What to see in America . drew. Later in theyear the Indians re-treated across the Wis-consin line. Illinois had its firstseat of government atKaskaskia, but whenit became a state in1818 commissionersselected as the site forits capital a bluff inthe wilderness besidethe Kaskaskia River, sixty miles east of Alton. They called it Vandalia, and laidit out with broad streets, and a handsome square whereonwas erected a two-story frame State House. One smallwagon served to transport at a single load the entire statearchives from Kaskaskia. Agitation for another removal ofthe capital at length develop
What to see in America . drew. Later in theyear the Indians re-treated across the Wis-consin line. Illinois had its firstseat of government atKaskaskia, but whenit became a state in1818 commissionersselected as the site forits capital a bluff inthe wilderness besidethe Kaskaskia River, sixty miles east of Alton. They called it Vandalia, and laidit out with broad streets, and a handsome square whereonwas erected a two-story frame State House. One smallwagon served to transport at a single load the entire statearchives from Kaskaskia. Agitation for another removal ofthe capital at length developed, and in 1837 the legislatureselected Springfield from twenty-nine places that aspiredfor the distinction. Springfields settlement dates back to1819, when a single family from North Carolina made itshome there beside Spring Creek. Abraham Lincoln waslong a resident of the place, and here are the office in whichhe practiced law and the house he occupied when electedPresident. His remains rest beneath a magnificent monu-. Bluffs of Rock River 240 What to See in America ment in the beautiful Oak Ridge Cemetery. On the northside of the city are the State Fair Grounds, the most ex-tensive of their kind in the United States. The annual fair,which continues the first ten days of October, attracts crowds from the entire middleWest. Roundabout the cap-ital are rich coal mines. For a period of twenty-fiveyears after 1813 the most im-portant social and politicalcenter in Illinois, and thechosen home of wealth andrefinement, was Shawneetownon the Ohio River, a fewmiles below the mouth of theWabash. Now it is a quaintold village brooding over itspast glories. Cairo is worthy of a visitbecause it is at the meetingof the two great rivers, theOhio and the IVIississippi. Itsfounders anticipated its becoming the biggest city in theMississippi Valley, but the location was unhealthful andsubject to floods. Since 1858, when it was nearly destroj^edby an inundation, it has been protected by extens
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