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Thy Wondrous Story, Illinois
Brookport,
IL ,
USA
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Illinois State
Historical Marker
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The fertile prairies in Illinois attracted the attention of French trader Louis Jolliet and Father Jacques Marquette as they explored the Mississippi and Illinois Rivers in 1673. France claimed this region until 1763 when she surrendered it to Great Britain by the Treaty of Paris. During the American Revolution George Rogers Clark and his small army scored a bloodless victory when they captured Kaskaskia for the Commonwealth of Virginia, and Illinois became a county of Virginia. This area was ceded to the Unites States in 1784, and became part of the Northwest Territory and the Indiana and Illinois Territories. On December 3, 1818, Illinois entered the Union as the twenty-first state. Many of the early settlers came from Kentucky, Tennessee, and the southeastern coastal states to live in the southern quarter of Illinois. As the better land was taken up, the line of settlement advanced northward. Within the southern portion of the state, Kaskaskia on the Mississippi River was the territorial and the first state capital, and Vandalia was the second state capital. Eight miles west US 45 passes Fort Massac State park, a site which the French fortified extensively in 1757. George Rogers Clark entered the Illinois country near it on his way to capture Kaskaskia. The United States used Fort Massac from 1794 until it was finally abandoned in 1814.
Last updated: 2/14/2015 15:17:00 |
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Related Themes: C.S.A., Confederate States of America, Confederacy, Union, American Revolution, the Revolutionary War.
See more historic sites related to Illinois in the Revolution.
View other Illinois Civil War Historical Markers
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