MISSISSIPPI, the twentieth State, was admitted to the Union December 10, 1817. It is named from the Mississippi River, the "Great Father of Waters." De Soto was the first European who traversed this region. In 1700, Chevalier de Tonty, with a party of Canadian French, ascended the river to the Natchez country, where they selected a site for a fort and called it Rosalie. A settlement called St. Peters was made in 1703, on the Yazoo. In 1728, the Indians swept every vestige of civilization from the present limits of the State. Under the French governors who followed, fierce and bloody wars were waged with the Natchez, Chickasaw, and Choctaw Indians. In 1763, Louisiana east of the Mississippi, including a part of what is now Mississippi and Alabama, was ceded to the British, and became a part of Georgia. The Mississippi Territory was created in 1798, and lands were afterward added until it embraced the present States of Mississippi and Alabama. The latter became a separate Territory in March, 1817. ILLINOIS, the twenty-first State, was admitted to the Union December 3, 1818. Its name is derived from its principal river, signifying "River of men." Its first settlements were made by La Salle. [Footnote: That enterprising traveler, after exploring the Illinois River, built a small fort which he called Crevecoeur (krave-kur), and left it in command of the Chevalier de Tonty. Three years afterward he returned with some Canadians and founded Kaskaskia, Cahokia, and other towns, which early became flourishing, though the settlers, in manners and habits, were assimilated to the Indians.] After the States of Ohio and Indiana, and the Territory of Michigan had been taken from the Northwestern Territory, the remainder was styled the Illinois Territory, and comprised the present States of Illinois, Wisconsin, and a part of Minnesota. The settlement of this Territory was greatly impeded by Indian hostilities. The massacre at Fort Chicago, August 15, 1812, and the Black Hawk war, are instances of the dangers and trials which beset the pioneer. The great prosperity of the State dates from the year 1850, when munificent grants of land were made to the Central Railroad. The prairie wilderness was rapidly settled, and towns and cities sprang up as by magic. ALABAMA, the twenty-second State, was admitted to the Union December 14, 1819. Its name is of Indian origin, and signifies "Here we rest." It was originally a part of Georgia. (See Mississippi.) The fierce contests with the Creek Indians, ended by Jackson, gave to the State a vast and fertile region. The first settlement was made by Bienville on Mobile Bay, in 1702. Nine years afterward, the present site of Mobile was occupied. Mobile was the original seat of the French colonization in Louisiana, and for many years the capital. Having been ceded to Great Britain and then to Spain, in 1813 it was surrendered to General Wilkinson, and has since remained in the possession of the United States (p. 146).