Each section of my work addresses key environmental changes Indiana has experienced over the last two centuries. The railroad figures prominently in these transformations. The Monon facilitated the rise of the timber and limestone industries in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Today, the former Monon line carries wind turbine blades for installation in agricultural fields in central and northern Indiana—a sign of shifting regimes of energy production. Following the tracks of the old Monon, the most striking realization is that the vast stretch of Indiana’s monocrop agriculture—the fields of corn and soy—were once vast stretches of deciduous forest. While the standard narrative of the railroad’s historical development in Indiana is one of unwavering progress, my work considers what this development meant for those who could not access the fruits of American capitalism’s profits. The railroad allowed greater mobility and spurred economic development—but these benefits were not universal.

Present
Environmental changes have affected all of us. There was a time when Indiana was 93% forests before the railroad and industry became the main economic driving forces. As the industrial world shifts and market demands increase the small farms disappeared and the Agri-industry transformed the landscape. Monocrop farms in Indiana colonize a horizon made of wind power stretching across the landscape, and wind turbines sit on train beds ready to be installed to generate power. Presently, coal companies are diminishing and green energy is evolving.

Displacement
Indiana means “Land of Indians,” a place where many indigenous cultures thrived and lived off the land. Before Native Americans were displaced by pre-European settlements, they protected the land and lived a sustainable existence. Part of Shawnee Tenskwatawa’s promise to his followers was that if they followed his instructions to abstain from the influence of Euro-American culture, deer, bear, and wild animals would return to the forest. The Monon railroad ran by Prophetstown state park and the Tippecanoe battlefield where today stands a memorial in commemoration of Governor William Henry Harrison who defeated The Prophet and his followers.

“We gave them forest-clad mountains and valleys full of game, and in return what did they give our warriors and our women? Rum, trinkets, and a grave.”

Shawnee Tecumseh/ Tenskwatawa