USA > Illinois > Cook County > History of Cook County, Illinois : being a general survey of Cook County history, including a condensed history of Chicago and special account of districts outside the city limits : from the earliest settlement to the present time, volume II > Part 5
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HISTORY OF COOK COUNTY
the lake and the river the judgment is at a loss to say which side the ground declines, and whether the level of the Plein or the lake is the highest. It was determined, however, from certain data, that the level of the river was two feet or thereabouts above the level of the lake. From this view, it would seem that the cutting of a canal in this place between the Plein and the lake, would be a work of neither skill, difficulty nor expense. Small, however, as the labor would be under this view, it is still diminished upon a close examina- tion and by finding that an arm of the lake, called Chicago, puts out in the direction of the Plein and that an arm of the Plein, also called Chicago, puts out in the direction of the lake. They approach within two miles of each other, so that in common water there is only dry ground to that extent between them. The character of these two arms is essentially different, that of the lake being about sixty feet wide and from ten to forty feet deep; that of the river being in high water from four to six feet deep and in places a mile wide, and in low water either dry or reduced to a gutter. Between the heads of these two arms is also a gutter which is dry in dry seasons of summer and fall and full of water in the spring and when thus filled with water the boats of six or eight tons, engaged in the Mackinaw and Mississippi trade run through backward and forward so as to make no portage between Mackinaw and the Mis- sissippi. This gutter, judging from the appearance of others now forming, was at first a path worn out by the feet of those who car- . ried things across the portage and afterward deepened by the attri- tion of the waters until formed into a little canal. The wind alone gives the water a current in this little canal, and its direction de- pends upon the course of the wind. Objects have been seen to float out of it from the same point to the river and to the lake. It is incontestably true that an east wind will drive the water of the lake through this gutter into the Plein and that water from Lake Michigan has been discharged by this outlet into the Mississippi and thence into the Gulf of Mexico. It is equally incontestable that the waters of the Plein have been driven by the same channel into the lake; these phenomena may now be witnessed at any time when the waters are high and the wind blows hard. It follows, therefore, that to finish the canal begun by nature in this place would require, as we have already said, but little of skill, time, or expense. On ' opening the canal, however, two difficulties would be experienced : 1. The Plein would be found to be level with the canal; its water would of course be diverted from its natural channel and pass by the canal into the lake. 2. Supposing that evil remedied by a lock to lift vessels into the Plein, yet the latter during half the year does not contain water enough to float a boat and so could not become useful as a national highway. To remedy this defect of water in the Plein, two projects suggest themselves: 1. To sink the bed of the Plein below the level of the canal, and thus increase the depth of the
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Plein, as well by feeding it out of the lake as by collecting its water into a narrower channel. 2. To make the canal unite with the Plein lower down in its course. A few miles lower would be suffi- cient to give the water of the lake a descent into the river, as the Plein has a sensible descent in this place, insomuch that the people of Chicago call it "The Rapids," having no other words to distin- guish moving water from that which stands still. Of the Plein, below its point of approach to the lake we would remark that it has hardly the attributes of a river, being in most places without cur- rent and without banks, lying as a sheet of water in the prairie, sometimes a mile wide and so shallow that the tall grass appears almost everywhere above its surface. Having said this much of the facility of communication by the Chicago, we would now remark that several other routes are perfectly practicable: 1. From a point in the lake south of Chicago, to enter the Plein below Mount Juliet, at or near what is called Lake Despage, but which is only a dilata- tion of the waters of the Plein. This route would lie over level prairie, through a multitude of small lakes or ponds, which have neither name or place in any map. 2. By a canal leaving the lake near its south end and uniting with the Theakiki just above its con- fluence with the Plein. Both of these canals would be fed from the lake; would require few or no locks; would go over ground of the same sort; would be fifty or sixty miles long; and would join the waters of the Illinois at points from which it is constantly naviga- ble. A third route was spoken of, but not seen by us. It would lie between the Theakiki and the St. Joseph's of the lake. To con- clude: The route by the Chicago, as followed by the French since - the discovery of the Illinois, presents at one season of the year an uninterrupted water communication for boats of six or eight tons burden between the Mississippi and the Michigan lake; at another season a portage of two miles ; at another a portage of seven miles, from the head of the Plein to the arm of the lake (Chicago river) ; at another a portage of fifty miles from the mouth of the Plein to the lake, over which there is a well beaten wagon road and boats and their loads are hauled by oxen and vehicles kept for that pur- pose by the French settlers at the Chicago .- (R. Graham and Jo- seph Philips, Kaskaskia, April 4, 1819.)
"Taking Major Long's report to be substantially correct, the length of the canal will not exceed seventy miles. The presumption is it will be less. But assuming that as the whole length, consid- ering the almost entirely level face of the country through which it will pass, it cannot cost more than $500,000. For the purpose of raising this sum the committee are of the opinion that no appro- priation of money out of the treasury is necessary. If, as the com- mittee beg leave to recommend, a strip of land of the width of two miles on each side of the canal shall be granted to the Legislature of Illinois, it is believed the State would be able to raise a sum suffi-
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HISTORY OF COOK COUNTY
cient to complete the work. The quantity of land thus proposed to be granted would amount to seven townships and three quarters of a township, which if sold at the minimum price of the public lands would yield only the sum of $224,000. But owing to the additional value that this work would impart to it, the committee believe the State would under a prudent management be able to raise double that sum. The increased value not only of the immediately adja- cent public lands, but of those throughout the major part of the lands both in Illinois and Missouri, would not only reimburse the treasury, but would much more than do it."
The committee also called attention to the importance of the project-its practicability, comparative cheapness, that the portage had already for many years been navigated on a small scale; that the water of the lake could be employed for the canal ; its importance from a military standpoint; that the western country could much quicker and cheaper reach the Atlantic coast via the lakes then via New Orleans; that the canal would add immensely to commercial intercommunication and the growth of the West, and that the lands through which the canal would pass were already surveyed and in the market .- (Report of Committee of House of Representatives, March 30, 1826.)
Mr. Calhoun, Secretary of War, in January, 1819, recommended to Congress the construction of such a canal as an important ad- junct to the military defenses of the country. He said that if a road were built from Detroit to Ohio and a canal be built from Lake Michigan to the Illinois river, all the facilities would be added to carry on military operations in time of war for the defense of the western country.
By act of February 15, 1831, the "Board of Canal Commissioners of the Illinois and Michigan canal" was made to consist of three members, one of whom was to be called "superintending commis- sioner," whose duty it was to be constantly employed on the canal route. " It was also provided that the engineer should "examine the Illinois river from the mouth of Fox river down to the head of steamboat navigation and if in their (the commissioners') opinion the navigation of the Illinois river can be improved by dams or locks or otherwise so as to secure its navigation as far as the mouth of Fox river to the Little Vermillion or foot of the rapids, they shall have power to terminate such canal at the mouth of Fox river. The commissioners were authorized to give away canal lands not exceed- ing ten acres for public uses.
The lands ceded under this act amounted to 480,000 acres and were held by the State as a trust fund for the canal. By 1845 the greater portion of this land remained unsold. "A small portion con- sisting mainly of lots in the City of Chicago and the towns on the line of the projected work" had been sold and the proceeds been ap- plied to the work. The step was taken intentionally to reserve as
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HISTORY OF COOK COUNTY
much of the land as practicable and to sell the town lots, as it was thought the lots would not increase in value as much as the outside lands would. In fact to open the canal the State used its credit, expecting in the end to be more than reimbursed in the enhance- ment of the lands later. To the observance of this policy "and to the late widespread and ruinous convulsions in the monetary affairs of the country may Illinois attribute her present humiliated and blasted pecuniary condition." The Government had approved of the canal fiscal policy, and in 1845 it was urged that, as the State had suffered so much by pursuing that course, should not the Gov- ernment come to her assistance now (1845) with a further grant of a limited quantity of land to enable her to complete the canal work. The State, having used her credit instead of the grant of land, was entitled to this consideration, it was urged. "It was laid out to be one hundred miles in length, sixty feet wide and six feet deep; to have fifteen locks, each one hundred and ten feet in length and eight- een feet in width. It will be navigable for boats carrying from one hundred to one hundred and fifty tons. Full $5,000,000 exclusive of interest, have been expended on it, and $1,600,000 are required to complete it. The State has tried to raise this sum by pledging all of the canal property-lands, lots, water power (of which there is great abundance), with the canal itself and its tolls and profits- for its reimbursement, but has been unsuccessful in the effort. She has now come to a pause and can go no further without help; and it remains for the Government to decide between resuming the lands already granted upon the ground that the State has failed to fulfill the trust for which they were intended, or abandoning them to the State without an equivalent, or of contributing further means in aid of the work. In this situation of things the Government can hardly fail to adopt the last alternative."
It was argued that the lake trade would be amply sufficient to justify and reimburse the enterprise; that in 1817, previous to the navigation of the Mississippi by steam power the whole tonnage of its valley was estimated at 6,500 tons, consisting of thirty barges, ยท and 150 keel boats; that the same waters were navigated in 1845 by about 400 steamers carrying about 90,000 tons valued at $7,000,000; that to this could be added $300.000 for the 4,000 flat boats that annually descended the Mississippi and its tributaries ; that in 1819 there was just one steamer on the lakes; that the first steamboat to navigate Lake Michigan was in 1827; that the first one to reach Chicago was in 1832 during the Black Hawk war; that in 1845, including ships, brigs and craft of all descriptions, it was estimated that 400 vessels navigated the lakes above Niagara falls: that the lake country was growing much faster than the Ohio or Mississippi river country ; that the exports of wheat and flour in 1843 from Cleveland. Detroit, Sandusky and Chicago were: Wheat. 1,894 .- 992 bushels; flour, 812,903 barrels-all worth about $4,500,000;
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HISTORY OF COOK COUNTY
that in 1844 Colonel Albert, chief of the corps of topographical en- gineers, had reported that the trade of the whole range of lakes had increased from 1835 to 1841 as follows:
Total imports in 1835 $3,269,353
Total exports in 1835
744,951
Aggregate trade. $4,014,304
Total imports in 1841
$33,483,441
Total exports in 1841
32,342,581
Aggregate trade. $65,826,022
He reported that the trade of Lake Michigan in 1833 "was too inconsiderable to be noticed" and by 1841 had grown to about $1,500,000.
"But such has been the influx of settlers within the last few years to the lake region and so decided has become the tendency of the pro- ductions of the upper and middle regions of the great valley to seek a market at and through the lakes, that we can no longer withstand the conviction that even within the short period of forty-seven years a town will grow up on the lake border greater than Cincinnati."- (Prof. J. W. Scott, of Ohio, on the Internal Trade of the United States. See 28th Congress, second session, Reports of Commit- tees.) He showed that the northern half of Ohio, Indiana and Illinois was growing about twice as fast as the southern half of those States. He exhibited figures carrying out still further this view, and then said: "These facts exhibit the difference in favor of the lake country sufficiently to satisfy the candid inquirer that there must be potent causes in operation to produce such results. The staple exports, wheat and flour, have for years so notoriously found their best markets at the lake towns that every cultivator who reasons at all has cause to know the advantage of having his farm as near as possible to lake navigation. This has, for some years past, brought immigrants to the lake country, from the river region of these States and from Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia, which formerly sent their emigrants mostly to the river borders. The river region, too, not being able to compete with its northern neighbor in the production of wheat, and being well adapted to the growth of stock, has of late gone more into this department of hus- bandry. These causes are obviously calculated to give a dense pop- ulation to the lake country and a comparatively sparse settlement to the river country.
"The superior accessibility of the lake country from the great northern hives of emigration-New England and New York-are also deserving of attention. By the Erie canal and the railways that country is within a few hours' ride of Buffalo and the lakes. Eniro- pean emigration hither, which first was counted by its annual thou- sands, then by its tens of thousands, has at length swelled to its
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HISTORY OF COOK COUNTY
hundreds of thousands in the ports of New York and Quebec. These are both but appropriate doors to the lake country. It is clear that the lake portion will be more populous than the river divi- sion of the great valley."
But it was argued that the benefits of the Illinois and Michigan canal would not be confined to the lake country-would be extended to all the Western territory. An additional donation of lands, it was concluded, should be made as a matter of justice and good faith to Illinois, as a means of military defenses, as an important facility of commerce, and as necessary to bind the States more closely together. It was therefore, recommended that there be granted to Illinois "the further quantity of 500,000 acres to aid in the completion of the said work," the land to be selected within ten miles of the canal if practicable, all to be under the direction of the Secretary of the Treasury.
At the first session of the 19th Congress, in December, 1825, the Legislature of Illinois memorialized Congress to the following ef- fect : "That the construction of a canal uniting the waters of Lake Michigan with the Illinois river would form an important addition to the great connecting links in the chain of internal navigation; that commercial intercourse would be facilitated and increased ; that internal commotion, sectional jealousy and foreign invasion and State dissolution would be avoided; that in consideration of the great benefits soon to follow the State asked for a grant of land to enable it to construct a canal from Lake Michigan to the Illinois river; that at their last session the Legislature passed an act of incorporation upon very liberal terms, authorizing a company to construct the projected canal, but that the remoteness of the country from the residence of the capitalists had prevented them from en- gaging in the work; that at the present session the Legislature had repealed the charter of the canal company; that now the State de- pended upon Congress to aid the project; that the cost would prob- ably not be less than $600,000 and might amount to $700.000; that they therefore prayed for a grant of the townships of land through which the canal was projected.
"GENERAL LAND OFFICE, March 22, 1830.
"Sir: I take the liberty to enclose a diagram exhibiting the sur- vey of the public lands lying on Lake Michigan at the mouth of Chicago creek, and would recommend that an act be passed author- izing the President to lay off a town at this point. Section 9 has been allotted to the State of Illinois under the act granting to her certain lands for the purpose of making a canal. Should the United States establish a town at the mouth of the creek, the State would probably derive much benefit by extending the lots into Section 9, as Chicago creek affords a good harbor through the whole of this section. It is understood that the waters of Lake Michigan may be
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HISTORY OF COOK COUNTY
drawn into the Illinois river by a thorough cut of moderate length and not more than seventeen feet deep at the summit; when this is effected and the bar on the outside of the mouth of Chicago creek is so deepened as to admit into the harbor with facility vessels of the largest class navigating the lakes, Chicago must inevitably be- come one of the most important depots and thoroughfares on the lakes. The government is about bringing into market a vast extent of country between Lake Michigan and the Mississippi river, which as to the advantages of local position, fertility of soil, healthfulness of climate and mineral resources, is not perhaps excelled by any other tract of country of equal extent in the United States. The deepening of the inlet of the harbor of Chicago would essentially facilitate the sale of these lands and promote the settlement of the country. GEORGE GRAHAM."
Congress, by act of March 2, 1827, granted to Illinois about 300,000 acres, being one-half of all the lands five miles wide on each side of a canal from Lake Michigan to the head of steamboat navigation on the Illinois river (to be taken in alternate sections). Under the provisions of an act of Congress of March 20, 1822, granting the State the right to construct this canal, the State caused an accurate survey to be made and the cost of construction was estimated at $700,000. Late in 1829 the President sent a corps of engineers to resurvey and locate said canal and reestimate the cost. Under these instructions Dr. Howard and his assistants commenced operations at Chicago and progressed toward the Illinois river until interrupted by the weather. During the survey thus far it was ascertained that the summit level of the country dividing the waters of Lake Michigan from those of the Mississippi river was only twelve feet nine inches above the surface of the lake, and that it required only a cut of ten feet on an average for three miles to turn the waters of the lake into the Illinois river; and that after leaving the lake about fourteen miles the remainder of the canal to the Illinois river would require nothing more than an excavation of the common soil to a depth necessary for the passage of boats. It was believed that the estimated cost of $700,000 would be ex- ceeded, owing to a bed of limestone rock found just below the sur- face on the summit level.
The act of March 2, 1827, gave the State full power to sell the land granted without limitation as to time or price, upon condition that upon failure to complete the canal in time the State would re- pay the United States for the money received from the sale of the land actually sold.
In 1830 the committee of Congress became satisfied that to sell the lands then would result in a great sacrifice and defeat the pri- mary object of the grant. They heretofore recommended that the State relinquish to the United States all its right and title to the
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HISTORY OF COOK COUNTY
lands of the grant, except the one-sixteenth part, and such parts as may have been sold, and to receive instead scrip which should be receivable at any of the land offices in payment for lands within Illinois, the said scrip to be issued at the rate of $1.25 per acre, to be delivered to the State as follows: $50,000 after the passage of the act of relinquishment; $50,000 more. upon receipt of evidence that the former sum had been expended as provided, and so on until the whole sum should be issued.
The committee said: "In viewing this canal your committee are deeply impressed with its great national interest, leaving out of view the important fact that it passes exclusively through the lands of the United States which for many miles on both sides have never been offered for sale, they beg to state that it is the shortest and most important link of connection between the great northern lakes and the Mississippi. It is a well-known fact that during a portion of the year, owing to low water, other communications are difficult and often impracticable, but at this point no such obstruction is found, for the Mississippi and Illinois rivers are at all times navi- gable for steamboats, except when obstructed by ice, making an entire and safe communication between the Gulf of Mexico, by way of the lakes to New York and Quebec. In time of war this canal will not only be a great convenience and afford every facility in the defense of the country, but be a certain means of commercial inter- course between the northern and southern States; and when your committee are aware how easily the coastwise trade may be inter- cepted by any maritime power with whom we may be at war, they cannot forbear to urge the necessity of affording the most efficient aid of the general government for making an internal communica- tion which shall insure an uninterrupted intercourse between the several States, who depend so much for comfort, convenience, de- fense and subsistence on each other. Sugar, cotton, rice, tobacco and many other commodities of the South would be exchanged for the manufactures and products of the North; and through this chan- nel the States of Illinois, Missouri and other adjacent states and territories vill at all times be enabled to transmit their inexhausti- ble stores of minerals, together with their agricultural products, poultry, furs, stone, coal, etc., to a market. Coal is found in great abundance on the route of the canal and on the whole extent of the Illinois river In conclusion, if the United States could be actuated by any such motive as gain in this exchange, the plan proposed by the bill reported is calculated to effect that object, for every fact in the history of lands goes to prove the great improvement in price of all lands through which they pass."
The Illinois Legislature of 1823 appointed a Board of Canal Commissionersto survey the route and estimate the cost and report to the next Legislature. These commissioners employed Colonel Post and Color] Paul of Missouri as engineers. They examined
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HISTORY OF COOK COUNTY
five different routes for a portion of the distance and estimated the expense of each route. These estimates varied from $640,000 to $761,000. The estimate of the fifth route was upon the plan to use Lake Michigan water as a feeder and was a fraction short of $690,000. Upon the report of these surveyors the Legislature in January, 1825, passed a bill incorporating the "Illinois and Michi- gan Canal company." No stock was sold, and at a special session the next winter the act was repealed. "The embarrassment of the State growing out of the ruinous policy of the State Bank without capital," prevented anything from being done until January, 1829, when an act was passed to organize a Board of Canal Commis- sioners with full power to survey, locate, employ, and do the work. Congress had, on March 2, 1827, provided that the State should have every alternate section within five miles of the canal. The commissioners were authorized to see this land, lay out towns, sell the lots and apply the funds. They laid off Chicago and Ottawa. Upon closer examination it was found that the water was probably not sufficient in dry seasons and that the rock would have to be taken out part of the way, and that this rock was so near the surface that it would prevent the water from being taken from Lake Michigan. A subsequent legislature authorized a reexamination with a railroad in view and to learn whether the waters of the Calumet could be used as a feeder. The report showed in favor of a railway. Con- gress was willing. Two estimations of canal expenses were sub- mitted. The first was to build the canal over the summit ten feet above Lake Michigan and depend on the streams for feeders. The line (953/4 miles) of this route was estimated at $1,601,965.83. If the divide was cut through the rock and Lake Michigan water used the cost would be $4,086,086.50. The estimated cost of a railroad for ninety-six miles was estimated at $1,052,423.19. During the summer of 1832 Mr. Pugh visited New York to learn of the relative cost of canals and railways, and to ascertain if funds could be ob- tained to finance the project. The canal lands were reported at 304,709 acres, about one-fifth timber. The State did not have the means, so the office of canal commissioners was abolished
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