USA > Indiana > Lake County > A standard history of Lake County, Indiana, and the Calumet region, Volume I > Part 3
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Lowell, as a timber and mill seat, 135; newspapers, 252; banks, 466; found- ing of, 467; pioneer local institutions, 467; largest buildings in the county, 467; strongest temperance town, 467; effects of 1898 fire, 468; high school, 468; churches, 471; lodges, 471 Lowell School (view), 469 Lowell National Bank, 335
Lucas, Blaz A., 732 Luetdke, Edward C., 806
Lukens, B. C., 669
Lukmann, Fred, 507
Lundquist, Albert G., 796
Luther, James H., 30, 70
Lutherans, 55, 166, 361, 369, 411 Lutz, George, 764
Maack, Albert, 858
MacCracken, Henry F., 749
Maloney, C. H., 867
Maney, David, 594
Manhattan Lumber Company, 772
Mankowski, Ignatius F., 515
Manlove, George H., 561
Marcovich, Wolf, 674
Mashino, William F., 799
Masonic bodies, 434 Masons, 373, 415 Mathews, John, 731 Matson, C., 632
Mattern, L. H., 610
Mayer, August, 809
Mayer, Charles H., 527
Mayne, C. M., 620
McArthur, A. R., 819
McCarty, Benjamin, 104, 149
McCarty, Mrs. Benjamin, 96
McDaniel, Charles M., 513
MeDaniel. C. M., 353
McGarry, John E., 560
McGhee, Robert, 854
McGinnity, O. S., 645 MeGwinn's Indian village, 19
Mckenzie, Maurice, 600
MeKinley School, East Chicago (view), 423
INDEX
xxix
McMahan, Willis C., 234 McMahan, W. C., 630 McMichael, Frank J., 745 McNamee, Lawrence W., 813 McRoberts, George M., 764
Meade, Joseph A., 654 Meek, O. E., 745 Meeker, Charles H., 480
Meeker, J. Frank, 233, 578
Melin, D. D., 739
Melton, Arthur P., 851
Melton, Onis O., 564
Mentzer, William, 829
Merrill. John P., 258
Merrillville, 54, 183
Merrillville School (view), 181
Merz, Henry G., 580
Message from La Salle, 22
. Metcalf. J. E., 558 Methodism at Whiting, 445
Methodist church workers, 94
Methodists, 51. 166, 362, 370, 407, 430 Methodists at Indiana Harbor, 433
Mexican War, 254
Meyer, John H., 165
Meyer, John H., Jr., 165 Meyn, Peter W., 516 Michigan Avenue, Indiana Harbor
(view), 435
Militia and war, 254
Miller, Alexander C., 765
Miller, Mark M., 640
Miller, Samuel, 36
Miller School (view), 171
Miller, W. A., 707
Miller, William W., 859
Miller's Station, 171 Milligan, J. C., 857
Millikan, John, 248
Milner, Harry W., 777
Minas, Edward C., 518
Minas, Emil, 827 Miscellaneous figures for 1847, 111
Modern Farming (view), 114 Modern Woodmen of America, 379, 437
Modjeska, Isidore I., 520
Moe, Ingwald, 757 Mongrel schools, 202 Monon R. R., 268 Monteith, Mrs. S. J., 67
Moore, Ross F., 808
Moran, William J., 519 Moser, Peter J., 658
Mothers of large families, 98
Mott, Frederick R., 489 Mountain. John R., 820
Mrs. S. Monteith's memories, 67 Mundell, James, 740 Munster, 175 Munster School (view), 176 Murray, William J., 773 Muschelewicz, Paul I., 602
Muschelewicz, Paul, 760 Muskrats, 5, 26 Muzzall, T. A., 84
Nejdl, James J., 657
Nelson, F. E., 604
Nelson, J. O., 718
New Chicago, 172
New England women, 95
Newest railroads, 277 New Hampshire settlement, 136
Newman, Panl C., 722
Newton, William, 580
Neunfeldt, August W., 582
Nickel Plate R. R., 268
Nichols, C. E., 496
Nicholson, Harry B., 593
Night schools, 424
Normal school, 214
Norris. Karl D., 828
North, John A., 719
Gas and Electric
Northern . Indiana Works, 301 Northern Lake County in 1834, 30 Northern State Bank, 334, 493
North Township, bounded, 72; created, 101; population, 115: valuation, 120; area, 173; divided, 173; general view, 173; towns, 174; Dutch settlers of 1855, 175 Norton, E. Miles, 693
Norton. H. S., 542 Noted government messenger, 35
Nuppnan & Company, 763
Nuppnan, Charles P., 763
Nuppnan, W. H., 763
Oakland Park, 471 Oberlin, Thomas W., 547 Odd Fellows, 375, 415, 434 Ogden. S. W., 655
Oileloth and asphalt factories, 314 O'Keefe, Wallace J., 560 Okraj, John, 783
Old Baillytown, 32 Old Colfax district, 240 Old courtroom of historie memories, 102 Old District School No. 8 (view), 148 Old High School, Crown Point (view), 454 Old letter of 1843, 69 Old part of Gary, 129 Old Robinson house, 38 Old Sac trail, 185
Old Settler and Historical Association, 79
Old Settlers' Association, 66, 79 Old Style Sawmill (view), 56 Old-time Mail Coach (view), 33 Old-time physicians. 241 Old-time schoolhouse, 207 Old stage routes, 70 One of Tolleston's Pioneer Houses (view), 129
XXX
INDEX
Orchard Grove Literary Society, 159 Original Butler claims, 37
Original member of Old Settlers' Asso . ciation, 81 Orth, Frank, 697 Ottenheimer, Abe, 635
Ontdoor improvement of county schools, 218 Owen, W. B., 761
Pack, Albert, 708
Packer, Charles P., Jr., 700
Painter, Walter S., 586
Palmer, 200
Palmer, Dennis, 200
Palmer, H. D., 228, 241
Pan Handle R. R., 267
Panorama of the Industrial Heart of Gary (view), 382
Panorama of Jackson Park and Water Works (view), 389
Parks, Beaumont, 651
Parks, Pearle A., 761
Parry, Roy G., 687
Parsons, Mary E., 209
Passing of the water fowl, 9
Patriarch, 142
Pattee, Frank B., 600
Patterson, James A., 236, 695
Peaceful Indian life, 18
Pearce, Margaret, 93
Pearce, Michael, 161
Pearl Laundry Company, 862
Pennsylvania Company's Car Repair Shops, 308
People's State Bank of Crown Point, 335
Pepperdine, William, 606
Peters, Henry C., 564
Petersen, H. C., 808
Peterson, John B., 241
Petrolene Company, The, 681
Petry, Franklin, 779
Pettibone, Harvey, 242
Pettibone, Henry, 242
Phillips, William C., 849
Physical features, 1
Physicians, 241
Pioneer banker of Crown Point, 156
Pioneer families, 288 Pioneer frozen to death, 78
Pioneer judges, 229
Pioneer legal field, 227
Pioneer mothers, 88
Pioneer picture, 61
Pioneer promoters of Crown Point, 104
Pioneer railway stations, 266
Pioneer stores in the Kankakee re- gion, 20 Pioneers, 25
Playground at Wallace School, Calumet Township (view), 132 Pleasant Grove, 41
Plum Grove School (view), 159 Population, 144, 215
Postoffice of Lake Courthouse, 75 Pottawatomies, 16
Prairies and their products, 7
Pratt, A. J., 242 Presbyterians, 368, 410
Present Cedar Lake Township School (view), 151 Present High School (view), 454
Present townships, 104
Present-day field of county education, 216 Present-day judiciary, 233
Press of Hammond, 249
Press of Hobart, 252
Press of Lake County, 245
Prest, Frank D., 522
Prosperous era, 112
Public lands surveyed, 35
Public libraries, 421
Public Library, Crown Point (view), 451
Public Library, East Chicago (view), 421 Public Library, Gary, 395
Public school system, Hobart Township, 460
Public school system, Gary, 396
Public schools, 351, 422
Pyatt, William, 715
Pyle, J. L., 626
Pythian Sisters, 377, 435
Quincy, W. C., 632
Railroads, 264
Railroads of thirty years ago, 269
Railroad yards and works, 282
Rajcany, Benedict, 625
Randall, Louise, 691
Reasons for slow growth of county, 63
Reclaiming the swamp lands in West Creek Township, 199
Recollections of James H. Luther, 70
Recollections of Mrs. Nannie W. Ames, 137 Red Cedar Lake, 47, 77, 144, 145
Reed, John W., 842
Refining companies, 307
Reid, Murdoch & Company, 302
Reilley, Patrick, 567
Reilly, John F., 509
Reissig, Henry O., 552
Reiter, Virgil S., 234, 589
Relics and collections, 23
Religious statistics, 113
Remains of first settlers, 21
Remarkable growth of Gary, 116
Rentner, Albert, 856 Reppa, J. Kalman, 680
Report of Superintendent Canine, 424 Republic Iron and Steel Works, 309 Resort business, 151
INDEX
xxxi
Rev. William Townley School, 209 Richard Fancher and the fair grounds, 154 Richards, Thomas Y., 653
Ridgely, Edgar A., 745 Rigg, P. L., 603 Riley, Walter J., 736 Rise of the fresh beef business, 289
Rivet and bolt manufactory, 310
Roads, 119
Roberts, A. M., 789
Roberts, Victor K., 496
Robertsdale, 298
Robbins, Stillman A., 256
Robinson, Alexander, 17
Robinson, Maria, 90
Robinson, Sarah J., 209
Robinson, Solon. 36
Robinson's Prairie, 73
Robinson, the trader chief, 17 Rockwell, William, 52
Rohde, John L., 573
Rooda, W. J., 639
Roper, Philip. Sr., 817 Ross, 131
Ross Township Consolidated School No. 10 (view), 181
Ross Township, origin of name, 105; population. 116; valuation, 124; area, 180; named, 180; towns, 182; early settlers, 182 Ross, William, 34, 169, 180 Rout of the timber thieves, 101 Rundell, F. P., 792
Sacred Heart Catholic parish, 444 St. Adelbert's parish, 446
St. Bridget's parish, 464 St. Casimir's Catholic Church, 368 St. Johannes' German Evangelical Luth- eran Church, 369 St. John Baptist Catholic Church, 445 St. John Cantius Church, Indiana Har- bor, 702
St. John Township, created, 105; popu- lation, 116; valuation, 124; area, 185; pioneers, 186; churches, 187; towns, 188 St. John, the village, 188 St. Joseph's Catholic Church. 363 St. Margaret's Hospital, 245
St. Mary's Church, Hammond, 372
St. Mary's Catholic Church, Indiana Harbor, 431
St. Mary's Greek Catholic Church, 445
St. Mary's Catholic Church, Crown Point, 456
St. Mary's Catholic Church of East Chi- cago, 675 St. Paul's Episcopal Church, 366
St. Paul's Evangelical Lutheran Church, 361
SS. Peter and Paul Catholic Church, 446
St. Stanislaus Church of East Chicago, 431, 693
Salisbury, Edwin A., 746
Sands, James A., 834
Saric, Lazar W., 672
Sasse, Henry, Sr., 55, 77, 162
Sawmills and bridges, 56
Saxton, Ebenezer, 53, 183
Sayger, E. G., 810
Scenes At and Around Hammond (view), 378 Schaaf, Ferdinand R., 540
Schaeffer, Arthur D., 787
Scharbach, William, Jr., 723
Scheddell, William A., 584
Scheidt, Edmund C., 736
Scherer, Nichols, 192
Schererville, 192
Schlieker, Alexander G., 733
Schmidt, Carl K., 687
Schneider Consolidated School, West Creek Township (view), 196
Schock, M. R., 695 School examiners, 213
School finances, 208
School population, 215
Schools of Lake County, 202
School system of Gary, described, 399
Schrage, Henry, 439, 613
Schrage, W. R., 613
Schroeder, William J., 835
Schubich, Paul E., 640
Seritchfield, L. J., 617
Secret and benevolent bodies, 447
Scely, Ray, 839
Seehase, Otto C. F., 702
Sefton, Clarence O., 677
Semi-centennial, 66
Serais, Samuel, 780
Settlers around Red Cedar Lake, 47, 77
Settlers of 1834, 36
Settlers of 1835, 42
Seyl, Peter W., 852
Shanklin, Eldridge M., 548
Sharrer, Harry E., 566
Shaubenee the Great, 16
Shaw, Frank A., 837
Sheaks, Irvin, 700
Sheehan, Frank J., 750
Shelby, 140
Shelby Consolidated School, Cedar Creek Township (view), 140
Shelden, C. C., 631
Sheridan Consolidated School, West Creek Township (view), 196
Shimp, Earl V., 750
Shine, Nate, 699 Shipping company formed, 290
Shortridge, Ernest L., 577 Simon Brothers, 643
Simon, Charles J., 643
Simon, Edward, 575
xxxii
INDEX
Simon, Lewis, 643 Simplex Railway Appliance Company, 299 Simpson, E. C., 779 Slav element, 405 Slick, S. H., 851 Smalley, John D., 479 Smith, Andrew J., 716
Smith, Andrew W., 559
Smith, Charles A., 566
Smith, Clarence C., 652
Smith, Frank W., 244, 666
Smith, Fred J., 614 Smith, George H., 831
Smith, George L., 547
Smith, Joseph P., 254
Smith, Martin J., 642
Smith, Nathaniel L., 583
Smith, S. A., 854 Snell, Thomas T., 823 Snyder, J. Ralph, 684
Sohl, Cynthia W., 866
Sohl, Henry W., 865
Sohl, Walter W., 866
Sohl, William, 867
Soldiers' Aid Society, 259
Soldiers' Monument, 259
Soldiers' Monument at Lowell (view), 260
Solon Robinson's historical synopsis, 42 Some English settlers, 55
Sommers, Harry W., 679 Southeast Grove, 156
Southeast Grove Cemetery Society, 158 Southside Trust and Savings Bank of Gary. 334, 714 South Township, 101 Shakespeare Club, 347 Spanish-American war, 261
Specimen Indiana Cattle (view), 191 Spencer, Walter L., 655
Sportsmen, 10 Sproat, Erie G., 572 Spurrier. Reuben H .. 659
Squatter's Union protects settlers, 58 Stachowiak, Anthony A., 704 Stamper, R. C., 641 Standard Oil Company, 177, 271, 439 Standard Oil Plant. 311
Standard Oil Company of Indiana, The, 651
Standard Steel Car Works, 300 Start of Hammond, 291 State Line Interlocking Plant, 279
State Line slaughter house founded, 290 State National Bank of Lowell, 331 Statistics, 1912-14, 225 Staube Piano Plant. 303 Stawicki, John P., 724 Stearns, Ella, 734 Stearns, Thomas J., 734 Steel plants, 306 Stephens, Fred, 799
Stephens, Harold, 805 Stevens, Perry H., 688 Stinson, John M., 539 Stout, George P., 501 Stout, William A., 501
Stowell, Starr, 681
Straube Piano Company, 502
Street Scene at Ambridge (view), 322
Stringfellow, Harry, 625
Summer schools, 424
Summers, Zerah F., 247
Superior Courthouse, 236
Superior Courthouse, Hammond (view), 110 Surprise, Peter, 142 Swaim, Silas E., 827
Tabbert, George E., 724
Taxable capacity, 118
Taylor, Adonijah, 78, 135, 146
Taylor, Horace, 78, 146
Taylor, Obadiah, 135
Taylor, William, 755
Teaching children how to play, 220
Teegarden, J. A., 863
Templin, Theo B., 847
Temporary courthouse, 102
Terzich, Lucas, 840 "The Calumet," 253
Thegze, George, 812 Thiele, John M., 661 Thomas, William, 522
Thompson, Austin L., 730
Thompson, B. G., 741
Thompson, G. H., 701
Tittle Bros. Packing Company, 682
Tittle, Joseph, 682 Timber thieves, 101 Tolleston, 129, 266
Tolleston Club Company. 26
Tolleston Concrete Company, 813
Tolleston Gun Club, 128
Tolliver, J. P., 624
Toner, Thomas J., 553
Torrence, General, 304
Torrence, Joseph F., 419 Total population, 215
Towle, Marcus M., 292, 504
Towle, Marcus M., Jr., 507 Towle plats and founds Hammond, 293 Townley, William, 209 Townships, 72, 101, 104
Tracey. Joseph C., 642
Transportation, 263, 316 Trappers, 5, 25 "Tribune, The Gary," 850
"Tuesday Evening Reading Club," 421 Turner, A. Murray, 486 Turner, David, 58, 488
Turner, Mac, 529 Turner, Mrs. Samuel, 99 Turner, Samuel, 57, 160 Turner, Susan, 69
INDEX xxxiii
Turner, Susan P., 97 Tuthill, William H., 595
Typical Pioneer Cabin (view), 27 Twelfth Cavalry, 257 Two distinguished graduates, 208 Twyman, Allen P., 677
Uecker, Herman W., 770 Ullrich, Englehardt, 543
United Boiler Heating and Foundry Com . pany, 558
United States courts at Hammond, 236 United States Steel Corporation, 314
Universal Portland Cement Company, 319
University Club, Gary, 415
Up Broadway Toward the Steel Mills (view), 318
Usefulness of consolidated schools, 222 Utilization of tin waste, 307
Valentine, Carl A., 807 Value of personal property, 117 Value of real estate, 117 Van Horne, Willard B., 685 Van Liew, Don F., 710
Van Steenbergen, Joseph G., 699 Verplank, George, 711 Verplank, J. J., 791
Veteran of Mexican and Civil wars, 258 View of Industrial Section (view), 305 View on Court Street, Crown Point (view), 453 View on Fancher Lake (view), 47 View on Present Main Street, Crown Point (view), 39 Village of Ross, 105 "Virginian-Afraid-of-the-Lake," 31
Volesko, Andrew, 680 Von Hollen, Henry, 55, 77, 163 Von Hollen and Herlitz families, 77 Vossler, Henry A., 747
Wabash R. R., 272 Wachowski, J. T., 662 Wall, William F., 821 Wallace, C. Keller, 647
Wallace Consolidated School, Calumet Township (view), 132 Wallace School (view), 354 Walton, E. V., 773 War nurses, 259 Warnimont, Michael P., 503 Warriner, E. B., 145 Warriner, Lewis, 50, 145, 150 Warriner, Lewis H., 828 Warwick, William E., 679 Washington Lumber & Coal Company, 757 Waterfowl, 5 Watershed, 8 Waterways, 2 Watson, Samuel J., 493
W. C. T. U., Gary, 414 Weis, George J., 585 Weis, Joseph W., 840 Weis, William D., 611 Wells, C. H., 736
Welsheimer, Frank L., 641 Westberg, C. A., 665
Westbrook, James, 147 West Creek neighborhood, 54
West Creek Township, created, 104; population, 116; valuation, 125;
named, 193; area, 193; general fea- tures, 193; first settlers, 194; first school, 195: pioneer church, 197; northeastern settlements, 197; pioneer schoolhouses. 198; early times, 198. West Hammond Trust & Savings Bank, 760
West Point. 149, 174
Wheaton, Herbert L., 575
Wheeler, John, 246, 247, 255
Wheeler, John J., 248
Whinery, William J., 569
Whitaker, Henry, 797
White, Emmet N., 640
White, Guy C., 562
White trapper, 26
Whiting population, 115; named, 177; newspapers, 250; and Standard Oil Co., 271; industries, 311; as a town, 439; public park, 440; eity improvements, 440; municipal departments, 440; public library, 441; public schools, 441; churches, 444; lodges, 447.
"Whiting Call," 621
Whiting High School (view), 438
Whiting Public Library, 690
Wieks, O. C., 709
Widholm, Gustave S., 643
Wiggins, Jere, 40, 53, 183
Wiggins Point, 40
Wilcockson, Joseph M., 863
Wild, Alwin, 706
Wiley, M. Clifford, 674
Wilhelm, Fred C., 862 William Graver Tank Works, 634 Winfield, 201
Winfield Township created, 105; popu- lation, 116; valnation, 126; area, 199; pioneers, 200; towns, 201.
Wirt, William A., 399, 484 Wisconsin Lumber Company, 634
Wise, Edward P., 749 Wolter, William H., 616
Wonderful rise of Gary, 129
Wood, Frederick H., 870 Wood, James A., 241
Wood, Jolin, 46, 182 Wood, L. Clark, 636 Wood, Martin, 230 Wood, Thomas J., 240
Woodbridge, George A., 133 Woodbridge, Mrs. George A., 93
xxxiv
INDEX
Woodlands of Lake County, 5 Woods, Bartlett, 60 Woods, Carroll R., 356 Woodvale, 46, 182 Woodward, Lewis E., 767 Woszczynski, Konstantine M., 620 Wright, W. G., 623
Yasulis, B. R., 705 Yeoman, S. B., 242 Youche, J. W., 232, 690
Young, Alva A., 571 Young, George W., 823 Young, James N., 297 Young America is launched, 153 Young Men's Christian Association of Gary, 413, 619
Zawadzki, Frank, 670 Zielinski, Joseph A., 694 Zimmermann, Richard, 526 Zion's German Methodist Church, 370
Lake County and the Calumet Region
CHAPTER I
NATURE IN LAKE COUNTY
DISTINCT PHYSICAL FEATURES-THE GRAND AND LITTLE CALUMET- BALL'S DESCRIPTION OF THE CALUMET REGION-THE MAGIC HAND OF MAN-THE WOODLANDS OF LAKE COUNTY-THE GROVES-THE PRAIRIES AND THEIR PRODUCTS-FLOWERS OF BRIGHT AND VARIED HUE-GRASSES OF THE COUNTY-LAKE PRAIRIE, GEM OF THE COUNTY -THE WATERSHED-THE KANKAKEE REGION-THE PASSING OF THE WATER FOWL-THE COMING OF THE SPORTSMEN-DRAINAGE AND DITCHES-DENUDED OF TIMBER.
Lake County forms the extreme northwestern corner of Indiana, between Lake Michigan and the Kankakee River, with Porter County on the east and Cook and Will counties, as well as the northern part of Kankakee County, Illinois, on the west. It is sixteen miles in breadth from east to west, and varies from twenty-seven to thirty-seven miles from north to south, the general westward trend of Lake Michigan being toward the north, and of the Kankakee River, toward the south.
The county comprises an area of land and marsh surface of about five hundred square miles, and, according to the statutes of the state its northern boundary, as a portion of the Commonwealth of Indiana, also extends ten miles into the waters of Lake Michigan. Although this fact may seem to some immaterial, it undoubtedly has a very direct bearing upon the riparian rights of a number of big corporations whose property abuts upon that body of water.
DISTINCT PHYSICAL FEATURES
The physical features of Lake County, while not bold are distinct and very interesting. First comes the low, sandy Calumet region of the north, netted by the Little and Grand Calumet rivers with the
1
2
LAKE COUNTY AND THE CALUMET REGION
chain of little lakes in the northwestern part of Lake County and the southeastern part of Cook County, south of Chicago.
Below the Little Calumet, toward the central portions of the county, are the gentle uplands of Lake County, Deep River, its chief southern branch in that region, embracing the varied and pretty country north and east of Crown Point.
Then comes the Divide, which sends the waters of the Calumet north and those of the Kankakee south; in other words, the barrier between the waterways of the Great Lakes and Mississippi River.
Southward from the Divide flow the main tributaries of the Kan- kakee-Eagle Creek, Cedar Creek and West Creek-watering a fertile country of prairie lands and groves, and gradually seeping into a region of marshes, islands, drained bottom lands and productive meadows and farms.
THE GRAND AND LITTLE CALUMET
The waterways of the Calumet region tributary to Lake Michigan form one of the most complete system of protected harbors in the world, and point to that section as a grand center of commercial and industrial activity. The Little Calumet forms the outer rim of that region, loops around toward the west into Cook County and joins the Grand Calumet about a mile and a half southeast of Lake Calumet and some two miles west of the Lake County line. The Little Calumet is much longer, but neither so broad nor deep as the Grand. The main east and west channels of the streams are only about three miles apart, and as the Grand Calumet has both its source and its mouth in Lake Michigan, quite a section of Northern Lake County is an island.
The Grand Calumet River is from one hundred and fifty to two hundred feet wide and from fifteen to twenty feet deep. It rises in Lake Michigan within two miles of the east line of Lake County, and flows in a southwesterly direction through what is now the city of Gary until it reaches a point about five miles south of the Great Lake, thence northwest through East Chicago and Hammond and joins the Little Calumet River just southwest of Hegewisch, after which it takes a course north-of-east and empties into its source at South Chicago, barely within the limits of Cook County.
BALL'S DESCRIPTION OF THE CALUMET REGION
The imagination does not have to turn back many years to see the Calumet rivers and the Calumet region in a state of nature. But it
3
LAKE COUNTY AND THE CALUMET REGION
is well to see them both through the eyes of one who was as well ac- quainted with the country and the people as any who has ever lived- the late T. H. Ball, to whom all local historians are continually referring and deferring. He said, thirty years ago: "The Calumet region of the county of Lake is formed by a little winding, sluggish, grassy stream of clear, pure water, which rises in Porter County and flows mainly westward across the county of Lake into Illinois, and then, turning back from the large Blue Island bluff in Cook County, flows again mainly eastward nearly across Lake County. The strip of sand ridges, low, narrow valleys and of marshes, between the two channels (the Grand and the Little Calumet rivers) is from two to three miles wide. That strip of land is from east to west sixteen miles in length and varies but little anywhere from being three miles in breadth.
"Following the natural windings of the stream the whole river course in the county is, in round numbers, fifty miles. The area of the space between the two channels is nearly fifty square miles. To this area there are properly to be added twelve square miles between the river and Lake Michigan, and as much as eight square miles south of the lower channel, making in all an area of seventy square miles included in the term Calumet Region.
"The mouth of this stream on the shore of Lake Michigan is two miles from the spot where it enters the county, and from that spot to this mouth, by the channel of the river around by Blue Island, must be seventy-five or eighty miles. It is not common to find a river, big or small, that having made some twenty-three miles of westing, three of southing and then seven of northing, doubling upon itself, flows back, making twenty-one miles of easting.
"It was said that the water of this stream is clear and pure. It is thus in its natural condition, inviting the lone loiterer along its margin in summer time, to take a refreshing bath in its gently flowing, reedy, limpid waters; but a large slaughter house and some factories have largely injured, of late years, the purity of the water of the upper channel. But with these, and the immense ice houses along this river which seven great lines of railroad cross, this paper has nothing to do.
"About six hundred feet above the sea level, the comparatively low, flat land through which this river flows, the many marshes, large and small, the grass roots, pond lily roots and other herbage in the waters, have made this region, through all its known history, a thriving home for small fur-bearing animals. It has also been a favorite resort for wild animals.
"In low water, in the summer, children can ford the southern channel in many places; but in spring, or in the winter time, when the
4
LAKE COUNTY AND THE CALUMET REGION
melting snow and heavy rainfalls fill to the brim the low banks (where there are any), the overflow covers a large amount of surface, justifying the expression of the early geographers that 'the country around the extreme south bay of Lake Michigan has the appearance of the sea marshes of Louisiana.' "
The testimony of the first generation of pioneers who settled in Lake County is to the effect that the sand ridges along Lake Michigan in the Calumet region were originally covered with a valuable growth of pine and cedar, which was stripped off to assist in the upbuilding of Chicago. But even as early as the late '40s one was writing of Lake County : "In the northeast the sand hills are very abrupt and have yet some good pine timber, although very difficult to obtain." And another: "Near Lake Michigan the country has extensive sand hills which are covered only with stunted and shriveled pines and burr oaks."
"I am glad," says Mr. Ball, "that I was on those great piles of sand so often and saw with my own eyes the great pine trees as early as 1837, before the white settlers had made much impression on the vegetation or the sand hills. Large and delicious were the high bush huckleberries that grew on these high sand hills, and very abundant were the fragrant wintergreen berries. Mr. L. W. Thompson, now living in Hammond, born July 14, 1814, remembers well the pines and wintergreens, and he thinks the pines were twenty inches in diameter, as the logs were sawed at the City West sawmill."
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