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Pigeon Roost State Historic Site

The town was named Pigeon Roost because of the great number of passenger pigeons in the area. The settlement consisted of a single line of cabins stretching north and south approximately one mile north of the present town of Underwood. The nearest Indian village was located some 20 miles north near the Muskatatuck River. None of the Indians from this settlement are believed to have taken part in the attack on Pigeon Roost. The closest forts (called "blockhouses") were one to the north in Vienna in present-day Scott County and another built by Zebulon Collings to the south near what is now Henryville in Clark County.

On September 3, 1812, a small party of Indians (mostly Shawnee, but possibly including some Delawares and Potawatomis) led by Missilimetaw (or Missilemotaw), made a surprise attack on the village, which appeared to be coordinated with attacks on Fort Harrison (near Terre Haute, Indiana) and Siege of Fort Wayne the same month.[2] In all, twenty-four settlers, including fifteen children, were killed, and two children were taken. Only four of the Native American party were killed.

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Pigeon Roost State Historic Site

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