USA > Illinois > Rock Island County > Past and present of Rock Island County, Ill., containing a history of the county-its cities, towns, etc., a biographical directory of its citizens, war record of its volunteers in the late Rebellion, portraits of early settlers and prominent men > Part 1
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LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS
977.339 P268 cop. 2
ILL. HIST. SURVEY
- 51
A WAY TO GOVERN SEX.
Calhoun Writes Book Relating · Discovery, Which She Says, Will Vastly Benefit World.
C. E. Calhoun of New York, es she has discovered the secret . After thirty years, devoted to studying the subject, she s she has proved by actual dem- tion that parents can have boys Is at will. that stock breeders and men can produce cow or bull as they see fit, and that horti- rists can grow male or female at will.
last of her own family, she ains, was made to order. After girls had come along she de- to change the sex of those that ed. so she put the discovery at and had four boys. Now she idow and her children are grown, proposes to give the whole world enefit of her discovery in a book ; writing and expects to publish hín a month.
George (Davenport
THE
PAST AND PRESENT
OF
ROCK ISLAND COUNTY, ILL.,
CONTAINING
1
A HISTORY OF THE COUNTY-ITS CITIES, TOWNS, &c., A BIOGRAPHICAL DIRECTORY OF ITS CITIZENS, WAR RECORD OF ITS VOLUNTEERS IN THE LATE REBELLION, PORTRAITS OF EARLY SETTLERS AND PROMINENT MEN, GENERAL AND LOCAL STATISTICS, MAP OF ROCK ISLAND COUNTY, HISTORY OF ILLINOIS, CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES, MIS- CELLANEOUS MATTERS, ETC., ETC.
CHICAGO : H. F. KETT & CO., COR. 5THI AVE. AND WASHINGTON ST.
1877.
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1877, by H. F. KETT & CO., In the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.
OTTAWAY & COLBERT, PRINTERS, 147 & 149 Fifth Av., Chicago, Ill.
1022
23, -2
PREFACE.
BUT few c realize the task involved in the publication of a work of this kind. We have to contend against ignorance, prejudice and selfishness. Ignorance of some peo- ple as to our objects, many refusing to give their names, for fear they will be used for some swindling purpose; or their politics, lest it be used to their discredit; or how much property they own, fearing it is to increase their taxes. Prejudice of people who have subscribed through agents for publications, and not having received what they expected, have forever thereafter sworn warfare against all agents, without discriminating, or taking into consid- eration the absolute necessity of employing men under certain circumstances as the media between publisher and people. Selfishness by citizens who expect to have published, gratu- itously, every thing they see fit to send us, which usually is of a personal nature, or not relevant matter, and if published would be of no general interest, therefore we deem best to suppress it, thereby receiving their outspoken enmity. For this work we do not claim per- fection ; that would be an impossibility. Most townships have been gone over thoroughly, but still there are undoubtedly errors, mostly in spelling names and in dates. We have sev- eral cases in Rock Island County where members of the same family spell their names in different ways, and a number of cases where the dates of births, of marriages, or when they came into the county, were improbable, and when brought to their notice, they had made a mistake generally of ten years in calculation. We give our agents the most positive in- structions to be especially careful in getting names and dates, but ofttimes men are indiffer- ent in giving required information, and when met on the road, at the thrashing machine, or in the rain or cold, the information is given hurriedly or carelessly, and our agents are obliged to put it down as given them, and when copied, mistakes necessarily occur.
We have endeavored to get the names of all tax-payers and voters. We have about 8,150 names, the vote being about 6,771, which shows we could not have missed many. In our History of the County we have endeavored to give an interesting, condensed and correct sketch. Our History of Illinois will give the reader some interesting and valuable histori- cal facts. Our Laws should be carefully read by every business man and farmer; they con- tain invaluable information. In fact we have toiled long and at great expense, and have far exceeded our promises to make every thing in these pages interesting and valuable, and all you could expect or wish, and in your criticisms, please to bear in mind that in gather- ing, compiling and publishing a volume of this kind, perfection would be an impossi- bility.
We wish to extend our sincere and warmest thanks to the citizens of Rock Island County for their kind treatment, and for. assistance rendered us in furnishing information for this work. They are too numerous to here name, but to the press and early settiers and Capt. L. M. Haverstick and J. B. Danforth, Jr. in parucular, we are grateful for their labors in aiding us to gather the material for the History of the County.
H. F. KETT & Co.,
Publishers.
r
1
2 1
CONTENTS.
HISTORICAL.
PAGE.
History of Illinois 13
History of Rock Island Co ... .101 Geology 103
Armory and Arsenal. 135
Beauty of Scenery. 106
Building of Fort Arm- strong
118
Black Hawk War. 122
Coal Statistics .. 243
County Official Register __ 132
Events from 1804 to 1812 .. 109
Events during War 1812-14,113
Early Settlers.
.120
Fort Armstrong 116
Coal Valley.
215
TOWNSHIP DIRECTORY.
PAGE.
PAGE.
PAGE.
Andalusia
464
Cordova .385
Moline Township 360
Black Hawk. .374
Coal Valley 399
Port Byron .409
Bowling 433
Buffalo Prairie 368
Canoe Creek. .428
Coe
404
Moline City 318
Zuma 423
BUSINESS DIRECTORY.
The Business Directory follows the townships in which they are located.
PORTRAITS.
PAGE.
PAGE.
PAGE.
Adams, Alfred A
265
Edgington, Dan'l
93
Spencer, Jno. W 183
Atkinson, Chas.
.219
Edgington. Jno. 273
Spencer, E. W
201
Bowles. Sam'l. 327
Gilchrist, Hugh. 398
Stoddard. A. R 451
Cleland. Sam'] 249
Ilaverstick, L. M. 165
Swan, R. K 237
Cozad, Jas ..
363
Hasselquist, T. N 309
Taylor, Jas. 291
Davenport, Geo. Frontispiece.
Heagy, Samuel 431
Vogel. Jno. A. 467
Deere, Jno 61
Johnston, E. II 381
Wheelock. D. L 147
Danforth, J. B., Jr 111
Porter, Wm 345
Wheelock, S. W 129
ROCK ISLAND COUNTY WAR RECORD.
PAGE.
PAGE.
PAGE.
12th Infantry
216
65th Infantry
250
4th Cavalry 261
13tl
246
66th
. .
251
9th
261
19th
..
247
69th
251
14th
28th
250
71st
251
17th
37th
248 and 253
89th
251
Miscellaneous Cavalry 264
43rd
247
102d 253
Artillery 264
45th
2.17
126th
254
47th
248
132d
258
51st
250
140th
259
58th
219
Miscellaneous Infantry .. .260
ABSTRACT OF ILLINOIS STATE LAWS.
PAGE.
PAGE.
PAGE.
Bills of Exchange and Prom- issory Notes.
45
Surveyors and Surveys 54
Clerk : r Services .. .. 67
Interest
45
Roads
55
Bills of Sale
68
Descent
45
Drainage 57
Bonds
68
Wills and Estates
46
Paupers
58
66 Chattel Mortgage
69
Taxes
18
Fences 60
Jurisdiction of Courts.
48
Damage from Trespass
61
County Courts.
49
Landlord and Tenant 61
Liens. 64
=
Tenant's Notice
Real Estate Mortgage to secure Money .. 73
Suggestion to Persons purchas- ing Books by Subscription _ 80
66
Warranty Deed. 74
Game ... 52
Form of Blank Note
66
..
Order
66
Release
76
Millers 53
Receipt
66
Marks and Brands 53
Bills of Purchase 66
Codicil
MISCELLANEOUS.
PAGE.
Population of the Principal
Cities in the World . 83 Population of Illinois ____ 84 & 85 Too Lates and Errata. 4474
Miscellaneous Table 82
Map of Rock Island Co .. .. Front.
PAGE,
Constitution of United States 8i Electors of President and
Vice-President, 1876. .100
Interest Table 82
Population of Fifty Principal Cities S2
Population and Area of the United States 83
Form of Article : of Agreement 67
Adoption of Children
54
66 Landlord'sAgreement Tenant's
Limitation of Action
49
Married Women.
49
Definition of Com'rcial Terms
65
Exemption from Forced Sale. 50 Estrays 51
Church Organization
Deeds and Mortgages 51
Quit Claim Deed
Weights and Measures. 52
Will
Rock Island Union Building .. 391 Population of the U. S .. 82
PAGE.
;. .
First Entries of Land. .119
Government Agents.
119
Military Prison
141
Miscellaneous Church His- tory 242
Moline 15G
Milan 209
Port Byron 212
Rock River Water Power.208
Rock Island.
Rural
218
Sac and Fox Indians
107
Topography
101
History of Towns:
Reynolds
231
Taylor Ridge
231
Andalusia
234
Hampton_ 43
Rural 416
Rock Island City and Town- ship 265
Drury 392
Edgington 455
U. S. Colo: d Troops 2264
First Army Corps 264
263
263
Lease of Buildings 71
Notice Tenant to Quit 73
Vote of Rock Island County __ 245
PAGE.
Organization 125
E
R.6W.
R 5 W.
R4W.
R 3 W.
76
Buffalomp
Black
HAWK
S.P.O.
Muscatine
27
30
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DRURYS LANDIND Druv
36
34
36
3. POL
3
2
6
5
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72
10
12
Taylor
13
18
18
17
16
15
14
14
13
-
EDGINGTON
24
20
27
Copperus
22
2
26
215
30
2
27
20
30
30
29
28
2727
25
-
pper Cre
93
P.O
Buffalo Prairie P. O.
Reynolds Sur
3
32
33
31
33
134
35
36
6
Ilinois
City
BUFFALO
17
12
8
8
9
TO
16
15
14
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18
23
10
22
23
24
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19
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PRAIR
20
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12.
"Edgington
0
4
20
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epo
27
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8
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75
16
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ROCK ISLAND
Meredosia Cr ..
50
Princetonge
TACordova
34
437
32
3%
4
19
10
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9
75
76
13
.78
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19
20
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Port
Le Claire
Byron
11.0
28
27
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Rapids
RIVER
€ 1
6
5
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1 77
12
8
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170
77
13
Hampton
77
&Happy Hollow
17
16
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74 JOSI
Davenport
Watertown 20 x27 221
23
24
IlosbornP. 0 2
Arsenal Rock Island
ISLAND
ROCK.
Junction
36
31
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Carbon Cliff
OCK
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ANDH
MOTRILWE7 6
RIE.
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271
70
7
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Sears
12
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73
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COAL VALLEY
2:4
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30
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Valley
36
32
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.
COUNTY HOUSE
2
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RURAL
15
13
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10
20
23
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Riwal/Plo
30
.29
27
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15
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Franklin
Molime.
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CHICAGO
crossing
Z
73
13
CAMPBELLS ISLAND
T.18N.
20
24
31
32
34
35
361
31
32
Zuma Center
23
24
19
120 instale
29 28
2
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20
22
28
29
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77
7
WHAMRTOnction
73
7
Coalz
28
78
16
14
TOWN 22
HALL
TION.
10
HISTORY OF ILLINOIS.
The name of this beautiful Prairie State is derived from Illine, a Delaware word signifying Superior Men. It has a French termination, and is a symbol of how the two races-the French and the Indians- were intermixed during the early history of the country.
The appellation was. no doubt well applied to the primitive inhabit- ants of the soil whose prowess in savage warfare long withstood the combined attacks of the fierce Iroquois on the one side, and the no less savage and relentless Sacs and Foxes on the other. The Illinois were once a powerful confederacy, occupying the most beautiful and fertile region in the great Valley of the Mississippi, which their enemies coveted and struggled long and hard to wrest from them. By the fortunes of war they were diminished in numbers, and finally destroyed. "Starved Rock," on the Illinois River, according to tradition, commemorates their last tragedy, where, it is said, the entire tribe starved rather than sur- render.
EARLY DISCOVERIES.
The first European discoveries in Illinois date back over two hun- dred years. They are a part of that movement which, from the begin- ning to the middle of the seventeenth century, brought the French Canadian missionaries and fur traders into the Valley of the Mississippi, and which, at a later period, established the civil and ecclesiastical authority of France from the Gulf of St. Lawrence to the Gulf of Mexico, and from the foot-hills of the Alleghanies to the Rocky Mountains.
The great river of the West had been discovered by DeSoto, the Spanish conqueror of Florida, three quarters of a century before the French founded Quebec in 1608, but the Spanish left the country a wil- derness, without further exploration or settlement within its borders, in which condition it remained until the Mississippi was discovered by the agents of the French Canadian government, Joliet and Marquette, in 1673. These renowned explorers were not the first white visitors to Illinois. In 1671-two years in advance of them-came Nicholas Perrot to Chicago. He had been sent by Talon as an agent of the Canadian government to
2
.
-
14
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS.
call a great peace convention of Western Indians at Green Bay, prepara- tory to the movement for the discovery of the Mississippi. It was deemed a good stroke of policy to secure, as far as possible, the friend- ship and co-operation of the Indians, far and near, before venturing upon an enterprise which their hostility might render disastrous, and which their friendship and assistance would do so much to make successful ; and to this end Perrot was sent to call together in council the tribes throughout the Northwest, and to promise them the commerce and pro- tection of the French government. He accordingly arrived at Green Bay in 1671, and procuring an escort of Pottawattamies, proceeded in a bark canoe upon a visit to the Miamis, at Chicago. Perrot was there- fore the first European to set foot upon the soil of Illinois.
Still there were others before Marquette. In 1672, the Jesuit mis- sionaries, Fathers Claude Allouez and Claude Dablon, bore the standard of the Cross from their mission at Green Bay through western Wisconsin and northern Illinois, visiting the Foxes on Fox River, and the Masquo- tines and Kickapoos at the mouth of the Milwaukee. These missionaries penetrated on the route afterwards followed by Marquette as far as the Kickapoo village at the head of Lake Winnebago, where Marquette, in his journey, secured guides across the portage to the Wisconsin.
The oft-repeated story of Marquette and Joliet is well known. They were the agents employed by the Canadian government to discover the Mississippi. Marquette was a native of France, born in 1637, a Jesuit priest by education, and a man of simple faith and of great zeal and devotion in extending the Roman Catholic religion among the Indians. Arriving in Canada in 1666, he was sent as a missionary to the far Northwest, and, in 1668, founded a mission at Sault Ste. Marie. The following year he moved to La Pointe, in Lake Superior, where he instructed a branch of the Hurons till 1670, when he removed south, and founded the mission at St. Ignace, on the Straits of Mackinaw. Here he remained, devoting a portion of his time to the study of the Illinois language under a native teacher who had accompanied him to the mission from La Pointe, till he was joined by Joliet in the Spring of 1673. By the way of Green Bay and the Fox and Wisconsin Rivers, they entered the Mississippi, which they explored to the mouth of the Arkansas, and returned by the way of the Illinois and Chicago Rivers to Lake Michigan.
On his way up the Illinois, Marquette visited the great village of the Kaskaskias, near what is now Utica, in the county of LaSalle. The following year he returned and established among them the mission of the Immaculate Virgin Mary, which was the first Jesuit mission founded in Illinois and in the Mississippi Valley. The intervening winter he had spent in a hut which his companions erected on the Chicago River, a few leagues from its mouth. The founding of this mission was the last
15
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS.
act of Marquette's life. He died in Michigan, on his way back to Green Bay, May 18, 1675.
FIRST FRENCH OCCUPATION.
The first French occupation of the territory now embraced in Illi- nois was effected by LaSalle in 1680, seven years after the time of Mar- quette and Joliet. LaSalle, having constructed a vessel, the " Griffin," above the falls of Niagara, which he sailed to Green Bay, and having passed thence in canoes to the mouth of the St. Joseph River, by which and the Kankakee he reached the Illinois, in January, 1680, erected Fort Crevecœur, at the lower end of Peoria Lake, where the city of Peoria is now situated. The place where this ancient fort stood may still be seen just below the outlet of Peoria Lake. It was destined, however, to a temporary existence. From this point, LaSalle determined to descend the Mississippi to its mouth, but did not accomplish this purpose till two years later-in 1682. Returning to Fort Frontenac for the purpose of getting materials with which to rig his vessel, he left the fort in charge of Touti, his lieutenant, who during his absence was driven off by the Iro- quois Indians. These savages had made a raid upon the settlement of the Illinois, and had left nothing in their track but ruin and desolation. Mr. Davidson, in his History of Illinois, gives the following graphic account of the picture that met the eyes of LaSalle and his companions on their return :
" At the great town of the Illinois they were appalled at the scene which opened to their view. No hunter appeared to break its death-like silence with a salutatory whoop of welcome. The plain on which the town had stood was now strewn with charred fragments of lodges, which had so recently swarmed with savage life and hilarity. To render more hideous the picture of desolation, large numbers of skulls had been placed on the upper extremities of lodge-poles which had escaped the devouring flames. In the midst of these horrors was the rude fort of the spoilers, rendered frightful by the same ghastly relics. A near approach showed that the graves had been robbed of their bodies, and swarms of buzzards were discovered glutting their loathsome stomachs on the reeking corruption. To complete the work of destruction, the growing corn of the village had been cut down and burned, while the pits containing the products of previous years, had been rifled and their contents scattered with wanton waste. It was evident the suspected blow of the Iroquois had fallen with relentless fury."
Touti had escaped LaSalle knew not whither. Passing down the lake in search of him and his men, LaSalle discovered that the fort had been destroyed, but the vessel which he had partly constructed was still
16
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS.
on the stocks and but slightly injured. After further fruitless search, failing to find Touti, he fastened to a tree a painting representing himself and party sitting in a canoe and bearing a pipe of peace, and to the paint- ing attached a letter addressed to Touti.
Touti had escaped, and, after untold privations, taken shelter among the Pottawattamies near Green Bay. These were friendly to the French. One of their old chiefs used to say, " There were but three great cap- tains in the world, himself, Touti and LaSalle."
GENIUS OF LASALLE.
We must now return to LaSalle, whose exploits stand out in such bold relief. He was born in Rouen, France, in 1643. His father was wealthy, but he renounced his patrimony on entering a college of the Jesuits, from which he separated and came to Canada a poor man in 1666. The priests of St. Sulpice, among whom he had a brother, were then the proprietors of Montreal, the nucleus of which was a seminary or con- vent founded by that order. The Superior granted to LaSalle a large tract of land at LaChine, where he established himself in the fur trade. He was a man of daring genius, and outstripped all his competitors in exploits of travel and commerce with the Indians. In 1669, he visited the headquarters of the great Iroquois Confederacy, at Onondaga, in the heart of New York, and, obtaining guides, explored the Ohio River to the falls at Louisville.
In order to understand the genius of LaSalle, it must be remembered that for many years prior to his time the missionaries and traders were obliged to make their way to the Northwest by the Ottawa River (of Canada) on account of the fierce hostility of the Iroquois along the lower lakes and Niagara River, which entirely closed this latter route to the Upper Lakes. They carried on their commerce chiefly by canoes, pad- dling them through the Ottawa to Lake Nipissing, carrying them across the portage to French River, and descending that to Lake Huron. This being the route by which they reached the Northwest, accounts for the fact that all the earliest Jesuit missions were established in the neighbor- hood of the Upper Lakes. LaSalle conceived the grand idea of opening the route by Niagara River and the Lower Lakes to Canadian commerce by sail vessels, connecting it with the navigation of the Mississippi, and thus opening a magnificent water communication from the Gulf of St. Lawrence to the Gulf of Mexico. This truly grand and comprehensive purpose seems to have animated him in all his wonderful achievements and the matchless difficulties and hardships he surmounted. As the first step in the accomplishment of this object he established himself on Lake Ontario, and built and garrisoned Fort Frontenac, the site of the present
17
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS.
city of Kingston, Canada. Here he obtained a grant of land from the French crown and a body of troops by which he beat back the invading Iroquois and cleared the passage to Niagara Falls. Having by this mas- terly stroke made it safe to attempt a hitherto untried expedition, his next step, as we have seen, was to advance to the Falls with all his outfit for building a ship with which to sail the lakes. He was success- ful in this undertaking, though his ultimate purpose was defeated by a strange combination of untoward circumstances. The Jesuits evidently hated LaSalle and plotted against him, because he had abandoned them and co-operated with a rival order. The fur traders were also jealous of his superior success in opening new channels of commerce. At LaChine he had taken the trade of Lake Ontario, which but for his presence there would have gone to Quebec. While they were plodding with their bark canoes through the Ottawa he was constructing sailing vessels to com- mand the trade of the lakes and the Mississippi. These great plans excited the jealousy and envy of the small traders, introduced treason and revolt into the ranks of his own companions, and finally led to the foul assassination by which his great achievements were prematurely ended.
In 1682, LaSalle, having completed his vessel at Peoria, descended the Mississippi to its confluence with the Gulf of Mexico. , Erecting a standard on which he inscribed the arms of France, he took formal pos- session of the whole valley of the mighty river, in the name of Louis XIV., then reigning, in honor of whom he named the country LOUISIANA.
LaSalle then went to France, was appointed Governor, and returned with a fleet and immigrants, for the purpose of planting a colony in Illi- nois. They arrived in due time in the Gulf of Mexico, but failing to find the mouth of the Mississippi, up which LaSalle intended to sail, his supply ship, with the immigrants, was driven ashore and wrecked on Matagorda Bay. With the fragments of the vessel he constructed a stockade and rude huts on the shore for the protection of the immigrants, calling the post Fort St. Louis. He then made a trip into New Mexico, in search of silver mines, but, meeting with disappointment, returned to find his little colony reduced to forty souls. He then resolved to travel on foot to Illinois, and, starting with his companions, had reached the valley of the Colorado, near the mouth of Trinity river, when he was shot by one of his men. This occurred on the 19th of March, 1687.
Dr. J. W. Foster remarks of him : " Thus fell, not far from the banks of the Trinity, Robert Cavalier de la Salle, one of the grandest charac- ters that ever figured in American history-a man capable of originating the vastest schemes, and endowed with a will and a judgment capable of carrying them to successful results. Had ample facilities been placed by the King of France at his disposal, the result of the colonization of this continent might have been far different from what we now behold."
-
18
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS.
EARLY SETTLEMENTS.
A temporary settlement was made at Fort St. Louis, or the old Kas- kaskia village, on the Illinois River, in what is now LaSalle County, in 1682. In 1690, this was removed, with the mission connected with it, to Kaskaskia, on the river of that name, emptying into the lower Mississippi in St. Clair County. Cahokia was settled about the same time, or at least, both of these settlements began in the year 1690, though it is now pretty well settled that Cahokia is the older place, and ranks as the oldest permanent settlement in Illinois, as well as in the Mississippi Valley. The reason for the removal of the old Kaskaskia settlement and mission, was probably because the dangerous and difficult route by Lake Michigan and the Chicago portage had been almost abandoned, and travelers and traders passed down and up the Mississippi by the Fox and Wisconsin River route. They removed to the vicinity of the Mississippi in order to be in the line of travel from Canada to Louisiana, that is, the lower part of it, for it was all Louisiana then south of the lakes.
During the period of French rule in Louisiana, the population prob- ably never exceeded ten thousand, including whites and blacks. Within that portion of it now included in Indiana, trading posts were established at the principal Miami villages which stood on the head waters of the Maumee, the Wea villages situated at Ouiatenon, on the Wabash, and the Piankeshaw villages at Post Vincennes ; all of which were probably visited by French traders and missionaries before the close of the seven- teenth century.
In the vast territory claimed by the French, many settlements of considerable importance had sprung up. Biloxi, on Mobile Bay, had been founded by D'Iberville, in 1699; Antoine de Lamotte Cadillac had founded Detroit in 1701; and New Orleans had been founded by Bien- ville, under the auspices of the Mississippi Company, in 1718. In Illi- nois also, considerable settlements had been made, so that in 1730 they embraced one hundred and forty French families, about six hundred " con- verted Indians," and many traders and voyageurs. In that portion of the country, on the east side of the Mississippi, there were five distinct set- tlements, with their respective villages, viz .: Cahokia, near the mouth of Cahokia Creek and about five miles below the present city of St. Louis ; St. Philip, about forty-five miles below Cahokia, and four miles above Fort Chartres; Fort Chartres, twelve miles above Kaskaskia ; Kaskaskia, situated on the Kaskaskia River, five miles above its conflu- ence with the Mississippi ; and Prairie du Rocher, near Fort Chartres. To these must be added St. Genevieve and St. Louis, on the west side of the Mississippi. These, with the exception of St. Louis, are among
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