The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1846-03-06

"A mile of it; at Wesley City 5 miles
below Peoria it is said good building
stone can be had at the bluff which
at this place is near the river; from
this point to Griggsville landing 4
miles below Naples no stone was
discovered but at every place | en-
quired | found that stone could be
got from the bluffs which are from
one to five miles from the river from
Griggsville landing to the mouth of
the river the bluff presents a per-
pcndicular face of rock the whole
distance, good stone of any size can
be got at all points at this distance
and at very little expense as the ri
yer is seldom over one quarter of a
mile from the base of the rocky
bluff.
The width of the river is very reg
ular throug hout its entire length; at
Peru about 500 feet, from Peru to
Apple creek it seldom exceeds 500
feet; from Apple Greek to the mouth
1900 feet, and at the mouth ll26
feet.
The fall from the termination of
the Canal to the mouth of the river
cannot exceed As feet. The longest
stretches of dwelling | made were
at Hennepin, at Naples, and at
Bridgeport; the distance levelled at
Hennepin was from the pool above
the bar above that place to the pool
at the foot of the flat below the
town distance of $500 feet; the
fall in that distance | found to be
0,409 or not quite three inches to a
mile; over the Naples flats a dis
lance of 1860 feet from the town
the fall was found to be l,l6l, less
than A inches to mile Z; at Bridge
port | levelled a distance of five
miles and found fall of ,229, less
than three inches TO mile; these
places were selected on account OF
an excess Of current over what was
generally found in the river; in ma
ny places the current is almost i'm
perceptible, from Henry to Peoria
a distance of 33 miles there is but
little current and the fall between
these two places cannot exceed two
inches to mile; from Apple Greek
to the mouth of the river a distance
of 33 miles the fall cannot be over
one and a half inches to mile as
the water is almost stationary be-
tween these points except in a few
places; and in many other places
along the river for distances Of from
2 to 10 miles the river appears to be
on dead level; in fact the river
from Lasalle to its mouth is a sue
cession of pools Of almost dead wa
ter caused by the different shoals
and bars which cross it at various
points.
The river appears to have had at
one time regular fall from Lasalle
to its mouth the original bottom is
a soft blue mud that can easily be
penetrated to depth of from A to
7 feet; upon this bottom there is at
various places deposit of sand mix
ed frequently with MUSCLES which
cover it to depth of from to
feet and which forms the bars and
shoals that now obstruct the naviga-
ton of the stream in low stage of
water; this deposit is on the in
crease being furnished by the differ
ent streams emptying into the river,
and as the deposit is brought from
the new lands continually being
opened on the prairies on either side
of the river through which these
streams pass, it is evident that in a
few years, if nothing is done to rem
edy the evil, the Illinois river will
become a useless stream for the pur-
poses of navigation except for short
time in the spring and early summer
months.
The streams emptying into the riv.
, er in dry season afford but a small
: supply to it; many of them at the
time of my examination were appa.
4 rently dry; they all take their ris,
' in the prairies on either side of the
f river and their supply depends al
= most entirely upon the water flow.
1 ing from the surface OF the g1ounc
f in rainy season at which time the,
, often overflow their banks; whel
9 the winter breaks up with a we
t opening of spring these streams ris,
= to an extraordinary height often eau
c sing the river also to overflow it
G banks; from this time to the clos,
G of navigation by ice the water grad
e ually falls to its lowest point and al
VI though the summer may have beer
y a wet one it seldom has the effect O
+ altering the height Of the river ma
c terially but has the effect of keepin,
It the stream in better navigable or
n der till a later period in the season
d the freshets generally commenc
n about the fret of March corry;,,