Illinois Confederation at Cahokia

The Illinois Confederation (Illiniwek) — Kaskaskia, Cahokia, Peoria, Michigamea, Tamaroa, and others — lived in that country; the National Park Service says only that many leaders at the council accepted the white belt of peace, while many tribes kept their British alliances. Kaskaskia leader Jean-Baptiste Ducoigne later signed the 1803 treaty made at Vincennes, in which the Kaskaskia tribe, described there as the remains of the Kaskaskia, Mitchigamia, Cahokia and Tamaroi, ceded its Illinois lands to the United States.

Clark’s aim was to weaken British leverage over Lieutenant Governor Henry Hamilton’s Indian allies and to blunt the British-funded raids on western settlers, Kentucky’s stations among them.

This is regional context for Kentucky. No source places Illinois towns in Kentucky; Swanton's 1953 handbook says only that hunting bands of Illinois at times visited the state. The story's Kentucky tie is George Rogers Clark's 1778 campaign.