In the Illinois campaign....
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| George Rogers Clark Wading Across |
The night on which his little party from Kentucky reached the Kaskaskia river at Menard's Gap, they saw on the opposite bank the Jesuits seminary lighted up and heard issuing from it the sounds of the violin. Clark, leaving his horses and most of his men on the eastern side, waded across at the warm ford. It was a ball given by the British officers to the French inhabitants.
The dancing ceased, the ladies screamed, and the Frenchmen rushed to the door. Clark, without moving from his position or changing his grave expression desired them to go on with the dance. The only difference is, said he, you now dance under Virginia instead of Great Britain. [Source]
However, this source stated "That the Colonel crossed the Kaskaskia river before reaching the fort--'the Jesuits' seminary,' is the only reliable statement in the whole story."
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