, 1872-10-20

the Illinois. he can 1ellefe lta hor1oTb Dy the
description Of the peace he made with the Illi-
nois Indians, ratified by the latter by enearing
their new allies feet with bears grease. La
salles character can be sharply eketched by the
story Of his journey down the Illinois, the next
gear, when he was beset by murderous foes. and
yet bus'ed himself in taking scientific notes Of
the great comet that was throwing New and Old
England into apasms Of fear, lest the vengeance
Of the Lord WAS near at hand. # our imaginary
author chooses to follow the great explorer. in
1852 beyond the limits OF the State, he will find,
not far to the south, tribes OF Indians living in
mud-built houses and worshiping the sun.
Their clothes. their pottery, their weapons, lie
in a thousand mounds. The excavation Of any
one Of them would tell q story that
only needs to be rendered into
words in order to be read far and wide. Sage
farmers in 100 suffered, like their descendants,
from high freight-tariffs. The cost of transport
ing wheat through .LaPorto to Detroit, and
thence to the Jesuit Missions that fringed the
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is said New Orleans was founded in 1717, as a
chipping depot for the teeming crops Of South
ern Illinois. What more pathetic story can one
wish than that of the founding Of St. Louis
The Old French war ended in 1868 with the ces-
sion to England By France Of all her territory
east OF the Mississippi. At tile same time, the
French possessions west Of the River we're se-
cretely transferred to Spain. The dwellers in
the century-o1d town Of Cahokia could not brook
the thought Of becoming subject to ''per6dious
Albion. ~ Although deserted by Trance, they
c1ung to their ancient allegiance. They crossed
the river, and, in 17G4, st. Louis began to
exist. And then, after four years OF
fancied security under the feurs-de-7is,
the duped colonists saw detachment Of Span
ish troops taking formal possession Of the great
empire Of Louisiana, in the name Of His Most
Catholic Majesty, Charles III. Of Spain, by right
Of the secret treaty made five years before.
Going back half century, we find that John
Laws Company of the West, incorporated at
Paris in 1717, sent out several expeditions to find
it's El Dorado on the Mississippi, one Of which,
if ne may believe unwritten and written tradi-
tion, reached Southern Illinois. It is said to
have carried 500 negroes from San Domingo to
Cairo and to have set them at work digging
trenches for gold in the Cairo Peninsula. In our
Southern counties, supposed traces Of these cup
posed trenches are still pointed out. The story
of the importation Of the San Domingo blacks is
rendered more probable by the fact that the
Natchez Indians, when conquered in 1928, we're
sold into slavery in San Domingo. This augurs
the existence of trade between the ialand
aud the shores Of the great river before.
Passing o7er nearly two centuries, we find the
b white man driving buffalo and Indian over the
Mississippi. Then re have the State of Illinois.
The era of internal improvements, when about
the whole State was divided into town-1ots, and
every lot had frst-clasa railroad (on paper)
connecting it with all other eligible lots, affords
curious study Of mortal folly. The exodus Of
the Mormons from Missouri, their march into
Tr4Aois, their sacred city of Nauyoo, the riots,
the battles, the murder OF the prophet Joe
Smith, the final journey from the mississippi to
the Great Salt Lake,-these form but an cpl
sode in the stirring history Of the State. Even
within the last decade there has been much
material. Wartime is always story-time.
1Happy the nation that has no history some
one has said. Happy the novelist who finds na-
ton with great, but an forgotten history.
Here, from 1872 to 1870, are two centuries full
OF stirring Deeds Almost every year OF the two
hundred would yield to the American Sir Walter
scott-if any such there be-a romance that
would ensure his fame.