The Midewin National Tall Grass Prairie in Will County IL has thirty miles of trails and thousands of acres to explore. Yesterday, we started at the Iron Bridge trailhead to bike and explore a small portion of the rolling hills.
We stumbled across a statue honoring the civilian workers who died while making munitions for WWII. The quiet prairie has an interesting history.
After Germany invaded Poland in 1939, the US ramped up its production of weapons in preparation for WWII. The government purchased 450 farms (40,000 acres) in Will County and employed 10,425 workers to produce bombs, shells, mines, detonators, and a billion pounds of TNT.
Explosion
On June 5, 1942, at 2:41 a.m. an explosion at the Elwood Ordnance Plant (near the trailhead) killed forty-eight men. They had been loading anti-tank mines into railroad cars. The explosion set off three railroad cars loaded with weapons…an explosive weight equal to about 62,600 lbs. of TNT. The blast obliterated nearby buildings, shattered windows for miles around, and was heard eighty-five miles away.
During the Viet Name era the area was renamed the Joliet Arsenal. Its use dwindled to almost nothing in the Reagan years. In 1996, it was set aside as a national preserve to include the Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery and the prairie preserve, with a small portion allotted to a transportation hub.
Igloos
Before being opened to the public, a nightmare of old ordinance, toxic material, and buried leftovers had to be removed. Clean up was finished in 2008, though monitoring continues. Still on site are row upon row of bunkers in which munitions were stored. A few of the “igloos” are open and are eerie, cold, and full of echoes.
Bison on the Prairie
As part of the 19,000 acre prairie restoration, a herd of twenty-seven American bison were brought in on an experimental basis. Today there are about 75 bison grazing on the fenced-in 1,200 acres allotted to them. We saw only one, but he was a magnificent bull. (That’s him behind me in the selfie.)
If you’re exploring Route 66 on its 100th anniversary, stop in to see Midewin Tall Grass Prairie.
Jeanne Meeks ~ Fiction Author 
Jeanne,
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Yes, the cemetery is a beautiful place. Thanks to your uncles for their service to this country. Your text came through in one long line and I didn’t see the photo. My hikes in Midewin have always been enjoyable.
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