Peoria IL. History

I would like to share with the history of my hometown Peoria IL.

Dateline 1673- The French explorers Father Jacques Marquette and Louis Joliet explored the area that would become Peoria. Here they encountered the Illini Indian tribe. The Illini Indians were a part of the Algonquian people. Those tribes were a part of the Illinois Confederacy which included Peoria,Kahokia,Kaskaskia,Michiganea and Tamaroa tribes.

Dateline 1680- French explorers Rene Robert Cavalier, Sieur de LaSalle and Henri de Tonti constructed the first fort on the east bank of the Illinois River and named it Fort Creve Coeur.

Dateline 1691- Another fort was built by de Tonti and his cousin Francois Daupin de la Foret. It is believed the fort was near Adams and Mary Streets in Peoria and the fort was named Ft St. Louis II. The fort and the town around it was the first European settlement in Illinois

Dateline 1763- The settlement becomes British territory after the French and Indian war.

Dateline 1778- Peoria became part of the territory of the new United States. George Rogers Clark appointed Maillet as military commander and he in turn established a new town 1.5 mies south of the old one it would be known as La Ville de Maillet and is the present day site of downtown Peoria.

To be continued...