The Illinois River is peculiarly characteristic of the State of Illinois, and, next to the prairies, was its leading natural feature. The level richness of the central plateau of the state is reflected in the turbid waters and the broad sluggish current of the stream; and its wide bottom-lands, originally covered with huge trees, completely flooded when the river is highest, and holding many marshes and shallow lakes as its lowest stages are a relic of the time, not so very far remote, when the limpid waters of the Great Lakes rolled down its valley in a mighty flood on their course to the southern gulf. It was not an accident that this river was the first great artery of transportation into and through the state, or that the first colonial settlement and the first fortified post in Illinois were established on its banks. After the railroads had deprived it of its commerce it was discredited and neglected for many years, and the second city in the country and the second city of the state have long used it as a mere convenience for the discharge of their organic wastes.published or submitted for publicationis peer reviewe
