Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-06-08
ILLINOIS LOSES KAsKAsKIA.
Its Ancient Capital Being Transferred
by River Action to Missouri

Its Ancient Capital Being Transferred
/ by River Action to Missouri.
| From the Kansas City Journal.
All that remains to Illinois of her first
capital Kaskaskia, the court house where
Abraham Lincoln once practiced, the walls
of the first territorial legislative hall, the
| old home that surrounds them, all rich in
historical association, will probably be
| taken from that state and forced into Mis-
| souri, If this separation occurs-and poll
| ticians of Chester say it is unavoidable
| enough democratic votes will be sent into
| the western state, along with 5000 acres of
| land, to change the political complexion of
| Randolph county, leaving it republican.
The change will be made because the
channel of the Mississippi river, which
| forms the boundary between Illinois and
Missouri, is now entirely in the "Okaw
| chute" east of Kaskaskia, while the old
bed west of the section is entirely dry.
| The story of the wiping out of the center
of the village of Kaskaskia has passed
| into history. The ancient French settle
ment was busy place in the spring of
1881, when the Mississippi river started to
rise. It's business was taken away forever
| in less than hour when the overlooking
waters reached the O1aw river across "a
short neck of land and. finding that stream
ten feet lower than the Mississippi and
several miles shorter in the run to Chester,
began to tear madly at the alluvial banks,
reducing them with laundering crashes,
until when but forty feet OF earth Separat-
ed the two streams this dam gave away
with roar and the whole current of the
Mississippi went surging down its short
ened way.
1t swept through the center of the town
while terrified citizens fed inland. Build
| ings that had been on the old bank of the
Okaw caved into the charging stream In
| a minute. Others followed. The streets
! vent with them An hour after the first
opening was made the channel was 300
yards wide and was a racing sluiceway.
From that time on the remnants of kas-
kaskia have toppled and disappeared into
| the river one by one until now nearly all
have gone The new channel, at first open
at high water, has deepened and broadened
and the old channel has filled with silt and
sand until now when the Mississippi is at
| it's lowest level, steamers daily charge
down between the prairie state and its
aforetime capital, while the residents of
| the latter walk dry shod across the sands
| to buy their stores at St Mary's, Mo.
Disputes innumerable have grown out of
| the situation with regard to land titles
and the oldest Kaskaskians cannot remem-
Der the day when there has not been trou-
bile with the Missourians over the possess
| sion of lands. The law has held that no
owner could cross the channel to claim
new land and that the bank owner had
riparian rights to acretions. Consequently
| the 5000 or 5000 acres claimed by the
Missourians which represented that much
loss to Illinois, had long been Done OF
bitter contention.
With the receding of the waters from the
| old channel of the river back of Kaskaskia
| Island the Missouri owners have stretched
out their claim to everything between
| their land and the former eastern edge OF
! the water In doing this they hav included
Birch'S Island formerly an Illinois possess
| sion close to Kaskaskia. Kaskaskians were
not disposed to make similar claims on
| Missouri, especially in view of the fact
| that they were not sure of their own Hi
nois citizenship. Those who lost whole
ar,1 y1,n hn
of a surveyor locate the place in the river
| bed where they had formerly, been, have
kept UP an agitation for final settlement
| that would give them back their land.
| This Island of Kaskaskia, as it now is, en-
braces about $4,000 acres. It is seven miles
long and from two to five miles broad, and
shaded with the finest black walnut trees
to be found In the middle west. On its
northwest corner stand the remains of the
first capitol Of the state All around the
tract are prosperous-looking farm houses,
providing housing in all for population
Of more than 1000 of the most industrious
citizens of the state.