An unidentified man enjoys fishing on the scenic Des Plaines River. The French explorers Marquette and Joliet were the first known white men to have used the river in 1673; at that time they simply called the Des Plaines the "river of portage." Later, a cartographer labeled the river "Plein," the French word for "high water," derived from the habit of the Des Plaines to overflow its banks. The Independent Register, in its Sesquicentennial Section on June 26, 1986, gives a lovely description of the river around Libertyville at the beginning of the twentieth century: "A large virgin forest on the east side of the Des Plaines River existed as late as 1925 and was an awe-inspiring sight for city folk traveling to Libertyville from Chicago."
