The Edwards Trace

An important trail in Illinois history ran atop this ridge. Called the Edwards Trace, an early word for trail, its use reaches back to antiquity when herds of bison and other large mammals traveled along its path. For millennia, prehistoric people used the trail for seasonal migrations, trading, hunting, and war. As early as 1711, French priests and trappers traveled along it as an overland alternative to the waterways. From Kaskaskia in the south, the trace passed through Cahokia and the Edwardsville area and by this point on its way to the Illinois River near present-day Peoria. During the War of 1812, Territorial Governor Ninian Edwards, later the state's third governor, led 350 rangers to Peoria along this route for action against the Kickapoo, and as a result it became known as the Edwards Trace. For early Illinois inhabitants, it was the main land route between southern Illinois and points north, and many pioneers who settled the Sangamon Valley came along its course. After Illinois became a state in 1818, the road carried heavy north-south traffic, including a variety of goods and commodities, and a depressed path developed, part of which survives 25 yards west of this point.

Springfield, Illinois · United States