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
Fox River (Illinois River tributary) near the Fox River included the Potawatomi, Sac, and Fox tribes. The Fox River has 15 dams, including McHenry Dam, which raises the river slightly to maintain depth in the Chain O'Lakes in northern Illinois, and a hydroelectric dam near Ottawa. In the winter, bald eagles can be found nesting along the banks. Early in the history of Illinois, the Fox River provided water for the Illinois and Michigan Canal via a feeder canal, allowing the canal to pass over the Fox River on an aqueduct. In 1996, a flood damaged the Farnsworth House in Illinois, a residence designed by