Natural Resources
Some of the natural and geological
resources to this area are trees, sand, clay, rivers, and mineral springs.
There was an abundance of one natural resource, trees. Many trees were removed to create more
farmland. Settlers cut down the trees to
build homes and barns.
Another natural resource is sand. Sand was scraped from the tops of the ridge
along the Calumet Shoreline before farmers built their homes there (Schoon, p.
97). That sand was used to fill in
marshlands. Large amounts of sand were
moved from the dunes for the building of the U.S. Steel’s Gary Woods (Schoon,
p. 100). After the Chicago Fire, sand
was used to fill in part of Lake Michigan in order to expand the lakefront
(Schoon, p. 98). Sand was taken from the
dunes to do this and to fill in anywhere else people saw a need. Tons of sand was still being removed from the
dunes daily as late as 1953 (Schoon, 99).
The moraines and lake bottomlands in the Calumet Area hold a
large quantity of clay. Brickyards were created in Blue Island, Pullman,
Riverdale/ Dolton, Lansing, Munster, Hobart, and Porter so that bricks could be
shipped to far off cities (Schoon, p. 101).
Rivers, another natural resource, were altered and canals
were built so that these rivers would run straight through them. Rivers were often used for travel. The Calumet River, the Little Calumet River,
and the Kankakee River have all been forced to change their natural course and
run through manmade canals (Schoon, p. 103). Dams were built across rivers in
order to control them and power the mills (Schoon, p. 103).
Mineral springs is another natural resource in our
area. Deeps wells were dug near Porter County
in order to obtain mineral water (Schoon, p. 77). The water was bottled and sold as it was found
to be useful for baths, sanitation, and other treatments (Schoon, p. 77).
Human Activities
The settlers came for the natural resources of the area, but
in the diverse landscape of the Calumet Area, some area were difficult to
settle in because of wetlands, marshes, and forests (Schoon, p. 103). Our landscape is drastically different now
that it was before humans began settling here.
By the 1850s, settles and government agencies were greatly changing the
landscape. They “drained marshes, filled
in wet lands, dammed rivers, lowered the tops of hills and dunes, and mined the
earth for limestone, sand, and clay (Schoon, p. 96).”
The earliest settlers used Indian trails to move through the
area (Schoon, p. 61). The first two
families to enter the area came through the Sauk Trail. The Lincoln Highway was the country’s first
transcontinental highway. It was built
along the old Indian trails (Schoon, p. 61).
People flocked to the Calumet Area because of the building of the
Vincennes Trace, which connected Chicago to Vincennes, and the Michigan Road,
which connected Indianapolis to Michigan City (Schoon, p. 62). It also became a center of transportation
because it was located by Lake Michigan (Schoon, p. 64).
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| Sauk Trail ("Fort St. Joseph Site") |
Early travelers used the Lake Michigan shore as the main
means of travel (Schoon, p. 64). After
1833, settlers found inland routes because winds from Lake Michigan were too
cold in the winter and the sand near the shore was too dry for horses to go
through in the summer (Schoon, p. 66).
Inns and taverns were built along the shore for people to stop at
(Schoon, p. 65).
Settlers greatly changed the area to fit their needs. The removal of trees was the first big
modification made to the land in our area.
Hammond actually used to be filled with trees and forests (Schoon, p.
97). Settlers removed to trees in order
to have more area to build homes and farm.
They also used the timber from trees for building. The Calumet shorelines were scraped flat so
that settlers could built their homes there (Schoon, p. 97). Sand was taken from the dunes to fill in
anywhere people saw a need (Schoon, 99).
Canals were built along rivers to alter them and force them to flow
straight (Schoon, p. 103). Dams and drainage ditches were built, which changed
the way the water ran off the land (Schoon, p. 103). This was done to speed the current so that
the mills could be powered faster (Schoon, p. 103).
Invasive Species and Endangered
Animals
Silver carp is one type of fish that
has invaded the Great Lakes. It was
brought here and planted in southern catfish farms to control algae (Michigan
Sea Grant). They were leaked into the
Mississippi River and traveled from there.
Their large size, the ravenous way they eat, and their rate of
reproduction cause them to pose a threat to the Great Lakes Ecosystem. People fear they will destroy the fish native
to the area (Michigan Sea Grant).
 |
| Silver Carp (Michigan Sea Grant) |
"Fort
St. Joseph Site." Fort St. Joseph
Site. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Apr. 2014
Michigan
Sea Grant. "Fish Species in Michigan and the Great Lakes." Michigan Sea Grant. N.p., n.d. Web. 14
Apr. 2014.
<http://www.miseagrant.umich.edu/explore/native-and-invasive-species/species/fish-species-in-michigan-and-the-great-lakes/>.
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