History of McHenry County, Illinois : together with sketches of its cities, villages and towns : educational, religious, civil, military, and political history : portraits of prominent persons, and biographies of representative citizens, also a condensed History of Illinois, Part 2

Author:
Publication date: 1885
Publisher: Chicago : Inter-State Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1062


USA > Illinois > McHenry County > History of McHenry County, Illinois : together with sketches of its cities, villages and towns : educational, religious, civil, military, and political history : portraits of prominent persons, and biographies of representative citizens, also a condensed History of Illinois > Part 2


Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).


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405 Madole, Jacob


809


Fegers, C. H. 278


Helm, N. B ..


480 Marsh, Henry.


906


Fenner, Hamlin


716


Henderson, Andrew


855 Mareball, Jobn .939


Fenton, D. L ...


.. 760


Herdklotz, George. 684 Marsball, T. P 486


Perris, Sylvanus


.374


Herdklotz, P. J. 684. Martin, J. J 487


Ferris, T. R. 651 Hesselgrave, Robert 904 Martin, L. L.


907


Fillmore, Wm. J. .530


Hibbard, A. W


480


Mason, D. T 658


Fisher, Rev. Wm. H. .531 Hiekox, Mark


604 | Mason, J. N


908


Flavin, D. H .. .700


516


Gillies, John C. 701


Cummings, G. C. .. 648


Gillilan, Mrs. Margaret .404


Jaekman, R. D.


863


Cunningham, J. F.


.470


Given, Wm. D 683


Curtiss, Hon. I. R


266 Glass, Elias.


. 375 Jackson, William


Diesel, Rudolph 596


Green, D. C ..


279 289


Kee, James .. 406


926 : Kelly, J. W .. 607


Donahue, Jo'in


649


Donnelly, Hon. Neill


327 Haekley, E. G


926 Kerr, Hon. William.


Duffield, Henry. .597


Hait, N. S


802


Knox, Edward ..


865


Eddy, Captain John


.529 | Hatch, Lewis


421 Lines, L. R


Ellis, B. F.


650 Hawley, John


653 Lockwood, Charles. 533


Ellsworth, M. F.


268 Hawver, P. D


479 Logue, James.


Estergren, William 400


Heaney, John


.422. Lumley, Thomas


808 407


Crego, Charles


757


Gardner, William


Hunt, G. W


717


Cooney, Martin. 699


Frink, J. M.


531


Huffman, P. M.


Huntley, Mrs. E. M .405


902 Huntley. T. S. 654


Ingalls, A. O. .938


Crumb, J. C


.533


Joslyn, Hon. M. L


Green, J. W


Dike. Henry


472


Dunham, A. R.


528 Hanson, Magnus


803 La Brec, William 377


CONTENTS.


Mason, O. P


.659 Pendleton, C. M.


.662 Slater, William 4227


Matthews, E. F.


865 Pervey, John.


. 663 Slavin, J. H. 269


McConnell, A. B .609 Peters, John. 412 Smith, A. M 502


McConnell, George


908 Pettingill, O. N. .535 Smith, A. W


619


McConnell, Wm. A.


. 909 Phillips, S. K


536 Smith, Hon. B. N. 268


.685 Philp, James.


413 Smith, Bradford. 818


McDonnell, Patrick


. 487


McGee, Owen.


. 488


McGee, Sylvester .703


Pierce, Lyman.


719 Smith, E. B 620


McGee, Wm. F


.489 Porter, T. W


766 Smith, E. S


379


McGhee, A. F.


610


Potter, D. A.


913 Smith, G. R.


503


McLaren, J. A


610


Pringle, Patterson


.766 Smith, H. C.


814


McLean, H. W


.259 Puffer, H. L.


495


Smith, James 871


.871


Mead, F. W.


910 Quinlan, Humphrey


. 704 Smith, W. L.


814


Mead, H. C.


809, Quinlan, Jeremiah


686 Snowden. John


633


Mead, H. W


. 732 Quinn, William.


616 Snyder, Jacob . 620


Mead, Marcns


939 Randall, J. F


.664 Soothill, J. H .... 278


Medlar, J. S ..


.610 Read, Charles


. 536 Soudericker, George. +89


Merchant, G. E


810 Read, J. A.


537 Southworth, J. M. 270


Merry, Eli ..


377 Rector. G. S.


.378 Sperry, Anson 260


Merry, W. S.


.378 Reynolds, E. S


497 Sperry, E. P. 771


Metcalf, Gilbert


928 Reynolds, J. N


498 Spragno, Samuel, 665


Metcalf, M. B.


.928 Richards, E. E.


616 Staley, J. H.


504


Miller Brothers


.659 Richards, T. Mc. D


. 616 St. Clair, I. C.


621


Miller, C. C.


291


Richardson, Robert


426 Stedman, D. A.


771


Miller, Ferdinand


.489


Richmond, E. H.


617 Stevens, Aristedes


€89


Mills, S. G. W


490 Rider, Wm. H.


687 Stevens, B. A


428


Minier, H. B ...


491 Riley, Wm. O.


537 Stevens, William 814


Moore, J. F.


632 Robinson, Wm. B


618 Stewart, A. D.


772


Morris, E. R.


.. 533


940 Stewart, J. J.


723


Morse, Sherman


611 Ross, Wm. S


537 Stewart, R. W


~21


Morse, W. P. .866


Rowe, Aaron


720 Stickney, George


872


Morton, N. B


.492


Salisbury, J. W


868 Stone, Geo. E


279


Mndgett, J. H ..


867


Salisbury, William


869 Stons, G. F.


.621


Mndgett, W. H.


867|


Sanborn, J. W


.922 Stone, J. B ..


917


Munger, Milo.


492


Sanders, W. H.


769 Story, Jacob.


815


Munger, W. M. .493


Saunders, P. E


449 Street, C. and Sons


:23


Murphy, A. W


.686 Sawyer, John


721 Stryker, Christian


622


Murphy, Hon. T. D


261 Sayler. J. R.


.812


Sullivan, Cornelius


706


Murphy, Wm. H.


.612 Schaaf, Michael


705| Sweeney, J. A.


505


Muzzy, I. N.


.534 Schultz, Adolph


.499 Sweet, Chauncey 429


Myers, G. H.


. 912 Schott, E. M


.500 Talhot, Jacob. 9:29


Nash, A. W


660 Scully, J. M.


705 Tebbetts, Charies 506


.917


Nason, Wm. A.


. 410 Sears, Z. W.


770 Templeton, J. G


666


Nickle, William


810 Seely, Lyman.


500


Terwilliger, Samuel 877


622


Nish, James.


.613 Senger, Peter


688


Thomas, Andrew 8 6


Noble, Major.


. 912 Seward, E. H.


538


Thomas, Briggs 918


Norton. Daniel.


661 Seymour, Ephraim


414


Thomas, H. E.


918


Nntt, F. L.


290 |Shales, C


870


Thomas, M. B.


918


O'Brien, Peter.


940 Shatzla, Je seph


501


Thomas, S. M. 415


.773


Olmsted, E. S. 613


Sheldon, E. L.


290


Thompson, A. C. 690


O'Neill, Rev. P. M 811 Sheldon, F. H


.539


Thompson, James. .507


Onthank, C. W


.493 Sheldon, F. L.


538 870


Thompson, O. H.


507


Overton, R. W. .912 Sheldon, T. R.


915


Thompson, Wm. G


508


Owen, E. M ... 811 Shepard, S. S.


870 Thompson, W. P


416


Page, George R 763 Sherwin, Ai ..


539


Thorns. C. H.


773


Page, L. S.


.614 Sherwood. R. R


415


To ·d, R. K.


567


Parker, B. S.


.764 Shippee, L. J


501


Tong, John


6:23


Parker, J. F


.615 Short, Edward.


618 Tooker, R. E


509


Parker, W.


812 Short, F. L.


700


Tooker, S. B. 509


Parrish, J. A.


.265 Short, J. D.


.+19


Truesdell, (+. W 919


725


Patrick, F. A ..


. 765 Shufeldt, Robert.


414


Tryon, C. H.


725


Patterson, C. C.


867 Shurtleff. A. J ..


770 Tryon, G. F. $29


.919


Peacock, Mrs. Nancy .. 425 Simpkins, Richard 941 Tweed, Robert


429


Pearsall, E. R. . 662 Simpson, Henry ... 813


Udell, Alby


.379


Pease, M. C. . 495 Sinnett. Henry.


.664


Udell, A. W 623


Peck, D. E. . 765 Sinton, David .. .682


Udell, George 379


Peirce, Marvel . 426 Sinton, Richard


633 Udell, O. J.


380


914


Stewart, Alexander 772


Moore, William.


. 911 Rogers, O. P.


767 Stewart, C. F. 916


Morris, T. L.


409 Ross, C. L .. .940 Stewart, John 722


Morton, Edward. .409


Rowe, Frank


720 St. John, Josiah 929


Nihan, J. J


. 704 Senger, Michael


687 Terwilliger, William


Ocock, J. H. . 534 Shearer, William


770


Thompson, Ahira


Ocock, W. W 535 Sheldon, Daniel.


.941


Thompson, Anson 878


Thompson, J. C. 506


Overton, J. S. 913


Sheldon, Prof. J. A


Parsons, T. L ..


.661 Shufelt, P. D.


.502 Tryon, C. F.


Paul, Rev. Samuel. 494 Sinderson, G. J.


502 Turner, G. E


503


McDonald, James.


Pierce, John


719 Smith, C. M. .684


Pierce, John S.


704 Smith, Dwight. .688


McMillan, A. J .865 Puffer, S. L


Mead, Charles .425 Purdy. George.


914 Smith, L. P. 504


Mead, C. L 718 Purinton, Josiah


496 Smith, Prof. L. L.


496 Smith, W. E


335


Montgomery, William 611


Robbins, James


Rosencrans, H. E.


Nash, S. H .. 410 Ssamans, G. W


721 Tefft, C. H ...


McConnell, John .. 909 Phillips, Robert. .412 Smith, B. F


0


0


CONTENTS.


Usborne, J. W


540 ( Watson, James.


.490 Wilcox, C. A ... 541


Vail, E. J ..


774


Weber, Fr.tz.


513


Wilcox, H. J.


541


Vail, F. G ..


774


Weeks, Daniel 919


Wilkinson, C. M


514


Van Slyke, J


307 Weeke, E. B. 920


Wilkinson, Edwin. 514


515


Vom Bruch, Otto ...


. 510| Wells, Jonathan 634


Willard, W. R ....


883


Wakeley, William


511


Weltszein, John


.666


Willey. O ..


884


Walker, Everton


512


Wentworth, Isaac.


.817


Williame, James


668


Walker, W. B.


512


Wernham, S. C.


290


Williams, Thomas.


669


Walkup, J. B


878 Wesson, J. E.


៛ 91


Wood. J. A


.634


Walkup, Wm. P


624


Wettstein, Herman


513


Woodard Loron.


775


Wallace, James


634 Wheeler, C. G.


276


Woodbeck, W. H.


625


Walters, August.


730 Wheeler, Rev. Joel


.817 Woodbury, W. H


.731


Ward, S. R.


283


White, Christopher


.920


Wooster, George


516


Warner, C. E


879 Whiting, A. D


.. 892


Wray, Richard


921


Warner, D. B .. 880 Whiting, A. O.


.824


Wright, A. S.


.625


Warner, Walter


.540 Whiting, Freeman


.821


Wright, Burton


691


Waterman, Ira ..


541 |Whitson, Thomas


.624


Wright, Leroy


692


Waterman, L. A


816 Whittaker, Thomas


416


Wright, M. J.


692


Watrous, J. S


882 Whittemore, Washington. . 667


Young, A. W


.264


Watson, C. C.


288 |Wickham, G. S. 380 Zenk, John


669


Van Wie, Lorenzo.


510


Welle, G. V 774 Wilkinson, Philo.


1


HISTORY OF ILLINOIS.


FORMER OCCUPANTS.


MOUND-BUILDERS.


The numerous and well-authenticated accounts of antiquities found in various parts of our country, clearly demonstrate that a people civilized, and even highly cultivated, occupied the broad surface of our continent before its possession by the present In- dians; but the date of their rule of the Western World is so re- mote that all traces of their history, their progress and decay, lie buried in deepest obscurity. Nature, at the time the first Euro- peans came, had asserted her original dominion over the earth; the forests were all in their full luxuriance, the growth of many cen- turies; and nauglit existed to point out who and what they were who formerly lived, and loved, and labored, and died, on the conti- nent of America. This pre-historic race is known as the Mound- Builders, from the numerous large mounds of earth-works left by them. The remains of the works of this people form the most in- teresting class of antiquitics discovered in the United States. Their character can be but partially gleaned from the internal evidences and the peculiarities of the only remains left,-the mounds. They consist of remains of what were apparently villages, altars, temples, idols, cemeteries, monuments, camps, fortifications, pleasure grounds, etc., etc. Their habitations must have been tents, struc- tures of wood, or other perishable material; otherwise their reniains would be numerous. If the Mound-Builders were not the ancestors of the Indians, who were they? The oblivion which has closed over them is so complete that only conjecture can be given in answer to the question. Those who do not believe in the common parentage of mankind contend that they were an indigenous race of the West- ern hemisphere; others, with more plausibility, think they came from the East, and imagine they can see coincidences in the religion of the Hindoos and Southern Tartars and the supposed theology of


0


18


HISTORY OF ILLINOIS.


the Mound-Builders. They were, no doubt, idolators, and it has been conjectured that the sun was the object of their adoration. The mounds were generally built in a situation affording a view of the rising sun: when enclosed in walls their gateways were toward the east; the caves in which their dead were occasionally buried always opened in the same direction; whenever a mound was partially en- closed by a semi-circular pavement, it was on the east side; when bodies were buried in graves, as was frequently the case, they were laid in a direction east and west; and, finally, medals have been found representing the sun and his rays of light.


At what period they came to this country, is likewise a matter of speculation. From the comparatively rude state of the arts among them, it has been inferred that the time was very remote. Their axes were of stone. Their raiment, judging from fragments which have been discovered, consisted of the bark of trees, interwoven with feathers; and their military works were such as a people would erect who had just passed to the pastoral state of society from that dependent alone upon hunting and fishing.


The mounds and other ancient earth-works constructed by this people are far more abundant than generally supposed, from the fact that while some are quite large, the greater part of them are small and inconspicuous. Along nearly all our water courses that are large enough to be navigated with a canoe, the mounds are almost invariably found, covering the base points and headlands of the bluffs which border the narrower valleys; so that when one finds him- self in such positions as to command the grandest views for river scenery, he may almost always discover that he is standing upon, or in close proximity to, some one or more of these traces of the labors of an ancient people.


GALENA MOUNDS.


On the top of the high bluffs that skirt the west bank of the Mis- sissippi, about two and a half miles from Galcna, are a number of these silent monuments of a pre-historic age. The spot is one of surpassing beauty. From that point may be obtained a view of a portion of three States,-Illinois, Iowa and Wisconsin. A hundred feet below, at the foot of the perpendicular cliffs, the trains of the Illinois Central Railroad thunder around the curve, the portage is in full view, and the " Father of Waters," with its numerous bayous


6


19


HISTORY OF ILLINOIS.


and islands, sketches a grand pamorama for miles above and below. Here, probably thousands of years ago, a race of men now extinct, and unknown even in the traditions of the Indians who inhabited that section for centuries before the discovery of America by Colum- bus, built these strangely wonderful and enigmatical mounds. At this point these mounds are circular and conical in form. The larg- est one is at least forty feet in diameter at the base, and not less than fifteen feet high, even yet, after it has been beaten by the storms of many centuries. On its top stands the large stump of an oak tree that was cut down about fifty years ago, and its annual rings indicate a growth of at least 200 years.


One of the most singular earth-works in the State was found on the top of a ridge near the east bank of the Sinsinawa creek in the lead region. It resembled some huge animal, the head, ears, nose, legs and tail, and general outline of which being as perfect as if made by men versed in modern art. The ridge on which it was situated stands on the prairie, 300 yards wide, 100 feet in height, and rounded on the top by a deep deposit of clay. Centrally, along the line of its summit, and thrown up in the form of an embankment three feet high, extended the outline of a quadruped measuring 250 feet from the tip of the nose to the end of the tail, and having a width of 18 feet at the center of the body. The head was 35 feet in length, the ears 10 feet, legs 60 and tail 75. The curvature in both the fore and hind legs was natural to an animal lying on its side. The general outline of the figure most nearly resembled the extinct animal known to geologists as the Megathe- rium. The question naturally arises, By whom and for what pur- pose was this earth figure raised? Some have conjectured that numbers of this now extinct animal lived and roamed over the prai- ries of Illinois when the Mound-Builders first made their appearance on the upper part of the Mississippi Valley, and that their wonder and admiration, excited by the colossal dimensions of these huge creatures, found some expression in the erection of this figure. The bones of some similar gigantic animals were exhumed on this stream about three miles from the same place.


LARGE CITIES.


Mr. Breckenridge, who examined the antiquities of the Western country in 1817, speaking of the mounds in the American Bottom, says: "The great number and extremely large size of some of


6


20


HISTORY OF ILLINOIS.


them may be regarded as furnishing, with other circumstances, evidences of their antiquity. I have sometimes been induced to think that at the period when they were constructed there was a population here as numerous as that which once animated the borders of the Nile or Euphrates, or of Mexico. The most num- erous, as well as considerable, of these remains are found in pre- cisely those parts of the country where the traces of a numerous population might be looked for, namely, from the mouth of the Ohio on the east side of the Mississippi, to the Illinois river, and on the west from the St. Francis to the Missouri. I am perfectly satisfied that cities similar to those of ancient Mexico, of several hundred thousand souls, have existed in this country."


It must be admitted that whatever the uses of these mounds- whether as dwellings or burial places-these silent monuments were built, and the race who built them vanished from the face of the earth, ages before the Indians occupied the land, but their date must probably forever baffle human skill and ingenuity.


It is sometimes difficult to distinguish the places of sepulture raised by the Mound-Builders from the more modern graves of the Indians. The tombs of the former were in general larger than those of the latter, and were used as receptacles for a greater number of bodies, and contained relics of art, evincing a higher degree of civ- ilization than that attained by the Indians. The ancient earth- works of the Mound-Builders have occasionally been appropriated as burial places by the Indians, but the skeletons of the latter may be distinguished from the osteological remains of the former by their greater stature.


What finally became of the Mound-Builders is another query which has been extensively discussed. The fact that their works extend into Mexico and Peru has induced the belief that it was their posterity that dwelt in these countries when they were first visited by the Spaniards. The Mexican and Peruvian works, with the exception of their greater magnitude, are similar. Relics com- mon to all of them have been occasionally found, and it is believed that the religious uses which they subserved were the same. If, indeed, the Mexicans and Peruvians were the progeny of the more ancient Mound-Builders, Spanish rapacity for gold was the cause of their overthrow and final extermination.


A thousand other queries naturally arise respecting these nations


21


HISTORY OF ILLINOIS.


which now repose under the ground, but the most searching investi- gation can give us only vague speculations for answers. No histo- rian has preserved the names of their mighty chieftains, or given an account of their exploits, and even tradition is silent respecting them.


INDIANS.


Following the Mound-Builders as inhabitants of North America, were, as it is supposed, the people who reared the magnificent cities the ruins of which are found in Central America. This peo- ple was far more civilized and advanced in the arts than were the Mound-Builders. The cities built by them, judging from the ruins of broken columns, fallen arches and crumbling walls of temples, palaces and pyramids, which in some places for miles bestrew the ground, must have been of great extent, magnificent and very pop- ulous. When we consider the vast period of time necessary to erect such colossal structures, and, again, the time required to reduce them to their present ruined state, we can conceive something of their antiquity. These cities must have been old when many of the ancient cities of the Orient were being built.


The third race inhabiting North America, distinct from the former two in every particular, is the present Indians. They were, when visited by the early discoverers, without cultivation, refinement or literature, and far behind the Mound-Builders in the knowledge of the arts. The question of their origin has long interested archaeologists, and is the most difficult they have been called upon to answer. Of their predecessors the Indian tribes knew nothing; they even had no traditions respecting them. It is quite certain that they were the successors of a race which had entirely passed away ages before the discovery of the New World. One hypothesis is that the American Indians are an original race indigenous to the Western hemisphere. Those who entertain this view think their peculiarities of physical structure preclude the possibility of a common parentage with the rest of mankind, Prominent among those distinctive traits is the hair, which in the red man is round, in the white man oval, and in the black man flat.


A more common supposition, however, is that they are a derivative race, and sprang from one or more of the ancient peoples of Asia. In the absence of all authentic history, and when even tradition is


@


22


HISTORY OF ILLINOIS.


wanting, any attempt to point out the particular location of their origin must prove unsatisfactory. Though the exact place of origin may never be known, yet the striking coincidence of physical organization between the Oriental type of mankind and the Indians point unmistakably to some part of Asia as the place whence they emigrated, which was originally peopled to a great extent by the children of Shem. In this connection it has been claimed that the meeting of the Europeans, Indians and Africans on the continent of America, is the fulfillment of a prophecy as recorded in Gen- esis ix. 27: "God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant." Assuming the theory to be true that the Indian tribes are of Shemitic origin, they were met on this continent in the fifteenth century by the Japhetic race, after the two stocks liad passed around the globe by directly different routes. A few years afterward the Hamitic branch of the human family were brought from the coast of Africa. During the occupancy of the continent by the three distinct races, the children of Japheth have grown and prospered, while the called and not voluntary sons of Ham have endured a servitude in the wider stretching valleys of the tents of Shem.


When Christopher Columbus had finally succeeded in demon- strating the truth of his theory that by sailing westward from Eu- rope land would be discovered, landing on the Island of Bermuda he supposed he had reached the East Indies. This was an error, but it led to the adoption of the name of " Indians " for the inhab- itants of the Island and the main land of America, by which name the red men of America have ever since been known.


Of the several great branches of North American Indians the only ones entitled to consideration in Illinois history are the Algon- quins and Iroquois. At the time of the discovery of America the former occupied the Atlantic seaboard, while the home of the Iroquois was as an island in this vast area of Algonquin popula- tion. The latter great nation spread over a vast territory, and various tribes of Algonquin lineage sprung up over the country, adopting, in time, distinct tribal customs and laws. An almost continuous warfare was carried on between tribes; but later, on the entrance of the white man into their beloved homes, every foot of territory was fiercely disputed by the confederacy of many neighboring tribes. The Algonquins formed the most extensive alliance to resist the encroachinent of the whites, especially the English. Such was the


G


23


HISTORY OF ILLINIOS.


nature of King Philip's war. This King, with his Algonquin braves, spread terror and desolation throughout New England. With the Algonquins as the controlling spirit, a confederacy of conti- nental proportions was the result, embracing in its alliance thie tribes of every name and lineage from the Northern lakes to the gulf. Pontiac, having breathed into them his implacable hate of the Englishi intruders, ordered the conflict to commence, and all the British colonies trembled before the desolating fury of Indian vengeance.


ILLINOIS CONFEDERACY.


The Illinois confederacy, the various tribes of which comprised most of the Indiaus of Illinois at one time, was composed of five tribes: the Tamaroas, Michigans, Kaskaskias, Cahokas, and Peorias. The Illinois, Miamis and Delawares were of the same stock. As early as 1670 the priest Father Marquette mentions frequent visits made by individuals of this confederacy to the missionary station at St. Esprit, near the western extremity of Lake Superior. At that time they lived west of the Mississippi, in eight villages, whither they had been driven from the shores of Lake Michigan by the Iroquois. Shortly afterward they began to return to their old hunting ground, and most of them finally settled in Illinois. Joliet and Marquette, in 1673, met with a band of them on their famous voyage of discovery down the Mississippi. They were treated with the greatest hospitality by the principal chief. On their return voyage up the Illinois river they stopped at the principal town of the confederacy, situated on the banks of the river seven miles below the present town of Ottawa. It was then called Kas- kaskia. Marquette returned to the village in 1675 and established the mission of the Immaculate Conception, the oldest in Illinois. When, in 1679, LaSalle visited the town, it had greatly increased numbering 460 lodges, and at the annual assembly of the different tribes, from 6,000 to 8,000 souls. In common with other western tribes, they became involved in the conspiracy of Pontiac, although displaying no very great warlike spirit. Pontiac lost his life by the hands of one of the braves of the Illinois tribe, which so enraged the nations that had followed him as their leader that they fell upon the Illinois to avenge his death, and almost annihilated them.


STARVED ROCK.


Tradition states that a band of this tribe, in order to escape the general slaughter, took refuge npon the high rock on the Illinois


24


HISTORY OF ILLINOIS.


river since known as Starved Rock. Nature has made this one of the most formidable military fortresses in the world. From the waters which wash its base it rises to an altitude of 125 feet. Three of its sides it is impossible to scale, while the one next to the land may be climbed with difficulty. From its summit, almost as inac- cessible as an eagle's nest, the valley of the Illinois is seen as a landscape of exquisite beauty. The river near by struggles between a number of wooded islands, while further below it quietly meanders through vast meadows till it disappears like a thread of light in the dim distance. On the summit of this rock the Illinois were besieged by a superior force of the Pottawatomies whom the great strength of their natural fortress enabled them to keep at bay. Hunger and thirst, however, soon accomplished what the enemy was unable to effect. Surrounded by a relentless foe, without food or water, they took a last look at their beautiful hunting grounds, and with true Indian fortitude lay down and died from starvation. Years afterward their bones were seen whitening in that place.




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