Sangamon River
| Sangamon River | ||
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| Data | ||
| Water code | US : 421688 | |
| location | Illinois , United States | |
| River system | Mississippi River | |
| Drain over | Illinois River → Mississippi River → Gulf of Mexico | |
| origin | Confluence of several spring streams in McLean County 40 ° 26 ′ 43 ″ N , 88 ° 43 ′ 57 ″ W |
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| muzzle | in Cass County in the Illinois River Coordinates: 40 ° 1 ′ 21 " N , 90 ° 25 ′ 58" W 40 ° 1 ′ 21 " N , 90 ° 25 ′ 58" W
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| length | 402 km | |
| Reservoirs flowed through | Lake Decatur | |
The Sangamon River is one of the major tributaries of the Illinois River , approximately 402 km long, and flows through central Illinois in the United States of America . It drains a primarily rural area in which agriculture plays a leading role, which extends around Decatur and Springfield . During the settlement of the area by immigrants of European descent, the river played an important role, so that the area was referred to as the "Sangamon River Country". The section of the Sangamon River that flows through Robert Allerton Park near Monticello was named a National Natural Landmark in 1971 .
description
The river arises from several small head currents in southern McLean County that arise from a ground moraine southeast of Bloomington . Part of the moraine is publicly owned as Moraine View State Recreation Area . The course of the river forms a large arc through central Illinois and flows first southeast into Champaign County , then south through Mahomet , then southwest through Piatt County past Monticello, and west through Macon County, Illinois and Decatur. From the south of Decatur it runs first in a westerly direction, then bends to the southwest and crosses under the Bolivia Road Bridge ; Five kilometers beyond, the course turns northwest and runs north past Springfield. The Salt Creek flows into the Sangamon River about 40 km north-northwest of Springfield; thereafter, the course of the river turns west and forms the southern boundary of Mason County with Menard and Cass Countys. The river flows into the Illinois River from an easterly direction about 10 miles northeast of Beardstown .
The Sangamon is dammed in Decatur to form Lake Decatur , which was created in 1920-22 to secure the water supply for Decatur. This reservoir, which blocks the mainstream of the river and has no control over the use of the land upstream, has repeatedly had serious problems with sedimentation and agricultural pollution. Often, fertilizers that get into the water from the fields have too high a level of nitrates. The city council of Decatur has therefore repeatedly warned against using the water from the city's aqueduct to feed babies. She cited “blue baby syndrome,” methemoglobinemia , as a possible consequence . To solve this problem, Decatur has now installed nitrate treatment systems.
The upper course of the Sangamon, between Mahomet and Monticello, runs along the terminal moraine of the Sangamon lower stage of the Wisconsin Glaciation (cf. Vistula Glaciation ), which was formed around 70,000 to 100,000 years ago. During the Sangamon lower stage, the ice advanced rapidly from east to west and later left a terminal moraine that runs parallel to today's Sangamon River. The ice stagnated and melted behind this moraine without the meltwater spilling over the terminal moraine. Therefore, the eastern part of the area drained by the Sangamon consists of short streams, each 3 to 5 km in length, which drain the surface of the moraine. This resulted in an asymmetrical catchment area , as is typical for rivers that run laterally along a terminal moraine.
history
The land around the river was home to various groups of Indians in the centuries before the arrival of Europeans . The name of the river comes from the Potawatomi language , "Sain-guee-mon" (pronounced: SÄNG-ga-munn), which means "where there is plenty to eat".
At the beginning of the 18th century, groups from the Kickapoo people settled along the river. In the mid-18th century, a conflict between the Illinois and Fox took place in the region , which formed part of the larger Beaver Wars . French traders were already active in the area when it was still part of the Illinois Country .
The first US settlers came to the region shortly before 1820. In 1821, Elijah Iles built a log store that became Springfield's first commercial building. From 1825, members of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church settled in groups, which gave the region its own cultural imprint, which was identified and described by Edgar Lee Masters at the beginning of the 20th century.
In 1830, Abraham Lincoln arrived in the area with his parents and siblings to settle a piece of state land separated by the river. This location, which is now the Lincoln Trail Homestead State Memorial , was chosen by Lincoln's father after the family faced economic difficulties in Indiana , partly due to unclear ownership of their land there. Abraham Lincoln, who was 21 at the time, helped build a log cabin about 5 m by 5 m by the river. The following year he went downriver in a canoe to set up his own homestead near New Salem, Menard County , northwest of Springfield. Also in 1831 he and his companions took a flatboat trip down the river to get to New Orleans via the Illinois River and Mississippi River .
Lincoln was impressed by the difficulty of navigating the river. These became particularly evident in March 1832, on the occasion of the arrival of the first steamship , the 15-ton Talisman , which sailed upstream to Springfield. Some sources report that Lincoln piloted this ship himself, with the help of many men almost his size who had axes to cut down trees that were preventing the ship from proceeding. It is more likely, however, that Lincoln was one of the axmen helping out on the drive. In later years, Lincoln reported that he had steered a steamship three miles into the prairie during a flood because the banks of the river were said not to have been visible. In his first election campaign for a seat in the Illinois General Assembly (state parliament) in 1832, he made measures to improve navigation on the Sangamon River a focus of his election program.
The river today
Despite its environmental problems, the Sangamon River is now a focus for recreation for the people of Central Illinois. Important park areas and nature reserves line the banks, including (listed in order upstream to downstream) Robert Allerton Park , the municipal parks around Lake Decatur, Rock Springs Conservation Area , Lincoln Trail Homestead State Park, Carpenter Park , Lincoln's New Salem, as well include the Sanganois State Fish and Wildlife Area .
Individual evidence
- ↑ "Abraham Lincoln and the Talisman" ( memento of the original from September 25, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Illinois State Historical Society. Last accessed on July 19, 2007.
Web links
- Abraham Lincoln and the Sangamon River
- Northern Illinois University: Sangamon History ( April 24, 2005 memento in the Internet Archive )
- Illinois Genealogy Trails: Following Lincoln on the Sangamon
- John Knoeple: Poems from the Sangamon
- Fox (Meskwaki) was it
- Prairie Rivers Network
- Sangamon Watershed (PDF) (2.51 MB)
- Surf the Lower Sangamon
- Surf the South Fork of the Sangamon River