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Hanging Rock
http://www.acreslandtrust.org/templates/System/details.asp?id=44551&PID=701991
The Legend of Hanging Rock
Silurian seas covered the area more than 400 million years ago and marine reefs were formed in the Midwest. Reef remnants, known as Klintar, can be seen as hills and mounds in the valley between Huntington County and Miami County. More spectacular are the exposed Silurian limestone formations of “Hanging Rock” near Lagro, and the “Big Four” cut at Wabash, both in Wabash County.
“Hanging Rock” is a huge out-cropping of limestone, one hundred feet in height, overhanging the Wabash River near the mouth of the Salamonie River near Lagro. The top is somewhat rounded by erosion, and part of one side has been torn away by the river. At the summit is a flat a space some twenty feet square which commands a broad outlook over the river and valley below. Many young people now climb the same pathway to the top which Miami Indian braves and maidens climbed many years before them.
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The “Hospital”
http://www.wabash.lib.in.us/hospital.html
The Hospital-Secret Cave
This story involves a cave located along the Wabash River near the town of Lagro. The “Hospital” is mentioned in a report by Major John Frances Hamtramck in 1790, ascertaining the distances and conditions of navigation of the Wabash from Vincennes to Ft. Wayne. Early voyageurs sometimes called a place of refuge or shelter a hospital. It has been said that the cave is the Hospital of Hamtramck’s report. A wounded Indian crawled near the cave, but due to the seriousness of his injuries, he became unconscious. An Indian maiden found him there and dragged him into the cave. She cared for him until he could care for himself and then she left. The wounded Indian had fallen deeply in love with the girl, and each day he ventured forth in search of food and the maiden. Sadly, though, he finally died, without having discovered the identity of the one who came to his aid in time of need.
Above information taken from: “Miami Indian Stories” by Chief Clarence Godfroy.
Gene Stratton-Porter
http://www.wabash.lib.in.us/porter.html
Geneva Grace Stratton was born on August 17, 1863, on “Hopewell” farm near Wabash, Indiana.
“Hopewell”, near Wabash, Indiana, was the Stratton family farm for almost thirty years. The 240 rolling acres was heavily forested with several flowing springs and little streams crossing it in three directions. In 1872, Mark Stratton donated a corner of his land for the Hopewell Church and Cemetery which he helped to build. He was an ordained minister and the pastor of the beautiful, little red brick church for many years. The Hopewell Cemetery now contains the graves of Mark and Mary Stratton along with those of their children, Leander, Ada, Samira, and Louisa.
Gene was happy and carefree at “Hopewell.” Her parents were avid Nature enthusiasts and always taught Gene to wonder at and to appreciate the beauty of the great outdoors. From her mother Gene learned to love flowers and all growing things. She became so friendly with the birds that she could actually touch them while they brooded. When her mother became a semi-invalid following an attack of typhoid fever, Gene would go out to the fields with her brothers and play happily in the woods while they worked. At that time there were Indians living in the area with whom she became good friends. She was especially fond of the family of Chief Wacacoonah of the Meshingmesas. Gene earned her first money from selling the arrowheads and goose quills given to her by the Indians.
Building of the Salamonie Reservoir
Pictures taken by Peggy Bever during the construction of the Salamonie Reservoir
The Kerr Lock and the Wabash and Erie Canal
For pictures and the source of this information, see Terry Pepper’s research here: http://www.terrypepper.com/w&e/lagro.htm
Lagro took its name from the Miami Indian Chief Le Gros. In 1828, a two room brick house was constructed for him at this site. He occupied the home until his death in 1831.
Miami Erie & Wabash Canal Country. Harry G. Black. 1991. page 49.
On the site of this old Indian town, Gen. Tipton had laid out a town which he called La Gro. But at what time this town was laid out I have never been able to ascertain. The original plat, however was recorded in Book A, page 55, of the records of Huntington county, but at what date the record fails to state, though the instrument recorded this bears the date May 18, 1835, and the one on the page following, June 10, 1835, so that we can approach the date of recording the Plat. The first lots sold in the town, numbered 174, 175 and 176, to Jacob Chappel, the deed for which was acknowledged September 18, 1834, so that we can conclude the town was laid out at least as early as September, 1834.
History of St. Patrick’s Church
Source
“Jesuit Missionaries, on their way from Montreal, Canada, to post Vincennes, visited Lagro as early as 1800. The venerable missionary, Father Badin, stopped there, in 1833, on his way from Fort Wayne to Logansport. The construction of the Wabash and Erie Canal, in 1837, opened up a general traffic, and Lagro became the chief shipping center for wheat, corn and other crops. A number of families, of whom many were Irish Catholic, came from the east to make Lagro and its vicinity their home.
1876 Map of Lagro
From the Illustrated historical atlas of the State of Indiana. Published by Baskin, Forster & Co. Lakeside Building Chicago, Ills. 1876. Engraved & Printed by Chas. Shober & Co. Props. of Chicago Lithographing Co.