Editing Porter County, Indiana (section)

==History==
The Porter County area was occupied by an Algonquian people dubbed Huber-Berrien.<ref name=HHT>Tanner, Helen Hornbeck, Atlas of Great Lakes Indian History; University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, Oklahoma (1987) Map 5</ref> This subsistence culture arrived after the glaciers retreated around 15,000 years ago and the rise of glacial [[Glacial Lake Algonquin|Lake Algonquian]], 4–8,000 years ago.<ref>Hough, Jack L., Geology of the Great Lakes; University of Illinois Press, Urbana (1958) p. 276</ref> The native people of this area were next recorded during the [[Iroquois Wars]] (1641–1701) as being [[Potawatomi]] and [[Miami tribe|Miami]]. The trading post system used by the French and then the English encouraged native people to live in central villages along major waterways. Therefore, there are no recorded villages within Porter County's current boundaries. It was not until 1830 when Chiqua's town and [[Tassinong, Indiana|Tassinong]] appear on maps and in records.<ref name=HHT/> Chiqua's town is a mile east of Valparaiso on State Route 2, the old [[Chicago Road|Sauk Trail]]. Tassinong is south of Valparaiso about {{convert|5|mi|km}} on State Route 49 at Baum's Bridge Road, the main route across the [[Kankakee Outwash Plain|Great Kankakee Marsh]].<ref>Shults-Gay, Deborah H., One of the Earliest Authentic Histories of Porter County, Indiana; From 1832 to 1876 (circa 1917)</ref>

After the [[American Revolutionary War]] established US sovereignty over the territory of the upper midwest, the new federal government defined the [[Northwest Territory]] in 1787 which included the area of present-day Indiana. In 1800, Congress separated Ohio from the Northwest Territory, designating the rest of the land as the Indiana Territory. President Thomas Jefferson chose William Henry Harrison as the governor of the territory, and Vincennes was established as the capital. After the Michigan Territory was separated and the Illinois Territory was formed, Indiana was reduced to its current size and geography. By December 1816 the Indiana Territory was admitted to the Union as a state.

The Indiana State Legislature passed an omnibus county bill<ref>[https://archive.org/details/standardhistoryo01tynd/page/286/mode/2up John W Tyndall & OE Lesh, ''Standard history of Adams and Wells Counties, Indiana''. pp. 284-6 (accessed 9 August 2020)]</ref> on February 7, 1835, that authorized the creation of thirteen counties in northeast Indiana, including Porter.<ref>The counties are Dekalb, Fulton, Jasper, Jay, Kosciusko, Marshall, Newton, Porter, Pulaski, Stark, Steuben, Wells, and Whitley. Newton County was merged with Jasper County in 1839, and was re-authorized as a separate county in 1859.</ref> In 1837 the county was organized. It was named for Capt. [[David Porter (naval officer)|David Porter]], naval officer during the [[Second Barbary War|Barbary Wars]] and the [[War of 1812]].<ref>{{cite book|first=Ronald L.|last=Baker|author2=Marvin Carmony|title=Indiana Place Names|publisher=Indiana University Press|location=Bloomington|year=1995|isbn=0-253-28340-X|page=133}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=De Witt Clinton Goodrich & Charles Richard Tuttle|publisher=R. S. Peale & co.|year=1875|location=Indiana|title=An Illustrated History of the State of Indiana|url=https://archive.org/details/anillustratedhi02tuttgoog|page=[https://archive.org/details/anillustratedhi02tuttgoog/page/n582 570]}}</ref>

In 1962, [[Bethlehem Steel]] built a large integrated steel mill on the shores of Lake Michigan, which is now owned and operated by [[Cleveland-Cliffs]]. The construction of the mill, as well as the neighboring [[Port of Indiana]], generated enormous controversy between industrial interests and locals who wanted to conserve the natural shoreline and habitat. Although the activists lost and the steel mill and port were constructed, the US Congress created the [[Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore]] in 1966 to protect the area's unique natural habitat.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Modern History of the Burns Harbor Steel Mill|url=http://www.nwisteelheritagemuseum.org/bh-history.htm|website=NWI Steel Heritage Museum|access-date=October 26, 2018}}</ref>