The Inlet Swamp
Almost 30,000 acres of what is now rich and productive farmland
in the townships of Alto, Willow Creek, Reynolds, Viola, Bradford and
Lee Center was referred to as the Inlet Swamp in the early existence
of Lee County. The Government gave this land to the State of
Illinois, and believing it worthless, the State gave it to Lee
County.
During the spring of each year, the land was covered with water,
which remained into the early part of summer. Unless the season was
wet, the water drained off and the sod being of the toughest nature,
would make travel impossible for a team and loaded wagon. The
remainder of the year, it was marshland covered with slough grass,
Indian rice and other worthless vegetation. It became the home for
millions of geese, ducks, swan, pheasant, grouse, wild turkey and
other wild game.
In the fall of the year, after the grass had been killed by
frosts, magnificent prairie fires prevailed until snow came. The
flames at night, when there were high winds, lit up the sky with
surpassing grandeur and were visible for a distance of nearly 100
miles. During the winter months there were unlimited skating
facilities. It continued to be the home and nesting place of wild
fowl, and of deer, wolf and was a paradise for hunters. During the
grazing season the eastern part of Viola Township was headquarters
for an immense herding ground extending throughout the entire eastern
part of the swamp, where thousands of cattle and horses were herded
by a troop of herders, getting a dollar a head for cattle and horses
bringing two dollars each.
Ira Brewer, one of the earliest settlers of Bradford Township,
first recognized the prospective value of the lands and was the
pioneer in reclaiming the swamp lands of Inlet, while always being
active in protecting public interest in them. Action for the
reclamation of these lands had been taken as far back as the early
1870s with only limited funds and without any success.
During late 1885, John Nelles of Viola and A. B. McFarland of
Mendota, joined Mr. Brewer in an effort to organize a drainage
district on a scale never before contemplated. This was the first
movement that culminated in the organization of the Inlet Swamp
Drainage District.
Opposition to any venture of drainage of the area was made by the
Rising Sun Park Association which consisted of prominent farmers
adjoining the swamp who preferred keeping the land as it was, and
using it for hunting, fishing and recreation. The feasibility and
utility of the scheme was doubted by many who believed that the cost
of the work would greatly overmatch the benefits to be derived and
that it would result in virtual confiscation of their property.
But the Brewer faction won out, they had met with opposition and
faced difficulties that would have daunted men of less foresight,
courage and perseverance. They cleared the way of preliminary
difficulties, secured the good will of the majority of land owners
toward the enterprise and put it on a sound basis. The district was
organized in the County Court of Lee County by Judge R. S. Farrand
and an order entered on Aug. 5, 1887.
Preliminary to the order, the court had appointed E. C. Parsons,
Wesley Steward and John Nelles as commissioners to lay out the
proposed ditches and report plans, profiles and estimates, including
the probable cost of the work. A. E. Rutledge, a young engineer of
Rockford estimated that the proposed district drained a water shed of
about 115,000 acres and that the construction of the ditches as
located by his survey would require the removal of 1,544,817 cubic
yards of earth and 79,700 cubic yards of stone. The commissioners
reported that the work, including all expenses of the district, would
probably reach $185,000.
When the report came up for hearing the protestants were
numerous. Every available lawyer in the county and some from
neighboring counties, were enlisted and the court room was crowded
with indignant landowners from far and near, clamoring for protection
against what was characterized as a high handed outrage on the part
of the commissioners. After patient hearing the court had ordered the
commissioners to estimate and report the cost of a modified system.
As work began in early 1888, large dredges were brought in to dig
canals, where once original creeks were only located. Upon reaching
Inlet, men had to be employed that were skilled in blasting and
handling limestone. A large limestone strata called Dewey's Dam which
rose about eight feet high and backed up water for some 15 miles, was
a major obstacle for the flooding which occurred on some 19,000
acres. Below the level of this dam the water saturating the soil
could not fall, except by evaporation. The work done on the natural
dam would ultimately make an opening for drainage of a width of 44
feet and a depth of 20 feet through progressive stages. The entire
swamp drainage project was finally completed in 1901, some 13 years
since the work was first started.
Credit for the successful development of the Inlet Swamp is
chiefly due to the court and commissioners. It would have been much
more economical if the required funds had been raised in one or two
assessments instead of the six which were required by the court, in
modified phases, who had faith in the possibilities of drainage and
at the same time regard for the views of the landowners, Today, this
area comprises some of the richest farm land in the state and far
exceeds its value a century ago.
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