Free trader-journal and Ottawa fair dealer. (Ottawa, Ill.) 1920-1927, 1922-10-03
HORACE HULL SPEAKS
TO VISITING COMMITTEE

Following Is the conclusion OF the
address Of Horace Hun 20 the Art FIX
tension committee of the state at
Deer Park yesterday;
So much for its history, and now
for the legend, Some eighty years
after the handonmeat of Fort ST.
Louis by the French, Pontiac, chief
of the Pottawatomie8, was assasslnat'
I'd, as his followers claimed, by
member of the Illinois tribe. A band
of Illinois, ovcrtakon by roaming
party Of the pOttawatomics, sought
refuge on the site of Fort St Louis,
The enemy surrounding the rock In
the protected places at It's base, pre-
vented the Illinois from reaching wa
ter and more for lack of water than
food the Illinois were FINALLY with
few exceptions, starved to death,
hence the popular name, starved
Rock"
"Thc formation which You see
around Is known az the ST. Peters
sand stone, is almost pure silica very
valuable for commercial purposes and,
under natural conditions is located
some thousand feet below the surface
of the ground. 4 generous uatGrc in
the formative period of past ages,
pushed this sand stone to the sur
face. Subsequent inyasions by the
sea and the consequent DEPOSITS, the
exposure following the inyasions, the
final securing by the immense sheets
,f loo ktl a. 70
ward over this part of the carth's
surface and the subsequent period of
wcathering have done It's part towards
forming picturesque dotail of canyons
and scenic features which abound in
Starved Rock state park.
Starved Rock state park comprises
little less than one thousand acres
of rough, timbered, bluff land, extend
ing for four miles along the south
bank of the Illinois river about mid
way between the cities of Ottawa ON
the east and La Sale on the west and
directly south of the village of Utica
This property was acquired by the
| state in 1912, at an average price of
about $3.50 an acre, and set apart and
sure ground for the benefit and enjoy.
ment of all the people of this state
| There are nineteen named canyons in
! the park, among which French can
| yon, which we are about to visit, is
| one Of the smallest and prettiest ant
its inspection will give slight in
dication of the wondrous scenery witt
| nsh igl, oh .hn.
canyons composed of Tonti and Ii
| Sale, a mile east are among the
! largest and can most easily he reach
| ed by boat There are miles Of trails
unfortunately, most seriously neglect
ed, over which the visitor can roam
spending hours in the enjoyment o
the scenic beauties of the park; il
| places, because of the borderinl
growth of ferns, being suggestive o.
the wild riot of the tropics, or, pass
ing beneath a storm battered oak
| growing in a soil whose only product
is the cactus and the prickly pear
leading him to believe, We're it not fo
the vista of well cultivated farms be
} yond, that he had been suddenl
|
the west and a narrow, winding trai
clinging to the side Of a perpendicula
bluff is reminder of the dangerou
grandeur of mountain climbing.
"For two miles along the sOut
boundary Of the park, there passe
through the most picturesque porto
thereof, the federal aid concrete high
way, connecting Chicago with S
Louis and the crime committed by tn
LOwden administration in turnin
over to the highway department o
the state this magnificent portion o
the park and allowing them to place
this public thorOughfare and speed
way within its borders has foreve
blocked the future development q
that section OF the park in the wa
-.