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Kankakee County, Illinois: 7 Things You Probably Never Knew About the Native Americans Who Lived Here Before Us
KANKAKEE COUNTY, Ill. — Long before Kankakee had a courthouse, Bourbonnais had a college or Bradley had a single paved street, thousands of Native Americans lived, hunted, traded and raised families a
By Jenna Hartley · 2026-10-12T13:25:10.324Z
KANKAKEE COUNTY, Ill. — Long before Kankakee had a courthouse , Bourbonnais had a college or Bradley had a single paved street, thousands of Native Americans lived, hunted, traded and raised families along the Kankakee River.
Their villages stood where residents now drive, fish, hike and build homes. Their trails became modern highways. Their names remain attached to local landmarks, even as much of their history has faded from public memory. This Indigenous Peoples’ Day, historical accounts reveal seven remarkable stories about Kankakee County’s original inhabitants — including an abandoned village, a mysterious burial and the forced departure of entire communities.
1. One of the Region’s Largest Native American Villages Stood Inside Today’s Kankakee River State Park
Thousands of people visit Kankakee River State Park every year without realizing they are walking through an area once occupied by a major Potawatomi settlement.
Known as Rock Village or Little Rock Village, the community stood near Rock Creek, approximately one mile north of the Kankakee River. It was home to Chief Shaw waw nas see and his people.
The settlement was among the largest and most significant Potawatomi villages in the Kankakee Valley. Its residents maintained homes, cultivated land and participated in extensive trading networks. In 1830, the area hosted a major Indigenous council.
Today, a memorial boulder near Rock Creek commemorates the chief and his community.
According to the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, the park contains several documented prehistoric sites, reflecting an Indigenous presence extending far beyond the nineteenth century.
2. A Potawatomi Chief Was Buried Above Ground — Then His Remains Reportedly Disappeared
One of Kankakee County’s most unusual historical mysteries involves Chief Shaw waw nas see.
The chief died in 1834, shortly before his people were displaced from their homeland.
According to historical accounts, tribal leaders arranged for his body to be placed in a small log structure rather than buried underground.
His body was positioned upright, facing west. A small opening reportedly allowed his spirit to look toward the surrounding woods, fields and river. Early settler Henry S. Bloom claimed to have seen the chief’s remains inside the structure in 1837.
But the story takes a disturbing turn.
Bloom later reported that the burial site had been disturbed and the chief’s skull and larger bones had disappeared. Local tradition alleged that the remains were taken to Chicago and sold to a medical institution. That allegation has not been conclusively established. Today, the precise fate of the chief’s remains remains uncertain.
A memorial erected in 1920 preserves his name, although even its inscription contains a historical discrepancy: It lists 1838, four years after his reported death.
3. The Land Around Aroma Park and Momence Was Once Reserved for Potawatomi Families
Many residents may be surprised to learn that portions of modern Kankakee County were specifically reserved for Indigenous individuals and families under an 1832 treaty.
The Treaty of Camp Tippecanoe established several reservations within lands ceded to the United States. Chief Shaw waw nas see received a reservation encompassing approximately 3,200 acres around Rock Village. Other reservations were designated for Indigenous families near present day Aroma Park, Momence and Kankakee.
However, these arrangements did not provide lasting protection.
Historical records show that much of the land passed into private ownership during the following years, frequently at prices only slightly above the government’s standard land price.
Some transactions were later complicated by questions about whether the original purchasers had obtained valid ownership. Congress eventually passed legislation addressing those disputed titles.
The result was a dramatic transfer of land from Indigenous communities to settlers and investors. The original 1832 treaty identifies several of these reservations by name, preserving evidence of the families who held rights to the land.
4. Entire Native American Communities Were Forced to Leave Kankakee County
Perhaps the most heartbreaking chapter of local Indigenous history unfolded during the 1830s.
As American settlement expanded, Potawatomi communities faced mounting pressure to abandon their homes and relocate west of the Mississippi River. The departures occurred over several years.
Chief Tamin’s band left in 1833. Approximately 500 members of Shaw waw nas see’s community departed in 1836. By 1838, historical accounts indicate that the last major Potawatomi band in the Kankakee area, approximately 200 people living near Davis Creek, had also moved west.
An account describing another Indigenous group crossing the river at Momence in 1843 offers a haunting picture of displacement. Families entered the water with horses, belongings and children.
An elderly blind woman reportedly followed near the rear, guided by a younger girl. The account describes her struggling through the river, uncertain of the ground beneath her feet.
Although the narrative was recorded and retold by non Indigenous observers, it offers a glimpse into the suffering associated with the removal of entire communities. These departures were part of a broader federal policy that displaced Native Americans throughout the Midwest.
The families who left were not simply moving to new settlements. They were losing access to ancestral homelands that had sustained their communities for generations.
5. Some of Kankakee County’s Roads Follow Routes Used by Native Americans
The next time you drive through Momence or Aroma Park, consider that portions of the region’s transportation network follow routes established long before modern roads existed. Indigenous trails connected villages, hunting grounds, river crossings and trading locations throughout the Kankakee Valley.
One route traveled through present day Iroquois County, passed near Mount Langham and crossed the Kankakee River near Aroma Park. From there, it continued northwest toward Rock Village. Another important route became known as Hubbard’s Trail, named for fur trader Gurdon Saltonstall Hubbard.
Hubbard developed a transportation corridor between Chicago and communities farther south during the 1820s, building upon portions of older travel networks. His trail eventually became an important commercial road. Parts of that historic route are preserved in the alignment of Illinois Route 1.
An official historical marker in Momence recognizes the trail’s significance.
6. The Woman Behind the Name Watseka Was Potawatomi
Just south of Kankakee County, the city of Watseka carries the name of a Potawatomi woman whose life connected two dramatically different worlds.
Known historically as Watch e kee, she married fur trader Gurdon Hubbard during the 1820s.
Their marriage reflected the complicated relationships between Indigenous communities and the expanding fur trade. After their separation, she married another prominent trader, Noel Le Vasseur. The couple lived near present day Bourbonnais and had three children.
In 1836, Watch e kee separated from Le Vasseur and traveled west to rejoin her people.
Historical accounts indicate that she later married again and died around 1878 on a Kansas reservation. Her name survived in the region’s geography.
In 1865, the Iroquois County seat was renamed Watseka. The connection offers an enduring reminder that Indigenous women played important roles in the region’s history, even when historical narratives focused primarily on European American traders and settlers.
7. Kankakee County Was Home to Native Communities Long Before European Settlers Arrived
The Potawatomi are central to the county’s nineteenth century history, but they were not the first Indigenous people to inhabit the region. The Illinois Department of Natural Resources documents the presence of several Native American nations along the Kankakee River over different periods.
During the seventeenth century, the region was associated with the Illinois and Miami peoples.
Kickapoo and Mascouten communities also occupied the broader area. By the late eighteenth century, the Potawatomi and their allies, the Ottawa and Ojibwe, had become prominent throughout the region.
Their presence shaped the landscape through villages, trails, agriculture, trade and relationships with neighboring communities. The history of Kankakee County did not begin with its first European American settlers. It began long before the county had a name. A History Still Beneath Our Feet.
Today, reminders of the region’s Indigenous past remain scattered throughout Kankakee County.
Rock Creek preserves the memory of a major Potawatomi settlement. The Kankakee River follows the same course that connected Indigenous communities for generations.
Modern roads trace portions of historic transportation corridors. And local place names continue to preserve fragments of the people and communities who once lived here. But perhaps the most important lesson this Indigenous Peoples’ Day is that these stories are not simply about people who disappeared.
The Potawatomi people are still here. Their communities, descendants, traditions and governments continue today.
Understanding Kankakee County’s history means recognizing both the lives Indigenous people built here and the circumstances that forced so many from their homeland. For residents who have spent their entire lives in Kankakee, Bourbonnais, Bradley, Momence or the surrounding communities, that history may change how they see familiar places.
Because long before these towns existed, this land was already home.
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Historical sources: Wilderness Trail , pp. 17–35, from the photographed local history volume; Kankakee County Museum; Illinois Department of Natural Resources; 1832 Treaty with the Potawatomi.
Editor’s note: Some historical accounts contain conflicting dates, unverified allegations and language reflecting the prejudices of their time. These accounts are presented with appropriate attribution.