The Sanctuary Timeline

Pre-Colonial History
Adjacent to the farmland on which The Sanctuary sits is a buffalo trace, now known as Red Bank Road, used for hundreds and possibly thousands of years by migrating herds. It later becomes a trail used by native Americans, then by European-American settlers, and is documented as the first established road in Vanderburgh county. The trace runs south from Vincennes, Indiana to the Ohio River in the area of Henderson, Kentucky, originally known as Red Banks.  From Henderson, the trail continues southward to join the Natchez Trace near Nashville, Tennessee.

Miami, Delaware, Potowatomi, Kickapoo, Illini, Piankashaw, and Shawnee tribes inhabit what will become the state of Indiana in the years before European settlers arrive. By the 1700's, the Shawnee Indian tribe, likely related to the Mississippian mound building Indians who lived in the area centuries earlier, begins to inhabit the Ohio River Valley in large numbers, traversing the area where The Sanctuary is sited.

1783
The Northwest Territory is ceded to the United States by Great Britain after the Revolutionary War. European American settlers begin to flood into the region, creating severe conflicts with native tribes.

1812
The Shawnee Indians and other tribes led by Tecumseh and his brother The Prophet are defeated at the Battle of Tippecanoe. Though some remain, native Americans living in the territory begin to be forced west in large numbers.

1814
John James Audubon travels on horseback from his home in Henderson, Kentucky north along the Red Bank Trace to Vincennes, Indiana, one of many trips he will take along the path. In June, he discovers a rare bird along the trace that he names the American Avocet. His drawing of the bird will be included in the Birds of America folio.

1816
Indiana becomes the 19th state in the Union.

1820s
William Brown Butler, an English settler in the Ohio River Valley, registers several tracts of land in western Vanderburgh County at the land office in Vincennes, Indiana.

1838
Butler's land patent is granted, signed by President Martin Van Buren on September 1st.

1841
William Brown Butler sells his land tracts to a family of German farmers named Hettenbach. From the date of this sale, all subsequent owners of the land will be of German descent. Descendants of immigrant German families continue to be the majority population in western Vanderburgh County to this day.

1850s-1880s
A small cemetery for German settlers is created on the northside of the farm. Thousands of daffodil bulbs are planted there which continue to bloom today.

1890s to 1950s
Much of the acreage is planted as a mail order seed, bulb, and tree nursery known as Lone Cypress Nursery. The name refers to a tree planted in memory of a young farm worker killed on the property.

In response to the American chestnut tree blight, Lone Cypress nursery is among the first in the Tri-State area to plant Chinese chestnut trees, a variety not prone to blight. Trees of that first stock still stand here today.

1979
The farm is purchased by Christian Frederick and Dorothy Owens Nix.

1983
Chris and Dorothy break ground and begin to build their home by hand with the help of family members and friends.

1984
The Nix home and farm becomes a haven for several generations of family.

2017
Dorothy Owens Nix dies.

2020
During the first year of the Covid Pandemic, during a time of social distancing and anxiety, Chris dubs the farm "The Sanctuary."

2023
In early autumn, Chris, nearly ninety-eight years old, dies and his daughter Barbara becomes owner of The Sanctuary.

2024
A non-profit entity, Trace To Trail, is created and registered in the State of Indiana to honor the memory of Chris and Dorothy Nix, as well as their elder daughter Donna Nix Fenn, all of whom were active volunteers in their communities and supporters of Literacy, The Arts, and Historic Preservation in Indiana.

2025
The Sanctuary becomes a gathering place for artists' events. Trace To Trail's first event at The Sanctuary, a Writers Studio, led by author Shawna Kay Rodenberg, will take place May 16-23.