Tippecanoe Battlefield Monument

What it is

This is a stone monument, a tall white obelisk on a square pedestal set on a grassy lawn. A small standing soldier sculpture is carved on the pedestal beneath the obelisk's shaft, and bronze plaques are set into the pedestal's front. Bare trees and white bollards surround it. The image on Wikimedia Commons is a photograph of the monument; the record does not give the date the monument was built or the name of its maker.

The upload date of 2005 is when the image was added to Wikimedia Commons, not when the monument was made.

Why it matters

The monument commemorates the 1811 Battle of Tippecanoe, which Harrison led. Memorials like this one show how a community chose to remember a military action, and the carved soldier and plaques present that memory in a particular way.

Look closer

• What does the soldier carving suggest about how the battle is remembered?
• Who might have decided what the plaques should say, and why?
• What might a monument leave out about the people who lived in the area in 1811?