Prairie du Rocher, Illinois in the context of "Kolmer Site"

The Illinois Country (French: Pays des Illinois [pɛ.i dez‿i.li.nwa]; lit. 'land of the Illinois people'; Spanish: País de los ilinueses), also referred to as Upper Louisiana (French: Haute-Louisiane [ot.lwi.zjan]; Spanish: Alta Luisiana), was a vast region of New France claimed in the 1600s that later fell under Spanish and British control before becoming what is now part of the Midwestern United States. While the area claimed included the entire Upper Mississippi River watershed, French colonial settlement was concentrated along the Mississippi and Illinois Rivers in what is now the U.S. states of Illinois and Missouri, with outposts on the Wabash River in Indiana. Explored in 1673 from Green Bay to the Arkansas River by the Canadien expedition of Louis Jolliet and Jacques Marquette, the area was claimed by France. It was settled primarily from the Pays d'en Haut in the context of the fur trade, and in the establishment of missions from Canada by French Catholic religious orders. Over time, the fur trade took some French to the far reaches of the Rocky Mountains, especially along the branches of the broad Missouri River valley. The "Illinois" in the territory's name is a reference to the Illinois Confederation, a group of related Algonquian native peoples.

The Illinois Country was governed from the French province of Canada until 1717 when, by order of King Louis XV, it was annexed to the French province of Louisiana, becoming known as "Upper Louisiana". By the mid-18th century, major settlements included Cahokia, Kaskaskia, Chartres, Saint Philippe, and Prairie du Rocher, all on the east side of the Mississippi in present-day Illinois; and Ste. Genevieve across the river in what is now Missouri, as well as Fort Vincennes in what is now Indiana.

Fort de Chartres was a French fortification first built in 1720 on the east bank of the Mississippi River in present-day Illinois. It was used as the administrative center for the province, which was part of New France. Due generally to river flooding, the fort was rebuilt twice, the last time in limestone in the 1750s in the era of French colonial control over Louisiana and the Illinois Country.

The magazine (ammunition storehouse) of the fort is believed to be the oldest surviving building in Illinois. A partial reconstruction now exists of the limestone fort and the site is preserved as an Illinois state park, four miles (6 km) west of Prairie du Rocher in Randolph County, Illinois. Located on the floodplain area that became known as the American Bottom, the site is south of modern St. Louis. The forts were placed on the National Register of Historic Places and recognized as a National Historic Landmark on October 15, 1966. It was named one of the contributing properties to the French Colonial Historic District in 1974, along with other French-influenced sites such as the Creole House, the Pierre Menard House, the Kolmer Site (a former Indian village), and the site of Fort Kaskaskia.

Missouri French (French: français du Missouri) or Illinois Country French (French: français du Pays des Illinois) also known as français vincennois, français Cahok, and nicknamed "Paw-Paw French" often by individuals outside the community but not exclusively, is a variety of the French language spoken in the upper Mississippi River Valley in the Midwestern United States, particularly in eastern Missouri.

The language is one of the major varieties of French that developed in the United States. At one point it was widely spoken in areas of Bonne Terre, Valles Mines, Desloge, De Soto, Ste. Genevieve, Old Mines, Cadet, St. Louis, Richwoods, Prairie du Rocher, Cahokia, Kaskaskia, and Vincennes as well as several other locations. Speakers of Missouri French may call themselves "créoles", as they are descendants of colonial Louisiana French people of the Illinois Country (Upper Louisiana) and their native-born descendants.

The French Colonial Historic District is a historic district that encompasses a major region of 18th-century French colonization in southwestern Illinois. The district is anchored by Fort de Chartres and Fort Kaskaskia, two important French settlements and military posts in what was then the Illinois Country. The Kaskaskia village site is also included within the district; it includes the Pierre Menard House, the only surviving building from Illinois' first state capital. Over a dozen French houses in Prairie du Rocher are also part of the district, including the poteaux-sur-sol Creole House and the 1735 Meilliere House. In addition to the French sites, the district also includes several Native American archaeological sites, such as the Modoc Rock Shelter, the Kolmer Site, the Waterman Site, and the Henke Site.

The district was added to the National Register of Historic Places on April 3, 1974.

The Creole House is a historic residence in the village of Prairie du Rocher, an old French settlement in present-day Randolph County, Illinois, United States. Built at the end of the eighteenth century and later expanded, the Creole House is the last survivor in Illinois of its type of vernacular architecture, and it forms an important part of the built environment of a portion of the Upper Mississippi Valley that possesses an unparalleled connection to the French settlement period.