Spanish authorities in colonial St. Louis referred to their western holdings as the District of Illinois, mirroring a broader French colonial term whose key village of Prairie du Rocher, Illinois, sat on the east bank of the Mississippi. Which colonial region is being described?

Question

Accepted Answer

Illinois Country. The Illinois Country ('Pays des Illinois') was the heart of French Louisiana in the mid-Mississippi valley from the late 1600s. It included Prairie du Rocher, Kaskaskia and later, on the Spanish-controlled west bank, St. Louis.