1900年、シカゴ衛生区(当時の代表はルドルフ・ヘリング)は一連の閘門を用いてシカゴ川を完全に逆流させ、新たに完成したシカゴ衛生・船舶運河（英語版）へ流れ込むようになった。シカゴ川はこの時まで、急成長するシカゴの産業経済から流れ込む大量の下水や汚染物のために「臭い川」と地元住民から呼ばれていた。その後も1980年代までシカゴ川は非常に汚く、時にはゴミで一杯になっていたが、1990年代になり、シカゴ市長リチャード・デイリー(Richard M. Daley.)による美化運動の一環として、広域の清掃作業が実施された。
^Hilton, George W. “Eastland”. Encyclopedia of Chicago. Chicago Historical Society. pp. 408. 2007年5月20日閲覧。
^Upton Sinclair (1906). The Jungle. Chapter 9. http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/Literature/Sinclair/TheJungle/09.html "'Bubbly Creek' is an arm of the Chicago River, and forms the southern [sic; Bubbly Creek runs north from the yards] boundary of the yards; all the drainage of the square mile of packing-houses empties into it, so that it is really a great open sewer a hundred or two feet wide. One long arm of it is blind, and the filth stays there forever and a day. The grease and chemicals that are poured into it undergo all sorts of strange transformations, which are the cause of its name; it is constantly in motion, as if huge fish were feeding in it, or great leviathans disporting themselves in its depths. Bubbles of carbonic gas will rise to the surface and burst, and make rings two or three feet wide. Here and there the grease and filth have caked solid, and the creek looks like a bed of lava; chickens walk about on it, feeding, and many times an unwary stranger has started to stroll across, and vanished temporarily. The packers used to leave the creek that way, till every now and then the surface would catch on fire and burn furiously, and the fire department would have to come and put it out. Once, however, an ingenious stranger came and started to gather this filth in scows, to make lard out of; then the packers took the cue, and got out an injunction to stop him, and afterwards gathered it themselves. The banks of 'Bubbly Creek' are plastered thick with hairs, and this also the packers gather and clean."
^Solzman, David M. (2006). The Chicago River: An Illustrated History and Guide to the River and its Waterways (2nd edition ed.). Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. pp. 35. ISBN0226768015
^Solzman, David M. (2006). The Chicago River: An Illustrated History and Guide to the River and its Waterways (2nd edition ed.). Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. pp. 29. ISBN0226768015
