SKETCH OF THE EARLY HISTORY OF ILLINOIS
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SKETCH OF THE EARLY HISTORY OF ILLINOIS
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By a treaty between the general government and the Kaskaskia Indians, made January 13, 1803, a large part of Illinois was opened to settlement, though it was first visited by Europeans in the persons of French Jesuit missionaries in the year 1672, who explored the north part of the State. The oldest permanent settlement was made in 1720, at Kaskaskia, by the French. The name of the State is derived from the Indians, and the term "Illini," signifying in the Indian tongue, a perfect man. It was modified by the French into its present form. This State was formed out of what was known as Northwestern Territory, and was the twenty-first of the great American Union, whose Centennial we celebrate the present year. A territorial government was formed February 3, 1809, and April 3, 1818, it was authorized to adopt a state constitution, and became an independent State on the 3d day of December, the same year. It has an area of 55,405 square miles, equal to 35,459,200 acres. Population in 1880, 2,539,638. This state extends over a range of latitude of five and a half degrees, giving a greater diversity of climate than any other State in the Union, and for fertility is unequaled by any other territory of equal extent in the world. The great agricultural staples do not constitute her entire wealth, but she is rich in iron, lead, copper, zinc, lime, marble, gypsum, etc., etc. Some single counties contain as many square miles of coal-fields as all of England combined. Brevity compels important omissions, of which our State may boast, viz: her beautiful cities and her grand prairies, her thousands of miles of railroads and her majestic rivers, her schools and her churches, her law-abiding, intelligent population, her beneficent laws, and her noble constitution, second to none in the Union.
Perhaps it will afford some of our readers a little pleasure to see a list of all the early governors of Illinois, commencing with its organization as a territory in 1809. If so, they can read the following: Ninian Edwards was appointed Governor of the Territory in 1809, and held the office until it was admitted as a State in 1818. His term of office expired in 1822, when he was succeeded by Edward Coles, second Governor. His term expired in 1826, at which time Ninian Edwards succeeded as third Governor. He was succeeded, in 1830, by John Reynolds, commonly called the "Old Ranger," who was the fourth Governor. The fifth, Joseph Duncan, was inaugurated in 1834. Thomas Carlin, the sixth, in 1838. Thomas Ford, the seventh, in 1842. Augustus C. French, eighth Governor, was inaugurated first in 1846, and again in 1849, under the new Constitution. He was succeeded by Joel A. Matteson, ninth Governor, in 1853; and he by Wm. H. Bissell, the tenth Governor, in 1857.
The rich and highly favored region forming the State of Illinois is bounded on the north by Wisconsin, east by Lake Michigan and the States of Indiana and Kentucky, south by Kentucky, and west by the States of Missouri and Iowa. Its extent from north to south is from thirty-seven degrees to forty-two degrees thirty minutes north latitude, and east and west from ten degrees thirty-two minutes to fourteen degrees thirty-three minutes longitude, west from Washington City. Its extreme length is three hundred and eighty miles, its breadth in the north one hundred and forty-five miles, but it extends in its center to two hundred and twenty miles, from whence it contracts towards the south to a narrow point. The whole area of the State is fifty-nine thousand square miles, of which fifty-five thousand square miles, or about thirty-five million acres, are capable of cultivation. The act of Congress admitting this State into the Union prescribes boundaries as follows: Beginning at the mouth of the Wabash river, thence up the middle of the main channel, thereof to a point where a line drawn due north from Vincennes last crosses that stream, thence due north to the northeast corner of the State of Indiana, thence east with the boundary line of the same State to the center of Lake Michigan, thence due north along the middle of said lake to latitude forty degrees thirty minutes, thence west to the center of the Mississippi river, thence down the middle of the main channel thereof to the mouth of the Ohio river, thence up the latter stream, along its northern or right shore to the place of beginning. The outline of the State is in extent about one thousand one hundred and sixty miles, the whole of which, except three hundred and five, is formed by navigable streams and waters. As a physical section Illinois is the lowest part of that inclined plane of which Lake Michigan and both its shores are a higher section, and which is extended into and embraces the greater part of Indiana. Down this plane, in a very nearly southwestern direction, flows the Wabash and its confluents, the Kaskaskia, the Illinois and its confluents, and the Rock and Wisconsin rivers. The lowest section of the plane is also the extreme southern angle of Illinois, at the mouth of the Ohio river, and is about three hundred and fifty feet above the level of the sea. Though the State of Illinois does contain some low hilly sections, as a whole it may be regarded as a gently inclining plane in the direction of the rivers, as already indicated. Without including minute parts, the extreme arable elevation may be safely stated at eight hundred feet above sea level, and the mean height at five hundred and fifty above the sea. Next to Louisiana and Delaware, Illinois is the most level State in the Union. A small tract in the southern portion of the State is hilly, and the northern portion is also somewhat broken. There are likewise considerable elevations along the Illinois river, and the bluffs of the Mississippi in some places might almost pass for mountains. But by far the greater portion of the State is either distributed in vast plains, or barrens, that are gently rolling like the waves of the sea. We may travel on the wide prairie for days without encountering an elevation that is worthy to be called a hill. In no part of the peopled portion of the United States are there such vast sections of prairie country. One vast prairie, with but little interruption, spreads from the shore of the Mississippi to that of Lake Michigan. Undoubtedly, the most remarkable feature of the State of Illinois is its vast prairies, or unwooded plains. They begin on a comparatively small scale in the basin of Lake Erie, and increase as we proceed westward, already form the bulk of the land about Lake Michigan, the Upper Wabash and the Illinois, but west of the Mississippi they are still more extensive, covering the whole country, interspersed with groves of timber, or patches of wood land, chiefly confined to the river vallies and the borders of streams. The characteristic peculiarity of the prairies is the absence of timber; in other respects the present all the variety of soil and surface that are found elsewhere. Some are of inexhaustible fertility, others are of hopeless sterility. The latter condition, the exception, and by no means the rule. Some spread out in a vast boundless plain, others are undulating or rolling, while others are broken by hills. In general, they are covered with a rich growth of grass, excellent natural meadows, from which circumstance they take their name. Prairie is a French word, signifying meadow, and is applied to any description of surface that is destitute of timber, and clothed with grass. Wet, dry, level or undulating, are terms of description, merely, and apply to prairies in the same sense they do to forest lands. Indians and hunters annually set fire to the prairie grasses to dislodge their game; the fire spreads with tremendous rapidity, and presents one of the grandest and most terrible spectacles in nature. The flames rush through the long grass with a noise like thunder; dense clouds of smoke arise; and the sky itself seems almost on fire, particularly during the night. Travel on the prairies, during the burning season, is extremely dangerous, and when pursued by the fires the only escape is to fire the grass around them, and taking shelter on the burnt part, where the approaching flames must expire for want of fuel.
The groves and belts of timber bordering on the prairies have frequent springs of water, and are covered with bushes of hazel and furze, small sassafras shrubs, festooned with the wild grape vine and the amepolopsis, and in the season of flowers becomes beautifully decorated by a rich profusion of gaily colored herbaceous and perennial flowers. In March, and early in April, the forests are in bloom. The brilliant red bloom of the cercis Canadensis, handsomely exhibits its charms. The yellow blossoms of the fragrant leonicera diffuses its fragrance, and the jasminum fruticans impregnates the air with it s delicious odors, and a vast variety of other odoriferous plants are passively engaged in the faithful discharge of their offices, either of the display of gay colors or the emission of rare odors. The prairies are thus referred to by one of the early western poets--- "Travelers entering here, behold around The deep, rich, black soils of the prairies are of exhaustless fertility, and equally adapted to the growth of vegetables, corn, wheat, rye, barley and oats. All the fruits of this latitude are grown with extraordinary success. From May to October the prairies are covered with tall grass, and the flower producing weeds. In June and July they seem an ocean of flowers, of various hues, waving to the breezes that sweep over them. The numerous tall flowers that grow luxuriantly over these plains, present a striking and delightful appearance. Early in the history of the settlements of these prairies, herds of deer were frequently seen bounding over these prairie undulations. In the southern part of the State the prairies are comparatively small, varying in size from a few acres to several miles in extent. As we go northward, they widen and extend on the more elevated ground, between the water courses, to a vast distance, and are frequently from six to twelve miles wide. Their borders are by no means uniform, but are intersected in every direction by strips of forest land, advancing into and receding from the prairie towards the water courses, whose banks are always lined with timber, principally of luxuriant growth. Between these streams are, in many instances, copses or groves of timber, containing from 100 to 2000 acres, in the midst of the prairie, like islands in the ocean. This is a common feature between the Sangamon river and Lake Michigan, the region of Illinois in which our own Mason county, forms so conspicuous and desirable a part. The largest tract of prairie in Illinois is called Grand Prairie. Under this general name is embraced the country lying between the water which fall into the Mississippi, and those which enter the Wabash rivers. It does not consist of one vast tract boundless to the vision, and uninhabitable for want of timer, but made up of continuous tracts, with points of timber projecting inward, and long arms of the prairie extending between the creeks and smaller streams. The southern points of the Grand Prairie are formed in the northeaster parts of Jackson county, and extend in a northeastern course between the streams, of various widths, from one to ten or twelve miles, through Perry, Washington, Jefferson, Marion, the eastern part of Fayette, Effingham, through the western part of Coles, into Champaign and Iroquois counties, where it becomes connected with the prairies that project eastward from the Illinois river and its tributaries. This part alone is frequently called the Grand Prairie. On the origin of the prairies, it is difficult to decide; various speculations have arisen on this subject, and have given rise to various opinions; the most practical of which is ably set forth by Prof. Winchell, in another part of this work, in the section entitled the "Treelessness of the Prairies." When Capt. John Smith visited the Chesapeake, he found extensive prairies, and first bore witness to the practice of circular fires as a mode of hunting among the savages. These tracts have been early inhabited and cultivated by the colonists, and the prairies have long since disappeared. Probably one-half of the earth's surface, in a state of nature, consisted of prairies or barrens; much of it, like our western prairies, were covered with a luxuriant coat of grass and herbage. The Steppes of Central Asia, the Pampas of Buenos Ayres and Venezuela, the Savannahs of Louisiana and Texas, and the prairies, designate identical, or at least similar, tracts of country. Mesopotamia, Syria and Judea had their ancient prairies, on which the Patriarchs pastured their flocks. Travelers in Burmah, in the interior of Africa and New Holland, mention the same description of country. Mungo Park describes the annual burnings of the plains of Manning, western Africa, in the same manner as the prairies of the western States, and the practice is attended with the same results, the country being in short covered with a luxuriant crop of young tender grass, on which cattle feed with avidity. |