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History of Grand Chain
Grand Chain
E. J. UIrich
Va Bache Located in 1702
Ledillon Patrick 1957
Fort Cantonment Wilkinsonville
Ledillon Patrick 1956
GRAND CHAIN
Practically all of the information in this account is based on material
written by Blake Gaunt and on two Interviews that I had with Blake shortly
before his death. His fine research has shed much light on local history. E. J.
UIrich.
The Grand Chain Precinct of Pulaski County, in which the village of Grand Chain
is located, can claim to be one of the oldest settlements in Illinois. This was
due in large part to a natural landmark (and navigational hazard) in the Ohio
River nearby — the six-mile-long chain of rocks known as the Grand Chain.
In the late 1700’s, the area of the Grand Chain of Rocks with its inhabitants in
the wilderness nearby, had been known as “The Nation” by the river men passing
it in their trips up and down the river; this name was still used even in the
late 1800’s. It would seem to indicate that quite a lot of settlers were already
in the area at an early date.
The name Grand Chain, besides referring to the chain of rocks in the
Ohio River, has been used to designate four different locations
inland nearby. The first of these was at the Grand Chain Landing
(now often known as Haynes Landing); here there were not more than
one or two wharf boats and some small huts atop a hill close by. The
wharf boat at that time served as a general store as well as ticket
agency and shelter for passengers on the river boats. Written
accounts show that as late as 1854 at least one wharf boat was still
there.
By that time, the population in “The Nation” had increased so
rapidly that wharf boats could not supply all the settlers’ needs
and the distance to the river worked a hardship in bad weather.
There had long been a polling place for the settlers at the old
Tucker home in Section 28, Township 14 south, Range 2 East (which
would be slightly more than one mile east of Grand Chain’s present
location, and a bit more than 3 miles inland from the river
landing). This polling place location was a much more central one
for the inhabitants, so a road to the river was built. Now the town
of Grand Chain grew up all around. As early as 1860 there were
already two large general stores, a post office, a blacksmith shop,
and a grocery store (where liquor was sold by the drink, bottle, or
Jug), all doing a thriving business. There were also many scattered
dwellings around these business places, though no streets or alleys
seem to have been made, only narrow lanes and footpaths for the most
part. Here the village of Grand Chain remained and prospered until
the Cairo and Vincennes Railroad (later the New York Central) was
completed into Cairo on December 16, 1872.
Grand Chain now was inland some three miles from the Ohio River and
about a half mile from the railroad. The businessmen of the town
decided to move to a new town site closer to the railroad. Two
groups of men selected rival sites. It became impossible possible
for them to agree, and for some three or four years there was an
intense struggle to see which would prevail. The site nearest to the
alder settlement was about a half mile west of it, right on the
railroad tracks near where Clark’s peach orchard is now. Three men
submitted a plat for this site on October 18, 1872; they called
their town “Grand Chain”. But on October31, 1872, three others
submitted the plat for their site, calling it “New Grand Chain”; it
was right where the village of Grand Chain is today. Gradually, New
Grand Chain, at first the underdog, began to gain the upper hand.
The post office keys and mailbags were turned over to “W. C.
Armstrong, P.M. at New Grand Chain, Illinois” on August 23, 1875, by
James Bartleson, the last postmaster at (old) Grand Chain. From this
time on New Grand Chain had very little competition from its rival,
and with the death of James Martin Gaunt, a longtime businessman,
that fall, the fortunes of (old) Grand Chain faded away. For a short
time longer the railroad gave passenger and freight service to both
towns; in time, though, even the depot at (old) Grand Chain was no
longer a stopping place for trains. One contributing factor was that
the trains had to stop on a slope at (old) Grand Chain; on one
occasion a stopped train began to roll down hill and two men were
killed as a result. Today, not much evidence of (old) Grand Chain’s
existence can be seen; a “Railroad Crossing” sign still stands, but
even that stretch of the rail line is not in use, nor even usable,
in 1986.
The Grand Chain Precinct realized very early the importance of
education — by 1875 there were already seven schools in this
precinct. A two-room log school house, just back of the present site
of the Grand Chain Masonic Cemetery, was the first school for Grand
Chain and New Grand Chain. In the early 1890’s a two-story wooden
structure was built in New Grand Chain; it housed the grade school
and also later the high school until 1940, when the present concrete
building, located on the same site, was constructed with the help of
WPA funds.
Today, with consolidation of the county’s schools, high school
students from the precinct attend Century High School, some six
miles from Grand Chain on the Grand Chain-Ullin blacktop road.
And, Shawnee College, less than three miles from Grand Chain on
the same road, now serves several counties in the southernmost tip
of Illinois, and Grand Chain is fortunate to have this educational
facility so close.
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VA BACHE LOCATED IN 1702
Sieur Charles Juchereau de St Denis was granted a royal patent by
King Louis XIV of France to establish a tannery on the Ohio in the
Illinois country for the purpose of killing and skinning all the
buffalo he could find.
Juchereau organized a company consisting of the following: 30 men of
his own class who were to be share-partners with him; tanners and
their helpers, one or two surgeons, sailors, ship carpenters, chefs
with their helpers, fifty or more soldiers who had past experience
but were not then in the army of the King, a priest, Father Mermet,
and other workmen. Altogether there were approximately 150 in the
party. It is not known how they traveled to the Illinois country,
but in November 1702, they left Kaskaskia by boat for the destined
tannery at the head of the Grand Chain of Rocks. The tanyard was
named Va Bache.
At Burnhams Island near Fayville, the entire party except the
sailors and enough soldiers to guard the boats went ashore. They
were going to walk overland to Va Bache because Jucherean had been
to Tacaogone and knew there were rapids near the post. Naturally, he
assumed that the Ohio was swift from Tacaogone to its mouth. This
party followed the route of the public road from Fayville to Olive
Branch. On this trip, Father Mermet accompanied them from Kaskaskia
to Olive Branch to visit Roenza in his winter camp there. Roenza
provided Juchereau a guide to show him the crossing over Cache and
the trail to the Ohio. The route followed was along the foot of the
hills to Hargus Store site, on the right bank of Sandy Creek, then
down Sandy Creek nearly to its mouth, and then up Cache to the Big
Drift (which was a mile below Tamms). There has always been a big
drift at that particular spot every time a record has been made.
Such a drift was there in 1702. The party crossed Cache at that,
point and a member of the party exclaimed, “Ce crique est Cache.”
(This creek is hidden.) It has been gone by that name from then to
now.
Juchereau’s company reached an ancient Indian trail near Levings and
followed that trail to Va Bache. Va Bache was located in Post Creek
Gap. The summit of Post Creek Gap was 24 hundred feet north of the
low-water line of the Ohio, and approximately 80 feet higher than
that line. Thus, a sloping grade plus a bayou ran down to the Ohio.
Juchereau was faced with many problems whenever the whole party
reached Va Bache. He had to provide shelter for all of his company;
tanning vats had to be made from huge oak trees; and tanning bark
had to be gathered.
Ten or twelve muettes (hunting lodges) were constructed for shelter.
Huge quantities of supplies, with the exception of meat, were
brought from Kaskaskia. The only problem of that nature was a supply
of good drinking water. This was solved by digging a large, deep
cistern. It might be interesting to note that this huge cistern in
later years fell down at the edges, filled up from the bottom, and
became known as Round Pond.
At the top of a little hill near the camp, the soldiers entrenched
and built their barracks. Eight rifle pits, each large enough to
hold 6 to 8 soldiers, were dug on “Butte-Petite” Facing the river.
Besides their usual arms, the soldiers had several small cannons.
In the early part of 1703 the buffalo hunt began. They hunted in
three states—Illinois, Kentucky, and Missouri. By April, 1704, they
had killed 13,000 buffalo. All the buffalo were killed in a 14 month
period. Some people say this was an impossible feat and they doubted
that it was even true. But Reuben Gold Thwaites, who translated it,
said that he merely translated the story as he found it in print in
French libraries.
The Indians resented this wholesale killing because they depended
upon the buffalo for food. So, they made plans to do away with the
French at Va Bache. The Cherokees, Creeks, Choctaws, and some of the
Chickasaws gathered along the Tennessee; the Miamis, Shawnees,
Kickapoos, and other Illinois tribes were along the Wabash while the
Missouri tribes were at the Clear Creek. Only the tribe of Roenza
did not take part.
On a moonless night in June, the Indians with their guides crept
close to Va Bache. At dawn musketry and war whoops sounded through
the silence. The battle was short and decisive. Before long, the
massacre, probably the greatest in July was finished. Only Juchereau
escaped.
There are three traditions telling how Juchereau escaped. One
tradition says that Mother Juchereau in Montreal had a vision that
her kinsman was in trouble. She prayed to St. Francis Xavier to
spare him, and at once a fog surrounded Juchereau and thus he
escaped. The second tradition has it that Juchereau spoke several
Indian languages, and in his quarters he had an Indian robe and a
box of paint. Whenever he knew what was happening he put on the
war-paint and robe and escaped as an Indian.
According to the most known tradition, Juchereau and a companion had
been hunting the day before the battle. Being so far from Va Bache,
they camped out overnight. The next morning they heard the noise and
stayed hidden until the danger was past. Juchereau and his companion
went to the camp where they buried the dead. They then dug up the
cedar box which had all of the money of the entire group and started
toward the outposts. Two Indians saw them and killed the companion;
Juchereau killed one Indian and wounded the other. Juchereau then
went to Sharp’s Bayou where he buried the cedar box. He made it
safely to Nataogami where he told of all that had happened. Jean
Coppre, who was at the outpost, and a friend took a disguised
Jucherean to Kaskaskia. He supposedly died there in 1705 and was
buried by Father Mermet.
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FORT CANTONMENT WILKINSONVILLE
The Grand Chain of Rocks, which the French called “Le Grande Chaine
a la Rocher" since 1684, has been the site or surroundings for much
of the history of Southern Illinois. On a savanna near the “Chain”
stood Cantonment Wilkinsonville which was completed by 1797. It was
about 65 feet above low water mark, with a slope toward the river
and surrounded by low hills. Two thousand feet from the fort up the
river bank north is a low gap in the bank ridge which divides the
waters of the Cache Basin from those of the Ohio.
Some of the preparations made by Lt. Col David Strong, who was in
charge of the Cantonment, included the following: clearing
approximately 400 acres, erection of 12 to 20 barracks-houses,
building an applicable magazine, laying a tile-line for the fort’s
complete drainage, building a lookout mound, and constructing a good
road by which to reach the low-water line. The barracks-houses were
made of hewn logs with brick chimneys, the bricks of which had been
made at the Cantonment. Each building was large enough for a
mess-sergeant and his squad of 20 men. Cantonment Wilkinsonville was
used for the training of militia while Massac had a battalion of the
Regular Artillery stationed there.
Cantonment Wilkinsonville was called several names: The Post near
the Mouth of the Ohio, The Post near Massac, The Southwest Post, and
Cantonment Wilkinsonville. The latter one was the official name, but
locally since 1805 it has been known as Fort Wilkinson.
November 3, 1797, General Wilkinson issued an order for the
provisioning of Cantonment Wilkinsonville, but it was not until
August 12, 1798, that the general visited the fort. . He arrived on
the famed river-craft “Kitty” and remained there until August 13.
In the Universal Gazetter, published May 7, 1801, in Washington, a
news article, which had been sent to the general, appeared. The
article was the report of a tornado which struck Fort Wilkinson on
March 14. The report stated that damage had been done to the fort;
one sergeant was killed; 40 others stationed at the fort were hurt;
and one woman was killed while several other women were injured.
This report is important for two reasons:
one, it records the first destructive windstorm affecting Southern
Illinois, and second, it informs us that there were women at the
fort besides the wife of Lt. Col. Strong.
It is estimated that there were 10 companies stationed at the fort.
Each company had 77 men and 3 commissioned officers. This estimation
is based on an order for military supplies issued May 8, 1801.
General Wilkinson was appointed Commissioner to the Creek Indians in
June, 1801. On July 28, 1801, he and his family arrived at the fort
and stayed for two weeks. During this time, all official orders or
dispatches had Headquarters Wilkinsonville on them.
If a person has any imagination, let him go to the site of the fort
on July 31, 1 957,(remember, this was written in December, 1956) and
picture the grand review which was held on July 31, 1801. Lt. Col.
Strong arranged for a grand review for the visiting general and
during the review had the troops give the General’s Salute for
General Wilkinson.
The camp was subject to much sickness. In July and August of 1801,
many of the troops became ill, but the troops were not the only ones
ill. Lt. Col. Strong was also ill in the first week of August, and
on August 19, 1801, he died at the fort. He was interred in a
homemade coffin with full military services. His grave is just
outside the fort.
An order issued July 15, 1804, indicated that the fort was being
evacuated. The troops were moving out in small river-craft (batteaus)
to other points for service or to be discharged. March 25, 1805, was
the last order issued concerning Fort Wilkinson. That order only
stated that cordage and sails were to be sold to Col. Lyon.
In April, 1807, John Rector, A U.S. surveyor, ran a land line which
exactly divided the drill-grounds of the cantonment. He mentioned
nothing about the fort except that where he surveyed there was
nothing but “a field, overgrown with briars.”
This information gives color to a tradition that Indians came from
Kentucky asking for liquor, but when they were refused, they burned
the fort and massacred every person there. There is no official
record of a happening such as that, although shortly after the
troops were withdrawn, a few people were killed and some young girls
taken into captivity by Indians.
There were two cemeteries located near the cantonment. One was the
“Soldiers’ Grave Yard,” and the other one was the “Citizens’
Cemetery.” These cemeteries were located about one eighth mile
downstream from the fort.
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