642 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM. vol. 46. 



that of the mouth of the Riviere des Peres, a small stream fio^ving 

 through the western part of St. Louis, and, at its junction with the 

 Mississippi, forming the southern boundary of the city. Until a 

 few years ago many small mounds were visible on the lowland at 

 the mouth of the stream, objects of stone were numerous, and stone 

 graves were met with on the near by hills ; all indicative of an aborigi- 

 nal settlement. Numerous groups of stone graves exist in the valley 

 of the Meramec, and the site of an extensive village is located on the 

 right bank of the stream a short distance above its mouth. About 

 4 miles below the Meramec, and one mile west of the town of 

 Kimmswick, is a small saline, and near by a site bearing evidence 

 of long occupancy. This I shall have occasion to mention more fully 

 at another time. 



By the close of the eighteenth century the Illinois tribes had be- 

 come greatly reduced in numbers, and had lost their former power. 

 In the year 1802 it was written: ''At St. Genevieve, in the settle- 

 ment among the whites, are about thirty Piorias, Kaskaskias, and 

 Ilinois, who seldom hunt, for fear of the other Indians. They are 

 the remains of a nation, which fifty years ago, could bring into the 

 field one thousand and two hundred warriors.'' ^ 



Below the town of Ste. Genevieve "there was formerly a village 

 of Piorias, * * * but they abandoned it some time ago."^ 

 This was prior to the year 1810. 



The Shawnee and Delaware village on Apple Creek, about 40 miles 

 below Ste. Genevieve, dates from the year 1793. Bands of the former 

 tribe evidently traversed the surrounding country. About 1 mile 

 southwest of Ste. Genevieve is a large spring, known as Valle Spring. 

 The water issues from beneath a mass of limestone and is of sufficient 

 quantity to form a stream 10 feet or more in width. Brackenridge 

 visited this spot about the year 1810 and "found a party of about 

 sixty Shawanese warriors encamped near it; after some conversation 

 with the chief, a good old man, and of a remarkable fine figure; why 

 said he, does not some white man build a house and settle himself 

 near this place? but, continued the old chief, seemingly recollect- 

 ing himself, perhaps some Manitou (spirit) resides here, and will 

 not permit it ! " ^ And as yet no house has been erected near the 

 spring: the site has remained unoccupied. 



As has been said, no references occur in the works of early writers 

 to villages on the western bank of the Mississippi, between the 

 Missouri on the north and the Saline on the south. It is evident, 

 however, that at some early day the Illinois had occupied certain 

 sites. Therefore it is quite probable that the signs of former occu- 



1 Davis, John, Travels in Louisiara and the Floridas, in the year 1802, New York, 1806, p. 99. 

 » Brackenridge, H. M., Views oJ Louisiana, Pittsburg, 1814, p. 125. 

 ' Brackenridge, Idem., p. 126. 



