THE PIERRE MARTIN/NICHOLAS BOISMENUE HOUSE IN PRAIRIE DU PONT, ILLINOIS

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1 THE PIERRE MARTIN/NICHOLAS BOISMENUE HOUSE IN PRAIRIE DU PONT, ILLINOIS Bonnie L. Gums and William R. Iseminger Located in southwestern Illinois, the Pierre Martin/Nicholas Boisrnenue House, a poteaux sur solle (posts on sill) structure dating to ca. 1790, is the oldest known standing residence in the state. Although postdating the French Colonial period, the construction style of the Martin/Boisrnenue House reflects the continuation of colonial traditions in the Central Mississippi River Valley. This paper will focus on the French Colonial landscape and architecture in the Illinois Country and archaeological investigations at the Martin/Boismenue House. In 1990, the Martin/Boismenue House was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Preservation and restoration efforts will also be discussed. The portion of southwestern Illinois known as the American Bottom and the adjacent portion of Missouri was a relatively small but strategic center for 18th century French Colonial settlement in the Central Mississippi Valley. The remnants of the French period in this area comprise several colonial style structures, archaeological remains, and patterns on the landscape including common field tracts and village street systems. The Pierre Martin/Nicholas Boismenue House in Prairie du Pont has survived for nearly 200 years as one of the few remaining examples of French Colonial architecture in the state of Illinois. Built ca. 1790, the poteaux sur solle (posts on sill) structure, the oldest known standing residence in the state, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in Named for its original owner, Pierre Martin, and one of its residents in the 19th century, Nicholas Boismenue, the house was saved from demolition in In this last decade, preservation and restoration efforts have been sporadic due to monetary complications, but recent years have witnessed a resurgence in interest and a proliferation of volunteer efforts in fund raising, research, and archaeological investigations. It now appears that the Martin/Boismenue House will be restored to its original design in the near future. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND The French settlements (Figure 1) located in the American Bottom floodplain of the Mississippi River Bonnie L. Gums Center for Archaeological Studies, HUMB 43, University of South Alabama, Mobile, Alabama William R. Iseminger Cahokia Mounds State Historic Park, P. 0. Box 681, Collinsville, Illinois included Cahokia (1699), Kaskaskia (1703), Fort de Chartres (ca. 1719), Prairie du Rocher (ca. 1721), and St. Philippe (ca. 1723). Across the Mississippi River in Missouri are the historic French settlements of Ste. Genevieve (ca. 1750) and St. Louis (1764). The site of the village of Prairie du Pont was initially occupied during the French Colonial period but did not gain village status until the period of the Revolutionary War. During the colonial period, the French population in this area of the Illinois Country never exceeded approximately 2,000 individuals. In 1763, with the defeat of the French by the British in the Seven Years War, many of the Illinois French fled across the Mississippi River to Spanish controlled territory, settling in Ste. Genevieve or the newly founded settlement of St. Louis. In October 1765, British troops arrived in the Illinois Country and peacefully occupied Fort de Chartres and Cahokia. In 1778, George Rogers Clark and his American troops occupied Kaskaskia and Cahokia, and Illinois French were drawn into the Revolutionary War. With the end of the American Revolution in 1783 and the Americanization of the region, the period of French domination was over. The remaining villages of Cahokia, Kaskaskia, and Prairie du Rocher survived both the British and American invasions and settled into a relatively peaceful way of life. The continuation of French cultural traditions as expressed in architecture, village and household patterns, and language prompted one observer to write in the 1840s:... the lapse of nearly two centuries has not entirely destroyed the original impress upon this people of the manners, customs and the language of Old France (Wild and Thomas 1841:103). 50 Ohio Valley Historical Archaeology 13(1998):50-60

2 .A..Pz~-Y t;f fl;~.rt?tracvifila-ges M,, ffi~ flliinois c OUN'.rn.Y, 11titf Birt f/ t./!tj River MifsifSippi &:c# o/ GJk~b?M ~ FIGURE 1. THE ILLINOIS COUNTRY IN THE 1760s (McDermott 1949). 51

3 Ohio Valley Historical Archaeoloay Volume The Village of Prairie du Pont. One of the earliest detailed descriptions and related mapping of the village at Cahokia was produced in by missionaries Mercier and Courier (Tucker 1942:Plate XXIII). This map identifies 15 dwellings surrounding the mission, the common fields east of the village, and a road from the :floodplain to the bluffs which led to Fort de Chartres. This map illustrates a bridge over Riviere du Pont connecting with the road to Falling Springs. The vast prairie south of this bridge had been known as Prairie du Pont for several decades before the establishment of the French village of the same name. The date of the first settlement of the village of Prairie du Pont is unknown. However, its location between Cahokia and Falling Springs and on Prairie du Pont Creek appears to have been an excellent choice for settlement. By 1754, the Mission of St. Sulpice of Cahokia owned property along Prairie du Pont Creek and had built a water mill (Brink, McDonough, and Co. 1881:47). In 1764, Antoine Girardin of Cahokia purchased the mission property and farmed the land (McDermott 1949:44-45). Sixteen years later, in 1780, a petition was filed in the Cahokia court claiming that Girardin had "no right to form a village and to concede lands" that had been reserved for Cahokia inhabitants (Alvord 1907:88-89). It was in the year 1783 that Prairie du Pont officially became a separate village yet under the jurisdiction of the court at Cahokia. Cahokia inhabitants lost this claim against Girardin and in 1783 an ordinance was issued describing the limits of Prairie du Pont and the allotment of common fields (Alvord 1907: 153, ). The first census of the village of Prairie du Pont in 1791 recorded 27 heads of families, six widows, and 17 unmarried men (Carter 1934:2: ). Most of the names in this census were of French families from the village of Cahokia. The 1834 American State Papers (Lowrie and Franklin 1834: ) list 21 village lots owned by 10 individuals in Prairie du Pont. THE FRENCH COLONIAL LANDSCAPE The two earliest villages, Cahokia (1699) and Kaskaskia (1703), were initially settled as mission sites at villages of the Illini Indians which were established in the late 1600s. Furthermore, the location of Fort de Chartres (1719) may have precipitated by the locations of several Michigamea Illini villages. The village at Cahokia was situated on an active channel of the Mississippi River near the southern end of the broadest expanse of the American Bottom floodplain. The island formed by this channel was heavily wooded shielding the village from view by travelers on the Mississippi River (McDermott 1949:75). The other French villages and forts were situated approximately 64 km (40 miles) south of Cahokia within the narrow expanse of the floodplain. Kaskaskia was established on the Kaskaskia River a short distance upstream from the confluence of the Mississippi and this location, like that of Cahokia, protected the village from view on the Mississippi. A small wooden fort was built on the bluffs overlooking the village of Kaskaskia in The locations of Cahokia and Kaskaskia on large creeks or rivers allowed water travel directly to the villages. The reason for the exact choice for the location of Fort de Chartres in 1719 has not been identified in the historical documents. However, several factors may have influenced this location: 1) the relative locations of the small settlement of Cahokia ca. 40 miles (64.4 km) to the north by land and the larger settlement of Kaskaskia ca. 17 miles (27.4 km) to the south; 2) the Kaskaskia-Cahokia Trail may have been established by this time and Fort de Chartres was built near the trail as it descended the bluffs into the :floodplain; 3) several villages of the Michigamea Indian were situated in the area; and 4) a large spring was located in the limestone bluffs approximately miles (4.4 km) from the fort. Two smaller villages, Prairie du Rocher (ca. 1721) and St. Philippe (ca. 1723), arose around Fort de Chartres probably because the fortress provided protection from hostile Indian groups, as well as providing a center for social, religious, and trading activities. The original settlement of Ste. Genevieve was located on the edge of the Mississippi River and was situated in the exiensive lead and salt mining district of Missouri. The Mississippi River served as the major transportation route between the villages as well as long distance travel. By the third decade of the 18th century, a ca. 50 mile (80.5 km) upland trail had been established from Cahokia in the north to Kaskaskia in the south. By the end of the 18th century, a floodplain trail connecting the French settlements was established along the base of the bluffs. The Village Plan. When the British occupied this portion of the Illinois Country they recorded the French populations, wrote descriptions and drafted maps of the various French settlements. Two village plan maps, one of Cahokia (Figure 2) by Thomas Hutchins and one of Kaskaskia (Figure 3) by Philip Pittman, provide detail concerning the evolution of the 18ttt century French village (Peterson 1949: ; Pittman 1770). The typical village was arranged on a rectilinear pattern, generally with the church as the central focus of this arrangement. 52

4 FIGURE 2. VILLAGE OF CAHOKIA IN 1766 (Peterson 1949:200). FIGURE J _ VILLAGE AND FORT AT KASKASKIA (Pittmlln 1770). 53

5 Ohio Valley Historical Archaeology This congregated community plan was necessary not only for social and religious interaction but also for protection against various elements of the frontier wilderness and from hostile Indian groups. Surrounding each French settlement were areas designated for use as commons and common fields. The common fields were long narrow tracts (usually one arpent in width) and each tract extended perpendicular to the river or creek edge to the base of the bluffs. Many of the common field tracts are still apparent on the landscape. The common field tracts for the village of Cahokia served as the basis for the street system for the 1817 settlement of Illinoistown (later East St. Louis). When southwestern Illinois was officially surveyed by the Government Land Office (GLO) in the first decade of the 19th century, the French Colonial common field tracts were not surveyed into the section system, but were maintained. A glimpse into the details of the French Colonial village pattern can be gleaned from the work focusing on the village of Cahokia conducted by the WPA in the late 1930s. Researchers of the WPA Cahokia Memorial Survey provided a reconstruction of the village at Cahokia as it appeared from This map was compiled using land titles and property descriptions from Deed Books B-F. Village lot owners were identified and, when property descriptions were available, structures and other features Volume within each lot were illustrated. The reconstructed WPA map shows great detail as to the visual appearance of the village lots, illustrating palisaded lots containing domestic structures, orchards, garden plots, wells, cisterns, and numerous outbuildings including barns (grange), stables (etable), sheds (engard), hen houses (poulailler), milk houses (laiterie), outside kitchens (cuisine), storehouses (magasin), and slave quarters (cabane a negris) (McDermott 1941). FRENCH COLONIAL ARCHITECTURE IN THE ILLINOIS COUNTRY French Colonial houses (Figure 4) were typically made of hand hewn logs of locally available wood such as mulberry, cedar, walnut, and oak. The limestone bluffs surrounding the American Bottom provided abundant building materials. Buildings were vertical log structures predominantly of poteaux en terre (post in the ground) or ooteaux sur solle (posts on sill) styles, although in the later period stone buildings became more common. The gaps between the upright logs were filled in with bouzillage, a mixture of clay and prairie grass, or vierrotage, consisting of limestone mortar and rubble. In general, French Colonial homes were relatively small in size consisting of two or four rooms and had whitewashed exteriors and galleries on two or all four sides. In the early period, French houses probably had thatched roofs with wooden..,.:. FIGURE 4. FRENCH HOUSE IN THE ILLINOIS COUNTRY. 54

6 Ohio Valley Historical Archaeoloev shingles appearing later. Thatched roofs were probably also most common on support buildings. Beginning with the studies of Charles Peterson (1938; 1941; 1949; 1965) and more recent research (e.g. Edwards 1988; Oszuscik 1988; Porterfield 1969), French Colonial architecture of the Illinois Country has been characterized as a combination of Normandy and northern French Canadian influences as seen in the steeped hip roof and southern West Indian influences comprising the use of thatched roofs and full surrounding galleries. John Reynolds, who lived at Cahokia in the 1880s, describes French houses as:... generally one story high, and made of wood.... These houses were formed of large posts or timbers; the posts being three or four feet apart in many of them. In others the posts were closer together, and the intervals filled up with mortar, made of common clay and cut straw... over the whole wall, outside and inside it was generally whitewashed with fine white lime, so that these houses presented a clean, neat appearance... Some dwelling houses and the stables and barns were made of longer posts set in the ground, instead of a sill as used in other houses. These posts were of cedar or other durable wood. The small houses attached to the residences were generally set with posts in the ground. The covering of the houses, stables, &c., was generally of straw or long grass cut in the prairie. These thatched roofs looked well, and lasted longer than singles. They were made steep and neat. All the houses, almost, had galleries all around them. The posts of the gallery were generally of cedar or mulberry. The floors of the galleries, as well as the floors of the houses, were made of puncheons, as sawed boards were scarce... (Reynolds 1852:50-51). Many of these colonial style structures can be seen today in the Historic District of Ste. Genevieve and a few survive in Old Mines and Florissant, Missouri. The last French building in St. Louis was destroyed in 1875 (Peterson 1938). Few French Colonial structures presently remain on the Illinois side of the Mississippi River. In , WPA researchers of the Cahokia Memorial Survey recorded at least eight French colonial style homes still standing in the villages of Cahokia and Prairie du Pont; however, most of these structures have since disappeared (Boylan 1939:88). Recent archaeological investigations in Cahokia (Gums 1988; 1989), at the village site of Prairie du Rocher (Sa:firan 1987), and near Saline Springs south of Ste. Genevieve (Trimble et al. 1991) have uncovered the archaeological remains of poteaux en terre domestic dwellings of the French Colonial period. Volume FRENCH COLONIAL STRUCTURES IN THE VILLAGE OF CAHOKIA The Cahokia Courthouse. Thought to have been built ca. 1740, the restored structure known as the Cahokia Courthouse State Historic Site represents one of the :finest French Colonial structures in Illinois. Originally built as a residence, the Cahokia Courthouse served as St. Clair County's first courthouse, the seat of the territorial government in the Old Northwest from 1793 to Much of the WPA Cahokia Memorial Survey research centered on the courthouse and included archaeological investigations and archival research culminating in the restoration of the building in the late 1930s with Charles Peterson serving as one of the consulting architects (Maynard 1939). Church of the Holy Family. Another surviving French Colonial structure in the village of Cahokia is the vertical log Church of the Holy Family. This building, the third church to serve the village at Cahokia, was completed in 1799 and restored in 1949 again with the contributions of Charles Peterson. French Colonial Structures in the Village of Prairie du Pont. Only two structures of French Colonial style are known to exist in the village of Prairie du Pont; the Pierre Martin/Nicholas Boismenue House and the LaCroix House. WPA researchers photographed, mapped, and recorded a few other structures standing in the late 1930s; however, these have since been destroyed. These historic structures included the LePage House and the Chatillion House. PIERRE MARTIN/NICHOLAS BOISMENUE HOUSE It was not until 1980, when the Martin/Boismenue House was destined for demolition, that it became evident that the building was of vertical log construction. When workmen began to strip off the modern siding from the front of the structure, the distinctive vertical log timbers of the original building were exposed (Figure 5). Within 24 hours, a local group of citizens was organized with the intention of saving the structure for its historical significance. This group formed the Prairie du Pont Preservation Society and purchased the house with a bank loan. The Martin/Boismenue House is located a short distance from Prairie du Pont Creek and along the main street through the village. It was built in ca of poteaux sur solle (posts on sill) construction with channeled logs to hold filling of pierrotage chinking of mortar and rubble. Like the few other examples of French 55

7 FIGURE 5. THE MARTIN/BOISMENUE HOUSE AS IT LOOKED IN THE EARLY 1980s. THE SECOND STORY WAS ADDED IN Colonial style houses of built in the early American period, such as the Pierre Menard Home near Kaskaskia and the Creole House in Prairie du Rocher, the Martin/Boismenue House exhibits a transition from French to English or American construction style with certain building techniques, including the comer angle braces placed at 45 degree angles (Gums et al. 1991). The original building measures 6.6 m x 11.6 m (20 x 35 ft) and consisted of two large rooms separated by a receiving hall and a one room or half basement with a separate rear entrance. Limestone fireplaces were located at each end of the house including one in the half basement. The original house is approximately 80% intact. The hand hewn logs comprised walnut, elm, and oak. The original roof, limestone fireplaces on the main floor, and the front and rear galleries were dismantled at various periods during the house's occupation from ca to the late 1970s. The Pierre Martin Family. The Martin family was an old and large French Canadian family (Alvord 1907:627). Pierre Martin was born in La Rivenue Parish, Quebec, ca (Mack 1989:9). He had arrived in the Illinois Country and was living in the village of Cahokia by 1770, the year he married Marie St. Yves. Pierre at age 42 was listed in the 1787 census as the male head of a household living in Cahokia with two children (Alvord 1907:627). In the 1790 census, Pierre is listed as head of the household in the village of Prairie du Pont. He apparently acquired the property in this year as an improvement claim which require that he farm the land and built a house (Mack 1989:5). It is therefore assumed that the Martini Boismenue House was constructed in In 1794, his Prairie du Pont property is described as consisting of a house, barn lot, garden, and other small outbuildings (Mack 1989:5). In 1806, Pierre Martin put up the two lots with a house and barn in Prairie du Pont and two common field tracts as collateral for a loan to Jean Francois Perrey (Mack 1989:3-4). In the same year, his wife died, and his death at age 62 followed the next year. With Martin's debt unpaid, the probates indicate that Perrey was compensated out of the estate sale. The barn and lot were sold for $ and the house - described as "avec souterraint (finished basement) - were sold for $96.00, respectively, to Baptiste Gendron (Mack 1989:4). Throughout the early 19th century, several owners are indicated and during the late 19th century into the early zoth century it was owned by members of the Boismenue family (Mack 1989:6-7). The Boismenue 56

8 family of French Canadian descent appear in the records at Cahokia in the 18th century (Alvord 1907). Archaeological Investigations ( ). Archaeological excavations were conducted sporadically from (Figure 6). This project was primarily completed with the help of numerous volunteers. One of the principle objectives of these investigations was to identify any features that would give evidence regarding the location of porches or galleries across the front and around the side of the structure. Three squarish limestone slabs at locations appropriate for a gallery on the front of the house were identified These features were equidistant from the front of the house and two of these lined up with the comers of the house. The remaining limestone slabs appear to represent the bottommost course of a column of slabs used to support a raised gallery floor to the height of the top of the limestone house foundation or the sill. The upper courses were probably removed when the 1888 porch was built and any remaining ones would have been disturbed by subsequent construction activities. Tendons and peg holes in the comer timbers of the house front correspond to expected locations for railings on the gallery. The top of the gallery would have been covered by an extension of the original roof. The angle of the notches in the upper wall plates on top of the timbers seem to confirm such a roof extension. No limestone slabs or other features were identified on the east side of the house and the west side had been disturbed by driveways. Therefore, it is unlikely that this house was the type that had a full surrounding gallery. Rather it is postulated that there existed a gallery on the front and rear of the house. A smaller porch constructed of mortared limestone slab foundation and likely a board floor was built in 1888 and it is probable that the gallery was removed at that time. The principal objective of the archaeological investigation was achieved with the identification of a gallery on the front of the house as part of the original construction plan. This confirmed that the Martin/ Boismenue House was similar in appearance to other French Colonial houses. Archaeological Investigations (1990). More recent investigations (cf. Figure 6) at the Martin/Boismenue House were conducted in association with the emplacement of a pole barn over the structure for protection and in the rear of the house which will be impacted by structural stabilization and restoration activities. This work was funded by the Prairie du Pont Preservation Society through a grant from the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency. This project was also completed with the help of numerous volunteers. Similar to the investigations in the front of the house, the focus in the rear of the house was to locate evidence for a rear gallery. In addition, an attempt was made to locate support or outbuildings in the yard. The excavations in the rear of the house resulted in the identification of two limestone slabs which represent the remnants of a limestone pier for the rear gallery. The location of these slabs suggests that the rear gallery was wider that the gallery in the front of the house. Evidence for the remaining gallery piers appears to have been destroyed by the later additions to the house. Investigations in the yard surrounding the Martin/ Boismenue House comprised shovel and power auger tests at two meter interval to identify the soil profile, the depth of the cultural midden, and any anomalies below the midden which may represent features. Eight 2 meter units were excavated in the yard based on results of the testing program. These limited excavations identified numerous features, however, based on the collected materials most of these features do not appear to date to the early occupation of the house. The Feature 21 structural remains appear to be the most significant feature recorded during these investigations. This trench-like squarish feature measures ca x 4. 9 m (16.9 x 16.l ft) making it slightly less than half the size for the Martin/Boismenue House. These structural remains appear to represent a poteaux sur solle (posts on sill) building positioned directly behind the house at a distance of 3.5 m (11.5 ft). Excavation of this feature revealed an abundance of small limestone fragments and limestone mortar or dierrotage which probably represent the chinking remnants between the upright structural logs which filled in the trench when the building was dismantled. The limestone mortar is similar to that which remains in the standing structure. A limited number of artifacts recovered from this feature suggest that it does date to the early occupation while the absence of later debris suggests that the temporal duration of this structure was relatively short. The few materials recovered represent early 19th century ceramics types such as edge-decorated wares and a kaolin pipe fragment. The function of this structure has not been determined. The records concerning the property mention outbuildings but without any specific detail as to function and/or location. The close proximity of Feature 21 to the Martin/Boismenue House does provide a few possible interpretations. While the half basement with the limestone fireplace in the house was most likely utilized as a kitchen, this may have been only during the winter months and the 57

9 UNITS Martin I Boismenue House Martin I Boismenue House r l, v~ ~ ~ a. g Meters D N500 E UNITS.: tf "'ltr"'if~3;:;2j...f..ri-...!..-1,' : ' I ~'31 N508 N508 N508 E460 E482 E UNITS IN YARD D N502 E490 F261).;Jl ClJF27 N510 E494 n ~ N506 E498 FIGURE 6. MAP SHOWING AND 1990 EXCAVATIONS. Feature 21 structural remains may represent a summer kitchen. Other interpretations based on documents concerning the types of outbuildings found on house lots during the French Colonial period and the early 19th century woula include a smokehouse, slave quarters, or storage building An informant who lived in the Martin/Boismenue House during the 1920s-1930s provided other locations for two sheds, a cistern, a well, and a privy, but these areas have not yet been investigated. 58

10 Ohio Valley Historical Archaeology OTHER AREA FRENCH COLONIAL STRUCTURES The LaCroix House. The only other known French structure remaining in Prairie du Pont is the LaCroix House, located a few blocks from of the Martin/Boismenue House. This structure does not appear in the WPA research; however, this may be due to the extensive alterations of several additions and modem siding. This small, originally one room structure is built of poteaux sur solle construction with a Norman truss roof. This house probably also had one or more galleries, which have since been removed. The date of this structure is unknown and it has been owned by the LaCroix family for several decades. Volume field trip through Randolph County. This structure was built of poteaux sur solle construction in ca It was photographed and described as a: well-built house of walnut logs, French style, with the logs exposed at the front. one room of the interior is unfinished except for the whitewash. The house has its original handmade doors and hardware, and, we are inclined to believe, its original.. clapboards... The owner, Mr. Clarence Thomas, Modoc P.O., said it had been in his family for 100 years and estimated its age at 175 years (Cahokia Courthouse Archives). CONCLUDING REMARKS The LePage House. The WPA completed a detailed blueprint map and description of the LePage House. The construction date of this structure was established as ca (Boylan 1939:89). The St. Clair county History recorded that in 1881 it was the oldest structure in Prairie du Pont (Brink, McDonough and Company 1881 :296). The LePage House, although of French Colonial style, was made of horizontal walnut logs rather than upright logs. The original structure measured approximately 5.6 x 12.3 m (17 x 37 ft). The roof was made of wooden shingles and galleries were originally located in the front and the back of the structure. The front gallery had been removed and replaced with a modem portico and the back gallery had been enclosed and extended to form two additional rooms (Boylan 1939:88-89). The interior consisted of two rooms with stone :fireplaces located at opposite ends and a staircase leading to a large attic. The demolition of this house occurred in 1972 and presently the lot remains partially vacant. The Chatillion House. The Chatillion House was located on the main street a few lots north of the Martin/Boismenue House. This structure, like the LaPage House, was in the French Colonial style, but constructed of horizontal logs. It originally consisted of two rooms and measured 6 x 11.6 m (18 x 35 ft) (Boylan 1939:88). A gallery was present on the front and modem additions had been constructed on the back. It was photographed by the WPA survey in and reported to be in reasonably good condition; however, it has since been demolished (Boylan 1939:88). Two other French Colonial vertical log structures were documented in Prairie du Pont by the WPA survey, including the Mousette House and an unidentified structure; however, these were not recorded in detail and apparently are no longer in existence (Boylan 1939:89). French Colonial Hom1e near Root11, Illinoi!i. A French Colonial style house one mile from Roots, Illinois, was accidentally discovered by WPA researchers while on a The Martin/Boismenue House is an excellent example and one of the few remaining structures of French Colonial construction style. The WPA documentation of historic structures in provides a comparison of the historic resources present forty years ago with those that remain today. This research may also prove valuable for archaeological investigations in this area. The example of the Martin/Boismenue House, apparently unknown to the WPA researchers and only discovered to be a vertical log structure in 1980, further emphasizes a limited potential for other French Colonial houses to be discovered under modem guises. Preservation and restoration efforts beginning in the early 20th century with a surge of interest during the WPA years and ongoing today illustrates an enthusiastic interest on the part of the local citizens in their French heritage. REFERENCES CITED Alvord, Clarence W Cahokia Records Collections of the Illinois State Historical Library 2, Springfield. Boylan, Rose Josephine 1939 Report of the Cahokia Memorial Survey from August 1, 1938 to February 1, Cahokia Historical Society of St. Clair County in cooperation with the St. Clair County Board of Supervisors. Works Progress Administration through the Illinois State Museum Extension Project. Report on file at the Illinois State Historical Library, Springfield. Brink, McDonough, and Co History of St. Clair County, Illinois. Brink, McDonough and Co., Philadelphia. Cahokia Courthouse Archives n.d. Various documents and photographs relating to the Cahokia Memorial Survey of the Works Progress Administration. Carter, Clarence E The Territorial Papers of the United States 2. 59

11 United States Government Printing Office, Washington. Edwards, Jay D The Origins of the Louisiana Creole Cottage. In: French and Germans in the Mississippi Valley: Landscape and Cultural Traditions, (Michael Roark, editor), pp Center for Regional History and Cultural Heritage, Southeast Missouri State University, Cape Girardeau, Missouri. Gums, Bonnie L Archaeology at French Colonial Cahokia. Studies in Illinois Archaeology 3, Illinois Historic Preservation Agency, Springfield Excavations at the Holy Family School in Cahokia. Paper presented at the Conference on Illinois Archaeology, August 1989, Rock Island, Illinois. Gums, Bonnie L., William R. Iseminger, Molly E. McKenzie, and Dennis D. Nichols 1991 The French Colonial Villages of Cahokia and Prairie du Pont, Illinois. In: French Colonial Archaeology (John A Walthall, editor), pp University of Illinois Press, Urbana. Illinois State Archives n.d. Narrative Reports. Cahokia Memorial Survey of the Works Progress Administration (Illinois) and the Illinois State Museum Extension Pr~ject. Lowrie, Walter, and Walter S. Franklin (editors) 1834 American State Papers, Documents, Legislative and Executive of the Congress of the Third Session of the Thirteenth Congress: Commencing November 27, 1809 and Ending March 3, 1815, 29, Public Land Series 2. Gales and Seaton, Washington. Mack, Eric 1989 Background and History of the Pierre Martin House. Jack Luer and Associates, St. Louis. Ms. on file at the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency, Springfield. Maynard, Paul 1939 Archaeological Excavation at Cahokia Courthouse Site: June 26, 1939 to August 31, In: Report of the Cahokia Memorial Survey, pp Cahokia Courthouse Archives. McDermott, John F A Glossary of Mississippi Valley French Washington University Studies New Series, Language and Literature No. 12. St. Louis Cahokia and Its People. In: Old Cahokia (John F. McDermott, editor), pp St. Louis Historical Documents Foundation, St. Louis. Oszuscik, Philippe 1988 The French Creole Cottage and Its Caribbean Connection. In: French and Germans in the Mississippi Valley: Landscape and Cultural Traditions (Michael Roark, editor), pp Center for Regional History and Cultural Heritage, Southeast Missouri State University, Cape Girardeau, Missouri. Peterson, Charles E French Houses of the Illinois Country. Missouriana August-September: Early Ste. Genevieve and its Architecture. Missouri Historical Review 35(2): Notes on Old Cahokia. Journal of the Illinois Historical Society 42(1-3):7-30, , The Houses of French St. Louis. In: The French in the Mississippi Valley (John F. McDermott, editor), pp University of Illinois Press, Urbana. Pittman, Philip 1770 The Present State of the European Settlements on the Mississippi River. Facsimile edition (John McDermott, editor). Memphis State University Press, Memphis. Porterfield, Neil H Ste. Genevieve, Missouri. In: Frenchmen and French Ways in the Mississippi Valley (John F. McDermott, editor), pp University of Illinois Press, Urbana. Reynolds, John 1852 A Pioneer History of Illinois. N. A Randall, Belleville, Illinois. Safiran, Edward T Archaeological Investigations at the Louvier Site: Part of the Original Settlement of French Colonial_Prairie du Rocher. Ms. on file at the Midwestern Archaeological Research Center, Illinois State University, Normal. Trimble, Michael. K., Teresita Majewski, Gregory L. Fox, Michael O'Brien, and Anna L. Price 1991 Frontier Colonization of the Saline Creek Valley. In: French Colonial Archaeology (John A Walthall, editor), pp University of Illinois Press, Urbana. Tucker, Sara Jones 1942 Atlas oflndian Villages of the Illinois Country. Illinois State Museum Scientific Papers 2(1), Springfield. Wild, J. C., and Lewis Thomas 1841 The Valley of the Mississippi; Illustrated in a Series of Views. Chambers and Knapp, St. Louis. 60