Papers Of Abraham Lincoln

In force March 4, 1837

AN ACT declaring the Skillet Fork a Navigable Stream, and for other purposes.
1

Skillet fork declared navigable.

Sec.[Section] 1. Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly, That the Skillet Fork of the Little Wabash river be and it is hereby declared a navigable stream and public highway of this State, from Samuel Slocumb’s mill on said river in Marion county, to its confluence with said Little Wabash river.

Little Wabash declared navigable

Sec. 2. That the Little Wabash river be and it is hereby declared a navigable stream and public highway of this State, from where the National road crosses the same to its confluence with the Great Wabash river.

Certain act repealed, and Macoupin creek declared a navigable stream.

Sec. 3. And be it further enacted, That an act entitled an act authorizing John L. Evans to erect a mill dam across Macoupin Creek, approved December 27, 1822,2 be and the same is hereby repealed, and that the said Macoupin Creek is hereby declared a navigable stream, and public

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highway of this State, from where the road leading from Carrollton to Alton now crosses said creek, to its confluence with the Illinois river.3

Sec. 4. This act to be in force from and after its passage.

Approved, March 2, 1837.

1Daniel Turney introduced HB 72 in the House of Representatives on January 5, 1837. On January 20, the House referred the bill to a select committee. The select committee reported back the bill on January 26 with a substitute, in which the House concurred. On February 26, the House passed the bill as substituted. On February 8, the Senate referred the bill to a select committee. The select committee reported back the bill on February 25 with amendments, in which the Senate concurred. The Senate passed the bill as amended. On February 28, the House concurred in the Senate amendments. On March 2, the Council of Revision approved the bill, and the act became law on March 4.
Illinois House Journal. 1836. 10th G. A., 1st sess., 177-78, 315, 391, 455, 718, 764, 792, 806; Illinois Senate Journal. 1836. 10th G. A., 1st sess., 348, 371, 517-18, 589.

2“An Act Authorizing John L. Evans to Erect a Mill-Dam Across the Macoupin Creek,” 27 December 1822, Laws of the State of Illinois (1823), 83.

3The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 had established the principle of the free navigation of the navigable waters leading into the Mississippi and St. Lawrence rivers and their tributaries. Early white settlers to Illinois congregated near the state’s rivers, streams, and creeks. Due in part to the lack of improved highways and in part to the belief that watercourses would remain the principle avenues for transporting people and goods, Illinoisans took pains to assure their navigability through statute. Lawmakers began enacting such laws soon after statehood, and continued the practice until 1867. Declaration as a navigable stream generally meant that no dam, mill, bridge, or other public work or obstruction could be placed on the body of water as to impede the navigation thereof, or drive the water from its natural channel so as to overflow the bottoms, or produce stagnate waters in any place.
“An Ordinance for the Government of the Territory of the United States, North West of the River Ohio,” art. 4 (1787); “An Act Declaring the Sangamon River a Navigable Stream,” 26 December 1822, Laws of the State of Illinois (1823), 81-82; Newton Bateman and Paul Selby, eds., Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois (Chicago: Munsell, 1901), 393-94.