1475, 2267 UNITED STATES (Indiana) - Indiana map

1475 Indiana map (1)

Posted on 02.03.2015, 06.02.2016
Bordered on the north by Michigan, on the east by Ohio, on the west by Illinois, on the northwest by Lake Michigan and on the south by Kentucky (through the Ohio River), Indiana (Indian Land) is broken up into three main physical regions, such that the central and northern Indiana are mainly flat, with some low rolling hills and soil composed of glacial sands, gravel and clay, which results in exceptional farmland, in northwest are sand ridges and dunes, located along the Lake Michigan shoreline, and the southern segment is characterized by profound valleys and rugged, hilly terrain.

2267 Indiana map (2)

 

The first inhabitants in what is now Indiana were the Paleo-Indians, who arrived about 8000 BC. There followed the Archaic period, the Woodland period, and eventually the Mississippian culture, which lasted until the 15th century, shortly before the arrival of Europeans. The Native American tribes in the area at the time of European encounter were the Shawnee, Miami, and Illini. Later they were joined by refugee tribes from eastern regions including the Delaware. In 1679 the French explorer  René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle was the first European to cross into Indiana.

By 1702, French-Canadian fur trader Sieur Juchereau established the first trading post near Vincennes. After few decades, British colonists arrived from the East and contended against the Canadians for control of the lucrative fur trade. With British victory in 1763 in French and Indian War, the French were forced to cede all their lands in North America east of the Mississippi River and north and west of the colonies to the British crown. At the end of the American Revolutionary War, the British crown ceded their claims to the land south of the Great Lakes to the newly formed United States, including American Indian lands.

In 1787 the US defined present-day Indiana as part of its Northwest Territory. In 1800, Congress separated Ohio from the Northwest Territory, designating the rest of the land as the Indiana Territory. After Michigan Territory was separated and the Illinois Territory was formed, Indiana was reduced to its current size and geography. Starting with 1794, Indian titles to Indiana lands were extinguished until 1826, when was acquired the last of the reserved Indian lands in the northeast. President James Madison approved Indiana's admission into the union as the nineteenth state on December 11, 1816.

During the American Civil War, Indiana played an important role in the affairs of the nation. After the war, it remained a largely agricultural state, but in early 20th century industry began to grow across the northern part of the state, such that today it has a diverse economy. German is the largest ancestry reported in Indiana (22.7%), followed by American (12.0%), Irish (10.8%) and English (8.9%). Although the largest single religious denomination in the state is Catholic, most of the population are members of various Protestant denominations. The most populous city of Indiana is Indianapolis, the capital of the state since 1820.

About the stamps
On the postcard 1475 (United States)
The first two stamps, depicting Felipe Rojas-Lombardi (1946-1991) and Edna Lewis (1916-2006), are part of the series Celebrity Chefs, about which I wrote here. About the last stamp, depicting the president Abraham Lincoln, I wrote here.

On the postcard 2267 (Netherlands)
The second stamp is part of the series Child Welfare, issued in 1975, and depicting ornamental house-stones. The other three stamps are issued in 1976.

References
Indiana - Wikipedia

Sender 1475: Denise 
Sent from Greenvale (New York / United States), on 02.01.2015
Sender 2267: Hans / hanssiemons (postcrossing) NL-1980241
Sent from Utrecht (Utrecht / Netherlands), on 27.06.2013