2 TH EP *AsU- D UsB:OUNGS By Us Tae Eee 
A Virgin Prairie Area: Custer Park 
By F. J. FREEMAN 
FIRST OF ALL, let it be understood that Custer Park is not a park but a 
small village on the south bank of the Kankakee river about three miles 
south of Wilmington, Illinois. It is a rural-fishingbank-cottage community. 
To the southwest of it lies the somewhat larger village of Essex, a coal 
miner’s town on the southeastern perimeter of the strip-mine country. To 
the southeast of Custer Park and Essex lies the still smaller village of Bon- 
field which is a typical farming community. For the sake of identification, 
the area within this triangle of three towns has been called Custer Park. 
The map at the end of this article shows the general layout. 
Some years ago my interest was aroused by reading an article in The 
Chicago Tribune by Roberts Mann of the Cook County Forest Preserve Dis- 
trict. There was (and still is) some agitation for making this area into a 
State Park to preserve the remnants of virgin prairie which still persist. 
In his article, Mr. Mann spoke of the long and short buffalo grasses, the 
field orchids, the sandy oak-covered knolls to which the early settlers re- 
paired during flood seasons. These we found, and an abundance of other 
prairie vegetation and some bird life that was new to us. What this area 
lacks in spectacular scenic attractions, it more than makes up for in plant 
and bird life. 
The area delineated by the DuPage and Des Plaines rivers, the old 
Illinois-Michigan Canal, the Sag and the Kankakee river forms a broad 
boundary beyond which certain forms of southern plant growth do not 
naturally go. Certain species of birds such as turkey vultures, whip-poor- 
wills and bob-white breed south of this line, skip the Chicago area and are 
found breeding again in Wisconsin and Minnesota. Whether the lack of 
these species near Chicago is because of land-use only, or because of more 
natural and profound reasons would be interesting to learn. The demar- 
cation as shown by tree species is more definite. The sycamore tree can be 
found growing naurally along the waterways mentioned and some of the 
tributary streams flowing in from the north, as at the Rocky Glen Forest 
Preserve on the Des Plaines River. Shingle oak can be found along the 
canals, and sassafras, to my knowledge, is found no farther north than the 
south side of the Kankakee river, except that as one progresses eastward, 
the northernmost boundary of that species progresses northward, and we 
find it in the sand dunes of Indiana and the southern part of Michigan. 
Our first trip to Custer Park was in the latter part of June. We sought 
out the boy scout cabin, a large log structure which we knew to be there. 
Just west of the scout camp and across Terry creek is a Polish-Catholic 
church camp. Otherwise the country seems to be about half farm land and 
the balance scantily pastured or lying idle. From far and near came the calls 
of bob-whites. The birds seem to be common throughout the entire area. 
To the north of the cabin at the fence line we found a Bell’s vireo singing 
at an empty nest. To the southwest in the willow thicket along the creek, 
we flushed up a woodcock several times; it refused to leave the place. To 
the south of the cabin, and east of the thicket in a sand blow, we found our 
