At the crossroads of the nation, Indiana is one of the most typically American states in the country. Against a still visible background of Native American history and determined pioneer struggle for survival, it stands out today as a region that has come of age. It is a manufacturing state with widely distributed industrial centers surrounded by fertile farmlands and magnificent forests.

In the wooded hill country north of the Ohio River are pioneer villages where time seems to have stood still. Central Indiana is one of the richest agricultural regions in the United States. The Calumet District in the northwest has a large industrial area. Miles of sand dunes and beaches have made Lake Michigan's south shore the state's summer playground. In the northeastern section are hundreds of secluded lakes, an angler's paradise. Trails at state parks and recreation areas are marked for hiking and horseback riding. In the winter, skiing, ice skating, and tobogganing are popular sports.

Indiana's highways and roads are lined with reminders of its colorful history. A pre-Columbian race of mound builders developed a highly ceremonial culture here. Their earth structures still can be seen in many parts of the state. In 1673, two Frenchmen, Père Marquette and Louis Jolliet, wandered across northern Indiana and preached to the Native Americans. Between 1679 and 1685, Indiana was thoroughly explored by Robert de La Salle and became a part of the French provinces of Canada and Louisiana. After the French and Indian War, most of Indiana came under British control (1763), which was violently opposed by a Native American confederation led by Chief Pontiac. In 1779, General George Rogers Clark occupied southern Indiana with French assistance and claimed it for the state of Virginia. But Virginia was as unable to control the region as the British. Indiana became public domain in 1784 and remained chiefly Native American territory during the next 15 years.

Continuing pressure by the federal government in Washington and by white settlers on Native American land led the great Shawnee chief Tecumseh to form an unsuccessful confederation of Indian Nations, extending from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico. The Battle of Tippecanoe in 1811, brought about by General William Henry Harrison while Tecumseh was in the South, dealt a fatal blow to the Native American organization. In 1812, Native Americans, their towns and granaries burned by federal troops and militia, made a last furious attempt to defend their land. But Tecumseh's death in the Battle of the Thames in 1813 marked the end of the Native American era. In 1816, Indiana became the 19th state of the Union. Abraham Lincoln was 7 years old when his family moved to southern Indiana in 1816. He lived here for 14 years.

Today, Indiana's industries manufacture transportation equipment, electrical supplies, heavy industrial machinery, and food products. More than 60 percent of the building limestone used in the United States is supplied by quarries in the Hoosier State. Soft coal deposits, mainly found in southwest Indiana, are the most abundant natural resource. Indiana's principal farm products are soybeans, tomatoes, corn, spearmint, peppermint, livestock, poultry, and wheat and dairy products.

Several explanations have been offered as to why Indianans are called "Hoosiers." The most logical is that in 1826, a contractor on the Ohio Falls Canal at Louisville, Samuel Hoosier, gave employment preference to men living on the Indiana side of the river. The men in his work gangs were called "Hoosier's men," then "Hoosiers."