Calumet beginnings : ancient shorelines and settlements at the south end of Lake Michigan / Kenneth J. Schoon.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Schoon, Kenneth J.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Land settlement.

History.

Human settlements.

Calumet Region (Ill. and Ind.)--History.

Calumet Region (Ill. and Ind.).

Calumet Region (Ill. and Ind.)--History, Local.

Calumet Region (Ill. and Ind.)--Geography.

Human settlements--Calumet Region (Ill. and Ind.)--History.

Land settlement--Calumet Region (Ill. and Ind.)--History.

Physical Description:

x, 247 pages : illustrations, maps (some color) ; 26 cm

Place of Publication:

Bloomington : Indiana University Press, [2003]

Summary:

The landscape of the Calumet, an area that sits astride the Indiana-Illinois state line at the southern end of Lake Michigan, results from the effects of glaciers that left the area toward the end of the Ice Age -- about 45,000 years ago. In the years since, many natural forces, including wind, running water, and the waves of Lake Michigan, have continued to shape the land. Lake Michigan, a barrier to east-west land transportation, forced people to move through the area at its southern tip. When the glaciers left, Lake Michigan was higher than it is now. As the lake dropped in elevation, it left behind shoreline features that in turn have served as Indian trails, stagecoach routes, highways, and sites that have evolved into many of the cities, towns, and villages of the Calumet area. People have also left their mark on the landscape: Indians built mounds; farmers scraped sand from the tops of hills and filled in wetlands; governments commissioned ditches and canals to drain marshes and change the direction of rivers; sand was hauled from where it was plentiful to where it was needed for urban and industrial growth. These thousands of years of weather and movements of peoples have given the Calumet region its distinct climate and appeal.

Contents:

Prologue: The Calumet Area 1

Part 1 The Physical Setting

1. Seas, Sediments, and Glacial Ice: Forming the Landscapes 11

2. Water and Wind: Interpreting Lake Michigan's History 25

Part 2 The Human Touch

3. The Calumet Area before 1833 45

4. The Pioneer and Stagecoach Period, 1833-1858 61

5. Railroads and Everyday Life, 1852-1899 80

6. Altering the Landscape 96

Part 3 Community Beginnings

7. Cook County Communities 111

8. Lake County Communities 143

9. Porter and LaPorte County Communities 188

Epilogue: Preserved Natural Areas 213.

Notes:

Col. maps on end pages.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 223-236) and index.

ISBN:

025334218X

OCLC:

51454491