Illinois' 200th Anniversary-- Part 4: Black Hawk and Lewis & Clark

This year marks the State of Illinois' 200th anniversary of being in the United States.  It joined in December, 1818.

These are historical places every Illinoisan should visit at least once.

16.  CHESS RECORDS--  Chicago--  2120 S. Michigan Avenue.  Where Muddy Waters, Chuck Berry, the Rolling Stones and many others made music history.

17.  PILSEN MURALS--  Chicago--  These murals have been up fifty years.  Also, the neighborhood is still primarily Hispanic.

18.  BLACK HAWK STATE HISTORIC SITE--  Rock Island--  The sauk and Fox Indians.  Black Hawk led a failed attempt to reoccupy lands his people had lost to whites.  This led to the brief Black Hawk War of 1832.

19.  LEWIS AND CLARK--  Downstate near St. Louis--  Hartford, Illinois--  Reconstruction of Camp Dubois where Corps of Discovery spent the winter 1803-1804, preparing for their epic trip.

20.  ILLINOIS CENTENNIAL MONUMENT-- Chicago-- Put up on 100th anniversary of statehood in 1918 in Logan Park.  Depicts Native Americans, explorers, farmers and laborers.

--RoadIllinosDog

Fort Dixon to be Reconstructed?

An effort is afoot in Dixon, Illinois, to reconstruct Fort Dixon which was located along the Rock River and used during the Blackhawk War.

No pictures of it exist, but an artist has drawn what it might have looked like according to period descriptions. The site, where the statue of the young soldier Abraham Lincoln is located, was the site of a Blackhawk War Encampment August 11th and 12th.

Dixon's Ferry was a quiet settlement until the outbreak of the Blackhawk War in 1832. It then became a major training and gathering point for federal troops and state militia.

A group will make another attempt to reconstruct the fort. You can find out about them at:

http://www.fortdixon.com

Just One More Thing to See Along the Old Lincoln Highway. --RoadDog