Sandi, there was a Military Tract in Illinois -- land given to veterans of the War of 1812. From "History of Mercer County, Illinois 1882" I quote: "In 1816 all that portion of the state between the Mississippi and Illinois rivers, and extending from the mouth of the latter about 170 miles north, and including the counties of which we now write, was surveyed by the government and subsequently set apart as bounties to the soldiers of the regular army who had served in the war with Great Britian, and which had just preceded the date just given. The whole tract contained 207 entire townships and several fractions." Illinois was admitted to the union as a state in 1818. This military bounty land on the western side of the state was the reason that much of the land was settled in western Illinois decades before land further east in the state was settled. The tract was probably selected specifically because the Illinois and Mississippi rivers provided navigable access to the area for settlers. However, the impact of this availability of land was not cause for immediate settlement, for it was not until after the Blackhawk War in 1832, when Indians inhabiting this area of western Illinois were forced to resettle further west, that "settlements were quite rapid". One reason given for the settlement after the war with the Indians was that the 2,000 or so Illinois soldiers traversing the land during the war liked what they saw and were eager to move there. Bill A. Bertrand