189 



111 Illinois the Kaiikakee unites with the DesIMaines to form the 

 Illinois. The river drains an area of ahout 3,040 square miles in Indiana. 

 The general trend of the watershed is from east to west with an entire 

 length of 200 miles and a north and south width of seventy miles. All 

 the north tributaries have their source in the Valparaiso morainlc sys- 

 tem. The southern limit of the watershed is in the Iroquois and Mar- 

 seilles moraines. There is no well defined ridge separating the water- 

 shed of the Kankakee from that of the Wabash. Tlie river rises in a 

 marsh near South Bend in the edge of a moraine. The Kankakee 

 marshes comprise the most extensive body of swamp land in Indiana. 

 In the seven counties drained by the river the original area of the marsh 

 was almost a half million acres. In many places wild rice, rushes, water- 

 lilies and grasses grow so abimdantly in the channel as to cause the 

 flooding of the marshes even during a summer freshet. In former years 

 the river could scarcely be approachetl but now more than a dozen rail- 

 ways cross the stream and numerous highways bridge its waters. The 

 surface of the marsh land is for the most part a treeless plain except 

 along the Immediate border of the river, where some trees are found. The 

 soil is in general a dark, sandy clay soil, rich in organic matter. The 

 sand content varies, and presents a number of soil types. According to 

 situation the soils would be classed as swamp, marsh, island, peat and 

 muck. 



The St. Joseph River, nov\' tributary to Lake Michigan, formerly dis- 

 charged througli the Kankakee. It has a drainage area of about 4,000 

 square miles. Papaio Ricer which joins it near the mouth is the chief 

 tributary. It has its source in the swampy region to the east of Val- 

 paraiso Moraine. I'iiicstone Creek and Doicagiac River are other trib- 

 utaries. 



Yelloiv River drains an area of about TOO square miles lying to the 

 east of the moraine in which the Kankakee also has its source. 



About 800 miles of the Iroquois watershed lies in Indiana. In most 

 of its course the stream is sluggish and the drainage imperfect. The soil 

 of the area is a sandy loam and is largely under cultivation. The natural 

 waterways have been greatly assisted in drainage by systems of ditching. 



The Calumet River has its source in the Valparaiso morainic system 

 south of Michigan City. All the tributaries enter from the south side. 

 The course of the stream and tributaries are controlled to some extent 

 by the sand dunes along the beaches of the old lake. The stream now 



