The Curse of Kaskaskia
Ever since the finding and founding of Kaskaskia,
it had been mostly separated from the rest
of Illinois by the Kaskaskia river. Pierre
MENARD had his home built to overlook Kaskaskia,
as the view was magnificent.
In 1881 all of that changed. Again the mighty
Mississippi river flooded, covering the land
and claimed the channel of the Kaskaskia
river as its own. The land on which the village
stood became an island, separated from its
old avenues of trade. Many of the homes were
twisted on their foundations, and the cemeteries
gave up some of its dead.
When the flood waters finally receded, the
Mississippi river, which once was three miles
away, now was less than a mile distant.
The inhabitants partially believed this was
because of "The Curse", that it
was 'Real', and was extracting its vengeance.
This curse was placed on Kaskaskia by a young
Indian man named Ampakaya.
He had fallen in love with Marie Bernard,
the daughter of a Frenchman, and he professed
his love for her. It was common occurrence
for a French man to marry an Indian woman,
but for a French woman to marry an Indian
man was very rare.
The lovers ran off together, only to have
her father track them down. Her father then
bound the young man to a log and sent him
to his death in the river.
As Ampakaya floated down the river, he shouted
his curse:
"...May the filthy spot on which your
altars stand be destroyed, may your crops
be failures, your homes be dilapidated. May
your dead be disturbed in their graves and
your land become a feeding place for fishes!.."
His beloved was put in a convent, where according
to legend, she died.
The altars of Kaskaskia have been destroyed.
Over the years the crops have been failures
and despite the relocation of the village,
its homes have been repeatedly destroyed.
The dead were disturbed and removed to Garrison
Cemetery, on the bluff overlooking the site
of the old city, and the place where the
village of Kaskaskia once stood, is now a
feeding place for fishes, its last building
of the old town, being washed into the river
in 1893.
