In 1803, France sold the United States hundreds of thousands of acres of land west of the Mississippi River—lands that belonged to many Indigenous people.
Meriwether Lewis and William Clark stopped at Fort Kaskaskia in 1803. They recruited members of the expedition and extra hands to help with the boats here.
Meriwether Lewis and William Clark recruited three members of their expedition, Joseph Whitehouse, George Drouillard, and John Newman, at Fort Massac in 1803.
To tell visitors the story of the Camp River Dubois and the newly formed Corps of Discovery, the 14,000-square-foot visitor’s center presents the often-untold story of the Illinois portion of the Expedition. Construction of the center began in October 2000 in an area similar to that of the original Camp River Dubois on the south side of the Wood River, where the men of the Corps lived from December 1803 to May 1804.
In 1757 the French erected a fort and named it Fort Ascension near the mouth of the Tennessee River. It was strengthened in 1759 and renamed Fort Massiac in honor of a French minister. In 1765, under terms of a recently signed treaty, they surrendered it to the British. In 1778, George Rogers Clark, the older brother of William Clark, and his men captured the fort.
The St. Nicholas Landmark sits just down river from the confluence of the Mississippi and Kaskaskia Rivers, where On November 27, 1803, Meriwether Lewis, William Clark and their party camped on Horse Island. The next morning, Lewis left them to travel by land. Clark and the men pushed on to Kaskaskia via the Mississippi River.
France was a major player in American politics for many years, from the 17th century until Napoleon sold France’s territories in the Louisiana Purchase of 1803. Though France’s colonies were sparsely populated, the French influence can still be felt in Southern Illinois, with perhaps the best example being Fort de Chartres.
Piney Creek Ravine is a 198 acre nature preserve that has been protected so that many generations will be able to enjoy its exquisite beauty.When Lewis and Clark were first travelling through Illinois, it was a land of wilderness and lush forests. While there were plenty of towns, including some large ones like Kaskaskia, they were relatively sparse. After all, at the time anything past West Virginia was considered unpredictable and dangerous.
