Chief Richardville House (Forks of the Wabash)

Jean Baptiste Richardville — Pe-she-wah, nephew of the great Miami war leader Little Turtle through his mother Tacumwah — served as principal chief of the Miami Nation and was, by the time of his death in 1841, one of the wealthiest men in the United States, having built that wealth as a trader controlling portage rights along the Wabash. He gained title to land at the Forks of the Wabash under the 1818 Treaty of St. Mary's and moved the Miami tribal headquarters here from Kekionga (Fort Wayne) in 1831, building a trading post and, around 1834, a council house used for tribal meetings and treaty negotiations with the United States. The house and treaty grounds were added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1985 and are preserved today as Forks of the Wabash Historic Park. Visitors touring the restored home describe a sharply cold pillar of air in what's identified as the servants' quarters — colder than anywhere else in the house, including outdoors — along with a persistent sense of being watched.