Illinois' 200th!!!!!-- Part 1: The Illinois Territory During War of 1812

I'll be taking a few days' break to write about the bicentennial of Illinois becoming a state in 1818.

From Wikipedia.

During the War of 1812, the Illinois Territory was the scene of fighting between American settlers and soldiers and Indians.  At the time, the Illinois Territory consisted of modern Illinois and parts of Minnesota and Michigan.

Tensions between Americans and Indians had been increasing in the years before the war.  Present-day Peoria was the site of a major Indian concentration and the chief there was a big supporter of Shawnee Prophet Tenskwatawa and his brother Tecumseh.

There were few U.S. soldiers in the area which was the far frontier at the time.  Ninian Edwards, Illinois Territorial governor directed militia operations.

--Brock-Perry