Edited by James E. Palmer and Russell R. Dutcher - University of ...

STOP 1.STOP 2A.STOP 2B.STOP 3.STOP 4.STOP 5.STOP 6.Wednesday, May 3ome and the Illinois-Fluorspar District.Garden of the Gods Accessstop).Garden of the Godsoverview of Eagle Valtural history of ttional environmentsFormation.Pounds Hollow Recreation Area (lunchstop).Channel and sheet phases of the AnvilWock Sandstone Member-EagleMine.Shawneetown Fault Zone, north limEagle Valley Syncline.Will Scarlet Mine, Peabsdy Coal Company(optional stop).Overnight stop, Holiday inn, Carbondale.Welcome to Illinois!Mileage0.0 Assemble field trip vehicles in large parkinglot immediately to right (east) of ferry landing.Proceed north on lllinois Route 1. Seefigure I L-1 for a map of today's route.The portion of lllinois covered in thefield trip figured prominently in the early historyof the state. lllinois was admitted to theUnion on December 3, 1818. Previously, ithad been part of the Northwest Territory, acounty of Virginia, Indiana Territory, and thelllinois Territory. Its name is derived from aconfederacy of Indian tribes, the Ininiwek,meaning "the men" or "superior men." Thiswas modified to lliniwek and then to Illinoisby the French. The confederacy included sixtribes-Cahokia, Kaskaskia, Michigamea,Moingwena, Peoria, and Tamaroa. Four Illinoiscities, including the original state capital(Kaskaskia), derived their names from thesetribes. Several other place names in lllinoisreflect the influence of early French explorers:St. Libory, Beaucoup Creek, Prairiedu Rocher, Carondolet, Prairie du Lang Creek.French explorers traveled into the region fromtheir Canadian settlements. At the close of theFrench and l nd ian War, F ranee surrenderedthe area to Great Britain in 4763. The areawas ceded to the United States of America in'1 784 following the Revolutionary War.Early settlers came from the eastern seaboardand nearby states of Kentucky andTennessee to the fertile land of southern Illinois.Germans, English, Irish, and ColonialAmericans traveled down the Ohio River andentered the Illinois frontier through Shawneetown,bringing many of their eastern nameswith them.Enter village of Cave irr Wock, Illinois. Turnright (east). Note several rock and mineralshops. The Illinois-Kentucky Fluorspar Districthas yielded some of the largest and mostperfectly developed crystals of the mineralfluorite found anywhere in the world.Cave in Rock, Illinois, was settled late inthe 4 8th century as a pioneer river settlementand ferry crossing. Its name is derived fromthe cave located about .3 mile (0.5 km) upstream(east) of this location.This area of lllinois is referred to as"Egypt" or locally 'little Egypt." This namemay have been given because of the names ofsouthern l l l inois towns (Cairo, Karnak,Thebes, Dongola). A second possible explanationlies in an account sf late spring andearly fall frosts to the north, which shortenedthe growing season and forced people to comesouth for corn and wheat. Farmers driving thewagons said they were '"oing down to Egyptfor corn," as did the biblical sons of Jacob.T-intersection. Turn right (south) towardOhio River.Entrance to Cave-in- ock State Park. Numerousoutcrops of St. Louis Limestone of theValmeyeran Series (middle Mississippian) occurat park entrance and throughout park.Rock strata in the park dip about 3" NE.This park was established in 1929 and isone of many within the lllinois state parksystem. Trees within the park include catalpa,locust, shag hickory, oak, ash, sycamore,cypress, sugar maple, and elm. Abundant karsttopography has developed on limestone strataat and near Cave in Rock. Soil here is partlyloess derived.