49 1800’s due to the mass hunting dropping down to only 1200 individuals.9 Today they are still recovering. They can be found rarely in the Fox River Bioregion, which is disheartening especially due to their environmental importance. Sadly, it did not just stop with the French hunting in the 1700’s. It continued to only get worse. Eventually due to many other conflicts, and the French and Indian war, England gained control over the Fox River and surrounding areas, and quickly took over in fur trades.10 Then more people began to move west. By the 1800’s, American “pioneers” were manifesting destiny across the American continent. The 1850’s saw permanent settlements grow larger and larger. In 1860, Chicago was developing into the metropolis it is today. Towns like Burlington and Aurora began to form due to this growth as well. Most importantly, farmers began to remove forest for fields. The state of Illinois quickly became more field than forest. Mass urbanization and agriculture, while decreasing the need for hunting only removed more from the environment. People no longer needed to hunt for food, farms and cattle took the place of those needs. They also took the place of lands that they hunted. Entire ecosystems were being removed for fields in which to farm and raise livestock. This further limited the animal populations. Deer had to cross large fields rather than dense forests. Bobcats, Mountain Lions, and so many other species were driven away due to human activity.11 All balances in the bioregion were completely destroyed. But even through all of this, humans didn't stop hunting. Humans continued to hunt for not even just food anymore. Starting in the late 1800’s, past the industrial revolution, hunting began to be more of a pastime, or sport. It was a patriotic, American, manly thing to do. It was romanticized to an extreme. White-tailed deer took the brunt 9 Rust, Randal. “Beaver Wars, Summary, Facts, Significance, Timeline, Colonial America.” 10 “History of the Fur Trade - Furbearer Education.” History of the fur trade. furbearer education. 11 “About Mountain Lions.” Mountain Lion Foundation, July 6, 2021. https://mountainlion.org/about-mountainlions/.
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