August, 1955 
Oblate Fathers.—This name, taken 
from the mailbox at the entrance to the 
property on which the prairie is located, 
was adopted to designate a much-disturbed 
hill prairie situated in the northeast quar- 
ter of section 5, T. 5 N., R. 10 W., be- 
tween Alton and Clifton Terrace, Madi- 
Evers: Hirt Prairies or [ILLINOIS 
407 
ridge between Illinois highway 157 and 
the Collinsville road just north of Casey- 
ville in St. Clair County was the site of 
this hill prairie. The name of this prairie 
was derived from the presence of aban- 
doned concrete bunkers along the high- 
way. The site was visited July 8 and 
Fig. 21.—Block House hill prairie, near Glen Carbon, Madison County. In the foreground 
is a cultivated field, beyond which are prairie spurs. 
son County. When this site was visited 
on July 25, 1951, prairie with many 
weeds covered about 3 acres of the south- 
west-facing bluff slope that served as a 
pasture for horses. 
Block House.—Responsible for the 
name of this hill prairie was the shape of 
a small house on the bluff-top in the 
northeast quarter of section 32, T. 4+ N., 
R. 8 W., west and north of Glen Carbon, 
Madison County, fig. 21. Block House 
was visited July 8 and August 29, 1950; 
also May 24, 1951. Here the bluff was 
seen to be deep loess, with no visible rock 
outcrops. The lower slope of the bluff 
bordering the highway was a cultivated 
field; the upper slope had prairie-covered 
spurs and thicket-covered coves. Andro- 
pogon scoparius was the dominant grass. 
The top of the bluff was a disturbed 
prairie. 
Bunker.—A group of loess mounds in 
section 5, T. 2 N., R. 8 W., that form a 
August 29, 1950; also May 24, 1951. 
The east-facing slope of the ridge sup- 
ported a mixed forest. On the west-fac- 
ing slope of the ridge were prairie spurs, 
much disturbed by mules and cattle that 
grazed this land. The steep spur-fronts 
were prairie, the coves more or less 
wooded. One small cove contained much 
prairie vegetation, including Silphium in- 
tegrifolium, Vernonia missurica, and 
Cacalia atriplicifolia. A thicket covered 
the base of the slope. 
Edgemont.—This hill prairie, located 
in the southeast quarter of section 26, T. 
2 N., R. 9 W., in Edgemont, a subdivision 
of East St. Louis, in 1940 occupied 4 
acres of the bluff slope as determined by 
planimeter from aerial photographs. dn- 
dropogon scoparius, A. gerardi, and Bou- 
teloua curtipendula were some of the prai- 
rie grasses on this slope when the prairie 
was visited on September 2, 1949. This 
prairie, because of its location, is rapidly 
