1848:
The Illinois & Michigan Canal (continued)
The first action taken toward realization of such a canal occurs in 1816; President Monroe signs a treaty with several Indian tribes that cedes to the federal government a twenty-mile wide swath of land paralleling the Chicago portage route and lower Des Plaines River to the Illinois River. Two years later, Illinois becomes a state, and its northern boundary is moved 62 miles north of the original boundary specified by the Northwest Ordinance of 1787. This ensures that the canal remains wholly within the state of Illinois and is not shared with Wisconsin (University of Chicago 1996).
In 1822, the federal government authorizes Illinois to construct a canal through U.S. public lands. Surveying begins for the canal, and in 1827, the federal government provides additional motivation to construct the canal by deeding federal land to the state. Despite this, the state has a difficult time financing the construction of the canal. Finally, on July 4, 1836, groundbreaking occurs for the I & M Canal.
On April 10, 1848, the mule-drawn canal barges begin the day-long, 96-mile trip between La Salle and Chicago (see Figure 5a). Construction of the Canal leads to massive changes in northeastern Illinois and ultimately to the Illinois River. The population of the Village of Chicago skyrockets from 200 in 1832 to 3,820 in 1836, to 4,470 in 1840, and finally to 29,963 in 1850 (University of Chicago 1996).
These new settlers bring unsettling changes to the area. New residents build farther back from the river and dig pit toilets that quickly contaminate shallow wells used for drinking water. When rain falls, filth collects in shallow depressions creating “pools of indescribable liquid” (Chicago Public Library). Hogs and cattle are kept in the city’s alleys, manure is dumped into the streets, and dead livestock are piled along the waterfront.
As conditions worsen, ditches are built slanted toward the river so that waste drains away. Garbage is thrown into these ditches, clogging the drainage. The primitive sanitation that exists only shifts the pollution from the streets to the river to create cesspools the consistency of “rich pea soup” according to residents. One traveler notes that Chicago should be called the “City of pestiferous odour” (Chicago Public Library). The original six-foot canal is deepened to nine feet in 1871 in order to increase the current and to dispose of the city’s sewage. With this deepening, the Chicago River begins to flow southwest down the canal, and someone observes that the “black river” will soon to “clean enough for fish to swim in” (Chicago Public Library).
