Time Was

    I recently took a ride up the Des Plaines River almost all the way to Brandon locks. The views seemed to contradict each other.
    On one hand the amount of wildlife, especially wading birds was incredible. On the other hand, we had to dodge lines of barges while loading docks, chutes, etc. lined the shoreline, crowding closer as we made our way to Joliet.
    It was clear to me that commerce was still happening on the river in a big way. Today we look back to the time when Wilmington was using these same waters for its commercial ventures.

    As the war progressed news received at home from the front were full of battles, ship sinkings, gas attack and more.
    A letter from a local boy, proving that he was alive and well, was a morale boost for the whole community. The Wilmington Advocate printed many of them. Today we read letters from the front written exactly 100 years ago this month.

    The signs are all around us, Pottawattamie camp ground, Indian Boundary Line and Wauponsie Glacial Trail. Those romantic Native American names are not just for show. Time was when white man did not live here, only tribes of warring Indians roamed the prairie.
    Set the way-back machine to the late 17th century for a look around.
    The very state we live in, Illinois, is named for a tribe of Indians. The Illinois Indians were made up of five distinct bands: Kaskaskias, Cahohias, Peorias, Tamaroas and Mickgamies.

Our story today concerns abolitionists, those people who helped slaves escape. Sometimes they helped people who had left slavery behind in the south and were desperately trying to get to Canada. But that was not the situation in today's story.