CHAPTER V. 



WINNEBAGO COUNTY. 



Wiuuebago county derives its name from a powerful tribe of Indians 

 of that name, who once roamed over its fertile prairies, which then 

 formed a part of their hunting grounds. It is bounded on the east by 

 Boone county, on the south by Ogle county, on the west by Stephenson 

 county, and on the north by the State line between the States of Wis- 

 consin and Illinois. It is twenty-four miles wide from east to west, and 

 twenty-two and one-half miles long on an average from north to south. 

 It therefore contains about five hundred and forty sections of land. The 

 townships, as named, are not all bounded by township lines, but in part 

 by streams and imaginary lines, making the townships thus different in 

 size and shape. Its general level is perhaps somewhat higher than that 

 of Stephenson county, although we have no information of the actual 

 figures. The face of the country is high, dry, somewhat more sandy, 

 rolling, and undulating than Stephenson, with which we are now com- 

 paring it. A considerable portion of its surface is covered with timber 

 of various qualities. In the north-western part of the county, along 

 Sugar river and its tributaries, and along portions of the north bank of 

 the Pecatonica there is much scattering timber and brush land, inter- 

 spersed with occasional swampy tracts. A few miles below Rockford, 

 along the north bank of Rock river and extending north and west from 

 the same, there is a tract of barrens covered with brushwood and a 

 rather light growth of white oak and black-jack timber. In the south- 

 eastern portion of the county, along and near the Kishwaukee creeks, 

 the face of the country is rough, hilly, barreny, brushy, and covered 

 with an occasional growth of fair timber. The rest of the county is 

 chiefly prairie, interspersed with many beautiful but small groves. 



It is well watered with many fine streams. Rock river enters it about 

 six miles from its north-east corner, at Beloit, runs nearly due south 

 some eighteen miles to Rockford, then bears off gradually to the west 

 and enters Ogle county some fifteen miles south and west of the latter 

 city. This noble and beautiful stream, and its broad rich valley, fills 

 the mind of the beholder with admiration. The waters of this stream 



