( Ictiobus — ?); shorthead redhorse, ( Moxostoma macrolepldotum ) ; 

 suckers, ( Catostomus — ?) ; bullheads ( Ictalurus — ?); paddle- 

 fish, ( Polyodon spathula ) ; sunfish, ( Lepomis — ?); catfish, 

 ( Ictalurus — ?) ; bowfin, ( Amia calva ) ; longnose gar, 

 ( Lepisosteus osseus ) ; yellow perch, ( Perca f lavescens ) , were 

 caught in both these rivers, and also in the Du Page River, 

 which flows 6 miles east of Joliet, and empties into the 

 Des Plaines 8 miles south of that town; also in Hickory Creek 

 which rises about 14 miles east of Joliet, and empties into 

 the Des Plaines just south of the town, and in any of the 

 streams of sufficient size in this vicinity. 



"When the current of Chicago River was first turned 

 through the canal and the rivers, it caused the fish in 

 them to bloat to a large size, and rising to the surface 

 they floated down the stream in large numbers. It was 

 estimated at the time that several tons of dead fish 

 passed through one of the canal locks just after the foul 

 water commenced running through the canal. 



"When these bloated fish chanced to float into the 

 clear water at the mouth of some tributary of the river 

 they would revive and swim up the clear stream. Such 

 large numbers of the fish revived in this manner that 

 all the small streams flowing into the Des Plaines and 

 Kankakee rivers were filled with fish in such numbers 

 that many were taken with hook and line, one man taking 

 over 300 in a day in this manner at that time. 



"When the spring freshets occur the current is so 

 rapid and the amount of pure water in the river is so 

 great, that the foul water does not have much effect upon 

 the fishes, and large numbers of the species mentioned 

 ascend the rivers and are caught with hook and line. 

 Later in the season as the water subsides, and the water 

 from Chicago River predominates , the fish which came up 

 in the spring die and are floated down the river. In 

 July and August when the water is the worst even the mud 

 turtles leave the river in disgust and seek less odorous 

 homes. " 



Water from the Illinois-Michigan Canal also entered the Illinois 

 River at LaSalle, (mile 226) but the wastes were sufficiently decomposed 

 at that point that there was only a slight impact on the ecosystem of 

 the Illinois River below LaSalle (Starrett, 1972). 



44 



