Of Prairie, Woods, and Water: Two Centuries of Chicago Nature Writing - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0226306615 ISBN 13: 9780226306612

Publisher: University of Chicago Press, 2008

Synopsis

In the literary imagination, Chicago evokes images of industry and unbridled urban growth. But the tallgrass prairie and deep forests that once made up Chicago’s landscape also inspired musings from residents and visitors alike. In Of Prairie, Woods, and Water, naturalist Joel Greenberg gathers these unique voices from the land to present an unexpected portrait of Chicago in this often charming, sometimes heart-wrenching anthology of nature writing.

These writings tell the tale of a land in transition—one with abundant, unique, and incredibly lush flora and fauna, a natural history quite elusive today. Drawing on archives he uncovered while writing his acclaimed A Natural History of the Chicago Region, Greenberg hand-selected these first-person narratives, all written between 1721 and 1959. Not every author is familiar, but every contribution is distinctive. From a pioneer’s hilarious notes on life in the Kankakee marsh to Theodore Drieser’s poignant plea for conservation of the Tippecanoe River to infamous murderer Nathan Leopold’s charming description of a pet robin he kept in prison, the sources included are as diverse as the nature they describe.

The excerpts conclude with insightful biographical essays and traverse a wide area of greater Chicagoland, from the Illinois River to southwest Michigan, from southern Wisconsin to the Limberlost swamp of northeastern Indiana. A fascinating record of Chicago’s changing environmental history, Of Prairie, Woods, and Water captures the natural world in a way that will inspire its continued conservation.

Errata: We have learned the title of a book by the Chicago ecologist and writer May Theilgaard Watts has been incorrectly rendered in the selections attributed to Mrs. Watts. The correct title of her book is Reading the Landscape of America (Nature Study Guild Publishers, see http://naturestudy.com). This will be corrected in the next printing. We very much regret the error.

About this title

About the Author

Joel Greenberg is a naturalist, writer, and environmental consultant. He is the author of A Natural History of the Chicago Region and coauthor of A Birder’s Guide to the Chicago Region.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Of Prairie, Woods, & Water

TWO CENTURIES OF CHICAGO NATURE WRITING

The University of Chicago Press

Copyright © 2008 The University of Chicago
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-226-30661-2

Contents

Preface................................................................................................................xvLANDSCAPE..............................................................................................................3Letters to the Dutchess of Lesdiguieres Pierre-Franois-Xavier de Charlevoix..........................................7William Johnston's Tour from Fort Wayne to Chicago, 1809 William Johnston.............................................12A Visitor to Chicago in Indian Days: "Journal to the 'Far-Off West'" Colbee Benton....................................23Talk of the Town Robert P. Saunders...................................................................................23A Summer Journey in the West Eliza Steele.............................................................................26Berrien and Cass Counties G.F.........................................................................................28Sketches of My Own Times David Turpie.................................................................................32Rats! Rats! Rats! Carl Schurz.........................................................................................33Prince of Wales in Canada and the United States Nicholas A. Woods.....................................................40Breeding Habits of Ardea heroias as Seen During a Visit to Crane Town B...............................................42The Shooting Clubs of Chicago-No. XI: The Grand Calumet Heights Club Emerson Hough....................................50Voices of the Dunes and Other Etchings Earl Reed......................................................................59Tales of a Vanishing River [The "Wether Book" by Josiah Granger] Earl Reed............................................69Most Interesting Interview with Mrs. Druscilla Carr J. W. Lester......................................................73The Tippecanoe River Theodore Dreiser.................................................................................78An Early Illinois Prairie Albert W. Herre.............................................................................82The Kankakee in the Old Days F. E. Ling...............................................................................89A Naturalist in the Great Lakes Region Elliot Downing.................................................................95A Hoosier Tramp Samuel A. Harper......................................................................................109BOTANY.................................................................................................................117Our Native Grasses George Vasey.......................................................................................121Prairie Woodlands Ellsworth Jerome Hill...............................................................................124The Plant Societies of Chicago and Vicinity Henry Chandler Cowles.....................................................130Round About Chicago Louella Chapin....................................................................................137Relic Dunes: A Life History Frank C. Gates............................................................................144Reading the American Landscape May T. Watts...........................................................................150On Improving the Property May T. Watts................................................................................152Impressions of the Warren Woods Wendell Paddock.......................................................................158An Annotated Flora of the Chicago Area Herman S. Pepoon...............................................................166LAND ANIMALS...........................................................................................................175Pigeons! Darius Cook..................................................................................................175Notes on the Ornithology of Wisconsin Philo R. Hoy....................................................................179The Quadrupeds of Illinois, Injurious and Beneficial to the Farmer Robert Kennicott...................................188Recollections of Bird-Life in Pioneer Days Halvor L. Skavlem..........................................................192Birds of Northeastern Illinois Edward W. Nelson.......................................................................198Letter [Least Bittern] X.Y............................................................................................198Tragedy in the Home of the Owls Edward B. Clark.......................................................................200Birds of Lakeside and Prairie Edward B. Clark.........................................................................205Nature Sketches in Temperate America Joseph Lane Hancock..............................................................213Moths of the Limberlost Gene Stratton-Porter..........................................................................220A Day among the Waterfowl and Its Sequel G. Eifrig....................................................................223Memoirs of a Naturalist Herbert L. Stoddard Sr........................................................................233Bird Notes from Trailside Museum Mary Block...........................................................................233[Notes on a Woodcock] Stephen S. Gregory Jr...........................................................................237Bird Life of a Roadside Marsh Alfred M. Bailey........................................................................239American Egrets in the Lake Region W. J. Beecher......................................................................244Green Herons Donald Boyd..............................................................................................246Passenger Pigeon in Northeastern Illinois Benjamin T. Gault...........................................................247Reminiscences of Early Experiences in the Chicago Area Benjamin T. Gault..............................................250Geolycosa, the Wolf of the Dunes Donald C. Lowrie.....................................................................255The Opossum, Prophet without Honor D. Dwight Davis....................................................................261Pyramids of Palos A. S. Windsor.......................................................................................267On the Trail of the Chat Amy Baldwin..................................................................................270Cliff Swallows Violet F. Hammond......................................................................................272An Old Colony of Cliff Swallows Alfred Lewy...........................................................................274Wildlife of Elk Grove Preserve Gordon Sawyer Pearsall.................................................................278My Secret Places: One Man's Love Affair with Nature in the City Leonard Dubkin........................................288WATER WORLD............................................................................................................295Letter to Spencer F. Baird [Regarding Crayfish] R. P. Stearns.........................................................296Southern Cook County and History of Blue Island Before the Civil War Ferdinand Schapper...............................296Report of the Fisheries of the Great Lakes James W. Milner............................................................302Sea and River Fishing: Fish in Season in November S. C. Clarke........................................................302Letter [Fish Pot Hunters] Pickerel....................................................................................303Black Bass Fishing in Fox River Fred J. Wells.........................................................................308Gleanings from Nature W. S. Blatchley.................................................................................313The Fish Market of Chicago Illinois Board of Fish Commissioners.......................................................315Animal Communities in Temperate North America Victor Shelford.........................................................323The Nesting Habits of Certain Sunfishes as Observed in a Park Lagoon in Chicago Carl L. Hubbs.........................326A River Mussel Parasitic on a Salamander Arthur D. Howard.............................................................330A Survey of Fishes in an Illinois Stream Loren P. Woods...............................................................334MINDSCAPES.............................................................................................................341Miscellany [Wolf Hunts] H..............................................................................................344Six Months with the Indians Darius B. Cook............................................................................349Letter in Defense of Snakes John Kennicott............................................................................353A History of the County of Du Page, Illinois C. W. Richmond and H. F. Vallette.........................................354A Day's Hunting in 1871 on the Club's Ground South Shore Country Club.................................................356Field, Cover, and Trap Shooting Adam Bogardus.........................................................................359History of Kendall County E. W. Hicks.................................................................................360Game Hunt Anonymous...................................................................................................361Duck Shooting Around Fox Lake Anonymous...............................................................................361Then and Now-the Extermination of Game Lowther........................................................................363Prairie Chicken Shooting and Trapping Fifty Years Ago Anonymous.......................................................365Plover Shooting on the Prairies Rock Jr...............................................................................366Recollections of Calumet Blue Wing....................................................................................367A Plea for the Wild Duck Anonymous....................................................................................368Statement Read before the Central Illinois Sportsmen's Association by Its President George Hayden.....................369Letter from Princeton, Illinois [in Favor of Hunting Hawks] Anonymous.................................................369Letter [Wasteful Hunting on the Des Plaines River] J. G. Nattrass.....................................................370Our Hearts Were Young and Gay Edward R. Ford..........................................................................372Skokie Memories Edward R. Ford........................................................................................373The Naturalist Edward R. Ford.........................................................................................374Who Kills the Birds? Mary Drummond....................................................................................376Colonel Isaac Washington Brown: The Bird and Bee Man Henry A. Pershing................................................383When the Lotus Are in Bloom Laura Buchannon...........................................................................384Letter to Illinois Audubon Society Olga Vrablik.......................................................................385Nature Recreation in Chicago William G. Vinal.........................................................................389A Prairie Grove Donald Culross Peattie................................................................................394Some Scenes Years Ago at the Dunes Recalled with Great Pleasure Donald Culross Peattie................................397Chicago Park District vs. Arthur Canfield Illinois Supreme Court......................................................398

Chapter One

Landscape

Letters to the Dutchess of Lesdiguieres

Pierre-Franois-Xavier de Charlevoix

LETTER XXV

Sept. 17 Madam,

I did not expect to take up my Pen to write to you so soon; but my Conductors have just now broke their Canoe, and here I am detained the whole Day in a place where I can find nothing that can excite the Curiosity of a Traveller; therefore I can do nothing better than employ my Time in entertaining you.

I think I informed you in my last, that I had the Choice of two Ways to go to the Illinois: The first was to return to Lake Michigan, to coast all the South Shore, and to enter into the little River Chicagou. After going up it five or six Leagues, they pass into that of the Illinois, by Means of two Portages, the closest of which is but a League and a Quarter. But as this River is but a brook in this Place, I was informed that at that Time of the Year I should not find Water enough for my Canoe; therefore I took the other Route, which has also its Inconveniences, and is not near so pleasant, but it is the surest.

I departed Yesterday from the Fort of the River St. Joseph, and I went up that River about six Leagues. I landed on the Right, and I walked a League and a Quarter; at first by the Bank of the River, then cross the Country in a vast Meadow, interspersed all over with little Clusters of Trees, that have a very fine Effect. They call it the Meadow of ... the Buffalo's Head because they found here a Buffalo's Head of a monstrous Size. Why should there not be Giants among these Animals?-I encamped in a very fine Place, which they call the Fort des Renards (of the Foxes), because the Renards, that is to say, the Outagamis, had here, and not long since, a Village fortified after their Manner.

This Morning I walked a League further in the Meadow, having almost all the Way my Feet in Water. Then I met with a little Pool, which communicates with several others of different Bigness, the largest of which is not one hundred Paces in Compass. These are the Sources of a River called Theakiki, and which our Canadians by Corruption call Kihakiki. Theak signifies a Wolf, I forget in what Language; but this River is so call'd because the Mahingans, which are also called the Wolves, formerly took Refuge here.

We put our Canoe, which was brought hither by two Men, into the second of these Springs, or Pools, and we embarked; but we found scarce Water enough to keep it afloat: Ten Men, in two Days, might make a straight and navigable Canal, which would save much Trouble, and ten or twelve Leagues Way; for the River, at the first coming out from its Spring, is so narrow, and we are continually obliged to turn so short, that at every Moment one is in Danger of breaking the Canoe, as it has just now happened to us.

LETTER XXVI

October 5

Madam,

The Night of the 17th of this Month, the Frost, which for eight Days past was perceivable every Morning, increased considerably. This was early for this Climate.... The following Days we went forward from Morning to Night, favored by the Current, which is pretty strong, and sometimes the Wind: In Fact, we made a great deal of Way, but we advanced very little on our Journey: After having gone 10 or 12 Leagues, we found ourselves so near our last Encampment, that Persons in both Places might have seen each other, and even have talked together, at least with a Speaking-Trumpet. But it was some Consolation to us, that the River and its Borders were covered with Wild-Fowl, fattened with wild Oats, which were then ripe. I also gathered some ripe Grapes, which were of the Shape and Bigness of a Musket-Ball, and soft enough, but of a bad Taste. This is probably the same that they call in LOUISIANA the Plumb Grape. The River by Degrees grows less winding; but its Borders are not pleasant till we are fifty Leagues from its Source. It is also for all this Space very narrow, and as it is bordered with Trees, whole Roots are in the Water, when one falls it bars up the whole River, and it takes a great deal of Time to clear a Passage for a Canoe.

Having got over these Difficulties, the River, about fifty Leagues from its Source, forms a small Lake, and afterwards grows considerably wider. The Country begins to be fine: The Meadows here extend beyond the Sight, in which the Buff aloes go in Herds of 2 or 3 hundred: But one must keep a good Lookout, not to be surprised by the Parties of Sioux and Outagamis, which are drawn hither by the Neighborhood of the Illinois, their mortal Enemies, and who give no Quarter to the French they meet on their Route. The Misfortune is, that the Theakiki loses its Depth as it grows wider, so that we are often obliged to unload the Canoes and walk, which is always all ended with some Danger, and I should have been greatly perplexed, if they had not given me an Escort at the River St. Joseph.

What surprised me at seeing so little Water in the Theakiki was, that from Time to Time it receives some pretty Rivers. I saw one among the rest, above sixty Yards wide at its Mouth, which they have named the Iroquois River, because these gallant Men suffered themselves to be surprised here by the Illinois, who killed a great Number of them. This Blow humbled them the more, as they greatly despised the Illinois, who for the most Part can never face them.

The 27th of September we arrived at the Fork; this is the Name the Canadians give the Place where the Theakiki and the River of the Illinois join. The last, after a Course of sixty Leagues, is still so shallow, that I saw a Buffalo cross it, and the Water did not come above the Middle of his Legs. On the contrary, the Theakiki, besides bringing its Waters a hundred Leagues, is a fine River. Nevertheless it loses its Name here, without doubt because the Illinois being settled in many Places of the other have given it their Name. Being enriched all at once by this Junction, it yields to none that we have in France; and I dare assure you, Madam, that it is not possible to see a better nor a finer Country than that it waters; at least up to this Place, from whence I write. But it is fifteen Leagues below the Fork before it acquires a Depth answerable to its Breadth, although in this Interval it receives many other Rivers.

In this Route we see only vast Meadows, with little clusters of Trees here and there, which seem to have been planted by the Hand; the Grass grows so high in them, that one might lose one's self amongst it; but every where we meet with Paths that are as beaten as they can be in the most populous Countries; yet nothing passes through them but Buff aloes, and from Time to Time some Herds of Deer, and some Roe-Bucks.

THE HONOR OF BEING THE FIRST EUROPEANS TO VISIT THE Chicago region generally goes to Louis Joliet, the Jesuit priest Jacques Marquette, and their subordinates who arrived in the summer of 1673. But because their descriptions have been so widely quoted,* I have chosen to include instead the writings of Father Pierre-Franois-Xavier de Charlevoix (1682-1761), also a Jesuit, who made his trip in 1721. The land he saw was virtually, if not exactly, the same as it had been during the days of his better-known predecessors.

Father Charlevoix was born in Saint-Quentin, France, to a prominent family. As a youngster, he manifested both an interest in religion and a first-rate intellect. After completing his training for the priesthood at the College of Louis-le-Grand in 1705, he embarked on a voyage to Quebec, where he was to teach rhetoric at the Jesuit college there. Also on the ship was the king's principal envoy to Canada, the Marquis de Vaudreuil. The two men became friends, and Charlevoix's four-year stay in Quebec cemented his relationship with the colony's elite. He returned to France, where he taught at his alma mater. (Among his students was Franois-Marie Arouet de Voltaire.)

Ten years later Charlevoix was tapped to conduct a secret exploration of North America that included the task of finding another way to the Orient. Under the ruse of inspecting Jesuit facilities, he worked his way from the St. Lawrence to the southern end of Lake Michigan, where he descended the Kankakee River into the Illinois and Mississippi rivers. (A reading of this selection makes it clear that he was unaware of the Des Plaines River, believing that the Kankakee ran directly into the Illinois River rather than converging with the Des Plaines to form the Illinois.) Arriving in New Orleans, he attempted to return along the East Coast, but his ship was destroyed while crossing the Gulf of Mexico. Eventually, however, he did succeed in getting back to Quebec, two years after embarking on the trip.

Although his diary appears to be a collection of letters written to a patron, this is merely a literary device, for the documents were never mailed. Apparently, some were based on notes and not even fully composed until his return to France. His wanderlust sated, Charlevoix spent the rest of his life immersed in scholarship and canonical duties. His history of the French in Canada was considered the authoritative reference for fifty years.

Chapter Two

William Johnston's Tour from Fort Wayne to Chicago, 1809

William Johnston

The general course of the road is something North of West. For about three miles the land is thin oak land to Spy river, when immediately on crossing Spy river, a fine bottom commencing which continues for some distance. The timber is generally sugar tree hickory & buckeye [horse chestnut] all of very large growth.

Twelve miles further is Eel river, a branch of the Wabash. This little stream is very deep, and at the distance of ten miles on a straight line from its source and about seventeen by the meanders of the Stream, it is not more than five yards wide and is generally three feet deep with a very slow current. The land on this river is very rich, and appears to be well adapted to the culture of wheat or hemp. There are but few mill seats in this country, on account of the land being very level. All the rivers in this country have their sources in Swamps & ponds as there are but few Springs in the upper country-that is, on the high land that divides the waters of the lakes from the waters of the Ohio.

Passing on westward you travel through a fine rich level country; tho' it appears as if it had been under water at some former period.

Fifteen miles from Eel river you come to the little lakes. Here is one of the most enchanting prospects my eyes ever beheld. The traveller, after passing through a country somewhat broken for a few miles is immediately struck with the sight of two beautiful sheets of water, as clear & as pure as any spring water. they are about one fourth of a mile apart. I encamped on the border of the most westerly one all night. The border is so low that a large wave might roll out on the bushes. I perceived a number of fishes playing in the water near the shore where it was not a foot deep. I took my pistols and went in ten or fifteen yards and shot several ringeyed perch. Indeed they were so tame that they came close to me, as if wondering at the new monster that had got amongst them. This lake covers about 100 acres and has an outlet at the east end of it. From thence it runs about half a mile along the side of a small ridge that divides it from the other lake. It then turns suddenly round to N E and passes through a break in the ridge and empties itself into the other lake. There is a good mill seat here with three or four feet fall, and water sufficient for ten mills abreast.

The soil in the neighbourhood of these lakes is well calculated for wheat or any kind of small grain. The timber is chiefly white oak, Spanish Oak and some chestnut oak. The land is a mixture of sand & clay, and in some places a deep black soil, something like river bottom.

Eighteen miles further you come to the Elkshart river, a branch of the St Josephs of Michigan. For eight miles before you come to this river you come to a thicket of young hickories and oaks, about as thick as a mans thumb, and growing so close together that it is impossible to penetrate it at any other place than by the road. This land is as rich as any in Kentucky, and there is no doubt but it would be as fruitful if cultivated.

Immediately on crossing the river, which is here about fifty yards wide, a most delightful prospect is presented to view. There is scarcely a tree in an acre of ground for three miles. Here is an Indian village of about twenty houses. One of the principal chiefs resides here-his name is "Five Medals." The village is beautifully situated on the edge of a fine prairie containing about three thousand acres. About a mile west of this prairie the road comes to the bank of the river, at a good spring of water (a thing that is very scarce in this country). Here the timber is tall and thick on the ground principally white oak-the soil is a white clay.

Fourteen miles further is the junction of the Elkshart & the St Josephs. Here is a place formed by nature for a town. One half mile from the forks the rivers come within sixty yards of each other. They then seperate and form something like an oval piece of ground of about one hundred acres until it comes to low bottom that appears to be made ground. This bottom contains about fifty acres, and I suppose is overflowed at high water. Both these streams are navigable, without any falls or other obstruction, almost to their sources. From the forks down to the lake, about Sixty miles by water, may be navigated by any kind of small craft at any season. The channel is deep & the current gentle.

There is no Situation in this country better calculated for trade than at the forks of St Josephs & Elkshart. These two branches flow through the richest and dryest part of this country; and I think it would be an object with our government to make a settlement at this place.

Ten miles down this river from the forks is a portage of three miles west to the Theakiki, a branch of the Illinois river. Fifteen miles below the forks is a French trading house. There are about twenty persons kept here for the purpose of trading with the Indians. These men in the winter take each a load of goods and ascend one of the branches of the St Josephs; thence across the portages into the other river, and to the Indian villages, where they continue until spring, from whence they return with their peltry. They all collect in May and make up their packs when they proceed down the river into Lake Michigan & round to Michillimakinac. It will scarce be believed that these men perform a voyage of upwards of a thousand miles in a bark canoe heavily laden with packs, the greater part of the voyage in a boisterous lake.

The soil on this river varies, but none but what is equal to our third rate in Kentucky, and has the advantage of being level. There are several fine Springs in this part of the country.

At the factory I was told that there was the remains of a British fort three miles below, where was a fine orchard of apple trees. Twenty miles from the fort to the mouth of the river.-Here I was informed that a trader had raised several crops of wheat, and that it was as good as could be raised any place. I crossed the St Josephs at the French factory. Twelve miles further is an Indian village called Turcope [Terre Coupe]. The town Stands on an eminence, and may be seen about seven miles. There is not a tree to interrupt the view for about nine miles. This prairie I was told extends to the Mississippi, a distance of four hundred miles! From this village to Lake Michigan, a distance of about forty miles, the land is about one half timbered, and the other half prairie, but all of a good quality, except about four miles adjoining the lake, where it is very Sandy. Here are some of the finest white pine trees I have ever seen. The road strikes the lake at the most Southerly end, at the mouth of the river du Sma [Du Chemin].

(Continues...)

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Edition details

• Publisher: University of Chicago Press
• Publication date: 2008
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0226306615
• ISBN 13: 9780226306612
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 402
• Editor: Greenberg Joel