From the arrival of Marquette and Jolliet in 1673 to the emergence of
the prairie poets---Edgar Lee Masters, Carl Sandburg, and Vachel Lindsay---in
the twentieth century, James Gray traces the saga of the Illinois River
and the people of central Illinois. In vivid prose he depicts such famous
figures as the French explorer Sieur de La Salle, circuit rider Peter
Cartwright, abolitionist Elijah P. Lovejoy, and political leader...