering all slaves held within Indiana to be freed.
1821	Indianapolis is founded. Today it is the state capital, and Indiana’s largest city.
1822	Indiana and Illinois join together in a plan to connect the Maumee and Wabash rivers via a canal.
1825	Welsh factory owner Robert Owen buys 30,000 acres in Indiana as the site for the New Harmony utopian community. The community bans money and other commodities, but dissolves in 1829 due to infighting.
1829	The Cumberland Road, the first major U.S. highway, reaches Indianapolis, connecting Indiana to the eastern United States.
1832	The state begins construction on the Wabash and Erie Canal to connect the Wabash River with Lake Erie. The new canal makes possible water transportation from New Orleans to Lake Erie, helping to economically connect Indiana to the northern East Coast. By the time of its completion in 1853, the canal is 468 miles long. Due to the rise of the railroad, by 1876 the canal is no longer in use.
1841	After initiating a program for the construction of roads, canals, railroads, and public schools, budgetary spending nearly ruins Indiana’s credit and forces the state to the brink of bankruptcy. Indiana liquidates most of its public works.
1850–1899 The Civil War and Reconstruction Eras
1851	Indiana adopts a state constitution that includes protecting the property rights of married women.
1858	Tell City is founded as a planned community of Swiss furniture craftsmen from Cincinnati, Ohio. Its purpose is to offer affordable homesteads for mechanics, shopkeepers, factory workers, and small farmers in a location where all could live in harmony. John Mohler Studebaker joins his two older brothers in a South Bend firm producing wagons. The company goes on to become the world’s largest producer of farm wagons and carriages. It later produces the first electric car, before manufacturing gasoline-fueled automobiles.
1861	The Civil War begins. Indiana is the first western state to mobilize for the Civil War, and Indiana soldiers are present in almost every engagement during the war. By the end of the war in 1865, Indiana has contributed 208,367 men to fight in the war, 24,416 of whom lost their lives.
1863	(July 9–13) The only Civil War battle fought in Indiana is Morgan’s Raid. Confederate Commander John Morgan leads 2,400 Confederate cavalry to take possession of the towns of Corydon and Salem. The war shifts the state’s population from the south to the north. Because it closes the Mississippi River to traffic for four years, residents move north to rely on the Great Lakes and the railroad for exports.
1868	The Great Train Robbery takes place near Marshfield. Seven members of the Reno gang make off with $98,000 in cash, gold, and bonds. Train robbing becomes rampant in the aftermath of the Civil War, and the Reno Gang carries out three such robberies before vigilantes lynch 10 of its members.
1876	Pharmacist and former Union Army colonel Eli Lilly opens his first store in Indianapolis with just three employees. In the second half of the 20th century, Eli Lilly and Company helps Indiana become a leader in the pharmaceutical industry.
1880s	Mining becomes a major industry in Indiana. Natural gas is discovered in northern Indiana; at the time, the Indiana gas field is the largest known in the world. In 1889, Standard Oil builds one of the largest oil refineries in the world near Whiting.
1884	A series of tornadoes in seven states, including Indiana, leaves approximately 800 people dead.
1897	The Indiana House of Representatives unanimously passes a measure to redefine the area of a circle and the value of pi as 4. The bill subsequently dies in the State Senate.
1900–1929 Early 20th Century
1907	Indiana enacts the nation’s first involuntary sterilization law based on the principles of eugenics. It is intended to prevent the procreation of "confirmed criminals, idiots, imbeciles, and rapists." It is ruled unconstitutional in 1921, but a revised eugenics law is passed in 1927, remaining in effect until 1974.
1911	The first Indianapolis 500 race takes place after the 1909 opening of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. It’s now considered one of the three most important motor sport events in the world.
1919	Steel workers in Gary strike to force US Steel to recognize their union. The walkout ends in 110 days without success.
1920	(January 16) Indiana becomes the 26th state to ratify the 19th Amendment, which grants women suffrage.
1925	The great Tri-State Tornado hits Illinois, Indiana, and Missouri, killing 695 people, injuring 13,000, and causing $17 million in property damage. Scandal erupts when Indiana residents discover that over half the seats in the General Assembly are controlled by the Ku Klux Klan, leading the state to make a string of arrests and indictments against political leaders. The crackdown renders the Klan effectively powerless in Indiana.
1930–1949 The Great Depression and World War II
1932	At the height of the Great Depression, one quarter of the Indiana workforce is unemployed.
1941–45	The U.S. enters World War II. Nearly 400,000 men from Indiana enlist or are drafted. More than 11,783 die in the conflict.
1945	African-American officers of the 477th Bombardment Group of the Army Air Forces are arrested for entering the Freeman Field Officer’s Club near Seymour. One hundred and one African-American officers refuse to sign a document that establishes segregation of the club and are subsequently court martialed. Criminal charges are later dropped, but reprimands are placed in the officers’ files. They aren’t removed until 1995. One thousand white children are removed from schools in Gary in a protest of school integration.
1950–present Modern Indiana
1968	Robert F. Kennedy speaks at a primarily African-American ghetto in Indianapolis after hearing of the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. His speech affirms the enormity of the event and begins healing among the community. Over the next days, riots take place in 76 cities across America, but Indianapolis remains quiet.
1977	(May 29) Janet Guthrie becomes the first woman to compete in the Indianapolis 500.
1982	Howard Brembeck organizes the Fourth Freedom Forum in Goshen to advocate the use of economic power instead of military force.
1985	Thirteen-year-old AIDS patient Ryan White is barred from attending classes in person in his hometown of Kokomo. He becomes a national poster child for HIV/AIDS awareness in the U.S. when he is expelled from school because of his disease. His lengthy legal battle with the school system and the protests of parents and teachers against his attendance reveal how poorly understood AIDS is at the time.
2008	(June) The Ohio River floods, causing central and southwestern Indiana to be deluged and leading to the evacuation of hundreds of thousands of residents. With damages totaling over $1 billion, It is the costliest natural disaster in the history of the state.