The New Student's Reference Work/Illinois River

Illinois River is the largest river in the state of Illinois. It is formed by a union of the Des Plaines from Wisconsin and the Kankakee from Indiana, and flows nearly 500 miles before reaching the Mississippi. It is navigable for 245 miles from its mouth. The chief branches are the Fox and Spoon Rivers on the north and the Vermilion, Mackinaw and Sangamon Rivers on the south and east. It is now connected with Lake Michigan through the Chicago Drainage Canal. It is proposed to open a deep-waterway through this canal and the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers, from the lakes to the Gulf, and thus to the Panama Canal.