Our Origin: Here in the History Museum of the old village of Valles Mines, things happen a little differently.
One day we left the front door open while sweeping. For fun we had just hung our first (read: only) historic picture on
the wall. A former village resident stopped in and, seeing the picture, mentioned they had a picture
of the building that used to stand next door. In the year that followed, this scene repeated itself
over and over. Soon we were on our way to reconstructing a pretty good picture of the old days of Valles Mines and
its 74 buildings, 2 mills, and over a hundred mines. But 1749 to 2019? 270 years? Valle sent lead back to the
Revolutionary War, his descendants sent lead to WW I and WW II and in
between. "Historically," some have said, "Valles
Mines dies only to be reborn every 50 years".
So the Museum grew and had to move next door into the old rental cabin next door at 14115 Valles
Mines School Road to house all the photos and memorabilia people had been so kind as to give us. Then one day, we found
that wasn't just some old white building next door. While repairing the cedar siding we found the old building underneath - an actual
2-story log cabin, the original settlement house built for Francois Valle and
his new bride, Marianne Billeron, a wedding gift from her father, the Mayor of Kaskaskia.
Our Mission Statement
- To find out where everyone went or
- to contact them and to receive their contacts, or even to bring them back home.
- To preserve physical evidence of previous Times, Civilizations and Technologies and
- If possible, to recreate those Eras and their events, emphasizing how they led to Demise or Prosperity, and
- To collect enough context from the Era to avoid its mistakes or content ourselves with its successes.
For centuries people have come into contact with Valles' Mines, lived there,
mined there, passed through, died there, or descended from those who did.
They number well into the thousands, scattered all over the world now.
The Lost History Museum has made it its Mission to find out where everyone went,
contact them, receive their contacts, or even bring them back home.
In 1749 Francois Valle brought French civilization here, west of the Mississippi 16 years before the English took
over the East side of the Mississippi River, a culture that survives here even today. Come
by the Museum. You don't have to speak French anymore. We welcome your company!