SOLON ROBINSON, 1835 59 



is certainly destined to become an important city. It is 

 so situated, both in respect to land and water, that no 

 point can become a successful rival. A large tract of 

 Indiana will be as much benefited in the growth of Chi- 

 cago as Illinois. 



A project is now being canvassed for uniting the navi- 

 gable waters of the Calimink river 1 with the Kankakee, 

 by a canal. This is very feasible ; the route from a point 

 where there is always four feet of water in the Calimink, 

 to the Kankakee, will not exceed 25 miles, and Cedar 

 Lake, which is a beautiful sheet of water three miles 

 long and one or one and a half wide, is on the very sum- 

 mit level. On the outlet of this lake are many very fine 

 mill seats, and an abundance of the richest quality of 

 'bog' Iron ore. And what I consider as a greater curios- 

 ity than the "ancient mounds" and fortifications of the 

 Western country, is the evident appearance of this ore 

 having been worked, at a date corresponding with the 

 date of all the extraordinary relics of a cultivated race of 

 men having once inhabited the West. There is near the 

 stream, and adjoining a bed of the Iron ore, a large bank 

 or mound, entirely composed of cinders, bearing an exact 

 resemblance to those thrown out of a modern furnace. 

 When, or by whom, Iron was here manufactured, is a 

 question never to be answered. Articles of earthern 

 ware, among which are remains of Iron articles, are 

 often ploughed up on the Door Prairie. 



The Kankakee, from where the proposed canal would 

 intersect it to near South Bend on the St. Joseph, a 

 distance of 70 or 80 miles, is more like a lake than river, 

 and is navigable for steam boats drawing 3 feet water 

 at all seasons. 



The Calimink is very incorrectly laid down on all 

 maps I ever saw. The channel of the main stream runs 

 west 30 or 40 miles, all the way navigable for steam 

 boats, just back from the lake shore, (taking in several 

 heavy streams from the South, the head waters of which 



1 Now known as the Calumet River. 



