Long known to the Indian who used the two great rivers as his highways for trade and war, this junction of the Ohio and the Mississippi was first sighted by Europeans when Marquette and Joliet glided past in 1673. Ten years later La Salle explored the area and established France's claim to the Mississippi Valley. From that time on this confluence was recognized as a strategic site for settlement and fortification. George Rogers Clark, following the capture of Kaskaskia in 1778, stationed armed boats at this junction to guard against attacks on the Illinois country by the British or Spanish. Here in 1811 the "New Orleans", first steamboat to navigate western waters, lay at anchor during three nights of the New Madrid earthquake. In April of 1861 Fort Defiance was established at the confluence to thwart Confederate invasion and blockade the trade of the South. From here was launched General Grant's great flanking movement of the Cumberland and Tennessee Rivers, which began at Fort Henry and ended at Vicksburg, giving the Union complete control of the Mississippi.

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Show me all markers in:  Cairo, IL  |  Alexander County  |  62914  |  Illinois  |  United States of America

"Proceeding On"
Cairo, Illinois
Lewis & Clark
Historical Survey Marker
Lewis and Clark in Illinois
The Ohio River Bridge
The Beginning of the Third Principal Meridian
Duncan Cannon
York the Slave
The Prince of the French Explorers

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