Here we go! We started this Ozark thing in Illinois by zooming south down Hwy. 51 out of Springfield directly to the Shawnee National Forest and a campground near Creal Springs and Lake Egypt. After a day or two we turned east onto Scenic Byway 34.
We started the scenic tour at Mitchellville, then east on Karber Ridge Road over to the Garden of the Gods. This is one of those great erosion carved areas that is very similar to the formations way out west in places like Bryce Canyon, Utah or Chiricahua National Monument, Az. They even smell somewhat the same to me – old, really, really old sandstone! The Ozark Plateau is an average of 700 million years old; so see? One of those ancient inland sea beds which got laid down, lifted up, worn down and sculpted into mountains, valleys and weird formations. I love all of this!
Our next stop was a very interesting place called Cave In Rock on Hwy 1 at the very southeastern edge of Illinois. This was one beautiful cave that not only had a hole in its roof and unusual formations in its interior but it opened up to overlook the Ohio River too. It has obviously been a favorite place for many people for thousands of years. We read about the infamous river pirates during the 1800’s who hung out in the cave waiting for unsuspecting fur traders and trappers and then later preyed on barges and other boats.
This was a short but interesting introduction to the Ozark Plateau and Mountains plus the Ohio is a mighty impressive river. The little town of Cave in Rock was very picturesque and we wished we had maybe stayed a little longer, but it was a closed-up Sunday.
It was on to Hwy 146 and a dash straight west, across the entire southern tip of Illinois to the Trail of Tears State Park in Missouri on the Mississippi River.
We enjoyed Illinois and the beginning of the Ozarks but we then set our sites on visiting a whole group of springs and old mills in the Missouri part of this fascinating plateau and mountain country.
Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site, Collinsville, Illinois; now this was a whole lot more like it for this nature lover! Huge open spaces, huge trees and all of these fascinating, huge man-made hills or mounds spread out over several thousand acres of great green grass. There are about 80 remaining mounds out of an estimated original 120. It was named a U.S. National Historic Landmark in 1965 and a World Heritage Site in 1985.
Bronze doors of the entrance to the visitor's center
Cokie and I never knew anything like this even existed in the U.S. but Kae has fancied that she is an armchair archeologist and for decades has read about so many of these great places. This one is no exception. This is the site of the largest Prehistoric Indian city built north of Mexico City! It exceeds in size but seems to echo the architecture of many of the cities of the great civilizations of Mayan, Aztec and Inca. Between 800-1000 AD a group, now known as The Mississippian Culture, created highly structured communities with complex social and political systems. They grew corn, squash and seed-bearing plants as well as hunted, fished and traded goods. This enabled them to support large populations in permanent communities. By 1050 AD Cahokia had become a regional center sprawling over 6 square miles and was home to 10- 20,000 people.
The mounds were of different shapes and served several purposes: large, low, flat topped platforms were ceremonial plazas and market squares; conical and ridge top were for burial of important citizens; large, terraced pyramids were for the homes, temples and tombs of the nobility. The mounds were made of earth excavated from neighboring “borrow pits” with stone and wooden tools. It is estimated that over 50 million cubic feet of dirt was moved for mound construction alone; all of it carried in woven baskets on people’s backs, 50 pounds at a time!
Monks Mound is the largest prehistoric earthen construction in the Americas containing an estimated 22 million cubic feet of earth! The base covers more than 14 acres and it is over 100 feet high with of three different levels or terraces. A massive building once stood on the top terrace where a principal chief lived, conducted ceremonies and governed. The name came from a group of French Trappist Monks who had unfulfilled plans to build a monastery on the top tier. They elected to live and garden on the three terraces from 1809-1813.
Excavations have uncovered five circular sun calendars called Woodhenges used to determine the changing seasons and ceremonial dates. Constructed during1000-1200 AD they were impressive examples of engineering and science. This reconstructed Woodhenge, dated around 1100 AD, had 48 red cedar posts spaced approx. 27 feet apart in a circle 410 feet in diameter with a large center post. Certain posts are aligned with the rising sun at the spring and fall equinoxes and the winter and summer solstices much like the great Stonehenge of England.
The Stockade was a 12 foot tall log wall built for defense and as a social barrier segregating the elite from the farmers and workers. Nearly two miles long, it required an estimated 20,000 logs each time it required replacement due to decay. Bastions or guard towers were placed at regular intervals along the wall and there is evidence it was covered with a clay and grass daub or plastering.
Mississippian dwellings were of pole and thatch construction. The walls were covered with layers of woven mats or were plastered and the roofs were shingled with grass bundles. Most dwellings were for single families while other structures included sweat lodges, council houses, communal buildings and grain storage.
By the late 1300’s Cahokia appears to have been abandoned. Speculation is that they may have depleted their resources, conflicts may have increased and/or climatic changes may have occurred. It was probably a combination of all of the above. But what ever the reasons, the Mississippian Culture was a highly sophisticated civilization that created an unbelievable urban complex all without a written language!
Exploring all of that ancient cultural stuff must have made Kae think about her own ancestors or something because next thing you know we are heading northeast for Springfield to do some research on one or two of her ancestors – Grandfather Louis Donner Black and Great, great, great, great Grandfather George Donner. Grandpa Black left Springfield under perhaps dubious circumstances having to do with gambling, manslaughter or something rumored but never verified. George Donner left of his own choosing and traveled into dubious circumstances with members of the Donner Party, snow storms, cannibalism or something rumored but never verified either. The Ladies did some research at the Lincoln Library and could not verify anything either but did find out where the original 160 acre Donner Farm was located. We drove out there and had a good walk and photo session. Kae said it felt sorta like a life circle of some kind had been completed. Her ancestor and his family sold their home, left in a slow-moving home on wheels and traveled westward, ending up in California. She and Cokie did exactly the same thing but traveled eastward, ending up for a moment in Illinois. This life is really strange!
We also paid our respects at the Lincoln Tomb State Historic Site in the Oak Ridge Cemetery in Springfield. We’ll just quote from the from the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency brochure – “News of President Abraham Lincoln’s death on April 15th, 1865, came just six days after General Robert E. Lee surrendered his Confederate army to Union General Ulysses S. Grant. The celebratory atmosphere that had prevailed as the Civil War drew to a close was replaced with one of shock and grief. As the nation mourned its martyred President, the National Lincoln Monument Association dedicated itself to the task of erecting a fitting memorial in Springfield, Illinois, where Lincoln lived from 1837 to 1861. The monument, which holds the remains of the Sixteenth President, his wife, and three of their four sons, was dedicated in 1874.”
The 177 foot-tall tomb is constructed of granite. The bronze sculptures on the Tomb terrace were cast from 65 cannons donated by the US Government. The bust of Lincoln near the tomb’s entrance was created by Gutzon Borglum, the sculptor of Mt. Rushmore. The entire cost of $171,000 was raised by the Monument Association through appeals for public donations and by supplements of some state funds. In 1895 Richard Oglesby, the only surviving member of the Association, deeded the property to the State of Illinois.
After this city stuff my Gals made me a happy camper by deciding to follow another Scenic Byway down and across the southeastern part of the state into an area known as the Illinois Ozarks. These ancient Ozark Mountains, and the plateau they are carved from, extend from southern Illinois into bits of Kentucky and Tennessee with the best and largest portion due west along the Missouri/Arkansas border. Needless to say, that is exactly where we are going to go! We’ll do a blog on what we find in the Ozarks, so hang on for the Ozark Odyssey!
