Search results
1804 Lewis and Clark. Lewis and Clark's Corps of Discovery spends the winter in Illinois, near present-day Wood River, to train and prepare for their cross-country journey and then depart in May. Explore the Lewis and Clark State Historic Site.
Offers a chronological timeline of important dates, events, and milestones in Illinois history. Around 5000 BCE, native American tribes hunt in the Illinois region. By 650 B.C. they have establish the settlement of Chahokia. The civilization vanishes around 1400 for unknown reasons.
The history of Illinois may be defined by several broad historical periods, namely, the pre-Columbian period, the era of European exploration and colonization, its development as part of the American frontier, its early statehood period, growth in the 19th and 20th centuries, and contemporary Illinois of today.
The Illinois Territory (1776-1818) The capture of Kaskaskia by a small American force in July 1778 established a claim by the new United States to the Illinois Country. The 1783 Treaty of Paris formally awarded the area east of the Mississippi River to the new nation.
Illinois’ first newspaper, the Illinois Herald. 1816 — The United States builds and garrisons Fort Armstrong (Rock Island) and Fort Ed wards (Warsaw) and rebuilds Fort Dearborn (Chicago).
Timeline of important dates and major events in the history of Illinois. Illustrated list of events and people from our today in history archives.
Early Statehood (1818-1848) On December 3, 1818, Illinois became the twenty-first state of the Union. Ostensibly a free state, slavery was “grandfathered” in to the constitution for existing colonial slaveholders, and all citizens were permitted to keep indentured servants.
