Illinois - A confederacy of several Algonquian tribes, formerly living in Illinois, southern Wisconsin, and parts of Iowa and Missouri.  They were first visited by Père Marquette when he journeyed down the Mississippi River in 1673.

Their name was a combination of Indian and French - the Algonquian illini meaning "man," with the French termination ois.

It was one of their number, a Kaskaskia Indians, who murdered the great chief, Pontiac, in 1769, which caused the Great lake tribes to make war on them.  The Illinois were almost wiped out.

The Illinois gave their name to a state, and river in that state.  There are also rivers named Illinois in Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Oregon; an Illinois Bayou in Arkansas; Illinois Peak in Idaho and Montana; Illinois City and Illiopolis, Illinois.  There is a Kaskaskia River in Illinois and there are towns in Illinois, Arizona, and Mississippi named for the Peoria tribe of the Illinois.
 

 

Related Information within this Site
[ Kaskaskia ][ Pontiac ]