Basic HTML Version
27
thePeorian.com
The Present
of Tonti which will serve as the
annual Tonti award. A Peoria
resident, Stewart has advocated
expanded recognition of the
founder of Peoria. He is well
known for his painting of Tonti’s
founding of Peoria which the
Peoria 1691 Foundation com-
missioned for the Tri-Centennial
celebration.
The inaugural Henri de Tonti
Award will be presented during
a celebration at the Peoria Civic
Center Ballroom on Saturday,
September 15th beginning at
6 p.m. Associate sponsors for
the Henri de Tonti Award and
celebration include
The Peorian
Magazine
, WTVP – Public Televi-
sion for Central Illinois, and the
Central Illinois Business Publish-
ers. Tickets for the celebration
are $150 per person. A table of
eight may be reserved for $1,200.
Directing his trading opera-
tions from the Lake Pimiteoui
outpost, Tonti was the principal
figure in the fur trade in the Il-
linois Country for over a decade.
It is estimated that he traveled
over 85,000 miles by canoe and
on foot negotiating with Indian
tribes, discovering new sources
of supply, hiring and supervising
voyageurs as well as struggling
with the regulations of the French
bureaucracy in the New World.
By 1702, continued restrictions
placed on the beaver trade by
the King of France, forced Tonti
to abandon the Lake Pimiteoui
trading operation. He moved
south to the French colony at
New Orleans where he served as
an ambassador to the Choctaw
and Chickasaw Indian tribes. In
August of 1704, Tonti contracted
yellow fever and died at Old
Mobile. According to local lore,
the founding father of Peoria was
laid to rest in an unknown grave
near the Mobile River.
Above is a sculpture by Peoria artist Lonnie Stewart that will serve as the Peoria Historical
Society’s annual Henri de Tonti Award that will be presented to an individual, business or
organization in recognition of outstanding community leadership.