It was the spring of 1673. Pere Marquette, Louis Jolliet and five French voyageurs pushed their Birch bark canoes away from the misty shore of what is now the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and dipped their paddles into the icy water. Their goal was to find and explore the mighty river Native Americans had described.
They quickly paddled south along the west shore of Lake Michigan into Green Bay and the Wisconsin River to the Mississippi River. This small group of Frenchmen explored the Mississippi River as far south as Arkansas, stopping at Native American villages along the way to exchange gifts, gather information and speak of peace and trade.
On their return trip, the Frenchmen were told of a faster route home. "Paddle up the Illinois River, the Des Plaines River and Portage Creek thru Mud Lake and on to the Chicago River. This river will empty into Lake Michigan", the Native people said . Taking this route, the Frenchmen swiftly returned to Upper Michigan.
Incredibly, the entire round trip had taken just five months.
For eons, countless Native Americans had traveled this route. For 150 years after Marquette and Jolliet, the Chicago Portage was used by thousands of French explorers, British traders and American pioneers traveling to the Western and Southern parts of the country.
When the water was high, it was possible to paddle the entire way. When the water was low, Mud Lake became a mosquito-infested swamp filled with hungry blood-sucking leaches. The voyageurs were forced to drag their canoes with up to 3 tons of merchandise and gear through waist-deep muck. If the weather was very dry, the travelers might be required to carry their canoes and baggage on the Long Portage Trail for as long as 95 miles!
Incredibly, a section of this important portage remains in its' natural state while the rest of early Chicago, like Fort Dearborn, the Du Sable log cabin and the original Lake Michigan shoreline have vanished under yards of dirt, concrete and rubble. Only here can you hear the native birds, hear the water tumbling over a beaver dam, smell the wildflowers and almost hear the conversations of long-gone men as they traveled through this now historic site.
They quickly paddled south along the west shore of Lake Michigan into Green Bay and the Wisconsin River to the Mississippi River. This small group of Frenchmen explored the Mississippi River as far south as Arkansas, stopping at Native American villages along the way to exchange gifts, gather information and speak of peace and trade.
On their return trip, the Frenchmen were told of a faster route home. "Paddle up the Illinois River, the Des Plaines River and Portage Creek thru Mud Lake and on to the Chicago River. This river will empty into Lake Michigan", the Native people said . Taking this route, the Frenchmen swiftly returned to Upper Michigan.
Incredibly, the entire round trip had taken just five months.
For eons, countless Native Americans had traveled this route. For 150 years after Marquette and Jolliet, the Chicago Portage was used by thousands of French explorers, British traders and American pioneers traveling to the Western and Southern parts of the country.
When the water was high, it was possible to paddle the entire way. When the water was low, Mud Lake became a mosquito-infested swamp filled with hungry blood-sucking leaches. The voyageurs were forced to drag their canoes with up to 3 tons of merchandise and gear through waist-deep muck. If the weather was very dry, the travelers might be required to carry their canoes and baggage on the Long Portage Trail for as long as 95 miles!
Incredibly, a section of this important portage remains in its' natural state while the rest of early Chicago, like Fort Dearborn, the Du Sable log cabin and the original Lake Michigan shoreline have vanished under yards of dirt, concrete and rubble. Only here can you hear the native birds, hear the water tumbling over a beaver dam, smell the wildflowers and almost hear the conversations of long-gone men as they traveled through this now historic site.
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