Below is a map of the route used by George Rogers Clark during the American revolution. Clark and a small band of soldiers floated down the Ohio River by boat, landed at Fort Massac in southernmost Illinois, march overland to Fort Kaskaskia, and defeated a British garrison stationed there. His men overtook posts at Prairie du Rocher and Cahokia before marching to Vincennes and surprising and defeating a second British garrison. Clarks victories gave the young American nation claim to the northwest territory (Ohio, Indiana, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Illinois) which opened it up to settlers from the east.

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