Hello from Central Illinois

David_Lottes · Post by **David_Lottes** » Mon October 22nd, 2012, 4:04 pm

My name is David and I live on the Salt Fork of the Vermilion River in East Central Illinois.

The Vermilion River is so named for a reddish clay that was used as a pigment by Native Americans in the area. They would gather this clay from along the river banks and paint themselves with it, both decoratively and as a form of sunblock and insect repellent. The Salt Fork is a saline branch of the river where these same indigenous people extracted salt from the water through a process of boiling and evaporation. The saline quality of the water was due to its course running over a natural deposit of salt.

The Salt Fork joins the Vermillion near Danville Illinois and runs southeast to the Wabash River in Indiana. The Wabash runs south past Terre Haute and Vincennes Indiana to the Ohio which flows west to the Mississippi and eventually empties into the Gulf of Mexico at New Orleans. From the Salt Fork to New Orleans the water passes through some of the finest deciduous hardwood forests and richest agricultural bottom lands in the world.

I grew up about 100 miles from here along the Tippecanoe River which also feeds into the Wabash near Lafayette Indiana. I have spent most of my life in the Wabash River watershed. The European settlement of this entire area was initiated by the French in the last half of the 17th century. Governors of Louisiana and Canada divided dominion over the area.

I am a student of this early colonial period. My father was a history teacher and my mother's family settled in the area prior to the War of 1812. I have written a novel and a follow-up short story on the subject. I am very interested in learning and sharing everything I can about life in the Wabash valley from per-historic times to around the mid-nineteenth century when the indigenous people were, for the most part, removed from the area.

I enjoy all historic discussion and discovery but I am most interested in events prior to the 1840s. Here to share with and learn from everyone.

Shaddix1980 · Post by **Shaddix1980** » Mon October 22nd, 2012, 4:27 pm

Welcome to the group.

fljustice · Post by **fljustice** » Mon October 22nd, 2012, 7:09 pm

Hi, David and welcome to the forum. Lots of interesting people and discussions here. My family (both sides) were pioneers in the in the Ohio region and I've been working on a set of interrelated stories based on family tales. Also grew up near a natural salt lick. My elementary school was Saltcreek. Best of luck with your book and stories!

Madeleine · Post by **Madeleine** » Mon October 22nd, 2012, 7:18 pm

Hi David and welcome, have fun here!

Misfit · Post by **Misfit** » Mon October 22nd, 2012, 10:03 pm

Hi David, welcome aboard.

MLE (Emily Cotton) · Post by **MLE (Emily Cotton)** » Tue October 23rd, 2012, 3:46 am

Hi David. What was your first historical fiction read? (YA to adult, so as to leave out Farmer Boy and the other Laura Ingalls Wilder books.)

sweetpotatoboy · Post by **sweetpotatoboy** » Tue October 23rd, 2012, 6:45 am

Welcome to the forum, David.

Vanessa · Post by **Vanessa** » Tue October 23rd, 2012, 8:13 am

Welcome, David! I hope you enjoy it here.

wendy · Post by **wendy** » Tue October 23rd, 2012, 2:00 pm

Nice to meet you David. Welcome aboard!

David_Lottes · Post by **David_Lottes** » Tue October 23rd, 2012, 4:09 pm

Thanks for the warm welcome!

MLE, the first Adult Historical fiction I read that really left an impression on me was E.L. Doctorow's Ragtime.

It opened my eyes to era of American History that I had very little knowledge of prior to reading the book. For anyone who hasn't read the story I would recommend it.

Thanks for asking, I hadn't thought about that book in a long time.