that extended through southern Illinois. The gang operated a series of connected frontier taverns along this road, passing information on to gang members whenever a traveler worth robbing stopped at one of their taverns. When the unfortunate traveler reached a remote spot, the gang members would assemble and relieve them of their property. As in other frontier areas, neighboring settlers overlooked this activity until the Goings Gang escalated to murder in 1818–1819. In response, the settlers organized a group of vigilantes or "rangers" who surprised the Goings Gang at Walnut Hill. The gang members were tied to trees, flogged, and ordered to leave the county, an order which all but one obeyed. The following year, the vigilantes returned and cropped the ears of this obstinate gang member, who may have been criminal gang leader William Goings, possibly because they believed he had no use for his ears as he would not listen and cease in his criminal activities. The tavern site of one of the reported gang members, Samuel Young of Marion County, was excavated by archaeologists working for the Illinois Department of Transportation in 1988 prior to its destruction by a highway project Geography Walnut Hill is located in southwestern Marion County at (38.477541, -89.045513). Its southern border is the Jefferson County line. The county boundary is the baseline of the Third Principal Meridian, also called the Centralia Baseline. The survey of this area was begun as early as 1804. Centralia is to the northwest of Walnut Hill, and Salem, the Marion county seat, is to the northeast. Mount Vernon, the Jefferson county seat, is 14 miles to the southeast. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Walnut Hill has a total area of , all land. To the north of Walnut Hill is Raccoon Creek, a west-flowing tributary of the Kaskaskia River. To the south is the Big Muddy River, a small creek at the northernmost limit of its watershed. Walnut Hill is thus on the Kaskaskia/Big Muddy divide. That divide is a ridge that formed a natural, pioneer highway from Sparta to Kell, perhaps properly called the "Highway to Kell". Demographics As of the census of 2000, there were 109 people, 45 households, and 30 families residing in the village. The population density was . There were 50 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the village was 99.08% White and 0.92% African