March 1975
I grew up boating with family on the Illinois River and riding past Starved Rock State Park.  When I got old enough to drive I used to take friends to this mysterious place.  Captivated by the sandstone bluffs and canyons I hiked them in all seasons.  I felt something compellingly spiritual and sacred about this place.  I called this place home hundreds of years ago.

The name comes from a Native American story of a band of Illiniwek people starved on a 125 foot (38 meter) butte because of a siege by bands of Ottawa and Potawatomi during the 1760s.

My memories evoke clearer images than these scanned from the 1970s.