History


Fun Facts
by Andrew, Colin, and TJ

•    Did you know? The Pawatomi Native Americans originally lived on the prairie. They were originally from Illinois. They ate a mix of crops and meat from bison.

•    Did you know? That Illinois became part of the United States on December 3, 1818. Illinois was the 21st state.

•    Did you know? Abraham Lincoln is buried in Oak Ridge Cemetery in Springfield. Abe Lincoln freed all the slaves in the Civil War. He was a hero not just in Illinois but also in all of America.

•    Did you know? The Great Chicago Fire took place in the summer of 1871. It was the driest summer Chicago has ever had. The fire actually started in a barn at the home of Patrick and Catherine O’Leary.  But everyone thinks it was started by their cow. About 300 people died, and 100,000 people were left homeless.  There was about 200 million dollars worth of damage.

Image source:
http://charlotteandderek.com/NavyPierFerrisWheel2.jpg



The Great Chicago Fire - The Movie by Andrew A.  (Time: 1:03)

Click on the Download File link below to view Andrew's movie. The movie will download to a new page.

the_great_chicago_fire.mov
File Size: 5057 kb
File Type: mov
Download File


Tribes of Illinois: True or False
by Catherine, Jillian, and Kelly

True or false?

The Illiniwek Native American Tribe were the first group of people in Illinois. They made hot dogs out of wooly mammoths.

False...
The Paleo Tribe were the first people in Illinois. They came here about 10,000 years ago, at a time of wooly mammoths. 3,000 years ago though they mysteriously disappeared for reasons unknown.

We can not verify if they made wooly mammoth hot dogs.

True or False?

The Hopewell Native American Tribe, also known as the Mound Builders, quite obviously, built huge whopping mounds in the shapes of animals.

True...
The Hopewell people arrived after the Paleo Native Americans and built mounds as temples and graves. They, like the Paleos, disappeared, no one knows why. CREEPY!!!

True or  False?

The tribe name Illiniwek directly translates to "Men of Corn."

False...
The name Illiniwek means "The People" or "The Men". The Illiniwek arrived at Illinois around 500 AD, at the time the mysterious mound builders disappeared.

True or False?

Christopher Columbus was the first European to come to Illinois.

False...
The first two Europeans to come to Illinois were Jauques (pronounced Zhauck) Marquette and Louis Jolliet  (prounounced Zholl-E-ay). They arrived in 1673 and met the Illiniwek people. They named Illinois Illinois, the French version of Illiniwek.

Image Source:
http://www.ohiohistory.org/places/groups/images/serpent%20mound.GIF




Picture of Louis Marquette and Jaques Jolliet, apparently dragging a boat across a stream!
So exciting!




Image Source:
http://cache.eb.com/eb/image?id=93251&rendTypeld=4





Paelo Native Americans gathered around a fire next to a cliff. Wow.





Image source:
http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/whspress/oss/images/paleo1.JPG



Illini Indians, The Great Chicago Fire, and Al Capone
by Luke, Parker, and Henry

Have you ever heard of the Illini Indians, the Great Chicago Fire of famous bootleggers like Al Capone? Well, if you haven't they are all famous from different times in Illinois history. We are here to tell you all about them!


Illini Indians 

Have you ever heard of Illiini? I am not talking about the Illinois football team. I am talking about the Illini tribe.

In the 1670's, two people named Marquet and Jolliet found 60 Illini villages. The Illini did not get along with other tribes, which included the Chaokia, Peoria, Michigana, Moingwek, and Tamara.

When the Europeans came, they carried many diseases including small pox, chicken pox, and measles. Many Illini people died.

Now do you know why the Illini is good and I am not talking about their basketball team?

Image source:
http://media.collegepublisher.com/media/paper736/stills/q21zhxon.jpg


The Great Chicago Fire

In the fall of 1871, on October 8th, one of the most devastating things in Illinois history happened.

In the west suburban are of Chicago, there was a small farm that the O'Leary family owned. At around 9:00 pm their cow, Kelly, knocked over a lantern in the barn which caused one of the worst fires in the history of Illinois. This fire burned for 13 hours!

When the gruesome fire was finally out, the destruction was terrible. Buildings were destroyed, people were laying dead - total chaos!

The people of Chicago learned from their mistakes and rebuilt a beautiful city which still stands today.

Image Source:
http://static.howstuffworks.com/gif/willow/history-of-illinois0.gif


 


The Notorious Chicago Mafia

Have you ever heard of the Chicago Mafia? One of the most famous mobsters was Al Capone.

Capone’s first arrest came in New York with a charge of disorderly conduct. Also, while in New York, Capone murdered two men. One thing Capone was famous for is that his gang was involved in the Valentine’s Day massacre.

This is just a little taste of the story of the Chicago Mafia and Al Capone.

Here is a link to find out more:
The Chicago Syndicate.com


Image Source:
http://thechicagosyndicate.com







Illinois State Seal


Well, we hope you learned a lot about Illinois history. Illinois history is one of the most interesting state histories in the United States.

First, we did not know a lot about Illinois, but now we do!


State Seal Image Source:
http://www.bluegrasstymes.com/images/state_seal.gif