[175]. The Kankakee River, called by the French Theakiki. For these early routes of water travel, see Wisconsin Historical Collections, xvi, p. 372.—Ed.
[176]. The present Madison County in Illinois was explored about 1799, and called Goshen. The village of that name, about five miles south-west of Edwardsville, was begun in 1800.—Ed.
[177]. For the founding of Shawneetown, see Croghan’s Journals, volume i of our series, note 108.—Ed.
[178]. On these Indian tribes, consult Long’s Voyages, volume ii of our series, notes 85, 86.—Ed.
[179]. For the early history of Fort Massac, see A. Michaux’s Travels, volume iii of our series, note 139.—Ed.
[180]. The “Muscle Shoal” Rapids fall within northern Alabama. The improvement of the Tennessee at this point was long under discussion. In 1825 commissioners were appointed by the governors of Tennessee and Alabama to report thereupon; three years later a survey was made by order of the department of war, relative to removing obstructions in the channel. A canal around the rapids was begun (1829), but about that time railroads began to absorb the attention of the Southern states, and the War of Secession following, it has never been completed. The necessary improvements in the river channel have finally been made by the United States government.—Ed.
[181]. The diplomatic negotiations leading to the purchase of Florida were long and involved, and grew out of the attempt to fix the boundary between West-Florida and the United States. The treaty was signed in 1819, Spain ceding East and West-Florida and the United States paying five million dollars.—Ed.
[182]. In 1803, President Jefferson secured a small appropriation from Congress, which enabled him to carry out a long-cherished plan of sending an exploring party across the continent. May 14, 1804, the expedition of Lewis and Clark started up the Missouri River, reached the Pacific Ocean at the mouth of the Columbia, November 1, 1805; and returned to St. Louis, September, 1806. See Original Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition (Thwaites’s ed., New-York, 1904)—Ed.
[183]. For St. Louis, see A. Michaux’s Travels, note 138; for Ste. Genevieve, see Cuming’s Tour, note 174.—Ed.
[184]. On the founding of New Madrid, see Cuming’s Tour, note 185.—Ed.