Besides the dune, beach, and marsh areas, Indiana Dunes National Park is also the steward for several historical sites. The oldest among the historical sites is the Bailly Homestead located near the middle of the park where Howe Road crosses the Little Calumet River. The park has done a great job of explaining the importance of the homestead with a webpage linked below and several interpretive signs on the homestead. Three of the signs are quoted in their entirety:
The Calumet Region, 1822-1835
Joseph Bailly, one of the first settlers in northwest Indiana, arrived here with his family in 1822. He chose this site to establish his trading post because it was on the Little Calumet River. It was also near two major Indian trails, the Lake Shore Trail, which later became the Fort Dearborn (Chicago) to Detroit Road, and the Sauk Trail, which extended from New England southwestward to the Missouri River where it split to form what were later called the Santa Fe Trail and the Oregon Trail.
When the Baillys arrived in the Calumet Region, Potawatomi Indians were the dominant tribe in northwestern Indiana. Hunting, trapping, gathering and some farming filled their days. During the summer, they located their villages near waterways and built their dome-shaped wigwams using tree saplings and cattail mats. Potawatomi women planted and harvested maize and gathered fruits such as plums, blackberries and cranberries. They supplemented their diet with wild rice, roots and a variety of nuts, such as hazel, hickory and walnut. Men fished rivers and lakes, and trapped beaver and muskrat. They also hunted rabbit, deer and elk. As fall approached, the Potawatomi separated into family groups and departed for their winter hunting grounds near thee Kankakee Marsh to establish a new camp until the following spring.
The Bailly Homestead
Although Indiana became a state in 1816, northwestern Indiana was essentially a wilderness when Joseph Bailly arrived in 1822 from Michigan with his wife Marie and their children to build their homestead. The 500,000 acre Kankakee Marsh, located to the southeast of here, was a major impediment to travel and discouraged settlement of the Calumet Region. The Baillys were among the first settlers to the area.
During the fur trading years, the homestead consisted of six log structures which served as living quarters, kitchen, storehouse and warehouses for the trade goods. Material from the original buildings is being preserved in the log structures you see today.
In 1833 Joseph Bailly and his family received $6,000 for his services in counseling the Potawatomi Indians in an agreement called the Chicago Treaty, which placed the land in northwestern Indiana in public domain. With this money he repaired various buildings and began construction of the main house. Before Bailly could move into his new house he fell ill and died in 1835.
Highways of the Past
Change is the best word to describe the Bailly Homestead since 1822. In the 1820’s when the Potawatomi Indians brought their beaver pelts by canoe to trade with Joseph Bailly, the main house was yet to be built. Made of white oak logs with weatherboard siding, it was under construction in 1835 when Joseph Bailly died. The structure was completed after his death and has been altered on a number of occasions by the Bailly heirs. The exterior of the house has been restored to look as it did in 1917, the earliest year for which an accurate appearance could be documented. The brick house, built for Bailly’s grandaughter, Rose Howe, was constructed in the late 1870’s.
As you walk these grounds, imagine the scenes, the people and changes that have occurred here. Picture Joseph Bailly greeting the Indians as they delivered their beaver pelts to trade. Hear the sound of the Indian and Bailly children playing while their parents bartered for trade goods. These people and the lives they led played a significant role in the history and development of the Calumet Region.
One confusing point to me is the website mentions Rose Howe as a married daughter in 1843 while the last interpretive sign mentions the brick house was built for grandaughter Rose Howe in the 1870s. I'm guessing there were two Roses. We visited the site during our October 2019 trip to Indiana Dunes National Park.
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Little Calumet River
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Gated gravel drive from Howe Road
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1835 Main House
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View east from the drive
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Another view from the drive
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Front of house
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Looking south
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Looking southwest
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Looking north
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Looking southwest across the lawn
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Brick House of Rose Howe
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View from the riverbank
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View from the drive
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View from the main house
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Log Buildings circa 1822 - 1835
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Structure on west side of drive
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Two-story cabin looking east
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Looking southeast
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Looking south
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Cabin with addition near the main house
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Looking east
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Looking south
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Modern Amenities and Grounds
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Picnic tables
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More picnic tables
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Entry to Indiana Dunes National Park is free. However, an expanded amenity fee of $6 daily is collected at West Beach from the Friday of Memorial Day weekend through the Monday of Labor Day weekend from 8:00 am to as late as 7:00 pm Central Time. This fee is used to provide the bathhouse and lifeguard service.
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