Archaeology students at SIU have discovered a previously undiscovered American fort.

It’s a second Fort Kaskaskia.

Up until now, it was believed the French built the original fort and years later, Americans occupied. Lewis and Clark stopped there to recruit troops for their expedition.

But, after an excavation of the area, the SIU team discovered no evidence of Americans ever occupying the fort. So they began looking other place. And they found something. Evidence like a button from a uniform, a brick from a chimney, and even a part of a musket. All these things were found a little over 300 yards to the North. And it was enough to convince them that there were two fort Kaskaskia’s. The original built by the french and then a second built by Americans. Both named Kaskaskia.

They now planning to study the original site more to try and determine the design and layout of the structure.