Page "Dupo, Illinois" Paragraph 5

:" The village received its name from the following circumstance: The first settlement was made on the present site, which is on the south bank of the creek, and about one mile ( 1. 6 km ) south of the village of Cahokia.

At this point a rude bridge, constructed of logs, was built across the stream.

An open prairie extended from the bridge south to the bluff.

Pont is a French word, and means bridge in English.

Hence the name, Prairie du Pont, or, Prairie Bridge Bridge Prairie.

It was settled about 1750, by people from Cahokia.

The origin of its settlement is undoubtedly due to the inundations to which the bottom was subject during high waters.

Prairie du Pont is about ten or twelve feet higher than Cahokia, and in the time of the floods, the people of the Latter village were obliged to flee to the bluffs and higher grounds for safety.

Tradition, in Prairie du Pont, substantiates the above theory.