Fort St Louis at Starved Rock, IL

Starved Rock State Park is located on the Illinois River, a mile south of Utica, IL. Here, glacial melt sliced deeply through sandstone bluffs creating a dozen deep, narrow canyons.In May 1673, Louis Jolliet, Father Marquette, and five more Frenchmen, in two canoes, were the first Europeans to explore the Starved Rock area. They were returning to St.Ignace (in the upper peninsula of Michigan) from an exploration of the upper Mississippi River. Their trip increased knowledge of North American geography and spread French influence among the American Indians living in the upper Mississippi Valley.In 1675, Father Marquette returned to the area to build a Mission in the Kaskaskia Indian village located on the Illinois River across from Starved Rock. Eventually, the French claimed the entire Mississippi Valley and the Great Lakes. To hold their claim, the French built a fort at the Straits of Mackinac where Lake Huron, Lake Michigan and Lake Superior join. As a southern defense, the French built Fort St. Louis atop Starved Rock in the winter of 1682-83. The site was chosen because of its commanding strategic position high above the last rapids on the Illinois River.In February 1684, the new fort was attacked by 500 Iroquois warriors. Sharing command of the fort where explorer Henri Tonti and a French army officer, Chevalier Baugy. They commanded a small force of twenty-two French soldiers, traders, trappers and craftsmen. In addition, twenty-four Shawnee, Miami and Loup warriors and their families were protected by the forts’ sturdy walls.Perched 170 feet above the river, Fort St Louis could not be taken by direct assault. The Iroquois tried and were driven off. The invaders had no choice but to besiege the place. The French were short of food and gunpowder. . . but so were the Iroquois who had traveled a great distance on foot. With their food supplies mostly consumed, the Iroquois were soon depleting the local game. For eight days the Iroquois hung on, sniping and probing the forts’ defenses. Failing to gain a foothold, the Iroquois realized they had no other choice but to withdraw.

The French abandoned Fort St Louis in the early 1700s and built Fort Pimitoui in Peoria. Fort St. Louis became a haven for traders and trappers for a dozen years or so. By 1720 all remains of the fort were gone.

The diorama pictured was researched and built by the History/Social Science Department and students of the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy in Aurora, Illinois. This reconstruction is based on descriptions of the fort by LaSalle, Henri Joutel, property deeds and a variety of business and French army documents. These sources describe the fort of 1684 as upright logs and earthworks of about 600 feet in circumference which protected housing for between eleven and fifty men, contained seven bastions, a storehouse, forge, officers’ quarters, a chapel and at least three traders’ log cabins.

Pioneer Travel

Traveling was difficult two hundred years ago. “By land” meant walking, riding on the back of a horse, mule, steer or riding in a wagon pulled by an animal. This photo is an example of an oxen-drawn wagon which might be used to transport merchandise, produce, wood, household goods or people. It is similar but smaller than a Conestoga wagon (also called a prairie schooner) used by the pioneers.The roads people traveled were raw, dirt trails. At times, they were choked with mud or clogged by fallen trees, rock slides or drifting snow. A few roads were toll roads and might have sections of “corduroy” road which were paved with logs. What a jarring experience that must have been!Rivers and streams had to be crossed. Sometimes a bridge was available. The travelers paid a toll to keep their shoes dry. In other places, a large raft might be available to float your animals, wagon and family across a river. This was called a “ferry” and was a business. A man would transport you across the river by pulling on a rope tied to a tree on each shore or pushed the raft along with a long pole. There was a fee for his service. In more rural areas, you might swim your livestock and float your wagon across a stream. You had no other choices. Sometimes animals and people drowned during these swims. As there was no highway system, road signs were probably few and far apart. Large groups of people hired a guide to show the way. Others relied on crude maps, landmarks they were told about or asked people they might see along the way. Our friends to the north, In Quebec, found road-building almost impossible. They lived in a mountainous area with thick stands of trees and sometimes six feet of snow on the ground in the winter. Instead of roads, everyone relied on the St Lawrence river. Every farm was a thin, long ribbon of land touching the river. The farmers built their homes close to the river and near their neighbors. This proximity provided them with some more helping hands in case of a fire or attack. They all had a small pier and a few boats and canoes that they used to fish and take their produce to market. They also cut many trees in the winter which they pulled to the river and transformed into large rafts. When the St Lawrence river thawed each spring, they floated their rafts to Quebec city. The wood was purchased and used to build ships, barges, buildings, furniture and possibly a small wagon like this.