Garrison Hill Cemetery, Ft. Kaskaskia State Park
Garrison Hill Cemetery, Ft. Kaskaskia State
Park
Garrison Hill Cemetery is the final resting place of many of Kaskaskia's earliest citizens. The bodies were relocated to this cemetery after the flood of 1881. Pierre Menard, First Lt. Governor of Illinois, is also buried here.
This picture is looking south, just at the edge of the Mississippi overlook shelter house. Those little white spots are all stones, some just a few yards away from the parking area. The area in the left of this picture is where the following picture was taken
The main concentration of graves start here, and as you can see, they flow widely down the hill. This is looking west. Just beyond the trees at the bottom of the hill, the land drops off several hundred feet, a part of the limestone bluffs. Below this hill, to the left of the cemetery is the Pierre Menard home, which is open to the public for viewing.
This sign at the edge of the cemetery shows
locations and platts of the town of Kaskaskia,
as it 'was'.
The inscription on a nearby marker reads:
Those who sleep here were first buried at
Kaskaskia and afterwards removed to this
cemetery. They were the pioneers of the great
Mississippi Valley. They planted free institutions
in the wilderness and were the founders of
a great commonwealth. In memory of their
services, Illinois gratefully erects this
monument.
§
While many might think having a "picnic"
in a cemetery is morbid, this is a beautiful
park, well maintained, with plenty of open
spaces and playgrounds for the children.
Just to the left of the cemetery is the grounds
where Fort Kaskaskia stood, with plenty of
signage telling what/where everything was.
