Soapwort, a spicy, fragrant flower, helped make the lather in soap and whiten cloth at textile mills. Fleabane, a member of the sunflower family, was a flea repellent before the advent of insecticides. Nursing mothers consumed milkwort in hopes it would increase their milk supply. Heal-all salved mouth and throat ailments. Fires historically were common on the prairie.
Fire keeps trees from growing on the prairie and adds needed elements to the soil.
Small parcels of Chiwaukee Prairie are burned regularly. The prairie has faced serious threats during its long history. The project quickly subdivided the land with its promises of an 18-hole golf course and electric railway to shuttle residents to Chicago and back, but the venture failed during the Great Depression. In the 1960s, a large marina development called Pompeii on the Lake was planned near the prairie, including a massive 1,000-slip marina. That prompted a local group led by Kenoshans Al Krampert and Phil Sander to appeal to The Nature Conservancy for help in 1965.