jum,mmMMGmMm -""- ^■>"--" — ^^^'" Class JEi4/__ CQE^RIGHT DEPOSm THE MAKING OF ILLINOIS HISTORY and CIVICS ILLINOIS AND THE NATION BY OLIVER R. TROWBRIDGE AND GILBERT P. RANDLE AN OUTLINE OF UNITED STATES HISTORY BY J. O. HALL OUTLINES OF CIVIL GOVERNMENT BY J. M. CALLAHAN ONE THOUSAND QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS IN UNITED STATES HISTORY STARVED ROCK BY EATON G. OSMAN UNITED STATES HISTORY CARDS BY MARY H. HUSTED OUTLINES IN UNITED STATES HISTORY BY S. LAURA ENSIGN AND M. W. BROOKS ANALYSIS OF ADVANCED AMERICAN HISTORY BY JESSIE LEWIS LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS BY EDWARD S. ELLIS AMERICAN HEROES FROM HISTORY BY I. N. McFEE BOYS AND GIRLS OF COLONIAL DAYS WHAT TO DO FOR UNCLE SAM BY CAROLYN SHERWIN BAILEY GLIMPSES OF PIONEER LIFE BY CORA L. LIVINGSTON A. FLANAGAN COMPANY, CHICAGO ST. GAUDEN'S STATUE OF LINCOLN LINCOLN PARK, CHICAGO The Making of Illinois A HISTOKY OF THE STATE FROM THE EARLIEST RECORDS TO THE PRESENT TIME By IRWIN F. MATHER, A. M. Formerly Superintendent of Schools, Centralia, Illinois 1922 A. FLANAGAN COMPANY, CTHICAGO COPYRIGHT. 1900, BY T. F. MATHER COPYRIGHT, 1911, 1913. 1916, 1917, 1922, BY A. FLANAGAN COMPAN S" PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA FEB 1 1 1522 ©CI.AB54639 PREFACE The history of Illinois, embracing more than two cen- turies of discovery, explorations, settlement and develop- ment, is rich in incident and abounds in valuable lessons. Her soil has been occupied successively by Indian, Frenchman, Englishman and American. The men w^ho planted her foundations were generous, noble and brave. Within her borders clashed and finally harmonized the principles of Cavalier and Puritan. Her sons have become leaders in the councils of the nation, and, on the field of battle, have led our armies to victory. No less famous than her statesmen and soldiers have been the commercial and industrial leaders nurtured upon her soil. Notwithstanding the fact that there is so much that is honorable and glorious in her steady progress, "from a wilderness of prairies" to a great and populous State, the history of Illinois is unfamiliar to most of her citizens. The youth in her public schools are better acquainted with the early history of Virginia, or Massachusetts, than with the stirring events connected with the establishment of their native State, and we should encourage our boys and girls in the study of the history of their State and strengthen the love for Illinois. The author wishes to thank for helpful suggestions and kindly criticism: Mr. John E. Ferreira, of East Chicago; Supt. Walter R. Hatfield, of Pittsfield; Prof. David PREFACE Felmley, of Normal; Dr. Edward C. Page, of De Kalb; Dr. W. E. Simonds, of Galesburg, and Gen. P. C. Hays, of Joliet. Many of the illustrations have been obtained through the courtesy of Mr. Charles Evans, Seci-^tary of the Chicago Historical Association. Supt. T. C. Clendennen, of Cairo, furnished the illustra- tion of a "Bird's-eye View of Cairo." The illustrations of the bronze relief tablets in the chapters on Marquette and La Salle were obtained from the Marquette building, Chicago. The tablets pertaining to Marquette's journey were designed by the sculptor, Mr. Herman A. McNeil, a faithful student of Indian char- acteristics. The heads of the noted Indian Sachems and early explorers were modeled by Mr. Edward Kemeys, the sculptor whose work received wide recognition at the World's Fair. CONTENTS INTRODUCTORY I. Illinois 15 II. The Indians 21 PERIOD OF EXPLORATION III. JoLiET AND Marquette 33 IV. LaSalle 48 V. ToNTi. 60 VI. La Salle's Return to Illinois 68 VII. Old Kaskaskia and the Early French 78 VIII. Fort Chartres and the British 86 TERRITORIAL PERIOD IX. Colonel George Rogers Clark and the Amertcan Occupation 97 X. The Ordinance of 1787 112 XI. The Illinois Pioneers 117 XII. The Illinois Rangers 123 XIII. The Block Houses and Old Fort Dearborn 129 XIV. Keel Boats 137 CONTENTS STATE PERIOD XV. Statehood and the Constitution 141 XVI. The Fight Against Slavery 149 XVII. Our State Capitals 157 XVIII. Nauvoo and the Mormons 165 XIX. Transportation 170 XX. Illinois in the Mexican War 179 XXI. Lincoln in Illinois 185 XXII. Illinois in the Civil War 197 XXIII. Illinois in the Spanish-American War 209 XXIV. Illinois in the World War 212 XXV. Chicago 217 XXVI. Our State Institutions 235 XXVII. Education in Illinois 240 XXVIII. Forest Preserve Districts 252 XXIX. Illinois Today 259 Index 273 ILLUSTRATIONS PAGE Statue of Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln Park. Chicago. .. .Frontispiece Map Showing the Indian Tribes in Illinois in 1765 20 Chicagou 2Z Black Hawk 25 An Indian Buffalo Hunt Opposite 26 An Indian Dance Opposite 27 First Settlement in Chicago Opposite ZZ Departure of Marquette 34 Jolliet '}>! Totem of the Illinois 38 The Piasa God 40 Death of Marquette 46 Marquette Opposite 46 La Salle Opposite 47 Robert Cavalier La Salle 49 Tonti - 61 Nika 12 Flag of France 11 Wolf's Point 82 A Plan of the Several \^illages in the Illinois Country with Part of the Mississippi 85 Fort Chartres (1718) 88 Forts and Settlements of the Early French in the Ohio and Mississippi Valleys 94 Col. George Rogers Clark 96 Cabin in Which Abraham Lincoln was Born 98 Gen. Arthur St. Clair 114 View of First Fort Dearborn 132 John Kinzie's House 135 Lovejoy Monument. Alton 140 Ninian Edwards 141 Sweet's Old Hotel at Kaskaskia 145 Illinois Supreme Court Building. Springfield Opposite 146 Old State House at Kaskaskia Opposite 147 Gov. Edward Coles 149 ILLUSTRATIONS ^ PAGE First Capitol, Kaskaskia 157 Second Capitol, Vandalia 159 Third Capitol Building, Springfield 161 The Senate Chamber, Springfield Opposite 162 The Assembly Chamber, Springfield Opposite 163 Fourth State Capitol, Springfield 164 Cairo, Illinois, Today 174 Lincoln Monument, Springfield 188 The Lincoln Home, Springfield 191 Stephen A. Douglas 193 Abraham Lincoln 196 Gen. U. S. Grant 198 Illinois Monument at Vicksburg 201 Battle of Shiloh 202 The U. S. Battleship Maine at Havar;a 210 Liberty Loan Parade at Rockford 213 The Famous Prairie Division, Home from Franc? 214 View of Chicago in 1820 218 U. S. Courthouse and Postofiice, Chicago 221 Burnt District of the Great Chicago Fire 224 City Hall, Chicago 225 Field Columbian Museum. Chicago 229 Art Institute, Chicago 231 Chicago Municipal Pier 233 Illinois State Normal University, Normal 241 Eastern Illinois State Normal School, Charleston 242 Panorama of University of Illinois, Urbana 246 Panorama of University of Chicago 249 Harris Hall, Northwestern University, Evanston 250 Forest Preserve, Cook County, Illinois 253 Recreation, Forest Preserve, Cook County, Illinois 254 Starved Rock 257 French Canyon, Ravine near Starved Rock 258 Illinois Centennial Monument, Chicago 263 Map of Illinois Showing County Boundaries 263 Illinois Congressional Districts 270 Illinois Senatorial Districts 271 Illinois Judicial Circuits 272 INTRODUCTORY "By thy rivers gently flowing, Illinois, Illinois, O'er the prairies, verdant, growing, Illinois, Illinois, Comes an echo on the breeze. Rustling through the leafy trees, And its mellow tones are these, Illinois, Illinois, And its mellow tones are these, Illinois." CHAPTER I. ILLINOIS. The State of Illinois is a gently sloping tableland. Its extreme length is three hundred and eighty-five miles, and its extreme breadth two hundred and eighteen miles. It is larger in area than New England without Maine. If Illinois were laid upon the Atlantic coast, it would stretch from Boston, Mass., to Old Point Comfort in Virginia. With the exception of a broken, hilly ridge of land that crosses the southern portion of the State from west to east, the surface of Illinois is nearly level, and slopes from an altitude of eleven hundred and seventy live feet above the sea on the north, to Cairo, where the altitude is but three hundred and fifty feet. Including the boundary rivers, Illinois possesses many hundreds of miles of navigable waterways. These streams, furnishing a ready means of transportation, were important factors in the early development of the State. A northern tributary to the Illinois River takes its rise in the broad, flat prairies within cannon shot of Lake Michigan. At an early day a canal was constructed, connecting this river with the lake, thus forming a continuous water passage from the Atlantic Ocean, by way of the St. Lawrence, to the Gulf of Mexico. Closely linked to both the Northern and the Southern States by lake and river, Illinois lies wholly within that great temperate belt that has been the birthplace of the most ag- 15 l6 THE MAKING OF ILLINOIS. gressive peoples of the world. In the heart of the Missis- sippi Valley, the most productive region of the United States, Illinois is essentially a farming State, and grows within her borders nearly every staple food product of the world. To illustrate the wealth of her agricultural re- sources, it may be said that the value of all the gold and silver mined in the United States for the last year reported was $121,000,000. The value of the farm products of I-linois for the same year was over $813,000,000. While nature bestowed upon Illinois so productive a soil, she also filled the earth beneath with an abundant store of minerals. The geologist tells us that millions of years ago, when the earth was young, upon the bare ribs of rock, were laid great deposits of limestone and sand- stone. "Niagara" limestone is extensively quarried through- out the northern part of the state. This stone entered largely into the construction of the Capitol building at Springfield, and the Eads Bridge at St. Louis. Another deposit of limestone, containing lead and zinc (galinite) gave name to the city of Galena. Above these layers of limestone is found a deposit called •'St. Peter's Sandstone." Because of its purity and free- dom from coloring matter, this sandstone is extensively used at Alton, and other places, in the manufacture of glass. Starved Rock, Deer Park and many of the picturesque bluffs located within the area of LaSalle county and along the Illinois River are of this formation. At Joliet, In the vicinity of Rock Island, and In other localities may be found formations of the Niagara limestone group. In other sections may be seen the sub-carboniferous and the carboniferous containing coal. ILLINOIS 17 Above these deposits are found many layers of limestone and standstone containing fossils of various kinds, which are records of earlier vegetable and animal liTe. The warm, moist atmosphere of that period rendered veg- etation luxuriant. Great forests covered the slopes and hills, and impenetrable jungles spread over the marshy plains. Pine trees lifted their stately heads side by side with the graceful lepidodendron. Gigantic ferns raised their tufted fronds high in the steamy air. Many other strange growths flourished in these ancient forests. One peculiar tree, the sigillarid, had a large, fluted trunk, which resembled a clustered column. Thirty feet from its base ex- tended immense branches, covered with a grass-like foliage The bark of such a tree, five feet in diameter, w^as thirteen inches thick. The wood was in the form of a cylinder and enclosed a ten-inch column of pith. Caterpillars and snails crawled upon the slim.y banks of streams ; within the swamps and seas dwelt many huge creatures having forms resembhng frogs and lizards ; bright-hued butterflies, beetles and dragonflies arose in brilliant clouds above the tropical foliage. As ages passed, these forests gradually sank with the soil in which they grew and became imbedded in the miry deposits, or were swept by dark rivers into shallow lakes. Through the agency of heat and pressure this embedded vegetation was gradually transformed into coal. Two-thirds of the surface of Illinois is underlaid by these vast coal deposits, every layer of which corresponds to an ancient forest and varies in thickness from a few inches to eleven feet. In some counties these veins of coal are sometimes near the surface; in others, shafts are sunk to l8 THE MAKING OF ILLINOIS. a depth of several hundred feet. As it requires eight cubic feet of wood to form one cubic foot of coal, these ancient forests must have been growing for ages. England, the greatest coal consuming nation of the world, possesses twelve thousand square miles of coal measures. It is estimated that the coal energy produced by the coal consumed in that country in a single day is equal to the power furnished by nineteen servants for each inhabitant, and that at this rate of consumption the coal supply of Great Britain will be exhausted in two hundred, and fifty years. At the same rate, the coal measures of Illinois would furnish England with mechanical power and heat for one hundred thousand years. Above the coal are layers of sandstone and limestone. One of these deposits, the "Burlington" limestone, fur- nished the material to build the court house at Monmouth. Erom another, the "Keokuk" limestone, was constructed the Mormon Temple at Nauvoo, the Custom House at Galena, and the Postoffice at Springfield. A fine quality of lime is made from a third deposit, the St. Louis lime- stone. The city of Joliet owes much of its importance to the splendid quarries of limestone found in its vicinity. As time went on, many strange creatures appeared upon the earth. Great beasts roamed the forests; frightful rep- tiles sported in the rivers and shallow seas. This is called the age of Mammoths. During this period, the waters of the Gulf of Mexico receded from a few miles below the mouth of the Ohio River to their present limits. The peninsula of Elorida was raised above the sea, and the ranges of the Rocky Mountains were uplifted The period of Mammoths was followed by the Ice age; tropical heat was succeeded by arctic cold. Great floes of ice and towering bergs, carrying soil and rocks from the distant North, drifted southward. In this manner the surface of the State was covered with a mass of rock and gravel to a depth of two hundred feet at the north. The thickness of this deposit gradually decreases, until, at the southern border, it almost disappears. Upon the disintegrating mass of mineral, vegetation grew luxuriantly, covering the earth with a rich carpet of verdure that, decaying, formed the black soil of the prairies and the deep loam of the bottom lands. By this process there were released from the rocks those mysterious elements which give beauty to the flower, color to the fruit and substance to the grain. The State contains seven distinct drainage basins, each of these being drained respectively by Lake Michigan, the Mississippi, Ohio, Embarrass, Kankasia, Big Muddy, Rock, and Illinois Rivers. Many large sections of the State are almost level and thousands of acres were ready to be tilled by the first farmers without the usual necessity of remov- ing trees or stumps. The natural drainage combined with an exceptionally rich soil has, through the industry of the husbandmen, given to Illinois her exalted position as the first agricul- tural State in the Nation. SHOW IDIAN CHAPTER II. THE INDIAN. When first explored, Illinois, like other portions of our country, was inhabited by the red men. How many years they had dwelt here or what peoples they displaced, we do not know. There are historians who believe that they were preceded by another race, who built beautiful palaces and large cities which long ago crumbled into dust. Others suppose that mounds, and various evidences of an earlier occupation of the territory, were the works of the ancestors of the Indian. When the Europeans discovered America they found the Indians living in small villages or scattered in roving bands. Indians east of the Mississippi River have been classified in groups, each embracing several tribes more or less con- nected by ties of blood, and these groups placed in three general divisions: the Muskhogees, who lived south of the Tennessee River and comprised the Choctaw, the Chickasaw, Creek and Seminole tribes; the Iroquois, who occupied the territory extending from the Hudson and Delaware Rivers westward to the Great Lakes and north to the St. Lawrence. These warlike people included the famous five Nations of New York, — Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga and Seneca, and also the Cherokees, Hurons, Eries and the Tuscaroras. And finally the powerful Algonquin family, who occu- pied the remaining territory east of the Mississippi River. 21 22 THE MAKING OF ILLINOIS. This family embraced the Narragansetts, Pequots and Mohegans of New England; the Powhatans and Dela- wares of Virginia ; the Shawnees, who dwelt on the Ohio, and a large number of the tribes living on the shores of the Great Lakes. Everywhere the early voyagers came in contact with these people. The French found them upon the banks of the St. Lawrence. It was an Algonquin who came into the village of the Pilgrim, shouting "Welcome ! English- man !" An Algonquin greeted Roger Williams as he landed on the site of the future city of Providence, with the words, "What cheer?" Captain John Smith bought corn from them in Virginia ; William Penn made his treaty with them in the shade of the Pennsylvania elm ; the Jesuit missionaries baptized them with the waters of the Mississippi. The Indians knew nothing of the value of iron or other metals, but fashioned their simple implements or weapons out of stone and bone. Their dress was made from the skin of animals or the fiber of some kinds of bark^ and their rude huts were covered with the same materials. Their only musical instrument gave forth discordant sounds. Improvident to the extreme they cultivated the soil but little, and depended almost entirely upon the chase. Hunting and dancing constituted their chief enjoyments. "Their great business in life was to procure food and devour it, to subdue their enemies and scalp them. It is probable that if they had never come in contact with the whites, they would have remained untamed, savage and ignorant." To such a people the "Illinois country," with its rolling THE INDIAN. 23 prairies, the feeding-ground of buffalo and deer; its for- ests filled with bears and panthers; its navigable rivers over which their canoes could be propelled with little exer- tion, offered a congenial home. Seven different nations dwelt in the re- gion, and al- though they all belonged to the Algonquin fam- ily, they were con stantly at war among themselves. In the southeast were adventur- ous Shawnees, who had come from Georgia. This tribe pro- duced the great Tecumseh. North of them and extending to the Lakes, lived the brave and sagacious Miami, who vv^ere always opposed to the white men, and greatly retarded the early settlement of the country. West of the Miami were the fierce Kickapoos, who occupied the lands along the Vermillion and Sangamon crncA(;()i:. Illinois Chief, Who Visited France in 1723. 24 THE MAKING OF ILLINOIS. Rivers. Here they lived for a hundred years until they were driven westward by the whites' The Potawatonii drifted westward from the St. Law- rence River, and divided into three sections, one of which settled upon the headwaters of the Kankakee and Illinois Rivers. The Winnebagos lived to the west, but were driven iiorthward beyond the bounds of the present State, and finally settled near Green Bay. These people distinguished themselves in various wars against the whites. The restless Sacs and Foxes settled upon Rock River, and for a hundred years were a menace to the early settlers of Illinois. Between these various peoples and occupying the fairest lands, dwelt the Illini or Illinois Indians, a term signifying ''real men." The Illinois, a powerful confederation composed of the Kaskaskias, Tamaroas, Cahokias, Peorias and Mitchi- gami, laid claim to all the lands from the sources of the Illinois River westward to the Mississippi and southward to the Ohio. Their favorite meeting ground was in Central Illinois. Here upon the Illinois River, near the present village of Utica, was located the largest of their seventeen villages, which they called Kaskaskia. Upon Peoria Lake was the chief town of the Peorias, while, nearly opposite the present site of St. Louis, the Cahokias and Tamaroas had established their chief village. One of the French missionaries, named Membre, speak- ing of these Illinois Indians, states that, while they were **tall of stature, strong and robust, the swiftest runners in the world and good archers," they were "idle, revengeful, THE INDIAN, 25 jealous, cunning, dissolute and thievish." On the fertile meadows that lined the banks of the rivers the squaws and old men cultivated vegetables and Indian corn, which they stored in rude caves for winter use. These Illinois Indians waged constant war with the neighboring tribes, who wanted to possess their splendid hunting grounds. Victory- was usually upon their side, for they were brave and sagacious. The blood-thirsty Sioux fre- quently made war upon the more peaceful Al- gonquins on the Illinois side, but the most dread- ed foes of the Illinois Indians were the fierce Iroquois, whose home was south of distant Lake Erie. They often made the long journey of more than five hun- dred miles through the forests to slaughter the tribes in the valley of black hawk, the Illinois, laying waste Chief of the Sacs and Foxes. their fields and leaving their villages in smoking ruins. The early French were kindly received by the Illinois Indians, who hoped to procure firearms from them, and with their assistance, to subdue the common foe. The friendship and goodwill, which had been so strongly estab- lished between the Frenchmen and the Illinois Indians, 26 THE MAKING OF ILLINOIS. continued as long as the French pioneers remained in the territory of Illinois. Near the close of the seventeenth century, the Iroquois, possibly encouraged by the English, sent six hundred picked warriors against the Illinois. The attack was a sur- prise ; twelve hundred Illinois warriors were killed, and the entire tribe was scattered. After the Iroquois went back to Lake Erie, many Illinois returned to their homes, but their strength was broken. Hemmed in by relentless tribes, their numbers steadily diminished. In 1769 the remnant of the band, pursued by the Potawatomi, was compelled to take refuge on the site of old Fort St. Louis. Here they could have defended themselves for a long time, as the rock is impregnable and provisions were not lacking.' But water could be obtained only from the river far below, by means of a vessel attached to the end of a grape vine. The Potawatomi, concealed near the base of the cliff, seized the vessels as they were lowered. In vain did the Illinois attempt to get their water supply in the middle of the darkest nights, and at last, famishing with thirst, they slowly starved to death, only one escaping to tell the tale of their sufferings. The promontory on the Illinois River, where this tragic event occurred, received the name of Starved Rock. Thus miserably perished, hunted to death by their own kindred, the last of that confederation which at one time constituted the most powerful people of the Illinois valley. The Indians were destined to give place to a stronger race. By treaty and conquest, the remaining tribes were finally removed, and Illinois became the possession of the white man. THR BLACK HAWK WAR. 2/ THE BLACK HAWK WAR. The Black Hawk War was the last united effort of the Indian tribes to drive the whites from the soil of Illinois. At the opening of the Nineteenth century the Sacs and Foxes occupied the entire territory included between the Rock River and the Mississippi. On November 3d, 1804, by a treaty made at St. Louis between General Harrison and five chiefs representing the Sacs and Foxes and the Winnebago tribes, these lands were ceded to the United States, with the understanding that the Indians would leave the territory when the lands were required by the whites for "actual settlement." During the war of 1812 some Indians who were opposed to the conditions of this treaty, under the leadership of Black Hawk, sided with the British and were known as "The British Band." The remaining Sacs and Foxes, with Keo- kuk, the principal chief of the tribe, opposed the policy of aggression against the United States. At the close of the war of 1812 Black Hawk established his village at the confluence of the Rock and the Mississippi Rivers. All went well with the Indians until 1830, when Keokuk, without the knowledge of the rival chief, made a final cession of all lands held by his tribe east of the Missis- sippi River. The treaty further provided that Black Hawk and his band were to give up their villages, corn fields and hunting grounds during the following year. When the veteran warrior heard the news he was thoroughly aroused and declared both treaties to have been obtained through fraud. Without delay he strove to unite all Indians in the common cause of resisting the whites. In the meantime aS THE MAKING OF ILLINOIS. Ke?>kuk and his band quietly crossed to the west bank of the Mississippi River. When Black Hawk and his Indians returned from their winter hunting trip in the spring of 1831 they discovered that the very ground on which their village stood had been purchased by a fur-trader who was preparing to plant a corn field of seven hundred acres which the Indians had cultivated for years. The indignant chief was for imme- diate war, but temperate counsels prevailed and the field was finally divided between the white man and the chief with the understanding that each was to cultivate his re- spective half. But constant disputes arose and in May eight white men united in a memorial of grievance to Gov- ernor Reynolds. A call for volunteers, to protect settlers, was made without delay. Early in June General Gaines, arrived at Fort Armstrong, on Rock Island, prepared to execute the orders of the Governor. Black Hawk and his band were persuaded to cross the Mississippi and the soldiers took possession of the Indian village. Finding that the Indians were not inclined to be hostile, rations were issued to them and the volunteer sol- diers were dismissed. Early in the spring of 1832 Black Hawk and his men re- crossed the Mississippi and marched up the Rock River, declaring that they were going to their friends, the Winne- bagoes, who lived in Wisconsin, for the purpose of plant- ing corn. General Atkinson, in command at Fort Arm- strong, warned him to return, but undeterred, Black Hawk pressed on iio Dixon's ford, where he pitched his camp."^ * Related by a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Dixon. THE BLACK HAWK WAR. 29 Mrs. Dixon invited the chief and his friends to dine with her and treated him with much courtesy. Black Hawk never forgot the kindness shown him by this woman. The news of Black Hawk's return to Illinois quickly reached Governor Reynolds, who immediately sent General Whiteside with eighteen hundred volunteers to expel the intruder from the State. When General Whiteside reached Dixon he learned that Black Hawk was encamped upon the banks of Sycamore Creek, thirty miles distant. A force of nearly three hundred men, in command of an am- bitious officer, named Stillman, was sent forward to recon- noiter. Black Hawk was feasting his Winnebago friends at the time and sent six of his warriors, under the protection of a white flag, to meet the approaching party. The undis- ciplined volunteers fired upon the Indians, killing two of their number. Justly aroused, Black Hawk commanded his men to give battle and the volunteer force was driven back in confusion, leaving eleven of their number dead upon the field. These were the first white men killed in the Black Hawk war. The alarm of an Indian war rapidly spread among the exposed settlements and farms. Chiefly through the aid of the noble old Potawatomi chief, Shebana, the settlers, in the region of Bureau Creek were warned and fled for safety to Ottawa. Those near Plainfield and Naperville found shelter at Fort Dearborn. A few famiUes upon In- dian Creek, who refused to heed the warning, were mur- dered, and two little girls, Sylvia and Rachel Hall, were carried into captivity. General Whiteside immediately marched to the scene of Stillman's defeat, but Black Hawk had moved northward. 30 THE MAKING OF ILLINOIS. The soldiers who had volunteered for Indian service had seen enough of fighting and as their terms of enlistment had expired refused to pursue the chief and his band. Two thousand more men were speedily enlisted, but in the interim Black Hawk and his warriors were preying upon the settlements near Galena. The most notable attack in this region was upon the Apple River fort, where Elizabeth now stands. The Indians besieged the place for an entire day, but the brave garrison defended the fort so gallantly that Black Hawk withdrew and turned his attention to an attacking force approaching under Colonel Dement. These troops came very near falling into an ambuscade, but es- caped in safety to the shelter of buildings at Kellogg's grove, where they were secure from the enemy. A more formidable army was now sent against the In- dians, and Black Hawk retreated northward intending to save himself by crossing the Mississippi River. At Blue Mounds, upon the banks of the Wisconsin River, he was overtaken by General Henry and a battle ensued on July 2Tst, in which the Indians lost about fifty warriors. The Indians continued their retreat until August 2d, when they were again overtaken near the mouth of Bad Ax River Here a fierce battle was fought and almost all in Black Hawk's band were killed or drowned. Broken hearted the veteran warrior fled to a Winnebago village and gave himself up to two chiefs, who delivered aim to the Indian agent, General Street, at Prairie du Chien. General Scott, with nine companies of troops, had ar- '*ved at Fort Dearborn, but his men were stricken with f;nolera and he took little or no part in the campaign. When his m^n recovered they were marched to a de- THE BLACK HAWK WAR. 3 I serted Indian village between the present site of Beloit and Tnttle Creek, and soon after proceeded to Fort Armstrong. Early in September Black Hawk and his captured war- riors were sent to Jefferson Barracks, near St. Louis. The following spring the famous warrior was carried to Wash- ington City and thence sent to Fortress Monroe. After a trial he was returned to his own people as nothing but ^'honorable warfare" could be charged against him. In the cities of the East he attracted much attention and won compliments from every side. He told the legislators that the day would come when the courts of justice and prisons of the white men would be powerless to protect society from criminals that the white man's civilization fostered and developed.^^ "Serious predictions," remarked Wendell Phillips, "and it is a warning worth heeding." Black Hawk was restored to his tribe as a chief subordi- nate to Keokuk, and established his home on the banks of the beautiful Des Aloines River. Here he lived in peace and contentment until his death, which occurred on October 3d, 1835. His friends buried him in a sitting posture and erected above the grave a large mound of earth. Black Hawk has been called "the last native defender of the soil of Illinois," and although a brave and fearless man, he was claimed by some to be inferior in talent to Tecumseh or Little Turtle. He fought bravely and some- times victoriously, but did not show^ any very remark- able talents as a leader. That he was injured by his oppo- nents cannot be denied ; and that he displayed the white flag and gave notice of his willingness to surrender with his small band of warriors, and thus avoid useless bloodshed, • r)r;ikp. 32 THE MAKING OF ILLINOIS. and was met and answered by the rifle instead, is also true. Black Hawk was conscious of the inferior strength of his body of men, when compared to that of his foes, and from the beginning of hostilities had nothing to gain and every- thing to lose by engaging in battle with the Americans. He fought bravely against superior numbers and without the assistance of allies, although he had been promised help from them. The other Indian tribes having avoided [he unequal contest, he was left to depend solely upon his own resources. In a closing address to his defeated warriors he is quoted as saying: "Farewell! Black Hawk tried to serve you and avenge your wrongs. He drank the blood of some of the whites. His plans, however, are stopped ; he can do noth- ing further. He is near his end. His sun is setting and he will rise no more. Farewell to Black Hawk." There can be no doubt that the character of Black Hawk is beyond reproach as a man of honor, full of noble and generous aspirations. Victor Hugo, basing his opinion of him on the reports of his enemies alone, in his Jersey speech, de- clared him the peer of ''any patriot, and as much above / lexander, Scipio, Napoleon and such barbarians, as the moon in its zenith is above the earth." PERIOD OF EXPLORATION ,^ W '^ 3^ C'g ca aii-^ii oi3 ^ £« 01 -3 .-^.^-S-S^ ^^§ S^eS' - ^•2-' 5 5 9 .2 §>.2 § « 2 1 SJ"^ OH a HPtiHQHKog^ ^tS4 £5 a THE BLOCK HOUSES. I33 tractor's (sutler's) store and general storehouse on the north. All the buildings were constructed of logs, and all were entirely within this enclosure except the block houses, which projected partially beyond the line of pickets to enable their defenders to command the approaches to the fort. A sally port with subterranean passage led from the parade ground within the fort to the river bank on the north, and furnished a means of escape in case of emergency. It also could be used in obtaining water should the well within the enclosure prove inadequate. Beyond the main line of pickets was another similar line, making two strong pali- sades entirely surrounding the fort. (See illustration.) Across the river stood the home of John Kinzie, an American fur trader with whom the Indians were very friendly. His home escaped destruction at the time of the massacre, 1812, and the family returned to it four years later and lived there until Mr. Kinzie's death in 1828. Near the Kinzie home was the cabin of Antoine Ouil- mette, a Frenchman, whose Indian wife was a member of the Potawatomi tribe. They were never molested by Indians, and in this house Black Partridge, a friendly Indian who did all he could to protect the white people during the massacre, succeeded in hiding Mrs. Helm, a daughter of Mrs. Kinzie. Captain Whistler was ordered to another post in 18 10, and Captain Heald was sent to Fort Dearborn. The new commandant was a strict military disciplinarian, and unused to the customs prevailing at frontier posts. The literal manner in which he construed his instructions is thought to have been largely responsible for the disasters that overtook the garrison. 134 THE MAKING OF ILLINOIS. The Indians, influenced by Tecumseh, were becoming hostile to the encroachment of white settlers, and after the Battle of Tippecanoe the feeling was intensified. Early in April of 1812 a hostile band of Winnebagos murdered and scalped two men working at "Hardscrabble," the farm of Mr. Lee, whose son and another man escaped and alarmed the settlement. But as weeks passed without further hostilities, the garrison relaxed its vigilance. In August, a friendly Indian messenger, Winnemeg, brought news that war had been declared against Great Britain and the Indians were fighting with the British. General Hull's letter instructed Captain Heald to evacuate Fort Dearborn and proceed to Fort Wayne. Arms and ammunition were to be destroyed and supplies given to the Indians who might be induced to escort the troops. Both Winnemeg and Mr. Kinzie who had been warned by friendly Indians advised Captain Heald to hold the fort, which was well supplied with ammunition and provisions, until reinforcements arrived, rather than risk the journey through a hostile country. Captain Heald insisted on car- rying out his orders, and for this purpose delayed the journey until large bands of Indians had assembled. Rely- ing on the promise of the Indians to furnish an escort, Captain Heald gave the supplies to the savages, but real- izing the danger of arming them, he threw the ammunition in the well and poured the liquor into the river. This greatly angered the Indians. Captain Wells, with a band of friendly Miami Indians arrived from Fort Wayne with the intention of preventing the abandonment of the fort. Learning that the garrison had already destroyed their ammunition and given up their 136 THE MAKING OF ILLINOIS. supplies, he realized that the journey must now be attempted. August 15, 1812, the troops marched out of the fort accompanied by the settlers with the exceptions of the Kinzie family, which had been placed in a boat bound for St. Joe, by Mr. Kinzie, on the advice of a friendly Indian. Mr. Kinzie, himself, accompanied the troops in the hope that his presence might restrain the savages in case of attack. Immediately on abandonment of the fort, the Indians rushed in and began their work of plundering and killing cattle. When the troops had proceeded about two miles they were attacked by about five hundred Indians. The brave little band made a gallant defense, but their ammuni- tion was soon exhausted and they were powerless against the superior numbers and the savagery of the Indians. John Kinzie and about thirty others escaped death, but nearly all of these were imprisoned and scattered over the country. The following day the Indians burned the fort. A monu- ment at the corner of Prairie Avenue and Sixteenth Street marks the site of the massacre. CHAPTER XIV. KEEL BOATS. During the early settlement of the Illinois country the rivers formed the great highways of travel. Goods were brought in flat boats and barges from Pittsburgh and New Orleans. The wheat and produce of the country were floated down to Louisiana in boats manned by the settlers themselves, but as the voyage was full of danger and re- quired many months, a class of men called keel-boatmen gradually arose, who made this work their sole business. Their boats were built very large and symmetrical, with a cabin for passengers as well as a space set apart for freight and stock. A long oar, sometimes thirty feet in length, with a blade like the fin of a fish, wa«^ used for steering the craft, while four large oars at the bow furnished the propelling power. A speed of five or six miles an hour could be obtained when giidingi down the stream ; but it was no easy task for such a boat to stem the current of a river, especially the Missis- sippi. A large sail was used when the wind favored, but often the crew walked many weary miles along the shore, and pulled the boat after them by means of a long rope. Sometimes the rope was carried ahead of the boat and attached to a rock or over-hanging tree, and then the crew stood upon the deck and pulled "hand over hand." The dangers of river navigation were increased by the large number of pirates and savages that infested the banks 138 THE MAKING OF ILLINOIS. of the Mississippi River. These desperadoes would sally forth froim their hiding places at the mouth of a convenient river or from the steep blufifs near Grand Tower, and fall upon solitary keel boats, seizing the cargo and murdering the crew and passengers. At length the pirates became so bold that keel boats were compelled to travel together for protection. In 1797 Spain placed on the Mississippi a large fleet of armed boats, which speedily cleared the river of these out- laws. ' STATE PERIOD I.OVEJOY MONUMENT — ALTON. CHAPTER XV. STATEHOOD AND THE CONSTITUTION. In 1809 the Territory of Illinois was separated from that of Indiana, a territorial government was organized and Ninian Edwards, of Kentucky, was appointed governor. Partly on account of peace with the Indians, which fol- lowed the War of 1812, and partly owing to an act of Congress in 1813, which gave set- tlers the right to "pre- empt" the public lands, the tide of immigration began to roll in upon the new region. (It might be well to ex- plain here that the law of pre-emption provid- ed that when a settler had made improve- ments upon a piece of government land, he could not be supplanted by another purchaser ninian Edwards until he had been afforded an opportunity to buy the land from the government.) The pioneer had used deer skins, coon skins and various other pelts as a medium of ex- change, but the payment of the soldiers and the arrival of 141 142 THE MAKING OF ILLINOIS. immigrants caused money to become more abundant. The population increased rapidly from 1812 to 1818. Many of the soldiers from the States of Virginia, Tennessee and Kentucky were so well pleased with the country that they sent for their families and established permanent homes. Before 1818 ten new counties had been formed, making a total of fifteen, and the population of the State had increased to almost forty thousand. "The Bank of Illinois" was established at Shawneetown in 1816, and the following year other banks were located at Kaskaskia and Edwardsville. Although the population had not reached 60,000, the number required for statehood by the ''Ordinance of 1787," the people, energetic and rest- less, clamored to be admitted to the Union. Congress passed an "enabling act" reducing the requirements to 40,000, and a questionable census reported the necessary number. The territorial delegate to Congress was Judge Nathaniel Pope, who thoroughly understood the needs of the Illinois country. Deep and lasting should be our grati- tude to this great man for his wise forethought in placing important amendments to the bill which admitted Illinois as a State. One of these amendments provided that three-fifths of the five per cent fund from the sale of public lands should be devoted to "the encouragement of education" and that one-sixth of this sum was to be used exclusively for the establishing and maintenance of a university or college. To-day the State is reaping the fruits of this wise legislation. Another amendment, which has proven of inestimable value to Illinois, provided that the northern boundary * STATEHOOD THE CONSTITUTIONS. I43 should be extended to the parallel of forty-two degrees and thirty minutes north latitude. This was fifty-one miles north of the line indicated by the "Ordinance of 1787." But Judge Pope contended that it would be of great advan- tage to Illinois and the nation to have the new State embrace a part of Lake Michigan. In his plea upon the floor of Congress he used these eloquent words : "If her commerce is to be confined to that great artery of communication, the Mississippi, which washes her entire western border, and to its chief tributary on the south, the Ohio, there is a possibility that her commercial relations with the South may become so closely connected that in the event of an attempted dismemberment of the Union, Illinois will cast her lot with the Southern States. On the other hand, to fix the northern boundary of Illinois upon such a parallel of latitude as would give to the State terri- torial jurisdiction over the southwestern shores of Lake Michigan, would be to unite the incipient commonwealth to the States of Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York in a bond of common interest well nigh indissoluble. By the adoption of such a line Illinois may become at some future time the keystone to the perpetuity of the Union." Judge Pope, with all his wisdom, probably "builded bet- ter than he knew." Had the original boundary prevailed Chicago would have been situated in Wisconsin instead of Illinois. It is a question whether in that case the city would have become so great, for the Illinois and Michigan canal, and the Illinois Central R. R., which contributed so largely to 144 ' THE MAKING OF ILLINOIS. her early growth, were due wholly to the enterprise of the State and would not have been built to any city in an adjoining territory. In 1856, the votes of the fourteen counties formed from this strip made Illinois a Republican State and assured the candidacy of Abraham Lincoln for the Presidency. " This change in boundary gave to Illinois the city of Galena, the home of U. S. Grant. These are some of the reasons why the change of our northern boundary through the wisdom of Judge Pope was of very great importance to Illinois and the nation. In July, 1818, thirty-three delegates gathered in Kaskas- kia to draft a constitution for the future State. The greater number of them were farmers, men of limited education, but possessed of mucli natural ability and experience in public affairs. The constitution framed by them was a brief document, copied largely from the constitutions of Kentucky, Ohio, and Indiana. In a series of eight articles it defined the duties and powers of the executive, judicial, and legislative departments of the new State. A curious provision of this constitution placed the veto power with a "Council of Revision," consisting of the governor and the judges of the Supreme bench. No salaries were fixed, but it provided that the Governor should not receive to exceed $1,000 annually, and the Secretary of State not more than $600. As if doubting the wisdom of placing too much power directly with the people, the Constitution provided that the only officers to be elected should be Governor, Lieutenant- STATEHOOD THE (:ONSTlTU'i:iONS. I45 fr - Original owned by Chicago Historical SocicLj SWEET'S OLD HOTEL AT KASKASKIA— THE FIRST IN ILLINOIS General Lafayette was entertained here Governor, Sheriff, Coroner, and County Commissioners. Other officers were to be appointed by the Governor or the General Assembly. Their labors ended, the members of the Convention adjourned on August 26, and on December 3, of the same year, Illinois was admitted to the Union as the eighth new State. Few public documents stand, unaltered, the test of time and experience. The ready-made Constitution was poorly suited to the needs of the people of Illinois. Upon it was heaped the blame for the many misfortunes that befell the State in its early years. 146 THE MAKING OF ILLINOIS. At length, in 1848, a new Constitution, which corrected many of the defects of the old, was adopted by the people. But as this Constitution was framed when the people were heavily in debt and before the natural resources of the country were known, it failed to provide for the expansion of the young State. In December, 1869, a convention of the people gathered at Springfield "To alter, revise or amend the Constitution" for a third time. This Convention, numbering eighty-five delegates, was the ablest body that had ever gathered in the State. It was composed of men of ripe experience, sound judgment and profound learning, who had gained distinction in their various professions as lawyers, farmers, merchants, bankers, physicians, and editors. Such a body of men, inspired by high and patriotic motives, could not fail to produce a document suited to the needs of the state at that time. The result of their deliberations was the present Consti- tution, which many students of politics consider wiser and better than possessed by any other State in the Union. The State, however, in its rapid development has outgrown many of its provisions, and a considerable number of amendments have been added from time to time so that the instrument may continue to serve the purpose for which it was originally intended. One of the new and most commendable articles of the present State Constitution adequately provides for the establishment and maintenance of an efficient public school system. Another very important clause of the instru- ment distinctly prohibits any city, town or county of the State from becoming a subscriber to the capital stock PHOTOGRAPH OF THE OLD STATE HOUSE AT KASKASKIA, TAKEN A FEW MONTHS BEFORE IT WAS SWALLOWED UP BY THE RIVER STATEHOOD THE CONSTITUTIONS. \^^ of any railroad or corporation. It further provides for the estabhshing of a minority representation in the State legis- lature. This principle permits every voter to cast as many ballots for one candidate to the legislature as there are representatives to be chosen in his district, or he may divide his votes among the various candidates as he wishes. Thus the minority party in any district in the State may mass its votes upon a single candidate. This, the third Constitution, was adopted by the people in 1870. The first governor of Illinois was Shadrach Bond, who, Hke many men who have contributed to the greatness and honor of the State, was born beyond its limits. He came to the Ilhnois country from Maryland in 1794, when but twenty-one years of age. Compelled to work upon a farm in the American Bottoms, he obtained little schooling, but by diligent use of his time he acquired a store of knowledge which made him a power among men of that early day. With jet black hair and eyes, tall and erect, com- rhanding in appearance and dignified in bearing, he won the esteem and respect of all men. A captain in the War of 1812, he was elected as the first territorial delegate to Congress. Appointed as the receiver of public moneys, he removed in 1814 to Kaskaskia, and erected there a spacious brick house, which he occupied until his death. The first lieutenant-governor of the State, Pierre Menard, was born near Montreal, Canada, in 1766. When but a lad he came to Vincennes and hired out to a French mer- chant. About the year 1790 he removed to Kaskaskia and set up a business for himself. He was short of stature, impulsive in his nature, bright and alert, and possessed of a kind heart that won him many friends. 148 THE MAKING OF ILLINOIS. The present State constitution was adopted in 1870. The Senate consists of fifty-one senators, elected for four years. The House of Representatives consists of 153 mem- bers, elected for two years. The legislative sessions are biennial. The salary of Senators and Representatives is $3,500 for two years' term, ten cents a mile for actual mileage and fifty dollars per session for postage, stationery, etc. The Executive Department of the State consists of a Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Secretary of State, Auditor, Treasurer, Superintendent of Public Instruction and Attorney General, all elected by the people for a period of four years, except the Treasurer, whose term is two years. The Judicial Department consists of a Supreme Court, Circuit Courts, County Courts, Justices of the Peace and Police Magistrates. The Supreme Court consists of seven judges, elected by the people of their respective districts for a term of nine years.* The Circuit Courts are held in judicial circuits of 100,000 inhabitants, and the circuit judges hold office for six years. A county with more than 100,000 inhabitants forms a single judicial circuit. Every citizen of the United States above twenty-one years of age, who has resided in the state one year, in the county ninety days, and in the election district thirty days next preceding an election is a legal voter at state elections. All votes are by ballot. ^For additional information, sec "Illinois and the Na- tion" published by A. Flanagan Company. CHAPTER XVI. THE FIGHT AGAINST SLAVERY. The first negro slaves were brought to the American colonies in 1619 by a Dutch trader and sold to the Virginia planters. A century later, in 172 1, Philip Renault pur- chased 500 ne- groes a t S a n Domingo and brought them to Fort Char- tres t o work in the gold and silver m i n e s which the Commer- cial Company expected to open. But no mines were discovered and the slaves were sold to the F r e n c h set- tlers. All the French slaves of Illinois were descended from GOV. 149 EDWARD COLES. 150 THE MAKING OF ILLINOIS. these San Domingo negroes. At this time the countries of Europe permitted slavery in their various colonies. The laws of France regulating the practice were humane and merciful. They provided that slaves were to be carefully instructed in religious matters. The Sabbath also was to be observed by them. Marriages between whites and black« could not be solemnized. Masters were commanded to deal kindly with their slaves, and to care for those rendered useless by infirmity or old age. Negro families were not to be separated by sale, nor could a negro over forty years of age be sold from the land on which he lived. Slavery never flourished" in Illinois. In 1810 there were but 168 slaves within the borders of the Territory, and in 1820, with all the increase in population, only 917. But many of the settlers came from States where slavery flour- ished and were desirous of continuing the system. When the "Ordinance of 1787," prohibiting slavery in the North- west Territory, was passed, many people believed that the institution would disappear from the South as it had from the North. But the invention of the cotton gin and th^ steam engine greatly increased the demand for cotton. The States bordering upon the Gulf became vast cotton fields, cultivated by slave labor. In New England and Great Britain millions of spindles were whirling and shut- tles were flying to supply the waiting world with clothing. Instead of dying out, slavery became firmly fastened upon the nation. Those who were benefited by its existence began to do all in their power to make it a permanent institution. While Illinois was still a Territory, several attempts were made to repeal that clause of the "Ordinance of 1787," THE FIGHT AGAINST SLAVERY. 15 1 prohibiting slavery. These attempts upon Congress might have proved successful but for the influence of James Madison. IlHnois was admitted as a free State in 1818. only after the most serious objection from the slave-holding element. To satisfy those who had been defeated, the first general assembly, whose members had been largely reared in slave- holding communities, enacted a series of "black laws^' which were as severe as those of any slave State. Since this iniquitous institution has passed away, it may be interesting to examine these laws which did not entirely disappear from our statute books until 1848. ''Any one who freed his slaves within the State was compelled to give a bond for $1,000, a guarantee that those hberated should not become public charges. Every free negro was required to obtain a certificate of freedom certified to under seal of a court of record. This certificate was recorded in the county in which his family settled. Every negro not holding such a certificate was adjudged a runaway slave. He was to be arrested, and if he was not claimed within six weeks or his freedom established, he was to be sold for a period of one year. At the end of this time if no one claimed him a certificate might be granted him. x\ny person employing a negro who did not hold such a certificate was liable to a fine of $1.50 for each day the negro was employed. To harbor a slave or hinder the owner from retaking him was declared a felony, punishable by a fine of two fold the value of the slave and whipping not to exceed thirty stripes. No person could sell to, buy from, or trade with any slave, without consent of his master, under penalty of forfeiting 152 THE MAKING OF ILLINOIS to the owner four times the amount of the transaction. Any slave found ten miles from home without a permit was liable to arrt^st and to receive thirty-five stripes, on the order of a justice of the peace. A lazy or disorderly slave or bond servant was to be corrected with stripes, and for every day he refused to work he was to serve two. Riots or unlawful assemblies of slaves were punishable with stripes not to exceed thirty-nine. In all cases where white citizens were punishable by fines, slaves were punished by whipping at the rate of twenty stripes for every $8.00 fine. But the punishment was not to exceed forty stripes at any one time." After the admission of Illinois, the entire nation soon became engaged in an angry contest over the question of admitting Missouri as a free or slave State. The excite- ment had not subsided at the time of the second general election in Illinois in 1822. Although the subject of slavery was not mentioned, yet every one felt that "the question was in the air." To the surprise of the people, Edward Coles, a native of Virginia and a strong anti-slavery man, was elected governor. The smouldering embers were fanned into a flame by his eloquent message to the general assembly. It strongly recommended that the Black laws be repealed, and that the slaves of the French settlers be no longer held in bondage. The friends of slavery attempted to make a slave State of Illinois. This could be done only by amending the Constitution. Accordingly the legislature, which contained a majority of members who favored slavery, adopted a resolution submitting the question to a vote of the people at the next election. The passage of this measure was THE FIGHT AGAINST SLAVERY. 153 considered a great victory for the friends of slavery, who indulged in many triumphal celebrations. But the opponents of slavery did not lose heart. There were still eighteen months before the election, and each party put forth every effort to gain adherents. Such an exciting canvass had never before been witnessed. Every one became engaged in the party strife. Fami- lies were divided; neighborhoods surrendered to the bitter warfare; personal combats were frequent. Every newspaper of the new State was ranged upon one side or the other. Papers were established during the campaign to which the ablest writers of their respective parties con- tributed. Pamphlets were distributed containing statistics for or against slavery. The ''friends of freedom" organized ''anti-slavery societies." Governor Coles contributed his entire salary, $4,000, as a campaign fund. On election day each party turned out in full force. The lame, the halt, the blind, the aged, were assisted to the polls by their friends. When the votes were counted it was found that slavery had .been defeated by 1,800 majority. This was the most exciting and important election ever held in early IlUnois. FeeHng in the matter speedily subsided. Six months after, it was difficult to find a politician who would admit that he favored the introduction of slavery into Illinois. Outside the State, the contest over slavery raged fiercely. Slave-holders believed that discussion of the subject from the platform or in the newspaper should be prohibited. This was denying the right of free discussion and liberty of speech. These are two principles that have always been dear to the Saxon. 154 THE MAKING OF ILLINOIS. Rev. Elijah P. Lovejoy, a Presbyterian minister, was editing a religious paper in St. Louis. In the columns of the Observer, he fearlessly attacked the institution of slavery. A mob entered his office, broke his press to pieces, threw his type into the river, and compelled him to leave the city. Determined to remove to a free State, he went to Alton, purposing to re-establish his paper. Two other presses were destroyed by mobs, but his friends, now fully aroused, collected money with which to purchase a fourth press. The press arrived on the night of November 7, 1837, and was stored in the stone warehouse of Godfrey, Gilman & Co. The next night, news of its arrival having been circulated, a drunken mob, armed with guns, brick- bats and stones, assembled and demanded the press. Mr. Lovejoy and a few friends, who had also armed themselves, were gathered in the building. 'Tt is my determination to defend my property," exclaimed Mr, Lovejoy. "Shoot the Abolitionists ! Tear down the house !" shouted the mob, and, suiting the action to the word, thej began to break the windows and fire upon the building. The men within returned the fire, killing one and wound- ing others of the mob. "Burn the building," shouted the drunken ruffians. Ladders were raised and a man quickly ran up and appHed a torch to the roof. Mr. Lovejoy, with a rifle in his hands, appeared and was shot down, pierced by five bullets. Thus died the first martyr to the cause of slavery in the State of Illinois. Widespread excitement was caused by this tragic death. Papers came out in mourning. Public meetings were held in many places. Orators declared that Lovejoy had found THE FIGHT AGAINST SLAVERY. I55 a grave in a free State ; that the martyrdom of this repre- sentative of justice, Hberty and free speech would kindle a flame, which years would fail to extinguish. An institution known as the ''underground railroad" existed in many of the Northern States. The engi- neers and conductors were people who believed slavery to be wrong. The road had its beginning on the banks of the Ohio River and its terminus in Canada. The passen- gers were escaped negroes who were conducted by night from one friendly family to another, where they were con- cealed during the day. Who the operators of this mys- terious system were no one knew. But in nearly every community there lived some farmer or business man whose house was a refuge for these unfortunate beings. Levi Coffin was the most prominent of all the men who were en- gaged in assisting runaway negroes to Canada. He was born in North Carolina, but early developed such a hatred for the institution of slavery that he determined to live in a free State, and removed to Indiana. It is said that he sheltered more than a hundred fugitives every year. The slave-holders began to complain that they were being systematically robbed, and that they should be pro- tected. Accordingly Congress passed the Fugitive Slave Law which made it a crime to assist a runaway slave. But instead of benefiting the slave-owner, the passage of this law raised a storm of opposition. Thus the struggle against slavery continued. In Kansas civil war broke out. Preston S. Brookes, a member of Congress from South Carolina, became enraged at Charles Sumner, of Massachusetts, for offensive insinuations con- tained in a speech delivered against slavery. He attacked 156 THE MAKING OF ILLINOIS. Senator Sumner on the floor of the Senate chamber, and beat him into insensibihty with a heavy cane. While few people expected to see slavery abolished, there were some, both among Whigs and Democrats, who believed that it should not be permitted to spread to new States and Territories. Dissatisfied members from all parties united to form the Republican party, which was pledged to prevent the spread of slavery. Abraham Lincoln had become noted because of a series of debates which he had held with Senator Stephen A. Douglas upon the political questions of the day. In an address before the people of Springfield, he used these words : *'A house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this Government cannot endure half slave and half free. I do not expect the Union will be dissolved, but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all one thing or all the other." The election of Abraham Lincoln, the candidate of the Republican party in i860, was followed by the great Civil War. CHAPTER XVII. OUR STATE CAPITALS. When the Territory of IlUnois was separated from Indiana by Congress in 1809, Kaskaskia, the most important com- mercial center of the region, was chosen as the seat of government. The Territorial legislature held its sessions in a large rough building of uncut limestone, located in the center of the square. This venerable structure had been the head- quarters of the military commander during the time of French occupancy. The lower floor of the cheerless struc- ture was fitted up for the use of the House. The members of the council occupied a small chamber above where they per- formed their la- bors, gathered about a circular FIRST CAPITOL. table. The vil- lage of Kaskaskia continued to flourish as the capital of the Territory. It was the chief town of the region. Easily accessible to steamboats and post-roads, the large com- mercial firms had here their headquarters. It became the home of many statesmen and public men. 157 158 THE MAKING OF ILLINOIS. But when the members of the convention gatheied to frame the first State Constitution, they provided in this instrument that "the seat of government should remain at Kaskaskia until the General Assembly should other- wise direct." They also provided that this body should "petition Congress for a grant to the State of four sections of land for the seat of government," and if the prayer was granted that a town should be laid out thereon, which should remain the capital of the State for twenty years. The land was to be situated upon the Kaskaskia River, and east of the Third Principal Meridian. The only reason for a change of location at this time was "a mania for speculation" and the hope that fortunes might be made by building a new town. Carlyle, which had been laid out on the Kaskaskia River by two gentlemen from Virginia, was competing for the honor of location with a site higher up the river known as "Pope's Bluff." While the contest was raging, a hunter, named Reeves, appeared before the convention and de- clared that "Pope's Blufif and Carlyle wasn't a primin' to his bluff." His cabin was located still higher up the river at a point where the Third Meridian crossed the stream. The location was indeed beautiful. Under the shade of the gigantic trees, "former lords of the forest might have held grave council." The site was so commanding that the commissioners fixed upon the hunter's home as the location for the future capital. Tradition relates that a wag who was present suggested to the commissioners that, since the Vandals were a power- ful tribe of Indians, who formerly occupied this region, the name Vandalia would preserve the name of the extinct OUR STATE CAPITALS. 159 SECOND CAPITOL, VANDAUA. Three different State houses were built at Vandalia. The first, a two-story frame building, was burned December 9, 1823. The sec- ond, a commodious brick structure, erected at a cost of $12,381.50 — toward which the citizens contributed the sum of $3,000 — was de- molished in 1836 to make place for the present building, which the people of Vandalia erected to prevent the removal of the capital to Springfield. But the capital remained in Vandalia only a few months, however, or until 1837, when the legislature passed a bill ordering its removal to Springfield. This was immediately done and the State refunded to Vandalia the $16,000 her residents had expended in constructing the building. The brick columns of this building were replaced by iron pillars September 18. 1889 l60 THE MAKING OF ILLINOIS. race and also make an excellent name for the new capital. Accordingly the town site was called Vandalia. A temporary State House of two stories was speedily erected upon a foundation of rough stone. Two men were paid $25 to transfer the State records to the new capital. In December, 1820, they shouldered their axes and cut a road through the forest for the small wagon containing the valuable freight. A little village sprang up, and when the new State House was burned in 1823 the citizens speedily raised $3,000 with which to assist in erecting a new building. In the center of the square, a commodious brick structure was erected, which answered well the needs of our early legislators. This building, in 1836, gave place to a more beautiful structure, which still adorns the city of Vandalia, and is used for the Court House for Fayette County. Immigration was pouring into the rich farming lands in the central and northern portions of the new State. Long before the limit of twenty years had expired, agitation be- gan for the removal of the capital from Vandalia, which had grown to be a beautiful little city. In that early day before the introduction of railroads, when all travel was by stage or by horseback, the location of the capital at a more central point was of greater importance than it would be at the present time. After much discussion the legislature passed an act re- quiring that the two houses meet on the 28th of February, 1837, at 10 o'clock, to select a suitable place for the per- manent location of the seat of government, after the ex- piration of the Constitutional term at Vandalia. OUR STATE CAPITALS. i6i Twenty-nine towns were rivals for the honor. The six whose chances seemed good were IlHopoHs, Peoria, Jack- sonville, Alton, Vandalia and Springfield. On the fourth ballot seventy-three votes made Springfield the choice of the convention. The success of Springfield was due largely to the able delegation, consisting of two senators and seven THIRD CAPITOL BUILDING, SPRINGFIELD. l62 THE MAKING OF ILLINOIS. representatives sent to the legislature from Sangamon county. The delegation was known as the "long nine," because the combined height of its members was fifty-four feet. Abraham Lincoln and Ninian Edwards were mem- bers of this famous delegation. These men, able, per- sistent and talented, went to Vandalia with the express determination of obtaining the location of the capital at Springfield. With this end in view they pulled together and voted as a unit on every question. At this time almost every section of the State desired appropriations to improve rivers, construct railroads and lay out canals or public roads. "The long nine" took advantage of the situation. All axes could be sharpened upon their grindstone if in return delegates would vote for the removal of the capital to Springfield. The "log rolling" of the "long nine" continued throughout the winter, and resulted in final victory. At this time Springfield was an ambitious village of 1,500 people, second in population only to Jacksonville. Its frame houses were poorly constructed; sidewalks were lacking, and the streets were often rendered impassable by the deep mud. President Lincoln enjoyed telling this story of the town of which he was so fond : Thompson Campbell, Secretary of State, one day re- ceived an application from a meek looking man, with a white necktie, for the use of the assembly chamber to de- liver a course of lectures. "May I ask," said the Secretary, "what is to be the sub- ject of your lectures ?" "Certainly," was the reply, with a very solemn expres- Wmmm i ■ ^ ^ ^ ^^^^^^^^w^^^P^- #'^ lA* J ; :M ■$§n-' "^^^t ^ L.Mi fm -^mi CHAPTER XVIII. NAUVOO AND THE MORMONS. In the little village of Sharon, Vermont, was born on December 2}^, 1805, a child named Joseph Smith, who was destined to wield a wide influence and establish an addi- tional religious sect. When Joseph was but a lad his father removed to Palmyra, New York. At about the age of fifteen young Joseph Smith attended one of the great revival meetings which were being held in the State and was deeply affected. He relates that retiring to a wood for prayer and meditation he beheld a wonderful Vision. Two persons appeared to him in a pillar of light. One of these heavenly visitors commanded him to unite with no -established church. He further states that he was again visited by an angel, who revealed to him the location of certain gold plates hidden in the earth, that contained a vecord of the former inhabitants of America. In a few years these were obtained and translated by him and pub- lished as 'The Book of Mormon." About this time there appeared an itinerant preacher named Sidney Rigdon, who had one time worked in a print- ing office in Pittsburg. To this office one Solomon Spauld- ing had sent a writing styled "The Manuscript Found,"* a romance of the origin of the North American Indians. Cer- tain people claim that this manuscript obtained by Sidney Rigdon is the basis of 'The Book of Mormon." A com- *This manusci-ipt is in the possession of The Oberlin (Ohio) College Library. i66 THE MAKING OF ILLINOIS. parison of the two books, however, necessitates an aban- donment of this theory. There is no common incident or name, in fact, no resemblance whatever between 'The Manuscript Found" and 'The Book of Mormon." The Mormons, moreover, claim that Joseph Smith made this translation several years before he became acquainted with Sidney Rigdon, who joined the sect November 14, 1830. The ''Church of Christ of Latter Day Saints" was organ- ized at Fayette, New York, on April 6, 1830. The little band, at this time numbering but six members, chose Jo- seph Smith to be the presiding officer. The church grew rapidly and in 1836 dedicated its first temple at Kirtland, Ohio. This structure still stands and is a remarkable monument of Mormon industry and zeal Through a revelation it was declared that Independence, Mo., was to be the future "City of Zion." To this rehgion many of the faithful gathered. But there was much strife between them and the people of Missouri concerning relig- ion and the question of slavery, for the Mormons did not hold slaves. The newly organized county of Caldwell was given them for their exclusive use. Here they gathered in great numbers and established the city of "Far West." To this place Joseph Smith and other leading Mormons from Kirtland, Ohio, came in the year 1838. But the persecu- tions did not cease and in the winter of 1838-39 they were driven from the State and sought shelter in Illinois, pur- chasing a large body of land in Hancock County. In the midst of this tract, upon the banks of the Mississippi, they established Nauvoo, "the Holy City of the Saints." A special charter was secured for this new city and John C. Bennett was elected mayor. Each of the two great NAUVOO AND THE MORMONS. 167 political parties — the Whigs and the Democrats— desired to secure the support of the Mormons. Thus it happened that when Dr. Bennett went to Spring- field to secure a charter for the new city he was aided by the politicians of both parties. A Nauvoo Legion was established which, in addition to the regular powers of the Militia of the State, was to be "at the disposal of the Mayor in executing the laws and ordinances of the City Corporation." The Governor of Missouri made a demand upon Gov- ernor Carlin of Illinois for Joseph Smith, who had fled from the State while under arrest. x\ warrant was issued for him and he was brought before Judge Douglas, who found the warrant defective and released the prisoner. Because of constant persecutions and fearful that their leader might be taken from them, it is said the Mormon Council enacted a law "That no writ issued at any other place except Nauvoo for the arrest of any person in the city should be executed without approval endorsed thereon by the mayor." The result of this law was soon apparent. Any man who committed a crime would now endeavor to hide in the city of Nauvoo, and it is certain that the Mormons were blamed for many crimes committed by others. The Mormons now became unpopular everywhere. After the release of Smith by Judge Douglas his followers had returned to the Democratic party. The Whigs, realizing that they were lost to their party, began to attack them through the columns of their papers. The Legion had been furnished by the State with 250 l68 THE MAKING OF ILLINOIS. Stands of arms and three pieces of cannon. These the papers magnified into many thousands of arms. The people, now inflamed, prepared to make war upon the Mormons, and the Governor called out the troops. Before his arrival upon the scene, the entire militia of McDonough and Schuyler Counties had assembled at Carthage and Warsaw. The Governor, fearful that the Mormon leaders would be sacrificed to the fury of the peo- ple, obtained from the oflicers a promise that they would keep within the limit of the law in the discharge of their duties. Knowing that warrants had been issued, Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum went to Carthage and gave them- selves up to the sherifif. But on June 27, 1844, they were assassinated at the hands of a mob. In summing up the character of Joseph Smith one writer states : *'But whether knave or lunatic, whether a liar or a true man, it cannot be denied that he was one of the most extraordinary persons of his time, a man of rude genius, who accomplished a much greater work than he knew ; and whose name, whatever he may have been whilst living, will take its place among the notabilities of the world." * As organized, the church consisted of three presidents and twelve apostles, who were abroad preaching Mormon- ism. Two of the presidents — Joseph and Hyrum Smith — were dead. The third, Sidney Rigdon, proposed to seize the power, but becoming unpopular a fierce dispute arose between him and the twelve apostles who had returned at the news of their leaders' death. *Smucker's History of Mormons, page 183. NAUVOO AND THE MORMONS. 169 The apostles with Brigham Young at their head gained control and sent missionaries everywhere preaching Mor- monism and the martyred Joseph Smith. Many flocked into the church and the sect grew rapidly. At the death of the Prophet the church numbered about two hundred thousand, '*a number equal, perhaps, to the number of Christians when the Christian church was of the same age.""^ Meanwhile the State had revoked the charter of Nauvoo and the Saints prepared for the journey to the promised land, where they hoped to live undisturbed. In the spring of 1846 the great company began to depart, and after enduring many hardships arrived upon the shores of Salt Lake. Of this region their industry soon made a garden. Here were laid the foundations of a mammoth Temple, which has been completed after many years of labor and the expenditure of great treasure. The city of Salt Lake grew up around it, and with pass- ing years the church of the ''Latter Day Saints" has grown in wealth and in the number of its people. But many Mormons refused to follow Brigham Young to Utah, nor would they accept the doctrine of polygamy announced by him in 1852. These people, many of whom lived in Illinois, Missouri and Iowa, began a movement to reorganize the church. This was finally accomplished and in i860 Joseph Smith, a son of the founder, was chosen to be the presiding officer. This branch of the Mormon church, the ''Re-organized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints," has its head- quarters at Lamoni, Iowa. *Ford's History of Illinois, page 359. CHAPTER XIX. TRANSPORTATION. When Illinois became a State, in 1818, the only means of transportation available was the pack horse or mule and the heavy ox-wagon over the roadless prairies ; the canoe, flat-boat and keel-boat on the rivers which crossed the State or formed a part of its boundary lines. Immediately after its admission into the Union, immi- gration into Illinois increased astonishingly. Emigrants not only from the older States but also from foreign countries rushed within its borders, and, spreading over its northern prairies, reached the banks of the Mississippi or the wooded bottoms of the Illinois, the Okaw and the Sangamon. Farms by hundreds sprang up; at first, the portions chosen for settlement were the wooded and watered sec- tions, and here the woodman's ax made the clearing neces- sary for the farm. On this account the work of preparing land for cultivation was slow. Soon, however, settlers realized the value of the rich open prairie lands for farming purposes, and by the tens of thousands the acres were put under the breaking plow, and the tall wild prairie grass gave way to growing corn and waving wheat fields. Thousands of farms came into cultivation, and towns and villages innumerable were laid out and carefully sur- veyed. Lots in blocks and lots single were put at auction everywhere, until at last ''the principal product of Illinois is town lots" became a common saying. 170 TRANSPORTATION. I/I With SO many towns, cities and villages coming into being, with the rapid development of farming industry, the problem of transportation naturally presented itself. How were the fast increasing crops to reach the markets, and how were the settlers to transport from the East and South the many things required in their new homes ? The first attempt to solve this all-important problem was made in 1836, when Illinois was eighteen years old. In that year a bill, recommended by Governor Duncan, was introduced into its legislature providing for a "system of internal improvements." This bill became a law on Feb- ruary 2^, 1837. It provided for the issue of over ten million dollars' worth of bonds to be used for the improvement of naviga- tion on the Illinois, Wabash, Rock and Kaskaskia Rivers, and also for building several railroads, among which were lines from Cairo to Galena, Alton to Mt. Carmel, Peoria to Warsaw, Alton to the Central railroad, — another name for the Cairo and Galena line. The first railroad, "the Great Northern Cross," was be- gun May 9, 1838, at Meredosia. Eight miles of track were completed, and the people, anxious to see the cars run, had a locomotive shipped by water from Pittsburgh. All the horses and oxen of the community were required to haul the huge machine up the river bank. This engine, the first ever seen in the Mississippi Valley, made its first run November 8th, 1838, with Engineer Joseph Field in charge and Governor Duncan and a party of his friends as passengers. This was only ten years after the building of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, the first one in the United States. 172 THE MAKING OF ILLINOIS. The railroad building under State supervision and the brilliant scheme of improvement so full of promise on the start, was doomed to failure. Due to dishonesty of con- tractors, to lack of business experience and to the greed of many, the proposed work under State provision had to be stopped. The blunder of embarking upon an undertaking without the necessary knowledge to conduct it successfully, was followed by a still greater blunder, that of disposing of what transportation property the State owned with such haste that hardly anything was realized. This can be given as one instance : The Meredosia Railroad completed to Springfield at an expense of $1,000,000, was sold to Mr. Nicholas H. Ridgley, of Springfield, for $21,100. On September 20, 1850, Congress passed an act granting the right of way and other lands to the states of Illinois, Alabama, and Mississippi to be used in aiding the construc- tion of a railroad from Chicago to Mobile. The grant gave the State of Illinois 2,595,133 acres in alternate sections for six sections in width on each side of the proposed road and its branches in the State. The grant was in trust to be "applied in the construction of said road and branches and to no other purpose whatsoever." In 185 1 the State debt was $16,627,609.91, and its constitution debarred the State from again involving its credit in visionary schemes of internal improvement. On February 10, 1851, the General Assembly chartered the Illinois Central Railroad Company, turning over to the com- pany the government lands, in return for which the company assumed the obligations of the act of 1850 and, in addition, agreed to pay to the State annually, in lieu of other taxes, seven per cent of the gross earnings of .the charter lines. . TRANSPORTATION. 173 In 1850 there were but in miles of railroad in opera- tion in Illinois, and the largest railway system in the coun- try was only 300 miles long. The charter lines of the Illi- nois Central were 705^ miles in length. The survey was begun May 21, 185 1, ground was broken December 23 of that year, and the entire road was completed and formally opened on September 27, 1856. It cost $26,568,017.61. The Illinois Central has realized $23,218,611 from the sale of its lands. The total amount paid into the State treasury, because of the charter tax is now over fifty mil- lion dollars. Payments for the last fiscal year aggregated nearly three and one-half million dollars, and the amounts paid year to year are constantly increasing. This steady stream of cash into the State treasury has done much to keep the State free from debt, strengthen its credit, and lighten its taxes. The government retained alternate sections of land in making the grant of 1850. After the railroad was char- tered, these were disposed of rapidly at twice the price for- merly asked. Building the railroad made the early develop- ment of the State possible. Towns sprang up along the lines of railroad, and from these radiated settlements in all directions. Building the road not only brought the settler, but also brought a market for the products of his labor. The Illinois Central has since grown to a system nearly twelve times its original size, serving fifteen states. It became the railroad linking the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico of which its early sponsors dreamed. It still holds pre-emient leadership in the Mississippi Valley. 174 THE MAKING OF ILLINOIS CAIRO, ILLINOIS, TODAY The lines of the IlHnois Central now extend south from Chicago to St. Louis, Louisville, Nashville, Memphis and New Orleans, and west to -Omaha, Sioux City and Sioux Falls. While the Illinois Central was pushing the construction of its tracks to reach the southern end, the Ohio and Mis- sissippi was opening one of the most important trunk lines in the State reaching from Cincinnati, in Ohio, to St. Louis on the Mississippi River, and crossing the State of Illinois east and west about 125 miles north of Cairo. This, the extreme southern city of our State, is built on a "delta" formed by the junction of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers. It was named Cairo after the ancient Egyptian city, built on the delta of the Nile, and, on that account, the section of the State bounded on the east and west by the two rivers which meet at Cairo, and on the north by the Ohio and Mississippi Railway, was naturally nick-named Egypt. At Cairo one of the most important U. S. military TRANSPORTATION. 175 posts was established, during the Civil War in the sixties. Here it was that General Grant began his noted career as a successful commander, and from her wharves were em- barked the gallant troops which reduced Forts Donelson and Henry. The Illinois Central Railroad has spent much money on its approaches to the Illinois Egyptian city, and across the Ohio it has built one of the most massive bridges to be found on the continent. Once nothing but a marsh and a bog, the land on which the city now stands has been made safe only after millions of expense in filling and in mural protection against the periodical overflow of the two mighty rivers which almost encircle her. One by one railroads have been built, until Chicago and Peoria have become railroad centers and terminals second to none. Almost every town or city within the borders of the State has been connected by rail, and Illinois to-day has more miles of operated railroads than any other State in the Union. The Chicago and Northwestern, the Chicago and Alton, the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific, the Baltimore and Ohio, the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe, the Vandalia line, the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul, the Ohio, Bloomington and Western, the Chicago and Eastern Illinois, the Jacksonville and Southeastern, the Wabash, the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy, the Cairo Short Line, the Mobile and Ohio, the Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati and St. Louis, — these are some of the prominent railroads which, with more than forty others, have laid their tracks within the borders of the State, and, with their telegraphic lines, have made a perfect network over its varied and fertile surface. 176 THE MAKING OF ILLINOIS With the use of electricity as a motive power, Illinois has not been outstripped by any of its sister States. From East St. Louis east, from Chicago in every direction, out of and about every one of its large cities, the electric railroads have their trollies stretched, and cars, lighted and heated and moved by that mysterious agent, are everywhere seen hurrying and carrying the busy to and from their daily tasks. A little more than eighty years ago the State was without a railroad ! The State made its grant to the Illinois Central Railroad Company in 1850. Think of the marvelous improvement in transportation since the wondering settlers on the banks of the Illinois saw, In 1838, "the first locomo- tive that ever turned a wheel" in the Mississippi Valley. At the present time the enterprise of its citizens has made it possible for them to reach any portion of the great State with greater ease and comfort and in less time than in 1835 they could travel a score of miles. From Chicago, Cairo, — 365 miles away, — is reached in less than eight hours and a half. In 1835 it would have taken double that number of days. St. Louis is reached in less than eight hours from Chicago. In 1835 the trader made the trip in nineteen days ! The ox-cart is gone, the pack-mule is no longer seen, and even the horse is fast being superseded by steam and electricity in the rushing, growing life of the State. Wonderful, indeed, is the tran- sition from ox-cart to trolley. CANALS. So far we have dealt with overland transportation; but no less important and, according to some, far more im- portant, on account of its cheapness, from the standpoint of TRANSPORTATION. 1 77 both operation and maintenance, is the transportation which properly constructed waterways afford between different sections of the country. The States of Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York and Mary- land had built numerous canals. It was, therefore, perfectly natural that the early settlers of Illinois should also think of constructing them. Albert Gallatin, Secretary of the Treasury, directed the attention of Congress to the im- portance of building a canal to connect the waters of the Illinois River with Lake Michigan. Others took up the project, and finally a Congressional Act was passed authorizing ''the State of Illinois to open a canal through the land to connect the lUinois River with Lake Michigan." The land for ninety feet on either side was granted to the State. Four commissioners were appointed, who employed civil engineers to compute the probable cost of construc- tion. Their estimate was $700,000.00, and the State pro- ceeded with the work until $1,500,000.00 had been spent with Httle progress. Work was suspended until the Illinois members in Congress succeeded in having passed by that body an act granting to Illinois ''for the purpose of aiding her" to complete the work, the alternate sections of public land for five miles on each side of the canal, along its entire route, amounting to 2,243,323 acres. A large force of men was employed, Chicago and Ottawa were laid out, and, at the end of twelve years, the work was completed. The canal was sixty feet wide at the ground level, thirty-six feet at the bottom, and six feet in depth. Five feeders furnished the water supply, twenty-five bridges spanned it, seventeen locks were used in lifting and lowering: boats, l^ THE MAKING OF ILLINOIS. and a steamboat harbor was built where the canal joins the Illinois River. On April i6, 1848, the canal boat General Thornton, gaily decked, made the first journey, of one hundred miles, on the waters of the completed Illinois and Michigan Canal, the citizens of La Salle and other towns along its route, as well as those of Chicago, celebrating the event. In 1865, Chicago enlarged and deepened the channel, so that it might assist in clearing the Chicago River of accumulated filth. The large expenditure for this purpose was to be repaid from the future earnings of the waterway. But when the city was laid waste by the dreadful fire of 1871, the State promptly placed the entire sum expended in the treasury of the stricken city. Since its completion, in 1848, until 1887, the canal earned enough to pay for the expense of building it, and $2,000,000.00 besides. In 1882 the canal was, by legislative action, made a na- tional waterway and placed under control of the United States Government. Extensive improvements on the Illinois River for the promotion and development of commerce, an admirable passenger and freight steamboat service on the lakes, as well as on the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers, all combine in giving to Illinois excellent v/ater transporta- tion facilities. CHAPTER XX. ILLINOIS IX THE MEXICAN WAR. When, in 1845, war was declared upon Mexico, and President Polk called for volunteers, the men of Illinois responded with enthusiasm. Everywhere strains of martial music and the oratory of public speakers rallied the people to the defense of the flag. While the quota from Illinois was only ''three regiments," six were furnished, and many companies were refused. Colonel John J. Hardin com- manded the first regiment, and Colonel William H. Bissell the second. These regiments assembled at Alton, and hastening southward joined the troops of General Taylor in August, 1846. The war was on in earnest. General Taylor's troops had already won the battles of Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma, fighting so bravely that a Mexican poet wrote these lines regarding them : "Dark is Palo Alto's story; Sad Resaca Raima's route; On those fatal fields, so gory, Many gallant life went out. On they came, those Northern horsemen, ^ On, like eagles toward the sun ; Followed then the Northern bayonet. And the field was lost and "won." The Illinois troops, with those from other States, forming an army 4,5CX) strong, marched to Monterey and thence, 179 l8o THE MAKING OF ILLINOIS. after a long delay, to Buena Vista (beautiful view), where they were confronted by an army of 20,000 men, com- manded by General Santa Anna. This army comprised the flower of the Mexican regulars and volunteers. Santa Anna was confident of victory. On the morning of February 22, — Washington's birthday, — he sent an officer to General Taylor with this message: ''You are surrounded by 20,000 men, and cannot avoid being shot to pieces. I give you this notice, that you may sur- render at discretion." 'T beg leave to say that I decline to accept your invitation," replied General Taylor. Where the valley was most narrow, with lofty mountains on each side, General Taylor formed his line of battle. The plain beyond had been cut into deep ravines by the moun- tain torrents. Captain Bragg's battery and the Kentucky volunteers were posted west of the little stream at the left of the plain. Washington's battery of eight guns, and the First Indiana volunteers, were stationed at Angostura. The First Illinois, under Colonel Hardin, and a Texas com- pany occupied the remainder of the line, which was thus completed to the high ground of the plateau. Beyond them, extending toward the mountains, were placed the First Dragoons, the Second Illinois, the Second Indiana and the Arkansas regiments. Up the valley came General Santa Anna with his 20,000 troops, expecting to sweep the Northern invaders before him. Seeing the disposition of the American troops, he sent General Ampudia with his division to climb the mountain side and fall upon the left flank of the little army. At three o'clock the battle began, and continued on the left until the ILLINOIS IN THE MEXICAN WAR. l8l going down of the sun. The Illinois men had never been under fire. As the balls began to come thick and fast the soldiers involuntarily ducked their heads. "Steady boys. Don't duck your heads," shouted Colonel Bissell from the saddle. At that moment, with a roar, a cannon ball passed so near to the Colonel that involuntarily he stooped to avoid it. "You may duck for the big ones, boys," Colonel Bissell laughingly exclaimed. At dawn Santa Anna advanced his troops in three columns. All day the battle raged. The Mexicans on the left overpowered brave Lieutenant O'Brien, and compelled him to withdraw his battery. For some unaccountable reason the Indiana troops retreated in disorder. The brave Illinois troops stood almost unsupported, fighting with Mexicans in front of them, upon their right, and a great cloud enfolding them upon the left. Their rifles flashed forth sheets of flame. The valiant Colonel Bissell saw that they must fall back, and gave the com- mand : "About face, to the rear! March!" As though upon the parade ground the troops moved at the command of their officer, in whom all had confi- dence. Still back toward the Narrows our men were pressed, until now General Taylor, who had hastened from Buena Vista, took command. The batteries of Bragg and Sherman thundered forward, and began to pour grape and canister into the masses of the Mexicans. Again the cannons blazed forth, and the line at that point began to waver. l82 THE MAKING OF ILLINOIS. Upon the left Ampudia was put to flight by Colonel Jefferson Davis and his brave Mississippians. The Illinois troops, supported by the Kentuckians, started in pursuit. This was most disastrous to our brave men, for as they dashed into one of the deep ravines, the Mexicans, rein- forced by 12,000 men, returned to the conflict, and gather- ing upon the edge, proceeded to shoot down the Americans like sheep. The only door of escape, the mouth of the ravine, was being closed by the enemy's cavalry when the welcome sound of Washington's battery was heard, and in a moment the well-directed shot of our batteries began to explode in the midst of the cavalry. Panting and breathless, those of our men who were left emerged from the slaughter pen and were reformed by Colonel Bissell. The supreme moment of the battle had arrived. Cut down by our shot and shell, their lines broken by the unerring fire of our riflemen, the Mexicans streamed back over the plain, pursued under the shadow of the moun- tains, and the battle was over. That night the Mexican army fled southward, leaving its wounded upon the field. The Mexican nuns ministered to Americans and Mexicans alike. It was the conduct of tliese noble women that inspired the poet Whittier to write a beautiful poem, 'The Angels of Buena Vista.'* " 'Speak and tell us, our Ximena, looking northward far away. O'er the camp of the invaders, o'er the Mexican array. Who is losing? Who is winning? Are they far or come they near? Look abroad and tell us» sister: Whither rolls the storm we hear?' ILLINOIS IN THE MEXICAN VVAH. 1 83 *' 'Down the IvAh of Angostura, still the storm of battle rolls ; Blood is tiovving. Men are dying, — God have mercy on their souls. *\\'ho is losing? Who is- winning?' Over hills and over plain I can see but smoke of cannon clouding through the moun- tain rain/ ''Nearer came the storm, and nearer, rolhng fast and fright- ful on, 'Speak Ximena — speak, and tell us who has lost and who has won }' 'Alas ! Alas ! I know not : Friend and foe together fall ; O'er the dying rush the living. Pray my sisters, for them all !' '' The battle of Buena Vista, so fierce and so stubborn, was a turning point in the war. Upon this battlefield were buried the bodies of many Illinois boys. The noble Colonel Hardin fell in the ravine of death. His body was brought home by his men and buried at Jacksonville. General Taylor refers to the services of the Illinois troDps as follows : "The First and Second Illinois and the Ken- tucky regiments served immediately under my eye, and I bear a willing testimony to their excellent conduct through- out the day. The spirit and gallantry with which the First Illinois and Second Kentucky engaged the enemy in fhe morning restored the confidence to that part of the field, while the list of casualties will show how much these three regiments suffered in sustaining the heavy charge of the enemy in the afternoon. In the last engagement we iiad the misfortune to sustain a very heavy loss. Colonels Hardin, McKee and Lieutenant Colonel Clay fell at this 184 THE MAKING OF ILLINOIS. time while gallantly leading their commands. Colonel Bissell, the only surviving colonel of these three regiments, merits notice for his coolness and bravery on this occa- sion." The Third and Fourth Illinois regiments, under the com- mand of Colonels Foreman and Baker, were joined to the troops of General Scott. They took part in the storming of Vera Cruz, and after the fall of the place they advanced with the army against the City of Mexico. In the battle of Cerro Gordo, the Illinois troops greatly distinguished themselves, charging upon the enemy's line again and again. The other Illinois troops did not reach the fields of bat- tle, but the Fifth Illinois infantry, under Colonel Newby, was first ordered to Fort Leavenworth, and endured the hardships incident to a wearisome march across the and plains to Santa Fe. With the surrender of the City of Mexico the war closed, and the treaty of Guadaloupe Hidalgo was signed. The result of this war was to establish the southern and west- ern line of Texas, and to give to the United States a vast region, from which have been formed California, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Wyoming and Utah, an area of country greater in extent than the original thirteen States. CHAPTER XXL LINCOLN IN ILLINOIS. Early in the spring- of 1830, a large covered wagon drawn by four yoke of oxen, was driven through the woods of Indiana by a tall, strong young man, who carried a long whip with which to guide his ox teams. This young man was Abraham Lincoln, who had re- moved with his father's family from Kentucky, when but a lad of eight, and had grown up among the hills and woods of Southern Indiana. And now, at the age of twenty-one, he was setting out with his father's family to help them establish a new home in Illinois. The wagon contained all the possessions of the Lincoln family. The- journey through the muddy forest roads and across swollen streams was hard and long. None of the kind frontiersmen with whom they stopped imagined that the rough, ungainly young man who drove the oxen would some day become the first citizen of Illinois and the greatest man of his time. At the end of fifteen days the little company reached the Sangamon River, ten miles south of Decatur, where a farm was chosen and a log cabin built. Abraham Lincoln was now his own master, but he re- mained at home until his father was well settled. He and his cousin, John Hanks, built a barn, cleared and plowed fifteen acres of land, which they fenced with rails split from the tall timber that grew on every side. 185 1.86 THE MAKING OF ILLIxN^OIS. Young Lincoln needed new clothes, but no member of the family had any money. A few miles from the Lincoln cabin lived Mrs. Miller, a thrifty woman, who owned a flock of sheep, and from their wool wove strong, home- spun cloth, called "jeans." Lincoln bargained with this woman for a pair of trousers, promising to make four hun- dred rails for every yard of cloth used in the garment. The clothing was furnished, and in payment for them the young man split fourteen hundred rails. As he was no longer needed at home, Lincoln and his CQtisin John started out to shift for themselves. They engaged with a man named Offutt of Beardstown to take a flat-boat and cargo to New Orleans. With the opening of spring they repaired to Springfield, only to learn that although the cargo was ready, no boat could be obtained'. Lincoln at once proposed to Mr. Ofifutt fhat John Hanks and himself would build a flat-boat if he would pay them twelve dollars per month. The offer was accepted, and the two men went to old Sangamon, seven miles northwest of Springfield. Here upon the bank of the river they felled trees, hewed them into shape, and in ^e time carried Mr, Offutt's cargo in safety to New Orleans. While at Old Sangamon Lincoln captured the entire village with his entertaining stories and quaint jokes. It required only four weeks to build the boat, but in that short time the awkward, good-natured young man made friends who remembered him through life. A man named Roll, who helped young Lincoln upon the flat-boat, relates that in appearance "he was a tall, gaunt young man, dressed in a suit of home-spun jeans, consisting of a roundabout LINCOLN IN ILLINOIS. 187 jacket, waist coat and breeches, which came to within about four inches of his feet and were generally stuffed into the tops of his rawhide boots. He wore a soft felt hat, which had at one time been black, but now, as its owner dryly remarked, "it had been sunburned until it was a combine of colors." Near the village was a whitthng log, where the "men folks" were in the habit of meeting at noon and after work was finished. The log had been peeled of its bark, and upon it the men sat and whittled as they talked, just ss our grandmothers used to chat over their knitting. Mr. Roll tells us, "So irresistibly droll were Lincoln^s yarns that whenever he'd end up in an unexpected way, the boys on fehe log would whoop and roll ofif.^' During this month of story telling the log became polished by frequent use, and thereafter, until it crumbled to decay, was known as ''Abe's log." The inhabitants of the little village watched with regret the departure of the interesting story teller. A few miles below old Sangamon was the little village of New Salem, where a mill -had been erected and a dam built across the river. Upon this dam Lincoln's flat-boat stuck and hung with its bow high in the air. The people lined the bank, and in a good-natured way shouted su^ gestions to the men in the boat, but they soon discovered that their advice was unnecessary. Lincoln unloaded a portion of the cargo, bored a hole in the bottom of the boat to let out the water, tilted up the stern, and to the aston- ishment of the crowd the craft sHd over the top of the dam and floated in the deep water below. The cargo was re- loaded, and Lincoln and his companion continued theiir journey. i88 THE MAKING OF ILLINOIS. Mr. Ofifutt was so pleased with the result of the New Orleans trip that he offered young Lincoln a position in a store he was planning to open at New Salem. When the young man arrived months after to take his place the people still remembered the strapping fellow who was "such a master boatman." Lincoln employed his leisure time at the store in reading LINCOIvN MONUMENT, SPRINGFIEIvD. and study. He wished to know something of English gram- mar, and learning that a book on the subject was owned by a man who lived eight miles away, he walked the dis- tance and borrowed the volume. With the assistance of the village lawyer he mastered the contents of the book and greatly improved his language. LINCOLN IN ILLINOIS. 189 When he wished to speak on any subject it was his habit to ^o off alone and put his thoughts into clear, simple words. This habit of careful thinking and speaking proved of great value to Lincoln in after life, especially during the period of his political career. In the vicinity of New Salem lived a number of wild, reckless young men, who were in the habit of challenging any new comer to wrestle or fight. They went by the name of the ''Cleary Grove Boys," and resolved to test Lincoln's strength, of which Mr. Offutt had frequently boasted. The strongest of them. Jack Armstrong, challenged the young man to wrestle, and as he could not well refuse, he con- ^ sented to the match. Jack's friends soon discovered that their champion was no match for Lincoln, and pressing close they attempted to lend assistance by sly kicks and blow^s. This angered the young man, and seizing Arm- strong by the throat, he choked him until he was black in the face. Seeing that Lincoln was fully aroused and possessed of the strength of a giant, they avoided provok- ing him further. This evidence of his pluck and strength had the effect of causing these rough young men to become his ardent admirers. At another time, when some women were trading in the store, a rough bully came in and began to use profane language. Lincoln ordered him to leave, and was at once challenged to fight. As soon as his customers had b^en waited upon, he followed the rufifian into the street, threw him down, and rubbed smartweed into his eyes until the cowardly fellow begged for mercy. Lincoln's reputation for good nature, strength and cour- age was now well established. He had no further trouble 190 THE MAKING OF ILLINOIS. with the young men, and often acted as peacemaker be- tween them. By his honesty and integrity he won the confidence of evCTy one. In making change for a customer, a woman who lived several miles from the little village, the young man took a "flip" — six and one-quarter cents — more than was due the store. Upon discovering his mistake he walked the entire distance to her home to return the money. At another time he used the wrong weight in measur- ing tea for a woman. After she had gone he found that ^e should have received two ounces more. That night after the store had been closed and the shutters put up he carried the tea to the woman. In 1832 the Black Hawk war broke out, and Lincoln, with many other young men, volunteered to fight against the Indians. When the company in which he had enlisted was called upon to choose a captain, three-fourths of the men walked over to Lincoln, thus designating him as their choice. At the close of the war Lincoln was in Southern Wis- consin, and in company with a friend started to walk back to Illinois. At Peoria they secured a skiff, and in it con- tinued their homeward journey. Reaching Havana the yonng men walked across the country to their home at New Salem. Lincoln soon purchased a grocery store, but having as a partner a reckless young man, the store accumulated many bad debts, and before very long "winked out." He was many years in paying the debts contracted by this un- fortunate venture, but in the end canceled all the obliga- tions contracted by himself and his partner. LINCOLN IN ILLINOIS. 191 .JUL . * M ^^ 3^^ .4ir""^ r - ^ ,*p; ^-^- THE MNCOLN HOME. SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS Next he became postmaster, and having httle to do, distributed the mail from house to house. He was appointed deputy county surveyor, but never having studied the science of surveying, he appHed himself to the subject, and with the aid of the village schoolmaster, obtained a fair knowledge of the work. The people of Petersburg are proud of the fact that Abraham Lincoln laid out their town. By his strict honesty, amusing stories and charming good nature, he constantly widened the circle of his acquaint- ances and won favor with the people. When a man was to be chosen to represent them in the Legislature they naturally thought of Abraham Lincoln. He was duly elected, but being too poor to pay his stage hire, he walked the entire distance, nearly one htmdred 192 THE MAKING OF ILLINOIS. miles, to take his seat in the State Legislature at Vandalia. When Lincoln was in the store at New Salem he had taken up the study of law, and now he devoted himself to the work so earnestly that in 1837 he was ready to settle at Springfield and begin the practice of law. All these years he had been winning the affection and confidence of the people. When it was known that he had become a lawyer his services were much sought after. In those days lawyers, in attending court, rode on horseback from county to county. One day, while riding in company with . other lawyers, Mr. Lincoln, who was dressed in a new suit, noticed a pig fast in the mud. He knew if he went to its rescue his clothes would be ruined, but he was so kind-hearted that the picture of poor piggie haunted him, and he could not get it out of his thoughts. After riding two miles he turned his horse's head and re- turned to the mud puddle. Hitching his horse he w^aded into the mud, and seizing the squeaHng pig by the legs and tail, brought him safely to dry land. Mr. Lincoln had served the people so faithfully in the State Legislature, and had won such distinction as a speaker and debater, that in 1846 the people elected him to Con- gress. Here he came in contact with the greatest men of the nation. At this time the question of slavery was beginning to attract the attention of the whole people. The Southern States, in which were many slaves, were desirous of making slave territory of all the land that had been obtained from Mexico. Many people in the North believed that no slaves should be permitted in this new region. Frorh this time on men began to range themselves upon one side or the LINCOLN IN ILLINOIS. 193 other of this great question, and a new party, the Repub- Hcan, was formed by the men who beheved that slavery should be extended no farther. Mr. Lincoln believed that slavery should not be brought into the new territory. His w o n d e r- f u 1 speeches on this subject were listened to or read by many people, and made him more famous than . ever. In company w'ith Senator S t e - phen A. Doug- las, who was a -Democrat, Mr. Lincoln made a tour of the State, holding joint debates at a number of places. Ev- erywhere thou- sands of peo- ple turned out to hear the brilliant orators discussing the subjects of ''slavery" and "State Rights,". and these ques- tions became more prominent than ever before. Original owned by Chicago Historical Society STEPHEN A. DOUGLAS 194 THE MAKING OF ILLINOIS. The Republican party was becoming stronger every year, and when its delegates met at Chicago, in i860, to select a candidate for President, Abraham Lincoln of Illi- nois was chosen. During the convention some men carried to the platform a number of rails that he had split when a young man, and the delegates cheered themselves hoarse at the sight. From this time forward Abraham Lincoln becomes a great character in our nation's history. His election to the Presidency precipitated the Civil War, with its four years of bloodshed and sorrow. During those trying times President Lincoln managed the affairs of the nation with consummate wisdom. On the eve of taking up the work of his office for a second term he uttered these noble words : "With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation's wounds ; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow and his orphan — to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations." With one stroke of his pen he gave the slaves their free- dom, and when our great armies had brought victory to the North and peace to the nation, it seemed that the great work of Abraham Lincoln had been accomplished. And so it proved, for five days after the surrender of the Con federate army, on the evening of April 14th, as the great war President sat in Ford's Theatre, he was shot by John Wilkes Booth, the actor. An entire nation — North and South— bowed in grief, and LINCOLN IN ILLINOIS I95 from every part of the world poured in messages of sorrow. The humble *'rall-splitter of Illinois" had taken his place among the great and honored dead of the world. LINCOLN'S FAREWELL TO THE CITIZENS OF SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS Address DKr.ivi:Rp:D Flbruary ii, i86i. My Friends : No one not in my situation can appreciate my feeling of sadness at this parting. To this place, and the kindness of these people, I owe everything. Here I have lived a quarter of a century, and have passed from a young man to an old man. Here my children have been born, and one is buried. I now leave, not knowing when or whether ever I may return, with a task before me greater than that which rested upon Washington. Without the assistance of that Divine Being who ever attended him I cannot succeed. With that assistance I cannot fail. Trust- ing in Him who can go with me and remain with you, and be everywhere for good, let us confidently hope that all will yet be well. To His care commending you, as I hope in your prayers you wall commend me, I bid you an affectionate farewell. "With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive to finish the work we are -in." — ABRAHAM UNCOI^N. CHAPTER XXII. ILLINOIS IN THE CIVIL WAR. Our prolonged struggle for the preservation of the Union has taken its place in history among the great wars of the world. For the numbers engaged, the valor displayed by the soldiers of both North and South, the issues involved and the length of time the conflict lasted, it has proven the most remarkable war of modern times. Volumes have been written upon the part taken in this great civil duel by the soldiers from Illinois. In all, our State furnished 260,000 men for the conflict. This places Illinois in the fourth rank, for, the States of New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio excepted, she furnished more troops than any other. But in i860 each of these States had many more inhabitants, and in proportion to her population then, Illinois furnished a greater number of soldiers than any other State except Kansas. One is almost tempted to claim that the war could not have been won without the aid of the brave men from Illinois, but this would be unfair to other loyal States. It required the united efforts of all, and every State deserves praise and honor. Illinois was peculiarly fortunate in furnishing many illustrious leaders. First of all we must place our President, Abraham Lin- coln, the one man of the nation, to guide the country dur- ing its dark hour of conflict. 197 GENERAL V. S. GRANT. ILLJN03S :N the GRE>^T war. ]9Q Next to him stands GeneraS U. S. Grant, the greatest captain of his time. After these great men come a long list of illustrious generals, such as General Hovey, who resigned the presidency of the State Normal School to command a regiment of volunteers; Generals John A. Lo- gan, John A. McLernard, Richard Oglesby, John M. Pal- mer, John A. Rawlins, John Pope, and a host of others, who added to the luster of Illinois by their valor and courage displayed on the battlefield. But these great leaders, of whom we are justly proud, would have been powerless but for the rank and file of patriotic men who left their harvests ungathered., their tools upon the work bench, their ledgers upon the desks, and marched southward to the inspiring music of war. At Belmont, November 7, 3 861, the Illinois troops under command of General Grant fought the first battle of im- portance. From. here they marched against Forts Henry and Donelson. The taking of Fort Donelson was the first .great victory for the North, and thic-ughoin the country a shout of thanksgiving went up. Some of the Illinois regiments were nearly cut to pieces in this engagemient, and the loss of officers Avas very great. It was at this battle that General Grant gained the name of Unconditional Surrender Grant, by dictating the follow- ing message to the Confederate commander. General Buckner : "No terms but unconditional and immediate surrender can be accepted. I propose to move immediately upon your works." In recognition oi the valor displayed by the Illinois troops in this battle, a New England author wrote the fol- lowing poem, which was published m the Atlantic Monthly: 200 THE MAKING OF ILLINOIS. "Oh, gales that dash the Atlantic's swell Along our rocky shores, Whose thunders diapason swell New England's glad hurrahs, ''Bear, to the prairies of the West, The echoes of our joy; The prayer that springs in every breast. God bless thee, Illinois. '*Oh, awful hours when grape and shell Tore through the unflinching line ; 'Stand firm, remove the men who fell, Close up, and wait the sign.' "It came at last ; now, lads, the steel ! The rushing hosts deploy ; Charge, boys, the broken traitors reel. Huzza! for Illinois. 'Tn vain thy rampart, Donelson, The living torrent bars ; It leaps the wall, the fort is won. Up go the stripes and stars! "Thy proudest mother's eyehds fill. As dares her gallant boy. And Plymouth Rock and Bunker Hill, Yearn to thee, Illinois." One of the most daring deeds of the war was performed by General Benjamin H. Grierson and his Illinois cavalry, during the siege of Vicksburg. Starting from La Grange, Tennessee, he swept through the entire State of Mississippi and part of Louisiana, burning bridges, destroying rail- ILLINOIS IN THE GREAT WAR. 203 roads, striking Confederate outposts and damaging much property. He reached the Union lines in safety, having ridden a distance of 800 miles in sixteen days. The last thirty hours his men rode without eating or resting. So exhausted were the soldiers that they went to sleep in their saddles, and were only aroused by the sound of musketry. After a skirmish they would again relapse into sleep. A record of Illinois troops in the war would recount weary marches and fierce battles in Arkansas, Texas, Ten- nessee, Mississippi, Georgia and other Southern States. Illinois troops withstood the shock of the rebel hosts upon the bloody field of Shiloh; Illinois troops fought at Perryville and Corinth ; Illinois troops contended at Chicka- mauga and climbed the heights of Missionary Ridge and Lookout Mountain; Illinois troops waited weary weeks in the trenches around Vicksburg, and shouted for joy when the city finally surrendered ; Illinois troops fired the first shot at the battle of Gettysburg; Illinois troops marched with Sherman "from Atlanta to the sea," and took their place in the last grand review. On the banks of the Mississippi, and where the Tennesset ripples over its rocky bed ; in the valleys of the Southern mountains, and by the waters of the Gulf, along the track of the marching hosts, may be found the resting places of thousands of Illinois soldiers who went forth to battle but never returned. STAY AT HOMES. While the great mass of men at the North were loya) to the Union, there were others to be found in nearly every community who secretly sympathized with the South. Be- 204 THE MAKING OF ILLINOIS. lieving in the system of slavery, they would have "preferred the triumph of the South to the restoration of the Union with slavery abolished." These men interfered in many ways with the work of the war. Desertion was encouraged, resistance to the draft was advised, and some of them acted as spies for the enemy. A secret association was formed, known as the "Knights of the Golden Circle." Members of this order, aided by officers of the South, even went so far as to plan the liberation of the Confederate prisoners held at Chicago and Rock Island. The scheme also in- cluded the burning of Chicago. But the authorities were warned in time and the attempt was frustrated. To counteract the work of this organization, the loyal men formed a secret political society known as the "Union League of America." Organized "first in Tazewell County in 1862, this order rapidly spread from State to State, and before the close of the war it had reached a membership of 175,000. This organization, a mighty influence for good, materially assisted the Union cause. The work of the soldiers in the field was nobly assisted by the "stay-at-homes." Without patriotic men to carry on manufactures and railroads, harvest crops, till fields and provide for the women and children, the success of the North would have been impossible. These men with their aid and sympathy, freely giving of their time and money, kept the flame of patriotism burning brightly, and made possible our glorious success. When news reached Illinois of the bloody and glorious victory of Fort Donelson, Governor Yates, often called "the soldier's friend," accompanied by his stafif, hastened to the field of battle to assist in caring for the sick and wounded. ILLINOIS IN THE GREAT WAR. 205 A sanitary commission was established. Medical sup- plies and provisions were collected and distributed among the wounded in camp and hospital. The State also estab- lished hospitals at Peoria, Quincy and Springfield, to which many wounded were conveyed. Immediately after the battle of Shiloh, the governor chartered a steamboat, and with nurses, physicians and supplies, hastened to the scene of conflict. His coming was hailed with joy by the suffer- ing soldiers, many of whom had lain upon the ground for a week with their wounds unattended. The boat, loaded with those most severely injured, hastened to the Northern hospitals and returned with all speed for others. In this way thousands of our wounded soldiers were brought back to the State, where they were cared for by their relatives and friends. Governor Yates remarked, *'We must not let our brave boys think they have been forgotten, but follow them in their weary marches, with such things as they need for their comfort, which the Government cannot supply, and with messages of love and encouragement from home, wherever they go and at whatever cost." Auxiliary associations, aid societies and soldiers' homes were established everywhere. Through these agencies thousands of dollars in money and large quantities of pro- visions were collected and distributed, the whole amounting to more than a million dollars. THE WOMEN OF ILLINOIS. The mothers and sisters of Illinois were foremost in every effort to lend aid, and give comfort. Scarcely had the smoke of battle cleared away when they presented them- 2o6 THE MAKING OF ILLINOIS. selves to nurse the wounded. At home they organized societies to knit stockings, pick Hnt for the wounded, and prepare delicacies and reading matter for their sons and brothers at the front. The efficiency of the home organiza- tions was due largely to our heroic women. The patriotic women of Galena, unable to enlist, deter- mined to make uniforms for the first company that their town sent into the field. Accordingly they purchased the necessary cloth, employed tailors to cut the garments, and made them up themselves. The ladies of many communities made the flags that were borne aloft as the companies marched to the war. WAR SONGS. Among the factors that contributed to the success of the Union cause scarcely any was more important than the many inspiring and thrilling songs that were composed and sung at that time, some of the best of which were written by citizens of Illinois. George F. Root of Chicago was one of the most gifted composers of war music. His songs, "Tramp, Tramp, Tramp, the Boys are Marching," ''J^st Before the Battle, Mother," and "The Battle Cry of Free- dom" were sung on every battlefield, and around every camp fire. When the "emancipation proclamation" was issued by President Lincoln many officers took offense, and some were upon the point of resigning their commands. At about that time a glee club from Chicago came into the camp singing a new song, "The Battle Cry of Freedom." "The Union forever, hurrah ! boys, hurrah ! Down with the traitor, up with the stars. ILLINOIS IN THE GREAT WAR,. 20J While we rally round the flag, boys, rally once again. Shouting the battle cry of Freedom." The effect was wonderful. The words ran through the camps like wild fire. Every one took up the refrain. "The Union forever, hurrah ! boys, hurrah !" From tent to tent sounded the harmony. All thoughts of resigning were thrown to the winds while the great army united in the mighty chorus. The inspiring songs,. "Brave Boys are They," "Kingdom Coming" and "Marching Through Georgia," were written by Henry Clay Work of Illinois. From the pine woods of Arkansas, the swamps of Vir- ginia, the mountain tops of Georgia and the bayous of Louisiana, ascended a chorus of song whose music thrilled the patriotic soul, and whose words recalled again and again the principles for which the boys in blue were risking their lives. These songs, simple in language and sweet in melody, touched the heart beyond the power of argu- ment, recaUing again the words of Andrew Fletcher, uttered two hundreds years ago, "Give me the making of the ballads, and I care not who makes the laws of a nation." One Confederate commander remarked, "I shall never for- get the first time I heard 'Rally Round the Flag.' It was a nasty night, during the Seven-days fight ; I was on picket, when just before taps, some fellow on the other side struck up that song and others joined in the chorus. Tom B. sung out: 'Good heavens, Cap, what are those fellows made of? Here weVe licked them six days running, and now on the eve of the seventh they're singing "Rally Round 208 THE MAKING OF ILLINOIS. the Flag," ' I tell you that song sounded to me like the death knell of doom, and my heart went down into my boots, and it has been an up hill fight with me ever since that night." A few days after the surrender of Lee, another Confed- erate commander who heard these songs sung by a Union quartette, exclaimed: "Gentlemen, if we'd had your songs we'd have licked you out of your boots. Who couldn't have marched or fought with such songs?" And so these stirring army songs, breathing a spirit of patriotism and loyalty, played their part in winning the war for the Union. CHAPTER XXIII. ILLINOIS IN THE SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR. For many years prior to the Spanish-American War the island of Cuba had been in a very unsettled condition, RebeUions against the Spanish government were frequent. In October, 1895, the final revolution began which re- sulted in the freedom of Cuba. For nearly three years the struggle continued; and, while the Cubans were able to successfully resist the Spanish army, they were unable to drive it from the island. This long guerilla warfare caused much irritation be- tween the United States and Spain. The severe suffering among the Cubans greatly aroused the sympathies of the American people. Provisions and medicines were sent the Cubans in large quantities. Finally, on the evening of February 15, 1898, the battle- ship MAINE, while on a friendly visit in the harbor of Havana, was sunk by an explosion, and two hundred sixty- six of her seamen killed. This furnished the cause for a declaration of war with Spain. As soon as the news of this awful crime flashed across the wires ths nation was greatly aroused. The old time war spirit showed itself everywhere in the United States, but nowhere more than in Illinois. On February 17, 1898, Governor John R. Tanner asked the Illinois Legislature to oiTer the support of the state in the crisis. Authority to tender this aid was granted the Governor at once, Illinois being the first state to oflPer its assistance, 209 ILLINOIS IN THE SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR. 211 Congress declared w^r on Spain April 25, 1898. The President called for 200,000 volunteers ; the National Guard of the different states quickly responded to this call. Under the President's call Illinois was to furnish seven regiments of infantry and one cavalry. These assembled at Camp Tanner at Springfield. In addition one battery of light artillery was accepted. Under the President's second call two additional regiments of infantry were furnished, the eighth regiment being a colored regiment. According to the Adjutant-General's report the Illinois soldiers saw service as follows : First and second infantry (Chicago) in Cuba; third infantry in Porto Rico; fourth infantry in Cuba ; the fifth infantry in Chickamauga, New- port News, and Lexington; part of the sixth infantry in Porto Rico and part in Cuba; the seventh infantry (Chi- cago) at Camp George G. Meade and Camp Alger; the eighth infantry (colored) in Cuba; the ninth infantry in Cuba. The war was of short duration. Spain was completely defeated. In the treaty of peace which was signed at Paris, December 10, 1898, Spain surrendered all claim of sover- eignty over, and title to, Cuba. She ceded the following to the United States: Porto Rico and other islands of the West Indies belonging to Spain, the island of Guam in the Ladrones, and the Archipelago known as the Philippine Islands. It will be seen, therefore, that Illinois rendered the full measure of assistance in the defeating of Spain, freeing Cuba, and acquiring valuable island possessions for the United States. CHAPTER XXIV. ILLINOIS IN THE WORLD WAR The personal ambition of the German ruling class for German world control, the growing jealousy in Germany over England's commercial supremacy, the bitterness be- tween Germany and France over the loss by France in 1871 of Alsace-Lorraine, together with excessive and increasing militarism in a number of countries, are some of the gen- eral causes that precipitated the World War. When Austria-Hungary, July 28, 1914, declared war on Serbia, and immediately thereafter Germany declared war on France, and attacked Belgium, little did the world reckon the awful war that was beginning, and the number of nations that would be involved before its close. During the first three years of the war the United States tried to remain neutral. In 191 5 and 191 6 the United States proffered its good offices to end the war, but all to no avail. The Lusitania was sunk by Germany which caused the loss of 102 American lives. A number of other passenger vessels were sunk by German torpedoes with the loss of over 200 Americans. Finally, Germany declared unrestricted submarine warfare. On April 6, 191 7, the Congress of the United States declared war against Germany, and on December 7, 191 7, against Austria-Hungary. The number of men serving in the armed forces of the nation during the war was 4,800,000, of whom 4,000,000 served in the army ; and the total cost of the war to Amer- ica was about $22,000,000,000. 212 By Courtesy of the Chicago Historical Society LIBERTY LOAN PARADE AT ROCKFORD, ILLINOIS JLLJNOJS ]N THE. WORLD WAR. 2I5 The citizens of Illinois may be justly proud of the record of their state in the Great War. When we consider the rnen, money, and materials — the products of the farm, fac- tory, and mine that Illinois supplied in this great cause, the whole seems almost beyond comprehension of what one state can do. Illinois gave in full measure m both service and sacrifice for which the conditions of the times called. She gave on a scale which was so vast that she surpassed her own best traditions, and she surpassed her rank in the union of her sister states. Illinois was blessed with industrial and social peace for the "entire duration of the war. At the beginning of the war certain conditions existed which were the cause of grave concern. These conditions passed without a ripple to mark their passing. Many influences worked for the cohesion of the elements composing the entire population of the state. The people were of one mind, and that was, to win the war; and all the power of the state was focused upon this aim. The selective draft was accepted in this state without a question or quibble. There was no strike of any importance in the state during the whole vvar period. Illinois put into the national military and naval forces during the period of the war, a grand total of over 350,000 men. The United States borrowed on bonds and war savings stamps approximately $19,000,000,000 for conducting the war. Of this sum Illinois furnished $1,650,000,000. In other words, with only about S'A per cent of the population of the entire country. Illinois took more than 8>< per cent of the nation's w^ar loans. 2l6 ILLINOIS IN THE WORLD WAR. The total collections in Illinois for war and relief organi- zations of which a record was kept ran beyond $45,000,000. These figures do not include the first generous contribu- tions to the Knights of Columbus, or the fees of the two Red Cross membership drives. The crop of 1917 (a war contribution) was the largest of any state in that year. The crop of 1918 was third in volume in the history of the state and the greatest in money value ever produced in any state — $880,000,000 — but it was more than those terms signify. It was a war crop in the strictest sense, planned and apportioned as to products ac- cording to the express request of the national food authori- ties, which request was put into effect by Illinois as a definite program. Notwithstanding the drain upon man power, the state in 1918 turned out manufactures valued at $6,000,000,000 — $3,943,000,000 in Chicago, the rest down state. Of these about $2,000,000,000 was on direct war contracts, but virtu- ally all were war contributions. Add to this record, in a war year, the production of Illi- nois coal fields and oil wells, and the figures reflect credit upon every industry and virtually upon every individual in the state. The loss in the ranks of Illinois soldiers amply testifies to their bravery. Our dead numbered 4,266, and IS»794 were wounded. When the armistice, which virtually terminated the World War, was signed on November 11, 1918, Illinois very rapidly approached normal conditions. Her citizens went from war to peace with as much precision and earn- estness as they had gone from peace to war. CHAPTER XXV. CHICAGO. Fort Dearborn, which had been destroyed by the Indians in 1812, was rebuilt in 1816, and the settlers began to gather about it again. The Indian trader, John Kinzie, with his family, was the first to return, but until 1827 the number of famihes did not exceed eight. In 1829 the survey of the canal, which was to unite the waters of Lake Michigan with the Illinois River, and the arrival of commissioners to lay out a town, mark the beginning of the great metropoHs. Then followed the official act of organization, authoriz- ■ ing the platting and surveying of the original town site. : This embraced the territory which now lies between Madi- son and State, and Kinzie and Halsted streets. The map \ of the town, drawn by the first city surveyor, James Thomp- \ son, bears the date, August 4, 1830. i Chicago River, one and a half miles in length, is formed ' by the union of two small streams, which flow the one from ' the northwest and the other from the southwest. This peculiar feature naturally divided the town site into three , parts, North, South and West. The cabins of the early settlers were reared upon the west side— known as Wolfe's Point. On the north side was built the Miller House, and on the south side was located a pretentious tavern, partly log and partly frame, kept by Mr. Elijali Wentworth. 1 217 i CHICAGO. 219 The prospect of obtaining work upon the canal attracted people to the new town, and in the following year Cook County, named for Daniel P. Cook, representative in Con- gress, was organized, and included, aside from its present territory, five other counties. In 1830 Stephen Van R. Forbes taught the first school in a log cabin standing near what is now the corner of Randolph street and Michigan avenue. The first church service was held in 1832. In 1833 Chicago was honored with a weekly mail and post office. During this year an election was held to determine whether it should become an incorporated town. Twenty-eight men, the entire male population, were present at the polls. In the following year the levy for city taxes amounted to $48.90, and a loan of $60 for pubHc improvements was negotiated. In 1836, although the town had increased to more than two hundred voters, the State Bank refused it a loan of $25,000. The Legislature incorporated **the city of Chicago" in 1837, and on the first Tuesday in May the Hon. William B. Ogden was elected mayor. The census now showed a population of 4,179, and the people began, to think seriously of making permanent pub- lic improvements. The altitude of the city was only a few feet above the level of the lake. Consequently there was no drainage, and after a heavy rain the entire surface was covered with water. Accordingly the city raised the grade of the streets several feet above the ground floors of the dwellings, filling in with clay dredged from the harbor on the lake front, and the houses were raised to conform to the new level. 220 THE MAKING OF ILLINOIS. ' The enterprise and energy of the Httle city was shown by the method it pursued to obtain its water supply. In 1839 ^ company erected a reservoir at the corner of Michigan avenue and Water street, and with a pump, pro- pelled by a twenty-five horse-power engine, drew water from the lake and distributed it to the city through pipes made of logs, bored to carry a stream from three to five inches in diameter. But the little city soon outgrew this primitive system, and in 185 1 another plan was devised. A new company made a crib of wood 20x40 feet, and sunk it in the lake six hundred feet from shore. From this crib the water was conducted to the lake front, where it was collected in a well twenty-five feet deep. Here a pump with a two hundred horse-power engine forced the water through the distributing pipes. Three stone reservoirs in different portions of the city were used for storing purposes, and a large tower at the engine house served the double purpose of chimney and reservoir. In 1862 one hundred and five miles of water pipe had been laid. As early as 1860 Chicago was beginning to be a railroad center, and the commerce of lake and river was increasing immensely. The growing population, at this time, numbering more than 100,000, required a better system of drainage. The sewerage of the city, the refuse of packing houses situated along the banks of the river, were all poured into the stream. As the current was always sluggish the Chicago River gradually became a dreadful nuisance. Complaint was also made that when the wind was in certain quarters filth was carried out to the crib, to be redistributed by the waterworks through the mains. 222 THE MAKING OF ILLINOIS. The water supply was purified in 1863 by the construc- tion of a tunnel beneath the lake, through which pure water could be drawn. The new tunnel necessitated a monster crib, a powerful engine, and a stone tower one hundred and thirty feet high. These extensive improvements cost the city a million of dollars. So successful had the city been in forcing a tunnel be- neath the lake bed that the people resolved to tunnel the river for the purpose of facilitating business traffic, which was often impeded by the opening of pivot bridges which spanned the stream. In 1869 a tunnel, with a double driveway and foot path for pedestrians, was built under the river on the line of Washington street, connecting the South and West Sides. Two years after, a larger and better tunnel was forced under the main stream on the line of La Salle street, connecting the Nort!h and South Sides.* Pure drinking water was abundant, but the Chicago River was becoming more and more polluted. At length the city obtained permission from the Legislature to estab- lish a continuous flow of water from the lake to the Illinois Canal by way of the Chicago River. At first it seemed absurd to think of making water flow up stream, but after many miles of solid rock had been excavated and the ob- structing barriers torn away, the murky flood of the river began to move into the new channel, which henceforth was to serve as its outlet. THE GREAT FIRE. Chicago had grown to be a populous city of 300,000 people, and was the great distributing center for the Mis- *Tho3e tunnels have since been rebuilt. CHICAGO. 223 sissippi Valley and the lake region. Its many large trunk railroad lines reached but their hundred arms to gather in the wealth of Southern and Western States, The products of forest, mine and fertile soil were brought to her wharves by a thousand vessels. From her great warehouses and factories articles of commerce were sent to every land. The fame of her enterprising merchants and sagacious business men had become world wide. Her rapid growth had made her the marvel of the world. While her substantial business blocks were constructed of stone and brick, her many miles of outlying streets were lined with thousands of wooden dwellings. Suddenly she was overtaken by the most awful fire that ever devastated a community — a calamity so severe that it almost completely wiped the thriving metropolis from the map. In the southwestern part of the city, amidst rude and inferior buildings, lived Mrs. O'Leary. Report has it that on the night of October 8th, 1871, she went out to milk her cow and carried to the shed a lighted lamp. The unruly beast, irritated by its mistress, kicked over the lamp, which exploded, and the ignited oil was scattered upon the straw and refuse. In an instant the shed was in a blaze, and the adjacent dweUings, dry as tinder, speedily caught fire. The flames spread to other buildings, and before the inhab- itants realized the seriousness of the situation, the fire was beyond control Fanned by a strong gale that was blow- ing from the southwest, the flames swept toward the center of the doomed city. Gathering in volume as it advanced, the fire fiend marched toward the Chicago River. Billows of flame and smoke rolled heavenward, casting showers of brands and sparks far in advance. The stately and sub- 224 THE MAKING OF ILLINOIS. stantial iron and stone structures in the business portion of the city crumbled and melted away like wax before its heated breath. The river proved a feeble barrier to the onward sweep of the flames. The court house, built of great BURNT DISTRICT OF THE GREAT CHICAGO FIRE. blocks of stone, although standing apart, succumbed to the destroying monster. Hope of staying the fiery flood was abandoned. The crackling wood, the crash of falling build- ings, the explosions of combustibles, the roaring of flames and the shouts of the people intermingled in an awful chorus that unnerved the stoutest hearts and brought terror to the more timid ones. An eye witness says : "For miles around was a circle of red light. The brute creation was crazed. The people were mad. They crowded upon frail points of vantage, on high CHICAGO. 225 sidewalks, which fell beneath their weight and hurled them bruised and bleeding in the debris. Seized with wild panic, they surged together, cursing, threatening, imploring, fight- ing to get free. Liquor flowed like water, for the saloons were broken open and men and women were to be seen on all sides frenzied with drink. Amid this terrible chaos, IJMJJOJljliiiiiillly fill' S ^ ^ « ^ ¥ir NEW CITY HALL BUILDING, CHICAGO. hundreds of lost children also rushed around crying and screaming for their parents." The desolation of the people was complete. A hundred thousand, rendered homeless by the flames, huddled to- gether upon the bleak prairies or gathered in open spaces upon the lake beach. Here young and old, sick and strong, vile and virtuous, millionaire and beggar, were drenched by the downpour of rain that followed the fire. Seventeen thousand five hundred buildings, covering 2,124 acres and 226 THE MAKING OF ILLINOIS. valued at $150,000,000, had been swept away by the flames. When news of the dire calamity spread abroad, the civil- ized world responded generously. Donations of food, cloth- ing and money began to flow in upon the stricken city. Bureaus of distribution were organized, and contributions in money to the extent of $7,000,000 were sent in. A special session of the Legislature reimbursed to the city the $3,000,- 000 it had expended upon deepening the canaL But the city, though in ashes, was not dead. The cour- age, self-reliance and ability of her citizens remained. With characteristic energy they began to rebuild their homes and engage in business. Massive business blocks, larger and more stately than those destroyed, lifted their heads above the waters of the lake. The destruction of the city by the flames did not astonish the world more than its later prosperity. The new Chicago grew more rapidly than the old, and in a few years it had become the second com- mercial center of the nation. THE WORLD'S FAIR. When a site was to be selected for holding a great fair in honor of the four hundredth anniversary of America's discovery, the choice very properly fell to Chicago. Colum- bus landed upon the new world in 1492, but the prepara- tions for the Exposition were upon so vast a scale that it was not formally opened until May ist of the year follow- ing the anniversary. Under the skilful management of an able and patriotic committee, Jackson Park, fronting upon Lake Michigan, was transformed into an enchanted land. Beautiful build- ings arose upon every hand. Stately and appropriate CHICAGO. 227 edifices were entered by the nations of the world and became headquarters for the foreigners who thronged the Fair. Congress appropriated ten millions of dollars to be used in various ways, and every state erected buildings in which were grouped the products of mine, forest, cultivated field and workshop. Treasures of art and science were gathered from every quarter of the globe, and for six months the grounds and buildings of that great Fair were crowded with people from every civilized land. Coming, as it did, on the last decade of the nineteenth century, the "World's Columbian Exposition" was a fit crown, not only for the expiring century, but for the four hundred years of growth and development which made possible the gigantic display of instructive and delightful wonders brought together within its portals. With the location of the ''World's Fair" in Chicago the population of the city was greatly increased, and every suc- ceeding year has added to the number of people already there. THE FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY. The Field Museum located in Grant Park is the largest marble structure in the world. Including the entrances and terrace, this magnificant building covers about eleven acres of ground. The Museum is three stories ; the exterior is about eighty feet high, and, being built of Georgia white marble, pre- sents a very imposing appearance. It contains a beautiful theater and six lecture halls. Here in this structure are assembled accumulated treas- ures of all the peoples of the earth. Here are flowers, 228 THE MAKING OF ILLINOIS. fruits, and trees, preserved or reproduced. Gems that rival those of Solomon's treasure house abound. Relics recording the civilization of the American Indian fascinate artists and historians. The semi-barbaric life of the Philippines can be studied here as nowhere else. The finest group of Afri- can elephants is housed here. North American bird life is shown by the finest specimens. Meteorites from outer spaces are shown in a large collection. Thirty-six feet of a colossal dinosaur startles the imagination, and skeletons of the Great Auk and Laborador Buck, now extinct, provide rare glimpses into the mysteries of natural life of the past. To millions of Americans the Museum offers the greatest opportunity to gain a conception of the majesty and mystery of the world. CHICAGO DRAINAGE CANAL. This remarkable structure, which was finished at the beginning of the year 1900, is indeed a triumph of engi- neering skill. As has been mentioned before, the city of Chicago had, in 1865, deepened the Illinois and Michigan Canal so as to cleanse the waters of the Chicago River. If in 1865 such work was deemed advisable, in 1894 it became a necessity. It is more than probable that in pre-historic times the Chicago River, as well as one or two others now obliter- ated, were outlets to Lake Michigan. The great canal then restores the ancient topographical conditions. To accomplish this it was necessary to cut through the rocks and glacial drift to be found between Lockport and Chicago. It meant a cut twenty-eight miles in length and thirty-five feet in depth. This continuous depth makes the 230 THE MAKING OF ILLINOIS. Chicago canal the greatest artificial waterway ever con- structed. The flow is "of over 300,000 cubic feet of water per minute. At Lockport the canal becomes a harbor or basin, about 500 feet in width, for the purpose of accom- modating the largest lake vessels. Seven years of time and fifty-six millions of dollars" ($56,000,000), with the employ- ment of more than one hundred thousand men, are the figures given for the work accomplished. For a drainage canal twenty millions of dollars ($20,000,000) would have sufficed, but to this the city added over thirty-six millions ($36,000,000), that it might not only facilitate drainage, but become the terminus of a mammoth ship canal, w^hich the United States Government will in time extend to the Gulf by enlarging the connecting rivers. The north shore channel, extending from Lawrence Avenue to the Lake at Wilmette, is about eight miles long. The Sag canal to drain the Calumet region will be sixteen miles when completed. PARKS AND BOULEVARDS. With her marvelous growth, Chicago has also provided a magnificent system of parks and boulevards, which now cover more than four thousand three hundred acres of land. The six large parks and many smaller ones — aggregating nearly one hundred in number — are connected by sixty-two miles of boulevards, which form a wonderful driveway through and around the city. Two of these boulevards — Drexel and Grand — are conceded to be the finest thorough- fares of the kind in the LTnited States ; each of which is two hundred feet in width and adorned with a large variety of magnificent floral decorations. One can start from Jack- 2^2 THE MAKING OF ILLINOIS son Park, on the South Side, and make a complete circuit of the city in an automobile or carriage, without leaving the parks or boulevards. These parks are plentifully sup- plied with many notable specimens of statuary and monu- ments. Lincoln Park, on the North Side, contains an ex- ceptionally fine collection of zoological specimens — also a free bathing beach. Chicago now has eight of these beaches. The Clarendon has locker accommodations for nine thou- sand people at one time. The authorities have also provided a series of Municipal Playgrounds, chiefly for the use of children. These grounds are being located in different sections of the city and are open daily with proper attendants and officers provided by the city to care for the grounds and the crowds that fre- quent them. Many of the smaller parks also contain Field Houses, where lectures and entertainments are provided without cost to the public. Almost every school in the city is now within reach of one or more of these play- grounds, or places of wholesome amusement, and the last- ing benefits that such recreation is conferring upon the health and morals of the city's youth cannot be estimated. Under powers granted by the State (1913), Chicago established five harbor districts along the lake front. The first step in harbor development was the construction, at the foot of Grand Avenue, in Harbor District Number One, of a combination freight, passenger and recreation pier, said to be the largest and best equipped city pier in the world. It extends 3,000 feet into Lake Michigan, is 292 feet wide, and provides 8,500 feet of dockage space. It rests on con- crete and piling, the superstructure being of brick and steel. It was completed, 1916, at a cost of $4,500,000. J3 " o J- CO 0) .^ S O ^ 8 o CO l-i tc 60 Si ^ ii to 3 a ceo o 5 — ' '•5 & O +^ p~ al -»-> r2 «. b = < U ^o^ s « ^ o J2 G ^11 m o 3 C o 3 (0 c Jfi < O X .2 °" ;§ u rt i:}'^'^ s 'e S,: c o o CO M^ D 60 C T3 3 Us O J3 a> .5 H III 234 THE MAKING OF ILLINOIS. THE CHICAGO UNION STOCKYARDS. The Chicago Union Stockyards is the largest Hve stock market in the world. It occupies an area of 500 acres, con- tains 13,000 pens, having a daily capacity of 6,000 horses, ^5,000 cattle, 300,000 hogs, and 150,000 sheep-. These stockyards were established in 1865, and there have been received and sold on this market since its establishment a grand total of more than 550,000,000 animals for an aggregate sum of $10,700,000,000. The average yearly total sold for the last ten years was over 16,000,000 animals for the stupendous annual average sum of over $350,000,000. This means that an average of over $1,000,000 worth of living property was sold and delivered for every business day. These figures do not embrace the enormous daily transactions of "Packingtown," which are second in magnitude only to those of the Union Stockyards proper. Eastern buyers, exporters, independent local slaughterers and country feeder buyers constantly compete with the larger packers for the daily offerings. More than twenty-six states supply Chicago with live stock, and the Chicago live stock market supplies the world with meats. Nowhere is there such a demand for live animals. Packers buy thousands of carloads on other markets and ship them to Chicago for slaughter, and specu- lators buy and ship them to Chicago for sale. The city of Chicago alone consumes more than 400,000,000 pounds of meat per year, equal to 800,000 head of cattle annually and her packers send millions of tons of meat annually to the four corners of the earth. CHAPTER XXVI. OUR STATE INSTITUTIONS. Every State provides for the confinement of its criminals and cares for its unfortunates. To this end IHinois has provided a beneficent and hberal system of State, penal and charitable institutions. STATE PENITENTIARIES. The rude log jails of the early days were insufficient to hold the many desperate criminals that were to be found upon the frontier. A penitentiary building was greatly needed, but the people were unwilling to endure the burden of taxation necessary to secure it. Fortunately, at this time, Congress ceded to the State 40,000 acres of land, the funds derived from the sale of which were to be applied toward the erection of a State prison. Such a building, containing twenty-four cells, was erected at Alton in 1827. But in a few years it proved inadequate, and the State erected at Joliet a building that would accommodate 1,000 prisoners. In i860 the convicts were removed thither from Alton. As the population increased, another similar institution was built upon the banks of the Mississippi River near Chester. THE COUNTY POOR. In nearly every county is to be found an almshouse located upon an ample farm. Here tlie poor or sick who 235 236 THF. MAKING OF ILLINOIS. have no other home are kindly cared for. Charity is dis- pensed to others through the County Court or by the Board of Supervisors. THE DEAF AND DUMB. It was discovered that some of these dependent classes could be made self-supporting citizens by a careful system of education. To Orville H. Browning of Quincy, who had made an exhaustive study of the subject, belongs the honor of inaugurating a movement to establish an "Asylum for the Education of the Deaf and Dumb." The school was located at Jacksonville, and opened on January 26, 1846, with only four pupils. As the work of the school became known its numbers rapidly increased, until at the present time, it is the largest school of the kind in the world. Here have been trained to lives of usefulness nearly 4,000 per- sons, who otherwise would have been a burden to society. The boys are taught typesetting, broom-making, carpentry and other useful trades. The girls learn to do housework, to draw, to paint and make many kinds of fancy work. ASYLUMS FOR THE INSANE. No class of unfortunates appeals to us more strongly than the insane. Miss Dorothea Dix early applied herself to the bettering of their pitiable condition. This woman traveled over the State, speaking to audiences upon the subject, and enlisting the sympathy of the people. When the State Legislature met, she addressed to them an elo- quent and convincing argument favoring the establishment of an asylum for the care of the insane. Accordingly, such a hospital was located on a beautiful stretch of prairie-land OUR STATE INSTITUTIONS. 237 a mile south of Jacksonville. From 1851, the year in which the first patient was received, the institution has grown and prospered. As the population of the State increased it became necessary to make provision for many more patients than could be accommodated at the Jacksonville Asylum. The Legislature, in 1869, provided for the erection of two other hospitals: One known as the Northern Home for the Insane, located on the banks of the Fox River, near Elgin; the other estabUshed at Anna. Although these hospitals are very large, in a few years the State was compelled to build another, which was located near Kankakee. This institution has attracted much attention, both at home and abroad. It consists of a large hospital building, surrounded by a number of de- tached cottages, which are occupied by the patients. The plan has proven so successful that it has been copied by the States of Ohio, Indiana and New York. Illinois now has nine hospitals (or asylums), for the insane. They are located as follows: Elgin, Kankakee, Jacksonville, Anna, Watertown, Peoria (South Bartonville), Chicago (Dunning), Alton and Chester (for insane crim- inals.) INSTITUTIONS FOR THE BLIND. Yet another beneficent institution had its beginning at Jacksonville. Samuel Bacon, a blind man, in 1847 opened a private school in that city for those who were afflicted like himself. • This gave the people the idea of a school for the blind. 238 THE MAKING OF ILLINOIS. and in 1849 ^ bill for the establishment of such an institu- tion passed the Legislature. It was opened during the same year. An act passed in 1887 provided for the establishment of an industrial home designed to promote the welfare of the blind by teaching them trades and afford them employment that will best tend to make them self-supporting. No steps were taken toward it until 1893. It is located at Chicago. OTHER INSTITUTIONS. Several other charitable instittitions should be mentioned. In 1875 the School for Feeble Minded Children, which had been an outgrowth of the Deaf and Dumb Institution at Jacksonville, was removed to Lincoln, where it was pro- vided with ample and beautiful buildings. This school, under the management of Dr. Chas. T. Wilbur and those who have followed him, has done noble work in fitting feeble minded children, as far as possible, for earning their own livelihood. At Normal the State has established a "Home for the intellectual, moral and* physical development of children whose fathers served in the Union army or navy during the war." The idea of founding this home originated in a "most patriotic impulse on the part of the people to fulfil the pledge made to the gallant soldiers who imperiled their lives on the field of battle during the dark days of the Civil War, that if they fell in the fight the widows and children should be cared for." This pledge is being sacredly kept by the State and nation. OUR STATE INSTITUTIONS. 239 In 1885 the General Assembly established a Home for Soldiers and Sailors. This institution, built at a cost of $200,000, was located at Ouincy. It has proved a boon to many a brave veteran who, without its comfort, would be compelled to spend his old age in poverty and want. In response to a movement set on foot by the State Teachers' Association, the legislature in 1867 passed an act providing for the establishment of a State Reform School. This institution is located at Pontiac. It is for the confinement, education and reformation of boys between the ages of 10 and 16 years who have been convicted of crimes. Male criminals between the ages of 16 and 21 years, who have not before been sentenced to a penitentiary, may also be sentenced to the reformatory instead of a penitentiary at the discretion of the court. The Eye and Ear Infirmary is located at Chicago. Its object is to provide gratuitous board and medical treatment for all indigent residents of IlHnois who are afflicted with diseases of the eye or ear. In 1895 The Soldiers' Widows' Home of Illinois was established. It is located at Wilmington, Will County. The Illinois State Colony for Improvable Epileptics is located at Lincoln. The nature of this institution is dis- closed by its title. The State Training School for Girls was established in 1893. Its permanent location is at Geneva. It is for the confinement, education and reformation of girls between the ages of ten and sixteen years, who have been convicted of offenses punishable at law. The St. Charles School for Boys is located at St. Charles. It was established as a home for delinquent boys. CHAPTER XXVII. EDUCATION IN ILLINOIS. The Continental Congress which prepared the "Ordi- nance of 1787," wisely provided for a system of public schools for the Northwest Territory. The sixteenth sec- tion of every township was reserved to provide funds for the maintenance of public schools within said township. Two entire townships in each State were also set aside for the use of a "future seminary of learning" or university. Thus generously did these early statesmen provide for the education of the children who were to be born in the territory north of the Ohio River. But it was not until many years after these lands had been appropriated that they were sold and the money was used for the' purpose in- tended. As yet the entire territory was a wilderness. The early French of Illinois estabhshed a seminary of learning at Kaskaskia in 1721. But this institution prob- ably exerted httle influence upon the community, for Governor Reynolds tells us in his "History of Illinois" that these happy people "had use for neither knowledge nor wealth, and therefore possessed not much of either." The early American settlers of Illinois for the most part were ignorant and poor. Living in thinly populated re- gions, they gave little thought to the education of their children. The first schools were held in the cabins of the settlers, and were taught by wandering teachers whose educational 240 EDUCATION IN ILLINOIS. 243 qualifications were little above those of the people whom they served. Gradually, however, log school houses were built in many communities. The floors of these rude build- ings were made of thin slabs called puncheons, which were hewn smooth upon one side. Often the entire end of the school house was taken up with a huge fireplace crowned with a chimney of sticks and mud. The desks and benches without backs were hewn from Ibgs and a long thin slab served as a writing table. Reading, writing, arithmetic and spelling constituted the course of study. In the same reading class could be found copies of the New Testament, Weem's Life of Wash- ington or Franklin, and the Pilgrim's Progress. The teacher usually went around the neighborhood with a subscription paper. His charges were from $i.oo to $2.50 per school month for each pupil. As there was little or no money in the new country, he took his pay in produce,-^wheat, tallow, skins, wool or young cattle. If a single man, he usually "boarded around" in the humble cabins of his patrons. Before and after school hours he assisted in splitting wood, making fires or milking the cows. It is said that John Doyle, an Irishman, taught a school at Kaskaskia in 1778. John Seeley, who has been called *'the first American school master of Illinois," taught in Monroe County as early as 1783. The first school house was built in 181 1 af Shiloh in St. Clair County. In this irregular fashion, pubhc instruction continued during the early days of the pioneers. The village of Upper Alton was the first to lead ofif in the attempt to establish a school sustained at public ex- pense. The people set apart 100 lots, the funds provided 244 'T^^-- MAKING OF ILLINOIS. from the sale of which were to be appHed ''half for the support of the Gospel" and half for the public schools. In addition, a tax for the support of the schools was imposed upon the remaining real estate of the town. But no general effort was made to establish a public school system throughout the State until 1825, when the legis- lature passed an act whereby public schools, supported by taxation, were to be t)pened in all counties of the State. A majority of the public had never been taxed to support schools of any kind, and resented the idea of being com- pelled to pay the tuition of other people's children. The measure proved so unpopular that four years later the law was repealed and another substituted, which declared that no man should be taxed except by his own consent. This was a hard blow to the public schools, but a tide of immigration friendly to education had begun to pour in from the East. The sentiment in favor of schools ex- pressed itself in the founding of a number of DENOMINATIONAL COLLEGES. Dr. John Murray, in 181 8, established a Baptist College at Upper Alton. McKendree College, at Lebanon, was planted in 1828, with Rev. (afterward Bishop) E. H. Ames as the first principal. Peter Cartwright, a noted Methodist preacher, was one of the prime movers in this enterprise. A movement to establish'' a school at Jacksonville was in- augurated as early as 1827. The result was Illinois College, formally opened in 1829. Julian M. Sturtevant, the first teacher, afterward became President in 1844. ^^- Edward Beecher became the first President in 1831. Within the twenty years that followed the legislation of EDUCATION IN ILLINOIS. 245 1825, most of the denominational colleges of the State were established. During this period a colony came from western New York with the intention of locating a college settlement in the new State. A tract of land near Knox- ville was purchased for the purpose. In the midst of the colony lands Knox Tollege was founded in 1837, and the town of Galesburg was laid out around it. The institution attracted to the new town people of sobriety, earnestness and refinement. Of all the communities that assisted in the upbuilding of ''the great West," none performed a greater work or is deserving of more praise than the colony of Christian people which estabHshed Knox College. Another institution worthy of mention in this connec- tion is the Monticello Female Seminary at Godfrey. This school, the first seminary in the Mississippi Valley for the education of young women, was founded in 1835 by Cap- tain Benjamin Godfrey. The first building was erected amidst the foliage of a primeval forest. To-day the work of teaching is carried on in a beautiful stone structure built at a cost of $250,000. Its course of study was mod- eled after that of Yale College, and from the first it possessed a faculty of cultured men and women. The influence of these schools upon the people of the new State can never be estimated. Their students and graduates settled in every portion of the State, and as doctors, lawyers, farmers, preachers and business men did much to elevate the Hfe and influence the opinions of the early settlers. It was no small task to convince the people that the paramount duty of the State was to give to every child the opportunity to obtain a common school education. Indeed, it was largely through EDUCATION IN ILLINOIS. 247 the efforts of the teachers and friends of these denomina- tional colleges that the present public school system was finally adopted. There was held at PeOria in 1844 a convention of educa- tors, which addressed a memorial to the legislature de- manding the imoosing of a general school tax and the establishment of tne office of State Superintendent of Public Instruction. In 1853 the first State Association of Teach- ers met at Springfield, and the following year the legisla- ture complied with this request. A school tax was imposed and Ninian Edwards became the first State Superintendent. The advent of better teachers and improved school- houses announced the dawn of a new day. The citizens of Illinois are justly proud of the system of public educa- tion, which has done so much to advance the State to a front rank among the commonwealths of our nation. The amount expended by Illinois for educational pur- poses is only exceeded by New York and Pennsylvania. It surpasses that of Ohio, California, or Massachusetts, and is more than twice the amount expended by Missouri. THE NORMAL SCHOOLS. The public school system having been fully determined upon, it became necessary to found a school where teachers might be properly trained. Accordingly, in 1857, the State legislature passed a law establishing a "State Normal Uni- versity," ''to qualify teachers for the common schools of the State." The Board of Trustees selected by the legislature chose a site for the new school near Bloomington. Here the 248 THE MAKING OF ILLINOIS. buildings were erected, and around them sprang up the beautiful little city of Normal. The school entered at once upon a successful career with Charles W. Hovey as the first principal. It has performed excellent work for the cause of education, and has taken high rank among the othet normal schools of the nation. But our commonwealth is of great extent. In a few years a training school for teachers was demanded by Southern Illinois. In 1874 the ''Southern Illinois Normal University" was located at Carbondale. This institution has done an important work for the public schools of Southern IlHnois. As the population increased, the state established the Eastern State Normal School at Charleston, the Northern State Normal School at De Kalb, and the Western State Normal School at Macomb. THE STATE UNIVERSITY. The crown of pur educational system is the State University. The wisdom of the early legislators in grant- ing many thousands of acres of land for the founding of a seminary of learning bore fruit in IlHnois, when the State University was located between the cities of Cham- paign and Urbana. Dr. John M. Gregory, of Michigan, was inaugurated president in 1868, but not until five years later was the main building of the school completed. Recently, beautiful new buildings have been erected; various departments of in- struction have been enlarged and others added. To-day the Illinois State University compares favorably with the largest and best equipped schools of the nation. EDUCATION IN ILLINOIS. 25 1 OTHER INSTITUTIONS In recent years other schools and colleges have been established within the borders of the State. The phenom- enal growth of the city of Chicago, with its libraries, art galleries and museums has attracted to its vicinity some of the best of these institutions, making Chicago the greatest educational center of the interior. The Chicago University, the Northwestern University, the Lake Forest University, and the host of theological seminaries, com- mercial and professional schools, add their beneficent in- fluence to the educational forces of the State. CHAPTER XXVIII. FOREST PRESERVE DISTRICTS The Act of Legislature to "Provide for the Creation and Management of Forest Preserve Districts" is a wise and beneficial law. This Act permits any area of contiguous territory lying wholly within one county, and which contains one or more natural forests or parts thereof, and one or more cities, towns, or villages, to incorporate such territory into a Forest Preserve District, in pursuance of a majority vote at an election held for that purpose, and to acquire the said forest lands within its boundaries and hold them in perpetuity for the benefit of the people of said district. The aflfairs of such districts shall be managed by a board of commissioners, all of whom shall be appointed by the presi- dent of the board of County Commissioners or the chairman of the board of supervisors of the county in which such forest preserve district is situated, by and with the advice and consent of the members of such board. In pursuance of this Act a number of counties in the state have organized these Forest Preserve Districts, and the time is not far distant when practically all the forests of the state will be owned by the people. Forest preserves find their justification in the growth of timber supply for the future, the maintenance of water supply, the favorable modification of climate, the preservation of birds and wild plant life, and the recreative uses that they serve for dwell- ers in the cities. 252 FOREST PRESERVE, COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS r- ™- . -^^■^.■r . ^ ■■ - ..-mm 1 In ■ ''j?- f Pfefft isM^kt^i^^d m... , RECREATION. ]a)REST PRESERVE. COOK COUNTY. ILLINOIS FOREST PRESERVES DISTRICTS. 255 Cook County has taken the lead in creating Forest Pre- serves. The Forest Preserve District of Cook County was formally organized in 191 5. This county now owns approxi- mately twenty thousand acres of forests. Truly, all roads to and from Chicago lead to or through the Forest Pre- serves, tapping the great wooded areas at many points of approach from the wonder city on their eastern borders and from the region to the west. No longer do people liv- ing beyond the boundaries of Cook County regard its re- nowned metropolis, with its approximately 3,000,000 people and its vast pulsating business activities, as a sordid and concrete mass of commercial life without romance or the luxury of natural surroundings. That notion, if at any time it be held by outsiders, has been dispelled so that today the city and its environments are justly credited with an enchantment distinctively their own. When we consider that these forests are at the gateway of a city of three million inhabitants we cannot estimate the good that will ultimately be derived from this wise Forest Preserve measure. The recreative point of view is foremost in the Cook County program, and in a purely economic way is of the highest importance. Even commercial supremacy, if it were an end in itself, depends on the comfort, health and hap- piness of the people. The highest social standard set for itself by any city in the matter of parks is one acre for each hundred inhabitants. This is the standard set by Ber- lin, also by Los Angeles, in the laying out of their notable park development. This standard will, it is hoped, be equaled or surpassed by the cities of Illinois when the counties of the state shall have been organized into Forest 256 THE MAKING OF ILLINOIS. Preserve Districts and all the forests of the state shall have been acquired to be held in perpetuity for the benefit of all the people. STARVED ROCK STATE PARK. Starved Rock stands on the south bank of the Illinois River, opposite the Village of Utica, about nine miles west from the city of Ottawa, six miles east of LaSalle, and ninety-four miles from Chicago. The canyons lie to the east and west of Starved Rock, along the Illinois River. In 1911 the legislature passed an act approved June 10, 1911, which provides: It shall be the duty of the governor to appoint a commis- sion to be known as the Illinois park commission, to consist of three members, only two of whom are to be of the same political party. One is to serve one year, one two years and the third three years; after that the term is to be three years for all. They are to serve without compensation. The park commission shall have power to take care of and manage all state parks acquired under this act or acquired hereafter, to make rules for the same and to have charge of all the necessary employees. Section 4 of the act provides that a tract of land in LaSalle County consisting of 1,115.56 acres shall be secured by the commission and be set apart for a state park, which shall be known as "The Starved Rock State Park." The land so acquired shall make one contiguous and compact tract and shall include within its area Starved Rock proper. The sum of $150,000 is appro- priated for the acquisition of the property by negotiation or by condemnation proceedings. A RAVINE NEAR STARVED RO(Uv, CALLED FRENCH CANYON. CHAPTER XXIX. ILLINOIS TODAY. Illinois today ranks twenty-second in area and third in population among the states and territories, the latest U. S. census showing a population of 6,485,280. The State is situated wholly within the great prairie region and, excepting only Louisiana and Delaware, is the most level state in the Union. Because of its location, many of the trunk lines, both between the east and the west and between the north and the south, enter or pass through it, affording excellent transportation facilities. IlHnois has approximately twelve thousand miles of main track of steam railroads — an average of more than twenty- one miles for every one hundred square miles of territory — and more than twenty-seven hundred miles of electric rail- roads. In addition to these railway facilities the State has the advantage of cheap water transportation afforded by the Great Lakes and the Mississippi and its tributaries. The construction of the Drainage Canal from Chicago to Joliet — a channel that will float any vessel navigating the Great Lakes — completes the first link in the Lakes-to- the-Gulf waterway, which it is hoped the U. S. Government will finish in the near future. This will ultimately make Chicago the greatest inland seaport in the world. Chicago, already the fourth city in the world, is just beginning to develop her harbor facilities. The new munici- pal pier is the largest and best equipped in the world. 259 26o THE MAKING OF ILLINOIS. Chicago, the center of the richest agricultural section of the United States, is also the commercial, geographical, and transportation center of the continent. Fifty million people live within a night's ride of this metropolis, and it is the focus^ of the country's facilities for industrial development. It is the principal center of the meat-packing industry of the vi^orld, the valtte of the output being more than four hundred million dollars. Illinois ranks first among the states in the value of all farm property and first in the production of corn. It holds second place in the value of the products of mining indus- tries, and third in the production of coal. It is the most important manufacturing state west of the Alleghenies and ranks third among all the states in the value of manufactures. While developing her agricultural and manufacturing resources, Illinois has not neglected her children. In amount of expenditures for public schools Illinois stands third, and our State University ranks among the best. Other educational institutions, such as Northwestern Uni- versity, the University of Chicago, and others, have added greatly to the reputation of the State. Progressive steps are being taken toward the develop- ment of the country schools. Good roads agitation will aid this movement. The establishment of township high schools has raised the standards in rural communities. The LaSalle-Peru Township High School has gone further and established social center, welfare, and community work. This has been made possible by the generosity of a citizen of LaSalle who has made a gift of real estate and $75,000 for a recreation building to be run in connection with the Township High School and to serve as a community center. ILLINOIS TODAY. 26 T The Township Board has agreed to maintain the work. While designed primarily for the children and young people its use has been extended to the older folk of the community. We need many such community centers in the State and we need also the use of more city schools as social centers. Most of all, perhaps, we need an awakening of the civic conscience of the people of the State. The introduction as a study of State history and civics in the schools is a step in the right direction, and the extension of the franchise to women in 1920 has already increased public interest in better government. It is the civic duty of every citizen of the State to exercise all rights of suffrage accorded to him, to inform himself thoroughly upon all public questions, to determine as far as possible the character and fitness of all candidates for public office, and to demand of those elected to administer the affairs of State and Nation that they do their full duty, faithfully, efficiently, economically, and without fear or favor. Illinois is justly proud of her past and of those who have made possible her present achievements. Her future is largely in the hands of the children of the public schools today, and in those of the parents and teachers who are helping to train them for the great work that lies before them. The children of today are the voters of tomorrow and they will determine the character of the State and the future of the Nation. 262 THE MAKING OF ILLINOIS. ILLINOIS CENTENNIAL. December 3, 1918, marked the one hundredth anniver- sary of the admission of IlHnois into the union of states. This hundredtli anniversary was celebrated during the autumn of 19 18 throughout the state with appropriate exercises. The program of the IlHnois Centennial Commission, un- der the direction or auspices of which the celebrations were held, was elaborate, carefully planned, and carried through with remarkable success. In many of the coun- ties local organizations were formed which arranged cele- brations at various times and places with impressive pro- grams. The official celebration held in Springfield was one of the most impressive of the year. Aside from a historical pageant, in which more than 1,000 persons appeared, the features were the laying of the corner stone of the memorial building and the dedication of statues of Stephen A. Doug- las and Abraham Lincoln. The Lincoln statue, which is the work of Andrew O'Con- nor, an eminent eastern sculptor, looks down Capitol Ave- nue from the east entrance to the statehouse. It stands on a large base approached by granite steps, and as a back- ground there is a hugh granite slab, on the back of which is carved Lincoln's farewell address to Springfield as he departed for Washington. The Douglas statue, made by the Chicago sculptor, Gil- bert P. Riswold, stands on a smaller base at the left of the Lincoln statue and just in front of the space formerly occupied by the Menard group. This group has been moved Photograph by Frederick O. Behn ILLINOIS CENTENNIAL MONUMENT, CHICAGO 264 THE MAKING OF ILLINOIS. to the southeast corner of the capitol grounds and to the right of the Lincoln statue, thus balancing the arrange- ment. The celebration of the adoption of the first constitution of Illinois was also held at Springfield, and was made notable by the address of former President Theodore Roosevelt. One of the interesting features of the Chicago celebra- tion was giving a pageant at the Auditorium. The pageant opened with the Indian period, and then followed the his- tory of the territory and state, on down to the present, showing the arrival of Marquette and Joliet, the settlement of Kaskaskia, the Fort Dearborn Massacre, the admission of the state into the union, the reception of Lafayette, the development of the state prior to the Civil War, the Civil War, the Chicago Fire, the World's Fair, and finally the call to arms against Germany and Austria. A striking fea- ture was the roll call of nations made up of the various nationalities, each dressed in a costume of the nation repre- sented, and showing the national flag. Another feature of the Chicago celebration was the dedication of the Illinois Centennial Monument in Logan Square. When we contemplate what has transpired in a hundred years in Illinois history, the many marvelous improvements that have been made, it seems as if some magic power had been employed; it seems as if the Illinois people had pos- sessed the magic lamp and ring of Aladdin, had rubbed them liberally, and had secured the wonderful services of the powerful Genii. 265 GOVERNORS OF ILLINOIS. Name Term Shadrach Bond, Dem 1818-1822 Edward Coles, Dem 1822-1826 Ninian Edwards, Dem. ... 1826-1830 John Reynolds, Dem 1830-1834 Wm. L. D. Ewing, Dem. . .18341834 Joseph Duncan, Whig 1834-1838 Thomas Carlin, Dem 1838-1842 Thomas Ford, Dem 1842-1846 Augustus C. French, Dem. 1846-1853 Joel A. Matteson, Dem.. . .1853-1857 Wm. H. Bissell, Rep 1857-1860 John Wood, Rep 1860-1861 Richard Yates, Rep 18611865 Richard J. Oglesby, Rop. . 1865-1869 Name John M. Palmer, Rep.... Richard J. Oglesby, Rep. John L. Beveridge, Rep . . Shelby M. Cullom, Rep. . John M. Hamilton, Rep. . Richard J. Oglesby, Rep. Joseph W. Fifer, Rep... John P. Altgeld, Dem. . . . John R. Tanner, Rep . . . . Richard Yates, Jr., Rep. . Charles S. Deneen, Rep. Charles S. Deneen, Rep. . Edward F. Dunne, Dem. , Frank O. Lowden, Rep. Len Small, Rep Term 1869-1873 1873-1873 1873-1877 1877-1883 1883-1885 1885-1889 1889-1893 1893-1897 ,1897-1901 ,1901-1905 .1905-1909 ,1909-1913 ,1913-1917 .1917-1921 .1921-1925 UNITED STATES SENATORS PROM ILLINOIS. Name Term Ninian Edwards, Dem. ... 1818-1819 Jesse B. Thomas, Dem. .. 1818-1823 Ninian Edwards, Dem. ... 1819-1824 Jesse B. Thomas, Dem. . . .1823-1829 John McLean, Dem 1824-1825 Elias K. Kane, Dem 1825-1831 John McLean, Dem 1829-1830 David J. Baker, Dem 1830-1830 John M. Robinson, Dem. . 1830-1835 Elias K. Kane, Dem 1831-1835 John M. Robinson, Dem. . 1835-1841 Wm. L. D. Ewing, Dem .. 1835-1837 Richard M. Youu'g, Dem .. 1837-1843 Samuel McRoberts, Dem .. 1841-1843 Sidney Breese, Dem 1843-1849 James Semple, Dem 1843-1847 Stephen A. Douglas, Dem. 1847-1853 James Shields, Dem 1849-1855 Stephen A. Douglas, Dem. 1853-1859 Lyman Trumbull, Dem. . . .1855-1861 Stephen A. Douglas, Dem. 1859-1861 Lyman Trumbull, Rep 1861-1867 Name O. H. Browning, Rep. . . . Wm. A. Richardson, Dem. Richard Yates, Rep Lyman Trumbull, Rep . . . John A. Logan, Rep R. J. Oglesby, Rep David Davis, Ind. Dem. . John A, Logan, Rep Shelby M. Cullom, Rep. . John A. Logan, Rep Charles B. Farwell, Rep.. Shelby M. Cullom, Rep.. John M. Palmer, Dem . . . Shelby Mu Cullom, Rep.. William E. Mason, Rep.. Shelby M. Cullom, Rep.. Albert J. Hopkins, Rep. . Shelby M. Cullom, Rep.. William Lorimer, Rep. . . L. Y. Sherman, Rep J. Hamilton Lewis, Dem. Medill McCormick, Rep. Wm. B.. McKinley, Rep. Term 1861-1863 1863-1865 1865-1871 ,1867-1873 ,1871-1877 ,1873-1879 ,1877-1883 ,1879-1885 ,1883-1889 .1885-1886 ,1887-1891 .1889-1895 .1891-1897 .1895-1901 .1897-1903 .1901-1907 .1903-1909 .1907-1913 .1909-1912 .1913-1921 .1913-1919 .1919-1925 .1921-1927 266 THE MAKING OF ILLINOIS. ELECTORAL DISTRICTS Table of Counties. The following table will be found useful in studying the district organization of the state. After each county name will be found the number of each district to which that county belongs. COUNTY COUNTY SEAT o tn Q .^1 JUDICIAL DISTRICTS APPELLATE SUPREME Adams Qufncy Cairo 15 25 22 12 20 16 20 13 20 19 21 18 24 23 19 1,2,3,4 5,6,7,8 9,10 36 50 47 8 30 37 36 12 30 24 40 34 42 42 34 1,2,3,4 5,6,7,9 11,13, 15,17, 19,21, 23,25, 27,29, 31 8 1 3 17 8 13 8 15 8 6 4 5 4 4 5 Not num- bered 3 4 4 2 3 2 3 2 3 3 3 3 4 4 3 1 4 1 Bond Greenville Belvidere Mt. Sterling... Princeton Hardin Mt. Carroll Virginia Urbana Taylorville Marshall Louisville Carlyle Charleston Chicago 2 Boone 6 Brown 4 Bureau Calhoun Carroll Cass . . . . . 5 2 6 4 Champaign Christian Clark 3 3 3 Clay 2 Clinton Coles Cook 1 3 7 Crawford Cumberland DeKalb DeWitt Douglas DuPage Edgar Robinson Toledo Sycamore Clinton Tuscola Wheaton Paris 23 18 12 19 19 11 18 24 23 23 17 25 48 40 35 28 34 41 22 48 42 40 26 50 2 5 16 6 6 16 5 2 4 4 11 2 4 3 2 3 3 2 3 4 4 4 3 4 2 2 6 3 3 7 3 Edwards . . . Effingham Fayette Ford.. Franklin Albion ........ Effingham Vandalia Paxton Benton 1 2 2 3 1 MISCELLANEOUS. 267 \ «^^ uo :^H JUDICIAL DISTRICTS COUNTY COUNTY SEAT 8sS ^^3 ^ 3 APPELLATE SUPREME Fulton Lewistovvn .... Shawneetown . . 15 24 43 48 9 2 3 4 4 Gallatin 1 Greene Carrollton Morris 20 12 38 20 7 13 3 2 2 Grundy 5 Hamilton McLeansboro . 24 51 2 4 1 Hancock Carthage 14 32 . 9 3 4 Hardin Elizabethtown.. 24 48 2 4 1 Henderson Oquawka 14 33 9 2 4 Henry Cambridge Watseka 15 37 14 2 5 Iroquois 18 20 12 2 3 Jackson Murphysboro .. 25 44 1 4 1 Newton Mt. Vernon 23 23 46 46 4 2 4 4 2 Jefferson 1 Tersev Jerseyville Galena 20 38 y. 3 2 Jo Daviess 13 12 15 . 2 6 Johnson Vienna 24 ^ 51 1 4 1 Kane Geneva Kankakee 11 18 14 20 16 12 2 2 6 Kankakee 7 Kendall Yorkville 12 14 16 2 6 Knox Galesburg Waukegan .... Ottawa 15 43 9 2 5 Lake 10 8 17 2 7 LaSalle 12 39 13 2 5 Lawrence Lawrenceville .. 23 48 2 4 2 Lee Dixon Pontiac 13 17 35 16 15 11 2 2 6 Livingston 3 Logan Lincoln Decatur 17 19 28 28 11 6 3 3 3 Macon., 3 Macoupin Carlinville 21 38 7 3 2 Madison Edwardsville ... 22 47 3 4 2 Marion Salem 23 42 4 4 2 Marshall Lacon 16 16 10 2 5 Mason Havana Metropolis 20 24 30 51 8 1 3 4 4 Massac 1 McDonough. .. Macomh 14 32 9 3 4 McHenry Woodstock . . . 11 8 IV 2 6 McLean. Bloomington .. 17 26 11 3 3 Menard Petersburg . . . 20 30 8 3 4 Mercer Aledo 14 33 14 2 4 Monroe... Waterloo 22 44 3 4 1 Montgomery. .. Hillsboro 21 38 4 3 2 Morgan Jacksonville .. . 20 45 7 3 4 Moultrie... Sullivan 19 24 8 3 3 Ogle Oregon Peoria 13 10 15 2 6 Peoria 16 18 10 2 5 Perry Pinckneyville .. 25 44 3 4 1 268 THE MAKING OF ILLINOIS. COUNTY COUNTY SEAT gg3 JUDICIAL DISTRICTS APPELLATE SUPREM E Piatt Monticello Pittsfield Golconda Mound City . . . Hennepin ..... Chester Olney Rock Island . . . Harrisburg . . . Springfield . . . Rushville Winchester . . . Shelbyville . . . Toulon Belleville Freeport Pekin Jonesboro Danville Mt. Carmel Monmouth — Nashville Fairfield Carmi Morrison Joliet 19 20 24 25 16 25 23 14 24 21 15 20 19 16 22 13 16 25 18 23 14 22 24 24 13 11 25 12 17 24 36 51 50 16 44 46 33 51 45 30 36 40 37 49 12 30 50 22 48 32 44 46 48 35 41 50 10 16 6 8 1 1 10 3 2 14 1 7 8 7 4 10 3 15 10 1 5 2 9 3 2 2 14 12 1 17 11 3 3 4 4 2 4 4 2 4 3 3 3 3 2 4 2 3 4 3 4 2 4 4 4 2 2 4 2 2 Q Pike , 2 Pope 1 Pulaski Putnam Randolph Richland Rock Island. . . Saline 1 5 1 2 4 1 Sangamon... .. Schuyler Scott 3 4 2 Shelby Stark 2 5 St. Clair Stephenson Tazewell Union Vermilion Wabash Warren Washington Wayne White 1 6 3 1 3 1 4 1 1 1 Whiteside Will 6 7 Williamson. . . . Winnebago .... Woodford Marion Rockford Eureka 1 6 5 The congressional and senatorial apportionments were made in 1901. The judicial districts were fixed by the General Assembly in 1897. The apportionment of 1901 divides Illinois into twenty-five congressional districts. Two congressmen are elected at large. The state has twenty-nine electoral votes. Map of ILLINOIS SHOWING COrNTY BOUNDARIES 269 THE CONGRESSIONAL ^''' DISTRICTS COOK COUNTY DISTRICTS. 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, J.th, 6th. 7th, 8th, »th, and 10th. 2'?0 36th PPOHIA J WOODFORD ''''"^ ' lethlDIST. LIVINGSTON DIST, 'SOth 'TAZEWELL | Mc L E A DIST. fMASON DIST. 45th [MORGAN 28th DIST: 24th c PIATT saHgamon 20th DIST. DIST. 22nd THE SENATORIAL DISTRICTS COOK COUNTY DISTRICTS. 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th. 5th, 6th. 7ih, 9th, nth. 13th, 15th, 17th, 19th, 21st, 23rd, 25th, 27th, 29th. and 31st, 271 THE JUDICIAL CIRCUITS "^- 272 INDEX Abolitionists, 154. Age of Ice, 18. Age of Mammoth, 18. Agricultural Worth, 16. Algonquin, 21. Allouez, Father, 35. Alton, 16, 130, 237. Ampudia, Gen., 182. Angels of Buena Vista, 182. Apple River Fort, 30. Arkansas River, 42. Armstrong, Fort, 28, 31. Asylums for Insane, 236, 237. Atkinson, Gen., 28. Austria-Hungary, 212. Bacon, S., 237. Bagley, Rev. David, 119. Bank, Edwardsville, 142. Bank, Kaskaskia, 142. Bank of Illinois, 142. Barbeau, 116. Barracks, Jefferson, 31. Barter w^ith Indians, 51. Bathing Beaches, 232. Battleship Maine, 209. Bissell, Col., 179, 181. Black-Hawk, 27, 32. Black-Hawk War, 27. 190. Blind, Institutions for the, 237. Block Houses, 129. Bond, Shadrach, 122, 147. Booth, J. W., 194. Boundary, Illinois, 143, 144. Bowman. Capt., 101. Buena Vista, 180-184. Burgess, 124, Burgoyne, 121. Burlington, Limestone, 18. Cahokia, 79, 86, 87, 102, 103, 116. Cahokias, 24, 92. Cairo, 174, 176. Campbell^ Lieut. 126, 127. Campbell, Thompson, 162. Canals, 176, 177, 178, 228, 23a 259. Capitals, Our State, 157. Carlin, Gov. Thomas, 167. Carlyle, 158. Cartier, Jacques, 33. Cayuga, 21. Centennial Monument, 263. Chartres, Fort, 86-91, 130, 149. Cherokees, 21. Chicago, 217-234, 257, 259, 260, 264. Chicago Drainage Canal, 228. Chicago Fire. 222-226. Chicago River, 45, 131, 178, 217, 228. Chicago Union Stockyards, 234. Chicago University, 251. Chickasaw Tribe, 21, 89. Choctaws, 21. Cival War, 199. Clark, George Rogers, 96-111. Clark, Gov., 126. Clark and the Indians, 105. Clark's Advance, 99. 273 74 INDEX. Coalfields, 17, IS. Coles, Gov. Ed., 152. Colleges, Denominational, 244. Connecticut, 112. Constitution, 1870, 147. Constitution and Government, 148. Constitutions, 145-148. Convention, Const, 145, 146, Council of Revision, 145. Council of Utica, 46. County Poor, 235. Courts, 148. Covington, 125. Cowpens, 121. Creek Indians, 21. Creve Coeur, Fort, 58, 60, 70. Cuba, 211. Davis, Col. Jefferson, 182. Deaf and Dumb, 236. Dearborn, Fort, 29, 30, 129, 131-136, 217. Decatur, 163. Delawares, 22. Dement, Col., 30. Democrats, 167. Denominational Colleges, 244. Des Moines River, 31, 41. Detroit Straits, 52. Dix, D., 236. Dixon, Mrs., 29. Donelson, Fort, 199. Douglas, Judge, 167. Douglas, Stephen A., 156, 193. Drainage Canal, 228, 230, 259. Due de Chartres, 86. Duncan Gov., 171. Eads Bridgt, 16. Edgar, John, 93, 116. Education in Illinois, 240-251. 260, 261. Educational Institutions, 240- 251. Edwards, Gov., 130. Edwards, Ninian, 141, 162. Edwardsville, 130. Election, State Officers, 1818, 145. England, Coal in, 18. English Gov't. Policy, 92 Equality, 129. Eries, 21, 63. Fayette County, 160. Fayette, N. Y., 166. Feasts, Indian, 39, 43, 57. Field Museum, 227. Five Nations, 21. Flatboats, 83. Florida, 18. Forest Preserve Districts, 252. Fort Buildings. 74. Fort Chartres, 86-91, 130, 149. Fort Creve Coeur, 58, 60, 70. Fort Dearborn, 29, 30, 129, 131- 136, 217. Fort Frontenac, 48, 49, 52, 59, 61, 68. Fort, Hills, 123. Fort Miami 54, 69. Fort Patrick Henry, 111. Fort St. Louis, 26, 74, 75. Forts, Stockade, 129. Franchise to Women, 261. French Trading Co. 86. Frontenac, 35, 48, 49, 51. Gaines, Gen., 28. Galena, 16, 30. Galenite, 16. Gallatin, Albert, 177. Germany, 212. Ghent, Treaty of. 128. Governors, 148, 265. Grand Tower, 138. Grant, U. S., 144, 199. Great Northern Cross, the, 171. Green Bay 43, 45. INDEX. 275 Greenville, 123. Griffin, The, 51, 52, 54, 61. ^l. Gulf of Mexico, 18, 43. Hall, Sylvia and Rachel, 29. Hanks, John, 186. Hardin, Col. J. J., 179. Harrison, Gen., 27, Heald, Capt, 133, 135. Helm, Capt., 102, 103, 106. Henry, Gen., 30. Henry, Patrick, 98. Higgins, Tom. 123. Hills, Fort, 123. Hog and Hominy, 121. Hovey, Gen., 199. Howard, Gen., 126. Hugo, Victor, 32. Hull, Gen., 135. Hurons, 21, 63. Illinois After Revolutionary War, 112. Illinois, Bank of, 142. Illinois, Centennial, 262. Illinois Central R. R., 172-175. Illinois Country, 22. Illinois Indians, 24, 26, 2\'^. 45, 69. Illinois in the Spanish-Ameri- can War, 209. Illinois in the World War. 212. Illinois Park Comm., 256. Illinois Pioneers, 117. Illinois Rangers, 123. Illinois River, 41, 44, 55, 74, 256. Illinois Today, 259-264. llliopolis, 161. Independence. Mo., 166. Indian, The, 21. Indiana, 112, 141. Indian Characteristics, 22, 23. Indian Country. 126. Indian Feast, 39, 43, 57. Indian Lands Sold, 92, 93. Indians, Distribution of, 23-25. Indian Tribes, 21. Insane Hospitals, 22)(), 237. Institution for Deaf and Dumb, 236. Institutions for the Blind. 237- 238. Institutions, State, 235-239. Internal Improvements Bill, 171. Iowa, 126. Iroquois, 21, 26, 63-66, 69, 74. Jacksonville, 161, 237, 238. Joliet, 16, 18. Jpliet and Marquette. 33-47. Jones, Rice John, 116. Jourdan's Fort, 130. Kaskaskia, 44, 45, 78. 84. 86, 92, 115, 116, 129, 144, 157. Kaskaskias, 24. Keelboats. 137. Keokuk Indian Chief. 28, 31. Keokuk Limestone, 18. Kickapoos, 23. Kinzie, John, 133-136, 217. Kirtland, Ohio, 166. Knights of the Golden Circle, 204. I Ledrones, 211. Lake Forest University, 251. Lamoni, Iowa, 169. LaSalle 48-59, 68-77. LaSalle, Character of, (il. LaSalle, Death of, 1(i. LaSalle and Miami, 69. LaSalle Visits France, 50. LaSalle's Enemies, 57. LaSalle's Return, 68. LaSalle-Peru Township High School, 260-261. Laws, Slavery, 150, 151. 276 INDEX. Lemon, James, 122. Limestone, 18. Lincoln, 156, 162, 185-195. Lindley, 130, 131. Log Rolling, 121. Logan, J. A., 199. "Long Knives," 101, 103. Louis XV, 84. Lovejoy, Rev. E. P. 154. Mackinmac Mission, 35, 47. Maine, The 209. Makarty, 89. Mammoths, Age of, 18. Marquette, 33-47. Marquette and Joliet, 33. Marquette, Death of, 47. ^ Marietta, 115. Massachusetts, 112. McKee, Col., 183. Membri, 24. Menard, Pierre, 147. Meredosia Railroad, 172. Mexican War, 179-184. Miami, 23, 63, 69, 135. Michigan, State, 112. Milk-Sick, 119. Miller, Mrs., 186. Missionaries, 22, 33. Mission, First, 47. Mississippi River, 38, 43. Miss. Valley, a Fre»ch Colony, 73. Missouri River, 41. Mitchigami, 24. Mohawk, 21. Mohegans, 22. Monroe, Fortress, 31. Montreal, 33. Moore, James, 117. Mormon, Book of, 165, 166. Mormons, 165-169. Moulin, John C, 116. Municipal Pier, 232, 259. Muskhogees, 21. Naperville, 29. Narragansetts, 22. Natchez, 72, 73. Nauvoo and the Mormons, 165-169. New Design, 119. New France, 33. New Orleans, 137. Niagara Limestone, 16. Nipissing Lake, 35. Normal Schools, 247, 248. Northwestern University, 251, 260. O^Brien, 181. Offutt, 186, 188. Oglesby, Gov., 199. Ohio, 112. Ohio River, 41. O'Leary, Mrs. 223. Old Kaskaskia, 78. Oneida, 21. Onondaga, 21. Ordinance of 1787, 112, 143. Ottawa, 44. 177, 256. Ottawa River, 35. Ouilmette, Antoine, 133. Our State Institutions, 235. Palmyra, 165. Palo Alto, 179. Paper Currency, 98. Paris, 87. Parks and Boulevards, 230. Partridge, Black, 133. Penitentiaries, 235. Penn, Wm., 22. Peoria, 161. Peoria Lake, 24, 56. Peorias, 24. Pequots, 22. Philippine Islands, 211. Piasa Bluffs, 41. Pierre and Jacques, 45. Pittsburgh, 137. INDEX. ^77 Plainfield, 29. Playgrounds, 232. Polk, President, 179. Pontiac, 239. Pope, Nathaniel 142. Pope's Bluffs, 158. Porto Rico, 211. Potawatomi, 24, 26, 29, 45, 53, (iJ, 133. Powhatans, 22. Prairie du Chien, 30, 116, 126. Prairie du Rocher, 87. Proclamation by Clark, 109. Pursley, Mrs., 125. Quebec, ZZ, Railroads, 171, 176. Raleigh, Sir Walter, 113. Rangers, Illinois, 123. Rapids, 126. Rector, Capt, 126. Reform School, State, 239. Renault, Philip, 86, 149. Revision, Council, 145. Reynolds, Gov., 28, 29. Rigdon, Sidney, 165, 166, 168. Riggs, Capt, 126, 128. Riots, Slave, 152. Rock Island, 28. 126. Rock of St. Louis, The, 74. Rock River, 27, 28. Rocky Mountains, 18. Roger Williams, 22. Rogers, Capt, 107. Route to Indies, 48. Russell, Camp, 130. Sacs and Foxes, 24, 27. Saguenay River, 34. St Clair County, 116. St Clair, Gen., 115. St Clair, Wm., 116. St. Esprit Pt, 35. St Ignace, 35. St Lawrence, ZZ, 34. St Louis, 91, 128. St Peter's Sandstone, 16, St Philip, 87. Salaries, 145, 148. Salt Springs, 129. San Domingo, 150. Sangamon River, 2Z, 170, 185. Santa Anna, 180. Scott, Gen., 30. Seminoles, 21. Senators, U. S., 265. Seneca, 21. Sharon, Vt, 165. Shawnees. 22, 23. Shebana, Chief, 29. Shipbuilding, 50. Short, Capt, 125. Slavery, 113, 149-156. Smith, Capt John, 22. Smith, Hyrum, 168. Smith, Joseph, 165-168. Soldiers' and Sailors' Home, 239. Soldiers'. Widows' Home, 238. Songs, War, 206. Spain, 87, 138, 209. Spanish-American War, 209. Spanish Troops, 87, 209. Spaulding, Solomon, 165. Springfield, 161-164. Starved Rock, 16, 26, 56, 60, 1Z, 74, 256. State Capitals, Our, 157-164. State House, 163. State Institutions, 235. State Officers, 148. State Penitentiaries, 235. State Period, 139. State Rights, 193. State Superintendent First, 247. State University, 248. 278 INDEX. Statehood and the Constitu- tion, 141. Stay at Homes, 203. Stillman, 29. Stockades, 129. Stockyards, The, 234. Taensas, Indian Town, 71, 12. Tamoroas, 24. Tanner, John R., 209. Taylor, Zachary, 128, 179, 181, 183. Territorial Period, 95. Thornton, Canal Boat, 178. Tonti, 50, 60-67. Tourney, Capt., 123. Transportation, 170-178. Tuscaroras, 21. Underground Railroad, 155, Union League of America, 204. University of Chicago, 251, 260. University, State, 248, 260. Utica, 24, 256. Vandalia, 125, 158, 192. Vandals, 158. Vincennes, 102, 103, 106, 107, 109, 110, 111, 115. Virginia, 112, 158. Wabash, Grand Door of, 103. Wabash River, 103, 129. War Songs, 206. Washington, 115. Washington's Surrender, 90. Wells, Capt., 135. Wendell Phillips, 31. "What Cheer," 22. Whigs, 167. Whistler, Capt., 131, 133. Whiteside, Gen., 29. Wilbur, Chas. T., 238. Winnebagos, 24, 28, 135. Winnemeg, 135. Wisconsin River, ZT. Wisconsin State, 112, 190. Woman Suffrage, 261. Women of Illinois 205, 206. World's Fair, 226, 227. World War, 212. Young, Brigham, 169. Zion City of, 166. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS