Theakeiki

Theakeiki is an early spelling of the name of the Kankakee River. Flowing west through marsh and prairie, it meets the Des Plaines to form the Illinois River. To the east, a portage near its headwaters connects it with the Saint Joseph River, which runs to Lake Michigan. French missionaries and voyageurs followed routes known to Indigenous travelers, carrying their canoes across the divide to journey between the Great Lakes and the Mississippi valley.