Cahokia Mounds - East St. Louis, Illinois

Visiting Cahokia on an Indian Summer Day

(11//9/2009)

A trip to Cahokia Mounds had been rattling around in my brain since I first learned about the site in a U.S. history class I took a few years ago. The textbook described the Mississippian Culture and the city of earth mounds built by that culture, which had died out several hundred years before Spanish explorers such as DeSoto arrived. Having never heard of it before, I was surprised to learn it was in Illinois.

An odd cloud on the way to the Pontiac VOR

On this sojourn I was fortunate to have my friend Scott along for the ride. I met Scott through my teaching classes at National Louis University, and in addition to be an ardent road-tripper, he is also an excellent photographer. After postponing a short time in order to wait for ground fog to lift, we headed for Downtown St. Louis Airport (KCPS), via the JOT, PNT, BMI, and TOY VORs. Unfortunately we had a stiff headwind, so we stopped off at Bloomington for fuel at Image Air. We landed on runway 20 behind a Boeing 717, which made for some excitement. While there, we got a peek at their Frasca simulator with the 170 degree wrap around display.

After topping off, we headed south west to the TOY vor, then to Downtown St. Louis. On the way we passed lake Sangchris, which I’m sure many of the ultralight fliers in the club are familiar with. While the flight into St. Louis should have afforded an excellent view of the city, the Mississippi was very hazy, and we didn’t get the expected vista. We landed straight in on runway 23 and taxied over to Ideal Aviation, where they were kind enough to call Jenkin’s Cab for us. Our driver was Mr. Jenkins.

The busy ramp at Downtown St. Louis Airport

The cab ride to Cahokia State Park was about 15 minutes. A highway bisects the state park, with the visitor’s center on one side, and the enormous Monk’s mound on the other. We had Mr. Jenkins drop us off at the visitor’s center.

Outside the modern visitor center at Cahokia Mounds

The visitor’s center is a very impressive operation, featuring a movie theater and large displays of Indian artifacts. Although Cahokia’s website intimates that the center has a cafeteria, all we found were some restaurant booths and a few vending machines. Having passed up the airport restaurant on the assumption there was food at the museum this was a bummer. But, after settling for some cookies and Cheese-Its of indeterminate age, we walked through the exhibits and viewed the orientation film, then walked around the mounds.

While the Cahokia site contained 120 mounds of which 80 are still standing, the largest and most impressive one is Monk’s mound. It’s the largest earth structure in the America’s and the largest archeological site north of Mexico. The mound is impressive one its own: The structure is one hundred feet tall, and the base is roughly the size of the great pyramid of Giza. However, the fact that it was built solely with dirt carried in wicker baskets makes it even more so.

Side view of Monk's mound, one of many at the complex

A great view of downtown St. Louis from the top of Monk's Mound

another view of Monk's Mound

After seeing Monk’s Mound firsthand and enjoying the view of the St. Louis Arch from its summit we called Mr. Jenkins for a ride back to the airport. After paying the gas bill and checking weather we departed on runway 23R. The winds aloft, which had killed us on the way there now gave us a big boost. The GPS showed we were clocking 132kts ground speed! Due to the recent time change, about half of the return flight was at night.

passing Lake Sangchris on the way home

Following a smooth landing at Clow, we headed to Chipotle for beer and a burrito. Having just done over four hours of flying, I was a bit spent.