Chicago after the end of the Civil War was experiencing many of the problems facing big cities at this time.  One of the most important was preserving a clean water supply.  The city received its water from Lake Michigan.   Cribs were built away from the shoreline to establish fresh uncontaminated water supply.  Despite this measure, it was not unusual for water from the Chicago River to back up into Lake Michigan after a heavy rain fall.  At this time, the river was used as sewer to dump garbage and waste.   Consequently, the lake would be contaminated after each of these back ups. 
     The solution to this problem proposed by local authorities was to deepen the cut of the I’M canal to Lockport where there was an intersection with the Des Plaines River.  This would reverse the flow of the Chicago River to the I M Canal. Problem solved.  Not unexpectedly, there were objections from residents of downstate  Illinois and the Illinois Valley who did no want to contend with pollution from Chicago.  Surprisingly,the Illinois General Assembly gave the city the authority to complete this project in February of 1865.
     The project was completed in stages usually during the winter when the canal was usually closed.  It was ultimately completed in 1871 for approximately 3 million dollars.  The city was later partially reimbursed by the state. 
     With the ever increasing population of Chicago the canal was unable to handle the increased volume of pollution. There was recurrence of the problem of contamination of the Lake Michigan water supply. 
     In 1889, the Chicago Sanitary Commission was formed to find a solution.  It’s project was a new larger canal from the Chicago River to the Des Plaines River at Lockport.  The Canal was 28 miles.  It was named the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal.  It’s construction began September, 1892.  It was completed January, 1900.  With its completion, the eastern I M Canal became obsolete and was subsequently closed to navigation permanently.

     On July 4, 1836,  a gala celebration at the south branch of the Chicago River marked the official start of construction on the Illinois Michigan Canal.   However, in the first year, construction was hampered by weather and lack of manpower and equipment.  This time was spent in building access roads, acquiring equipment and workers, and building crude structures to house the workers. By 1838, most sections of the canal were under contract. 
    One complicating factor was the Panic of 1837.  This has been attributed to a policy of Andrew Jackson requiring that all federal lands purchased after 8/15/1836 be purchased in gold or silver. As a result of this action, land prices declined;  value of stocks and commodities tanked: banks closed ;unemployment increased.  This panic took time to reach the Midwest ; but eventually it’s effects were felt.  It was possible to continue canal construction using creative financing until 1841.  Measures used included: special bonds sold at discounted rates; scrip paid to contractors with a promise to pay face value and interest when funds become available.  By the end of 1841, all construction ceased.  The state could not meet its bond obligations and defaulted on its interest payments.  The value of its bonds crashed to 15 cents on the dollar.    In 1842, the Illinois Treasury collected $98,546.00 in taxes and had a yearly expense of $ 800,000 in interest payments.  Please note this debt was for all public work projects not just the I and M canal.
    In 1842, Governor Ford faced a total debt $15,187,348.  With the state assembly he developed a multipoint program to deal with the fiscal crisis.  Points included: 1) Modest property tax increase to help fund interest payments on state obligations; 2) dropped all state internal improvement projects except the I M Canal; 3) Proposed the shallow cut plan to complete the canal at a cost of 1.6 million dollars–mounts considerable lesser amount than the originally  proposed deep cut.  The deep cut was a plan to make the canal deeper than 6 feet in the Summit section in order to provide water for the canal from the Chicago River.  The shallow cut cancelled this plan and provided water to the canal with pumps at Bridgeport and additional feeder canals. 
     General Assembly approved Governor Ford’s plan on 2/21/1843.  The Canal was to be managed by 3 trustees.  One was appointed by the state. The other 2 were elected by the bondholders of the 1.6 million to complete the canal.   The bonds were sold to American and foreign investors. 
     Work on the canal was resumed in July of 1845.  Construction was slow during 1845–1846
Due to many factors.  There was a shortage of labor.  The weather was poor.  After 4 years of abandonment much of the canal was in a state of disrepair.  This needed to be corrected.
By 1847, construction advanced rapidly.  The Canal was open for navigation on April.10, 1848.  First boat through the canal was the General Fry which travelled from Lockport to Chicago.

    Probably one factor that led to the ultimate demise of the Illinois Michigan Canal was the Rock Island Railroad. 
     The idea of building a railroad between LaSalle and Rock Island, Illinois was first discussed by civic leaders in Rock Island in June,1845.  It was felt that this would be a logical overland link between the I M Canal and the Mississippi River.    Representatives from Rock Island lobbied state legislators in favor of this initiative.   In February 27, 1847, the Rock Island and LaSalle Railroad Company was Incorporated by a special act of the legislature.   The members of this company encountered difficulty raising money for this proposal.  At that time, it was believed that this difficulty was due to the fact that the rail line was between two waterways and not major metropolitan areas.  The organizers subsequently petitioned the legislature for an amended charter to build a rail line between Chicago and Rock Island.  The amended charter was approved on 2/17/1851.  The new name of the railroad was to be the Chicago and Rock Island. 
     My personal thoughts here. Did the state legislators ever consider that it might not be a prudent idea to build a railroad paralleling the canal?  After all the canal had only been in operation for a few years and the tolls were needed to pay off the bond holders.
     Construction on the railroad began in Chicago on 10/1/1851.  It was completed to Joliet in October of 1852.  It was completed to Rock Island on February 22, 1854.
     The first effect on the canal was the end of passenger traffic on packet boats.  There was increasing competition on freight tolls. 
     The railroad had several positive features that worked to its advantage in this competition.  Travel by rail was more swift.  The railroad operated year round.  The Canal was closed in the winter.  Railroads could handle most freight expeditiously  because the multiple rail lines services reached areas beyond the reach of the canal.
     Tolls declined between 1869–1878 because of the competition.  The Canal came to be used more for the transportation of bulk goods that did not require speed.  This included grains, coal lumber and stone.

Coal Mining was an important industry in the Illinois Valley 1850’s to the 1920’s.   There was a brief resurgence of strip mining in the period from 1920’s–1950’s.  The coal mined during this time period was used in local industries .  It was also shipped by The I M Canal to more distal sites such as Chicago.  The early mines centered around the LaSalle–Peru area.  Smaller mining operations were located in the Morris, Marseilles, and the Seneca regions   These typically were not long running operations.  As these mines became less profitable,they were closed.  From the 1920’s to the 1950’s, there were strip mining operations near Braidwood, Morris, Utica and Ottawa.
     The coal mining operations fostered industrial development in towns along the canal.  Examples of these industries include Matthieson & Hegler Zinc Company in LaSalle; Westclox plant in Peru; Nabisco Plant in Marseilles; Ottawa Silica Plant; National Plate Glass Company at Ottawa; the cement mills near Oglesby.  It is true to say that many of these operations would not have been located in the Illinois Valley without the locally available coal for power generation and the I M Canal and railroads for cheap transportation.

Reading the various reports issued by the Illinois Michigan canal commission in the early 1840’s, one can receive an overall impression of the state of completion.  No significant work had been performed in years.  4.7 million had been spent and yet much work had yet to be done.  Supplies purchased for construction had either been stolen or deteriorated.  Sections built had begun the process of deteriorating.  The original deep cut plan for obtaining water from the Chicago river was in the process of being abandoned because of cost. Alternate sources of water supply were being considered.
     Money was owned to contractors and bond holders.  People were paid with scrip and worthless checks.  In a word the canal was a disaster.  It needed to be completed for the income from tolls; but the money to complete was lacking.

     During the years the I and M canal was active there were several limestone quarries along its course. These were located in Lemont, Lockport, and Joliet.  The limestone was used in building construction locally, construction of canal locks and more distal construction  such as in Chicago.  In Chicago buildings such as the water tower,Holy Name Cathedral, and Old Saint Mary’s Church were constructed with this Limestone.  The laborers that worked in the quarry were immigrants from many countries; large proportion were from Ireland.  The quarries were particularly active after the Chicago fire.  They were used in rebuilding the city. 
     In later years, activity decreased .  This was from competition from limestone mined in Indiana.  This was considered a more durable product.  The Illinois quarries were relegated to producing crushed rock.

In part one, we dealt with the type of sandstone found in Ottawa, Illinois.  We also dealt with the mining companies.  In this section we consider the local companies using the silica. 
   The first glass company was Ottawa Glass Company. It’s factory was built in1867 along the north bank of the Illinois Michigan Canal.  Later, the company built 2 other plants on the same property.  In 1888, the firm was acquired by the United Glass Company.  By 1898,the factory closed due to competition from Indiana factories. 
     In 1882, a second glassware opened–Ottawa Bottle Company.  This company underwent name changes and closed in 1895.
     Two other glass plants opened before the turn to of the century–LaBastie Glass Works of E. Dr Law Chappelle and Company.  This was known for its lamp chimneys.  This opened in 1888.  This was also located along the I’M Canal.  The plant closed around the turn of the century.   The plant was later used Keen Kleaner Manufacturing Company.  This company combined sand with Tripoli rock to make scouring powders and cleaning compounds.   The second plant was the Peltier Glass Company.  It opened between 1891 and 1898.  Products included marbles and stained glass.  This plant stayed in business for many years.
    In 1908,  the Federal Plate Glass Company opened along the northern bank of the Illinois River.  The plant underwent numerous name changes and is currently owned by a multinational–Pilkington.
     There were many factories and plants.  Many closed because of competition with Indiana. This state had an abundant supply of cheap natural gas.

The Silica deposits of Ottawa,Illinois is a mineral found in a geologic formation known as St Peter sandstone.   This deposit is found in Ottawa and 10 miles west.  It is also present in the Fox River Valley.  The characteristics of Saint Peter sandstone include: deposits are soft and easy to mine;  the sand is high quality silica;  because of its purity, it can be cheaply mined; it is located near the surface.  Major sand mining occurred in the 1890’s.  It appears the majority of the sand mined was transported by rail.  Several mining operations occurred in the area.   The largest of the s was Ottawa Silica Company.   This continues in operation today as United States Borax and Chemical Company of Los Angeles and later the U.S. Silica Company.

  This last Saturday I travelled to LaSalle, Ilinois to view the Illinois Michigan Canal.  Proceeding from east to west, the first site seen was the refurbished aqueduct over the Little Vermilion River.  Currently, it is well filled with water.  As I proceeded westward,  there was a well preserved segment of the canal with its tow path.  Next in site is the refurbished Lock 14.    Distal to this is a widening of the canal referred as the canal basin.  This was constructed to accommodate barges leaving and entering the canal.  Next seen is the remnant of Lock 15.  This has not been refurbished.  Finally west of this is a large widened segment for steamboats entering from the Illinois River.  Also, near Lock 15, are remnant limestone piers of the Burlington Railroad over the canal.

Little is known about the construction of canal boats on the Illinois Michigan Canal.  In the late 1990’s, there was a breach in the integrity of the canal after a severe rain fall.  In an area known as the Morris wide, the remains of multiple deserted canal boats were seen.  Investigation of these boats was undertaken.  It was found that the boats were made of white oak and pine.  Nails were forged or machine made.  Presumably, other boats were abandoned in other areas of the canal.