George Rogers Clark Campsite (2nd)
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CITY:
Goreville
COUNTY:
Johnson
DEDICATED BY:
Bowman’s Company, Illinois Humanities Council, and Illinois State Historical Society
DEDICATION DATE:
July 3, 2003 at 5:00:00 AM
The marker is located on the west side of IL 37 below Goreville and just south of the entrance to Ferne Cliff State Park.
This marker commemorates the July 1, 1778, campsite for Lt. Col. Clark’s troop of 170 volunteers. At the time, the site had a nearby spring and was north of a place called Buffalo Gap. The men were marching from Fort Massac to capture the British post at Kaskaskia. This attack and a later one at Vincennes, Indiana, prevented the British and their Indian allies from invading Kentucky. It also secured the Illinois Territory for the United States during the Revolutionary War.