This shows a little bayou just off the Kankakee River in Shelby, IN.  Little flood areas like this along the river help keep the river from overflowing it's banks in residential areas more often that it otherwise would.

This is a photo facing straight upstream on the Kankakee River at St. Rd. 55.  This photo shows how straight the river is, however this straightness is not natural.  The streamlined, straight nature of the river is a result of the dredging that took place in the early 20th century in order to drain marsh covered nutrient rich soils of the glacial outwash plain so that it could be used for farming.