When Harrison took office in 1841 at the age of 68, he was the oldest man to be elected President; a record that stood for 140 years, until Ronald Reagan was elected in 1980 at the age of 69. Harrison died thirty days into his term—-the briefest presidency in the history of the office. He was also the first U.S. president to die while in office. Despite his obtaining the nickname “Old Tippecanoe” after defeating American Indians at war, Harrison had a keen interest in the so-called “Indian burial mounds” of the United States.

While past Presidents Washington and Jefferson (who excavated a mound) had shown interest in the mounds, Harrison did further research, eventually writing the book “Aborigines of the Ohio Valley”, which questions the potential origins and purposes of the Large Serpent Mound (among a few others of the 100,000 plus mounds found throughout the United States).