TRANSPORTATION Development of transportation.—Transportation in Illi nois has undergone all the changes of the world's methods of carrying goods and travelers from place to place. The Indian canoe of the explorer, the flatboat of the early settler, the river steamboat from its earliest development, the sailing vessel of explorers on the Great Lakes, the lake steamboat of early immigration days, the canal boat which preceded the railroad, the Great Lakes freighter and swift passenger boat of today, the pleasure yacht, and the gasoline launch have all aided in the water-transportation problems of Illinois.
On land the progressive development of the means of trans port has paralleled and eclipsed that on river, lake, and canal. In early days of Illinois' exploration and settlement no small amount of traffic required the services of the human porter. The pack horse was then brought into use. Wagon roads were soon laid out across open prairies and through the forest. These converged on the streams at convenient fording places, and ferries were established at many points along the large rivers.
The building of public highways at federal and state expense seemed for a time to be the only way of improving land transport and of reducing somewhat the excessive cost of carrying passengers and freight to all parts of the state and nation. Suddenly and unexpectedly the railroad, in only a few years, revolutionized transportation problems, not only for Illinois, but for the world. Today, at a mere fraction of previ ous cost, and at an incredible saving of time, passengers and commodities are transferred safely from any point in the United States to any point in Illinois by railroad, a method of transportation wholly unknown to the world in the early years of Illinois statehood. No point within the state of Illinois is more than 15 miles in a direct line from a railroad, and only a small fraction of the area of the state lies more than 5 miles from a railroad line.
The remarkable development and universal use of the automobile in recent years has again made the improvement of the public highways a matter of first importance, and a system of state highways in Illinois, consisting of 4,800 miles of hard surfaced roads reaching every county and all towns of impor tance, is now in process of construction.
The most recently developed method of transportation in Illinois and the world is that of the airplane, and the rapid and progressive development of air transport seems quite certain for the future.
Early transportation.—Long-distance transportation in Illi nois, as elsewhere in the world, developed first on water, then on land. Early transportation in Illinois, therefore, consisted of the carrying of travelers and goods as far as possible by river, or lake, or canal, limiting the land transport to the necessary haul by wagon between the local community and river port, lake port, or canal port. Illinois, although located far in the interior of the continent, is exceptionally well situated for water transportation along the borders and centrally across the state. Its 60 miles of lake front has three good harbors, one at Waukegan and two at Chicago on the Chicago and Calumet rivers. This gave Illinois uninterrupted connection with all places on the Great Lakes from Buffalo at the foot of Lake Erie to Duluth and Superior at the head of Lake Superior. The Wabash River with its 200 miles of navigable length along the Illinois border, the Ohio with 125 miles, and the Mississippi with 615 miles gave easy approach to the state from all direc tions. The navigable Illinois with a good depth of water and slight current opened a highway of travel across the state 278 miles in length from its junction with the Mississippi to its source formed by the union of the Kankakee and Des Plaines. Supplemented by the Illinois and Michigan Canal, 100 miles in length, a water highway of commanding importance was opened across the entire state, bringing the interior regions of the state into easy communication with the East through the Great Lakes and with the South through the Mississippi River.