Kickapoo Town

In 1790, while George Washington was President, a group of Kickapoo braves captured Ann Gilham, her daughter, and two sons from their Kentucky cabin and forced them to travel overland to Kickapoo Town, a major Kickapoo village in central Illinois. They were held captive there for nearly two years until Ann Gilham's husband, James Gilham, located and ransomed them. In 1815, the United States Congress granted Ann Gilham 160 acres of land as compensation for her ordeal. In the early 1830's, the Kickapoos were forced from central Illinois. The place later flourished as the location for Lincoln Chautauqua in the early 1900's, and since the middle 1900's it has been known as Lincoln Memorial Park after purchase by the City of Lincoln.

Lincoln, Illinois · United States