1684: The Iroquois Lay Siege to the Fort

This chapter focuses on the six-day Iroquois siege at Starved Rock. This attack on Fort St. Louis is an important event in French history in the West because, in the eyes of the Illinois Indians, it diminished the power of the French, both as protector and trade partner—the very reasons that the tribes had been drawn to the upper Illinois River Valley. The siege, which underscored French weaknesses, occurred during a time of social and commercial instability in the region. The near-success of the Iroquois validated their strength and encouraged their arrogance. It was clear that if the Iroquois could wrest the Canadian fur market from the French and control it themselves, then the Western tribes would trade with the Iroquois. The Iroquois would then trade those furs to the English. Had the outcome been reversed and Fort St. Louis had fallen to the Iroquois, the English would have achieved a major victory by gaining a greater role as a supplier of goods to the Western Indians. In the end, however, the repulse of the Iroquois at Starved Rock kept the important Franco-Native American trade alliance intact, and securely maintained French control of the gateway to the Mississippi through the Illinois Country.

Aztalan and the Northern Tier of a Cahokia Hinterland

Cahokia’s northern hinterland can be conceptualized as extending north from the central Illinois River valley into the western and upper Great Lakes region. The northern tier of this hinterland can be thought of as a region north of the Apple River area of northwest Illinois and south of a line extending east from the mouth of the St. Croix River to the western shore of Lake Michigan. This area includes a wide range of landscapes, biotas, and cultures and this diversity is mirrored in the Cahokia-related manifestations found throughout the region. This chapter provides a brief comparison of three northern tier sites/complexes including Trempealeau, Fred Edwards, and Aztalan in order to highlight the diversity of Mississippian-related occupations in the area.

Preferential Rating of Duck Food Plants

An intensive study of the occurrence and use of duck food plants in the Illinois River valley was conducted 1938-1940. A preliminary report covering the results of the 1938 investigation was issued (Bellrose and Anderson, 1940). Altered water levels in 1939 and 1940 greatly changed the food resources of many bottomland lakes through the development of extensive communities of moist-soil plants. This paper summarizes the data for 1938-1940.

Chronology of a Fortified Mississippian Village in the Central Illinois River Valley

ABSTRACTGeophysical survey and excavations from 2010–2016 at Lawrenz Gun Club (11CS4), a late pre-Columbian village located in the central Illinois River valley in Illinois, identified 10 mounds, a central plaza, and dozens of structures enclosed within a stout 10 hectare bastioned palisade. Nineteen radiocarbon (14C) measurements were taken from single entities of wood charcoal, short-lived plants, and animal bones. A site chronology has been constructed using a Bayesian approach that considers the stratigraphic contexts and feature formation processes. The village was host to hundreds of years of continuous human activity during the Mississippi Period. Mississippian activity at the site is estimated to have begun incal AD 990–1165 (95% probability), ended incal AD 1295–1450 (95% probability), and lasted150–420 yr (95% probability)in the primary Bayesian model with similar results obtained in two alternative models. The palisade is estimated to have been constructed incal AD 1150–1230 (95% probability)and was continuously repaired and rebuilt for15–125 yr (95% probability), probably for40–85 yr (68% probability). Comparison to other studies demonstrates that the bastioned palisade at Lawrenz was one of the earliest constructed in the midcontinental United States.