Monday, February 26, 2007

Cahokia Mounds, a World Heritage Site, Near Lewis and Clark’s Wood River Camp

This is the corner of William Clark’s great 1814 map, which is superimposed on the Google Earth map found on the Google Earth website. It shows the location of the Cahokia Mounds and other historic landmarks which may still be visited today. The expedition spent the winter of 1803-04 at a camp near the Wood River at the junction of the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers. Because the modern junction of the rivers is now some 15 miles south, the reconstructed Wood River Fort was built on the Lewis and Clark State Historic Site near Hartford, Illinois. The original location is thought to be on an island near Alton, Illinois, where the Wood River is still located. Confluence Point State Park in West Alton, Missouri across the river is very near the original site. The beautiful William Clark bridge across the Mississippi connects the two Altons.

Cahokia Mounds is the greatest prehistoric mounds site in North America. It was in existence from about 800-1400 A. D. Monk’s Mound, its largest mound, is called "America’s Pyramid." It is 100 feet tall, covers 15 acres at its base, and is the 3rd or 4th largest pyramid by volume in the world. It is a "must see" destination in visiting the St Louis area. Visitors may climb to the top of the mound to view the 630 feet tall St Louis Arch across the river.

William Clark explored some of the outlying mounds of Cahokia on January 9, 1804. A few months earlier, on September 10, 1803, Meriwether Lewis  visited another famous mound, the Grave Creek Mound in Moundsville, West Virginia. During those years thousands of mounds covered the Ohio and  Mississippi River Valleys.

Another interesting connection to Lewis and Clark and the Cahokia Mounds is that a Swiss  Monk, who lived at the Trappist community located at the mounds, baptized young Pompey (Jean Baptiste Charbonneau) at the Catholic log church in St Louis on December 28, 1809. The "Old Cathedral" near the Arch was later built on the site of the log church. Pomp was 4 1/2 years old at the time. His parents, Sacagawea and Charbonneau stayed in the St Louis area for another year, living in Florissant near St Charles. They left their son in the care of William Clark in 1811 to return to their home at the Knife River Villages in North Dakota.

Use the new Trip Planner on the Lewis and Clark Road Trips website to visit websites and MapQuest maps for most of the historic landmarks seen on this map.  Destinations 42-70 in Region 3 cover the general area. Cahokia Mounds is #59. This is the first of my travel blogs which will feature attractions across America with links to the Trip Planner.

Posted by Kira Gale on 02/26/2007 at 09:15 PM

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