Villages of the Algonquian, Siouan, and Caddoan Tribes West of the MississippiBushnell, David I. (David Ives)
History
Villages of the Algonquian, Siouan, and Caddoan Tribes West of the Mississippi
Bushnell, David I. (David Ives)
Algonquian Indians; Caddoan Indians; Indians of North America -- Dwellings; Siouan Indians
Although the tribes of the loosely constituted Illinois confederacy
claimed and occupied a wide region east of the Mississippi, in later
years centering in the valley of the Illinois River, nevertheless
certain villages are known to have crossed and recrossed the great
river. Thus, in the early summer of 1673, Père Marquette arrived at a
village of the Peoria then standing on the right or west bank of the
Mississippi, at or near the mouth of the Des Moines. Two months later it
had removed to the upper Illinois. A few weeks after passing the Peoria
Marquette discovered another of the Illinois tribes, the Michigamea,
living near the northeastern corner of the present State of Arkansas,
and consequently west of the Mississippi. On the map of Pierre van der
Aa, _circa_ 1720, two small streams are shown flowing into the
Mississippi from the west, a short distance south of the Missouri. The
more northerly of the two is probably intended to represent the Meramec
and a dot at the north side of the mouth of the stream bears the legend:
"_Village des_ Ilinois _et des_ Caskoukia," probably the Cahokia. This
stream forms the boundary between Jefferson and St. Louis Counties,
Missouri, and a short distance above its junction with the Mississippi
are traces of a large village, with many stone-lined graves, probably
indicating the position of the Illinois village of two centuries ago.
Also, on the d'Anville map, issued in the year 1755, an "Ancien Village
Cahokias" is shown at a point corresponding with the mouth of the small
Rivière des Pères, a stream which joins the Mississippi and there forms
the southern boundary of the city of St. Louis. Until covered by
railroad embankments many small mounds were visible near the mouth of
the Rivière des Pères, indications of the old settlement were numerous,
and graves were encountered on the neighboring hills. These were
evidently the remains of the "Ancien Village Cahokias." The many salt
springs found on the Missouri side of the Mississippi served to attract
the Indians from the eastern shore. Establishing their camps in the
vicinity of the springs, they would evaporate the waters and so obtain a
supply of salt, a process which continued long after the French had
settled in this part of upper Louisiana.
The villages of the Illinois tribes have been described in a former
publication (Bushnell, (1)).
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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