Highlights
Chicago exists because of the Chicago River. In 1673, Father Jacques Marquette and fellow Frenchman Louis Jolliet canoed up the river during a four-month, 2,500-mile trek to chart the Mississippi. On a later trip, Marquette, in ill health, spent the winter of 1674-75 in a hut on the river's north branch near what is now Damen Avenue. He died only a few months after leaving for Michigan. It was Jolliet, though, who made the case for the importance of the Chicago River - and, ultimately, the place that became Chicago. "All that needs to be done," he reported to his superiors, "is to dig a canal through half a league of prairie from the lower end of Lake Michigan." Using the river and a canal t...
Chicago exists because of the Chicago River. In 1673, Father Jacques Marquette and fellow Frenchman Louis Jolliet canoed up the river during a four-month, 2,500-mile trek to chart the Mississippi. On a later trip, Marquette, in ill health, spent the winter of 1674-75 in a hut on the river's north branch near what is now Damen Avenue. He died only a few months after leaving for Michigan. It was Jolliet, though, who made the case for the importance of the Chicago River - and, ultimately, the place that became Chicago. "All that needs to be done," he reported to his superiors, "is to dig a canal through half a league of prairie from the lower end of Lake Michigan." Using the river and a canal to link the lake with the Mississippi River system and the Gulf of Mexico would provide the long-sought, all-water route through much of the North American continent. The idea of that canal helped get the frontier settlement of Chicago started in the early 19th Century. In 1830, a state-established commission subdivided the Chicago site into property parcels to be sold to pay for a canal. Six years later, ground was broken for the Illinois and Michigan Canal. Completed in 1848, the canal was soon overshadowed as a geographic link by the railroads. But Chicago had already established itself as a transportation hub. Over the next century, however, the river was little more than a sewer for the growing city. To protect the city's water supply, the river bottom was lowered in 1871, and the river was made to run backward. But in 1885, after a heavy rain, the river re-reversed its flow and carried sewage into the lake. The outbreak of cholera that followed killed 1 of 8 Chicagoans. Finally, with the construction of locks and a second canal, the Sanitary and Ship canal, the current was again reversed on Jan. 2, 1900. The city, particularly the Union Stock Yards, continued to dump anything and everything into the river, and heavy rains routinely required the opening of the locks, sending sewage into the lake. But, with the rise of the environmental movement in the 1970s and the start of construction of the multibillion-dollar Deep Tunnel project in 1985, the quality of the water began to improve dramatically. Today, the river has become a playground for Chicagoans, and land along its banks is highly prized for residential development.
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Construction workers, helicopter pilot star in sky-scraping drama
Tribune criticIn a sky-high drama few would have anticipated after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks chilled America's enthusiasm for building tall, construction workers Saturday installed the underpinnings for the spire atop Donald Trump's Chicago skyscraper, the nation'...Tags: Employees, Metal and Mineral, Sears Tower, Literature, Architecture
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Continuing to unwrap the gift of the governor
Today, as I methodically break New Year's resolutions the way politicians break their promises of reform, readers get their writes. Because I am supposed to be on vacation this week, it's about time you readers did your fair share of the work around here,...Tags: New Year's Day, Employees, Executive Branch, Government, Rod Blagojevich
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Canoeing enthusiasts paddle in the New Year with trip along Chicago River
Tribune reporterNeither floods nor hangovers will deter a hearty group from the annual New Year's canoe down the Chicago River. The 23rd annual New Year's Day Paddle will push off between 9 a.m. and noon Thursday along the North Branch of the Chicago River that winds...Tags: New Year's Day, Cook County Forest Preserve, Floods, Forestry and Timber, Canoeing and Kayaking
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Museums
Because of the holidays, many event times may change. Please call ahead. Adler Planetarium and Astronomy Museum: Skywatchers of Africa: A film in the planetarium's Sky Theater explores how Africans have turned to the sky for help with survival...Tags: Henri Matisse, Arts, Sears Tower, Disasters, Salvador Dali
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Chicago area dodges worst of the flooding
Tribune reportersA few homes along rivers and creeks in the Chicago area suffered water damage from the weekend flooding, but officials said Monday the region avoided the serious problems some had predicted would result from the rains and melting snow. "We've had some...Tags: Emergency Incidents, Bodies of Water, Des Plaines, Naperville, Bolingbrook
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Latest weather threat: floods
Tribune reportersThe blustery blend of snow, ice and freezing temperatures gave way Friday to the specter of a new threat: severe rain and flooding that experts caution could swell rivers and waterlog roads throughout the region. Rising temperatures are expected to melt...Tags: Disasters, Emergency Incidents, Midway Airport, River Forest, Weather Reports
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CEO out at Notebaert Nature Museum
Tribune reporterApparently disappointed with falling revenue and struggles to attract visitors, the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum parted ways Friday with its president and chief executive officer, Laurene von Klan. Von Klan had led the museum in Lincoln Park for three...Tags: Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum, Government, National Government, Corporate Officers
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Widespread winter blast strands holiday travelers
The Associated PressA blast of winter in the nation's northern tier stranded travelers far and wide Sunday just a few days before Christmas, with dozens of flights delayed or canceled and bus passengers sleeping on cardboard at a Seattle terminal. "I've got phone books as a...Tags: Football, David Thompson, Society, Ameren Corporation, Weather Reports
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Bitter cold grips much of U.S.
The Associated PressBone-numbing cold spread today from the Midwest to the East, forcing millions to bundle up and scurry from place to place. Snowfall in northern New England topped 40 inches in one town, and travel remained disrupted as the days ticked town toward...Tags: Football, David Thompson, Society, Ameren Corporation, Weather Reports
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Trump spire installation delayed, new date uncertain
Tribune criticDonald Trump is having no luck with the winds of the Windy City. With gusts of up to 40 m.p.h. on Sunday morning, the helicopter installation of the spire atop the 92-story Trump Tower in Chicago was canceled for the second time in as many days. The...Tags: Trump International Hotel and Tower Chicago, Richard M. Daley, Sears Tower, Government, Donald Trump
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Trump Tower spire installation postponed by winds
Tribune criticHigh winds forced contractors working for New York developer Donald Trump to abandon the helicopter installation of the spire atop his 92-story Chicago skyscraper Saturday. The team in charge planned for the chopper to try again about 7:30 a.m. Sunday...Tags: Trump International Hotel and Tower Chicago, Sears Tower, Donald Trump, Architecture, Wrigley Building
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For Chicago, a brief honeymoon with the world
Tribune reporterThe nation's honeymoon with Chicago, following America's marriage to Barack Obama, has come to a corrupt and foul-mouthed halt. As Timothy Egan wrote in today's New York Times: "If the world was roused by the sight from Chicago barely one month ago,...Tags: John McCain, New York Times, Executive Branch, Government, Grant Park
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