Little Egypt[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif, Times New Roman]To the right is a map of Illinois with “Egypt” or “
Little Egypt” depicted in the shaded area at the bottom. The southern third of Illinois was settled first as people from Kentucky, Tennessee and the southeastern states came to Illinois looking for unclaimed land. Property near the Mississippi, Ohio, and Wabash rivers, and their tributaries was settled first by pioneers who used these rivers for travel and shipment of goods as the primary means of transportation in the late 1700s and early 1800s before there were roads or trains.[/FONT]