CHAPTER XV 



DRAININC; THh: SWAMPS 



where the 



in(tEnuity oe has 



defeated the desk^ns of nature 



BY ERASING THE K ANKAKE SWAMPS OFF THE 



MAP. THE OLD RIVER AND THE 



ONCE FAMOUS HUNTING 



GROUNDS A PAST 



MEMORY 



It is not my purpose to write the story of the 

 reclaiming or rather, the story of the new Kan- 

 kakee River, as it is a history in itself. In our 

 childhood we were taught by our teacher and 

 the geography that this yast region was a great 

 swamp and by the term "swamp" it means a 

 low depression in the earth's surface and this 

 was filled with water and mud and by applying 

 the term "swamp" this vast Kankakee Region 

 made a very large mnd-hole. This teaching 

 was a great hinderance to the settling up of this 

 country and many men and women still cling 



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