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In chapter 2, Cronon discusses the key advantages and disadvantages of the waterways and geography surrounding Chicago in its early stages. Zhoeffken acknowledges that Chicago’s geography served as its boon and bane, and Cronon emphasized this through his examples of Chicago’s “Second Nature.” Second Nature refers to the state of nature formed after human intervention; whereas natural geography is “First Nature,” man-made geography or altered geography is Second Nature.

Within the context of Second Nature, Cronon emphasizes that Chicago’s geographic advantages as a city needed much improvement upon the land in order to be utilized. The river and lake system surrounding Chicago was not deep enough to sustain a harbor for large vessels. In 1835, engineers attempted to facilitate this problem by digging the waterways deeper, but each attempt was thwarted eventually by the build-up of sand in the water. The sand would have to be actively removed, becoming very costly to maintain the harbor. By the 1840s, the local government had already spent a quarter of a million dollars just on maintaining the harbor. The waterways should have been considered a geographical advantage, but were largely a financial burden.

Chicago’s key geographical advantage was location. Cronon emphasizes that Chicago connected the East to the West, even before the inclusion of the railroad. Farmers from the West would visit Chicago to purchase goods from the East since Chicago’s prices on these goods compared fairly with their local stores. Chicago was able to sell such products at lower prices because of its water transportation: the cost of transporting the goods was quite cheap. In return, the farmers of the West would sell produce to the local markets of Chicago, making it a bustling trade city. As such, the East and the West would trade together in the central hub of Chicago, setting the stage for Chicago to become a metropolis.