History of St. Joseph Church Prairie du Rocher Illinois

St. Joseph's Church and Rectory as originally built in 1858 and 1868 respectively

St. Joseph Church Prairie du Rocher, Illinois, was established in 1722 as a chapel dependent upon the royally endowed church of Ste. Anne at Fort Chartres. King Louis XIV of France had dreamed of a great French empire in Mid America, but died before he could bring his dream to reality. Following his death in 1715, the regent, Philip of Orleans, ruling for the boy King Louis XV, commissioned Pierre Duque Boisbriant to found Fort Chartres in 1718 on the mighty Mississippi, midway between Quebec and New Orleans, to be the capital of the new French empire in Mid America. … Read more

Treaty of October 11, 1842

Treaty of October 11, 1842

Treaty of October 11, 1842, with the Confederated tribes of Sauk and Fox at the agency of the Sauk and Fox Indians in the Territory of Iowa. Schedule of debts annexed. Resolution of Senate, February 15, 1843. Ratification of President, March 23, 1843. The confederated tribes of Sacs and Foxes cede to the U. S. all the lands west of the Mississippi river to which they have any claim or title. The Indians reserve a right to occupy for three years from the signing of this treaty all that part of the land above ceded which lies west of a line running due north and south from the painted or red rocks on the White Breast fork of the Des Moines River, which rocks will be found about 8 miles in a straight line from the junction of the White Breast with the Des Moines. Upon ratification of this treaty the U. S. agree to assign a tract of land suitable and convenient for Indian purposes to the Sacs and Foxes for a permanent home for them and their descendants, which tract shall be upon the Missouri river or some of its waters.