tippecanoe battlefield museum

Memory of the colonization days. Good drive by the river and we reach the battle ground museum. In the Purdue University town one can rent a car to drive down. It can be considered as small outing.

I grew up less than 50 miles from the Tippecanoe Battlefield and had no idea how historically significant it is. The first thing we learned was that the Prophet after whom Prophetstown is named was a Native American, not an early religious leader as I'd assumed. We learned that the loss of the 1811 battle by Native American tribes organized by the Prophet and his brother Tecumseh pretty much ended Native American resistance to white settlement and military invasion in this part of the country. It's obvious that when the monument was first built it represented only the viewpoint of the young white government and glorified the battle as a great victory for the U.S. against the maligned Native resistance. Present interpretation is to be credited with presenting a more balanced view of the historical significance for Native American tribes. We didn't tour the museum itself. The nature trail along the river was very beautiful and well maintained with welcome interpretive signs about the various tree species along the way.

If you are in the area, this is a nice stop for a visit. On these pretty grounds, future president William Harrison's troops battled the Prophet's Native Americans. Harrison won the battle. The small museum provides you with a bit of history. A memorial to Harrison and gravestones for a couple of deceased officers add to a sense of the history on this site.A 1/2 hour to 45 minutes in the museum is more than adequate and a bit of time walking the grounds viewing the memorial is a nice way to kill some time. The price is reasonable; the gift shop full of souvenir shop goods.A wildlife/nature center on the ground is interesting ... full of local critters stuffed and crammed in to a small space. Good for kids, mostly, but I doubt if they would let kids touch/feel the items in the center.

While this location was the site of an important (for better or for worse) historical battle, its not exactly a "hotspot" in the same way that more famous battlegrounds are. So my expectations weren't super high to start with, but I was pleasantly surprised. The grounds are very pretty and well-maintained. The museum has very low fees (or free for several groups) and while not large is informative and worth the price since the battlefield is immediately adjacent to the museum. If you are history enthusiast, it would be hard to find a a reason to pass this location up.

We walked some lovely trails down by the creek. The monument is impressive. My kids enjoyed the small nature center (free). We paid to go through the museum. My husband enjoyed the firearms exhibit, and he and I both liked learning more about the history of the area. However, the kids found the museum boring. They usually enjoy museums, but I think they are just too young to really appreciate the subject matter here. For older kids I think it would be great. It's obvious that the man running the museum has put his heart and soul into it. It's well worth a visit, but I'd skip the museum if you are traveling with preschoolers. This would be a beautiful spot for a picnic. It's not big enough to spend the whole day, but it would pair nicely with a visit to nearby Prophetstown State Park.

As we came in to the parking lot, we immediately saw the huge memorial and it definitely caught our 12 year old's attention. It was great to walk around the well wooded areas that kept the pounding heat off of us and learn things that weren't taught in school. There is a small fee to go in to the museum, but well worth it. There are lots of walking trails and the battleground is easily walkable. We even stopped for a bit to teach the boys how to skip rocks because while learning about history why not make some of our own right? Allow some time to stop in, take a break, learn some history and relax!

A nice place to visit. The museum was empty except fot us, Nothing extraordinary, but very enjoyable and informative. I was not that familiar with the details of the battle until now. The monument is impressive. There is also a small nature center to visit and lots of walking trails. Well worthe a stop. Note: The grounds are free but there is a charge for the museum.

JMJ After taking the son back to Purdue Univ., finally took time to visit the Tippecanoe Battle site and Museum. Such a great historical site and also a scenic drive along the great Wabash River. Allow some time to see all the unique displays about the battle and the times that it occurred in. If you like vintage firearms, the Museum has a great collection. The admission fee is small and well worth it! Many interesting items in the Gift Shop which you will not find elsewhere. The Monument outside is very impressive and the battle field is compact and very walkable. The Nature Center was not open the day we stopped but I hear it's very pretty; especially after dealing with such an important history lesson.

This is a nice place to take the family for a picnic or day outing. It has a museum and lots of things to see and do outside. The nature center is nice too. There is plenty of room for children to run and play. This place has been well-kept and maintained. I particularly enjoyed the birds at the nature center. The statues make great photos.

My husband and I pulled into the large parking lot and parked at the entrance to the Battlefield. It was smaller than we expected, and completely surrounded by an Iron fence. A giant monument was its focal point and there were two graves marking where two leaders died that day. Across the parking lot is the museum. We didnt have any cash at the moment, so we did not go inside it. It has clean restrooms with outdoor access at its rear. There are gigantic trees and grassy areas surrounding the museum building and picnic shelters and picnic benches all around it. it was a lovely place to take a break from the road for a while. There are trails to hike and a small nature center. it has exhibits about the local animals and a viewing window with a bench to sit and watch the birds and squirrells eat seeds from the bird feeders. We got up close and personal with a squirrell. He sat on the ledge directly in front of the viewing window's bench eating sunflower seeds. it was a pleasure to spend ten minutes there watching the squiirell's antics and spotting 6 different types of birds. Tippecanoe battlefield might not be interesting to young children, but this little nature center will surely have something to entertain them. We had a very enjoyable break from the long drive home. And we learned about the conflict that occurred there that had not been taught in History Classes in our schools. We felt saddened for the Native Americans and will come visit the battlefield museum itself to learn more about it the next time we are in the are. This location is a great place for families. Something for everyone here.

It was an unusually cool day for July in Indiana & the weather was beautiful. We wanted something interesting to do outside that we haven't done before and we have been trying to see more of our home state so we decided to take a quick trip over to the Lafayette area & visit the museum & explore the Wabash heritage trail. We enjoyed the beautiful, peaceful battlefield & our 9 yr old son loved the monuments and memorials & speculating about the men & the battle. There is a small but well-done nature center. The museum has quite a few artifacts & is modern and tasteful. We enjoyed walking the trail but did not walk the entire thing. It is not a looping trail and is over 8 miles one way (16+ miles round trip). The trail was, in my opinion, slightly confusing to follow as there were several paths going in different directions at a few points. The trail isn't dangerous but you should be prepared to walk in sand and there are some places where there are steps made in the dirt with wood & which could be tricky for the very young or older folks to maneuver. There are some other wooden steps & some concrete steps as well. Dogs are allowed on the battleground & the trail. They even provide bags for disposing of dog poo (which is required & appreciated!). We intend to go back and hike some more of the trail & check out Prophet's Rock.

This site has a good history of the 1811 Battle of Tippecanoe. The museum offers walking tour. Make sure to stop and the video room where you can see a graphical description of the battle. The last room in the tour has a great display of guns from the early 1800’s and 1900’s. Once done with the tour, walk across the parking lot to see the actual place of the battle. On the field you will see the memorial stones were some of the soldiers died.

It is so rare to find battlefields in the US, let alone west of the Appalachians, so this place is a true treasure. I thought the museum did a really outstanding job talking about the area and laying out the story of the battle without being too heavy-handed towards one side or another. It's a sad part of our history and it is important to never forget. The battlefield is really serene and such a confined area, I was surprised how small it really was. It must have been pandemonium that day. I would highly recommend stopping for an hour or two.

Loved the museum, the staff and the ease to get there. It was well worth the time, it was only 10 minutes from the Hotel

The museum was very informative and presented a short video overview of the battle. Lots of information on the Indian history as we need to remember how Indians influenced our movement into the Northwestern Territory