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- Jean C. Mooring, Editor -
What to look for:
A Historic Well in Winfield Mounds Forest Preserve
Thirsty travelers on the Illinois Prairie Path Geneva Spur can now find
drinking water at a new pump beside the trail east of the West Branch
of the DuPage River. There was plenty of good, clean water at this site
when Native American people of the Middle Woodland, (300 B.C. to 800 A.D.),
and Late Woodland, (800 to 1600 A.D.), cultures fished, hunted and probably
farmed living in small settlements beside the river. Only a few arrowheads
and pieces of pottery in long-forgotten mounds now remain to mark their
passing. After the defeat of Chief Black Hawk in 1832, the next inhabitants
were white settlers who began to farm in the Winfield area in the mid-1800s.
With their coming the river water gradually became polluted and insufficient
in quantity to satisfy the needs of a rapidly-growing population, so wells
had to be dug by the new landowners and by the village of Winfield. These
wells sufficed until this year when the village began to receive water
via pipeline from Lake Michigan. Most of the wells have now been capped.
The old well recently restored to service in the Winfield Mounds Forest
Preserve was originally dug by a pioneer in the plastics industry named
Harold Warp, who invented Flex-O-Glass and was the first manufacturer
of polyethylene food wrap, "Jiffy Wrap." Mr. Warp built for
his personal use a one-room summer cabin near his well also also a small
footbridge over the river. It was a peaceful refuge in warm weather for
a captain of industry. In 1970 the Warp family sold almost 120 acres of
land to the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County for inclusion in
the fledgling Winfield Mounds Forest Preserve.
During the winter of 1971-72 Dan Griffin (now director of resource management
for the forest preserve district but then just an intern fresh out of
college) lived with his wife in the tiny uninsulated, closet-less Warp
cabin with its two small electric space heaters and a wood-burning fireplace.
"The wind blew through every crack and sometimes the curtains stood
straight out from the windows," says Dan. "The water froze one
day in the Christmas tree stand, but at least we did have an indoor toilet
and an electric pump to bring water from the well to the cabin."
The last occupant of the cabin was George Bottoms, chief engineer of
the forest preserve district, who enjoyed roughing it in that beautiful
bur oak savanna by the river but did add a few amenities to the cabin,
including insulation, a propane heater, and airtight windows and also
a new deck to Mr. Warp's little footbridge. George burned Osage Orange
in the fireplace, which "lit up like sparklers," and from the
bridge fed corn to the schools of big goldfish (carp) in the river. "Carp
is a real fighting fish," says he, "and exciting to catch."
It is important to note that George Bottoms won the everlasting gratitude
of the Illinois Prairie Path Board of Directors when he provided a forest
preserve district crew to build a wooden bridge over the East Branch of
the DuPage River between Glen Ellyn and Lombard after our low bridge had
been washed out by the Hundred Year Flood of 1972. In 1977 he rebuilt
the bridge after an arsonist almost destroyed it. When the arsonist struck
again The IPP installed a $22,000 steel bridge, but George and the forest
preserve district had given us five years of grace to raise the necessary
money.
When George Bottoms retired about 1978 and moved to upstate New York,
the old cabin was razed. Now only the well (covered by a new concrete
pad to hold the new pump) and the small abutments of Mr. Warp's original
bridge (hidden under the new steel bridge) remain, but both hold a lot
of memories for longtime friends of the Illinois Prairie Path.
The Illinois Prairie Path is America's first great rail-trail
According to the October-December 1996 issue of the National Rails-To-Trails
Conservancy newsletter, Trailblazer, the Illinois Prairie Path
is not the nation's first rail-trail. That honor, we are told, actually
belongs to a picturesque one-mile-long sandy footpath named the Cathedral
Isle Trail in Aiken, South Carolina, which opened to the public in 1939.
We are not surprised to read this because we know of at least one other
abandoned rail line right here in Kane County which was acquired for public
use in the 1940s, some twenty years before the Prairie Path. However,
it wasn't until long after the Illinois Prairie Path attained national
fame that the beautiful Virgil L. Gilman Trail was built on the right-of-way.
We have always said that the Illinois Prairie Path, built by volunteers,
is America's first great rail-trail and, furthermore, that our founder,
naturalist and lifelong hiker May Theilgaard Watts, started the rail-trail
movement in the United States with her letter to the editor of the
Chicago Tribune, published September 30, 1963. Three weeks after
her letter appeared eighty people, inspired by her proposal to convert
an abandoned railroad into a long multi-purpose trail, joined her for
a hike on the "future footpath". This was the actual de facto
public opening of the trail because we never had a formal ceremony. Today
the Illinois Prairie Path is fifty-five miles long and generates more
than 300,000 person-trips annually -- two measures of its status as a
great trail.
The national rail-trail movement also began right here in 1963
with Mrs. Watts' letter in the Chicago Tribune, a newspaper of
national importance. The national spotlight shone on our trail again on
February 8, 1965 when President Lyndon B. Johnson included in his Message
on Natural Beauty Of Our Country (Lady Bird Johnson's favorite cause)
a section on trails containing this sentence: "In Illinois an abandoned
railroad right-of-way is being developed as a 'Prairie Path'." Ours
was the only rail-trail recognized so early at the national level. See
page 3. On June 2, 1971, during the Nixon Administration, May Watts
was invited to Washington to represent the whole trails community when
the first group of National Recreation Trails was designated (the Prairie
Path had been first to apply for that honor). in 1976 the Illinois Prairie
Path was the only rail-trail project singled out for national recognition
during the Ford Administration in the Horizons on Display American Bicentennial
Program; and in 1988 the volunteers of The Illinois Prairie Path were
national finalists in the Take Pride in America Program during the Reagan
Administration.
No other long and well-loved rail-trail, especially one begun and maintained
for more than twenty years by hundreds of volunteers, has received so
much national recognition. We think our claim to be the first great rail-trail
which started the American rail-trail movement stands.
89th CONGRESS HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES Document
1st Session No. 78
NATURAL BEAUTY OF OUR COUNTRY
MESSAGE
FROM
THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES
TRANSMITTING
A MESSAGE ON NATURAL BEAUTY OF OUR COUNTRY
February 8, 1965. -- Referred to the Committee of the Whole House on the
State of the Union and ordered to be printed
To the Congress of the United States:
For centuries Americans have drawn strength and inspiration from the
beauty of our country. It would be a neglectful generation indeed, indifferent
alike to the judgment of history and the command of principle, which failed
to preserve and extend such a heritage for its descendants.
Yet the storm of modern change is threatening to blight and diminish in
a few decades what has been cherished and protected for generations.
A growing population is swallowing up areas of natural beauty with its
demands for living space, and is placing increased demand on our overburdened
areas of recreation and pleasure ...
The forgotten outdoorsmen of today are those who like to walk, hike,
ride horseback, or bicycle. For them we must have trails as well as highways.
Nor should motor vehicles be permitted to tyrannize the more leisurely
human traffic.
Old and young alike can participate. Our doctors recommend and encourage
such activity for fitness and fun.
I am requesting, therefore, that the Secretary of the Interior work with
his colleagues in the Federal Government and with State and local leaders
and recommend to me a cooperative program to encourage a national system of
trails, building up the more than hundred thousand miles of trails in our
national forests and parks.
There are many new and exciting trail Projects underway across the land.
In Arizona, a county has arranged for miles of irrigation canal banks to be
used by riders and hikers. In Illinois, an abandoned railroad right-of-way
is being developed as a "Prairie Path." In (New) Mexico utility rights-of-way
are used as public trails.
As with so much of our quest for beauty and quality, each community has
opportunities for action. We can and should have an abundance of trails for
walking, cycling, and horseback riding, in and close to our cities. In the
back country we need to copy the great Appalachian Trail in all parts of
America, and to make full use of rights-of-way and other public paths ...
The beauty of our land is a natural resource. Its preservation is linked
to the inner prosperity of the human spirit.
The tradition of our past is equal to today's threat to that beauty. Our
land will be be attractive tomorrow only if we organize for action and rebuild
and reclaim the beauty we inherited. Our stewardship will be judged by the
foresight with which we carry out these programs. We must rescue our cities
and countryside from blight with the same purpose and vigor with which, in
other areas, we moved to save the forests and the soil.
LYNDON B. JOHNSON.
THE WHITE HOUSE, February 8, 1965
Report on Annual Meeting
The Illinois Prairie Path annual meeting held on November 3, 1996 at
the Abbey in Elmhurst provided a fitting climax to an eventful year for
trails. About sixty attendees enjoyed the festivities.
President Paul Aeschleman mentioned the year's major volunteer projects:
the annual spring cleanup, restoration work at several prairies on or
near the Prairie Path, and the events of National Trails Day on June 1,
including the installation of the Geneva Spur sign, which marked the Grand
Opening of that nine-mile trial segment; the naming of the Jack T. Knuepfer
Bridge; and the return of the Grand Illinois Trail Adventurers. He touched
on projects which the board is currently planning, such as a proposed
drinking fountain at the new Prairie Meadows development on the Elgin
Branch south of North Avenue and the new mile markers to be made of plastic/wood
composite, which is practically indestructible. He showed a model of the
acrylic green-and-white mile numbers identified by the IPP logo and trial
segment name; for example, Geneva Spur. The membership approved the prototype
as designed by Jean Mooring and produced by Legible Signs Inc. of Rockford.
Treasurer Steve Plumb reported that this had been a good year for the
Path financially and that we had ended in the black, thanks to the membership
recruitment efforts of David Tate. The complete Treasurer's Report with
pie charts appears on the back cover. The most
expensive items in the budget are the Office Manager at 20% and the Newsletter
at 19%.
Membership Chair David Tate used view graphs and handouts to illustrate
the fact that the support of our members is steadily increasing and that
as a result our cash balance is rebounding from the low point reached
in 1993. See bar graph. As a humorous reward for
their outstanding efforts, David Tate and Linda Plumb, our hardworking
office manager, each received a can of "Great Stuff."
Paul Aeschleman spoke briefly about goals and objectives and proposed
projects for The IPP in 1997, asking for a show of hands on each. The
membership indicated varying degrees of interest in goals ranging from
fundraising and increasing membership involvement to special projects
like an IPP/Chicagoland Bicycle Federation safety survey of all our road
crossings or an IPP/Rails-to-Trails Conservancy invitational bike ride.
The results were not tallied.
The business meeting ended with the re-election by acclamation of four
board members whose terms were expiring: Paul Aeschleman, Paul Mooring,
Steve Plumb and David Tate.
The featured speakers of the day were Mike Ulm, executive director of
the Illinois Rails-to-Trails Conservancy in Springfield, and George Bellovics,
landscape architect and Grand Illinois Trial coordinator for the Illinois
Department of Natural Resources, based in Dixon. Mike began the slide
show of last May's 475-mile Grand Adventure by remarking that the Illinois
Prairie Path is known across the country as one of the great rail-trails.
Bicyclist Mike and his fellow Adventurer horse-woman Kandee Haertel, accompanied
by Kandee's husband driving a sag wagon covered the whole distance in
three weeks and saw beautiful old canals, historic industrial sites, tunnels
and charming bridges, the mighty Mississippi River, the rolling hills
of Jo Daviess County, ancient forests, fields of corn and soybeans, friendly
country towns, some wonderful existing trails, and of course the spectacular
Chicago skyline. They also met many enthusiastic trail fans and political
leaders as they made their pioneering way across northern Illinois. Although
they experienced more than their share of rainy days, they had a great
time and felt that the Grand Celebration on the Prairie Path Geneva Spur
in West Chicago was an inspiring climax. There is a good chance that the
Grand Illinois Trail will be largely complete by the Year 2000. Certainly
the southern leg, which consists mainly of the Centennial Trail, the Illinois-Michigan
Canal Trail and the Hennepin Canal Trail and which is a part of the coast-to-coast
American Discovery Trail, will be finished by then.
George Bellovics of IDNR discussed many trail plans which are in the
works now: a connector trail from the Fox River Trail to the I&M Canal;
surfacing of the Old Plank Road Trail from Park Forest to New Lenox; a
trail at the Midewin National Grassland (former Joliet Arsenal); improvements
to the Centennial Trail, the Hennepin Canal Trail, the Great River Trail,
and our IPP Cook County section. This last project will go out for bids
soon, and it is hoped that construction can start in the spring of 1997.
George explained that a small parking lot and some landscaping are planned
for First Avenue, Maywood; the Path will be blacktopped from First Ave.
to Taft Ave. in Hillside; the Path will go under the Indiana Harbor Belt
Railroad ("The Catacombs") in Bellwood and will have chain-link
fencing in that section; the old bridge at Addison Creek will be removed
and a new one built; lighting will be provided in Maywood; Bellwood may
provide its own lighting later; a bridge is planned to cross the DesPlaines
River and it is hoped the Cook County DOT will take responsibility for
it.
The last featured speaker was Jean Mooring, who presented the annual
Prairie Path slide show, written by Paul Mooring. The show highlighted
the major events of the year with special emphasis on the tremendous contributions
of the DuPage County Division of Transportation to the improvement of
the Regional Trail System. Jean also mentioned problem
areas, such as the continuing Commonwealth Edison powerline threat to
the Aurora Branch in Warrenville, and vandalism to our bench near
Lake Arrowhead in Wheaton and to our display case at Westmore in Lombard.
She wound up with pictures of happy Path users, colorful native wildflowers
on the right-of-way, and peaceful scenes viewed from the trail.
The meeting concluded with the traditional cider, cakes and cookies
provided by past and present board members and/or spouses.
Membership Dues & Cash Balance --- By Fiscal Year
90 91 92 93 93 95 96
Dues Revenue 19,135 17,246 17,423 15,405 19,738 30,187 36,998
Cash Balance 54,944 59,692 56,877 42,242 42,289 43,496 49,364
Letter from the Editor
Dear Members and Friends,
This is my valedictory as editor of The Illinois Prairie Path Newsletter.
I have been writing the Newsletter since 1980, sixteen years, more than
half the time that our not-for-profit corporation has been in existence.
I followed in the footsteps of the late Helen Turner, Bobbie Lively, and
Louise Headen, each of whom had much to teach me. I have tried to develop
a high quality product, which would maintain the standards set by my predecessors.
For example, from the earliest days our newsletter has had a distinctive
front page, featuring either nature notes or historical vignettes illustrated
by local artists. These generous donors of time and talent included Helen
Turner, May Watts, Bobbie Lively, Henrietta Tweedie, Mark and Jo Mayeau,
and in recent years Susan Terwedow, who is not only an artist but also
a dedicated runner and columnist for the Daily Herald.
Since I took over as Newsletter Editor, many good things large and small
have happened to the Prairie Path; and I have taken great pleasure in
writing about them and in photographing them for the Newsletter and for
the annual meeting slide show. To report these events properly I have
attended virtually every board meeting since 1980 and also most of our
work days and special projects (I have been actually doing all this since
the early '70s). During my tenure as editor one of our most important
achievements was the almost miraculous completion of Volunteer Bridge
in 1983 through the joint effort of some eighty volunteers. Another was
the official recognition of Illinois Prairie Path as the trail name in
1991 by the DuPage County Board as a result of our long lobbying effort.
Still another was the publication of our outstanding full-color trail
map in 1994. In 1984 the fortunes of the Path took a mighty leap forward
when, under the leadership of DuPage County Board Chairman Jack T. Knuepfer,
the DuPage County Division of Transportation began to take responsibility
for regular maintenance of the trail, including surfacing, mowing, pruning,
and building bridges. In recent years DuPage County has built bridges
over Klein Creek on the Elgin Branch, over railroad tracks at Reed-Keppler
Park on the Geneva Spur, and over Eola Road on the Aurora Branch. The
Illinois State Toll Highway Authority built a major bridge over 1-355;
and the Illinois Department of Transportation built bridges over Salt
Creek, Rt. 83 and Rt. 59 plus underpasses at Butterfield Road and North
Avenue. The Kane County Forest Preserve District and the Fox Valley Park
District have made many improvements to their sections of the Prairie
Path in Kane County as have virtually all the municipalities along the
trail.
This year, 1996, saw the greatest event of my time as Newsletter Editor,
the completion of the Illinois Prairie Path Geneva Spur and the building
of yet another bridge by the DuPage County DOT, this one over the West
Branch of the DuPage River in the Winfield Mounds Forest Preserve. My
husband Paul and I have been working and hoping for this triumphant outcome
since the late '60s. Now it has finally happened; and I think this is
a good time for me to retire from the board of directors, although I remain
a life member of The Illinois Prairie Path.
Thank you for all your support. We've had fun building a wonderful trail
with a lot of help from our friends in government. Please keep up the
good work and support whoever becomes your new editor with articles of
interest to our users and even an occasional pat on the back! Best regards,
Jean C. Mooring
November, 1996. Jean Mooring, retiring as IPP Newsletter Editor
Another Forest Preserve District Connecting Trail for DuPage County
We are pleased to see that the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County
has jumped on the long-distance trail bandwagon. As the largest landowner
in the county, the district has built many miles of trails within its
forest preserves. Now the district is beginning to connect these individual
trails to the regional trail system, as The Illinois Prairie Path Board
of Directors has long recommended.
Two of these connecting trails are under construction now. As mentioned
in the Fall Newsletter, the trail west of County Farm Road, connecting
the Prairie Path to the Great Western Trail via Kline Creek Farm in the
Timber Ridge Forest Preserve, is nearing completion. Most of the grading
and surfacing has been done, and a 70-foot bridge over a drainage ditch
will be installed before winter. The landscaping will be completed in
the spring. The total length of the trail is slightly more than one mile.
The total cost of the project including the bridge will be $336,619 (incorrectly
given as $221,000 in the Fall Newsletter), of which an IDOT ISTEA grant
will pay 80%. Prairie Path and Great Western Trail users will be glad
to know that this new trail will make the parking lot at Kline Creek Farm
available to them. There also are plans for a $575,000 visitor center
near the parking lot at Kline Creek Farm. Amenities will include a gift
shop, auditorium, exhibit areas, and washrooms open to visitors from outside.
Construction will start next summer with completion expected in the summer
of 1998.
Construction of the second connecting trail has just begun. It will
be .5 mile in length and will run from the stoplight at Winfield Road
north of Butterfield Road along the ridge at the south end of Silver Lake
to the main entrance at Blackwell Forest Preserve and the regional trail
segment in the preserve. The $240,000 project will include a pedestrian
crosswalk and pushbutton light at the Winfield Road/Butterfield Road intersection
to facilitate the connection to the Illinois Prairie Path Aurora Branch.
In the spring, when construction is complete, this trail section will
provide beautiful views of Silver Lake.
Prairie Work Days, rain or shine
Saturday, Feb 15, 1997
Clear brush with Keith Olsen, at Great Western Prairie, Elmhurst.
Meet at 9:00 a.m. at Berkley Ave. and the Illinois Prairie Path.
Leaders: Dick Wilson, (847) 299-7882 (8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.);
Keith Olsen, (630) 834-7357.
Saturday, March 29, 1997
Clear brush with Mel Hoff at the West Chicago Prairie along the
Geneva Spur of the Illinois Prairie Path.
Leaders: Dick Wilson, (847) 299-7882 (8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.);
Mel Hoff, (630) 393-4715.
November 1, 1995-November 1, 1996
(Unaudited)
Balance on Hand, November 1, 1995
First National Bank of Chicago (checking)....... $4,901
Stein Roe Cash Reserves (savings) .............. 38,594
TOTAL ......................................... $43,495
Revenue
Donations ...................................... $1,466
Dues ........................................... 36,998
Sales (maps, T-shirts, Patches, "Guides") ...... 2,130
Interest ....................................... 2,065
Miscellaneous .................................. 0
TOTAL ......................................... $42,659
Expenditures
Office Manager ................................. $7,200
Newsletters .................................... 6,796
Membership/Flyers .............................. 3,149
New Signs ...................................... 3,107
Litter Removal/Toilets ......................... 3,074
Postage ........................................ 2,786
Office Supplies ................................ 2,164
Special Events ................................. 2,180
Prairie Restoration ............................ 2,010
Other Printing ................................. 2,008
Donations ...................................... 1,250
Miscellaneous .................................. 1.066
TOTAL ......................................... $36,790
Balance on Hand, November 1, 1996
First National Bank of Chicago (checking) ...... $8,850
Stein Roe Cash Reserves (savings) .............. 40,514
TOTAL ......................................... $49,364
1996 Illinois Prairie Path Major Expenses
Office Manager ............ 20%
Newsletters ............... 19%
Membership Flyers ......... 9%
New Signs ................. 8%
Litter Removal/Toilets .... 8%
Postage ................... 7%
Office Supplies ........... 7%
Special Events ............ 6%
Prairie Restoration ....... 5%
Office Printing ........... 5%
Donations ................. 3%
Miscellaneous ............. 3%
1996 Illinois Prairie Path Sources of Revenue
Dues ...................... 87%
Sales ..................... 5%
Interest .................. 5%
Donations ................. 3%
MEMBERSHIP RATES: Individual $20
Family $20
Organization/Supporting $30
Sustaining $50
Patron $100
Lifetime $500
Illinois Prairie Path
P.O. Box 1086
Wheaton, Illinois 60189
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