The Indian Trails

Knox County, centrally located between the Mississippi, the Rock, and the Illinois, was crossed by trails linking Indian villages on these rivers and by many local trails to villages and camp sites in the county. Indians traveled the best routes, and some of these trails later became mail routes, stage roads, and in part permanent highways. A main trail from Lake Peoria to the mouth of the Rock passed through Knox County by way of Maquon, Knoxville, and Henderson and was known as the Galena trail. The last tribes in Knox County were the Potawatomi, Sac, Fox, and Kickapoo, and their occupancy ended with the Black Hawk War of 1832.

Knoxville, Illinois · United States