Between seventy and eighty years ago, when my great-grandfather who was Alvah
Bosworth Goodrich, moved onto the prairies where he chose a farm near what is
now called southern boundary of Miller township, there were many sloughs, and
before the land could be cultivated satisfactorily it had to be drained.
To overcome this great difficulty they made the first drainage system, which
was called the blind mole drain. This was the first method of drainage used on
the land on which I am now living. This was one of the first drains of this kind
installed in this vicinity. They were called this because they were like
underground tunnels. The work on the drain that was put in on this farm was done
by two Scotchmen, who were brothers.
The machine that was used to make
the drain was pointed at the head and rounded on the top, leaving the bottom
flat. There was a handle to which a chain was attached, one end being fastened
to the handle and the other end to a capstan, which was a large spool-shaped
instrument attached to the machine. To give a clearer idea of its shape, it was
on the order of a flatiron.
Oxen were used to pull the machine, and as
they pulled, the chain was wound around the capstan. When it was wound up to the
end of its length, it was released, the capstan moved forward and the chain
wound up again in the same manner. This process was repeated again and again.
When an object was struck, such as a stone, it was removed with shovels. These
hindrances took considerable time and made it a slow process.
This type
of drainage proved satisfactory for a time, but later it became unsatisfactory
because the sides caved in and filled the cavity so that the water could not
drain from the land, and they found a new way to drain the soil. The new type of
drainage was called the open ditch drain.
This process of drainage was
made by plowing open ditches with special ditching plows, which plowed a furrow
and threw the dirt to both sides. This kind of drainage soon became
unsatisfactory, also, and they began using a third process, because the water
washed away so much good, rich, soil, and washed the ditches wider.
The
third process was called the tile drain, which proved the most satisfactory of
the three, because the water was drained from the ground without losing good
soil, and they could cover the drain. Otherwise they would have the expense of
building a bridge, as they had to do with the open ditch system.
This
kind of drainage is still used on this farm, having been completed in 1913 by a
main ditch of tile ranging in diameter from sixteen inches at the head, to
thirty inches at the outlet. The work was done by a contractor in the summer of
1913. He furnished labor and material for the work.
After the mole drain
system was put into use, a state law was passed which prevented the water from
being drained onto the next man's land. This made it so that drainage could not
be carried on unless a farmer could get his neighbor's consent for an outlet.
My grandmother has lived on this farm about seventy-three years and has
seen each of these processes of drainage.
Extracted 08 Nov 2018 by Norma Hass from Stories of Pioneer Days in La Salle County, Illinois, by Grammar Grade Pupils, published in 1932, page 53.
| Lee | DeKalb | Kane |
| Bureau |
 |
Kendall |
| Putnam | Grundy | |
| Marshall | Woodford | Livingston |
