Illinois
Al Capone
By John & Lenore Weiss
As the story goes…
When Helmet Art Stephens was a child, he would go with his grandfather to
collect rent from his tenant, Al Capone. Often Al would pay the old man $30.00
rent and give an extra $20.00 and say “Don’t gamble it all away!”
Mr. Stephens also recalls that around the Fourth of July. Al Capone would give
$100.00 to each of the fireworks vendors scattered around Cicero, Illinois. He
would instruct these vendors to supply all the local kids with whatever fireworks
they wanted.
It was also said that Big Al was very generous in other ways to his community
of Cicero. It was vey important that no bad publicity would occur in his town.
Another rule Al had was that no one should whistle at a pretty girl. Mr. Capone
felt it was disrespectful. It was very foolish to disobey Big Al’s rules.
Chicago Skyline
Photo by Dave Clark
Illinois & Michigan Canal
JOLIET AREA
by David G. Clark
People often ask, “Why did Route 66 start in Chicago?” To get the full answer, you need to explore a 97-mile-long, waterfilled ditch that literally put Chicago on the map and started the city’s rise to prominence as the Gateway to the American
West. That ditch was named the Illinois & Michigan (I&M) Canal, and the good news for today’s travelers is that most of the
canal corridor is strewn with historic sites, fascinating museums, and great opportunities for camping and recreation.
In 1673, Potawatomi guides helped French explorers Jacques Marquette and Louis Joliet traverse tributaries of the
Mississippi River system across a watershed divide to the Chicago River. Joliet would report that a canal cut through
Mud Lake, the slough that covered the divide, would provide an unbroken navigable waterway from Lake Erie to the Gulf
of Mexico. That idea of a connection between east and west at Chicago would be potent, lasting over 150 years until its
fruition.
In 1836, work teams comprised mainly of Irish immigrants began digging a 97-mile ditch from Bridgeport in Chicago to
LaSalle, where the Illinois River was naturally deep enough for navigation. Despite setbacks in construction and national
economic panics, the steady flow of newcomers hoping to be part of a new prosperity swelled the population of the
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Produced & Printed In The USA • Keeping You On The Mother Road • 2012-2013