It’s a gorgeous day in western Indiana today so I decided to bike to the Tippecanoe Battlefield.

It’s about 7 miles from my house, which is nothing for a serious biker. But then I’m far from a serious biker. I pedaled my three speed out there. It’s up River Road, which would be nice except that it’s a major connection between I-65 and town and a 55 MPH zone, which makes it one of those roads where drivers are angry bikers exist. Got a couple horn honks and a lot of angry revving of engines. Doesn’t help that there’s no shoulder for most of it, just some loose gravel. On the other hand, it’s mercifully flat for most of it.

The battlefield is where we get “Tippecanoe and Tyler too,” after William Henry Harrison’s leading the American forces against Tecumseh and Prophet’s men. The Tecumseh and Prophet story is really interesting, with a lot of resonance for enduring questions about radicalism and moderation, resistance and compromise. There’s a little museum there which is quite nice. It has that peculiar quality where there’s an admirably frank acknowledgement of what the coming of white men meant to Native American populations– slaughter bordering on genocide– and yet also the kind of valorization of white heroes that is traditional in national parks. In 2010 I went for a road trip out west in Montana, South Dakota, North Dakota, and Wyoming with two of my best friends, touring the national parks. I remember seeing a starlight talk by a park ranger in the Badlands, where he spoke very honestly about the ruthless extermination of native peoples by the American army. But then the next day we were in Custer State Park. Here, on the courthouse, there’s a relief in the sides where Harrison sits right next to Tecumseh. It’s very American.

There’s a sweet little nature museum too. Taxidermy animals (natural deaths, I was assured) and preserved bird nests, a place to look out a one-way window to watch birds and squirrels feeding. There was a friendly elderly woman working the little cottage. How great of a job is that?

After I left I rode to find Prophetstown, but I got lost and never found it. Ended up riding around in some trails for awhile before I found my way home. All in all a very Indiana day.

It was good to get out on the bike. I need help to be alone but not to just be in my head with myself. Think I need that more than ever. The bike helps.