The “Gigantic Swindle” of 1869–1872: Lessons Learned in Legislating the Draining of the Great Kankakee Marsh

Abstract

ABSTRACT: Between 1869 and 1923, the government of Indiana sponsored the draining of the Great Kankakee Marsh and the straightening of the Kankakee River in northern Indiana. Reclaiming the vast marsh posed significant problems and required special legislation. In 1869, the legislature granted sweeping powers to a private corporation to drain the marsh. The company formed under this law, and the law itself, encountered bitter opposition from landowners, and created a storm of protest in the press, which attacked the company as a “gigantic swindle.” Public protests and attacks in the press forced the company to dissolve, and the legislature repealed the law. This article explores the brief unhappy life of the Kankakee Valley Draining Company; the reasons for the uprising against it; and the ways in which the General Assembly devised new legislation, and a more inclusive consensus, which would allow it eventually to accomplish its goal of replacing the Great Marsh with new farmland.