The Discovery of Chicago Tour September 17, 2011

It was nearly 337 years ago when Louis Jolliet and Jacques Marquette portaged their two canoes out of old Mud Lake over “half a league” of low prairie to the South Branch of the Chicago River. They became the first to record their passage though the Chicago Portage. Now you can follow the route of Jolliet and Marquette as they passed through the marsh that became our metropolis.

On Saturday September 17th 2011, Friends of the Chicago Portage invite you to become an explorer and discover for yourself on our fall “Discovery of Chicago” bus tour.

The tour will begin at 10:00 A.M. at the monumental statue in Portage Woods Forest Preserve in Lyons, IL. Stand in the place where Joliet & Marquette passed through the last remnant of historic Portage Creek. The tour will then board an air conditioned mini-bus to visit the places Joliet and Marquette carried their boats a “half a league”.

The tour will continue downtown to visit the Centennial Fountain and explore its symbolic portrayal of the Chicago Portage. We’ll stop at the location of the first trading post in Chicago and get as close as the public can get to the site of DuSable’s & Kinzie’s cabin.

After a lunch break at the Merchandise Mart food court, we will follow the development of Chicago from “The Forks” (today’s Wolf Point), to the site of Marquette's return to Chicago in 1675. We visit "Hardscrabble", the location of the Laughton Brother's first trading post before they moved to the Portage Road’s ford at the Des Plaines River. Finally we visit the original terminus of the I&M Canal in Bridgeport before returning to Portage Woods Forest Preserve. The tours conclude before 3:00 P.M.

The cost of the tour is $40.00 for adults, $35.00 for students and seniors. Friends members take an additional $5.00 off! Reservations are required. To make a reservation, visit www.chicagoportage.org or call Jeff Carter at 312-771-6855.

Official Website: http://www.chicagoportage.org