Show HONOR PAST HISTORY warsaw ill III erects monument to commemorate ft edwards was the tha farthest western outpost during the second war with great britain commands view of mississippi warsaw illinois historic days 0 of a century ago have been honored a at t warsaw illinois in the erection there ot of a monument in commemoration of fort edwards the farthest western outpost during the second war with great britain in 1814 zachary taylor then a major in the united states army selected the tha high bluffs overlooking the mississippi river at warsaw as the most advantageous point available for a frontier stockade commanding as they did a sweeping view tor for miles to north and west today the point where the monument stands Is said to afford the most beaufort F Y af A r edwards monument at warsaw river view along the mississippi on september 29 and 30 and october I 1 the monument will be dedicated by the state ot of illinois in connection with a centennial jubilee and the principal speakers at that time will be governor edward F dunno dunne and the representatives ot of the state in congress for ten years after its erection fort edwards was the headquarters ot of united states troops it was ot of particular value to tho government in dealing with the indians among whom english agents continually were endeavoring deavo ring to create trouble at that time the protection of 0 settlers in that region was not concerning the government in that they had not begun to arrive not long after the tha fort was built though people working toward the west began to locate in the neighborhood of fort edwards and tor for years it housed many fa cilles lles who took advantage of 0 its shelter until they were able to secure locations of their own in zachary taylors time the region was heavily wooded directly across the mississippi Is the boundary line between iowa and missouri at that t time all of iowa was in the sao sac and fox indian reservation and each spring after the ice went out the indians came down the des moines river which empties into the mississippi across from warsaw and there met traders from st louis that in ill itself as one reason tor for zachary taylors selection of the illinois bluffs at warsaw as a point of vantage tor for fort edwards gradually civilization changed the nature 0 of the country but the years have not lessened the grandeur of its river scenes progress has marked the points where the red men met the traders from the south today from fort edwards point the great keokuk power dam may be seen one mile to the north as a monument to the advance of a once desolate region fort edwards was named after the first governor of illinois fintan W edwards toward the erection of the monument in its memory the state ot of illinois appropriated 2500 the old stockade did not achieve any particular notoriety as a scene of battle but it was a landmark in the civilization of the great mississippi valley and as such deserves the honor that illinois now pays it IL among other things warsaw Is noted historically as the boyhood home of john hay and the house where his bis father and mother lived and died still stands within two blocks of corf edwards point the new monument Is built ot of barre granite and Is fifty feet in height on the sides will be placed bronze tablets of taylor the tort fort and of governor edwards |