History of the Beef Cattle Industry in Illinois

by Frank Webster Farley

Number of Counties	District	Chief Source of Water Supply
8	Northwest or Postal District	Streams and wells; springs furnish a considerable part of it; few ponds used; three instances of tile drains.
	Central Northern Counties	Wells chief source; springs, streams, and tiles used to a considerable extent.
	Northeast Counties	Streams, wells, and springs used about equally.
	Eastern Counties	Wells chiefly; streams next; ponds and tile drains follow in the order named; nine instances of springs.
	Central Counties	Forty-nine districts report wells; forty report streams; thirty-five tile drains; twenty-five ponds; twenty-four springs.
	Western Counties	Wells and tile drains equal; springs next; ponds in a few instances.
4	Southern Counties	Ponds and streams equal; six report wells; five report springs; four tile drains.
21	Central S. Counties	Ponds chiefly; streams next; wells next; springs and tiles in the order named.
	Southeast and Southwest Counties	A like condition: ponds, streams, and springs.

"From all parts of the state, correspondents wrote that the ponds and streams become stagnant in the warm months of summer, a few making exception of those years in which rainfall has been heavy during the summer months. Stagnant water is found more generally in the southern than in the northern part of Illinois; chiefly, perhaps, because the cultivation and drainage of the land has not become almost universal as it has in the northern districts."

In several counties artesian wells afford a most copious supply of water of good quality. In Iroquois and other eastern counties, such wells have been bored to a depth of from 150 to 200 feet and obtained an unfailing flow of water impregnated with minerals. Stock show a strong liking for such water after becoming accustomed to its use, and it is the belief of those who have had opportunity for observing the effects of its continued use, that this mineral water serves to keep the animals free from disorders which formerly prevailed in that region. This seems to be especially apparent in regard to malarial disorders.

People

About 1820, the State of Illinois was being rapidly settled by people from the eastern states. Prior to this time, very few white settlements had been made in the state. These early pioneers, drawn from the population of the eastern states, were composed of almost all nationalities. They pushed their way across the mountains of Pennsylvania and Virginia in crude wagons, drawn by oxen, bringing with them their household goods and a few milk cows. They came into Illinois, built new homes, and laid out new fields on the broad, unsettled prairies.[2]

Beginning with the year of 1800, when there were only a few people in the state, the population has increased very rapidly, as is shown by the following statistics, taken from the United States Census Report (special supplement for the State of Illinois):

Year	Population
1790
1800	5,641
1810	24,520
1820	147,178
1830	343,031
1840	685,866
1850	851,470
1860	1,711,951
1870	2,539,891
1880	3,077,871
1890	3,826,352
1900	4,821,550
1910	5,638,591

Cattle and Cattle Feeding[3]