Kaskaskia
Church of the Immaculate Conception
History is the study of change over time, and nowhere in Illinois is this change over time more stark than in the village of Kaskaskia. Founded in 1703 as colony of the French Empire during the reign of the "Sun King," King Louis XIV, today the French monarchy has long been overthrown, the French empire is a dusty relic of the past, and the village of Kaskaskia has been a part of the United States (a nation that did not exist in 1703) for more than 230 years. Named after the Kaskaskia Tribe, a branch of the Illini that lived in the area, today after suffering decades of disease and warfare, the descendants of the surviving members of the Kaskaskia live on a reservation far away in Oklahoma. Once a center of transportation and commerce in the 18th century, today Kaskaskia is perhaps the most isolated town in Illinois with no commerce to speak of. The first state capitol of Illinois with a one time population of seven thousand residents is today the second smallest village in the state with a population of only 14 residents according to the 2010 census. Perhaps the most striking of all is that Kaskaskia was founded on the eastern bank of the Mississippi River, but due to a change in its course, today Kaskaskia is on the western bank, making it one of two Illinois communities that are actually west of the Mississippi River. Kaskaskia is well worth the trip to contemplate all the changes that have shaken Kaskaskia and have had far reaching consequences for the state as a whole.
The first Kaskaskia was actually 240 miles to the northeast along the banks of the Illinois River in what is now Utica, Illinois, in LaSalle County. When Father Jacques Marquette was exploring the Illinois River in 1763, the local Kaskaskia Indians asked him to return one day so that he could preach to them. Farther Marquette promised he would, and it was here that he established a village called Kaskaskia and a mission to the Kaskaskia Indians called the Church of the Immaculate Conception in 1675. In the presence of the whole tribe, he raised the first altar, displayed images of the Virgin Mary, and said the first mass. Unfortunately for Marquette and the Kaskaskia Tribe, Marquette died later that year in Michigan. The French mission to the Kaskaskias continued after Marquette's death, but due to increasing pressure from powerful tribes to the north like the Fox, the Kaskaskias and the French mission moved further south, first down the Illinois River to what is now Peoria, and then in 1703 even further south to where the Kaskaskia River enters the Mississippi, which is the present site of Kaskaskia.
The first Kaskaskia was actually 240 miles to the northeast along the banks of the Illinois River in what is now Utica, Illinois, in LaSalle County. When Father Jacques Marquette was exploring the Illinois River in 1763, the local Kaskaskia Indians asked him to return one day so that he could preach to them. Farther Marquette promised he would, and it was here that he established a village called Kaskaskia and a mission to the Kaskaskia Indians called the Church of the Immaculate Conception in 1675. In the presence of the whole tribe, he raised the first altar, displayed images of the Virgin Mary, and said the first mass. Unfortunately for Marquette and the Kaskaskia Tribe, Marquette died later that year in Michigan. The French mission to the Kaskaskias continued after Marquette's death, but due to increasing pressure from powerful tribes to the north like the Fox, the Kaskaskias and the French mission moved further south, first down the Illinois River to what is now Peoria, and then in 1703 even further south to where the Kaskaskia River enters the Mississippi, which is the present site of Kaskaskia.
Statue of the Virgin Mary
French missionaries and fur traders originally settled Kaskaskia, but they were a minority in the village to the Native Americans. The French trappers married Indian women in a Catholic ceremony blessed by the priests. In the morning the priest held a mass attended by the French and their Native American converts. Following this, the priests went out into the community administering to the sick, which helped them gain the confidence of the natives. In the afternoon catechism was taught, followed by a service in the evening.
After a few years in Kaskaskia, the fur trade began to be eclipsed in importance by agriculture with Kaskaskia shipping its surpluses to other French colonies in the New World. By 1711 the priests had built one windmill and two horsemills to process the surplus grain that was harvested from the rich soil along the banks of the Mississippi. The French residents of the Illinois Country sent hams, bacon, venison, poultry, buffalo meat, cheese, corn, wheat, flour, hops, barely, buckwheat, rye, oats, nuts, honey, port, deerskins, hides, pelts, tallow, leather, timber, lead, and copper down the Mississippi River to New Orleans and to French colonies in the Caribbean. French manufactured goods like tin kettles, candlesticks, bottles and flasks, and stockings along with other New World products like sugar, indigo, and rice were shipped up the Mississippi to Kaskaskia and other French settlements in the Illinois Country (Davis 48).
After a few years in Kaskaskia, the fur trade began to be eclipsed in importance by agriculture with Kaskaskia shipping its surpluses to other French colonies in the New World. By 1711 the priests had built one windmill and two horsemills to process the surplus grain that was harvested from the rich soil along the banks of the Mississippi. The French residents of the Illinois Country sent hams, bacon, venison, poultry, buffalo meat, cheese, corn, wheat, flour, hops, barely, buckwheat, rye, oats, nuts, honey, port, deerskins, hides, pelts, tallow, leather, timber, lead, and copper down the Mississippi River to New Orleans and to French colonies in the Caribbean. French manufactured goods like tin kettles, candlesticks, bottles and flasks, and stockings along with other New World products like sugar, indigo, and rice were shipped up the Mississippi to Kaskaskia and other French settlements in the Illinois Country (Davis 48).
This building was the first Randolph County Courthouse and was originally built in 1795.
When the English took over the Illinois Country in 1765 after the French and Indian War, many French in Kaskaskia and other settlements on the Illinois side of the Mississippi refused to live under British rule and fled to the west bank of the Mississippi to towns such as St. Genevieve and St. Louis, then under the control of the Spanish crown. The old French towns on the Illinois side lost approximately a third of their population after the British takeover. However, the British granted the remaining French freedom to practice their Catholic faith and generally ruled with a light hand.
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Liberty Bell of the West
During the American Revolutionary War, George Rodgers Clark (older brother William Clark from the Lewis and Clark expedition) convinced the governor of Virginia, Patrick Henry, to allow him to raise a force to try to wrest the Illinois Country from British control. Kaskaskia was a primary target of Clark, and he hoped to take it by surprise. Therefore, instead of taking the usual route to Kaskaskia by going down the Ohio and then up the Mississippi, Clark decided to march overland on foot through the Illinois wilderness in order to better catch them off guard. Clark and his 175 Virginians and Kentuckians set out from Fort Massac (near modern day Metropolis, IL) on the Ohio River on June 24, 1778, with limited supplies to cross the great prairies to Kaskaskia. Clark was led by a guide of questionable reliability, John Saunders, to navigate the party through the wilderness who after a few days marching claimed that he did not remember the way. According to one historian, "Clark refreshed his memory by threatening to kill him" (Davis 70). Upon reaching the outskirts of Kaskaskia on the night of July 4 with the element of surprise achieved, Clark's men spread out and quickly secured the village without firing a shot. Once the Americans had taken control of the village, the people celebrated by ringing the church bell, which has since become known as the "Liberty Bell of the West." Today the bell is housed in a small brick building known as the Kaskaskia Bell State Historic Site. The other nearby towns of Prairie du Rocher and Cahokia quickly fell to the Americans. After the war was over, many of Clark's veterans accepted land grands along the Mississippi and became some of the first American settlers in Illinois.
Kaskaskia eventually prospered after the American takeover. It was named the territorial capital of Illinois in 1812, and when Illinois was admitted as a state into the Union in 1818, Kaskaskia was the state's first capital. At that point Kaskaskia had a population of about 7,000 people. However, the state of Illinois moved its capital to a more central location, Vandalia, in 1819, and it is at that point that Kaskaskia began its long and painful decline. The town was nearly wiped out in the Great Flood of 1844 (probably the same flood that inundated the first floor of the Jarrot Mansion in Cahokia further upriver). In 1881 the Mississippi River changed its course about four miles to the northeast, taking over the Kaskaskia River's channel as its own, and destroying what was left of Kaskaskia in the process. At this point, Kaskaskia, the first state capital of Illinois was on the Missouri side of the river! Congress then amended the border between Illinois and Missouri to allow Kaskaskia to remain in Illinois and that the border would be the same as it was before the Mississippi River moved. Kaskaskia was hit again in the flood of 1993 (to see a picture from the air of Kaskaskia flooded in 1993, click here). Today in Kaskaskia you can see a rebuilt Church of the Immaculate Conception, the Kaskaskia Bell State Historic Site, the original Randolph County Courthouse that was built in 1795, and a few residences scattered throughout the mostly empty and grass-covered blocks.
Today it is impossible to drive to Kaskaskia without first going through Missouri. Most cross at the bridge in Chester, drive through St. Mary, and follow the signs to Kaskaskia. When driving to Kaskaskia, you will pass through the tiny Illinois village of Dozaville, which can be seen here. Two sights of interest that were once separated from the town of Kaskaskia by the relatively narrow Kaskaskia River but now separated by the much wider Mississippi River is the Pierre Menard Home and Fort Kaskaskia State Park, which can be seen below. To explore other communities in Randolph County, click here.
Kaskaskia eventually prospered after the American takeover. It was named the territorial capital of Illinois in 1812, and when Illinois was admitted as a state into the Union in 1818, Kaskaskia was the state's first capital. At that point Kaskaskia had a population of about 7,000 people. However, the state of Illinois moved its capital to a more central location, Vandalia, in 1819, and it is at that point that Kaskaskia began its long and painful decline. The town was nearly wiped out in the Great Flood of 1844 (probably the same flood that inundated the first floor of the Jarrot Mansion in Cahokia further upriver). In 1881 the Mississippi River changed its course about four miles to the northeast, taking over the Kaskaskia River's channel as its own, and destroying what was left of Kaskaskia in the process. At this point, Kaskaskia, the first state capital of Illinois was on the Missouri side of the river! Congress then amended the border between Illinois and Missouri to allow Kaskaskia to remain in Illinois and that the border would be the same as it was before the Mississippi River moved. Kaskaskia was hit again in the flood of 1993 (to see a picture from the air of Kaskaskia flooded in 1993, click here). Today in Kaskaskia you can see a rebuilt Church of the Immaculate Conception, the Kaskaskia Bell State Historic Site, the original Randolph County Courthouse that was built in 1795, and a few residences scattered throughout the mostly empty and grass-covered blocks.
Today it is impossible to drive to Kaskaskia without first going through Missouri. Most cross at the bridge in Chester, drive through St. Mary, and follow the signs to Kaskaskia. When driving to Kaskaskia, you will pass through the tiny Illinois village of Dozaville, which can be seen here. Two sights of interest that were once separated from the town of Kaskaskia by the relatively narrow Kaskaskia River but now separated by the much wider Mississippi River is the Pierre Menard Home and Fort Kaskaskia State Park, which can be seen below. To explore other communities in Randolph County, click here.
Pierre Menard Home
Pierre Menard Home
The Pierre Menard Home is perhaps the best remaining example of French-Creole architecture in Illinois. The home was built in 1815 by Pierre Menard, a businessman, fur trader, and the first lieutenant governor of Illinois. The house has a large gallerie (porch) that wraps around three sides of the building.
Above is the springhouse or the cellar. Here the Menard family stored their perishable food. Notice the small opening on the bottom left corner of the building. There was a channel for a small spring inside of the building along the outer edges of the floor to keep it cool for better food preservation and to provide a source of water if the family was besieged inside by hostile Indians. The small opening on the bottom left corner of the cellar is where the small spring flowed out of the building.
Pictured above is the smokehouse, which is located behind the home.
Above is the well, arbor, and smokehouse.
If you visit the Pierre Menard Home in October, look closely in the yard, and you may see flowers like the ones pictured above.
An excellent program on WTVP 47 of Peoria is Illinois Adventure, and they have created a short clip on the Pierre Menard Home, which can be seen below.
An excellent program on WTVP 47 of Peoria is Illinois Adventure, and they have created a short clip on the Pierre Menard Home, which can be seen below.
The shaded path between the Pierre Menard Home and the Fort Kaskaskia State Park
The Pierre Menard Home is located at the base of the bluffs. Perched on top of the bluffs immediately behind the home is the site of the old Fort Kaskaskia, the Garrison Hill Cemetery where the Menard family is buried, and a beautiful lookout with vistas of the Mississippi River valley, all part of Fort Kaskaskia State Park. Behind the Menard home there are stairs that lead up to Fort Kaskaskia, which is a beautiful walk in any season.
Fort Kaskaskia State Park
Maple tree in October along the earthenworks of the old Fort Kaskaskia
During the French and Indian War in 1759, the French began construction of a fort across the Kaskaskia River on top of the bluffs to defend the town from attack. The fort did not take any part in the war, and when the British took over Kaskaskia, they ignored the fort and built their own in town. After the Americans captured Kaskaskia in 1778, they too ignored the fort, and it was from time to time occupied by bandits that preyed on the local populace. The Americans finally rebuilt the fort there in 1803 and stationed troops there until 1807. The fort was last used by residents of Kaskaskia during the War of 1812 as a place to protect themselves from Indian attacks.
Below the dry moat and the earthenworks of the fort can still be seen. If you look closely at the center of the picture, you can see what looks like a dip in the earthenworks that is connected to a raised area in the moat. This would have been one of the entrances.
Below the dry moat and the earthenworks of the fort can still be seen. If you look closely at the center of the picture, you can see what looks like a dip in the earthenworks that is connected to a raised area in the moat. This would have been one of the entrances.
Just a few feet to the north of the remnants of Fort Kaskaskia is Garrison Hill Cemetery. The cemetery was created after the flood of 1881 when the flood nearly destroyed the city. The residents decided to move the graves of the settlers to the high ground near the old Fort Kaskaskia, high above the flood waters. There are many old grave markers, but there are perhaps just as many unmarked graves that have had their stones succumb to time and neglect.
Grave of Pierre Menard
Just a few feet north of Garrison Hill Cemetery is the lookout over the Mississippi River.
View of the Mississippi River from Fort Kaskaskia State Park. The small channel that is entering the Mississippi a little right of center is the Kaskaskia River. When Kaskaskia was founded in 1703, it was the Kaskaskia that flowed below these bluffs, not the Mississippi.
Old Glory flying near the lookout in Fort Kaskaskia State Park.
Bibliography
Combined History of Randolph, Monroe, and Perry Counties. Philadelphia: J.L. McDonough & Co., 1883.
Davis, James. Frontier Illinois. Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press, 1998.
"Kaskaskia Bell State Historic Site." guidepostusa.com. GuidepostUSA, 2008. Web. 27 November 2010.
"Peoria Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma." peoriatribe.com. Peoria Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma, 2010. Web. 26 November 2010.
"Pierre Menard Home." randolphcountyillinois.net. Randolph County Illinois, n.d. Web. 27 November 2010.
"Pike Town Now Smallest in the State." myjournalcourier.com. Freedom Communications, 2011. Web. 28 March 2011.
"Visitors Guide to Kaskaskia." greatriverroad.com. greatriverroad.com, 2009. Web. 27 November 2010.
Davis, James. Frontier Illinois. Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press, 1998.
"Kaskaskia Bell State Historic Site." guidepostusa.com. GuidepostUSA, 2008. Web. 27 November 2010.
"Peoria Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma." peoriatribe.com. Peoria Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma, 2010. Web. 26 November 2010.
"Pierre Menard Home." randolphcountyillinois.net. Randolph County Illinois, n.d. Web. 27 November 2010.
"Pike Town Now Smallest in the State." myjournalcourier.com. Freedom Communications, 2011. Web. 28 March 2011.
"Visitors Guide to Kaskaskia." greatriverroad.com. greatriverroad.com, 2009. Web. 27 November 2010.
