1769.] CAHOKIA. 309 



ant chiefs. He remained at St. Louis for two or 

 three days, when, hearing that a hirge number of 

 Indians were assembled at Cahokia, on the opposite 

 side of the river, and that some drinking bout or 

 otlier social gathering was in progress, he told St. 

 Ange that he -would cross over to see what was 

 ginng forward. St. Ange tried to dissuade him, 

 and urged the risk to which he would expose him- 

 self ; but Pontiac persisted, boasting that he was a 

 match for the English, and had no fear for his life. 

 He entered a canoe with some of his followers, and 

 Chouteau never saw him again. 



He who, at the present day, crosses from the city 

 of St. Louis to the opposite shore of the Missis- 

 sippi, and passes southward through a forest fes- 

 tooned with grape-vines, and fragrant with the 

 scent of flowers, Avill soon emerge upon the ancient 

 hamlet of Cahokia. To one fresh from the busy 

 suburbs of the American city, the small French 

 houses, scattered in picturesque disorder, the light- 

 hearted, thriftless look of their inmates, and the 

 woods w^hich form the background of the picture, 

 seem like the remnants of an earlier and simpler 

 world. Strange changes have passed around that 

 spot. Forests have fallen, cities have sprung up, 

 and the lonelv wilderness is throno^ed with human 

 life. Nature herself has taken part in the general 

 transformation ; and the Mississippi has made a 

 fearful inroad, robbing from the luckless Creoles a 

 mile of rich meadow and v/oodland. Yet, in the 

 midst of all, this relic of the lost empire of France 

 has preserved its essential features through the 



