80 move in a different manner than it had previously, which eventually changed the shape and depth of the river. This may seem like it would only make a subtle difference, but this is something that, when continued for a couple of centuries, can, and did, make a massive difference in the topography of the river. When the mills were being built along the river, they were not built in a manner that allowed the water around or beneath the mills to flow properly. This led to the creation of still pools of water at the bottom of the river, which meant that all the sediment that was getting washed into the water, in a larger quantity than normal due to the loss of the trees along the bank of the river, was no longer getting washed away further down the river. This caused the depth of the water to change throughout the entire length of the river. 7 This change in topography along with some of the before mentioned effects of the mills on the river heavily impacted the fish that lived within the river. The change in depth of the river hurt the fish as a lot of the sediment that was moved around ended up blocking off the areas that were commonly used during spawning season. The mills and the dams connected to them also blocked off fish from coming to the surface to have their offspring. These two problems are compounded by the pollution in the water which has led to the fish in the Fox River being under a constant threat.7 The direct waste as well as the effects related to the Fox River have impacted far greater and far more widespread than we could possibly measure. The dumping of waste-water hurts the water directly, the wood cutting required to provide for the paper industry ripples effects into the river, and the topographical changes brought about by water powered paper mills in the 18th century has had lasting effects on the population of fish and the flow of the water. 7 “Hard-Won Environmental Gains Owe a Big Debt to a Local Environmentalist,” historyonthefox, May 10, 2022, https://historyonthefox.wordpress.com/2022/05/09/hard-won-environmental-gains-owe-a-big-debt-to-a-localenvironmentalist/.
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