`Rock the River,” celebrating the Chicago River, may be a new event this year among Chicago’s summer activities. But the roots of what it celebrates go way back, even before the beginnings of Chicago itself.
The festival, running Sept. 11 and 12 at Pioneer Court between Tribune Tower and the river, is sponsored in part by The Tribune. The Smithereens and the Smoking Popes will play. There will be river tours, boat rides, a fishing derby and informational displays. But the things event organizers really want people to remember are different: Alium cernoum, for example, and bascule trunnions and the strange legacy of Bubbly Creek.
Friends of the Chicago River, one of the groups receiving part of the proceeds from “Rock the River,” hopes that the event’s true message sinks in: That paying attention to the river is tantamount to improving urban life.
“The river is a wonderful opportunity to connect the city together,” said Julia Fabris, a staffer with Friends of the Chicago River.
The Chicago River, easily taken for granted, runs deep in the ecology and history of our area. Part of the festival includes a self-guided walking tour, devised by Friends of the Chicago River, to see the river and city from a new point of view.
What’s encouraging is that you can walk along the river at all, or would want to, which wasn’t the case a generation ago, when the river was mostly regarded as a place for disagreeable wastes.
Now, small riverside parks and plazas downtown are showing signs of life, along with walkways and redeveloped stretches along much of the Chicago River system’s 156 miles, from Lake County on the north to Lemont on the south.
Here are some points of interest:
Wacker Drive, the inspiration of architect Daniel Burnham, was once the extent of Chicago’s river promenade. Today, walkers can enjoy views from an esplanade from Michigan Avenue to Navy Pier. By the Apparel Mart, there’s another parkway at a place called Wolf Point (wild animals once outnumbered settlers). Gardens and open space have been developed elsewhere; at Fullerton Avenue and in Ravenswood, developers and local groups have built walkways that represent what might be a bike path of the future.
In 1779, when trapper Jean Baptiste DuSable first settled here, the river was a shallow wetland known for at least one prominent native plant, the wild onion, Alium cernoum, or “che-ca-gou” in local Indian parlance, which supposedly gave Chicago its name. Naturalists now know the place had a rich variety of flora, much of which now flourishes at Prairie Wolf Slough, a restored wetland on the river’s North Branch in Highland Park.
Other overlooked aspects of the river are right before our eyes. “Chicago is a museum of bridges,” said Laurene von Klan, executive director of Friends of the Chicago River. “As the city was growing, engineers were busy looking for better ways to build bridges.”
Thus, Chicago has “bascule” (French for seesaw) bridges, “swing” bridges, vertical-lift bridges and even a “jackknife” bridge (at Weed Street south of the Loop). To aficionados, the Chicago River represents the world’s most complete catalog of iron bridge technology.
Other tales of the Chicago River are less savory. Bubbly Creek, for instance, was a section on the South Branch where slaughterhouses dumped wastes. The name came from the bubbles of decomposing organic matter that broke through a thick layer of scum.
This early episode of pollution history is connected to another memorable achievement of old Chicago: the reversal of the flow of the river in 1900. Accomplished by the connection of a new canal, the measure kept waste and sewage from the lake and out of the water supply, an engineering and social triumph for Chicago.
After that, the river endured a long history of neglect. Industry had its way in Chicago, and factories found the river a convenient cesspool. For decades, using the river for recreation or romance seemed preposterous to just about anyone but Carl Sandburg, who found beauty in Chicago’s grit.
But now, a celebration really is in order. For a generation, the Chicago River has benefited from cleanup efforts, more open space, resurgent wildlife and luxury housing. In addition to rollin’, the river is rockin’.
BANK ON FUN AND FISHING
“Rock the River,” a festival to celebrate the Chicago River and raise environmental awareness, will be held from 5 to 10 p.m. Sept. 11 and 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sept. 12 at Pioneer Court and the north bank of the river at Michigan Avenue. Music, dance performances, children’s boat rides and a catch-and-release fishing derby are among the Saturday activities. Event sponsors include the Chicago Tribune, Metromix, CLTV, the City of Chicago, WXRT/WSCR, and Target. Admission free; fee charged for some events. A portion of the proceeds will benefit Friends of the River and the United Way. For information, call 312-222-3920.
