II 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4525 

To establish the Prairie du Rocher French Colonial National Historical Park 

in the State of Illinois, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 13, 2022 

Ms. DUCKWORTH introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To establish the Prairie du Rocher French Colonial National 

Historical Park in the State of Illinois, and for other 

purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Prairie du Rocher 

5 French Colonial National Historical Park Establishment 

6 Act’’. 

7 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES. 

8 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that— 

9 (1) Prairie du Rocher and the French Colonial 

10 Historic District are the finest historical and archiVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:26 Jul 15, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4525.IS S4525

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1 tectural examples of French colonial heritage in the 

2 United States; 

3 (2) in 1966, Fort de Chartres and the Modoc 

4 Rock Shelter were each designated as a National 

5 Historic Landmark; 

6 (3) in 1973, the Creole House in Prairie du 

7 Rocher was added to the National Register of His8 toric Places; 

9 (4) in 1974, the French Colonial Historic Dis10 trict, which is an area of 22 square miles that in11 cludes the ancient Kolmer Indian site, was added to 

12 the National Register of Historic Places; 

13 (5) Fort de Chartres, which was constructed in 

14 1720— 

15 (A) served as the French seat of govern16 ment and primary military station on the upper 

17 Mississippi River; and 

18 (B) was designated as a National Historic 

19 Landmark in 1960; 

20 (6) Pierre Laclede Liguest— 

21 (A) quartered in the Prairie du Rocher 

22 French Colonial District in the winter of 1763; 

23 and 

24 (B) in February 1764, founded St. Louis, 

25 Missouri; 


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1 (7) in 1818, the village of Kaskaskia served as 

2 the first State capital of Illinois; 

3 (8) on July 4, 1778, General George Rogers 

4 Clark, with the assistance of Father Pierre Gibault, 

5 captured Prairie du Rocher and the village of 

6 Kaskaskia; 

7 (9) on November 28, 1803, Meriwether Lewis 

8 and William Clark visited the village of Kaskaskia 

9 seeking boatmen and troops to accompany the Lewis 

10 and Clark expedition; 

11 (10) in 1825, General Marie-Joseph-Paul-Yves12 Roch-Gilbert du Montier de Lafayette visited the vil13 lage of Kaskaskia; and 

14 (11) the village of Kaskaskia, Fort de Chartres, 

15 and Prairie du Rocher once served as the western 

16 boundary of the United States. 

17 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are— 

18 (1) to recognize the importance of Prairie du 

19 Rocher and the French Colonial Historic District as 

20 a nationally significant architectural village that em21 bodies the cultural heritage of the United States; 

22 and 

23 (2) to establish the Prairie du Rocher French 

24 Colonial National Historical Park— 


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1 (A) to serve as the focus of interpretive 

2 and educational programs relating to the his3 tory of the French Colonial Historic District; 

4 and 

5 (B) to assist in the preservation of historic 

6 sites within the French Colonial Historic Dis7 trict. 

8 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

9 In this Act: 

10 (1) HISTORICAL PARK.—The term ‘‘Historical 

11 Park’’ means the Prairie du Rocher French Colonial 

12 National Historical Park established by section 4(a). 

13 (2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

14 the Secretary of the Interior. 

15 (3) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means the State 

16 of Illinois. 

17 SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE PRAIRIE DU ROCHER 

18 FRENCH COLONIAL NATIONAL HISTORICAL 

19 PARK. 

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—To assist in the preservation, in21 terpretation, and education relating to Prairie du Rocher 

22 and the French Colonial Historic District and to provide 

23 technical assistance to a broad range of public and private 

24 landowners and preservation organizations, there is estabVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:26 Jul 15, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4525.IS S4525

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1 lished in the State the Prairie du Rocher French Colonial 

2 National Historical Park. 

3 (b) AREA INCLUDED.—The Historical Park shall 

4 consist of the following: 

5 (1) Land and structures associated with the 

6 Creole House, which was constructed in 1800, a 

7 French Creole vernacular post-in-ground or 

8 ‘‘poteaux-sur-sol’’ structure that is 1 of 5 remaining 

9 such structures in the United States. 

10 (2) Land and structures associated with the 

11 Pierre Menard Home, which was constructed in 

12 1803 and in which Pierre Menard lived during his 

13 term as the first Lieutenant Governor of Illinois. 

14 (3) Land and structures associated with the 

15 Doiron Bienvenue House, which is a post-in-ground 

16 or ‘‘poteaux-sur-sol’’ structure constructed in 1860. 

17 (4) A portion of the Fort Kaskaskia State His18 toric Site, which— 

19 (A) is a 200-acre park that celebrates the 

20 vanished frontier village of Kaskaskia; 

21 (B) is home to the earthen remains of Fort 

22 Kaskaskia; and 

23 (C) preserves Garrison Hill Cemetery at 

24 which Pierre Menard and dozens of veterans 

25 are interred. 


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1 (5) Not more than 1,000 acres of land that the 

2 Secretary may designate for an interpretive center 

3 for the Historical Park, in accordance with sub4 sections (c) and (d) of section 5. 

5 (c) MAP.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—As soon as practicable after 

7 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary 

8 shall prepare a map depicting the boundaries of the 

9 Historical Park. 

10 (2) AVAILABILITY.—The map prepared under 

11 paragraph (1) shall be available for public inspection 

12 in the appropriate offices of the National Park Serv13 ice. 

14 SEC. 5. ADMINISTRATION OF THE PRAIRIE DU ROCHER 

15 FRENCH COLONIAL NATIONAL HISTORICAL 

16 PARK. 

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall administer 

18 the Historical Park— 

19 (1) in accordance with— 

20 (A) this Act; and 

21 (B) the provisions of law generally applica22 ble to units of the National Park System, in23 cluding chapter 3201 of title 54, United States 

24 Code; and 

25 (2) in a manner that— 


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1 (A) preserves resources and cultural land2 scapes relating to the history of the French Co3 lonial Historic District; and 

4 (B) enhances public understanding of the 

5 important cultural heritage of the French Colo6 nial Historic District. 

7 (b) DONATIONS.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may accept 

9 donations of funds, property, or services from indi10 viduals, foundations, or other public or private enti11 ties for the purposes of providing programs, services, 

12 facilities, and technical assistance that further the 

13 purposes of the Historical Park. 

14 (2) EXPENDITURE.—Any funds donated to the 

15 Secretary under paragraph (1) may be expended by 

16 the Secretary without further appropriation. 

17 (c) INTERPRETIVE CENTER.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may con19 struct or lease space to operate and maintain on 

20 land identified to be appropriate by the Secretary an 

21 interpretive center for the Historical Park. 

22 (2) CONSULTATION.—The Secretary shall con23 sult with the State, Randolph County, Illinois, the 

24 village of Prairie du Rocher, Illinois, and the Illinois 

25 Department of Natural Resources in the planning 


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1 and development of the interpretive center author2 ized under paragraph (1). 

3 (d) COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS.—The Secretary 

4 may enter into cooperative agreements with the State, 

5 Randolph County, Illinois, the village of Prairie du 

6 Rocher, Illinois, the Illinois Department of Natural Re7 sources, and other public or private organizations for the 

8 development of— 

9 (1) the interpretive center authorized under 

10 subsection (c)(1); and 

11 (2) educational programs and other materials 

12 that would facilitate public use of the Historical 

13 Park. 

14 (e) GRANTS.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the availability of 

16 appropriations, the Secretary may make grants to 

17 partners of the Historical Park for eligible projects 

18 described in paragraph (2). 

19 (2) ELIGIBLE PROJECT.—A project eligible for 

20 a grant under paragraph (1) is a project that— 

21 (A) does not require Federal involvement 

22 other than the provision of financial assistance; 

23 (B) supports the purposes of the Historical 

24 Park; 


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1 (C) enhances public use and enjoyment of 

2 the Historical Park; and 

3 (D) may include financial assistance for 

4 construction and development on non-Federal 

5 land within the boundaries of the Historical 

6 Park. 

7 (f) ACQUISITION OF LAND.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para9 graph (2), the Secretary may acquire land and inter10 ests in land within the boundaries of the Historical 

11 Park by— 

12 (A) donation; 

13 (B) purchase with donated or appropriated 

14 funds; or 

15 (C) exchange. 

16 (2) EXCEPTION.—Land and interests in land 

17 that are owned by the State or any political subdivi18 sion of the State may be acquired for the Historical 

19 Park under paragraph (1) only by donation or ex20 change. 

Æ 


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