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Starved Rock
Starved Rock State Park name is derives its name from a Native American legend of injustice and retribution. In the 1760s, Pontiac, chief of the Ottawa tribe upriver from here, was slain by an Illiniwek while attending a tribal council in southern Illinois. During one of the battles that occurred to avenge his killing, a band of Illiniwek, under attack by a band of Potawatomi (allies of the Ottawa), sought refuge atop a 125-foot sandstone butte. The Ottawa and Potawatomi surrounded the bluff and held their ground until the hapless Illiniwek died of starvation- giving rise to the name “Starved Rock.”
Starved Rock sandstone structure took millions of years to be formed and subsequently deformed and just a few thousand years to be carved away, leaving the landscape that we can see today.
Examinating the sandstone with a hand lens reveals well-rounded well-sorted grains, made almost entirely of pure quartz. These features resulted from washing around in the surf, which sort and round the quartz grains while washing the clays and other impurities out to sea.
The sandstone at Starved Rock is approximately 100 feet above ground while three miles to the west this same layer of sandstone is found 1,000 feet below the surface. This structure of layers found in the Starved Rock area is called an anticline because older rocks are found on the inside of the fold and younger rocks are found on the outside of the fold.
The layers you see on the French Canyon wall are not layers of different bedrock, rather, these layers represent a different constitution of cement within the St. Peter sandstone. Cement is a chemically precipitated mineral material, usually silica, carbonates, or iron oxides that binds the grains of a sedimentary rock. Not all sections of sandstone contain the same amount of cement. Those parts with less cement are weaker and are more susceptible to erosion. This type of weathering is called differential weathering and results in an uneven erosional surface.
Contact:
Schools and other organized groups may arrange reservations for programs by contacting the center at (815) 667-4906 or writing to Program Coordinator, Starved Rock State Park, PO Box 509, Utica, IL 61373.
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