View source for Illinois Country

{{Short description|Historical French colony in what became the Midwestern United States}}
{{distinguish|Illinois County, Virginia}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2013}}
{{Infobox former subdivision
|width (default 290px) =
|common_name = Illinois Country
|native_name = ''Pays des Illinois''
|nation = New France
|subdivision = District
|flag=List of French flags
 | image_flag = Royal Flag of France.svg
 | flag_type = Flag{{efn|The Royal Banner of [[early modern France]] or "[[House of Bourbon|Bourbon Flag]]" was the most commonly used flag in New France<ref>{{cite web|url=https://reg.gg.ca/heraldry/pub-reg/project-pic.asp?lang=e&ProjectID=1214&ProjectElementID=3952|title=Royal Banner of France - Heritage Emblem|publisher=The Office of the Secretary to the Governor General |author =The Governor General of Canada|work=Confirmation of the blazon of a Flag. February 15, 2008 Vol. V, p. 202|date=12 November 2020 }}</ref><ref name="Association1915">{{cite book|author=New York State Historical Association|title=Proceedings of the New York State Historical Association with the Quarterly Journal: 2nd−21st Annual Meeting with a List of New Members|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Eog-AAAAYAAJ|year=1915|publisher=The Association|quote=It is most probable that the Bourbon Flag was used during the greater part of the occupancy of the French in the region extending southwest from the St. Lawrence to the Mississippi, known as New France... The French flag was probably blue at that time with three golden fleur − de − lis .... }}</ref><ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/national-flag-of-canada|title=Background: The First National Flags |encyclopedia=The Canadian Encyclopedia |date=28 November 2019 |access-date=1 March 2021 |quote=At the time of New France (1534 to the 1760s), two flags could be viewed as having national status. The first was the banner of France — a blue square flag bearing three gold fleurs-de-lys. It was flown above fortifications in the early years of the colony. For instance, it was flown above the lodgings of Pierre Du Gua de Monts at Île Sainte-Croix in 1604. There is some evidence that the banner also flew above Samuel de Champlain's habitation in 1608. ... the completely white flag of the French Royal Navy was flown from ships, forts and sometimes at land-claiming ceremonies.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://inquinte.ca/story/canada-150-years-of-history-the-story-behind-the-flag|title=INQUINTE.CA &#124; CANADA 150 Years of History ~ The story behind the flag|website=inquinte.ca|quote=When Canada was settled as part of France and dubbed "New France," two flags gained national status. One was the Royal Banner of France. This featured a blue background with three gold fleurs-de-lis. A white flag of the French Royal Navy was also flown from ships and forts and sometimes flown at land-claiming ceremonies.}}</ref><ref>{{cite encyclopedia |last=Wallace |first=W. Stewart |author-link=W. Stewart Wallace |title=Flag of New France |encyclopedia=[[The Canadian Encyclopedia|The Encyclopedia of Canada]] |volume=II |location=Toronto |publisher=University Associates of Canada |year=1948 |pages=350–351|quote=During the French régime in Canada, there does not appear to have been any French national flag in the modern sense of the term. The "Banner of France", which was composed of fleur-de-lys on a blue field, came nearest to being a national flag, since it was carried before the king when he marched to battle, and thus in some sense symbolized the kingdom of France. During the later period of French rule, it would seem that the emblem...was a flag showing the fleur-de-lys on a white ground... as seen in Florida. There were, however, 68 flags authorized for various services by Louis XIV in 1661; and a number of these were doubtless used in New France}}</ref>}}
 | image_coat = Coat of Arms of France.svg
 | symbol_type = The lesser coat of arms of France as used by the Government
|symbol=List of French flags
|image_map = Pais des Illinois.jpg
|image_map_caption = Illinois Country (''Pais  des Ilinois'' (''[[sic]]'')) 1717
|capital = [[Montreal]] (1675–1717)<br />[[Biloxi, Mississippi|Biloxi]] (1717–1722)<br />[[New Orleans|La Nouvelle-Orléans]] (after&nbsp;1722)<br>(regional: [[Fort de Chartres|Chartres]]–after 1720;<br>[[St Louis, Missouri|St Louis]]–after 1764)
|stat_area1 = 
|stat_year1 = 
|stat_pop1 = 
|p1 = History of Native Americans in the United States{{!}}Indigenous Americans
|flag_p1 = 
|p2 = 
|flag_p2 = 
|s1 = Louisiana (New Spain)
|flag_s1 = Flag of New Spain.svg
|s2 = Province of Quebec (1763–1791)
|flag_s2 = Union flag 1606 (Kings Colors).svg
|s3 = Illinois County
|flag_s3 = US flag 13 stars.svg
|s4 = Louisiana Purchase
|flag_s4 = US flag 15 stars.svg
|life_span = 1675–1769<br />1801–1803
| event_start = Foundation of the first [[Christian mission|mission]] at the [[Grand Village of the Illinois]]
|year_start = 1675
|year_end = 1803
|event_end = [[Louisiana Purchase|West transferred]] to the United States
|date_event1 = 1717
|event1 = Transfer from [[Canada (New France)|French Canada]] to [[Louisiana (New France)|French Louisiana]]
|date_event2 = 1763
|event2 = [[Treaty of Fontainebleau (1762)|Split west to Spain]] ([[Louisiana (New Spain)#Upper and Lower, or the Louisianas|District of Illinois]])
|date_event3 = 1763
|event3 = Split east to Great Britain ([[Province of Quebec (1763–1791)|Province of Quebec]])
|date_event4 = 1783
|event4 = [[Treaty of Paris (1783)|East ceded]] to the United States
|date_event5 = 1801
|event5 = [[Treaty of Aranjuez (1801)|Spanish retrocession]] of west to France
| today = [[United States]]
* [[Illinois]]
* [[Indiana]]
* [[Iowa]]
* [[Missouri]]
* [[Ohio]]
|}}
The '''Illinois Country''' ({{langx|fr|Pays des Illinois|link=no}} {{IPA|fr|pɛ.i dez‿i.li.nwa|}}; {{literal translation|land of the Illinois people}}; {{langx|es|País de los ilinueses|link=no}}), also referred to as '''Upper Louisiana''' ({{langx|fr|Haute-Louisiane|link=no}} {{IPA|fr|ot.lwi.zjan|}}; {{langx|es|Alta Luisiana|link=no}}), was a vast region of [[New France]] claimed in the 1600s that later fell under Spanish and British control before becoming what is now part of the [[Midwestern United States]]. While the area claimed included the entire [[Upper Mississippi River]] [[drainage basin|watershed]], French colonial settlement was concentrated along the [[Mississippi River|Mississippi]] and [[Illinois River]]s in what is now the [[U.S. states]] of [[Illinois]] and [[Missouri]], with outposts on the [[Wabash River]] in [[Indiana]]. Explored in 1673 from [[Green Bay (Lake Michigan)|Green Bay]] to the [[Arkansas River]] by the ''[[Canadien]]'' expedition of [[Louis Jolliet]] and [[Jacques Marquette]], the area was claimed by [[Kingdom of France|France]]. It was settled primarily from the ''[[Pays d'en Haut]]'' in the context of the [[North American fur trade|fur trade]], and in the establishment of missions from Canada  by French [[Catholic religious orders]]. Over time, the fur trade took some French to the far reaches of the [[Rocky Mountains]], especially along the branches of the broad [[Missouri River]] valley. The "Illinois" in the territory's name is a reference to the [[Illinois Confederation]], a group of related [[Algonquian peoples|Algonquian native peoples]].

The Illinois Country was governed from the French province of [[Canada (New France)|Canada]] until 1717 when, by order of [[King Louis XV]], it was annexed to the French province of [[Louisiana (New France)|Louisiana]], becoming known as "Upper Louisiana".<ref name="Ekberg-French Roots">{{cite book|last=Ekberg|first=Carl|title=French Roots in the Illinois Country: The Mississippi Frontier in Colonial Times|date=2000|publisher=University of Illinois Press|location=Urbana and Chicago, Ill.|isbn=9780252069246|pages=32–33|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NOdf3FRXms0C&pg=PA32|access-date=29 November 2014}}</ref> By the mid-18th century, major settlements included [[Cahokia, Illinois|Cahokia]], [[Kaskaskia, Illinois|Kaskaskia]], [[Fort de Chartres|Chartres]], [[Saint Philippe, Illinois|Saint Philippe]], and [[Prairie du Rocher, Illinois|Prairie du Rocher]], all on the east side of the Mississippi in present-day Illinois; and [[Ste. Genevieve, Missouri|Ste. Genevieve]] across the river in what is now Missouri, as well as [[Fort Vincennes]] in what is now Indiana.<ref name=Carriere1939>{{Cite journal|last1= Carrière|first1= J.-M.|year= 1939|title= Creole Dialect of Missouri|journal= American Speech|publisher= Duke University Press|volume=14 |issue= 2|pages= 109–119 |jstor= 451217|doi=10.2307/451217}}</ref>

As a consequence of the French defeat in the [[French and Indian War]] in 1764, the Illinois Country east of the Mississippi River was ceded to the British and became part of the British [[Province of Quebec (1763–1791)|Province of Quebec]]; the land west of the river was ceded to [[Louisiana (New Spain)|Spanish Louisiana]].

During the [[American Revolutionary War]], Virginian George Rogers Clark led the [[Illinois campaign]] against the British. Illinois Country east of the Mississippi River along with what was then much of [[Ohio Country]] became part of [[Illinois County, Virginia]], claimed by right of conquest. The county was abolished in 1782. In 1784, Virginia ceded its claims to the U.S. government and the area was incorporated as part of the [[Northwest Territory]]. The name lived on as [[Illinois Territory]] between 1809 and 1818, and as the State of Illinois after its admission to the union in 1818. The Spanish-occupied portion of Illinois Country west of the Mississippi was acquired by the United States from France in the [[Louisiana Purchase]] of 1803.

==Location and boundaries==
[[File:Claude Bernou Carte de lAmerique septentrionale.jpg|thumb|1681 map of the New World: [[New France]] and the [[Great Lakes]] in the north, with a dark line as the [[Mississippi River]] to the west and the mouth of the river (and future New Orleans) then ''[[terra incognita]].'' The ''Pays des Illinois'' is the area to the southwest of the Great Lakes.]]
The boundaries of the Illinois Country were defined in a variety of ways, but the region now known as the [[American Bottom]] was nearly at the center of all descriptions. One of the earliest known geographic features designated as ''Ilinois'' was what later became known as [[Lake Michigan]], on a map prepared in 1671 by French [[Jesuits]]. Early French missionaries and traders referred to the area southwest and southeast of the lake, including much of the upper Mississippi Valley, by this name. ''Illinois'' was also the name given to an area inhabited by the [[Illiniwek]]. A map of 1685 labels a large area southwest of the lake ''les Ilinois''; in 1688, the Italian cartographer [[Vincenzo Coronelli]] labeled the region (in Italian) as ''Illinois country.'' In 1721, the seventh military district of Louisiana was named ''Illinois''. It included more than half of the present state, as well as the land between the [[Arkansas River]] and the line of [[43rd parallel north|43 degrees north]] latitude, between the [[Rocky Mountains]] and the Mississippi River. A royal ordinance of 1722—following the transfer of the Illinois Country's governance from Canada to Louisiana—may have featured the broadest definition of the region, making it coterminous with Upper Louisiana: all land claimed by France south of the Great Lakes and north of the mouth of the [[Ohio River]], including both banks of the Mississippi as well as the lower [[Missouri River Valley|Missouri Valley]].<ref name="Ekberg-French Roots" /> In 1723, the area around the [[Wabash River]] became a separate district.

A generation later, trade conflicts between Canada and Louisiana led to a more defined boundary between the French colonies; in 1745, Louisiana governor general [[Pierre de Rigaud, Marquis de Vaudreuil-Cavagnial|Vaudreuil]] set the northeastern bounds of his domain as the [[Wabash River|Wabash]] valley up to the mouth of the [[Vermilion River (Wabash River tributary)|Vermilion River]] (near present-day [[Danville, Illinois]]); from there, northwest to [[Starved Rock State Park|''le Rocher'']] on the [[Illinois River]], and from there west to the mouth of the [[Rock River (Mississippi River)|Rock River]] (at present-day [[Rock Island, Illinois]]).<ref name="Ekberg-French Roots" /> Thus, [[Vincennes, Indiana|Vincennes]] and [[Peoria, Illinois|Peoria]] were near the limit of Louisiana's reach; the outposts at [[Ouiatenon]] (on the upper Wabash near present-day [[Lafayette, Indiana]]), [[Chicago|Checagou]], [[Fort Miami (Indiana)|Fort Miami]]s (near present-day [[Fort Wayne, Indiana]]) and [[Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin|Prairie du Chien]] operated as dependencies of Canada.<ref name="Ekberg-French Roots" />

This boundary between Canada and the Illinois Country remained in effect until the [[Treaty of Paris (1763)|Treaty of Paris]] in 1763, after which France surrendered its remaining territory east of the Mississippi to Great Britain. (Although British forces had occupied the "Canadian" posts in the Illinois and Wabash countries in 1761, they did not occupy Vincennes or the Mississippi River settlements at Cahokia and Kaskaskia until 1764, after the ratification of the peace treaty.<ref name=Hamelle-StdHistWhiteCounty>{{cite book|last1=Hamelle|first1=W.H.|title=A Standard History of White County, Indiana|date=1915|publisher=Lewis Publishing Co.|location=Chicago and New York|page=[https://archive.org/details/standardhistoryo02hame/page/n486 12]|url=https://archive.org/details/standardhistoryo02hame|access-date=29 November 2014}}</ref>) As part of a general report on conditions in the newly conquered lands, Gen. [[Thomas Gage]], then commandant at [[Montreal]], explained in 1762 that, although the boundary between Louisiana and Canada was not exact, it was understood that the upper Mississippi above the mouth of the Illinois was in Canadian trading territory.<ref name="Consitutional Documents-Gage1762">{{cite book|editor1-last=Shortt|editor1-first=Adam|editor2-last=Doughty|editor2-first=Arthur G.|title=Documents Relating to the Constitutional History of Canada, 1759-1791|date=1907|publisher=Public Archives Canada|location=Ottawa|page=72|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4ioEAAAAIAAJ|access-date=29 November 2014}}</ref>

Distinctions became somewhat clearer after the [[Treaty of Paris (1763)|Treaty of Paris]] in 1763, when Britain acquired Canada and the land claimed by France east of the Mississippi and Spain acquired Louisiana west of the Mississippi. Many French settlers moved west across the river to escape British control.<ref name=Carriere1939 /> On the west bank, the Spanish also continued to refer to the western region governed from [[St. Louis, Missouri|St. Louis]] as the ''District of Illinois'' and referred to St. Louis as the ''city of Illinois''.<ref name="Ekberg-French Roots" />

==Exploration and settlement==
[[File:Western New France, 1688.jpg|thumb|Map of western New France, including the Illinois Country, by [[Vincenzo Coronelli]], 1688]]
The first French explorations of the Illinois Country were in the first half of the 17th century, led by explorers and missionaries based in Canada. [[Étienne Brûlé]] explored the upper Illinois country in 1615 but did not document his experiences. [[Joseph de La Roche Daillon]] reached an [[Oil Springs Reservation|oil spring]] at the northeasternmost fringe of the Mississippi River basin during his 1627 missionary journey.

In 1669–70, Father [[Jacques Marquette]], a missionary in French Canada, was at a mission station on [[Lake Superior]], when he met native traders from the [[Illinois Confederation]]. He learned about the great river that ran through their country to the south and west. In 1673–74, with a commission from the Canadian government, Marquette and Louis Jolliet explored the [[Mississippi River]] territory from [[Green Bay (Lake Michigan)|Green Bay]] to the [[Arkansas River]], including the [[Illinois River]] valley. In 1675, Marquette returned to found a Jesuit mission at the [[Grand Village of the Illinois]]. Over the next decades missions, trade posts, and forts were established in the region.<ref name=autogenerated5>[http://www.museum.state.il.us/muslink/nat_amer/post/htmls/soc_french.html Native Americans-Historic:The Illinois-Society, The French<!-- Bot generated title -->] Illinois State Museum</ref><ref name=autogenerated4>[http://www.historymuseum.ca/virtual-museum-of-new-france/the-explorers/jacques-marquette-1673-1694/ Jacques Marquette 1673 | Virtual Museum of New France<!-- Bot generated title -->] Canadian Museum of History</ref> By 1714, the principal European, non-native inhabitants were ''[[Canadien]]'' [[fur traders]], [[missionaries]] and soldiers, dealing with Native Americans, particularly the group known as the [[Kaskaskia]]. The main French settlements were established at [[Kaskaskia]], [[Cahokia]], and [[Ste. Genevieve, Missouri|Sainte Genevieve]]. By 1752, the population had risen to 2,573.<ref>Guy Frégault, Le Grand Marquis: Pierre de Rigaud de Vaudreuil et la Louisiane (Montreal, 1952), pp. 129–130</ref>

From the 1710s to the 1730s, the [[Fox Wars]] between the French, French allied tribes and the [[Meskwaki]] people occurred in what is now northern Illinois, southern Wisconsin, and Michigan, in particular, over the fur trade. During the conflict, in what is now [[McLean County, Illinois]], French and allied forces won a consequential battle against the Meskwaki in 1730.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/817.html |title=Mesquakie (Fox) |last=Edmunds |first=R. David |date=2005 |website=Encyclopedia of Chicago |access-date=2018-05-01}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |chapter=Illinois History |title=The 50 States |publisher=Salem Press |year=2007 |isbn=9781587653674 |editor-last=Bahmueller |editor-first=Charles F. |edition=2nd |page=[https://archive.org/details/50states00bahm/page/247 247] |chapter-url-access=registration |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/50states00bahm/page/247 }}</ref>

===Fort St. Louis du Rocher===
{{Further|Starved Rock State Park}}
French explorers led by [[René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle]] built Fort St. Louis on a large [[butte]] by the Illinois River in the winter of 1682.<ref name=museum>{{cite web |url=http://www.museum.state.il.us/muslink/nat_amer/post/htmls/arch_starv.html |title=The Illinois Archaeology − Starved Rock Site |work=Museum Link − [[Illinois State Museum]] |date=2000 |access-date=June 15, 2011 }}</ref> Called ''Le Rocher'', the butte provided an advantageous position for the fort above the river.<ref name=museum/> A wooden [[palisade]] was the only form of defenses that La Salle used in securing the site. Inside the fort were a few wooden houses and native shelters. The French intended St. Louis to be the first of several forts to defend against English incursions and keep their settlements confined to the [[East Coast of the United States|East Coast]]. Accompanying the French to the region were allied members of several native tribes from eastern areas, who integrated with the Kaskaskia: the [[Miami tribe|Miami]], [[Shawnee]], and [[Mahican]]. The tribes established a new settlement at the base of the butte known as Hotel Plaza.
After La Salle's five-year monopoly ended New France governor [[Joseph-Antoine de La Barre]] wished to put Fort Saint Louis along with [[Fort Frontenac]] under his jurisdiction.<ref name="Skinner, Claiborne A 2008">{{cite book |last=Skinner |first=Claiborne A. |title=The Upper Country: French Enterprise in the Colonial Great Lakes |location=Baltimore |publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press |year=2008 |isbn=978-0-8018-8837-3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P1FcASkEtmEC }}</ref> By orders of the governor, traders and his officer were escorted to Illinois.<ref name="Skinner, Claiborne A 2008"/> On August 11, 1683, LaSalle's armorer, [[Pierre Prudhomme]], obtained approximately one and three-quarters of a mile of the north portage shore.<ref name="Skinner, Claiborne A 2008"/>

During the earliest of the [[French and Indian Wars]], the French used the fort as a refuge against attacks by Iroquois, who were allied with the British. The Iroquois forced the settlers, then commanded by [[Henri de Tonti]], to abandon the fort in 1691. De Tonti reorganized the settlers at Fort Pimitoui in modern-day [[Peoria, Illinois|Peoria]].

[[File:1708 De L'Isle Map of North America (Covens and Mortier ed.) - Geographicus - AmeriqueSeptentrionale-covensmortier-1708.jpg|thumb|French Map of North America 1700 (Covens and Mortier ed. 1708) − "PAYS DES ILINOIS", near center]]

French troops commanded by [[Pierre-Charles de Liette]] occupied Fort St. Louis from 1714 to 1718; De Liette's jurisdiction over the region ended when the territory was transferred from [[Canada, New France|Canada]] to [[Louisiana (New France)|Louisiana]]. [[Fur trade|Fur trappers]] and traders used the fort periodically in the early 18th century until it became too dilapidated. No surface remains of the fort are found at the site today. The region was periodically occupied by a variety of native tribes who were forced westward by the expansion of European settlements. These included the [[Potawatomi]], [[Ottawa (tribe)|Ottawa]], and [[Ojibwe]].

On April 20, 1769, an Illinois Confederation warrior assassinated [[Chief Pontiac]] while he was on a diplomatic mission in [[Cahokia, Illinois|Cahokia]]. According to local [[legend]], the Ottawa, along with their allies the Potawatomi, attacked a band of Illini along the Illinois River. The tribe climbed to the butte to seek refuge from the attack. The Ottawa and Potawatomi continued the siege until the Illini tribe starved to death. After hearing the story, Europeans referred to the butte as [[Starved Rock State Park|Starved Rock]].

===Fort de Chartres===
{{main|Fort de Chartres}}
[[File:Fort de Chartres-front curtain and gatehouse.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|Reconstructed [[Curtain wall (fortification)|curtain]] and [[gatehouse]] of [[Fort de Chartres]]]]
On January 1, 1718, a trade monopoly was granted to [[John Law's Company]]. Hoping to make a fortune mining precious metals in the area, the company with a military contingent sent from New Orleans built a fort to protect its interests. Construction began on the first [[Fort de Chartres]] (in present-day Illinois) in 1718 and was completed in 1720.

The original fort was located on the east bank of the Mississippi River, downriver (south) from [[Cahokia]] and upriver of [[Kaskaskia]]. The nearby settlement of [[Prairie du Rocher, Illinois]], was founded by French-Canadian colonists in 1722, a few miles inland from the fort.
[[File:A plan of the several villages in the illinois country.png|thumb|upright|[[Thomas Hutchins]] map of settlements in the Illinois Country in 1778]]

The fort was to be the seat of government for the Illinois Country and help to control the aggressive [[Meskwaki]]. The fort was named after [[Louis of Bourbon, Duke of Orléans|Louis, duc de Chartres]], son of the regent of France. Because of frequent flooding, another fort was built further inland in 1725. By 1731, the Company of the Indies had gone defunct and turned Louisiana and its government back to the king. The garrison at the fort was removed to [[Kaskaskia, Illinois]] in 1747, about 18 miles to the south. A new stone fort was planned near the old fort and was described as "nearly complete" in 1754, although construction continued until 1760.

The new stone fort was headquarters for the French Illinois Country for less than 20 years, as it was turned over to the British in 1763 with the [[Treaty of Paris (1763)|Treaty of Paris]] at the end of the [[French and Indian War]]. The British Crown declared almost all the land between the [[Appalachian Mountains]] and the Mississippi River from Florida to [[Newfoundland (island)|Newfoundland]] a Native American territory called the [[Indian Reserve (1763)|Indian Reserve]] following the [[Royal Proclamation of 1763]]. The government ordered settlers to leave or get a special license to remain. This and the desire to live in a [[Catholic Church|Catholic]] territory caused many of the ''[[Canadiens]]'' to cross the Mississippi to live in St. Louis or [[Ste. Genevieve, Missouri|Ste. Genevieve]]. The British soon relaxed their policy and later extended the [[Province of Quebec (1763–1791)|Province of Quebec]] to the region.

The British took control of Fort de Chartres on October 10, 1765 and renamed it [[Fort Cavendish]]. The British softened the initial expulsion order and offered the Canadien inhabitants the same rights and privileges enjoyed under French rule. In September 1768, the British established a Court of Justice, the first court of [[common law]] in the Mississippi Valley (the French law system is called [[Civil law (legal system)|civil law]]).

After severe flooding in 1772, the British saw little value in maintaining the fort and abandoned it. They moved the military garrison to the fort at Kaskaskia and renamed it [[Fort Gage]]. Chartres' ruined but intact [[Magazine (artillery)|magazine]] is considered the oldest surviving European structure in Illinois and was reconstructed in the 20th century, with much of the rest of the Fort.

===Agricultural settlement and slavery===
According to historian Carl J. Ekberg, the French settlement pattern in Illinois Country was generally unique in 17th- and 18th-century French North America. These were unlike other such French settlements, which primarily had been organized in separated homesteads along a river with long rectangular plots stretching back from the river (ribbon plots). The Illinois Country French, although they marked long-ribbon plots, did not reside on them. Instead, settlers resided together in farming villages, more like the farming villages of northern France, and practiced communal agriculture.<ref name=autogenerated3>Ekberg (2000), pp. 28−32</ref>

After the port of [[New Orleans]], along the Mississippi River to the south, was founded in 1718, more African slaves were imported to the Illinois Country for use as agricultural and mining laborers. By the mid-eighteenth century, slaves accounted for as much as a third of the population.<ref name=autogenerated1>Ekberg (2000), pp. 2−3</ref>

===Other settlements===
*In 1675, [[Jacques Marquette]] founded the mission of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin at the [[Grand Village of the Illinois]], near present-day [[Utica, Illinois]], which was destroyed by [[Iroquois]] in 1680.<ref name=autogenerated5 /><ref name=autogenerated4 />
[[File:Fort Pimiteoui.jpg|thumb|Fort Pimiteoui (Old Peoria) circa 1702]]
*[[Peoria, Illinois|Peoria]] was at first the southernmost part of [[New France]], then the northernmost part of the French Colony of [[Louisiana (New France)|Louisiana]], and finally the westernmost part of the newly formed United States. [[Fort Crevecoeur]] was first founded in 1680. Another fort, often called [[Fort Pimiteoui]], and later Old Fort Peoria, was established in 1691.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.peoriahistoricalsociety.org/!/History-Of-Peoria/First-European-Settlement-In-Ill |title=The First European Settlement in Illinois<!-- Bot generated title --> |access-date=June 28, 2014 |archive-date=July 15, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150715022357/http://www.peoriahistoricalsociety.org/!/History-Of-Peoria/First-European-Settlement-In-Ill |url-status=dead }}</ref> French interests dominated at Peoria for well over a hundred years, from the time the first French explorers came up the Illinois River in 1673 until the first United States settlers began to move into the area around 1815. A small French presence persisted for a time on the east bank of the river, but was gone by about 1846. Today, only faint echoes of French Peoria survive in the street plan of downtown Peoria, and in the name of an occasional street, school, or hotel meeting room: ''Joliet'', ''Marquette'', ''LaSalle''.
*The [[Mission of the Guardian Angel]] was established near the [[Chicago portage]] between 1696 and 1700.
[[File:Holy Family Log Church Cahokia 063.jpg|thumb|right|French [[Church of the Holy Family (Cahokia)|Church of the Holy Family]] in Cahokia]]
*[[Cahokia, Illinois|Cahokia]], established in 1696 by French missionaries from [[Quebec]], was one of the earliest permanent settlements in the region. It became one of the most populous of the northern towns. In 1787, it was made the seat of St. Clair County in the [[Northwest Territory]]. In 1801, [[William Henry Harrison]], then governor of [[Indiana Territory]], enlarged St. Clair County to administer a vast area extending to the Canada–US border. By 1814, the county had been reduced to almost the size of present-day [[St. Clair County, Illinois]]. The county seat was shifted from Cahokia to [[Belleville, Illinois|Belleville]]. On April 20, 1769, the great Indian leader [[Chief Pontiac]] was murdered in Cahokia by a chief of the [[Peoria tribe|Peoria]].
*[[Kaskaskia, Illinois|Kaskaskia]], established in 1703, was at first small mission station for the French. It flourished to become capital of the [[Illinois Territory]], 1809–1818, and the first capital of the state of Illinois, 1818−1820. The French built a fort here in 1721, which was destroyed in 1763 by the British. (The fort was situated above what was then the lower course of the [[Kaskaskia River]], but became the new channel of the Mississippi in 1881.) During the [[American Revolutionary War]], General [[George Rogers Clark]] took possession of the village in 1778. The residents rang the church bell in celebration, and it became known as the "liberty bell". (It had been sent in 1741 by King [[Louis XV]].) Flooding and a lateral shift of the river channel in 1881 cut off the old settlement from the mainland of Illinois and destroyed some of the village and its archaeology. Much of the village cemetery was transferred to the higher ground of [[Fort Kaskaskia State Park]] across the river. Today visitors can reach the remnants of Kaskaskia only by a bridge and road from the Missouri side. In the [[Great Flood of 1993]], the Mississippi submerged all but a few rooftops and the steeple of the [[Catholic]] Church of the [[Immaculate Conception]], built in 1843 and moved brick by brick to the new location on Kaskaskia Island about 1893.
*In 1720, [[Philip Francois Renault]], the Director of Mining Operations for the Company of the West, arrived with about 200 laborers and mechanics and 500 African [[slavery|slaves]] from [[Saint-Domingue]] to work [[Old Mines, Missouri|the mines]]. However, the mines yielded only unprofitable [[coal]] and [[lead]], providing insufficient revenues for the Company of the West to survive. In 1723, Renault, with his workers and slaves, established the village of St. Philippe (on the [[American Bottom|Bottoms]] down from the present-day unincorporated community of [[Renault, Illinois]] in [[Monroe County, Illinois]].) It was about 3 miles north of Fort de Chartres. This is the first record of [[Native ethnic groups of Africa|African]] slaves in the region. Some of the French farmers also used slaves for labor, but most families held only a few, if any. The village quickly produced an agricultural surplus, with its goods sold to lower Louisiana, as well as to settlements less successful than those in the Illinois Country, such as Arkansas Post.
*As early as 1733, a trading post was established by Jean Baptiste de Girardot at [[Cape Girardeau, Missouri|Cape Girardeau]] and the town later formed in 1793.
*The original [[Ste. Genevieve, MO|Ste. Genevieve]] was established around 1750 along the western banks of the [[Mississippi River]]. The village consisted of mostly farmers and merchants of [[French-Canadian]] descent from the settlements on the east side. Despite flooding, the town remained in that location until the great flood of 1785 destroyed much property. The villagers decided to move the entire village to higher ground about two miles north and half a mile back from the river floodplain. The city has retained the most buildings of [[French Colonial]] architecture in the US.
*The French established [[Fort Orleans]] in 1723 along the [[Missouri River]] near [[Brunswick, Missouri]].
*[[Fort Vincennes]], on the Wabash River, later known as ''St. Vincennes'' and eventually [[Vincennes, Indiana]], was established in 1732. The British renamed it [[Fort Sackville (Vincennes)|Fort Sackville]] after their capture of it in the [[French and Indian War]] (also known as the [[Seven Years' War]].) George Rogers Clark renamed it Fort [[Patrick Henry]], for the Governor of Virginia, when he took it in the [[American Revolution]]. Although part of the original expansive Illinois Country, as part of the Northwest Territory, it became the seat of a separate county.
*The French built [[Fort Massac|Fort de L'Ascension (later, de Massiac)]] on the [[Ohio River]] in 1757 near present-day [[Metropolis, Illinois]].
*[[St. Louis]] was founded in 1764 by French fur traders. In 1765, it was made the [[capital city|capital]] of Upper Louisiana; and after 1767, control of the region west of the Mississippi was given to the Spanish ("District of Illinois"<ref name="Ekberg-French Roots" />). In 1780, [[Battle of St. Louis|St. Louis was attacked]] by British forces, mostly Native Americans, during the [[American Revolutionary War]].<ref>[http://www.usgennet.org/usa/mo/county/stlouis/attack.htm Usgennet.org] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010223093542/http://www.usgennet.org/usa/mo/county/stlouis/attack.htm |date=February 23, 2001 }} Attack On St. Louis: May 26, 1780.</ref>

==British province of Quebec==
Following the British occupation of the east bank of the Mississippi in 1765, some [[Canadien]] settlers remained in the area, while others crossed the river, forming new settlements such as [[St. Louis]]. The British faced an uprising of Native Americans known as [[Pontiac's War]]. Longtime allies of the French, the Kaskaskia and Peoria tribes had resisted the British, and [[Pontiac (Ottawa leader)|Pontiac]] led a coalition of the Illini, and Kickapoo, Miami, Ojibway, Ottawa, Potawatomi, Seneca, Wea, and Wyandot against the British. Pursuant to the [[Treaty of Paris (1763)]] [[Sir Thomas Stirling, 5th Baronet|Captain Thomas Sterling]] and the [[42nd Regiment of Foot]] took command of [[Fort de Chartres]], from the French commandant, Captain Louis St. Ange de Bellerive in 1765.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Illinois Society: The British |url=http://www.museum.state.il.us/muslink/nat_amer/post/htmls/soc_british.html |access-date=2021-05-04 |website=www.museum.state.il.us}}</ref>

==Illinois Country under American control==
[[File:British colonies 1763-76 shepherd1923.PNG|thumb|upright=1.6|Map of [[British America]]'s [[Province of Quebec (1763–91)|Province of Quebec]] and the trans-Mississippi River, ''Illinois Country'' (center-left) under the [[Quebec Act]] of 1774, divided with Spanish Luisiana]]
During the Revolutionary War, General [[George Rogers Clark]] took possession of the part of the Illinois Country east of the Mississippi for [[Virginia]]. In November 1778, the Virginia legislature created the [[Illinois County, Virginia|county of Illinois]], comprising all of the lands lying west of the [[Ohio River]] to which Virginia had any claim, with Kaskaskia as the county seat. Captain [[John Todd (Virginia soldier)|John Todd]] was named as governor. However, this government was limited to the former [[Canadien]] settlements and was rather ineffective.

For their assistance to General Clark in the war, settled Canadien and Indian residents of Illinois Country were given full citizenship. Under the [[Northwest Ordinance]] and many subsequent treaties and acts of Congress, the Canadien and Indian residents of [[Vincennes, Indiana|Vincennes]] and [[Kaskaskia, Illinois|Kaskaskia]] were granted specific exemptions, as they had declared themselves citizens of Virginia. The term ''Illinois Country'' was sometimes used in legislation to refer to these settlements.

Much of the Illinois Country region became an [[organized territory]] of the United States with the establishment of the [[Northwest Territory]] in 1787. In 1803, the old Illinois Country area west of the Mississippi was gained by the U.S. in the [[Louisiana Purchase]].

==See also==
* [[French Colonial Historic District]]
* [[List of commandants of the Illinois Country]]
* [[Missouri French]], a dialect of French spoken in the Midwestern Mississippi River Valley
* [[Ohio Country]]
* [[Slavery in New France]]

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

== References ==
{{reflist}}

==Bibliography==
{{Div col|colwidth=30em}}
*Alvord, Clarence Walworth. ''The Illinois Country'', 1673–1818 (1920) [https://books.google.com/books?id=XPwTAAAAYAAJ&dq=Illinois+Country,&pg=PA1 online]
*Belting, Natalia Maree, ''Kaskaskia under the French Regime'' (1948) [https://archive.org/details/kaskaskiaunderfr00belt online]
*Brackenridge, Henri Marie, ''Recollections of Persons and Places in the West'' (Google Books)
*Ekberg, Carl J., ''Stealing Indian Women: Native Slavery in the Illinois Country'', Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press, 2007.
*Ekberg, Carl J., ''Francois Vallé and His World: Upper Louisiana Before Lewis and Clark'', Columbia, MO: University of Missouri Press, 2002.
*Ekberg, Carl J., ''French Roots in the Illinois Country: The Mississippi Frontier in Colonial Times'', Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press, 2000, {{ISBN|0-252-06924-2}}
*Ekberg, Carl J., ''Colonial Ste. Genevieve: An Adventure on the Mississippi Frontier'', Tucson, AZ: Patrice Press, 1996, {{ISBN|1-880397-14-5}}
* Lippincott, Isaac. "Industry among the French in the Illinois country." ''Journal of Political Economy'' 18.2 (1910): 114−128. [https://scholar.google.com/scholar?output=instlink&q=info:eNECJztAY9MJ:scholar.google.com/&hl=en&as_sdt=1,27&scillfp=8569827657335837251&oi=lle online] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210816011318/https://scholar.google.com/scholar?output=instlink&q=info:eNECJztAY9MJ:scholar.google.com/&hl=en&as_sdt=1,27&scillfp=8569827657335837251&oi=lle |date=August 16, 2021 }}
{{Div col end}}

==External links==
* [https://www.loc.gov/bicentennial/propage/IL/il-18_h_lahood1.html French Peoria in the Illinois Country, 1673−1846] Library of Congress exhibit
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110517222514/http://louisdl.louislibraries.org/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=%2FLSA&CISOPTR=539&REC=4 Louisiana Digital Libraries] Plan for Fort Orleans

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[[Category:1699 establishments in New France]]
[[Category:1765 disestablishments in New France]]
[[Category:Former French colonies]]
[[Category:Former territorial entities in North America]]
[[Category:Louisiana (New France)]]
[[Category:Pre-statehood history of Illinois]]
[[Category:Pre-statehood history of Indiana]]
[[Category:Pre-statehood history of Missouri]]
[[Category:Pre-statehood history of Ohio]]
[[Category:States and territories established in 1675]]
[[Category:States and territories disestablished in 1769]]
[[Category:States and territories established in 1801]]
[[Category:States and territories disestablished in 1803]]