Terre Haute, Indiana

 city, county seat

www.terrehaute.com
www.terrehaute.in.gov

Terre Haute [ˌtɛ·ɹə ˈhoʊt], French for "high land," is Indiana's ninth largest city (p. 55,125) and the seat of justice of Vigo County (p. 112,385; 405 square miles). The city originated in 1816 on a plateau alongside the Wabash River. A prairie, probably created by Indians burning off timber to facilitate hunting, extended east of present 6th Street. From about 1720 to 1763 the Terre Haute site lay astride the line dividing the French provinces of Canada and Louisiana. The first indication of permanent white occupation coincided with the construction of Fort Harrison in 1811. A village of Wea (or Quiatenon) Indians, the future location of Terre Haute, stood a few miles south of the fort. The fort's transient personnel passed the word about the fertility and river proximity of the so-called Harrison Prairie. A few traders and squatters braved the environment of the garrison, but not until 1816 when the doors to settlement officially opened did the marked procession of pioneers begin.