Stan Johnson started life in the farm fields of Manhattan, Ill., then spent a great deal of it at Argonne National Laboratory. In 1982, the Countryside resident’s curiosity would lead to a rendezvous of sorts with the Illinois & Michigan Canal.

Johnson, director of the “A River Through History — The Des Plaines Valley Rendezvous,” said it was a strong love of history that got him involved not only in the event, but the establishment of the Illinois & Michigan Canal National Heritage Corridor.

“In 1982, I kept reading about this national park that was coming to Illinois; I saw it was the Illinois & Michigan Canal,” Johnson said. “I had never really heard much about it. My son and I have always loved motorcycles, and we used to run along this little ditch. When I was told it was the canal I said ‘You’ve got to be kidding me.’”

Johnson called then Mayor Carl LeGant to get more information about the coming national park. LeGant turned around and named Johnson as Countryside’s representative to the new National Heritage Corridor Civic Center authority, which would oversee the newly established corridor that extended from Navy Pier in Chicago to La Salle.  

In 1983, Johnson was named chairman, and stayed in that position for 20 years.

“We did a lot of good things over the years,” Johnson  aid. “One was the Rendezvous and the other was the precious little Santa Fe Prairie.”
But it is the Chicago Portage that is a major focus of the organization. In terms of historical importance, it rates high, Johnson said.

“The Chicago Portage is considered Chicago’s Plymouth Rock,” Johnson said. “It is the entire reason the I&M Canal, the Sanitary and Shipping Canal, and Chicago was built. All the fur traders, all the Indians, used that portage as a main passage.”

Johnson is most proud of the “Rendezvous.” There have been 19 held within the past 21 years, he said.

“It took three years to get it to come together,” he said. “We grew the attendance over those first years up to 10,000 people. Then it diminished. In 2006 we felt we couldn’t do it anymore.”
Johnson brought his case to the Cook County Forest Preserve, who first insisted Johnson reconsider, then  pushed him to make it better than ever.

Formerly known as the I&M Canal Rendezvous, the living history exhibition of the area’s fur-trading era will be open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 11, and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 12.

This year’s rendezvous will feature an added event, “River Expo: Celebrating the Des Plaines River Valley — Past, Present and Future.” A variety of organizations and environmental groups that share the river as a common interest will showcase themselves and answer questions.