FORGOTTEN Liberty Bell of the West in Kaskaskia Illinois - First Capital of Illinois

The first capital of the state of Illinois is steeped in history. The town of Kaskaskia was formed in 1703 by Catholic missionaries to the Native Peoples of North America. Consisting of French Fur Traders and Indigenous People, this town was settled on the former course of the Kaskaskia River, which sheltered the inhabitants from the more powerful flow of the Mississippi River. In 1741, King Louis XV commissioned a bell for the catholic church located in Kaskaskia. After two years it finally arrived in the town. The Church of the Immaculate Conception has went through many transitions in architecture from wooden to stone back to wooden then to brick. Kaskaskia has been originally under the rule of France. In 1768 under the terms of the Treaty of Paris, the area east of the Mississippi River was transferred to Britain. In 1776, the colonists of the British in North American declared a desire to be their own nation, by presenting the Declaration of Independence. The Revolutionary War would drag on for eight years. It was in 1778, that Colonel George Rogers Clark of the Virginia Militia would take the town of Kaskaskia on the night of July 4, 1778. It is claimed on that night that the french church bell was rung in celebration, thus leading to the bell's name today - The Liberty Bell of the West. Timestamps: 0:00 Intro 0:40 Kaskakia Island 1:10 Kaskaskia Bell State Memorial 1:35 Bell Origins in France 2:48 History of the Church of the Immaculate Conception 3:38 1768 and the British 4:31 George Rogers Clark and the Revolutionary War 5:54 Conclusion and Questions