Source:
Piatt County History
together with a
Brief History of Illinois
from the
Discovery of the Upper Mississippi to the Present Time
by Emma C. Piatt
With Map and Illustrations.
1883
Transcribed by Sharon Wick

PIATT COUNTY, ILLINOIS

CHAPTER I.
TOPOGRAPHY
pp. 632-636

     ILLINOIS, in common with several other states, has the proud distinction of lying within the Mississippi valley.  This fact alone places it on an equality with some of the most magnificent states in the Union.

     In area, Illinois contains about 55,531 square miles of territory.  The greatest length from north to south is near 380 miles.  The extreme breadth is a little over 900 miles.  It lies between 37° 30´ north latitude.  Extending thus through a range of over five degrees of latitude, its climate is quite varied, permitting the growth of semi-tropical plants as well as those which are common to the north temperate zone.  An excellent system of drainage is furnished by the 2,000 miles of navigable rivers which bound, or take their course through, portions of the state.
     Illinois is bounded on the north by Wisconsin.  The waters of Lake Michigan, the only one of the great lakes wholly within the United States, form a northeastern boundary line of about sixty miles in length.  Indiana and the Wabash river from the eastern boundary line, while the Ohio river, on the southeast and south, separates the State from Kentucky.  Illinois is separated from Iowa and Missouri by the Mississippi river, which forms a boundary line about five hundred miles long.
     The general surface of the country is level or slightly rolling.  Near the large streams, especially in the southern part of the state, quite good-sized hills are found.  The highest lands, however, are "The Mounds," in the northwestern part of the state.  From these mounds, which have an altitude of over 1,00 feet above the level of the sea, to the southern part of the state, there is a gradual slope of the land toward the southwest.  This slope of the country causes the general course of the streams to be toward the Mississippi river.
     The Desplaines river, rising in the southeastern part of Wisconsin, and the Kankakee river, which rises in northern Indiana, unite in

[pg. 10]
Grundy county, Illinois, to form the Illinois river - the largest in the state.  The Illinois flows almost directly west across La Salle county, until, in Putnam county it makes a bend, and from thence on to its mouth, about twenty miles above the mouth of the Missouri, the general course is southwest.  This river is near five hundred miles long, and is navigable by steamers to La Salle.  The Illinois and Michigan canal, extending from this place to Chicago, opens communication by water between the Mississippi river and the Great Lakes.  The Rock river in the northern and the Kaskaskia in the southern part are the other principal tributaries of the Mississippi within the state.  The Wabash receives the waters of the Embarras, Little Wabash, and Saline Creek, which are the principal streams in southeastern Illinois.  Besides the streams mentioned there are many of smaller size, the majority of which flow toward the Mississippi.  This state is somewhat remarkable for the small number of lakes and pounds within its boundaries.
     Although Illinois is known as the "Prairie State," still it contains a great amount of timber, which is found along all the water-courses.  It is a noticeable fact that the amount of timber is constantly on the increase.  The prairies, which were once covered with tall grass and flowers, are now dotted here and there with groves of trees, and the cereals have taken the place of the grasses.
     The material resources of Illinois are many.  Its minerals are a constant source of wealth.  Zinc, copper, fire-clay, and many varieties of building stone are found.  The Galena lead mines alone would make the state famous, while the coal mines seem exhaustless.
     But the agricultural products go beyond all these.  It has been said that "perhaps no other country of the same extent on the face of the globe can boast a soil so ubiquitous and its distribution so universally productive."  Illinois "is a garden four hundred miles long, and one hundred and fifty miles wide."  Portions of the state have been under constant cultivation since the beginning of the French occupation at Kaskaskia, over one hundred and fifty years ago.

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