Kishwaukee

The Kishwaukee River flows west through the prairies and wooded valleys of northern Illinois to join the Rock River. Its name is derived from a Potawatomi word associated with the sycamore trees growing along its banks. These waters belong to the Mississippi basin, and their valleys provided routes through the open prairie. American settlers began arriving in the upper Kishwaukee country in the 1830s, as Indigenous communities faced the loss of their lands across the region.