Wabash River

The Wabash River runs along the South boundary of France Park and is a wonderful place for people to relax and spend their leisure time.  Visitors can take advantage of the public access site to launch fishing boats or canoes, or use the picnic shelter for an afternoon meal.  

Improvements at the France Park Public Access Site and the new Wabash River Trail have been funded through Indiana's Wabash River Heritage Corridor Fund.   Visitors will find not only a newly constructed picnic shelter with tables, but a 90-foot boardwalk that is handicap accessible.

Check here for the Wabash River water level

& conditions at Logansport Indiana.

Like Logansport, many communities along the Wabash River are the most tangible remains of their rich, cultural history, and they are rekindling their affair with the river as its waters and banks are being largely restored to their natural condition.  An ever-growing group of present-day heroes are working to preserve their cultural and natural heritage and to develop recreation resources to promote economic development, strengthen common ties, and improve the quality of life for their communities.  Find out what other communities are doing along the Wabash River:

History of the Wabash River

The Miami named it Wah-Bah-Shik-ka, meaning pure white, for the color of its waters flowing across a bright limestone bed in its upper reaches.  The French called it Ouabache.  Today it is known as the Wabash.

The Wabash River was created as the last glaciers of the Ice Age melted in Indiana. Steeped in history, it is remembered as the primary fur trade route from the St. Lawrence River and lower Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico over two centuries ago.   During that time, the Miami, Potawatomi, Mascouten, Wea, Kickapoo, and Piankeshaw Indians lived in the Wabash Valley.  A hundred years later, it provided the waters of the longest canal in the country, the Wabash and Erie.  The demise of the canal was caused by the onset of rail transportation, and the storied Wabash Cannonball took its place in American lore.  Early this century, "on the Banks of the Wabash, Far Away" was penned and subsequently became Indiana's state song.  As recently as 1996, the state legislature named the Wabash River as the State River.

The French fort-building era and the ensuing battles for control of the Wabash River may be its most famous period.  The French established Fort Ouiatenon in 1717 and Post Vincennes in 1732.  Subsequent conflicts along the river made many men and women famous: George Rogers Clark, "Mad Anthony" Wayne, Tecumseh, the Prophet, Chief Little Turtle, France Slocum, and William Henry Harrison.  The battles fought by these men created American heroes and shaped the nation.  Their stories, as well as that of the river, have filled volumes.  Follow these links to discover more history of the people along the Wabash River: