What Did Barry See

REMINDER: As long as you're here, don't forget to read the other posts on the NACUMS Blog.


Congratulations to Joanne Gish, the Document Services Manager Westmont College in Santa Barbara, CA for the first winning guess in the impromptu "What did Barry See" contest. Also to Brian Geimer, from Sacrmento State for being our runner up.

Thank you all for the deluge of guesses. It was fun to shoot down your suggestions with other larger structures or to explain why your guesses didn't fit the clues. Thanks also for giving me a host of things that I can go see on my future wanderings.


I had stayed the night in Vincennes, IN. In the morning, my wife wanted to drive across the Lincoln Memorial bridge before heading home to Oshkosh. So, we drive through town and just before the bridge, I looked over to my left and said "what the %@&# is that!" Curious as I am, we checked it out.

George Rogers Clark National Historical Park, located in
Vincennes on the banks of the Wabash River, is a United States National Historical Park. The George Rogers Clark memorial is the largest such memorial outside of Washington, DC.

The George Rogers Clark National Historical Park centers on the massive Memorial, a neoclassical granite rotunda with 16 Doric columns circling a bronze sculpture of the colonel leaning on his sword. Seven monumental murals inside the memorial chart the American settlement of the Ohio Valley and Clark’s battle to wrest the Northwest Territories from British control.

The Memorial is located on the site of the former British Fort Sackville which was captured by Colonel George Rogers Clark and his army of frontiersmen and Frenchmen. The moment of the fort's surrender on February 25, 1779 marks the birth of the United States north of the Ohio River.

When the army led by Col. George Rogers Clark captured the British fort at Vincennes on February 25, 1779, the size of the United States essentially doubled. Clark’s victory opened the vast Northwest Territories, comprising nearly as much land as the original 13 colonies, to American settlement.


In 1778, Clark made plans for aggressive action against the British in the Old Northwest and, going to Virginia, persuaded Gov. Patrick Henry and his council to send an expedition. Clark and about 175 men crossed the Ohio River at Fort Massac, then swept into the Illinois country and took the British-held settlements of Kaskaskia, Cahokia, and Vincennes. The British under Gen. Henry Hamilton advanced from Detroit and retook Vincennes after Clark had left. Winter and Ohio floods halted Hamilton there, but Clark and his men, defying cruel conditions of cold and hardship, braved the flooded bottom lands to return to Vincennes. With the heroic aid of Francis Vigo, François Bosseron, and Father Gibault, he struck at the British fort and surprised and captured Hamilton and the garrison in Feb., 1779. When news of his victory reached General George Washington, Clark's success was celebrated and was used to encourage the alliance with France. Washington recognized his achievement had been gained without support from the regular army in men or funds.


CLUES

1. (In the continental U.S., it's the largest of its kind outside of Washington, D.C.)

   The George Rogers Clark memorial is the largest such memorial outside of Washington, DC.

2. Monkeys first hit.

   Take the Last Train to Clarksville. Clarksville, IN. is named for American Revolutionary War General George Rogers Clark, who lived for a time on a point of land on the Ohio River. Founded in 1783, the town is believed to be the first American settlement in the Northwest Territory of the new United States.
   
   

3. Song "On the Banks of the Wabash".

   The historical park and Clark memorial are on the banks of the Wabash River.

4. The younger one is more famous the the older one.

   Clark's younger brother William, won greater fame as a leader of the Lewis and Clark expedition. In all, Clark had five brothers and four sisters.

5. How did Louisville, KY get it's name?

   The settlement that became the city of Louisville was founded in 1778 by George Rogers Clark and is named after King Louis XVI of France.

Hey!!! Again, thanks for playing. I hope everyone enjoyed themselves and don't forget to read the other blog posts.

Barry