George Rogers Clark and The Garden of the Gods

Vincennes, Indian has special historical significance.   So, I wanted to pause here on Monday morning and take in the specifics. 

Until five years ago I was not aware of George Rogers Clark who was an incredibly audacious young man (also the older brother of William Clark of Lewis and Clark fame).  In 1777, at the age of 25, George proposed to the Governor of Virginia, Patrick Henry, that he, Clark, lead an expedition out to "The Illinois Country" and attack British military outposts on the Ohio, Mississippi and Wabash Rivers and force the British out of the area.  He succeeded.  Improbably, he accomplished this with a small band of around 175 men.  

Clark's Expedition to Vincennes

British Surrender to Clark

For a number of years I've been fascinated with the "Old Northwest" of the early United States.  My home in Wisconsin is near the far Northwestern corner of this region.  The British had dominated the area prior to the American Revolution. (They, in turn, had taken legal possession from the French in 1763 after winning major battles both in North America and in Europe.) 

But Clark's conquest at Vincennes changed the equation and ultimately resulted in the Brits ceding the area to the Americans when the Treaty between the two was established in 1783 (Treaty of Paris).  Without this prior military victory by Clark, the British would not have been likely to concede the Ohio and Mississippi valleys to the United States.  Thanks George!

Land Ceded to The USA by the British
Treaty of Paris-1783

So, I wanted to spend a few hours looking the the National Park Service visitor center in Vincennes, see the elaborate memorial to Clark, and see the location of the fort where the British were at the time of the conquest. A video from Ball State University explains the Story of Clark and the conquest of the British and their Indian allies.

George Rogers Clark Memorial

Statue of George Rogers Clark

After a couple hours at Vincennes I was well satisfied.  I got back in the truck and headed south, driving thru Evansville, Indiana. There, I turned west and crossed the Wabash River and re-entered Illinois.

Although I had grown up in northern Illinois, I have never visited the southern end of the state. This area is very unfamiliar to me so I wanted to spend some time looking it over.  I especially wanted to pause in the Shawnee National Forest which is administered by the U.S. Forest Service.  I've seen that this has some physical features you usually don't see in the midwestern USA.  I was not disappointed!  After driving a number of miles on some quiet two lane highways, I saw signs for The Garden of the Gods which I had heard of.  I turned off the main highway (Illinois #1) and followed the lovely Karber Ridge Road west, climbing a steep grade up to the high ground of the ridge of the highlands which are cut thru with large canyons and unique rock formations. The rock seems to be mostly a tough, gray and banded sandstone.

Garden of the Gods
(Photo from the Web)

At the Garden of the Gods turn-off I parked the truck and went for a long hike and scramble.  The trees in the forest are almost all hardwoods and with the leaves off, you can get a good sense of the extreme topography.  Getty Images has a good collection of photos from these formations: Here 

The Old Northwest was originally the "Wild West" with massive rivers, great distances, low population density, wildlife including buffalo herds, bears, mountain lions and a number of different Indian tribes.  The history of this place is a subject to contemplate.

Ultimately, I decided to camp up in the highlands of the forest. There were plenty of cheap ($10) campsites.  This time of the year the campground was totally empty.  Not a bad place to stay the night!