How Bloody Island Got its Name
Many Went There to Settle Scores, Including a Future President
If you stand on the grounds of the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, Missouri, and look east across the Mississippi River, you will see a slight protrusion of land at the base of the Popular Street Bridge on the other side.
Now part of the Illinois shore, this small lump of sand barely rising above the water was once an island. It was also the site of several deaths.
Growing out of the water in the late 18th Century and becoming a mile-long island by the early 19th Century, Bloody Island got its name as a result of numerous duels fought there.
Because Bloody Island was not part of Illinois or Missouri, it was considered beyond the law of either state.
Dueling was banned by Missouri in 1822. Illinois never allowed dueling, though, during the 1840 sessions of its legislature, one state senator proposed a two-week dueling amnesty “to give full opportunities for the settling all personal difficulties.”
Lincoln Chooses His Weapons
Perhaps because Illinois never allowed dueling, few of its residents rowed out to Bloody Island to settle differences. One exception was a young lawyer named Abraham Lincoln.
