The history of this county, and Vincennes, can not be covered in a record of early Indiana alone, for it was the hub around which centered the development of the Old Northwest Territory, and the origin and growth of six states -- Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Minnesota. Here was the first seat of government in Indiana, the first courts, the first Land Office, the first permanent church, the first university west of the Alleghenies, and the first newspaper. The list might extend to include firsts in a hundred lines of endeavor likely to take place in the first city of the state.

It is not known exactly how early Indiana was explored, but the year is thought to have been about 1664. There followed a number of expeditions, some of which undoubtedly came through the Wabash River Territory. As early as 1663, a sort of route was established by pioneer explorers, from the Great Lakes on down to the Gulf of Mexico. The Wabash River was a definite part of the waterways. Later, missionaries joined the expeditions, so that gradually the skeleton of an organized civilization was built.

In 1701, a trading post was established at Detroit. The second one was established in 1702, at Vincennes, the first permanent habitation by white men in Indiana. This settlement was made by a band of eight under the leadership of the gallant French officer, Francis Morgan, who inherited the title "Sieur of Vincennes" some fifteen years later, in 1717. It was after Morgan's inheritance of the title that the Old Post became known as Post Vincennes.

The historical fort lasted for a century. In 1720, Morgan mounted the first cannon. In 1736, in a battle with the Chickasaw Indians, he was captured, and burned at the stake.

In 1763 a momentous change was effected. By the Treaty of Paris, the French ceded the Territory to England, and when the British took over, changed Vincennes' name to Fort Sackville. The French residents clung to their traditions, secretly hating England. Their hate was well founded, for the English had resorted to the strategy of bribing the Indians to make war on the white settlers in order to make conquest simple for themselves. These tactics were employed in the Revolutionary War, and the slaughtering of non-combatants became a grave problem.

And then came George Rogers Clark, the backwoods Kentucky land surveyor. So fabulous and romantic is the story of Clark, it closely resembles fiction. Certainly it is the legend of a hero, and stands out magnificently as one of the great chapters in our country's history. Clark went to Governor Patrick Henry of Virginia with a plea that the British be driven out of Indiana and Illinois in order that a stop might be put to the Indian massacres. After fervent pleading, he was commissioned as a colonel, given five hundred pounds of powder, and fifty thousand dollars. It was his purpose to capture Vincennes.

At Boonville, Kentucky, Clark was successful in enlisting 140 men, and they set out down the Ohio flatboats. Though he ad intended to proceed immediately to Vincennes, word reached him that Kaskaskia might be captured, so, on July 4, 1778, his army captured it, without the necessity of firing a shot.

Father Gibault, another man tremendously important in history, made his arrival at this time. He succeeded in quelling the natives, explaining they now owed allegiance to the United States rather than Great Britain. Then the forces planned to move on Vincennes, and Father Gibault offered to go ahead and advise citizens to espouse the American cause. He and his followers were successful in the mission, owing to the fact that the British Commandment had gone to Detroit. The American flag was raised, the British lowered, and word was sent to Clark, who sent Captain Helm to take charge.

A desperate turn of affairs followed, for Hamilton, at Detroit, learned what had happened, and started with forces for Vincennes. Helm, greatly outnumbered, surrendered. This was in December 1778. Clark realized that with the coming of Spring Hamilton would take Kaskaskia, so he decided upon immediate attack. He sent Colonel Vigo, a wealthy merchant for whom a county is named, as a spy. Vigo was immediately taken prisoner, but Father Gibault prevailed upon Hamilton to release him, and Vigo returned to make his report to Clark.

As a result, a boat with forty-six men started for Vincennes February 4, 1770. One day later, Clark himself, with a land party of 160 men, began the march to the fort. It was one of the most memorable journeys in the history of wars. For 240 miles they endured untold hardships. There were not rations enough. The land was flooded so that much of the time they were forced to proceed in water to their knees, and deeper. They arrived nearly exhausted. The boat, under Captain John Rogers, had not arrived, but Clark attacked nevertheless.

The invaders waited until after it was sundown and opened fire on the unsuspecting British. The battle lasted, almost without cessation, until late the next afternoon, when Hamilton surrendered. So ended the English occupation of the town, February 25, 1779. After this there was an influx of settlers, all wishing to stake out claims in the rich valley. To prevent the designs of speculators, a Land Office was established in 1790.

An Act of Congress, May 7, 1800, establishing the Indiana Territory, brought to Vincennes its next great era as capital of the new territory as we know it, when development and growth took predominance over the thoughts of warfare and conquest.

Knox County covers 510 square miles and is dvided into ten townships bordered on the north by Sullivan and Green counties, on the east by the west fork of the White River, which separates it form Daviess; south by White River, which separates it form Pike and Gibson, and on the west by the Wabash, which separates it from the State of Illinois. It contains  some of the richest land in the State of Indiana and one of the products that have given Knox County fame throughout America is the famous "Decker" cantelope. Wheat is extensively grown on the upland and stock raising and fruit growing are engaged in on a large scale. Knox County is also a large producer of coal. According to the report of the State Mine Inspector for the fiscal year ending September 30, 1814, there were eight mines in operation in the county under his jurisdiction, which produced 1,576,576 tons of coal.

When Knox County was established, there were only four counties in Indiana. Out of Knox County were formed in 1810, Jefferson and Franklin Counties; in 1813, Gibson and Warrick Counties; in 1817, Sullivan County; and in 1820, Greene County.

The incorporated cities are Vincennes, 17,564, and Bicknell, 5,212; towns: Oaktown, 771; Sandborn, 641; Monroe City, 544; Wheatland, 806, and Decker, 468. The county population in 1890 was 28,044; 1900, 32,746; 1910, 39,183; 1920, 46,195; 1930, 43,813.

Vincennes is located on the Wabash River, fifty-one miles north of Evansville. Four main railroads serve this city, known today as a manufacturing center. Among its products are window glass, paper products, shoes, flour, steel construction materials, furniture, and monuments. The Standard Coal Company is among the active industrial firms of the city.

The 1935 federal census listed twenty-six manufacturing establishments, employing 532 wage earners on payrolls totaling $448,257. The value of the products was $4,978,805. Vincennes holds industrial leadership in the manufacture of window glass, having the largest factory in the United States.

Vincennes University was organized by an act of the Territorial Legislature in 1806, and was authorized under its incorporation, "for the instruction of youth in the Latin, Greek, French and English languages, mathematics, natural philosophy, ancient and modern history, moral philosophy, logic, rhetoric, and the laws of nature and nations." When Vincennes University was incorporated, it was designated to receive a township of land of 23,040 acres, which had been granted by Congress for a seminary of learning. After Congress had confirmed titles of purchasers of land from Vincennes University of parts of this township in 1816, commissioners were appointed by the State of Indiana to rent lands and turn rents into the State Treasury. This was in January 1820, and in 1822, the General Assembly passed an act to provide for sale of Seminary Township in Gibson County. About 17,000 acres of lands, which had originally been given to Vincennes University, were sold under these acts and the proceeds, amounting to more than $30,000, were turned into the State Treasury. This precipitated a struggle that lasted for nearly a century. Among other privileges granted to the university was one to operate a lottery, which was also the cause of much litigation. About 1874, Congress gave the university all the unclaimed and vacant lands in Knox County. This gift proved of material benefit, but the institution has never received enough from the public to realize the high hopes of its founders. 

The outstanding point of interest in the city is the two-million-dollar Clark Memorial. Among other memorials is the Lincoln Memorial Bridge, commemorating the opening of the West, and the place of Lincoln's crossing from Indiana to Illinois. Territorial Hall, the site of the first capitol, stands as a significant historical point. Another interesting building is the Old Cathedral Library containing 5,000 volumes dating from 1476 to 1800.

Other outstanding points of historical interest in old Vincennes: the route of Clark's advance on Vincennes; Vincennes University, opened in 1806; the Knox County Courthouse-Soldiers' Monument; Fort Knox; the Treaty Tree; the Old Post Museum of History; the Old Courthouse, now an American Legion Home; St. Rose Academy; and the largest Indian Mounds in the state, particularly Sugar Loaf Mound.

Some of the old residences include: the William Henry Harrison Home, Colonel Francis Vigo Home, the home of Indiana's former Governor Williams, the home of Madame Godare, the Betsy Ross of the Northwest Territory, and the home of Alice of Old Vincennes. In the Old French Cemetery are found markers in memory of priests, patriots, and others so important to our early history.

Vincennes is the home of: the first lodge in the Northwest Territory; the first bank, brick building, courthouse, post office, public Land Office, business, historical society, medical society, and public school in Indiana.

As a county, Knox is the eighth largest and second richest agriculturally. It is the home of fine bituminous coal mines and natural gas fields; has an unlimited supply of sand and gravel; home of one of the largest electrical power plants in the state; first in number of master farmers; firsts in nursery interests, outstanding in regard to cherry nursery stock, in which it ranks the nation; first in the state in acreage of peach orchards, apple orchards, cantaloupes, watermelons, sweet potatoes, and wheat; first also in number of bee hives; first in egg case production; first in mules, and third in horses.

The county had 2,436 farms averaging 121.6 acres each. These were valued at $14,782,408. A total of 69,474 head of livestock was reported.

According to the federal census figures of 1935, Knox County had thirty-six manufacturing establishments employing 1,375 wage earners on pay rolls of $1,129,567. The value of the products was $7,941,804.

The total county tax valuation for 1936 was $36,779,640.