[MUSIC] >> Where these waters now flow.

Once stood a thriving community.

Home to commerce, trade, dignitaries and Illinois's first capital.

The original town of Kaskaskia.

While it has since been lost to Mother Nature and Father Time, its history remains.

That history includes a fort, a church and other artifacts that predate the United States.

We'll take you there as we travel.

Illinois backroads.

[MUSIC] This winding back road is in Randolph County, just north of Chester.

It leads to Fort Kaskaskia State Historic Site, a place rich with history.

It overlooks the original village of Kaskaskia, founded by Jesuit missionaries and Native Americans in 1703.

It became a thriving French river community, built largely on the fur trade and home to one of the oldest Catholic churches in the Midwest.

The town later served as the first capital when Illinois became a state in 1818.

[MUSIC] Hi, I'm Mark Kiesling.

We're here at the Scenic Overlook at Fort Kaskaskia State Park, where you get a great view of the Mississippi River.

More than a century ago.

The river below this bluff was the Kaskaskia River, but in 1881, the Mississippi River violently changed course, cutting a new path just north of the town of Kaskaskia.

>> So basically what you're seeing here is the original location of the Kaskaskia Village site.

That's the focal point.

That's the reason this was put here.

>> That's Shane Wagner, the site ranger.

He points out the original village was located in that darker green area just beyond the far riverbank.

>> But you can also see the stretch of river that was once the land that connected Kaskaskia Island to Illinois.

In the distance you can see the town of Sainte Genevieve, which is a very much connected to Kaskaskias history.

There are only a few miles apart, as you can see, and the other thing that you can see from here is the valley of the Saline Creek.

That was an important source of salt for the early settlers, and it's recorded way back in the 1600s by members of De Soto's expedition.

Um, so it goes, you know, way back in history there.

So this is pretty much a view of a very important part of French colonial America that you can see it all from this one spot.

>> As you take in this view of the Mississippi, you'll likely see a barge or two float by.

But in the mid 1800s, steamboats were the popular form of travel.

Those steam engines were fueled by wood cut from trees lining the river, a practice which indirectly led to the destruction of Kaskaskia.

>> In the high water in April 1881.

It wasn't like a particularly bad flood or anything, but the Mississippi's Cut bank had been encroaching closer and closer to the Kaskaskia.

Part of that had to do with steamboat boilers being fired with wood.

You know, the riverbanks were deforested.

The river becomes wider, shallower, faster.

Over a period of a few decades.

And in April 20th, 1881, the Mississippi breached this neck of land and began to flow through the Kaskaskia Channel over about a 20 year period from 1881 to 1900, the village is slowly eroded away, building by building, block by block.

It collapses into the Mississippi so that very little of it, um, it still exists, you know, archaeologically today.

>> Over the years, Kaskaskia was home to several cultures starting long before the American Revolution.

The flags hanging in the shelter next to the overlook help explain the history of the people who lived here.

>> So the first flag here on the left represents the Bourbon monarchy of France in 1703.

The Jesuit priests and the Kaskaskia tribe relocated here together from a site on property that's now starved Rock State Park.

It's on the Illinois River, about 270 miles north of here.

Um, so from 1703 to 1765, the area flies under the flag of the Bourbon monarchy.

In 1765, at the conclusion of the French and Indian War, which is really a consequential event in American history that sort of leads to the outbreak of the revolution.

Um, Britain takes this territory.

Fort de Chartres, just north of here, is actually the last place to lower the bourbon flag at the end of the French and Indian War in October 1765.

Okay.

And then the last flag here, the colonial United States flag in, uh, coincidentally, July 4th, 1778, George Rogers Clark captures the village on behalf of Virginia.

Um, and at the courthouse Plaza at Chester, we actually still fly the Virginia State flag.

>> Visitors can learn more from these plaques placed on the side of the shelter and others at the overlook.

People who have been coming to this point for years have seen these plaques here.

What is their significance?

>> So when the overlook is constructed.

Louis Rodenburg, the author of these poems, he actually grew up here at Fort Gage Village near the Pierre Menard home.

Um, he wrote these to commemorate the destruction of Kaskaskia.

And their corresponding piece are the plaques that are affixed to the building that they tell the history of Kaskaskia, the story of its destruction.

And then Rodenburg is commemorating the frontier capital with these three poems.

>> Rodenburg wrote his triptych to a sunken city in the early 1940s.

It was placed here as part of a Da funded project in 1942.

Here's another interesting fact about Rodenburg.

He lost his sight at the age of 10 in 1901.

Two decades later, he established a method of musical notation for the visually impaired.

It's a method that was adopted worldwide by institutes for the blind.

When the Mississippi River encroached on Kaskaskia in the late 1800s, it also threatened the town's cemeteries.

That brings us to Garrison Hill.

It's the final resting place for thousands of people.

Originally buried in three cemeteries in Kaskaskia, on the ridge overlooking the cemetery stands an obelisk, a memorial to all the souls buried on the hillside below.

>> By the 1890s, it becomes clear that the Immaculate Conception Church, which is the sort of lifeblood focal point of the village through its whole existence, even today, is going to be carried away by the river.

And the people have a very difficult decision to make.

And they do have a hard time coming to this decision.

But ultimately, the priest and state Senator Richert from Waterloo petitioned the General Assembly, and they get monies allocated to move the burials at Immaculate Conception and then kaskaskias other smaller cemeteries.

Um, and this is the end result of that project.

They decided to construct this monument in memory of all kaskaskias pioneers.

And this has kind of an interesting distinction.

It's an early public monument for Illinois history, you know, dedicated in 1892, uh, Shadrach Bond Monument at Chester predates it by about ten years.

But this, we believe, is the first time that Illinois erects a monument to common people.

Oh.

Um, so this is not just a great man.

It's an entire community here that they're memorializing with this.

>> The grave markers dotting this hill only tell part of the story about the people buried here, who greatly outnumber the tombstones seen today.

So, Shane, how many souls are buried in Garrison Hill Cemetery.

>> We believe there were something like 3800 boxes of human remains moved to this hillside.

Some of those would have contained, you know, entire families.

Most of the marked graves you see are from the second half of the 1800s.

So obviously, there were a lot of people who had died long before that.

And since they're buried in these unmarked graves, that's why we have the public monument there in memory of everyone who was moved.

>> And one of the significant tombstones here in the cemetery is this one of Father Perrin?

>> Yes.

So Father Perrin is a priest at Kaskaskia for, I guess, the last ten years of his life.

Um, one of the interesting things about him, Chester, is basically, in a lot of ways, the descendant community of Kaskaskia.

What became of Kaskaskia?

Well, it's it's Chester today, and Father Perrin is one of the earliest priests at Saint Mary's Church in Chester.

When it's a mission out of Immaculate Conception.

So he's a founding priest at Saint Mary's.

And the other interesting thing about his position here is that he is buried facing his congregation.

So the people are buried facing up the hill, and Perrin is buried facing down the hill.

That's one of the reasons we're relatively confident that there aren't any burials behind his monument here.

Right?

[MUSIC] >> A priest still keeping watch over his flock.

[MUSIC] In all, Wagner believes 5000 souls may be buried at Garrison Hill Cemetery.

[MUSIC] As we continue south at the historic site, we come to the remnants of one of two forts once located here.

These raised areas are the former redoubts of the French fort that overlooked the river and the village below.

[MUSIC] >> We think that the first time we start seeing references to something called Fort Kaskaskia is in the 1730s, and that's likely up here on the bluff where this is at protecting the village.

The remnants of the structure you see here today, these earthen, um, this earthen redoubt is from the 1750s.

Uh, the France is chosen by that point to make their primary investment in fortifications down at Fort de Chartres.

That's a massive stone structure.

But that leaves Kaskaskia undefended when the French and Indian War breaks out.

So this is the result of their attempt to defend the village.

For that reason, when the British come, they set up what they call Fort Gage in an abandoned Jesuit compound within the Kaskaskia village.

They don't use this site.

>> Can you explain what is going on in this photo here and what we're seeing in comparison to the community of Kaskaskia, where it once stood?

>> Yeah.

So here we can see Kaskaskia in the background.

This is also a good place to see how the Mississippi is flowing against the Missouri Bluff.

And Kaskaskia River is here, right in front of us.

Uh, what?

The buildings you see under construction here is kind of the kitchen or bakehouse in this corner.

And then a barracks.

The barracks cellar's been excavated by Siu and until recently, all the stone foundation.

And that wasn't really known about, um.

>> These stairs lead from the parking area to the raised area where the French fort once stood.

>> So we're we're entering the fort.

Um, the most visible things you can notice once you get yourself centered in here is that it's basically a rectangle with bastions at the corners.

And you can also see pretty pronounced the, uh, the barracks foundation in front of us here.

Um.

>> That's the barracks foundation where just below that picnic table.

>> Yeah, that's the cellar of the barracks.

>> Another site Wagner likes to point out to visitors are these Chinkapin Oaks.

Wagner estimates some have been at the site 150 years or longer.

We appreciate them for the shade they provide around the park.

We talked earlier about George Rogers Clark coming through here in 1778 and taking the town of Kaskaskia for the American colonies.

Uh, so but he didn't actually, this fort wasn't in use at that point, right?

>> That's right.

Um, now, after Clark's capture of the village, you know, obviously he leaves a contingent of men here at Kaskaskia to hold the territory.

And then even after the American Revolution, This character that's among Clark's men, named John Dodge, sets up in the fort.

He actually takes the British cannon out of the fort in the village, brings it up here, communicates to the people that he's sort of the one in charge.

And they're complaining about him frequently.

Uh, Dodge disappears from history in the late 1780s, and that coincides with the time that the United States, you know, adopts its constitution, makes George Washington the president and starts to assert control over its vast territory.

>> An American fort was also established here in 1803, just above Garrison Hill, around the time of the Louisiana Purchase.

Later that year, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark stopped here to recruit men and gather supplies for their expedition to map the new territory.

[MUSIC] >> So a lot of people don't realize that William Clark, um, for much later, is actually George Rogers.

Clark Rogers, Clark's younger brother, younger by almost 20 years.

But when the Lewis and Clark expedition arrives here in 1803, the US Army has constructed a new garrison at the summit of the ridge.

But they were using this, we believe during that construction process, they recruited their largest contingent of men from the American fort, Kaskaskia.

11 men.

Usually, they say, came from Fort Kaskaskia.

So it's a major contributor then to the Lewis and Clark expedition.

>> To learn more about the history of Kaskaskia.

We must leave this historic site and make a 25 minute trip across the Mississippi to modern day Kaskaskia.

[MUSIC] We crossed the bridge at Chester, then make a nearly 15 mile loop to the small village.

[MUSIC] The 2020 census found just 21 people living here.

It's the only Illinois community west of the Mississippi.

We came to see the historic church at the heart of Kaskaskia Story and the Liberty Bell of the West.

[MUSIC] That bell is housed inside this small building on First Street and is similar to the historic Liberty Bell in Philadelphia.

[MUSIC] >> It's cast at La Rochelle, France, in 1741.

Um, that is engraved on it.

So we know that for sure.

Um, the bell was brought to New Orleans, uh, and drug up the Mississippi on Flatboats.

The Bute family who still lives here in Randolph County, brought the bell here in 1743.

And its inscription around the top is basically a personalized message to these people from King Louis XV of France.

The translation of the engraving around the top of the bell is basically for the Church of Illinois.

From your King across the water.

>> The bell was originally located at the Immaculate Conception Church, where Father Pierre Gibault served at the time.

Wagner explains how the bell got its nickname after George Rogers.

Clark captured Kaskaskia for Virginia on July 4th, 1778.

>> Clark is initially ambivalent when he's approached by Father Jarboe, who asks, you know, what are you going to do with our village, our people, our church?

Particularly they were concerned about Clark doesn't really give him a good answer.

So Father Gibault asks if the people can go into the church and pray.

Clark allows this because he knows it will sort of get everyone in the same place.

So Jabo leads the villagers into the church.

They hold mass.

Um.

When that is concluded, they approach Clark again, and that's when he tells them.

He means them no harm.

Their church is safe.

They can continue to practice their religion.

And the new United States is actually allied with the King of France.

This changes the mood completely.

And immediately the people gather together again, ring the bell in celebration.

And Clark is writing all of this down as it's happening.

Um, so that's where we get that story.

And then in subsequent decades, it begins to be referred to as Liberty Bell of the West.

>> The church used the bell until the 1870s.

Then it went on a bit of an odyssey, as Wagner describes it.

>> It appears, uh, with the Liberty Bell from Philadelphia at some of the world's fairs in the late 1800s.

So it's at New Orleans in the 1880s.

It's at Chicago in 1893.

And lastly at Saint Louis in 1904.

>> Eventually, there was an attempt to sell the bell to the state.

>> But descendant actually chased it down to the river landing.

They sued to prevent this from happening, and it sat on the floor of the courthouse in Chester while this litigation played out.

And in a way, our arrangement with the diocese is a solution to that problem.

This structure that we're standing in was built in 1948 by the state.

It actually incorporates the cornerstone from the 1707, 1737 Jesuit church that this bell would have been built for.

Okay.

And we have a perpetual lease on the bell from the Diocese of Belleville, and it can only be moved through mutual agreement.

>> We met another Butte descendant at the current Immaculate Conception Church located just down the block.

[MUSIC] This parish was started by Jacques Marquette as a mission in 1675, near present day starved Rock State Park.

It relocated to old Kaskaskia in 1703.

The first stone church was built in 1714, and later parishioners built a brick church.

As the Mississippi carved away parts of the town, church leaders decided in 1894 to move the church to a safer location, rebuilding it brick by brick where it now stands.

[MUSIC] Emily Bowman Lyons is on the committee caring for the church.

She took us inside to show us some of the unique artifacts in the chapel, including the hand-carved black walnut altar.

>> We believe that it was especially brought in when they built the 1714 Stone church.

And it's been with our congregation ever since.

Uh, it was it was sculpted by the world famous Lavasseur family, uh, who built, uh, sculpted many, many huge altars in Quebec and then a few other down in this area.

>> Above the altar is an oil painting of the Virgin Mary or Immaculata.

>> That is a painting that was brought over from France by the Jesuits when they came, and it dates into the 1600s.

>> The frame appears to be made of wood, but is actually painted onto the wall.

Lining the side walls are 14 lithographs featuring the stations of the cross Displayed in mahogany frames.

>> Yeah, it's all hand carved and they're all hand carved.

And if you look at Stan, look at one closely.

Then you go to the next one.

You can see just tiny differences.

So you know they're hand carved.

>> In the balcony.

You'll see a Jackson organ made in nearby Chester in the late 1800s.

It remains in working order and is still used on special occasions.

Other items include wooden statues of Mary and Joseph along the back wall, and larger ones looking out over the congregation.

There is also a pulpit dating back to the 1860s.

>> And it was used by the priest before.

There were microphones and all of that technical items which are now available, and they could look over the congregation and their voice would project better.

And and he could watch what was going on and make sure that everyone was paying attention.

>> Services are still held at this chapel Saturdays at 330.

>> We have people coming from many distances and many and many people who come back to this area to visit family and people that.

And if they're in the area, they always come here for for their weekly service.

>> As you visit the chapel, you can also see the restored rectory next door.

And one block from the church is the rebuilt courthouse that was later turned into a school for the community.

[MUSIC] Fascinating Illinois history on both sides of the river.

[MUSIC] We wrap up our visit by returning to where we started Fort Kaskaskia State Historic Site.

[MUSIC] When visitors come here today, besides the great history, what else does this site have to offer them?

>> So Fort Kaskaskia encompasses about 300 acres.

Um, the interpretive and recreational space up here is about 50 acres, plus or minus of finished mowed lawns.

We have three, uh, shelter houses here, two of which are reservable, including the main Overlook Pavilion.

Um, and we have an RV campground with 36, 30 and 50 amp hookups.

Also some space for primitive tent camping.

Um, and then we have our facilities bandstand here as well.

Um, which is a neat feature.

Um, community organizations, you know, can rent that out for large festivals.

>> There are also two hiking trails available, including this one that starts as a paved road.

So this area here has been cleared out just within the last several months, right?

>> Yeah.

We've been working to restore some of this to make it usable again.

This wooded area here is actually where Fort Kaskaskia State Park began back in the 20s, before the overlook project was thought of.

And all that.

>> These steps lead to our next destination on Illinois Backroads, the home of the state's first Lieutenant governor, Pierre Menard.

Join us next month as we tour the grounds and get an inside look at the French Creole lifestyle that was once prominent in this part of the state.

Until then, enjoy exploring the Illinois backroads.

[MUSIC]