What is Fort Ouiatenon?
{{Orphan|date=May 2012}} [[File:Fort Ouiatenon marker.png|thumb|Sign at Fort Ouiatenon]] '''Fort Ouiatenon''' was the first [[Fortification|fortified]] European settlement in what is now the [[U.S. state]] of [[Indiana]]. It is about three miles southwest of modern-day [[West Lafayette, Indiana|West Lafayette]]. Fort Ouiatenon was originally constructed by the [[Government of France|French government]] in 1717 as a military outpost to protect against [[Great Britain]]'s western expansion. Its location among the unsettled woodlands of the [[Wabash River]] valley also made it a key center of trade for [[fur trappers]]. French merchants and trappers from [[Quebec]] would arrive at Fort Ouiatenon in search of [[beaver]] [[pelts]] and to take advantage of trade relations with the native [[Wea]] Native American tribes. At its peak level of activity during the mid-[[18th century]] Fort Ouiatenon was home to over 2,000 people. In 1761, during the [[French and Indian War]], a contingent of British soldiers led by Lieutenant Edward Jenkins captured and occupied the fort. In 1763 an uprising led by [[Pontiac (Ottawa leader)|Chief Pontiac]] of the [[Ottawa (disambiguation)|Ottawa]] Native American tribe surprised Lieutenant Jenkins and his men and captured Fort Ouiatenon without firing a shot. Seven similar posts were also captured in what became known as Pontiac's Uprising. The British made little use of Fort Ouiatenon after the French and Indian War; it was never [[Garrison|garrisoned]]. During the 1780s, local Indian tribes used it as a base of operations to stage raids against American settlers pushing westward. President [[George Washington]] ordered the fort to be destroyed in 1791. In 1930 a replica of Fort Ouiatenon was built near its original site by a local physician named Richard Wetherill. In 1970 the site was placed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]] by the [[U.S. Department of the Interior]]. Today Fort Ouiatenon is open to tourists and is the location of the annual Feast of the Hunters' Moon.