eet) pte Uh Re OENe BU Gon Ar lN 7 
Bell Bowl Prairie 
By EGBERT W. and OLIVE E. FELL 
BELL BOWL Is a natural amphitheater formed by a bend in the terrace 
bluff of the Kishwaukee River valley west of New Milford and five miles 
south of Rockford, Illinois. It was a part of Camp Grant during World War 
I and was named for General George Bell, the camp commandant. The 
gravel bluff which extends southeast from the Bowl for one-half mile is 
about 150 feet wide, the elevation increasing 30 feet between the flat prairie 
at the base and at the crest of the bluff. These flat areas are in cultivation. 
The bluff was used for the training of troops in trench warfare maneuvers 
but it has since been untouched except by an occasional burning. It is now 
a part of Greater Rockford Airport. The chairman of the board which 
operates the Airport has agreed that, because of its educational value, the 
bluff will be used by the Airport only for some essential operation. The 
steepness of the terrain makes such use unlikely. 
This prairie is one of the best preserved in northern Illinois. In physical 
features and biota it resembles other gravel hill and bluff prairies in the 
Rock River valley but it has the advantage of being in public ownership, 
while the others are fast succumbing to road building and urbanization. 
The dominant grasses on this prairie are those of mid-height, such as 
little bluestem, side-oats grama and prairie dropseed. There is an under- 
story of low panic grasses, three-awns and annual dropseeds. Tall grasses 
are not plentiful; there is some switch grass on the top of the slope extend- 
ing over the flat prairie, and Indian grass and big bluestem on the lower 
slope tend to extend over the lower flat area. Beside the grasses there are 
rare prairie plants which are found on the prairies in the far northwest 
and which are near their eastern limit here. Among these are pasque flower, 
old-man-whiskers, false dandelion, downy gentian and the little green milk- 
weed. There are some very uncommon species of grasses and sedges, and 
southern plants like ruellia and Carolina anemone are found. These rarities 
with the abundance of common prairie plants and grasses make this an 
attractive area for botanists. It is used by Rockford school and college 
nature study classes and it has had some attention from botany and ecology 
teachers at Northern Illinois University at DeKalb. 
Milton Mahlberg, Curator of the Rockford Natural History Museum, and 
other local nature lovers are familiar with the fauna of the area, but the 
animals of this strip have had no special study except for the brief atten- 
tion of the Audubon winter bird count of the North Central Illinois Orni- 
thological Society. It is an ideal setting for horned lark and killdeer, and 
eastern and western meadowlarks both come here early. Juncoes, sparrows, 
mourning doves and many other birds find grass and other seeds abundant 
in winter and summer. Cotton-tails, striped and Franklyn ground squirrels, 
and field mice find that they are not disturbed here except occasionally by 
a scouting red-tailed hawk. 
It is to be hoped, and it seems likely that Bell Bow! bluff will continue for 
many years to furnish our children’s children a glimpse of one type of the 
prairie that made the Rock River country so attractive even to very early 
travelers and settlers. 303 Penfield Place, Rockford, Illinois 
