How the Mississippi River Destroyed a Town: Fort Kaskaskia Historic Site - French in Illinois
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- čas přidán 6. 09. 2024
- The town of Kaskaskia was founded in 1703 and it was the southern anchor of Frances colony in Illinois. This fort was built to protect the town. Construction began in 1759 but it was never completed.
In April of 1881 the Mississippi River divided its channel and broke into the lower Kaskaskia river right below the fort. Unfortunately the town of Kaskaskia lay directly in its path and by 1909 the old village was destroyed.
I love history and I get out and go find it every week! I have found some amazing history just by getting out and exploring!
I try to pronounce everything properly. I really do try, so please forgive me if I don't pronounce something properly. :) Be Nice!
The site of the original village of Kaskaskia is on Beaver Island, which is pretty much directly across the river from the cemetery. As far as I know, nothing remains of the old village. There is a ‘new’ town of Kaskaskia , Illinois located just west of the Mississippi River. When I was there last a few years back, there was about a dozen households living in what was left of the town, which is prone to flooding. In spite of this, it was still interesting. There’s a church there that houses ‘The Liberty Bell of the West’ which was originally a gift from the French back in the 18th century.
Note: If you’re a fan of cemeteries (as I am), two of my favorites are in Chicago; Graceland Cemetery is on the north side. Graceland has some pretty spectacular funerary art along with beautiful landscaping and a lot of burials of old Chicago’s most prominent citizens. The other cemetery, Oak Woods, is on Chicago’s south side. This cemetery, strangely enough, has a mass grave containing thousands of Confederate dead (a large Civil War prison was located fairly near). This is said to be the largest mass grave known in the Western Hemisphere. Also buried there is ‘Big Jim’ Colosimo, who was an early Chicago mobster and Al Capone’s boss. His run-down mausoleum is pretty spooky, as is the old Jewish section of the cemetery.
By the way, I enjoyed your video enough to become a subscriber. Keep ‘em coming. :)
I wish I had had enough time to go across the river and check out Kaskaskia. This was definitely one of those sites that I learned more than what I was expecting to.
I absolutely love going to cemeteries. We’ve gone to quite a few here on this channel. I think my favorite was at the osawatomie State hospital cemetery. All the graves were numbered. There were no names on them at all.
I’m glad that you liked the video, and I am super happy that you are a subscriber!!! I hope you enjoy where we find ourselves next!
My Grandpa and Grandma lived on Kaskaskia Island. Mom and her brother were raised there. I spent my summers driving tractors in the fields from about 11 years on up. At one time they say that there were 7,000 people that lived on the "island". Traders, farmers and many other folks. The river changing had a big impact. They moved the Catholic church from the upper end to where it stands now brick by brick. The levee broke in 1973 and 1993. There is just a handful of people that have homes there now. Mostly great farmland.
I live in Randolph county Illinois and worked for the County for almost 30 years. The Sheriff of Randolph county is responsible for law enforcement on the Island, as the Catholic Church is still there. It is very interesting seeing the church that has been saved after several floods. You need to go to Chester and visit the museum……there is so much to see and learn about our area.
And it now runs where the old Kaskaskia River once was. The two used to meet in Chester, but now they meet 8 miles before it, due to the Mississippi now running where the old Kaskaskia ran.
Wow, so peaceful and serene. Looks like you had the place all to yourself. The payphone ending was perfect! Haven't seen one in years and yet they were once such a part of our everyday lives.
Last year when I was in Florida, we were at a museum for kids and one of the displays was a payphone. I got a big kick out of that so when I saw this phone booth I thought Yep I have to add this to the video.
Love that slightly southern lilt in your voice.
Another nice video Julian! I don’t remember ever seeing a pay phone in a cemetery when they were around. Wonder why the graves are so spread out like that? Must be some reason.
My guess is that the graves might have been grouped by religion, or by the previous cemetery they came from. It was an interesting cemetery for sure!
Just imagine the skills you would have to have to live back then.
Skills I don’t have. And skills I don’t think a lot of other people have either. I’ve always thought that our ancestors and the people who came before us we’re so much tougher than we are!
Thanks!
Wow! Thank you so much!! My very first super Thanks! I have been feeling pretty low about the channel here lately and this has given me a very much needed boost! Thank you, thank you thank you.