On the French Frontier 1700-1800
Background Information - Farming Practices in the 1700s

The farm land in Kaskaskia was so rich and fertile that the villagers did not bother to rotate their crops. By the 1750s, almost 50 years after the founding of Kaskaskia, the soil had become depleted of nutrients and was no longer as fertile. So the villagers of Kaskaskia began to move across the river to Ste. Genevieve, a new village, and establish farms. In 1752 the total population of Ste. Genevieve was 23 people, black and white. By 1772 the population had grown to 691 people, black and white.



Excerpt from Carl J. Ekberg, Colonial Ste. Genevieve, Gerald, MO: The Patrice Press, 1985:41-42.
Please click on the "Back" button of your browser to return to where you came from.

© Illinois State Museum 31-Dec-96