Once called Sunflower Island, then Smallpox Island, an unassuming spot on the West side of the Clark Bridge in West Alton is notorious for two Lincoln-era events.

While a member of the state legislature in 1842, Abraham Lincoln butted heads with state Auditor James Shields. Shields, who eventually became the only politician to serve as a senator in 3 separate states, was criticized by Lincoln for his stance on banking, collecting taxes, and even his love life.

To show his contempt for the man, Lincoln started a series of letters to the Sangamon Journal from the point of view of a widow he named ‘Rebecca’ called the "Lost Townships." The letters made satirical allusions to Shields and made fun of his political career. Making things worse, Mary Todd Lincoln and friend, Julia Jayne, joined in, writing scathing personal letters to Shields calling him a fool and a liar.

When Shields learned Lincoln was complicit in writing the letters, he challenged him to a duel. Lincoln considered it ludicrous but chose an open site on the western side of the river from Alton on Sunflower Island- Missouri being chosen as dueling was still legal in the state. According to tradition, the person challenged chose the weapons used in a duel. Lincoln's weapons of choice? Cavalry broadswords- "of the largest size."

On September 22, 1842, the story goes that Shields arrived to face Lincoln and watched as Lincoln hacked off a tree branch with a ferocious swing. Seeing the long-armed reach of Lincoln- who stood at six foot four- and the ferocity with which he hammered at the tree, Shields quickly changed his mind about the duel and decided to settle the disagreement in a more civil manner, calling a truce. It was likely a wise decision- Lincoln was known for his fighting prowess as a wrestler and boxer, even being entered into the Wrestling Hall of Fame.

Later in Lincoln's life, during the Civil War, a temporary tented area and wooden hospital was erected on Sunflower Island. It comprised the first hospital for patients of the smallpox epidemic that afflicted the military prison in Alton. Patients who died of smallpox were buried on the island near the field hospital, earning the island a macabre new name. Today, a monument marks the grave site of the 260 Confederate prisoners buried on the island and the location of the infamous Lincoln-Shields Duel. The area is often referred to as ‘Lincoln-Shields’ or simply ‘Shields’.