The I & M Canal Lock At Aux Sable Creek

One of my favorite places to pause on my river runs is the Aux Sable Creek lock on the I&M Canal.  It's a quiet and peaceful setting.  (Aux Sable is "with sand" in English.  Think "Sandy Creek.")  You may encounter a few other visitors, or somebody fishing, but usually you have the place to yourself.

Before there was the Illinois Waterway, there was the Illinois & Michigan Canal.  It ran from Chicago to La Salle, where it joined the Illinois River, which was navigable below there.  Along with the Erie Canal, the I&M permitted water shipment of goods from New York to New Orleans, or vice-versa.  Some historians credit it with being "the beginning of the beginning" of Chicago as a major city.

Partly due to the Panic of 1837 (which collapsed financing), the I&M required 12 years to complete.  It wasn't finished until 1848, just in time to be made obsolete by railroads.  Passenger service on the I&M ceased in 1853 when the Rock Island Railroad was completed between Chicago and the Mississippi.  The I&M continued in use for bulk cargo like grain and lumber even after the much wider and deeper Chicago Sanitary & Ship Canal, and its companion Illinois Waterway, were completed in 1900.  The I&M wasn't formally closed until 1933, long after maintenance had ceased and silt had blocked parts of it.

It was a massive project for the 1830's: 17 locks and 4 aqueducts, dug by unskilled hand labor in unhealthy conditions.  Many Irish immigrants, who later became so dominant in Chicago politics, died  from cholera and malaria.  I am proud to say, as an adopted Illinoisian, that we sent the first of  several Governors to jail over I&M Canal issues.  His name was Joel Matteson; his crime was bond fraud.  Insider trading is not a recent invention.  

Restoration of segments of the I&M Canal began in the 1970's.  The old mule tow-path was turned into a gravel bicycle path.  Some old structures, like mule barns and lockmasters' homes, were still around, and they were restored too.  The full corridor and bike path now runs for 62 miles between Joliet and La Salle.

Aux Sable Lock, viewed from downstream.  The narrow structure at left is a sluice gate, which adjusts water level in the main lock.

The aqueduct over Aux Sable Creek, viewed from the lock.  Mule tow-path on the right.  The dimensions of the I&M were 60 ft. wide at water level, 30 ft. wide at bottom, and 6 ft. deep.  The locks and aqueducts were narrower.  Canal boats were 15 ft. wide
by 100 ft. long.  Mules or steam engines moved them at a walking pace.

Aux Sable Creek as it goes under the aqueduct.  The creek flows from north to south.  The I&M Canal runs east and west, parallel and close to the Illinois River.  The aqueduct was upgraded to steel and concrete construction in a recent renovation.

The Lock Master's house.  This was an early form of political patronage.  The lock master was responsible for operating the lock and collecting tolls.  In exchange, he got free housing and a cut of the take.  So he was a well-regarded or well-connected member of the local community, and a laid-back kind of guy.   Usually all three.