2017 Day Trip: St. Charles, Illinois / The Legend of Charlemagne

The Legend of Charlemagne

Location: Main Street Bridge, St Charles, IL.

Two fox sculptures on either side of the Main Street Bridge.

The Legend of Charlemagna / North side of Main St. bridge.

The Legend of Charlemagne..
A beautiful sad and happy story…

Four fox stretched out lazily on the banks of the river at the foot of the trail leading to their den, awaiting the return of their father Charlemagne. He had left early in the morning to listen in at an emergency session of the Indian chiefs whose tribal lands were being threatened by the white men, now coming to settle in this area.
“My sons, my report to you is sad. The Black Hawk War has ended. The white men are now coming to settle along the banks of this river, taking these lands of the wilderness, which have been the happy hunting grounds of the Sacs, the Fox and the Pottawatomies.

These men upon arrival will first build their homes on the hills overlooking this river. Land will be cleared so that they can plant their crops in the spring. They will build a millwheel on the river to grind their grain, then a bridge.

Now, I am old, and it will be hard for me to adjust to these changes. I have tried to be a good father to you. I have taught you all the tricks and the cunning of our kind. You are now able to take care of yourselves, and you can adjust your lives to these white men. As for myself, I have only a few more years to live. Tonight I shall leave you and go west to be with my Indian friends. This is as it should be. Your needs for me are no more.”

“I would like you, my four sons, to be the guardians of this growing settlement, to see that it does become a great community in which men can live, can work, can be educated, can worship, and can play.”

“You, my firstborn, are to be the guardian of the civic, the business, the industrial life of this community.”

“Education will become important in the life of this growing community. And you, my second son, are to be the guardian of this educational and cultural expression.”

“Soon after this community has been settled, men will band together to worship, and you, my third son, are to be entrusted with the guardianship of this religious expression.”

“Amid this beautiful setting, it is only natural that recreation will flourish, and you, my last-born, shall be the guardian of this natural recreation expression of man living in these surroundings.”

“As for me, I shall now leave you to join my Indian friends.”