There is a city that in its day was the largest in its region, had national prominence, was the largest trading port on the Mississippi River outside of New Orleans, and yet no one but locals remember its existence.
Kaskaskia is a city lost to history and because of nature.
The Kaskaskia were an Indian tribe who lived in the Grand Village when they met the Jesuit priest, Jacques Gravier.
Later the Kaskaskia would move down the Kaskaskia river to a site on the Mississippi River where they would found with the French.
This new village would bear the name of their tribe and Kaskaskia was born.
The Church of Kaskaskia
The Jesuit mission began in 1675, and has remained in service as a Catholic church ever since. Kaskaskia women would intermarry with French men. One report in 1714 says that there were 21 physical births and 21 spiritual births (baptisms) from this union.
The Liberty Bell of the West
The congregation built its first stone church in 1714. King Louis XV sent a bell to Kaskaskia in 1741 for its church, one of several constructed there.
This bell would become the Liberty Bell of the West when George Rogers Clark, the older brother of the famous "Clark" of Lewis and Clark, liberated Kaskaskia from British rule during the War of Independence.
The Skyrocketing Growth of Kaskaskia
Kaskaskia became a large settlement center attracting a large proportion of the region's Native American population. Its influence seemed to keep growing.
It became the capital of Upper Louisiana and the French built Fort de Chartres nearby in 1718. The soil was good for farming, and local farmers shipped tons of flour south over the years, which helped New Orleans survive.
More and more people came to the town as it grew in size and influence, growing larger than St Louis by 3.5 times.
Kaskaskia served as the capital of Illinois Territory from 1809 until statehood was gained in 1818, and then as the Illinois state capital until 1819.
The first Illinois newspaper, the Illinois Herald, was published there on June 24, 1814.
In 1818 it was the site of the state's first constitutional convention and first legislative session.
Kaskaskia's population peaked at 7000, when St Louis only had about 1500.
Steamboats and Floods
While steamboats were a symbol of prosperity, they were also the cause of downfall, at least for Kaskaskia.
With the rise of steam boats by the early 19th Century, and the importance of the river at Kaskaskia, many locals began to deforest the banks for steamboat lumber.
The demand for timber became too great.
Being the southern most point of the American Bottom, this demand and subsequent cutting down of trees along the riverbank created an underlying problem for the town as its shoreline cliffs began to cave in, allowing erosion to have its way from the swift Mississippi.
The town flooded several times, but during one specific event in 1881, the "Mighty Mississipp" which had flowed west of the settlement, shifted its unstoppable course east, effectively cutting Kaskaskia off from the state of Illinois.
Kaskaskia became an island overnight
This made the city an island, cutting off streets and homes, and to make matters worse, the island was disintegrating underfoot It soon began to eat up homesteads and buildings.
After this shift, Kaskaskia was all but forgotten except for some doggedly determined locals who remained to rebuild, However, not many were left in the area. The population would dwindled down just a few, and even today it boasts only 21 residents.
However, from them came notable citizens who made historic contributions to the state, the nation, and the world.
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