Lake Size: 273 Mi (439 km)
Latitude: 41.2337
Longitude: -88.1537
Lake Level Above Sea Level: 505 ft (154 m)
Counties: Grundy County

Information: The Illinois River valley was one of the strongholds of the Illinois Confederation of Native Americans. The French first met the natives here in 1673. The first European settlement in the state of Illinois was the Jesuit mission founded in 1675 by Father Jacques Marquette on the banks of the Illinois at Starved Rock. In 1680, René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle built the first fort in Illinois, Ft. St. Louis, at Starved Rock and later relocated to the present site of Creve Coeur, near Peoria, where the Jesuits relocated.