now, something called the african—american heritage water trail has been created to help preserve andbut important section of the underground railway. it really starts with days like this, paddling along the african—american heritage water trail and telling the stories of folks who've shown courage and fortitude. we're from the south side of chicago, born and raised. i got an email to come out and take part in this historic canoeing trip. i wanted to bring these guys along. these are my daughters. there are 29 stops along the self—guided journey, covering more than 180 years of african—american history. you had freedom seekers travelling from south for the north, and this being a point of salvation in terms of, like, being able to stop somewhere and then be guided further up north in a safe space. it's estimated that tens of thousands of escaping enslaved african—americans used the underground railroad to push north and finally cross the border into what was then known as british north america, or modern—day canada, and freedom. the indiana avenue bridge was built by george dolton and

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now, something called the african—american heritage water trail has been created to help preserve andthousands of escaping enslaved african—americans used the underground railroad to push north and finally cross the border into what was then known as british north america, or modern—day canada, and freedom. the indiana avenue bridge was built by george dawson and his son, who were abolitionists, back in the 1830s. along with the bridge came a new ferry, which became an integral part of the escape network. along the trail, you'll also find several locations like ton farm, which was owned by a dutch farming couple that provided safe places to stay, offering escaping slaves food and shelter for the night before they continued their journey north. there were black abolitionists and white abolitionists working together to assist freedom seekers and some of those folks stopped at the ton farm. this site is a stop on the journey. when we finally did the very deep map and archaeological research that the actual site of the ton farm is on the property of what is now called chicago's finest mar