IllinoisHorseSoldier's photostream

Wrought iron ornament hanging outside the main entrance of the Church of the Immaculate Conception.

This memorial consisting of the Virgin Mary and two angels is located just outside of the Church of the Immaculate Conception.

The handicap ramp outside of the Church of the Immaculate Conception had an iron railing with crosses in them. The verticle bars and their shadows made many smaller crosses and presented itself as a great image for black and white format.

The Kaskaskia Bell is older than the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia. Kaskaskia was the center of French colonial administration for the Middle Mississippi River Valley during the 18th century and the 650-pound bell was a gift to The Mission of the Immaculate Conception Catholic Church and the town's citizens from King Louis XV of France. The bell was cast in La Rochelle, France in 1741 and inscribed with the words: POUR LEGLISE DES ILLINOIS PAR LES SOINS DU ROI D’OUTRE L’EAU (For the Church of the Illinois, by gift of the King across the water). On one side of the bell are the royal lilies of France and the other side features a cross and a pedestal with the fleur de lis. The bell was shipped from France to New Orleans and then pulled up the Mississippi River by ropes on a bateau, arriving in 1743. On July 4, 1778, during the American Revolution, the bell was rung to celebrate the liberation of Kaskaskia from the British by the American forces of George Rogers Clark and his Long Knives.

The view from the highway "U" bridge between Kaskaskia, Illinois and Saint Marys, Missouri. This is looking west into Missouri, the channel is all that is left of the Mississippi River after it cut a new path during a flood.