Sidetracked on my way to Illinois

Last time I talked about my great Midwestern baseball journey that would take me to Chicago, Pittsburgh and Cleveland. A travel motivator was to visit major sights related to President Abraham Lincoln. Things were progressing nicely and the itinerary was shaping up until I opened a map.

Yes I know that I violated “guy code” and asked for (really plotted) directions. While performing this map recon and trying to figure out my route from Santa Claus Indiana I noticed that Vincennes Indiana was along the way.

The name Vincennes awoke some fuzzy long term memories so I took a break in place and decided to research this destination. Someone in a history class or in a conversation had mentioned this southwestern Indiana city nestled along the Wabash River. I can’t blame my colleague and good friend Bob Leith because I’ve never been his student but there is a teacher or history buff out there that had planted this kernel of knowledge.

Researching Vincennes as a destination I was quickly reminded of its early American frontier history that included George Rogers Clark, William Henry Harrison, other early pioneers and Native Americans.