Native Americans

The Confederated Peorias originated in the land surrounding the Great Lakes and drained by the Mississippi River. Those peoples are the Illinois or the Ilini Indians, descendants of the people who created the large mound societies in the Great Plains two to three thousand years ago. The Kaskaskia–Cahokia Trail had a role in the lives of some Ilini Indians. ^[1]

Settlers

When the French created permanent settlements at Kaskaskia and Cahokia, they named these townships after the Illini Indians who lived there before.

Other villages, towns, and settlements grew over the next century dotting the east half of the Mississippi River's floodplain. This first road caused other roads that eventually led to Illinois becoming the 21st state in 1818, with Kaskaskia holding the title of the first state capital. ^[2]