Traveling the King's Road
<p class="p1">EDITOR'S NOTE: This is the first of a three-part series highlighting the Kaskaskia-Cahokia Trail. Follow the continuing story online at <span class="s1">www.randolphcountyheraldtribune.com</span>.
<p class="p1">The elaborate trail map puts it simply - "Welcome to the King's Road."
<p class="p1">In 2014, the Illinois General Assembly proclaimed the Kaskaskia-Cahokia Trail as an Illinois Historic and Scenic Route.
<p class="p1">Municipalities and various organizations in the tri-county (Monroe, St. Clair and Randolph) region have been promoting the 60-mile corridor as a travel destination and potential tourism hotspot.
<p class="p1">On June 9, trail officials took media from the three counties on a guided tour of the trail, with several stops along the way.
<p class="p1">About the series:
<p class="p1">The K-C Trail begins in the Immaculate Conception Parish on Kaskaskia Island and extends to the Old Cahokia Courthouse in the St. Louis metropolitan area.
<p class="p1">During the next several weeks, the Herald Tribune will feature some of the high-profile stops on the trail, as well as other areas of interest.
<p class="p1">Follow along, in photos and video, as we journey Illinois' first road - a road of legend, lore and ghosts of travelers long since passed.
<p class="p1">Curse of Kaskaskia
<p class="p1">The trail begins on what is now Kaskaskia Island, which formed when the Mississippi River changed course in the Flood of 1881.
<p class="p1">According to legend, Kaskaskia was said to be "cursed" in 1735 when a young Inoka indian named Ampakaya - who had been educated by French missionaries - fell in love with Marie Bernard, the daughter of a wealthy French fur trader in the town.
<p class="p1">Marie's father, Jean Bernard, forbid the relationship and the pair eventually eloped, but were captured by Jean Bernard's trackers in Cahokia and returned to Kaskaskia.
<p class="p1">For his punishment, Ampakaya was tied to a log and floated down the Mississippi River.
<p class="p1">Before he drifted out of sight, he cursed Jean Bernard to die a violent death and asked God that the same mighty river carrying him to his doom also consume Kaskaskia.
<p class="p1">Jean Bernard later died in a duel over a business deal and the Flood of 1881 destroyed much of Kaskaskia, separating it from mainland Illinois and creating Kaskaskia Island.
<p class="p1">Immaculate Conception Church
<p class="p1">After settling in Kaskaskia, the Mission of the Immaculate Conception had its first stone church in 1714.
<p class="p1">A series of churches followed until a new brick church was completed in 1843. The floods of 1881 and 1893 convinced the parishioners to move the church, along with the town, to the center of the then-newly created Kaskaskia Island.
<p class="p1">"The first people came through Canada and came on down through here and settled here around 1703 or so," said Emily Lyons, curator of the Randolph County Museum and Archives and a member of the church's Preservation Committee. "Several of them moved over to the west side of the Mississippi (River) and that mission eventually became Ste. Genevieve."
<p class="p1">Restored in 1962, and again in 1973 and 1993 after flooding, the Immaculate Conception Church's congregation is the same continuing group that has cared for the mission site for more than 300 years.
<p class="p1">"We have various things in here that date various times," Lyons said. "Some 100, some 200, some 300 years ago.
<p class="p1">"There are two large statues of Mary and Joseph and what we didn't realize is in the '93 flood, the water got up to about their knees."
<p class="p1">The church's altar dates back to around 1736. The church also features - among other artifacts - two Easter candlestands dating to the 1800s and a wooden pulpit built in 1860 that was restored after the 1993 flood.
<p class="p1">Liberty Bell of the West
<p class="p1">Near the church is the Kaskaskia Bell State Historic Site, better known as the "Liberty Bell of the West" shrine.
<p class="p1">The 650-pound bell, a gift from King Louis XV of France to the church, was cast in France in 1741 and arrived in Kaskaskia in 1743 after being rafted up the Mississippi River from New Orleans.
<p class="p1">It predates the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia by 11 years and was rung on July 4, 1778 by the town's inhabitants to celebrate Kaskaskia's liberation from the British by Lt. Col. George Rogers Clark.
<p class="p1">The French inscription on the bell reads "For the church of Illinois - by the gift of the King" and it has rung under French, British and United States flags.
<p class="p3">The shrine also contains a wall mural that shows the village of Kaskaskia as it appeared during colonial times.
<p class="p1">The site is open daily 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. for self-tours. For additional information, phone 618-859-3741.
<p class="p1">Fort Kaskaskia
<p class="p1">Further north on the K-C trail is Fort Kaskaskia, which rests along the eastern shoreline of the Mississippi River.
<p class="p1">With scenic views of the confluence of the Mississippi and Kaskaskia rivers, Fort Kaskaskia State Historic Site preserves an area deeply rooted in history.
<p class="p1">Construction of a fort to defend the town of Kaskaskia began in 1759, but it was never completed. According to reports, the fort contained only a three-room barracks and a kitchen.
<p class="p1">When the Treaty of Paris ceded all French possessions east of the Mississippi River to Great Britain in 1763, Kaskaskia was included.
<p class="p1">The residents of Kaskaskia destroyed the fort before the British arrived in 1766.
<p class="p1">After Lt. Col. George Rogers Clark liberated Kaskaskia from the British on July 4, 1778, Fort Kaskaskia became the headquarters of a group of bandits - led by John Dodge - from 1784 to 1790.
<p class="p1">The fort was visited by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark's Corps of Discovery in 1803 and was last used during the War of 1812 to protect local settlers from Indian raids.
<p class="p1">North of the fort's remnants is Garrison Hill Cemetery, which was established in 1891 by the Illinois General Assembly for the remains of settlers whose graves were threatened by the flooding of Kaskaskia.
<p class="p1">Today, Fort Kaskaskia includes a campground, tent-camping sites and 32 electrified sites. Playground equipment is located on each end of the day-use area and a footpath leads to the nearby Pierre Menard Home.
<p class="p1">The site's main picnic shelter was constructed in 1942 and offered a scenic overlook of the rivers. The shelter was destroyed by fire in 2012 and fundraising efforts to rebuild it continue to progress.
<p class="p1">"There's money waiting in the wings that I didn't know about until this week," said Site Superintendent Chester Wingerter. "When we get the green light, it's going to happen.
<p class="p1">"The next thing we're going to talk about is how we're going to put (the shelter) back together. Is it going to look the same as it was? Maybe, probably not."
<p class="p1">Fort Kaskaskia is open daily from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. with the campground open year-round. For more information, call 618-859-3741 or 618-284-7230. Email fortkaskaskia1@hotmail.com.
<p class="p1">Next Week
<p class="p1">Our journey along the Kaskaskia-Cahokia Trail continues with stops at the Pierre Menard Home in Ellis Grove, and Creole House and Fort de Chartres in Prairie du Rocher.