396 
section, town, and range except for prai- 
ries within municipalities, state parks, or 
the old French land grants. These grants 
extended inland at right angles to the bank 
of the Mississippi River and were not 
surveyed according to the township sys- 
tem. In this hill prairie study, such 
grants were encountered in Monroe and 
Randolph counties. 
For convenience in listing, the prairies 
are divided into three groups, (a) those 
along the Mississippi River from East 
Dubuque to Grafton, (b) those along the 
Rock, Sangamon, and Illinois rivers, and 
(c) those along the Mississippi River 
from Grafton to Cairo and elsewhere in 
southern Illinois. On the bluffs south of 
Warsaw, Hancock County, were several 
small openings which were seen but not 
examined for this study. Also, on the 
south side of the lower Sangamon River 
valley were a number of hill prairies, 
some with north- and northwest-facing 
slopes. Many of these prairie slopes served 
as pastureland and were much disturbed. 
Some of the slopes were completely con- 
verted to bluegrass pastureland. None of 
these slopes was visited. Fig. 1 shows the 
locations of these hill prairie sites. Not 
described, nor indicated in fig. 1, are sev- 
eral pastured grass slopes on the blufts 
of the Mississippi River, west and south 
of Galena, Jo Daviess County, which 
were visited June 15-16, 1950. At that 
time they were covered with many weeds 
and they contained few prairie plants. 
East Dubuque to Grafton 
El Rancho.—This prairie, located on 
the bluff above the El Rancho Café in 
East Dubuque, Jo Daviess County, was 
visited July 16 and October 4, 1950; 
May 9 and June 14, 1951. Prairie, 
slightly over an acre in area, covered the 
stony part of the slope above the cliff, 
and also the loess on that part of the slope 
above the stony part. The uppermost part 
of the slope and the generally flat bluff- 
top, greatly disturbed by the WPA in 
constructing stone foundations for a fire- 
place and two shelters, had been much 
trampled and was weedy. Two Indian 
mounds crowned the spur nearest the café. 
A forested cove separated this spur from 
ItLinois NaruraAL History Survey BULLETIN 
another to the south. Three Indian 
mounds occupied the crest of the southern 
spur. Andropogon scoparius was the dom- 
inant grass of both spurs; Stipa spartea 
grew in large patches on the south spur 
and was in smaller, scattered patches on 
the north spur. 
Menominee Station.—This prairie, in 
the southwest quarter of section 17, T. 
Vol. 26, Art. 57 
27 N., R. 1 W., on the bluffs of the Mis- — 
sissippi River, about one-half mile south- 
east of Menominee Station, Jo Daviess 
County, was visited October 4, 1950; 
May 9 and June 14, 1951. Prairie cov- 
ered about + acres on parts of four south- 
west-facing spurs. Rock fragments cov- 
ered the surface for a few yards above the 
rock ledge; loess capped the bluff. dn-— 
dropogon scoparius was the dominant 
grass. The northeast-facing slope of the 
northernmost spur and the uplands ad- 
joining the remaining spurs supported a 
mixed forest. Rhus glabra formed dense 
stands on three spur-tops, and it extended 
downslope on the north sides of these 
spurs. Populus tremuloides occupied a 
part of the crest of the northernmost spur 
of this prairie. 
North Savanna.—Prairie covered the 
upper southwest- and west-facing slopes 
of the bluff-ridge in section 21, T. 25 N., 
R. 3 E., 3 miles north of Savanna, Car- 
roll County, when the site was visited 
June 14, 1951. On the slopes above the 
rock ledge, Bouteloua hirsuta was abun- 
dant. Disturbed prairie covered the crest 
of the ridge. Northward along the ridge, 
the slope and top were occupied almost en- 
tirely by Juniperus virginiana. 
Sunset Trail.—At the time this study 
was made, prairie occupied one northwest- 
facing spur, three west-facing spurs, and 
one south- to southwest-facing spur on 
the bluff north of the Administration 
Building in the Mississippi Palisades 
State Park, north of Savanna, Carroll 
County. A trail, Sunset Trail, crossed 
parts of this prairie. Andropogon sco- 
parius and Bouteloua curtipendula were 
abundant grasses. Sandy loess covered 
the northwest- and west-facing slopes; the 
south-facing slope was stony. ‘The stony 
slope was not so steep as the loess slopes. 
These spurs were visited October 4, 1950, 
and June 14, 1951. 
