LIKE THE MIGHTY MISSISSIPPI RIVER AT ITS FEET, THIS TOWN HAS CHARTED ITS OWN COURSE THROUGH
HISTORY.
HERE THE STREETS STILL WHISPER
OF HEROIC DEEDS IN AN AREA WHERE
LEGENDS HAVE TINGLED
IMAGINATIONS FOR CENTURIES.
HELLO.
I AM JIM WILHELM.
TODAY THE HOMES BUILT BY THE
CAPTAINS OF RIVER BOATS AND
INDUSTRY STILL LINE THE BLUFFS
OF ALTON.
LONG BEFORE THESE WERE HERE,
THESE WERE HOMES FOR PEOPLE WHO
LEFT BEHIND A LEGEND OF A
DIFFERENT SORT.
ONCE THE BLUFFS THAT LINED THE RIVER WERE POPULATED BY THE ILLINI INDIAN.
THE MANY LEGENDS HANDED DOWN THE
MOST PROFOUND TOLD IS TOLD OF A
MONSTER BIRD, A STORY WHICH
INSPIRED TRIBES MEMBERS TO PAINT
RENDITION OF THE CREATURE ON
ROCKS ABOVE THE RIVER.
IT WAS SUCH A STARTLING IMAGE
THAT THE FRENCH EXPLORER PIERRE
MARQUETTE INCLUDED A DESCRIPTION
OF IT IN HIS JOURNAL OF 1673.
HE SAID IT HAD HORNS LIKE A
DEER, RED EYES, BEARD LIKE A
LION, THE FACE OF A MAN, AND THE
BODY COVERED WITH SCALES.
THE NATIVES CALLED IT THE PIASA,
WHICH MEANS THE BIRD THAT
DEVOURS MEN.
FROM MARQUETTE'S DESCRIPTION,
VOLUNTEERS HAVE RECREATED THE
IMAGE OF THE DRAGON LIKE BIRD.
INTERESTINGLY, THIS IS THE ONLY
PLACE IN THE WORLD WHERE PIASA
WAS EVER REPORTED WHICH LEADS
SOME SCHOLARS TO DOUBT THE
JOURNAL ENTRY AND THE PAINTINGS'
EXISTENCE.
TODAY THIS AREA IS BEING
CONVERTED INTO A PARK, AND
EVENTUALLY THERE WILL BE SIGNS
WHICH TELL THE STORY OF THE
ILLINI AND THE PIASA LEGEND.
THIS IS ALSO THE BEGINNING OF A
PICTURESQUE BIKE TRAIL WHICH
LEADS ALONG THE FOOT OF THE
BLUFFS TO THE TOWN OF GRAPHTON.
>> WE MOVE NOW FROM A LEGEND TO
A HERO.
ACROSS TOWN, STANDS THIS
MEMORIAL WHICH MARKS THE FINAL
RESTING PLACE OF A LOCAL
NEWSPAPER EDITOR AND MINISTER.
IT CAN ALSO BE SAID THAT THIS
MARKS THE BEGINNING OF THE
VIOLENCE THAT WOULD RIP OUR
NATION APART.
THE REVEREND ELIJAH LOVEJOY USED
HIS PRESS AND PULPIT VERY WELL
IN HIS CRUSADE AGAINST SLAVERY.
SO WELL, IN FACT, HE WAS DRIVEN
OUT OF THE PRO SLAVERY STATE OF
MISSOURI, ACROSS THE RIVER INTO
ILLINOIS.
THREE OF HIS PRESSES WERE
DESTROYED.
HE WAS DETERMINED NOT TO LET IT
HAPPEN AGAIN.
ON NOVEMBER 7, 1837, A MOB
ASALED HIS PRINT SHOP.
DURING THE CONFRONTATION,
LOVEJOY WAS SHOT FIVE TIMES, AND
HIS LAST PRESS WAS SUNK IN THE
MISSISSIPPI RIVER.
PROTESTS MEETINGS FLARED UP IN THE NORTH, EMOTIONS SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS INTO THE OPEN.
LOVEJOY'S BROTHER, KNEELING AT
THE BODY, SWORE TO CONTINUE THE
FIGHT, AND HE DID.
YEARS LATER, AS CONGRESSMAN,
OLIN LOVEJOY WAS CHOSEN TO
SUBMIT THE EMANCIPATION
PROCLAMATION TO LINCOLN FOR HIS
SIGNATURE.
DUE TO FEARS OF GRAVE ROBBERY,
LOVEJOY'S BODY WAS HIDDEN UNTIL
THIS MEMORIAL WAS BUILT 32 YEARS
AFTER THE CIVIL WAR.
TODAY, AS QUIET DEMEANOR STANDS
IN STARK CONTRAST TO THE
VIOLENCE AND EXPLOSIVE ANGER IN
WHICH IT WAS BORN.
THIS IS ONE OF THE TOWN'S OLDEST CEMETERIES, AND IT REMINDS ME OF MOTHER LEGEND TSMS RUMORED THE
FAMOUS PIRATE, JACQUES LE FEET
IS BARED SOMEWHERE IN THE AREA.
>> WE ARE TOLD THAT WITH HIS
LOUISIANA CONTACTS AND HIS
ABILITY TO SPEAK TWO LANGUAGES,
HE SET UP A FUR COMPANY DEALING
WITH THE FRENCH TRAPPERS IN THIS
REGION.
LEGEND HAS IT THAT ON A VISIT
HERE, HE CONTRACTED PNEUMONIA
AND DIED.
ONE THING THAT IS NOT A LEGEND IS THE OLD JAIL. ALTON WAS THE SITE OF ILLINOIS'
FIRST PENITENTIARY.
ERECTED IN 1830 IT CON CONSISTS
OF 256 CELLS SURROUNDING A
COURTYARD WHERE PRISONERS
SENTENCED TO HARD LABOR MADE
LIMESTONE STEPS AND HITCHING
POSTS.
DUE TO POOR SANITARY CONDITIONS
AND PUBLIC PRESSURE, IT WAS
CLOSED IN 1857.
BUT THE CIVIL WAR CREATED THE
NEED FOR MORE PRISONER OF WAR
CAMPS, SO THE PRISON WAS
REOPENED. TODAY ALL THAT
REMAINS OF THAT COMPLEX IS THIS
SMALL CORNER.
IT WAS A DEVIL ISH CONFINEMENT,
CELLS THAT MEASURED FOUR BY
SEVEN FEET HELD SIX MEN WITH
TRIPLE BUNKS CROWDING THE
HALLWAYS.
FUNK FA SILL TILL WAS DESIGN
TODAY HOUSE 1500 INMATES.
WAR PRISONER OF WAR POPULATION
WAS MAINTAINED AT 5,000.
>> DISEASES, INCLUDING THE
DEADLY SMALLPOX AND RUBELLA WERE
EPIDEMIC.
AT ITS HEIGHT, IT IS ESTIMATED
EIGHT MEN PER DAY DIED, AND
STILL THE PRISONERS KEPT COMING.
BY THE END OF THE WAR, THESE
WALLS HAD CONTAINED 11,000
PRISONERS.
AFTERWARDS, THE FA SILL AT THIS
WERE DOORN TOWN.
>> NOT TOO FAR AWAY FROM THE
REMAINING WALLS IS THIS MEMORIAL
WHICH TOWERS OVER THE MASS
GRAVES WHERE THE SOLDIERS WERE
BURIED.
THIS IS THE NORTHERN MOST
CONFEDERATE MONUMENT IN THE
UNITED STATES.
IT WAS PLACED HERE BY THE
DAUGHTERS OF THE CONFEDERACY.
ON ITS SIDE ARE THE NAMES OF ALL
OF THE MEN KNOWN TO HAVE DIED
HERE IN ALTON.
THERE ARE 1,534 NAMES LISTED ON THE PLAQUE WHICH ALSO INCLUDES THE STATE FROM WHICH THEY CAME
AND THE UNIT IN WHICH THEY
SERVED.
TODAY THESE NAMES ARE ON A DATA
BASE WHICH CAN BE ACCESSED
THROUGH THE INTERNET.
IN 1831, THIS WAS THE ALTON SEMINARY, ONE OF THE FIRST COLLEGES ESTABLISHED WEST OF THE
ALEGHENY MOUNTAINS.
BEHIND ME IS THE OLDEST HIGHER
EDUCATION BUILD IN USE IN THE
STATE OF ILLINOIS.
TODAY IT IS HOME TO THE ALTON
HOME OF NEW SEM OF HISTORY AND
ART.
INSIDE, IT TAKES VISITORS
THROUGH THE RICH HISTORY FROM
THE TOWN, INCLUDING ARTIFACTS
FROM THE DAYS AS THE UNDERGROUND
RAILROAD DURING THE CIVIL WAR.
PLUS THERE ARE EXHIBITS
HIGHLIGHTING SOME OF THE PROM
NAMENT INDUSTRIES THAT GREW UP
ALONG THE RIVER.
ONE OF THE BIGGEST WAS THE OWENS
ILLINOIS GLASS COMPANY, WHICH AT
ONE TIME WAS THE LARGEST
MANUFACTURER OF GLASS IN THE
COUNTRY.
THE COMPANY BEGAN OPERATIONS IN
1873 WITH 60 WORKERS.
TWO YEARS LATER, IT HAD GROWN
INTO FOUR MAIN FACTORIES WITH
600 EMPLOYEES.
HERE ARE SOME OF THE BOTTLES
THEY MADE FOR VARIOUS COMPANIES
INCLUDING LONG EYE BAND BOURBON
WHISKEY.
ONE OF THE FOUNDERS IS CREDITED
WITH INVENTING THE GLASS ASHTRAY
WHICH WAS A HUGE SUCCESS WITH
HOTELS.
THAT WAS BECAUSE THEY WERE SO
MUCH CHEAPER TO REPLACE THAN THE
BRASS TRAYS WHEN THE GUESTS
BORROWED THEM!
IN ANOTHER ROOM, WE LEARNED
ABOUT A REMARKABLE YOUNG MAN
NAMED ROBERT WADLOW, HE WEIGHED
8 POUNDS 8 OUNCES AT BIRTH.
BY AGE FIVE, HE WEIGHED
180 POUNDS, AND STOOD OVER SIX
FEET TALL.
THIS DESK WAS MADE FOR HIM IN THE THIRD GRADE. BY THAT TIME, HE WAS ALREADY
WEARING MEN'S SUITS AND WAS TALL
EN THAN TEACHER.
BY AGE 19 HE HAD BECOME THE
TALLEST MAN EVER IN RECORDED
HISTORY.
ON DISPLAY IS HIS HIGH SCHOOL
GRADUATION GOWN MADE FROM
14 YARDS OF MATERIAL AND IS SIZE
85.
HERE IS A REPLICA OF HIS RING
SIZE 25 NEXT TO A HALF DOLLAR.
HIS SHOE SIZE WAS 37 AND A HALF
AA.
THIS IS THE LAST OR THE MOLD
USED TO MAKE ROBERTS' SHOES.
LIFE WAS HARD FOR HIM.
HE WANTED TO BE A PHOTOGRAPHER.
HE WANTED TO PLAY THE GUITAR.
BUT HIS HANDS WERE TOO LARGE.
HE WANTED TO GO TO COLLEGE, BUT
HE COULDN'T MOVE FAST ENOUGH TO
GET BETWEEN CLASSES.
AND IF HE FELL, HE HAD TO HAVE
ASSISTANCE TO GET UP.
ROBERT WADLOW BECAME A
REPRESENTATIVE FOR ST. LOUIS
SHOE COMPANY.
HOWEVER, DURING ONE SALES TOUR,
THE ANKLE BRACE HE WORE FOR
SUPPORT HAD A BLITER.
IT BECAME INFECTED.
AT THE AGE OF 22, HE PASSED
AWAY.
HE WAS 8 FEET, 11 INCHES TALL.
BESIDES REMINDING VISITORS OF
THE GENTLE GIANT, IT GIVES
VISITORS OVERVIEW OF THE TOWN'S
HISTORY, THE EVENTS WHICH SHAPED
IT, AND DEPARTURE POINT FROM
WHICH TO GO EXPLORE THE SITES.
WE ARE NOW AT THE LOCK AND DAM WHICH IS NOT ONLY GREAT PLACE FROM WHICH
TO WATCH RIVER TRAFFIC, BUT FOR
EAGLES AS WELL.
IN THE WINTERTIME, THEY HUNT
FISH ALONG SWIRLING WATERS BELOW
THE DAM.
ACROSS FROM THE LOCKS IS THIS
BUILDING, HOME TO THE NATIONAL
GREAT RIVERS MUSEUM.
OPENING SOON AFTER OUR TAPING,
IT WILL BE A PLACE TO LEARN
ABOUT THE MISSISSIPPI AND
ILLINOIS RIVERS WHICH MEET NOT
TOO FAR FROM ALTON.
AS WE HAVE SEEP, THIS AREA HAS
GENERATED SEVERAL LEGENDS.
IT IS ALMOST AS IF THERE IS
SOMETHING MYSTICAL ASSOCIATED
WITH THESE BLUFFS.
SOME PEOPLE SAY THAT QUALITY
STILL EXISTS.
IN FACT, ALTON HAS BEEN CALLED
THE MOST HAUNTED SMALL TOWN IN
AMERICA.
EACH OCTOBER, THE TOWN HOSTS THE
VERY POPULAR HAUNTED HISTORICAL
ALTON TOUR.
ON SPECIAL OCCASIONS, THERE IS
THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD TOUR
WHICH VISITS HOMES KNOWN TO HAVE
HARBORED SLAVES.
PLUS THERE IS A SELF GUIDE
DRIVING TOUR.
FOR MORE INFORMATION ON ANY OF
THESE TOURS OR THE PLACES WE
VISITED, CALL THE GREATER ALTON
TWIN RIVERS CONVENTION AND
VISITOR'S BUREAU (618)465-6676.