Meet Michigan’s Newest National Park, Other Monroe Sites: River Raisin Battlefield Figured in War of 1812

Visitor Center for River Raisin Battlefield contains dioramas and other park information

            What’s great, or lucky, about the number 393 in Monroe?

            It’s because the long-campaigned-for-and-finally-reality River Raisin National Battlefield Park is now officially the nation’s 393^rd national park.

            The War of 1812 battlefield was set aside by Congress, and signed into being by President Obama, and this battle just south of Detroit was one of the bloodiest, and crucial to controlling the Great Lakes.

            The national park doesn’t commemorate a victory for the American side, however. Rather, the battle, which took place on Jan. 18-23, 1813, was one of the worst defeats of the war inflicted on the Americans by the British and their Indian allies, as you’ll learn at the Park Visitor Center, in a former 20^th century home built on the edge of what in 1813 was near-wilderness in the portion of the Northwest Territory.

            Fought along the north bank of the river, the battle pitted American and British troops for control of the important port of Detroit, and all of the lower Great Lakes region. With the British were the troops of the famed Indian leader Tecumseh, who did not personally participate.

            After virtually destroying the American army, which had hurried here from Detroit, Indian’s hopes of preserving their land from the ever-encroaching Europeans and Americans rang more true than ever.

            In addition, the British force destroyed the town of Frenchtown, near present-day Monroe, and left the entire Ohio territory exposed to British capture.  After the battle, Indians killed most of the injured Americans. In all, more than 400 were killed, the highest number of Americans to die in that war during a single battle.

            After the battle, Americans struggled for months to regain what they had lost, finally relying on Perry’s naval victory in Lake Erie to secure the area. If they had lost that battle, Michigan and much of the Great Lakes area might have eventually become part of Canada.

            The National Park Service began studying the idea of creating a park here in earnest in 2008 after years of campaigning by local officials and politicians.

            The current visitor center is at 1403 E. Elm Street, and it features a fiber optic display of the battle, dioramas and more.

            And, while you’re in Monroe, see displays of Monroe’s George A. Custer, who led his troops into history at the Battle of the Little Bighorn in Montana, around town, including at the Monroe County Historical Museum.

            Head to town in summer and catch the annual River Raisin Jazz Festival in mid-August. Rent a canoe for a float down the river, or head onto Lake Erie on a charter walleye fishing boat like Tradewinds Charters or launch your own at Sterling State Park or Lake Erie Metropark (that’s up the coast a bit), or play golf on one of several courses in the area. Then shop at Michigan’s top tourist attraction, Cabela’s superstore near Dundee a few miles west. Or, take the kids to the Calder dairy farm to see what a real working farm looks like and for an ice cream cone, courtesy of the farm’s dairy herd. There are plenty of places to stay, including one made for kids and families: Splash Universe River Run, an indoor water park, next door to Cabela's. For more information on the Monroe area, go to www.monroeinfo.com.