The Curse of Kaskaskia

*Due to unforseen circumtsances, I will not be posting here tomorrow, Saturday the 26th. Today, I give you a longer post to make up for that. Please, enjoy.*

Kaskaskia was the first capital of the state of Illinois. There is a legend of a curse being placed on the village around 1735. At this time, the village was a thriving community of French settlers. One of the village's inhabitants was a fur trader by the name of Bernard. He lived there with his daughter Maria.

Bernard own a trading post and hired both French and Indian employees. Though not particularly happy with the Indians, Bernard hired them because he needed the help. One of the Indians had been educated by French missionaries, a trait that the fur trader Bernard found endearing. Bernard began to take a liking to the young Indian until he found out that his daughter had as well.

The Indian was quickly fired and Bernard arranged that he could not be hired anywhere in town. The Indian eventually fled Kaskaskia, but vowed to return for Maria. He did, and the two ran off together. Bernard formed a posse and pursued the pair. Once they caught up to then, the Indian was tied to a log and set adrift on the Mississippi River.

Before he died, the Indian swore that within a year, Bernard would be dead and he and Maria would be together forever. The village of Kaskaskia was doomed to be destroyed. The altars in the churches would be demolished and the dead would be turned from their graves.

A year later, Maria died of grief and Bernard became involved in a business deal gone so bad that the other man challenged him to a duel. Bernard was shot and killed by the other man. The river channels shifted and continually flooded the peninsula until 1881 when Kaskaskia was finally cut off from the mainland. People began slowly to leave the island. The church was destroyed in a flood in 1973. One of the floods washed away the cemetery, unearthing the bodies buried there then washing them away.

Kaskaskia still exist today, barely. As of the 2000 census the population of the small town was 9. Seven women and 2 men.

Source:
http://www.prairieghosts.com/kaskaskia.html - The Curse of Kaskaskia - Illinois' Lost Capital
http://factfinder.census.gov/home/saff/main.html?_lang=en - 2000 Census FactFinder sheet for Kaskaskia