The Big Bureau Creek is a
[U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data]
The National Map
, accessed May 26, 2011 tributary of the
Illinois River
The Illinois River ( mia, Inoka Siipiiwi) is a principal tributary of the Mississippi River and is approximately long. Located in the U.S. state of Illinois, it has a drainage basin of . The Illinois River begins at the confluence of the D ...
in north central
Illinois.
It rises approximately north of
Mendota and flows southwest into
Bureau County
Bureau County is a county located in the U.S. state of Illinois. As of the 2010 United States Census, the population was 34,978. Its county seat is Princeton.
Bureau County is part of the Ottawa, IL Micropolitan Statistical Area, and the Henne ...
, turning south at
Princeton and then flowing east into the Illinois River floodplain.
[ Among the creek's more notable features is the Red Covered Bridge, built in 1863, which passes over Big Bureau Creek and was once part of the Peoria Galena Trail. The bridge, located just north of ]Interstate 80
Interstate 80 (I-80) is an east–west transcontinental freeway that crosses the United States from downtown San Francisco, California, to Teaneck, New Jersey, in the New York metropolitan area. The highway was designated in 1956 as one o ...
, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Ecology
Currently, there is an effort underway to maintain this watershed
Watershed is a hydrological term, which has been adopted in other fields in a more or less figurative sense. It may refer to:
Hydrology
* Drainage divide, the line that separates neighbouring drainage basins
* Drainage basin, called a "watershe ...
as well to evaluate its current condition with the Big Bureau Creek Watershed Inventory and Evaluation (I&E) begun in 2003 (See the Forward and Acknowledgment section for the year 2003).[ftp://199.133.90.201/pub/outgoing/Downloads/IL_Big_Bureau_Creek/Big_Bureau_Creek_Watershed_Inventory.pdf] Nitrogen levels from surrounding farmland, sedimentation, and low water levels are the main problems to be assessed.
History
The stream is named for Michel or Pierre Bureau. Their original surname was probably Belleau, but local aboriginals may have had difficulty pronouncing the "l" sound. One or both of the brothers ran a trading post near where Big Bureau Creek empties into the Illinois River from 1776 until 1780 or 1790.[Pierre de Beuro, an Indian trader]
''Pioneers of Illinois'' by Nehemiah Matson, 1882, p. 229[Jean Baptiste Point de Sable : the founder of modern Chicago]
by John F. Swenson, 1999- . Retrieved 11 November 2010. The stream was called the Chassagauch", "Chassagoach", or "Chachagouche" River on early maps of the region.[''Carte de la Louisiane ou des voyages du Sr. De La Salle'']
by Jean Baptiste Louis Franquelin, 1684. Retrieved 14 September 2010.[ ''Carte de l'Amerique Septentrionnale'']
by Jean Baptiste Louis Franquelin, 1688. Retrieved 14 September 2010.[''Carte de la Louisiane et du cours du Mississipi'']
by Guillaume de l'Isle, 1718. Retrieved 14 September 2010. These are European renderings of the Miami-Illinois language word , which once meant 'copperhead' (agkistrodon contortrix
The eastern copperhead (''Agkistrodon contortrix''), also known as the copperhead, is a species of venomous snake, a pit viper, endemic to eastern North America; it is a member of the subfamily Crotalinae in the family Viperidae.
The eastern ...
) but now means ' garter snake'.[''Native American place names of Indiana'']
by Michael McCafferty, University of Illinois Press, 2008, p. 24. Retrieved 4 August 2010.["Shall Indian languages be preserved?"]
by Jacob Piatt Dunn, ''Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society,'' Vol. 10, No. 1 (Apr. 1917), p. 91. Retrieved 4 August 2010. was also the name of a chief and diplomat of the Kaskaskia at the Grand Village of the Illinois, up river from Starved Rock, in the late 17th and early 18th centuries.[Chachagouesse]
''Dictionary of Canadian biography online''. Retrieved 4 August 2010.
Recreation
Most land surrounding the banks of the Big Bureau Creek is privately owned. Canoeing on the creek is possible in some areas. There have been reports of class II and III rapids in high water. Brush buildup, beaver dams, and submerged rocks are always a point of concern.
References
External links
USGS Information about Big Bureau Creek
* tp://199.133.90.201/pub/outgoing/Downloads/IL_Big_Bureau_Creek/Big_Bureau_Creek_Watershed_Inventory.pdf
{{authority control
Rivers of Bureau County, Illinois
Tributaries of the Illinois River
Rivers of Illinois