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Kaskaskia - The Lost Capital of Illinois (Paperback)
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Kaskaskia - The Lost Capital of Illinois (Paperback)
Series: Shawnee Books
Expected to ship within 12 - 17 working days
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This first comprehensive account of the Illinois village of
Kaskaskia covers more than two hundred years in the vast and
compelling history of the state. David MacDonald and Raine Waters
explore Illinois's first capital in great detail, from its
foundation in 1703 to its destruction by the Mississippi River in
the latter part of the nineteenth century, as well as everything in
between: successes, setbacks, and the lives of the people who
inhabited the space. At the outset the Kaskaskia tribe, along with
Jesuit missionaries and French traders, settled near the confluence
of the Kaskaskia and Mississippi rivers, about sixty miles south of
modern-day St. Louis. The town quickly became the largest French
town and most prosperous settlement in the Illinois Country. After
French control ended, Kaskaskia suffered under corrupt British and
then inept American rule. In the 1790s the town revived and became
the territorial capital, and in 1818 it became the first state
capital. Along the way Kaskaskia was beset by disasters: crop
failures, earthquakes, tornadoes, floods, epidemics, and the loss
of the capital-city title to Vandalia. Likewise, human activity and
industry eroded the river's banks, causing the river to change
course and eventually wash away the settlement. All that remains of
the state's first capital today is a village several miles from the
original site. MacDonald and Waters focus on the town's growth,
struggles, prosperity, decline, and obliteration, providing an
overview of its domestic architecture to reveal how its residents
lived. Debunking the notion of a folklore tradition about a curse
on the town, the authors instead trace those stories to late
nineteenth-century journalistic inventions. The result is a
vibrant, heavily illustrated, and highly readable history of
Kaskaskia that sheds light on the entire early history of Illinois.
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