Editing Chicago River (section)

===Early modifications===
[[File:Chicago Ill. Bascule Bridge, Taylor St. (FRONT).tiff|thumb|[[Taylor Street Bridge (Chicago)|Taylor street bridge]] Circa 1919]]

Between 1816 and 1828 soldiers from Fort Dearborn cut channels through the sandbar at the mouth of the river to allow [[yawl]]s to bring supplies to the fort.<ref name="Holland">{{cite book|last=Holland|first=Robert A.|title=Chicago in Maps|year=2005|publisher=Rizzoli International Publications|location=New York|isbn=978-0-8478-2743-5|pages=102–109}}</ref> These channels rapidly clogged with sand requiring a new one to be cut. On March 2, 1833, $25,000{{refn|{{Inflation|US-GDP|25,000|1833|fmt=eq|r=-4}}{{Inflation/fn|US-GDP}}|group=n}} was appropriated by Congress for harbor works, and work began in June of that year under the supervision of Major George Bender, the commandant at Fort Dearborn.<ref name="Holland" /><ref>{{harvnb|Andreas|1884|page=234}}</ref> In January 1834 [[James Allen (Army engineer)|James Allen]] took over the supervision of this work<ref>{{Harvnb|Hill|2000|pp=69–75}}</ref> and, aided by a February storm that breached the sandbar, on July 12, 1834, the harbor works had progressed enough to allow a {{convert|100|ST|t|adj=on}} schooner, the ''Illinois'' to sail up the river to Wolf Point and dock at the wharf of Newberry & Dole.<ref name="Holland" /> The initial entrance through the sandbar was {{convert|200|ft|m}} wide and {{convert|3|to|7|ft|m}} deep, flanked by piers {{convert|200|ft|m}} long on the south wall and {{convert|700|ft|m}} long to the north. Allen's work continued, and by October 1837 the still unfinished piers had been extended to {{convert|1850|and|1200|ft|m}} respectively.<ref>{{harvnb|Andreas|1884|page=235}}</ref>

In 1848, the [[Illinois and Michigan canal]] linked the river to the [[Illinois River]] and the [[Mississippi Valley]] across the [[Chicago Portage]]. This canal was the farthest west, and the last, of a series of United States' government land grant canals. It provided the only water route from New York City to New Orleans through the country's interior and Chicago.<ref name="nrhpinv2">{{Cite web |url=https://npgallery.nps.gov/NRHP/GetAsset/NHLS/66000332_text |title=National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: Illinois and Michigan Canal |date=September 14, 1975 |first1=Blanche |last1=Schroer |first2=Grant |last2=Peterson |first3=S. Sydney |last3=Bradford |publisher=National Park Service |access-date=June 21, 2009 |archive-date=August 5, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200805114821/https://npgallery.nps.gov/NRHP/GetAsset/NHLS/66000332_text |url-status=live }}</ref>