Battle of Tippecanoe - Memorial

Memorial

The participants in the battle received the Thanks of Congress. The resolution originally included William Henry Harrison by name, but his name was removed from the resolution before passage. Harrison considered this to be an insult, thinking Congress implied he was the one person in the campaign not worthy of accolades, and he expressed the opinion that it held him up to obloquy and disrespect. He was later awarded the Thanks of Congress and a Congressional Gold Medal in 1818 for victory at the Battle of the Thames.

William Henry Harrison returned to the battlefield in 1835 to give speeches during his first presidential campaign. Part of his speech called for the creation of a memorial to preserve the battle site. John Tipton later purchased the land to preserve it. The mission school on the hill was purchased by the Methodist Church to be used as a seminary. Tipton left the battlefield to the seminary in his will and they maintained it for many years and built a larger facility at the location in 1862. The Battle and Harrison were memorialized by two Ohio towns being named Tippecanoe; one changed its name to Tipp City in 1938.

In 1908, the Indiana General Assembly commissioned the creation of a 80-foot (24 m) high obelisk memorial. By the 1920s the site had become primarily a Methodist youth retreat. On October 9, 1960, the Tippecanoe Battlefield was named a National Historic Landmark. In 1961, a large commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the battle was held and attended by an estimated 10,000 people. In the following years, the battle site became less trafficked and fell into disrepair. It was later taken over by the Tippecanoe County Historical Association which now maintains the battleground and the seminary building, which houses a museum about the battle. An amphitheater was added to the memorial in 1986. From 1989–90, the amphitheater was used for performances of The Battle of Tippecanoe Outdoor Drama.