The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1868-06-20

| south and west sides by deep ravlnes. The
ear,hworks are now from eighteen inches to two
feet in height The ground occupied by the
fort is at this time covered by trees and shrubs,
but the earthworks are very easily traced, and
they show that the fort was furnished with bas-
tions and angles, so to cover the gronnd in
every direction from the fort. The gateway of
the fort is about ten feet wide, and is but few
feet west of the road now running from the
| south to Starved Rock. Old settlers say that
some thirty years ago the places where the off,
GERS houses and soldiers barracks stood could be
easily pointed out in the fort, and that there was
at that time we'll a short distance north of the
| fort, which has since been filled up.
The position of the ravnes near this fort show
that it was probably connected with the strong
hold on the rock by stockade and in this en-
closure they probably raised their corn and vege.
tables. This enclosure would contain an area
one-half mile in length by one-quarter of mile
| in width
It must be remembered that at that time this
country very paradise for hunters. The
groves were filed with deer and wild turkey
The streams abounded with fish. Beaver and
and otter were plenty, and during the summer
and fall the prairies were ranged by numerous
herds of buffalo.
On the low land south of Starved Rock there
are now several underground archways built of
stone. These archways are ten or twelve feet
long, and about three feet in height and diane
ter Charcoal and ashes are now foand in these
archways They may have been used for ovens
in which to cook their food or tor warming
houses, which were built over them. As they
of deep ravine, they may have been built upon
the surface of the ground, and since become COW
cred by the soil brought down from the rsvine
by the water.
The fort, during the time it was held BY the
| French, was much of the time occupied by from
five hundred to = thousand persons, consisting of
French soldiers and their families, and friendly
Indians, with whom they had formed alliances,
and it is not improbable but that these archways
were used for cooking purposes.
Tont undoubtedly formed an alliance with
the tribes of Indians living Immediately in the
vicinity of the fort. This tribe was one of five
or six tribes who inhabited the Illinois river
valley, and commonly known as the Illinois
! Indians.
This particular tribe which lived in the vicin-
ity Of the fort called thems.lves "Lini," which
in their tongue, literally meant Men" The
French called them Illini. From this tribe this
state took its name Illinois, the literal meaning
| of which is "The Men"
The Inlians of this tribe considered themselves
superior to those of the surrounding tribes, and
although comparatively a small tribe yet among
| the surrounding tribes their old men were famed
at the council fire and their young men feared
on the war path.
They seem to have aroused the jealousy of the
surrounding Indians, for we find that about the
year 1890, the surrounding tribes had combined
against the Illinois Indians in war, which
resulted in the total destruction of the Lini
tribe.
After several years Of fighting, a remnant of
the Lin tribe took refuge in the old French fort
on the rock, where they were be.ieged until
nealy all OF them perished by starvation. The
few who succeeded in breaking through the be-
sieging lines were unrelentingly pursued and
killed near the mouth of the Illinois river
Since this occurrence this rock has received the
name of Starved Rock, instead of its old name Fort
st. Louis.
! 1t is said that Tonti, with his men and the
friendly Indians under his command and pro.
lection, at one time fought battle with some of
the surrounding tribes u little distance north of
the place where the city of Ottawa now stands.
The following occurrence seems somewhat to
corroborate this story:
| Some years ago, as ex.Mayor Clancy was caus-
ing some excavations to he made in the north
part Of the city, small iron cannon was found
embedded some two or three feet in the ground
This cannon is of the size and style of cannon in
use at the time La Sale occupied this country,
and the supposition that it WAS lost or abandoned
by Tonti and his men is not wholly imaginary.
This cannon is now in the possession Of the
Academy of Natural Sciences in the city of Otta.
wa, and may be seen by application to DR.. Paul,
the President Of the Academy.
La Sale was engaged all the time in voyages
of discovery, and Tonti appears to have had the
command of Fort St. Louis, but nothing appears
to be known in regard to his fate after the French
abandoned Fort st. Louis. rr .mpr9
La Sale was killed by the trsschery Of one
of his men while endeavoring to find passage
| by water from the Gulf of Mexico to Lake M,ch-
igan, by way Of the Mississippi river.
Of the five Catholic Fathers who accompanied
La Sale in his first expedition, two were killed
BY the Indians soon after the rarriyal on tho Iii.