Cache River (Illinois)
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The Cache River is located in southernmost Illinois, in a region sometimes called Little Egypt. Located at the convergence of four major physiographic regions, the river is part of a large complex of wetlands, which provide habitat for over 50
threatened and endangered species. A significant portion of the Cache River wetlands are protected by the US Fish and Wildlife Service. Cypress Creek National Wildlife Refuge, established in 1990, covers 14,000 acres (57 km²) of aquatic and riparian habitat, and is eventually planned to expand to 35,509 acres (144 km²). The Illinois Department of Natural Resources protects another 14,314 acres (57.9 km²) through the Cache State Natural Area.
The Cache River area was used as a trading crossroads by Native Americans, and has several sites of archeological interest within its boundaries. French Voyageurs gave the river its modern name, calling it “cache” which means secret or hidden place. European settlers came to the region at the beginning of the nineteenth century. They found the soil too wet for farming, and the swamps full of mosquitoes and venomous snakes. Many early settlers died of malaria. However, there was also excellent hunting and fishing, and abundant timber. One settler wrote home that the Cache River Basin was “good country for men and dogs, but hard on women and oxen.”
As more settlers arrived, most of the accessible timber was cut, and a program of diversion and draining began. The landscape changed dramatically, largely due to a diversion channel that was cut to connect the Cache and the nearby Ohio River. This, in effect, divided the Cache into two rivers; the Upper Cache, which drains down the diversion channel to the Ohio; and the Lower Cache which drains to the original outlet on the Mississippi River.
Since the mid-1980s, efforts have been made to restore the Cache to something more like its historic state. The Citizens Committee to Save the Cache River, a grassroots organization of hunters, fishermen, and nature lovers, enlisted the help of state and federal agencies as well as non-profit groups such as The Nature Conservancy to form the Cache River Wetlands Joint Venture. Over the past fifteen years efforts have been made to control erosion, reduce siltation, stabilize water levels, restore game species habitat and provide recreational opportunities to the public. One long-term goal of the Joint Venture is to reconnect the Upper and Lower Cache.
Over the course of the restoration work, there have been tensions between the conservationists and some local landowners. Some of the region’s farmers feared that restoration of the wetlands would cause flooding and loss of agricultural land, and many resented what they perceived as ‘outside influences’ meddling in their communities. Some local sportsmen feared that their favorite hunting and fishing grounds would either be put off limits, or else overrun by visitors. State and Federal agencies have attempted at all times to reach compromise with local landowners and sportsmen, but tensions and resentment remain.
The Cache offers ample recreation opportunities, such as canoeing, hiking, bird watching, fishing and hunting. The 45 mile long Tunnel Hill State Bicycle Trail provides an excellent look at the sloughs and bottomland forest as it follows the disused Norfolk Southern railroad grade from Karnak to Vienna, then continues north through the Shawnee National Forest to Harrisburg.
