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A full colony of eighty Cistercian Trappist monks from La Trappe, France, settle on the Great Mound built by ancient Indians next to present-day Route 40. At that time, the site was simply known as the "Great Knob." A year earlier, four hundred acres of land was purchased for them by Nicholas Jarrot, founder of Cahokia. The monks made the mistake of drinking from Cahokia Creek (north of the Great Mound) rather than taking the time to dig a well. Several of them nearly died. Cahokia Creek was a waterway that drained the bluffs to the east and was polluted, even back then. Not only did they discover coal when they observed a strike of lightning that ignited the earth, they also uncovered charcoal pits from which they made their gun powder. In 1813, about half of the monks died from malaria or typhoid fever; a year later, the rest returned to France. They gave their land back to Nicholas Jarrot. From that time on, the hill became known as Monks Mound.

The Great mound is one hundred feet high with four distinct terrace levels and a base of sixteen acres. it was the largest man-made structure north of Mexico and was built between 800-900 A. D. The site was abandoned by the Indians (Mississippians) by the time the French first arrived in the area in the late 1600s. Archeologists consider it one of the most important sites in North America. Recent discoveries indicate that the natives placed a circular group of upright timbers in the ground on the site over a thousand years ago and created a solar observatory believed to have been more accurate than the monoliths at Stonehenge in England. (The Mississippian mound builders were also active in north St. Louis and gave the town its 19th century nickname, Mound City.)

Indiana Territory is divided into Indiana and Illinois Territories. At the time, the present state of Wisconsin was included in Illinois Territory, whose capital was at Kaskaskia. Ninian Edwards of Kentucky is appointed Governor of Illinois Territory. He later moved to Edwardsville and became the first governor of the state.