Home of Chief Richardville

Miami Chief Richardville’s council house built for treaty negotiations. Later his son-in-law Civil Chief Lafontaine used it as a residence. It has been restored to 1846 in appearance. 

The house was constructed at the Forks of the Wabash in approximately 1833/34. It is a two story clapboard house with Greek Revival features. At the time the house was built, the property was on the Miami Indian reservation, and served as the tribal headquarters from 1833 until the death of Miami Chief Jean Baptiste Richardville's successor, his son-in-law Chief Frances LaFontaine, in 1846/1847. Lafontaine used this building as his main residence. Local family tradition says that Chief Richardville never actually lived here, and that council negotiations were held in a round building that was located to the north of US-24 and torn down a long time ago.

In 1977, the Junior Historical Society of Huntington North High School led by Jean Gernand worked with the owners of the house, Luke and Erma Sheer, to restore the Chief’s House. Due to the necessary widening of US 24, the house was moved south a couple hundred yards to its current location in the Historic Forks of Wabash. This house and the Nuck log cabin are two of the structures you can visit and tour by appointment.

In 1990, Ball State University did excavation work during a restoration of the house. The full report of their findings can be viewed at the Keefer Center at the Huntington City Township Public Library. 

1. Archaeological Resources Management Service/Ball State University, Excavations at the Richardville/LaFontaine House, (1990). This book (bar code 33598000842868) can be located at the Huntington City-Township Public Library. hctpl.info.
2. Forks of the Wabash, Wikipedia, 2021. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forks_of_the_Wabash. Accessed June 16, 2021.
3. Historical Buildings, Forks of the Wabash, 2021. forksofthewabash.org/about-us/historic-buildings. Accessed June 15, 2021.
4. Historic American Buildings Survey, C. (1933) Chief Richardville House, U.S. Route 24, Huntington, Huntington County, IN. Indiana Huntington, Huntington County, 1933. Documentation Compiled After. [Photograph] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/in0153/. Accessed June 14, 2021.
5. “Confluence of History,” Herald-Press [Huntington, IN], 16 June 1994, Special Commemorative Edition.