Growing up in St. Louis, Missouri, I knew Cahokia, Illinois, across the Mississippi, mainly as a race track. Yes, there were "the mounds", ancient Indian burial sites that were obscure in my mind, but may have been responsible for St. Louis' nickname "Mound City". The Arch has pretty much supplanted the mounds as a symbol of the city since the '60s.
In 1989, the state of Illinois built a beautiful Interpretive Center at the site, which is now a World Heritage site (on this excellent page, see what Cahokia looked like 1,000 years ago) — a fact that underscores the importance of this cultural treasure.
The Wikipedia article on Cahokia is also very informativeThe Illinois Historic Preservation Agency also maintains an official Cahokia Mounds website, which lists upcoming events at the site.
The pages that follow here are designed simply to share with you my beautiful 4th of July (2006) outing.
