CHAPTER XV. 



KANKAKEE AND IROQUOIS COUNTIES. 



Kankakee county is bounded, on the north, by Will ; on the west, by Grundy 

 and Livingston ; on the south, by Ford and Iroquois ; and on the east, by 

 Lake and Newton counties, of Indiana. It forms nearly a rectangle of twenty 

 miles from north to south, by about thirty-eight from east to west ; but two 

 townships of the northwest corner of this rectangle have been assigned to Will 

 county, thus reducing the area of Kankakee to about 674 square miles. 



This area is divided into three unequal portions by the Kankakee and Iro- 

 quois rivers, the former of which enters the county near the middle of its east- 

 ern side, runs westerly, and thence southwesterly to the mouth of the Iroquois 

 near the center of the southern third of the county, and thence northwest to 

 the southwest corner of Rockville township, whence it passes into Grundy 

 county. From near the center of the south line of the county, the Iroquois 

 flows in an irregular northerly course to its junction with the Kankakee, just 

 below Aroma. The Kankakee is fordable at numerous points below Momence ; 

 but above the dam at that place, it is deep, and nearly level for some miles 

 beyond the State line, having a fall of from four to six inches to the mile. 

 From Momence to Rockville, its fall is one hundred and twenty-seven feet, or 

 above five feet to the mile. Throughout this latter part of its course, it has a 

 rock bottom, affording good foundations for dams, whether for utilizing the 

 water power, or for purposes of navigation. With this latter point in view, 

 the United States Government has caused surveys to be made, which have 

 shown that, by the construction of a few dams and locks, this stream can, at 

 comparatively small expense, be made navigable from St. Joseph's county, In- 

 diana, to its junction with the Illinois. The Iroquois is rocky and shallow 

 through all of its course within the limits of this county, but, from the county 

 line, it is deep and still, and is navigable for flat-boats, nearly or quite to the 

 Indiana line. 



Along the latter part of the course of the Kankakee, its bottoms are narrow, 

 and rocky bluff-banks are quite frequent, but, above Aroma, the bottoms are 

 much wider, and any rocky banks are of very little hight. Over these bot- 



