y respects, the history of this settlement is typical of that of
other regions. The Indian question, the land question, the transportation
problem, the problem of local government; these are a few of the classes
of questions wherein the experience of Illinois was not unique.

This work was prepared while the writer was a student in the University of
Wisconsin. The first draft was critically and carefully read by Prof.
Frederick Jackson Turner, of that University, and the second draft was
read by Prof. John Bach McMaster, of the University of Pennsylvania. In
addition to suggestions received from my teachers, valuable aid has been
rendered by Miss Caroline M. McIlvaine, the librarian of the Chicago
Historical Society, who placed at my disposal her wide knowledge of the
sources of Illinois history.

The omission of any reference in this work to the French manuscripts,
found by Clarence W. Alvord, is due to the fact that at the time they were
found, my work was so nearly completed that it was loaned to Mr. Alvord to
use in the preparation of his article on the County of Illinois, while the
press of professional duties has been such that a subsequent use of the
manuscripts has been impracticable.

ARTHUR C. BOGGESS.

Pacific University,
Forest Grove, Oregon.
September 14, 1907.

CHAPTER I. THE COUNTY OF ILLINOIS.

An Act for establishing the County of Illinois, and for the more effectual
protection and defence thereof, passed both houses of the Virginia
legislature on December 9, 1778.(1) The new county was to include the
inhabitants of Virginia, north of the Ohio River, but its location was not
more definitely prescribed.(2)

The words "for the more effectual protection and defence thereof" in the
title of the Act were thoroughly appropriate. The Indians were in almost
undisputed possession of the land in Illinois, save the inconsiderable
holdings of the French. Some grants and sales of large tracts of land had
been made. In 1769, John Wilkins, British commandant in Illinois, granted
to the trading-firm of Baynton, Wharton and Morgan, a great tract of land
lying between the Kaskaskia and the Mississippi rivers. The claim to the
land descended to John Edgar, who shared it with John Murray St. Clair,
son of Gov. Arthur St. Clair. The claim was filed for 13,986 acres, but
was found on survey to contain 23,000 acres, and was confirmed by Gov. St.
Clair. At a later examination of titles, this claim was rejecte