.
Compiled by Jim Moyer 2014, updated 3/17/2017, 3/11/2018
.
.
.
.
.
From the February 8, 2018
article in Quad-City Times
.
Asked to describe French involvement in early settlement of the United States, one might think of explorers Marquette and Joliet, the city of New Orleans and the Louisiana Purchase.
.
After that, not much.
.
This lack of knowledge makes the topic of this year’s Quad-Cities Henry Farnam Dinner on Friday, March 9, 2018, all the more surprising, because it’s likely few attendees know that the French were the first European settlers in Illinois and that they established colonies.
It’s likely fewer still have ever heard of Kaskaskia, a town located along the Mississippi River in extreme southern Illinois that was home to 7,000 people — French, Indians and French/Indian mix — in the late 1700s. That made it the largest and most important town not only in what now is Illinois, but in the entire Midwest.
.
By the 2010 Census, Kaskaskia had shrunk to 14 people, but its largely forgotten glory days have provided fertile research ground — and personal and professional amazement — for Carl J. Ekberg, Illinois State University history professor emeritus, who will be the Farnam dinner main speaker.
.
In addition to Kaskaskia and Ste. Genevieve (which Ekberg says has more French houses than New Orleans), the other major French settlement in the area was Fort de Chartres, now operated as an Illinois State Historic Site, near Prairie du Rocher, about an hour’s drive from St. Louis.
.
Between 1753-1772, the fort was the seat of French government in what was known as Upper Louisiana and its chief military installation. A stone fort has been reconstructed on the grounds, along with a restored building used to store gunpowder, believed to be the oldest building in the entire state.
.
See Dr Carl Ekberg’s book:
https://www.press.uillinois.edu/books/catalog/53tkw6ps9780252038976.html
.
.
Previous Events
.
.
.
Sunday March 19, 2017
Museum of the Shenandoah Valley
2pm to 430pm
Refreshments Served
Free and Open to the Public
The following 3 authors will be there:
.
Dr. Carl Ekberg
.
will give a talk at 3:00pm
“Thomas Jefferson in Paris, his Likes and Dislikes.”
.
.
Click on: About the author.
.
.
.
.
PICTURES OF DR CARL EKBERG’S TALK ON
THOMAS JEFFERSON IN PARIS, HIS LIKES AND DISLIKES
.
See Pictures from the Sunday 19 March 2017 event at Museum of Shenandoah Valley. Look below for further detail on event.
.
.
.
.
.
BELOW ARE THE OTHER TWO AUTHORS
PRESENTING THEIR BOOKS AT THIS EVENT
WITH DR CARL EKBERG’S TALK
.
.
.
July 8, 2014,
Dr Carl Ekberg
board member
of the F&I War Foundation
was awarded
La Medaille d’Or du Merite Francophone
by the French Ambassador, Francois Delattre
.
Below is a video of the event.
.
Click on: Dr Carl Ekberg has written the following books
Click on: video of event
To recap:
Tues. July 8th, 2014
Dr. Carl Ekberg (serving on the board of the F&I War Foundation) was awarded a gold medal of merit (La Medaille d’Or du Merite Francophone) in recognition of his devotion to developing cultural ties between the United States and France. Carl was nominated for this prestigious honor by La Renaissance Francoise – USA.
This award was presented by His Excellency Francois Delattre , the French Ambassador to the U.S., at the French Ambassador’s residence in Washington D.C.
.
Carl graciously accepted along with 5 other recipients of gold medals for their accomplishments in other areas. Many of the French and Indian War Board members from Winchester were present to support their fellow board member.
,
Carl has been decorated with the Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Palmes Academiques. He has written several books on French Colonial History in America which bring to life that French Universe of the Pays de Illinois, the colonial settlements of the middle Mississippi River valley.
.
.
.
St Louis Rising book
Thursday April 30, 2015
Dr Carl Ekberg , Board member of the French and Indian War Foundation, and Sharon Person, authors of “St. Louis Rising: The French Regime of Louis St. Ange De Bellerive,” stopped by
St. Louis on the Air, hosted by Don Marsh, to provide historical insight, challenging the often told story
about the discovery of St. Louis.
————————————————————–
.
.
.
Published Works
-
The Failure of Louis XIV’s Dutch War, 1979
.
-
A Cultural, Geographical, and Historical Study of the Pine Ford Lake Project Area, Washington, Jefferson, Franklin and St, Francois Counties, Missouri, 1981 – written with Edward P. Jelks and Joan I. Unsicker
-
.
-
LaSalle and his Legacy: Fenchmen and Indians in the Lower Mississippi Valley, 1982
-
.
-
Colonial Ste. Genevieve, French Roots in the Illinois Country, Patrice Press, 1985 – reprinted 2014
-
.
-
Excavations at the Laurens Site: probable location of Ford De Chartres, 1989 – written with Edward B. Jelks and Terrance J. Martin
-
.
-
The Legacy: A Survey of the Historical Architecture of the Town of Normal, 1998 – written with Ann Patton Malone and William D. Walters
-
.
-
French Roots in the Illinois Country: The Mississippi Frontier in Colonial Times, University of Illinois Press, 1998
-
.
-
Francois Valle and His World: Upper Louisiana Before Lewis and Clark, University of Missouri Press, 2002
-
.
-
Louis Bolduc: His Family and His House, 2002 – written with Anton J. Pregaldin
-
.
-
Code Noir: The Colonial Slave Laws of French Mid-America, 2005 – written with Grady Kilman and Pierre Lebeau
-
.
-
Stealing Indian Women: Native Slavery in the Illinois Country, University of Illinois Press, 2007
-
.
-
A French Aristocrat in the American West: The Shattered Dreams of De Lassus De Luzières, University of Missouri, 2010
-
.
-
The Failure of Louis XIV’s Dutch War, University of North Carolina Press, 2011
-
.
-
St. Louis Rising: The French Regime of Lois St. Ange de Bellerive, University of Illinois Press, 2015 – written with Sharon K. Person
-
.
.
.
.
.
.
MORE PHOTOS OF
awards given at the French Embassy.
.
July 8, 2014, Dr Carl Ekberg (board member of the F&I War Foundation) was awarded La Medaille d’Or du Merite Francophone by the French Ambassador, Francois Delattre
.
French and Indian War Foundation Board Members came to the French Ambassador’s residence to see the ceremony of award Dr Carl Ekberg this medal:
