A History of Alton

Alton Community Unit School District No. 11
Alton, Illinois
1954

revised 1955, 1961, 1967, 1977
Reprinted with permission
 


    This text has been entered by the 1995-96, 7th grade class of Saints Peter & Paul School. Each member of the 4th grade class drew their own impression of the Piasa Bird. I've placed these drawings throughout the text. They are not part of the original textbook.
    The Robert Wadlow entry is taken from the Greater Alton/Twin Rivers Convention & Visitors Bureau publication Alton's Gentleman Giant. Reprinted with permission.

     

Table of Contents


 

Marquette and Joliet on the Mississippi

transcribed by Cassidy Beck
 

    On June 1, 1673, Father Marquette and Joliet landed at Green Bay, Wisconsin. They made preparations for finding and entering the Mississippi River. On June 10, with five Frenchmen and two Indian guides, they began their journey.

    At the end of two weeks, they discovered a trail which led westward to an Indian village . They were warmly received by the Illini. After a short stay they continued their journey. After they had passed the mouth of the Illinois River, bluffs became a common sight.

    As Father Marquette and Joliet made their trip down the Mississippi, they found many tribes of Indians. There were the Illini Tribe (from which we got our name Illinois), Big Osage, Little Osage, Crow, Fox, Sac, and Potawatami.

    They made camp on the banks of the river. A cross, located between Grafton and Marquette Park marks the camp site. The actual site is covered by the Mississippi River due to a change in its course.

    Jake AlbertThey landed in what is now Alton. They were surprised to see a picture of a great and terrifying bird. It had the head of a bear, large uneven teeth, the horns of an elk, the scaly body of a fish, and a bear's legs ending with eagle claws. The tail was at least fifty feet long, ending in a spearhead. Marquette made a drawing of this bird which has come down to us through history.

    The story of the killing of this great bird has been handed down by the Indians.

 

Killing of the Piasa Bird
 

    P.J. BennettEach morning the shrill screams of the Piasa Bird brought fear to the Illini.  Dozens of Indian boys and girls had been carried away in the claws of the Piasa Bird to be eaten in its great cave near Grafton.

    Quatoga was getting old. He wanted to destroy this terrible killer before he died. He called his braves to a meeting and told them he was going to ask the Great Spirit what to do.

    Chief Quatoga went up on the highest bluff. He spoke with the Great Spirit. The Great Spirit told the Chief,"Dip your arrows deep into the poison of a copperhead snake and shoot them into the body of the Piasa Bird. They will cause its death."

    Quatoga returned to the Illini Camp. He told the braves what the Great Spirit had told him. The plan was for someone to stand on the edge of the cliff at dawn. When the Piasa Bird swooped down, one hundred poisoned arrows would be shoot into the scaly body of the Piasa Bird.

    All of the braves begged to take the place on the cliff. The Old Chief said, "I am old and I will make the sacrifice."

    The Indians went out in the hills to catch copperhead snakes to get poison in which to dip the arrows. Finally, everything was ready. Their arrows had been dipped into the poison many times. The braves had practiced bringing their bowstrings back to their earlobes. This was the strength needed to pierce hide as tough as that as a buffalo.

    Quatoga spoke with the Great Spirit all night. "Great Spirit think not of my life. Think of the sons and daughters of the Illini."

    All was ready. Each brave was shown his place in the woods. Quatoga said to his braves,"Fear not. The Great Spirit will guide your poisoned arrows. Aim carefully."

    John BrockusThe first pink gleam of daylight came in the east. The Quatoga pulled his great red blanket above him. He raised his head to speak with the Great Spirit. Soon the Piasa Bird could be heard. It was hungry. Down the center of the Mississippi River it flew looking for victims . The bird neared the cliff where the old Chief stood. It let out a terrific scream and flew straight toward him.

    The bird circled and circled its victim to make sure all was well. Finally, the great bird swooped down. Chief Quatoga did not move. He felt the Great Spirit was there with him. He clutched the strong roots which grew there.

    With a mighty scream the Piasa Bird was ready to carry off its victim. One hundred braves stood up. They shot one hundred poisoned arrows with great speed. Every arrow hit its target. The Piasa Bird, with a scream of terror, dropped into the Mississippi River and sank.

    The warriors tenderly carried the bleeding and bruised body of the old Quatoga to the tepee. The medicine man listened to the old man's heart. It was beating weakly. They gave him loving care. One morning, the old man opened his eyes to find himself safe with his people.

    There was great rejoicing. A great feast was planned. The hunters brought fowl, fish, and fresh meat. The braves were dressed in their beaded garments. Far into the night, they feasted and danced.

    The next morning, old Terahionanaka the arrow maker, carefully mixed his paints. He carried them to the top of the great bluff. In bright colors, he painted the picture of the Piasa Bird.

    Every time an Indian went up or down the river, he fired a poisoned arrow at the picture on the bluff.

 

George Rogers Clark and the Illinois Country

transcribed by Lauren Wickenhauser
 

    In the year 1609, a charter was given by King James of England to the Virginia Company. This charter included much of the land east of the Mississippi River. Our present city and state were a part of the land given to Virginia.

    At the beginning of the Revolutionary War, George Rogers Clark asked Governor Patrick Henry of Virginia for an army to protect the early settlers from the British and the Indians.

    Amanda CressIn 1778, he was given the army and started down the Ohio Valley. He met a party of hunters who had been in Kaskaskia. Kaskaskia and Cahokia were French settlements of the present city of East St. Louis. Clark impressed the people and won their respect without bloodshed. He started civil courts for the settlement of claims. The judges were elected by the citizens of each community. The people of Virginia were soon aware of Clark's success in getting this Illinois land from the British.

    On December 9, 1778, the Virginia legislature passed a law that said that all land in Virginia, west of the Ohio River be included in a country named Illinois.

 

Northwest Territory

    Settlers began to enter the region and the Continental Congress passed the famous Ordinance of 1781. This established the Northwest Territory, which included the present states of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin. The Ordinance provided for a governor and other civil officers. The first governor of the Northwest Territory was General Arthur St. Clair . The governor was to be Commander-in-Chief of the military and was to make laws for the people.

    In 1800, Congress divided the Northwest Territory into two sections. The western part, known as the Indiana Territory, included Illinois. The new capital was located at Vincennes, Indiana and the territorial Governor was William Henry Harrison. As the population grew, there was a move to further divide this new Indiana Territory.

    The purchase of the Louisiana Territory brought many new people into Illinois. The story of Lewis and Clark is an interesting account of the first men to explore the Louisiana Territory.
     

 

Meriwether Lewis and William Clark

    Just south of present day Alton, at the mouth of the Wood River, Lewis and Clark built their first camp and spent the winter of 1803-1804 there before starting their long trip to the Pacific. It was an extremely cold winter with heavy snow. While camping there, two of their men died and were buried in what is now Milton Cemetery.

    Today, the site of the camp of Lewis and Clark is in the middle of the Mississippi River, because the Missouri River flooded and changed the shape of the banks of the Illinois.

    For six months, during the spring and summer of 1804, they sailed and rowed up the Missouri River with their group of American soldiers and woodsmen, French fur traders and interpreters, a Negro servant named York, and Captain Clark's dog, Scannon.

    The party was headed for the Pacific Ocean to obtain information for President Jefferson about the territory of Louisiana, which we had just bought from France for four cents an acre. They did not know what dangers they might meet.

    Molly FitzgeraldIn 1804-1805, they spent the winter across the river from a Mandan Village, where they built cabins. While the men were working, the Indians came to visit them and brought presents of cornmeal, deer meat and buffalo meat. That winter the temperature dropped to 21, 38 and 47 degrees below zero. They huddled together in their cabins, warmed by the fires they built and all the clothes they could wear. Several times it was warm enough to hunt buffalo and elk with the Indians.

    Early in April, ice broke on the river. Lewis and Clark said good-bye to their friends and once again started their journey. They traveled in six canoes and two rowboats.

    A Frenchman and his Indian wife, the Bird Woman Sacajawea, went with the expedition. She guided Lewis and Clark and their men through the wild country on their way to the Pacific. More than once the whole party would probably have starved to death if Sacajawea had not gotten food for them from Indians who belonged to her tribe, the Shoshones.

    One day in June, Lewis was walking along the Missouri River near the edge of a cliff. He slipped and would have fallen 90 feet over the cliff if it had not been for his spontoon . The spontoon was a wooden staff, pointed with steel, which he pushed into the soil to save himself.

    The party reached a high point in the Rocky Mountains, where the Shoshone Indians lived. At first, they were unfriendly, but after discovering the leader of the Shoshones to be Camelwait, Sacajawea's brother, they became friendly. They gave horses to the expedition in return for knives, guns and paint.

    As they crossed the Rocky Mountains, great suffering came to the expedition. Game was scarce, and it was hard work crossing the rough ground. At last, they reached a bank of the Columbia River and went downstream in canoes. The party traveled safely through rapids and reached the Pacific shore.

    The names Lewis and Clark are with us today. In 1927, the Lewis and Clark Bridges were built to connect Alton to the Greater St. Louis Area. The Clark Bridge crosses the Mississippi River and the Lewis Bridge crosses the Missouri River. The bridges were opened to traffic July 16, 1928.



A History of Alton Table of Contents

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Where We Live: Alton

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