Southern Illinois took place in Williamson County between 1839 and 1876. This was unusual, as crime was almost non-existent in Illinois during its frontier years prior to this period of lawlessness. In 1858, Abraham Lincoln ran for the U.S. Senate against Stephen A. Douglas. A debate was held in seven towns in Illinois, one being near Jonesboro. Many of the people living in Southern Illinois were first- or second-generation Southerners. Cairo, Illinois, at the southern tip where the Ohio River joins the Mississippi, was of strategic importance. On either side of the rivers were states which, despite remaining in the Union, had
Big Muddy Creek (Missouri River tributary) Fort Peck Indian Reservation. It joins the Missouri west of Culbertson. It was explored in 1805 by the Lewis and Clark Expedition, who called it Martha's River in their journals and noticed on their return voyage in 1806 that it had changed its mouth on the Missouri. Along with the Milk River and the Poplar River, it is one of three waterways in Canada that drain into the Gulf of Mexico. Big Muddy Creek has also been known as: Big Muddy River, Little Yellow River, Martha River, Martha's River, Marthas River, Marthy's River and Park River. Big Muddy Creek (Missouri