visited the kaskaskia fragment of illinois on the west bank of the
mississippi this afternoon

to get the whole picture
order it up at topozone & then zoom out to 500000k

of the several bits of illinois & missouri that have gotten stranded
by avulsions on the wrong side of the river
kaskaskia is the only one with a town in it
& probably the most interesting for that reason
as well as for its historical significance
dating from the original french mission in 1675

but there is also some of the original kaskaskia still left on the
east bank too
including the fort i think
tho i didnt see it

actually the fragment is not really connected to either state any more
except that there is a long causeway bridging it to missouri

it feels a lot like the kentucky bend clave but with a french twist

500 people lived there when lewis & clark used it for a staging post
in 1803
but the population is only 18 now

lots of old french architecture tho

& a shrine contains a cracked liberty style bell sent by louis xv

the place is deserted
but you press a button & the front door eerily swings open for
viewing the bell thru an iron grate
which remains locked

the button & door are worth the price of admission alone tho
even without the bell to view or halloween in the air

later recrossed the mississippi at ste genevieve mo on a 1 car ferry

yes eastbound

which struck even me as strange after traveling so far west just to
get there

& it struck the inquisitive ferryman as stranger still
when i answered him that i was headed for st louis

back on the east bank
fort de chartres was worth at least a flyby too

just the idea of a quebec style stone fortress in the middle of what
was then & still is nowhere

cahokia & the mouth of the missouri & busch stadium have my curiosity
up for tomorrow