1683: The French Build a Fort

This chapter details the construction of Sieur de La Salle's Fort St. Louis atop Starved Rock. Located along the south shore of the Illinois River in LaSalle County, Illinois, the 125-foot-tall bluff known today as Starved Rock, or Le Rocher to the French, is the tallest and best-known geological feature in the upper Illinois Valley. The strategic advantages of the site, especially during times of Iroquois unrest, were many. The summit of Starved Rock is relatively level when compared to all other sandstone bluffs in the vicinity. It was easily defended by a handful of men, and lookouts could monitor both upstream and downstream approaches to the bluff. With the fort on Starved Rock completed and alliance with the tribes established, La Salle hoped to provide the Indians much-needed trade goods. Having promised the tribes that trade goods would be available at his fort, La Salle was now tasked with procuring those goods and transporting them to Starved Rock. In addition, among the powers and responsibilities specified in La Salle's royal patent was the authority to award land grants to settlers.

1730–1776: We Leave, Never to Return

This chapter describes the events in Starved Rock from 1730 to 1776. By 1732, nearly all Peoria Indians were living at villages in the Illinois Valley, at either Starved Rock or at Lake Peoria. For the Illinois, especially the Peoria and possibly some Cahokia living at Starved Rock, it appeared that the Mesquakie threat had been extinguished. Rather than continue their campaign of genocide against the Mesquakie, the French administration decided to utilize its resources where they were needed most—in the lower Mississippi Valley against the fierce Chickasaw tribe, who were allies and trade partners of the British. Meanwhile, in Europe, the French became embroiled in a conflict with the British known as the Seven Years' War (1756–1763), a conflict that spilled over to North America, where it is commonly and incorrectly called the French and Indian War. By 1777, the Potawatomi were firmly ensconced in the Illinois Country. Like the Potawatomi, the Mascouten and Kickapoo Indians also moved into Illinois. None of these groups, however, established themselves at Starved Rock.

Time and Archaeological Traditions in the Lower Illinois Valley

The issue of time remains a crucial one in Lower Illinois Valley archaeology, and key problems remain unresolved. In this paper, new radiocarbon assays and published dates are used to test hypotheses concerning intra-site bluff top mound chronologies, timing and structure of valley settlement, and the emergence of regional symbolic communities during the Middle Woodland period (ca. 50 cal B.C.-cal A.D. 400). We show that within sites Middle Woodland mounds were constructed first on prominent, distal bluff ridges and subsequently in less-visible spaces, though additional dates are needed to fully understand intra-site chronology. Our analyses generally support previous studies suggesting a north-to-south settlement trajectory of the valley, though habitation site dates indicate a more complicated pattern of regional occupation that has yet to be fully explicated. In addition, floodplain regional symbolic communities also emerged along a north-to-south pattern, though not as rapidly as bluff crest mounds. Importantly, results indicate future areas of research necessary to elucidate regional chronology, resettlement of the valley, and community interactions.