GRAPE ISLAND 

 tragedy on Grape Island put a dark page in its 

 history, as there was one of the most cold-blood- 

 ed murders committed on this island that was 

 ever known in the history of the Kankakee 

 Swamps. Early in the fall of 1876 John France 

 and James Cotton, two trappers, had bought or 

 traded for the Grape Island trapping ground. 

 They built a log cabin, using green Cottonwood 

 logs and they covered it with a board roof. Prior 

 to this, for many years they had been trapping 

 the south marsh below Long Ridge. Their grub 

 box was getting low, so Ar. France went to 

 Hebron, Indiana, to get grub-supplies and he 

 stayed at Hebron over night. The next day he 

 returned to the island and found the cabin burn- 

 ed. The roof and part of one side and end was 

 burned. On investigation he found everything 

 inside burned and among the ruins he found the 

 charred body of his partner. There was found a 

 bullet hole in his skull, indicating that he had 

 been murdered and the cabin set on fire to cover 

 up the crime and destroy all trace of evidence. 



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