Beck's Mill's Past...

Before Beck's Mill was settled by the Becks, it was the site of the largest Delaware Indian village in Washington County. There was about a 15 acre clearing of trees around the spring that the Becks later used for their grain mill. (Friends of Beck's Mill has 14 of those acres.)

There were a number of Indian Trails in Washington County that lead to Beck's Mill, from all directions. Some of the roads in the area are based on those trails because the Indians tended to take the shortest/easiest routes. There was also an Indian grave yard somewhere in the clearing where the Beck's grew their first corn crop in 1808.

Once the Indians had left, the area of Beck's Mill became a good place for an early settler to build a cabin. The spring and the clearing meant they could grow some corn the first year they settled.

On December 25th, 1807, George Beck and his two sons John and George Jr, crossed the Ohio river following the Buffalo Trace into the Indiana Territory looking for a new home. They left the rest of the family in Bear Grass Kentucky, now known as Louisville.

On their second day of travel they left the Buffalo Trace and went north where they found a location to their liking and made a temporary brush shelter under a big elm tree in what is now Pierce Township.

In January of 1808 the two boys were out hunting in Howard Township when the brother George found the spring that would later feed Beck's Mill, Cave Spring. They also found Organ Spring. They told their father, he inspected it and promptly decided to make Cave Spring their permanent home.

In the Spring of 1808 they built a one room cabin there and began making plans for a mill. After the cabin had been made comfortable, old George went to work on building the mill while his sons worked at hunting and trapping. In the fall of 1808, old George Beck went to Louisville to get a set of milling stones, trading them for furs his boys had gotten hunting and trapping.

Once the mill was started it ran 24 hours a day with George and the boys taking turns running it. People would travel for hours to get to Beck's Mill, and then have to wait for 2 or 3 days to get their turn. Before Beck's Mill was started people had to travel all the way to Louisville Kentucky to get flour or salt. At one time, Beck's Mill was believed, and may have been, the most western mill in the Indiana Territory. When Beck's Mill was first built, there were no roads in the Indiana Territory west of it because roads had been built just to get there.

Beck's Mill was also the home of  Beck's Forts. There were two forts built by the Becks and several forts were built in Washington County after September 3^rd 1812. That's when the Pigeon Roost Massacre ended 17 women and children's lives. Read all about the forts in Chapter 2 of Washington County's History 1884.

At age 84, a shoulder length white haired man named George Beck Jr, opened the festivities for the first Old Settlers Day celebration in Washington County, it was September 29th, 1875. The celebration continues today as a remembrance of what it was like to be an early pioneer in Washington County. He said that at the age of 15, he walked all the way from North Carolina to Washington County Indiana with a gun over his shoulder. His account of the Beck's Mill story can be read in the Centennial History of Washington County 1916.

Major George Beck

It was dangerous when George settled in to what is now known as Beck's Mill Indiana, only those skilled in battle would dare move into an area occupied by the Shawnee and Delaware Indians. There was Indians everywhere at the time the Becks set up home at Cave Spring. Neither of these tribes were too happy to see the settlers move in; they both had just moved to Indiana to get away from the settlers that had moved in on their homes in Ohio. For the most part though, the Indians of what is now Washington County Indiana had been a pretty peaceful bunch, most of the real problems were below the Ohio River in Kentucky. None the less, all men carried a gun with them when they were out of the house, not just for Indian protection but also to kill any game they may come across.

At this time the location of the Pigeon Roost Massacre, was in Washington County and the area people were terrified, some settlers moved out of the Indiana Territory because they felt it wasn't safe. It was at this time that forts popped up all over Washington County.  Even George Beck was afraid of the dire situation the settlers were in and it prompted him to write a letter to the Governor of the Indiana Territory. If the Indians hadn't stolen his barrel of whiskey, maybe George wouldn't have been so bent out of shape. Losing that barrel of whiskey was important enough to include in his letter, probably as a way of saying that the natives were restless and at his back door. Back in them there days though, a barrel of whiskey was like money and most things were purchased by trading.

As someone trained in handwriting analysis I can tell you that this letter is written in a depressed mood, but yet it wasn't with a shaky hand, like he was a "calm during the storm" kind of guy. His writing definitely indicates he was a man who desired to shelter and protect others. When we write our line of writing tends to go up, down or straight regardless of whether there are lines on the page. Up indicates a happy excited mood and down means just the opposite. The more the writing varies from straight, the more intensely emotional the mood. Handwriting like George Beck's letter is often found in depressed people, when they begin to feel hopeless. So from that I believe that he and the others of the area he represented by the letter, were afraid for their lives and were feeling pretty hopeless when this letter was written. Obviously George Beck didn't scare easily, but this was something that even he was afraid of facing without help from the government. There is a second writing on the letter at the end that is George Beck's too, but honestly, I don't think the Indians took all of his whiskey. Based on this second handwriting, which is obviously written some time after the first writing, his hand writing does become shaky like that of an inebriated person. George no doubt liked his whiskey because the Beck's ran a distillery in later years.

At the time George Beck wrote his letter to the governor, the government was encouraging people to settle in southern Indiana area to get the population up to 60,000 people - the number required to gain statehood. This whole event delayed Indiana becoming a state because people were afraid of living here. Once Indiana seemed safe again people began to move in. With 64,000 people in 1816 Indiana became a state. Beck's Mill was still just a short distance away from the town of Mitchell, which was still Indian Territory, ruled by the Miami Chief Little Turtle. All of Washington County bordered the Indian Territory to the North when Indiana gained statehood 192 years ago.

The Future of Beck's Mill...

What could be better than an old time Hoosier pioneer style family reunion, where hogs are roasted, beans and cornbread are served from a big kettle over a fire, and corn on the cob is really a "roastin' ear" roasted over an open flame in the husk. Horse shoes, sack races, wheel barrow races, red rover, king of the mountain, log rolling, corn huskin', spelling bees, pie baking and pie eating contests - not to mention the greased pig or the greased pole and the water melon seed spittin' contest. Did anybody say hoe down barn dance? Family reunions should be an experience people remember and a park like this would pull more members of a family in for a once a year visit. Even if it wasn't families, but people seeking the spirit of family in a pioneer -hillbilly- redneck setting. (Beck's Mill would also be a great place to hold a shotgun weddin'.)

What could be better than an old time Hoosier pioneer style family reunion, where hogs are roasted, beans and cornbread are served from a big kettle over a fire, and corn on the cob is really a "roastin' ear" roasted over an open flame in the husk. Horse shoes, sack races, wheel barrow races, red rover, king of the mountain, log rolling, corn huskin', spelling bees, pie baking and pie eating contests - not to mention the greased pig and the water melon seed spittin' contest. Did anybody say hoe down barn dance? Family reunions should be an experience people remember and a park like this would pull more members of a family in for a once a year visit. Even if it wasn't families, but people seeking the spirit of family in a pioneer setting. (Beck's Mill would also be a great place to hold a shotgun wedding.) With several families renting at once, Beck's Mill could be saved and self supporting as a non-profit.

I know Beck's Mill really needs a Hillbilly Festival, Southern Indiana needs a place to show off our hillbilly music and hillbilly ways.

Whatever its future, Beck's Mill has got to have dedicated visionaries to turn it into the pride of Washington County. Beck's Mill could be that nearby historic attraction that will be pulling some of those future Orange County casino gamblers into Washington County. We all know it is going to be an attraction restored,  it is an attraction now even in its current dilapidated state.

Because of the hard work of many people, Beck's Mill is one of Indiana's top ranking grant requests, and has been recommended for full funding by Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana. The grant request for $25,000 must now be approved by the National Park Service. It looks like Beck's Mill has finally gotten its shot in the arm and is on its way to becoming the pride of Washington County.

They have since acquired one $25,000 grant and another $45,000 in donations. William and Gayle Cook, billionaire philanthropists, informed The Friends of Beck's Mill that they will fully fund the restoration to a fully functional mill. Their grants and other donations will afford the organization the ability to focus on improvements on the grounds of Beck's Mill. People have to have something to do once they get there, so there is a lot of possibilities up in the air at the moment.

 The next step is making it easy to find for vacationers and sight seers. A wealthy benefactor has came forward in March 2007 wishing to pay for all of the expenses to bring Beck's Mill back into an operating condition. Beck's is coming back after almost 100 years of being out of business. The latest information about Beck's Mill can be found at friendsofbecksmill.org, the Louisville Courier Journal, The Journal and Courier of West Lafayette, Fox 41 of Louisville, The South Bend Tribune and Fox 28 of South Bend. The restoration is receiving state wide attention.

The Fall of 1808 was the beginning of Beck's Mill. The Beck's reaped their first crop of corn and ground it in the fall of 1808. Three ambitious men, a waterfall, and a couple millstones turned out to be the beginnings of one of Indiana's earliest communities.

In the Fall of 2008 Beck's Mill will be 200 years old, and probably back to making Beck's Mill Olde Fashioned Corn Meal. It was in business from 1808 to 1914, 106 years. Now nearly 100 years after it went out of business, there is a reason to go to there, and once again people will travel for miles to do business at Beck's Mill.

Now, thanks to a lot of concerned people, Beck's Mill will never fade away, but forever be regarded as a valuable part of Indiana history and culture.

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