Hazen Confused

The other day while Aine fitnessed herself in Turbo Kick, I, bored with Donkey Kong Country, took a little trip out to Mahomet. North of Mahomet, down whispery country roads lined with sunset corn, I found the ancient Hazen Bridge.

The Hazen Bridge spans the Sangamon River, the major watercourse of central and east Illinois, flowing ultimately into the Illinois River. Tribes of Algonquian people, like the Pottawatomie and the Kickapoo, were among the earliest settlers along the banks of Sangamon. The Sangamon also saw numerous battles between the Illini and the Fox (now Sac and Fox) during the Beaver Wars. During the 1600s, the Iroquis, all out of beavers, invaded the lands of their Algonquian neighbors to the west. They wanted more beaver pelts to sell to the French who wanted to make more hats. Fueled by European supplies and guns, this blossomed into a bloody conflict that ranged over the Ohio and Illinois countries and much of the Great Lakes. Even colonial militias were drawn into the fighting. The British and the Dutch supplied the Algonquians and the French supported the Iroquois, a pattern repeated in the French and Indian War a century later. So, beaver pelts were like the blood diamonds of the 1600s.

Among more cheerful historical moments, Lincoln lived and practiced law over most of the Sangamon watershed. Sourced somewhere east of Bloomington, the Sangamon flows through Champaign County, Decatur, and Springfield. The Sangamon is Lincoln's River.

I didn't actually drive through Mahomet, but, in 1832, settlers established Mahomet as the first community in modern Champaign County. Originally named Middleton, since it lies halfway between Bloomington and Danville, citizens later named their town after the local Masonic outpost, the Mahomet Lodge.

Let me tell you about Masons. One of the essential criteria for Masonic membership is belief in a singular Supreme Being responsible for creating the world. Which pretty much describes every modern religion except for the Buddhists. As a result, Masons tend to appropriate names and symbols from any monotheistic tradition. Mahomet is the French name for Mohammed, the Prophet of Islam.

In 1893, Severs Manufacturing said to old Horace Hazen, "If you let us build a bridge on your property, we'll name it after you and, in all probability, some guy from Texas will eventually write a blog post about it and make you famous."

Horace said, "Okay."

They built it over White's Ford, an important location near both Mahomet and Shiloh Church in Newcomb. Severs got the contract since they were the lowest bidders: 5 thousand dollars (that's 100 thousand in Today Dollars). Now, Hazen Bridge is one of the only two remaining iron truss bridges in Champaign County.

Hazen sits off to the side of the road, no longer open to traffic, in a low spot between two hills. I had to park in someone's gravel driveway and tramp down the street and into the woods to reach the bridge.

The cavernous tree cover made the slamming car door and jingling keys echo. No one else drove down the road during my stay and the only sound I could hear was the roaring of the chicharras. The bridge had long since grown rickety, covered with moss and lichens. Standing there, over the great gray green greasy Sangamon River, I felt like Indiana Jones. It was cool.