.

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

.

Dr Carl Ekberg is recognized by the Ambassador from France for his research on the French in North America. Click on Photo to Enlarge. Hit Backspace to come back here.

        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.

dr carl ekberg st louis rising radio show

————————————————————–

.

.

.

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

 

 .

 

DSC_0307 DSC_0308 DSC_0309 DSC_0310 DSC_0311 DSC_0312 DSC_0313 DSC_0314 medal 2 medal 4 medal 5 medal 6 medal 7 medal 8 medal 10 largest

 

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:

 

DSC_0287 DSC_0292 DSC_0343 DSC_0345 DSC_0347 DSC_0348 DSC_0349 DSC_0350 medal 1