OF COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS 79 



The red men 



found this "land of 



beautiful country" in 



their quest of a route 



to and from Lake 



Michigan with their 



furs procured in the 



interior. Albert 



Scharf's map shows 



the sites of more than 



a dozen Indian vil- 

 lages within this twenty-mile stretch along the river. 



There are more than 2,900 acres in this marvelous strip of 

 forestry which has been acquired for preservation. It includes 

 most of the Indian reservations that were made by the Treaty 

 of 1832 in the interest of redskinned friends of the white man 

 in the perilous days of the massacre. 



The extreme north end of the preserve is what was known 

 as the Wheeling tract, a collection of picnic grounds that have 

 already been the means of introducing thousands to the charms 

 of the "Riviere Aux Pleins" as the original Erench'^xplorers 

 styled it. 



Here at the junction of the Dundee and Desplaines River 

 roads has always been a popular outing grounds a region that 

 has been made doubly attractive to the recreation seeker by 

 the District's construction of shelters, improved springs and 

 public conveniences. 



The maple and white oak forests by withstanding the 

 ravages of civilization have been the means of preserving for 

 us some of the country's wild life, including all the known 

 species of song birds as well as the four-footed animals. 



Directly to the south one finds that beautiful tract which 

 was taken over for park purposes years ago as a result of the 

 energy of the citizens of the village of Desplaines. This North- 

 western Park, already improved, has been acquired to complete 

 the Preserve chain. 



Then we come to tracts still bearing traces of the activ- 

 ities that otherwise live only in written history. On the old 

 Hayward woods there is the site of the Old Grove portage. It 

 is unmistakable and President Reinberg of the District has 

 already taken steps to insure its proper identification. 



Here it was that Father Marquette, the French explorer, 

 supposedly first put foot upon the ground of Cook County and 

 that spot, as it happened, was upon a monster rock imbedded 

 in the river bank where it still nestles. That, likewise, is to 

 be marked appropriately. 



