The landscape of the Calumet, an area that sits astride theIndiana--Illinois state line at the southern end of Lake Michigan, results from theeffects of glaciers that left the area toward the end of the ice age -- about 14,000years ago. In the years since, many natural forces, including wind, running water, and the waves of Lake Michigan, have continued to shape the land. The lake's modernand ancient shorelines have served as Indian trails, stagecoach routes, highways, and sites that have evolved into many of the cities, towns, and villages of theCalumet area. People have also left their mark on the landscape: Indians builtmounds; farmers filled in wetlands; governments commissioned ditches and canals todrain marshes and change the direction of rivers; sand was hauled from where it wasplentiful to where it was needed for urban and industrial growth. These thousands ofyears of weather and movements of peoples have given the Calumet region its distinctclimate and appeal.