County of Pike County
Location of courthouse: Washington St., courthouse lawn, Pittsfield
Location of county: Western border, central in state; crossroads of I-72, US-54, IL-104, IL-106 and IL-96, IL-100, IL-107
Founded: January 31, 1821
Named After: Zebulon Pike
Elevation: 880 ft (268 m)
Population: 14,618 (2021)
The Person:
Zebulon Montgomery Pike (January 5, 1779 – April 27, 1813) was an American brigadier general and explorer for whom Pikes Peak in Colorado was named. As a U.S. Army officer he led two expeditions under authority of President Thomas Jefferson through the Louisiana Purchase territory, first in 1805–1806 to reconnoiter the upper northern reaches of the Mississippi River, and then in 1806–1807 to explore the southwest to the fringes of the northern Spanish-colonial settlements of New Mexico and Texas. Pike's expeditions coincided with other Jeffersonian expeditions, including the Lewis and Clark Expedition and the Red River Expedition in 1806.
"Pike's second expedition crossed the Rocky Mountains into what is now southern Colorado, which led to his capture by the Spanish colonial authorities near Santa Fe, who sent Pike and his men to Chihuahua (present-day Mexico) for interrogation. Later in 1807, Pike and some of his men were escorted by the Spanish through Texas and released near American territory in Louisiana.
"In 1810, Pike published an account of his expeditions, a book so popular that it was translated into several languages for publication in Europe. He later achieved the rank of brigadier general in the American Army and served during the War of 1812, until he was killed during the Battle of York in April 1813, outside the British colonial capital of Upper Canada." ~ Wikipedia
The Place:
"The history of Pike county possesses features of unusual interest in comparison with those of other neighboring counties, especially those
in the Military Tract. Here the sturdy pioneer located and began to exert his civilizing influence long before other sections contained a
settler; and this is not only the oldest settled county of all north of its south line, but it was the first county organized in the Military Tract. Another fact worthy of note is, that it originally embraced all the country lying between the great Father of Waters and the placid Illinois, extending east to the Indiana line, and north to the Wisconsin line. Peoria, Rock Island, Galena and Chicago were originally little settlements of this then vast county." ~ history of Pike County
Up to 1600-Prehistoric and Aboriginal Inhabitants
Many prehistoric people lived in the Heartland area, as its location between the Mississippi and Illinois rivers provided all the essentials of life for Indians of the Stone Age. Mounds from both the Woodland (Hopewell) and Mississippian cultures dot the landscape, especially on the high bluffs.
"Sauk (Sac) and Fox Indians are believed to have lived in the area, and used it for hunting forays. However, when the first French explorers ventured into the Heartland region in the late 1600’s, few Indians lived in the area. They seem to have been largely eliminated by intertribal warfare, mainly between Illinois and Fox tribes.
1673 – French Colonial Era
"Father Jacques Marquette and Louis Jolliet were the first European explorers that we know of to see the regions near Heartland Lodge, as they traveled down the Mississippi in 1673, and returned north via the Illinois River, leaving “the Father of Waters” near the painting of the fierce Piasa Bird, a replica of which may still be seen on the river bluff near Alton.
1774 – George Rogers Clark & Revolutionary War Era
"The French and Indian War brought British control to what is now south Pike county and northern Calhoun county. In the ill-advised Quebec Act of 1774, the British Parliament actually made the current Heartland Lodge area a part of Canada. It may well have remained Canadian territory to this day but for the efforts of Revolutionary War patriot George Rogers Clark, who wrested much of the future states of Illinois, Indiana and Ohio from Britain’s George III.
1805 – Lewis and Clark & Zebulon Pike
"The Louisiana Purchase brought explorers past the South Pike region. Zebulon Pike, for whom both Pike County, Missouri and Pike County, Illinois are named, traveled up the Mississippi from St. Louis in 1805 in an effort to locate the source of “the Father of Waters.” Meriwether Lewis and William Clark began their famous expedition the previous year just 67 miles south, near present day Hartford, Ill.
1812-1813 – Territorial and Early State History
"The Illinois Territory was first part of the Northwest Territory of the new United States of America. Five states and part of a 6th were carved from the territory, and Illinois became the 21st state of the union on December 3rd, 1818. The present Heartland area had been designated by Congress as the Military Tract, land that was to be awarded to veterans of the War of 1812. Honorably discharged veterans of that conflict could receive 160 acres of land between the Illinois and Mississippi rivers.
1821-1833 – Pike & Calhoun County History
"In 1821 Heartland’s scenic acreage became part of Pike County. This included all of Illinois west of the Illinois River, which meant that it included land from the tip of modern day Calhoun County to the village of Chicago. (In 1822 Chicago was referred to as “a village in Pike county, containing 12 or 15 houses and about 60 or 70 inhabitants.”) The county seat was in Coles Grove, which is in present day Calhoun County. The county seat of Pike was located at Atlas from 1823 until 1833, when Pittsfield became the county seat.
"In 1825 Calhoun County was formed from the extreme southern portions of Pike County. The pro-slavery residents of “the Kingdom of Calhoun” changed the name of the county seat from Coles Grove (named after an abolitionist Governor of Illinois) to Gilead (a Biblical name)." ~ Heartland Lodge