Massacre 1769

Book excerpt: According to the Legend of Starved Rock, the last of the Illinois Indian tribe fled to the summit of the bluff where they were surrounded by the Potawatomi and Ottawa Indians. Unable to obtain food or water, Illinois men, women and children, were destroyed by starvation. Was this account a horrific historical event, or nothing more than fanciful fiction, based on fragments of many events, popularized by the creative pens of imaginative nineteenth-century writers? Massacre 1769: The Search for the Origin of the Legend of Starved Rock reviews the earliest and most influential accounts of the well-known legend, traces the history and culture of the Illinois Indian tribe from its earliest contact with Europeans, and closely examines the event of 1769, the murder of Ottawa war chief, Pontiac, at the hand of an Illinois warrior, the incident that, according to the legend, precipitated the destruction of the Illinois tribe at Starved Rock. With careful examination of archaeological excavations and surveys, at or around Starved Rock, and extensive study of the well-documented historical record, Massacre 1769, at last, brings clarity to this event, proving again, that history is even more enthralling than fiction. For both scholar and history enthusiast alike.