The Illinois Prairie Path Newsletter
Fall 1999

- Nancy Wasielewski, Editor -

Indian Mounds Restoration Work Underway

By David Tate
IPP President

The Illinois Prairie Path not-for-profit corporation is financing the cost for the restoration of three American Indian burial mounds in the Winfield Mounds Forest Preserve. The IPP initiated this restoration project last year to provide IPP trail users with a new destination point along the 61-mile trail. When the project is completed next fall, we think the trail users will find the history of the Indian village and mounds rather fascinating.

The IPP's Geneva Spur runs through the Winfield Mounds Forest Preserve. The Indian village and mounds site is south of the Geneva Spur in a large oak and hickory forest. It is thought that this location was chosen as the site of the Indian village due to the nearby West Branch of the DuPage River, which provided a year around supply of water, and also due to the surrounding hickory tree forest. Indians would boil hickory nuts to separate the nut from the shell, and then grind the nuts into flour. The flour could be stored and used throughout the long winters. The site was occupied at two different time periods: about 50 A.D., the Middle Woodland period; and also about 500 A.D., the Late Woodland period.

The Forest Preserve District of DuPage County (FPDDC) will install and maintain a six-foot-wide grass trail that will connect the IPP's Geneva Spur to the mounds. The grass trail will be a footpath and therefore biking will not be allowed on the grass trail due to potential erosion.

Restoration work involves recontouring the burial mounds and will be done by Doug Kullen of Allied Archelogy who is coordinating with the FPDDC. Doug is currently working on his Ph.D. at the University of Chicago in the pre-history of the DuPage River valley.

Recontouring of the mounds is necessary because at least four excavation parties have dug at the Winfield mound site. The first excavators were vandals who in 1926 and 1927 excavated two of the mounds. Then in 1929 a Mr. Cook of Wheaton excavated the third mound before contacting the University of Chicago Department of Anthropology. In 1931 the U. of C. excavated at the site and determined that the mounds were in fact Indian burial mounds. Finally, in 1975 and 1976 Wheaton College excavated at the site and from the "prehistoric debris scatter" of artifacts determined that in addition to the burial mounds the site was occupied as a village during two distinct time periods.

Unfortunately, none of the previous excavation parties backfilled their excavations. Therefore, visitors to the site today do not actually see much of the original burial mounds but rather only see holes where the mounds once were and mounds of dirt next to the holes.

In September 1999, the FPDDC's vegetation management crew started clearing buckthorn and other invasive underbrush around the mounds. Doug Kullen plans on having the recontouring of the mounds completed by the end of October 1999. Doug noted that short grasses will be planted on the mounds after they are restored in order to stabilize them and inhibit erosion. The FPDDC will introduce native forbs and other plants next spring or summer.

Dan White of the FPDDC is interested in establishing a "sitting area" in the space surrounded by the mounds along with interpretive signage. Doug Kullen is currently drafting narrative for interpretive signage at the site.

The IPP will fund the $1,550 projected cost of restoring the mounds. In addition, the IPP will provide at least $1,000 for a bicycle rack and interpretive signage on the IPP's Geneva Spur and also at the mounds site.

Doug Kullen's goal is to have the project completed and an official dedication ceremony in September 2000 to coincide with Archelogy Awareness Week.

For More Information. . .

If you would like to learn more about the Winfield mounds and village site, copies of the following two reports, written by Douglas Kullen, are at the Winfield Library:

• Report to the DuPage County Forest Preserve District on the potential for additional archaeological investigations at the Winfield mound group and village site, January 1986, 11 pages, 977.324 KUL.
• Winfield mounds and village - forgotten excavations in northeast Illinois, October 1987, 5 pages, 977.324 KUL.

Mark your calendars for
The Illinois Prairie Path's Annual Meeting
Sunday, November 7 at 2 p.m.

This year we are pleased to announce that Steve Hyett will be the featured speaker at The Illinois Prairie Path's 35th annual meeting. Steve is an expert on the Chicago, Aurora and Elgin trolley line that ran between 1902 and 1957 on what is today the Illinois Prairie Path. Steve is an enthusiastic speaker who loves to get the audience involved as he re-lives the era of the CA&E.

The Annual Meeting will also feature the just-published book, "The Living Legacy of the Chicago, Aurora and Elgin," by Peter Weller and Fred Stark. The authors will be present to autograph copies which will be on sale for the retail price of $54.95. The book contains the best history of the Illinois Prairie Path ever published.

Where

The Abbey Leisure Center, 407 West St. Charles Road, Elmhurst, IL

Short Reports

1999 President's report: David Tate
1999 Treasurer's report: Paul Mooring
Nomination of Directors: David Tate

Featured Presentations

"When Trolleys Rode the Prairie ... Path" -- Steve Hyett
New Book - "The Living Legacy of the Chicago, Aurora and Elgin" by Peter Weller and Fred Stark
1999 Prairie Path Slide Show -- Paul and Jean Mooring, IPP Directors

Refreshments

Refreshments will be served after the meeting.

New Pump In Wayne
Your IPP Dues at Work

By Jean Mooring
IPP Board Member

Now we have water!

On Tuesday, September 7, our new hand-operated pump at Army Trail Road on the IPP Elgin Branch went "on-line" after notification by the DuPage Country Health Department that the water was safe to drink. Wayne does not have a city water system.

The well was drilled and the pump was installed by Meadow Equipment Sales and Service, Inc. of Carol Stream under the direction of Mike Reynolds, well coordinator.

The Illinois Prairie Path not-for-profit corporation paid for the well and pump, which now belong to DuPage County, landowner of the trail and its right-of-way, which is called the DuPage Parkway. The project's total cost was $5,875, including $2,098 to drill the 120-foot-deep well and install the 88-foot 5-inch diameter steel casing and fittings, $2,500 for the hand pump kit and $476 for the concrete pad around the pump and four yards of grade #8 crushed limestone.

The pump is set to draw water from a depth of 105 feet and the water level in the inner pipe is 26 feet below ground level so that it will not require very strenuous pumping to bring it to the surface.

We are very pleased with the work of Meadow Equipment on this improvement. Our users are already telling us how great it is to have a source of drinking water on the formerly long, dry stretch of the IPP Elgin Branch between Wheaton and South Elgin. We know our users will understand that we will have to shut off the pump when winter comes (probably in late November) to prevent damage from freezing.

If our users have suggestions about possible locations for other pumps or drinking fountains along the trail, the IPP Board would be glad to consider them.

Another Detour on the Geneva Spur

There's a new scenic detour of the Illinois Prairie Path on the Geneva Spur around the property of the new Pillsbury Company plant west of Kautz Road in Kane County. When work is completed this fall, the detoured trail will run along the east and south sides of the property's detention pond. This small lake boasts islands and peninsulas and is already attracting ducks, geese and various species of shore birds.

The Pillsbury Company of Minneapolis held a grand opening September 15 for its new multi-million dollar facility which will produce frozen breakfast products for national distribution.

To provide sufficient acreage for this very large structure, Pillsbury worked out an agreement to acquire the section of the Commonwealth Edison-owned right-of-way which ran through the property, and was also the location of a section of the Illinois Prairie Path Geneva Spur maintained in Kane County by the Kane County Forest Preserve District. The forest preserve has an easement on the Kane County portion of the right-of-way granted by Commonwealth Edison.

The three parties agreed that ComEd would swap this quarter-mile section of the right-of- way to Pillsbury if Pillsbury would provide sufficient land for a bypass for the power lines and the Prairie Path bypass as well. Approval for this agreement was also granted by the City of Geneva which serves Pillsbury as a wholesale municipal supplier of electricity generated by Wisconsin Electric Power Company (WEPCO) and transmitted along ComEd lines.

Pillsbury is paying to move the power lines and to rebuild and landscape the Illinois Prairie Path on the half-mile-plus bypass. The forest preserve district approved the plans for this roughly U-shape trail segment, which has a 10-foot-wide blacktop surface, benches, trees, shrubs and stop signs at a new cross road which provides access to the Pillsbury parking lot.

Maybe someday the Pillsbury doughboy will pop up to join his friends on the trail.

FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
About the Illinois Prairie Path

I am a new member and would like to get involved with the Illinois Prairie Path as a volunteer. What kind of projects are available?
The IPP Board welcomes volunteers! Monthly work days are held on the third Saturday of the month from March to October. Volunteers restore and maintain prairies and make necessary repairs to display cases, mile markers, benches and other trail amenities. We also need volunteers to help with cleaning up the path throughout the year, as well as at our annual spring Earth Day cleanup along the 61-mile trail.

To get involved, we invite volunteers to come to our monthly meetings at 7:30 p.m. on the first Tuesday of the month at Rathje Park or call our voice mail number at 630-752-0120. We welcome your participation!

I couldn't find the map of the Grand Illinois Trail with the web site instructions you listed in the last issue. How can I get a copy of the map on the internet?
It appears that the state web site made a change in terminology since our last newsletter provided instructions to access a copy of the Grand Illinois Trail map on the internet. The web address is: http://dnr.state.il.us (there is no www in the address). Click on the box "Navigate Our Site" and scroll to Agency Offices and click. Under Agency Offices, scroll down to Office of Realty & Environmental Planning and click. On this page, scroll down and click on Division of Planning. Here you will find a reference to a map for the Grand Illinois Trail.

Does the Illinois Prairie Path Office have a lost and found box? I found a working watch with a broken strap on the Prairie Path and thought someone would want this watch back.
No, the IPP is not able to maintain a lost and found box. We suggest that you contact the local police department with any valuable items found on the path. The IPP does not have an office that is open to the public on a daily basis, so we cannot be a convenient source for collecting and returning lost items.

Can I still send in photos for your photo feature on members enjoying using the Illinois Prairie Path?
Yes! We welcome your contributions. Photos received will be published in our Winter Newsletter issue! We would especially like to receive photos of our members and friends biking, walking, jogging and enjoying the Illinois Prairie Path! Share your fun times with our members. Send photos to the address listed below.

To ask a question that we will answer in this column in a future issue, write to: The Illinois Prairie Path Newsletter, P. O. Box 1086, Wheaton, IL 60189

1999 Tax-Deductible Contributions

Illinois Prairie Path members often ask near year-end if it would be possible to make a tax-deductible donation to The IPP in addition to their annual membership contribution. Of course, the answer is ... Yes! The IPP's all volunteer board of directors ask that you please remember The IPP when it is time to make your 1999 contributions. Your contribution will provide local trail amenities and assure the continuation of trail improvements. The Illinois Prairie Path is a not-for-profit corporation and all contributions are tax deductible.

Your contributions provide trail amenities along the 61-mile trail such as display cases, mile markers, benches, free trail maps, trash containers, comfort stations, and in 1999 we installed a well and pump in Wayne. We also preserve, restore and re-establish prairies along the trail. In addition, the IPP coordinates and finances trail cleanups, makes donations, and works with municipalities, counties and the State of Illinois to promote trail awareness and improvements.

It is also possible to double or triple your gift through your company's matching gift program. The matching gift form, obtained from your company's personnel office, should be mailed along with your check.

If you would like to make a contribution, please send your check made payable to The Illinois Prairie Path to the following address:

Please mark these 1999 year-end contributions as being in addition to your annual membership contribution

The Illinois Prairie Path Newsletter

Calls to our voice-mail system (630-752-0120) are monitored several times a week. Depending on the nature of your call, we will get back to you as soon as possible. Please leave your daytime and evening phone numbers.

Meetings: The Illinois Prairie Path Board of Directors meetings are held at 7:30 p.m. on the first Tuesday of each month in Rathje Park, 616 Delles Ave., Wheaton, IL 60189. Members and friends are welcome to attend.

MEMBERSHIP RATES: Individual $20
                      Family $20
     Organization/Supporting $30
                  Sustaining $50
                      Patron $100
                    Lifetime $500

       Illinois Prairie Path
       P.O. Box 1086
       616 Delles Road
       Wheaton, Illinois 60189