I’d heard about the artesian well at Trail’s End in rural Grant County for five or six years, but I never got around to checking it out. It didn’t show up on Google Maps, the roads looked like a maze, and I didn’t want to drive all that way just to leave disappointed. Yesterday, though, I finally visited. The well was surprisingly easy to find, loudly flowing just a few feet from the site of one of Indiana’s bloodiest armed conflicts.
The Battle of the Mississinewa was a brutal winter campaign launched by Major General William Henry Harrison in retaliation to Native attacks on Fort Wayne and Fort Harrison during the War of 1812. It took place on the east bank of the Mississinewa River in northwestern Grant County, near the present-day community of Jalapa.
A large number of Native Americans were killed and captured during the battle’s first day1. Outnumbered Native forces regrouped, however, and fought fiercely on the second until a cavalry chase broke their assault2. By the end of the battle, twelve Americans were killed and forty-eight were wounded. On the other side, at least thirty-eight Native Americans perished3.
Warned that Tecumseh was approaching with reinforcements, the Americans withdrew. The conflict technically ended in a U.S. victory, but it came at a steep human cost: over 300 men suffered severe frostbite during their return to Fort Greenville, forcing the disbandment of an entire regiment4.
Today, land near the battlefield is part of Mississinewa Lake, a 14,000-acre U.S. Army Corps of Engineers property designed to help reduce flood stages in the Upper Wabash Basin. For some reason I’ve never understood, locals call the area “Hobbitland5.” Others call it Conner’s Mill, after an enterprise that operated nearby until 1921. I call it Trail’s End because that’s what the sign says.
To get to the Mississinewa Battlefield/Hobbitland/Conner’s Mill/Trail’s End from State Road 15, turn west on County Road 600-North. Turn left onto County Road 300-West to head south. Follow it through a pair of right-angle curves, then turn right at the T. You’ll see the Trail’s End sign; bear left.
Trail’s End pretty much consists of a tangle of narrow loops winding northwest toward the river. Follow them. When you can’t go much further without bottoming out your car or crashing into the river, you’ve arrived at the well, which is off to the right. Roll down your windows. If you listen closely, you’ll hear the steady burble of the well before you even see it.
The well casing itself is a metal pipe with a tee fitting that allows water to cascade down on two sides. A circular concrete wall surrounds the pipe, forming a low basin that contains most of the runoff except at one side, where the water forms a reddish rivulet that snakes down to the Mississinewa.
The well keeps flowing, quiet and steady, as an echo of the chaos that unfolded near Trail’s End more than two centuries ago. Its water slips out with no urgency, no fanfare; just a soft, rhythmic sound.
In some ways, the steady trickle of the well seems to whisper what history doesn’t always say out loud: that even in places marked by violence, something enduring can remain.
Sources Cited
1 Rafert, S. (1996). The Miami Indians of Indiana: A Persistent People. 1654-1994. The Indiana Historical Society [Indianapolis]. Web.
2 Allison, H. (1986) The Tragic Saga of the Indiana Indians. Turner Publishing Company [Paducah]. Book.
3 Gilpin, Alec R. (1968). The War of 1812 in the Old Northwest. The Michigan State University Press [East Lansing]. Book.
4 (See footnote 2).
5 Mattingly, S. You know you live in Marion, Indiana when… (2011, October 7). Give me the GPS coordinates of Hobbitland. I want to plan a trip there. Maybe they will enjoy eating some [Comment]. Facebook.
