History:

The establishment of Ottawa as a town evolved between 1823 and 1837, with its incorporation as a city arriving the same year as the railroad - 1853. Early LaSalle County settlers who lived along the Illinois and Fox Rivers, at Indian Creek, Covel Creek, and in the surrounding area, were instrumental in Ottawa's founding. The confluence of the Fox and Illinois rivers and the vision of early French explorer and fur trader Louis Jolliet to develop a water connection between the Illinois River and Lake Michigan were important factors in establishing the city.The idea of a canal linking the Great Lakes with the Gulf of Mexico via the Mississippi River did not begin to materialize until 1829. In that year, a representative of the Canal Commission laid out the towns of Chicago and Ottawa and serious planning got underway for the Illinois and Michigan Canal. Early Ottawa was important as a seat of county government, for protection against the Indians, for transportation and for trading. Ottawa is an Indian name derived from the Algonquin word "adawe" which meant to trade. The term was common among the Cree, Algonquin, Nipissing, Montagnais, Ottawa, and Chippewa Indians.  It was applied to the Ottawa Indians, who were considered the great traders and barterers of the Great Lakes Region.