Kaskaskia River an alternative name for the Kaskaskia that persists in place names along the river, including Okawville, and in a major tributary, the West Okaw River. The Kaskaskia rises in east central Illinois in several farm ditches along the west side of Champaign. The headwaters of the river is just north of Interstate 74, where it is marked with a sign. The river flows south across rural Champaign and Douglas counties, then southwest across southern Illinois, past Vandalia. It joins the Mississippi from the north approximately northwest of Chester and south-southeast of St. Louis, Missouri. The watershed of the river encompasses
Fox River (Illinois River tributary) area. From the chain, the river flows generally southward for , until it joins the Illinois River at Ottawa. Illinois towns and communities that are on the Fox River include (from north to south): Fox Lake, Johnsburg, McHenry, Holiday Hills, Island Lake, Burtons Bridge, Port Barrington, Cary, Fox River Grove, Algonquin, Carpentersville, West Dundee, East Dundee, Elgin, South Elgin, St. Charles, Geneva, Batavia, North Aurora, Aurora, Montgomery, Oswego, Yorkville, Plano, Millington, Sheridan and Ottawa. Collectively, the area surrounding the Fox River is known as the Fox Valley. Around 1 million people live in this area. Native American tribes that lived