Princeton Township (part 2 of 2)

Railroading in the early fifties was a vastly (litforent proposition than it is at the present time. Half a century has brought many changes and imjirovenients. and it is not so much of a task, with all of the modern devices for assisting labor, as it was then. It was a season of great activity in and around Princeton at the time of building the Burlington road. Justus -Stevens. J. ilcConihc and .John H. Bryant contracted to furnish ties and bridge timber, and much of this timber was shipped from ^lichigan and was brousht out from Chicago on the Rock Island, flien hauled to the Burlington with teams. Their contract was one that required a great amount of money and help to complete, as it extended from Mendota west, and at times they employed one hundred and eighty men. and the first contract was for the sum nf $180,000. They put men into the tim- ber with saws and axes, and tlie groves disappeared like grain before the reaper. When the surveys were being made for the Rock Island it was a question which route they would take from Peru to Shetheld, whether it would keep on the prairie and pass through Princeton or follow the Bureau valley. Both localities fought for it and both felt sure of success. The route through Princeton would have been shorter and easier built, but when the decision was reached and announced to the public Princeton collapsed and Tiskilwa rejoiced, and it has always been a mystery to some people what happened.

Illinois And Mississippi Canal

The Illinois and Mississippi canal is locally known as the Hennepin canal. The modified plans for this canal contemplated the construction of the same at least eighty feet wide at the water surface, seven feet deep, with locks one hundred and seventy feet long between quoins, thirty-five feet wide; admitting barges carrying six hundred short tons of freight, if two hundred and forty short tons are allowed for weight of vessels and one hundred and forty feet length, thirty -four feet beam, and six feet draft of vessel that may easily navigate the canal. The canal to begin at the great bend of the Illinois river; thence via the valleys of Bureau, Pond and Cowcatcher creeks to the summit level near the eighteenth mile, ascending one hundred and ninety-six feet through twentv--one locks, with lifts varying from seven to eleven feet each; thence to the feeder junction near the twenty-eighth mile; thence to Eock river, just above the mouth of Green river ; thence down Eock river to its mouth.

The length of the canal is about seventy-five miles. The descent from the summit level to the low water level of the Mississippi river is ninety-three feet, effected by ten lift locks from six to fourteen feet lift, with one guard lock. The number of lift locks has been reduced from thirty-seven to thirty-one, and the summit level has been cut down nine feet in the changes since the 1890 report by subsequent surveys, and the length of the main line of the canal has been reduced from seventy-seven to seventy-five miles.

The feeder as now located is twenty-nine miles in length. The feeder joins the main line on the north line of Mineral township at or near the northeast corner of section 3. The main line commences, as has been stated, at the great bend of the Illinois river, about one and three-fourth miles northeast of Bureau Junction. It passes in a northwesterly direction through the township of Leepertown, Arispie cutting off a small corner of Indiantown, passing on through Wyanet. Concord, running along the line between Mineral and Gold, where it meets the feeder, when it bears a little south and passes out of the county on section 6 in Mineral. The feeder comes into the county on section 2 in Fairfield and passes almost due south throucrh Fairfield and Gold.

where it meets the main line. The government appropriations have been as follows: July 1, 1890, balance on hanil from previous appropriations in preliminary work $ 786.10

It was thought that the above appropriations ivould complete the canal, but on account of the increase in price of land for the right of way, and the additional expense of heavier railroad bridges to meet modern requirements and the necessity of rip-rapping the inside to prevent wear, it was found to be impossible to meet this extra expense without more money, consequently an additional appropriation of $500,000 was made about two 3'ears ago. This is the full amount required to open the canal for business. At this v.-riting, October, 1906, the canal and feeder are 95 per cent completed and will be completed next suiumer. It is hoped and expected that when this canal is completed that a large tract of the great northwest will be greatly benefited by way of cheaper transportation.

This canal has long been contemplated and worked for, but to Gen. Thomas J. Henderson's untiring energy and perseverance* in its behalf, during his long term in congress, must be awarded the credit of placing the matter before congress in such a light that the enterprise finally triumphed.