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George Rogers Clark Campsite (3rd)

CITY:

Carbondale

COUNTY:

Jackson

DEDICATED BY:

Bowman’s Company, Illinois Humanities Council and Illinois State Historical Society

DEDICATION DATE:

July 2, 2003 at 5:00:00 AM

The marker is located on the west side of the Carbondale Airport Road, one-half mile north of IL 13.

Lt. Col. Clark and his troop of 170 Virginians camped near here on July 2, 1778. It was their third campsite during a march from Fort Massac to Kaskaskia to capture that post from the British. Earlier that day, the troop was lost for a time on Phelp’s Prairie. The next day, they would cross the Big Muddy River at Marshall’s Ford. The Kaskaskia attack and a later one at Vincennes, Indiana, secured the Illinois Territory for the United States during the Revolutionary War.

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