Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1911-04-12

Z ,
has now been supplied in a deci-
sion of Judge George Grow of East St
Louis upholding grant of land in com
mon made 1S6 years ago to the resi-
dents of Kaskaskia, H.. by his most
Christian majesty, Louis XIV. of
France.
The decision also recalls the ancient
renown of Kaskaskia, the oldest settle
ment of white men in the Mississippi
valley and the provincial. territorial
and state capital of Illinois. Kaskas-
kia's capture by Virginian troops under
Gen. George Rogers Clark conveyed
Illinois from Great Britain to the Uni
ted States, and opened the way for the
conquest of the northwest.
Judge Crows finding repeats a law
passed by the Illinois legislature au-
thorizing the village to sell its COM
mons of about 5000 acres. The law was
enacted at the instance of tenants Of
the common land, who claimed that
the century's experiment in community
ownership had proved failure.
Kaskaskia, now large island oppo
site Fort Gage, H. was a peninsula
when the settlement was founded In
1900 by Jesuit priests. Fathers James
Gravier and Gabriel Marest. The Mis-
sissippi river dug deep channel
across the base of the peninsula 80
years ago, so that, in the opinion of
n any lawyers, Kaskaskia, the first cap
ital of Illinois, is now a part of the
state of Missouri.
No record of the French kings grant
has been preserved 1t was confirmed,
however. by a patent issued in 1743 by
Gov. Pierre Vaudreuil of the province
of Louisiana, and by Edme Gatien Sal
mon, commissary general.
From the first, it is believed, a
quasi-private ownership Of land existed
in that portion of the parish which was
under cultivation But almost half of
the parish was q commons proper, part
in grazing land upon which the settlers
pastured their cattle and part In tim
Der land, where they hunted.
The farm land, because of peril from
Indian marauders. vas divided on the
French arpent system. Each settlers
tract consisted Of ribbon Of land 1873
feet wide and three miles long
BY this means, although the farmer
cultivated several acres of land. he was
not isolated from his neighbors, at
whose elbows he almost literally
worked. This system made possible a
common protection against savage at
tacks.
There is no record showing whether
the early settlers paid rent for their
farI land 10 the community. That
they were merely tenants, however.
was recognized when petition 10 per
NIT the purchase Of the land was pre-
scented by them to the United States
government, soon after Illinois became
a territory.
The petition was granted and the
cultivated land passed from common
into individual ownership. The le-
gality of the proceeding IS doubted
by lawyers, but It has stood almost
century, too long n be reversed.
To differentiate the farm land from
the commons, the government sur
veyed line between them as a boun-
dairy, known today as the Grand Line.
The commons was regarded az of 1T
tie value, because The expense Of
clearing It Of timber 70 make farming
possible Was considered prohibitiVe.
Forty acres of # vas devoted 70
once famous race track, which had
stalls for 500 horses and a mile
course The settlers hunted through
the forests and looked with disfavor
upon the swamps at the tongue Of the
peninsula.
But about the middle Of the last
century the timber business became
profitable. and soon numbers Of saw
mills were busy cutting down the
woods. The river continually deDos-
tied soil at the end Of the point, build
ing It up at the rate of about a mile Ia
Is years. The swamps disappeared
and turned Into land Of the highest
fertility
In 1851. at the request Of the resi-.
dents OF the parish. the legislature