'-1IM3 
 
 HHMM 
 Wmmmm 
 
 i 
 
Cornell University 
 Library 
 
 The original of this book is in 
 the Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://archive.org/details/cu31924006546513 
 
OLIN LIBRARY - CIRCULATION 
 DATE DUE 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 AMfujiSiir 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 CAYLORD 
 
 
 
 PRINTED IN U.S.A. 
 
Cornell University Library 
 F 548.4.H96 
 
 Chicago antiquities comprising original 
 3 1924 006 546 513 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES: 
 
 COMPRISING 
 
 ORIGINAL ITEMS AND RELATIONS, LETTERS, EXTRACTS, AND NOTES, 
 
 PERTAINING TO 
 
 EARLY CHICAGO; 
 
 EMBELLISHED WITH 
 
 VIEWS, PORTRAITS, AUTOGRAPHS, ETC. 
 
 HENRY H. HURLBUT, 
 
 Member of the Chicago Historical Society; Correspondinding Member of the 
 Wisconsin State Historical Society. 
 
 CHICAGO: 
 
 iUTHOR. 
 
 PRINTED FOR THE AUTHOR. M\^ U 
 
 I SSI, 
 
 .' > / 
 
 i '"- ■ 
 
 '}'■ ^ ■ 
 
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1881, by 
 
 By HENRY H. HURLBUT, 
 In the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 
 
 ^VUWIl| UjJ 
 
 Si ^Vn 
 
 FERGUS PRINTING COMPANY CHICAGO. 
 
 
 .^\ 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 WHOEVER attempts to inflict upon the public a volume of the 
 size and character of 'this, ought possibly to be allowed to tell 
 what he might claim to excuse the offence. Therefore, we will say 
 that it is sometimes urged that Chicago of to-day must be considered 
 one of the wonders of the age; not but that there are many larger 
 cities ; not to assert that there are none so beautiful in architectural 
 display; not that the breath of its winter winds is ever balmy and 
 its summer heats always mild; not that it may boast of surpassing 
 natural scenery; not that it has yet achieved the accumulated literary 
 and artistic treasures of which other places may vaunt; not that it 
 has already wedded the siren refined and luxurious effeminacy, the 
 tendency, perhaps, of great and continued financial thrift, so much 
 coveted, and yet so much to be feared. But still it is often insisted 
 that Chicago pertains to the wonderful, because, in fifty years, the 
 hamlet has grown from a colony of less than fifty residents to the 
 number of some five hundred thousand souls. Such progress, from 
 its aged infancy of half a century ago to its present gigantic youthful- 
 ness, if remarkable, is no doubt to be accounted for upon the natural 
 and unavoidable sequence of effect from cause. Not alone, how- 
 ever, to its. natural advantages, which Louis Joliet, the companion of 
 Father Marquette (the earliest known white men here), first dis- 
 coursed upon more than two centuries ago, is Chicago indebted. 
 " Veni, vidi, vicil" For a century and a half, there were those who 
 came, and saw, and said; but it was left to those of the middle half 
 of the present century to demonstrate the truth of some of the possi- 
 bilities of Chicago, and to us to say that it was they who conquered. 
 
4 PREFACE. 
 
 What they accomplished need not here be told; but we may add, 
 that the early settlers of Chicago had the sagacity to perceive, the 
 wisdom to embrace, the courage to undertake, and the unyielding 
 perseverance that faltered at no effort; no narrow-minded and cow- 
 ardly doubts took possession of their heads, hearts, and hands. 
 
 If such then are the facts, may it not be a pardonable error, to 
 recall the beginnings, to look after the lower walls, the lines of the 
 trenches, so to speak, indeed, to inspect the quality or peculiarities 
 of the rubble-stone and concrete, the foundations, whereon rests the 
 superstructure, the moral, intellectual, and material fabric of this great 
 western metropolis. 
 
 The compiler of this book, several years since, issued a few dozen 
 pages of it in pamphlet form-; but as many articles for the continued 
 series were more or less incomplete, for want of various well-authen- 
 ticated items, etc., it was deemed expedient, from the occasioned 
 delay, not to continue the publication in that shape, but to embody 
 the material when ready at once in a volume. So the book has been 
 hastened but leisurely; yet, to the reader, there may have been some 
 gain by the waiting. 
 
 It would be scarcely prudent to anticipate a high public estimate 
 of our service in presenting these pages. We do not claim to offer 
 exhaustive essays, nor to give full biographies of individuals, or 
 sketches of subjects; yet, if the contents of this octavo shall bring to 
 the light new truths, or recall old facts nearly lost or forgotten ; if 
 they shall correct various errors, and, withal, place a few pebbles 
 upon the historic pile or memento of Chicago's early history, then 
 our efforts will not have been altogether futile. 
 
 To those persons who have furnished items, etc., for this volume, 
 the compiler here makes his acknowledgments and sincere thanks. 
 
 Chicago, Dec, 1881. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Under the name of "Antiquities," we purpose to compile a series 
 of pamphlets relating to early Chicago, if indeed so young a town 
 may lay claim to so dignified a term. Our antiquities, however, are 
 of rather a different stamp from those of the European world, for we 
 may not boast of massive castle walls, ivy-clothed, tradition-wrapped, 
 and crumbling beneath the weight of centuries. The corner stones 
 of antiquity, yonder, were laid in the mists of a shadowy past; here, 
 the morning beams which dawned in the beginning have not reached 
 the evening twilight of dim uncertainty. The names of the founders 
 of our American towns, together with the circumstances attending 
 such beginnings, have been usually preserved; those of the cities of 
 the old world are mostly hidden beneath the myths, superstitions, 
 and vague tales of a remote and departed age. 
 
 It is true that not fifty years have passed, since some of our re- 
 maining early settlers saw the young town dressed in the swaddling- 
 clothes of village incorporation ; but a few decades have effected here 
 what in most other cases the efforts of centuries have been required 
 to accomplish. Yet the swiftly hurrying years have already brought 
 around another and a new generation, who, though "to the manor 
 born," speak of the primitive days of our city as "the olden time." 
 To such at least, our series (which will contain many new or unfamil- 
 iar chapters) will be of interest. 
 
 We would not, by any means, undervalue the culture which discip- 
 lines the intellect and stores the mind with the lore and mythical 
 tales and antiquities of the storied shores of the Mediterranean ; but, 
 for our particular and individual self, we must confess that we are far 
 less tenacious of the memory of any of those illustrious humbugs told 
 of in the classics, than of that of the early Chicago resident and first 
 proprietor of the old "Kinzie House," Baptiste Point de Sable (he 
 was here as early as 1779), the handsome, colossal, and opulent 
 
6 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 black prince of the North Division; albeit, he was a swaggering Do- 
 mingoan, and, like many other great men, drank too much rum. We 
 have heard of Midas, and Crcesus, and Trismegistus, as well as of 
 old Vulcan, but how little regard ought we to pay to the fame of 
 those unreliable alchemists and artisans, when contrasted with that 
 of our pioneer the elder John Kinzie, the veritable " Shaw-nee-aw- 
 kee," the "silver-man" of the tribes of the Illinois. And concerning 
 that memorable scow-boat , 
 
 " * . the Argo, 
 
 That Jason embarked in for the "golden fleece,' 
 
 For whether that wool became part of her cargo, 
 
 We've little to look for in the myths of old Greece. '* 
 
 Indeed, to a Chicagoan, of little interest must be the whole yarn 
 about the "golden fleece," when compared with the story which the 
 venerable Gurdon S. Hubbard might tell us of his journeyings, and 
 of the fleeces, those packs, bales, pony-loads, and canoe-cargoes of 
 fine furs which he gathered in all the lake region, and along the two 
 hundred-mile trail, that he in person laid out, forty-nine years ago, 
 through the wilderness, from Fort Dearborn to the Kaskaskia River. 
 
 Our plan in issuing the papers comprising the series here proposed 
 will be rather a discursive one; not that of annals, not a consecutive 
 history, indeed not so much a history as material for history. Not 
 an edifice in historic detail, of lofty and comely proportions, but 
 rather a group of structures of varied, though relative, architecture. 
 
 H. H. H. 
 
 January 2t, 1875. 
 
THE 
 
 LAWS AND ORDINANCES 
 
 OF THE 
 
 CITY OF CHICAGO. 
 
 PASSED IN COMMON COUNCIL. 
 
 [We present some account and in part a transcript of a noticeable relic, which 
 lias come within the range of our knowledge and inspection. It is, without doubt, 
 of considerable rarity, and we should not know where to find its duplicate in the 
 city. We are referring to a publication issued in the latter part of the year 1839, 
 of which this is the title-page.] 
 
 CHICAGO: 
 
 PRINTED RY EDWARD H. RUDD. 
 
 MDCCCXXXIX. 
 
8 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 Fifty-two octavo pages comprised not only the "Laws and Ordi- 
 nances," but also a "City Register," (a list of city officers,) and a 
 "Chicago Business Directory," together with some half dozen pages 
 of advertisements. 
 
 We present a few extracts from the said "Ordinances;" to-day they 
 might be deemed curious, severe, or possibly a little whimsical. The 
 "Business Directory" is here reproduced as first printed, with an 
 occasional note of correction, and with the addition of a star (*> 
 against the names of those whom we know to have passed from earth 
 to that "other shore." . This Directory was the first attempt which 
 succeded the numbering of the buildings, though that numbering was 
 only upon Lake Street. [The statement sometimes made, that "Nor- 
 ris' Chicago Directory and Business Advertiser" for the year 1844, 
 was the first Directory ever published in Chicago, is certainly an 
 error.] 
 
 Agreeable to the statute for the incorporation of towns, an election 
 was held in Chicago, August 10, 1833, for the choice of trustees of the 
 village ; and it is worthy of note that there were twenty-eight votes 
 polled on that occasion. Chicago was incorporated as a city March 
 4, 1837. The population in 1839 did not exceed 4,200 in number. 
 A shipment of 2,673 bushels of wheat was made that year — the first, 
 (excepting 78 bushels the year preceding), for it took everything!, and 
 more, that was raised in the vicinity, from 1835 to '38, for the use 
 of the incoming settlers. The first daily newspaper ( The Chicago 
 Daily American, Wm. Stuart, editor and proprietor), appeared this 
 year, the first number bearing date April 9, 1839. Among other 
 important events of that year, in which Chicago and the whole west- 
 ern country were to become interested, was the incorporation by the 
 Wisconsin Territorial Legislature of The Wisconsin Fire and Marine 
 Insurance Company. This institution set sail under the command 
 of George Smith, as captain, and Alexander Mitchell, as lieutenant, 
 with the aid of ballast from their Scottish friends of Aberdeen. But, 
 instead of an insurance company, it resulted in a rather stupendous 
 bank of issue, vastly to the profit of the stockholders, and of no 
 little service to the people of the lake country and the Mississippi 
 Valley. 
 
 Almost one-half of the 277 names of individuals or firms of the 
 following Directory were located on Lake Street; but Chicago then, 
 as to-day, felt her rising importance, and, nearing the end of Anno 
 Domini 1839, was published this record of her greatness, and looked 
 trustfully forward to the beckoning future. 
 
Extracts from "The Laws and Ordinances." 
 
 "FOR THE PROTECTION OF LIFE AND LIMB. 
 
 SECTION 2. No person shall ride or drive any horse or 
 horses in any avenue, street, or lane within this city faster 
 than a moderate trot." (Passed May 12, 1837.) 
 
 [The " moderate trot " of the above ordinance was a gait that has not survived 
 to the present day; witness, for instance, the "two-thirty" Chicago nags on West 
 Washington Street any fair afternoon when a few inches of snow may have put in 
 an appearance.] 
 
 "OF THE EXTINGUISHMENT OF FIRES. 
 
 Section 30. * * The citizens and inhabitants shall 
 respectively, if the fire happens at night, place a lighted can- 
 dle or lamp at the front door or windows of their respective 
 dwellings, there to remain during the night, unless the fire be 
 sooner extinguished. 
 
 SEC. 34. Every dwelling house or other building contain- 
 ing one fire-place or stove, shall have one good painted 
 leathern fire -bucket, with the initials of the owner's name 
 painted thereon, etc. 
 
 SEC. 35. That every able bodied inhabitant shall, upon 
 an alarm of fire, repair to the place of the fire with his fire- 
 bucket or buckets, if he shall have any, etc. 
 
 SEC. 36. Every occupant of any building shall keep the 
 aforesaid fire-buckets in the front hall of said building, etc." 
 (Passed May 12, 1837.) 
 
 "DIRECTING CERTAIN PUBLIC IMPROVEMENTS. 
 
 SECTION 3. The said city surveyor is further directed to 
 survey, describe, and record in manner aforesaid, a street 
 eighty feet wide, which shall be called "Hoosier Avenue," 
 which shall commence on the west line of section sixteen, on 
 Second-street, and run in a south-westerly course to the 
 bounds of the city, in the direction to cross the Canal at 
 Canalport, in some eligible place so as to intersect the State 
 road in that direction." (Passed June 1, 1837.) 
 
 "AN ORDINANCE TO NUMBER LAKE STREET. 
 
 SECTION i. Beginning at the south-west corner of Lake- 
 street and Michigan Avenue as number one, and at the north- 
 
IO CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 west corner of the same street as number two, and thence 
 numbering successively westwardly to the south branch of 
 the Chicago River. The buildings to be numbered as far as 
 State-st, according to the lots as laid out and sold by the 
 agent of the United States, one number for each lot. West 
 of State-street, the buildings are to be numbered one number 
 for every 20 feet of each block. The odd numbers to be on 
 the south side, and the even numbers on the north side of 
 Lake-street, according to the plan of Lake-street, as laid out 
 and numbered by the street commissioner, and on file with 
 the city clerk." (Passed Nov. 12, iSjp.J 
 
 "CONCERNING BILLIARD TABLES AND BALL 
 ALLEYS. 
 
 Section i. That there shall be no billiard table or tables 
 set up or used in said city from and after the 15th day of 
 May next. 
 
 Sec. 2. That there shall be no nine pin alleys, or any ball 
 alley where pins are used, sit up or used, in the said city of 
 Chicago from and after the 15th day of May next." (Passed 
 April 22, 1839.) 
 
 "That in addition to the penalties already imposed by the 
 ordinance to which this is an amendment, if any owner or 
 keeper of any billiard table or ball alley or ten pin alley 
 shall suffer the same to be used or played upon after the hour 
 of 10 o'clock P.M., he shall forfeit and pay to the city of 
 Chicago the sum of five dollars for each offence, with costs 
 of suit." (Passed Dec. 9, 1839.) 
 
 "OF NUISANCES AND THE PRESERVATION OF 
 GOOD ORDER. 
 
 Section 4. Any person who shall solicit alms, without a 
 written permission from the Mayor, from citizens, shall pay a 
 penalty for each offence of two dollars." (Passed May 12, 
 1837-) 
 
 "TO COMPEL THE ATTENDANCE OF MEMBERS. 
 
 Section 3. Any member of said Common Council who 
 shall absent himself from the meeting of the Council, after 
 the same shall have been duly organised for that meeting, 
 without having first obtained leave of the Mayor or Council 
 for that purpose, shall, for each offence, forfeit and pay to 
 said city the sum of ten dollars." (Passed Dec. 2, 1839.) 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. II 
 
 City Register, 1839. 
 
 BENJAMIN W. RAYMOND, Mayor. 
 
 ALDERMEN, FIRST WARD. ALDERMEN, FOURTH WARD. 
 
 James A. Smith, John Murphy, 
 
 Oliver H. Thompson. Asahel Pierce. 
 
 ALDERMEN, SECOND WARD. ALDERMEN, FIFTH W13RD. 
 
 Eli S. Prescott, . Henry L. Rucker, 
 
 Clement C. Stoce. John C. Wilson. 
 
 ALDERMEN, THIRD WARD. ALDERMEN, SIXTH WARD. 
 
 William H. Stow, John H. Kinzie, 
 
 .Ira Miltimore. Buckner S. Morris. 
 
 Samuel J. Lowe, High Constable. 
 Assessors. Assessors. 
 
 1 st Ward, Alvin Calhoun. 4th Ward, John Cray. 
 
 2d , Thomas Brock. 5th , James Duffy. 
 
 3d , Thomas C. James. 6th , Jacob Raynor. 
 
 Alvin Calhoun, Chief E7igineer. 
 
 Charles T. Stanton, Geo. Chacksfield, Ass't Engineers. 
 
 Wm. W. Brackett, City Clerk. 
 
 Erastus Bowen, Collector. Geo. W. Dole, Treasurer. 
 
 Charles M. Gray, Street Commissioner. 
 
 S. Lisle Smith, City Attorney. 
 
 Charles V. Dyer, City Physician. 
 
 Asa F. Bradley, City Surveyor. 
 
 George Davis, Sealer of Weights and Measures. 
 
 SCHOOL INSPECTORS. 
 Peter Bolles, John Scott, J. Y. Scammon, 
 
 David Moore, Daniel Elston, Wm. H. Brown, 
 
 Nathan H. Bolles. 
 
 Police Constable*. ' 
 
 Samuel J. Lowe, D. C. Allen, 
 
 Daniel B. Heartt, George M. Huntoon. 
 
 Fire Wardens. 
 
 1st Ward, N. H. Bolles. 4th Ward, John Miller. 
 
 2d , Jerem. Price. 5th , David Moore. 
 
 3d , John Gray. 6th , Alonzo Wood. 
 
 Drs. Brainard, Gay, and Betts, Boa?-d of Health. 
 
[a reprint.] 
 
 Chicago Business Directory. 
 
 Adams, William H., shoe and leather dealer, 138 lake street, 
 Arnold, Isaac N., attorney and counsellor at law, dearborn street, 
 *Abel, Sidney, postmaster, office dark street, 
 Allen, J. P., boot and shoe maker,, north water street, (John P.) 
 Attwood, J. M., house, sign and ornamental painter, randolph street, 
 Bristpl & Porter, agents for C. M. Reed, forward, commis. merchants, 
 
 (* Robert C. Bristol; Hibbard Porter) 
 *Beaubien, J. B., Esq.. reservation, fronting the lake, 
 Blassy, B., baker, randolph street, 
 
 *Boyce, L. M., wholesale druggist and apothecary, 121 lake street, 
 Brackett, William W., city clerk, dark street, 
 *Brown, Henry, attorney and counsellor at law, dark street, 
 Bancroft, J. W. & Co., lake street coffee house, 135 lake street, 
 Beecher, J., boot and shoe maker and leather dealer, 160 lake street, 
 Burley, A. G, crockery, stone, and earthenware merchant, 161 lake st. 
 Bates & Morgan, cabinet makers, 199 lake street, (A. S. Bates; 
 
 Caleb Morgan) 
 Botsfo'rd & Beers, copper, tin, and sheetiron merchants, dearborn 
 
 street, 
 *Brinkerhoff, Dr. John, dark street, 
 *Betts, Dr., residence and office michigan street, 
 '"Brown, William H., cashier, Illinois branch state bank, lasalle street, 
 *Boyer, J. K., coroner, south water street, (John.) 
 Beaumont & Skinner, attorneys and counsellors at law, dark street, 
 
 (*Geo. A. O. Beaumont; Mark Skinner.) 
 Balestier, J. N., attorney and counsellor at law, dark street, 
 * Burton, Stiles, wholesale grocer and liquor dealer, lake and state 
 
 strs. 
 Bowen, Erastus, city collector, foot of south water street, 
 Berry, B. A. & Co., dry goods and. grocery store, south water street, 
 Bradley, Asa F., city surveyor, morrison's row, dark street, 
 Brady, George, constable, alley between north water and kinzie 
 
 streets, 
 Briggs & Humphrey, carriage and wagon makers, randolph street, 
 
 (*Benj. Briggs; J-. O. Humphrey.) 
 *Butterfield, Justin, attorney and counsellor at law, dearborn street, 
 *Bolles, Nathan H., county commissioner, overseer of poor, lake 
 
 street, 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 1 3 
 
 Bethune, Andrew, Parisian dyer and scourer, north water street, 
 Carter, T. B. & Co., fancy dry goods merchants, 118 lake street, 
 Clarke, W. H. & A. F., wholesale druggists & apothecaries 128 
 
 lake St., 
 Cole, A., ship, house, sign, and ornamental painter, 129 lake street, 
 *Carney, John, grocery and provision store, 133 lake street, (jfames 
 
 Carney.) 
 *Cure, P., grocery and provision store, randolph street, 
 *Curtiss, James, attorney and counsellor at law, 175 lake street, 
 Clever, J., soap boiler, factory on the south branch, {Charles Cleaver.) 
 Collins, S. B. & Co., boot, shoe and leather dealers, 140 lake street, 
 
 (*Saml. B. C. of S. B. C. 6- Co.) 
 
 * Church, Thomas, grocery and provision store, in lake street, 
 *Childs, S. D., wood and metal engraver, saloon buildings, dark 
 
 street, 
 *Clark, L. W., exchange broker and lottery agent, 150^ lake street, 
 Cleveland & Co.', house, sign and ornamental painters, dearborn 
 
 street, 
 Conklin, J., blacksmith, carriage and wagon repairer, dark street, 
 *Cook, C. W., Illinois exchange, 192 lake street, 
 Cobb, S. B., saddle, bridle, harness and trunk maker, 171 lake 
 
 street, 
 Cook, Isaac W., eagle coffee house, dearborn street, 
 Clarke, Dr., 159 lake street, 
 Cunningham, John, grocery, north water street, at the ferry, {Henry 
 
 Cunningham.) 
 *Couch, Ira, hotel keeper, corner of dearborn and lake streets, 
 *Calhoun, John, collector of taxes, Eddy's store, 
 Carpenter, Philo, druggist and apothecary, south water street, 
 Chacksfield, George, grocery and provision store, south water street, 
 *Collins, J. H., attorney and counsellor at law, dearborn street, 
 Colvin, Edwin B., door and sash maker, dearborn and north water 
 
 streets, 
 
 * David, William, boot and shoe maker, near New York house, lake 
 
 street, 
 *Doyle, S., draper and tailor, junction of kinzie and north water sts. 
 Durand, Charles, attorney and counsellor at law, 149 lake street, 
 
 * Davis, George, county clerk, 159 lake street, 
 
 *Delicker, George, wholesale grocery and provision store, 163 lake 
 
 street, 
 *Dewey, Dr. E., druggist and apothecary, dearborn street, 
 Dodge & Tucker, ship chandlers and grocers, south water street, 
 
 (jFohn C. Dodge; * Henry Tucker.) 
 *Davlin, John, auctioneer, corner of dearborn and south water 
 
 streets, 
 Davis, Miss A., cloak maker and tailoress, 115 lake street, 
 *Dole, George W., city treasurer, michigan street, 
 
14 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 Dyer & Boone, Drs., state street, opposite the new market, (Charles 
 
 V. Dyer; Levi D. Boone.) 
 *Davis, William H., constable, south water street, 
 Eddy, & Co., hardware, stove and ironmongers, 105 lake street, (Ira 
 
 B. Eddy; John Calhoun.) 
 Edwards, Alfred, grocery and provision store, north water street, 
 Eldridge, Dr., dark street, Harmon & Loomis' building, (John 
 
 W. E.) 
 *Etzler, Anton, cap, stock and umbrella maker, 151 lake street, 
 
 (Anton Getzler.) 
 Frink & Bringham, stage office, 123 lake street, (*John Frink; 
 
 — : Bingham.) 
 Follansbe, A., grocery and provision store, dearborn street, 
 Funk, J., fulton and illinois markets, 95 lake and north water streets, 
 
 (Absalom F.) 
 Foster & Robb, grocers and ship chandlers, dearborn street, (Geo. 
 
 F. Foster; *Geo. A. Robb.) 
 Follansbe C, grocery and provision store, dearborn street, 
 Fenherty, John, fancy dry goods store, south water street, 
 Fullerton, A. N., lumber merchant, north water street, 
 *Foot, D. P., blacksmith, south water street, (David P. Foot.) 
 Goss, S. W. & Co., dry goods merchants, 105 lake street, 
 Gale, S. F., bookseller and stationer, corner of lasalle 159 lake street, 
 Gale, Mrs., New York millinery store, 99 lake street, (Mrs. Abra- 
 ham Gale.) 
 Goodsell' & Campbell, dry goods and grocery store, dearborn street, 
 
 (L. B. Goodsell; — Campbell.) 
 Goold, N., grocery and provision store, 155 lake street, 
 Gurnee, W. S., saddle and harness maker, 129 and 164 lake street, 
 Gray, C. M., street commissioner, randolph street, 
 Gill, Edmund, Shakspeare hotel, north water street, near the lake 
 
 house, 
 *Graves, D., Rialto, dearborn street, (Dexter Graves.) 
 Gage, J., flour store, south water street; mill on the south branch, 
 *Gavin, Isaac R., sheriff, randolph St., north-west corner public square, 
 Goodrich, Grant, attorney and counsellor at law, 105 lake street, 
 Goodenow, A., dry goods merchant, 134 lake street, 
 Gray, John, Chicago hotel, wolf point, 
 Hupp, S., tailor and cutter, 210 lake street, 
 
 *Hunter, Edward, deputy sheriff, wells street, (Edward E. H.) 
 Hubbard & Co., forwarding and commission merchants, north water 
 
 St., (Gurdon S. Hubbard; *Henry G. Hubbard.) 
 *Hooker, J. W., grocery and provision store, 152 lake street, 
 Hobbie & Clark, dry goods merchants, 142 lake street, (* Albert G. 
 
 Hobbie; John Clark!) 
 *Hanson, J. L., grocery and provision store, 146 lake street, (Joseph 
 L. Hanson.) 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. IS 
 
 'Hamilton, R. J., clerk circuit court, dark street, 
 
 *Hodgson, J. H., tailor and clothier, opposite city hotel, dark street, 
 
 Hovey & Burbeck, lake street market, 143 lake street, (* Samuel S. 
 
 Hovey; Burbank.) 
 
 Howe, Miss, milliner and mantuamaker, corner of lake and wells sts. 
 
 (Now the widow of Rufus B. Brown.) 
 *Henson, O. C, hair cutting and shaving shop, 183 lake street, 
 Heymann, F. T., watchmaker and jeweller, 173 lake street, 
 Hallam, Isaac W., rector St. James' church, corner cass and illinois 
 
 sts., » 
 
 *Howe, F., clerk, Illinois branch state bank, lasalle street, (Frank 
 
 Hoiue.) 
 *Howe, F. A., justice of the peace, 97 lake street, (Fred. A. Howe!) 
 Harmon, Loomis & Co., wholesale grocers, dark and south water sts. 
 
 (*Chas. L. Harmon; Horatio G. Loomis.) 
 *Holbrook, J., clothing, bed and mattress store, south water street, 
 *Holmes, L. W., hardware and stove merchant, south water street, 
 Hall, Henry P., barber, north water street, opposite the lake house, 
 *Howe, J. L., city bakehouse, north water street, (James L. H.) 
 Hoyne, Thomas, attorney and counsellor at law, 107 lake street, 
 Harmon, Isaac D., dry goods merchant, dark street, near the river, 
 Harmon, J William, blacksmith, north water street, (Harmon.) 
 Hunt, B. T., bed and mattress store, south water street, 
 *Huntoon, G. M., constable, near corner of dearborn and kinzie 
 
 streets, (Geo. M. Huntoon.) 
 Higgins, A. D., merchant (Parish & MetcalPs), 132 lake street, 
 Hayward & Co., burr mill stone manufactory, kinzie street, 
 Johnson, J., hair cutting and shaving shop, 131 lake street, 
 *Jones, William, justice of the peace, dearborn street, 
 Judd, N. B., attorney, exchange buildings, 107 lake street, 
 King, Tuthill, New York clothing store, 115 lake street, 
 King, Willis, lumber merchant, randolph street, 
 *Kerchival, L., inspector of the port of Chicago, (Lewis C. K.) 
 Kinzie & Hunter, forwarding, commission merchants, north water St. 
 
 if John H. Kinzie and General David Hunter.) 
 Kendall, Vail & Co., clothing store, 119 lake street, 
 Keogh, P, R., tailor and clothier, dark street, 
 Killick, James, grocery and provision store, dearborn street, 
 *Kimberly, Dr. E., residence north water street, near the lake house, 
 
 (Dr. Edmund S. K.) 
 Kent & *Gilson, livery stable keepers, state street, 
 Leavenworth, J. H, overseer public works, garrison, 
 *Lewis, , merchant, dearborn street, (L. F. Lewis; removed 
 
 to Wisconsin.) 
 * Lewis, A. B., sunday school agent, lasalle street, 
 *Lowe, Samuel J., high constable, dark street, near methodist church, 
 *Loyd, A., carpenter and builder, wells street,. (Alex. Loyd.) 
 
l6 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 * Lincoln, Solomon, tailor and clothier, 156 lake street, 
 
 Lindebner, J., tailor and cutter, lake street, 
 
 *Leary, A. G., attorney and counsellor at law, dearborn street, 
 
 *Lill, William, brewer, lake shore, north side of the river, 
 
 Magie & Co., dry goods merchants, 130 lake street, {Haines H. 
 
 Magie; * John High, jr.) 
 M'Donnell, Charles, grocery and provision store, market street, 
 M'Craken & Brooks, tailors and clothiers, dark street, (" 'Thomas 
 
 Brooks.) 
 M'Donnell, Michael, grocery, north water street, 
 Manierre & Blair, merchant tailors, dark street, {Edward Manierre; 
 
 *Geo. Blair}) 
 Morns, B. S., alderman, attorney and counsellor at law, saloon 
 
 buildings, 
 *Montgomery, G. B. S., merchant, 137 lake street, 
 Mills, M., grocery and provision store, 154 lake street, 
 Matthews, P., dry goods merchant, 162 lake street, 
 *Merrill, George W., dry goods merchant, 166 lake street, 
 Morrison, John H., grocery store, 190 lake street, 
 Murray, George, tailor and clothier, 198 lake street, 
 Mooney, Michael, blacksmith, franklin street, 
 
 Murray & Brand, exchange brokers, 189 lake street, (* 'James Mur- 
 ray; *Alex. Brand.) 
 Massey, I. F., saddler and shoe merchant, 175 lake street, 
 Morrison, J., carpenter, dark street, 
 *Morrison. Orsemus, morrison's row, dark street, 
 Massey, Mrs., milliner and dress maker, 175 lake street, 
 Malbucher, L., grocery and provision store, 167 lake street, (* 'Louis 
 
 Malzacher.) 
 M'Combe, Mrs., milliner and dress maker, 165 lake street, {Miss 
 
 Mc Comber.) 
 Marshall, James A., auctioneer, commission merchant, south water st. 
 Mosely & M'Cord, merchants, south water street, (*Flavel Moseley; 
 
 * Jason Me Cord.) 
 *Murphy, J., United States hotel, west water street, {John Murphy.) 
 Morrison, John C, grocery and provision store, south water street, 
 Mitchell, John B., boot and shoemaker, south water street, 
 *Miltimore, Ira, steam sash factory, south branch of Chicago river, 
 *Moore, Henry, attorney and counsellor at law, dark street, 
 Marsh & Dole, butchers, dearborn street, {Sylvester Marsh; *G. 
 
 IF. Dole.) 
 Merrick, Dr., 121 lake street; house corner state and randolph streets, 
 *Manierre, George, attorney and counsellor at law, 105 lake street, 
 *Meeker, George W., attorney and counsellor at law, 150 lake street, 
 Mylne & Morrison, lumber merchants, south water street, {Robert 
 
 Milne; Alex. Morrison.) 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. IJ 
 
 *Newberry & Dole, forwarding, commission merchants, north water 
 
 St., (* Oliver Newberry, of Detroit; * Geo. IF. Dole.) 
 Norton & Co.,. H, grocers and provision merchants, south water 
 
 street, {Horace Norton; Joel C. Walter.) 
 Nickalls, Pateson, livery stable keeper, kinzie street, 
 Nicholson & Co., merchants, north water street, 
 Osbourn & Strail, hardware, stove, iron merchants, 124 lake street, 
 
 {Should be Osbom &= S.) 
 Otis, S. T. & Co., stove, iron, hardware merchants, dearborn street, 
 Osterhoudt, L. M., New York house, 180 lake street, 
 Osbourn, William, boot, shoe and leather merchant, 141 lake street, 
 
 {Sliould be Osborn.) 
 Oliver, John A., house, sign and ornamental painter, kinzie street, 
 Ogden, William B., Esq., kinzie street, 
 
 Ogden, M. D., of Arnold & Ogden, attorneys, dearborn street, 
 O'Brien, George, grocery and provisipn store, north water street, 
 O'Connor, Martin, blacksmith, randolph street, 
 *Post, Dr., residence lake street, office dearborn street, 
 Peck, E., treasurer canal fund, dark street, 
 
 Page, Peter, mason, dark street, brick building above randolph street, 
 Paine & Norton, dry goods merchants, 117 lake street, (*Set/i Paine 
 
 and * Theron Norton.) 
 Parsons & Holden, grocery and provision store, market street, ^Ed- 
 ward Parsons; Chas. W. H.) 
 Parish & Metcalf, general merchants, 132 lake street, 
 Peacock & Co., J., gunsmiths, 153 lake street, {Joseph Peacock; 
 
 David C. Thatcher.) 
 *Pearson, Hiram, grocer and dry goods merchant, south water street, 
 
 {Hiram Pearsons.) 
 Periolat, F. A., grocery and provision store, 126 lake street, 
 Pfund, J., bread and biscuit maker, dark street, 
 ^Philips, Clifford S., wholesale dry goods merchant, 125 lake street, 
 Phillips, John F., tailor and clothier, city hotel buildings, dark street, 
 Pond, William, watch and clock maker, 183 lake street, 
 Prescott, E. S., receiver land office, United States, 175 lake street, 
 *Price, J., fire warden, south water street, {Jercmia/i Price.) 
 Price, Robert, tailor and clothier, 153 lake street, 
 Proctor, Dr., dearborn street, below lake street, 
 Randolph, G. F., wholesale dry goods merchant, 109 lake street, 
 Rankin, William & John, brass founders, dark street and Illinois St., 
 Raymond, B. IV., general dry goods merchant, 122 lake street, 
 *Reed, C. M., forwarding and commission merchant, south water st., 
 Reed, Mrs., cloak and dressmaker, 115 lake street, 
 Ross, Hugh, bookbinder and paper ruler, dark street, below lake St., 
 *Rossetter, Asher, mansion house, 86 lake street, 
 *Rucker, Henry L., alderman and justice of the peace, dearborn st., 
 *Rudd, Edward. H, job and book printer, saloon buildings, dark St., 
 
18 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 •Russell, James, city hotel, dark street, {Jacob Russell.) 
 •Saltonstall, IV. W., Hubbard & Co.'s warehouse, north water street, 
 Sauter, C. & J., boot and shoemakers, 212 lake street, {C/ias. and 
 
 * Jacob S.) 
 Sherman, A. S., mason, west of the south branch of Chicago river, 
 Sherman, E. L., teller, Illinois branch state bank, lasalle street, 
 Sherman & Pitkin, general dry goods merchants, 150 lake street, 
 
 {Oren Sherman; Nathaniel Pitkin.) 
 *Sherwood, S. J., watchmaker and jeweller, 144 lake street, 
 Shields, Joseph, watch and clock repairer, dearborn street, 
 Shollar, A., grocery and provision store, 200 lake street, 
 Smith, Bradner, carpenter, wolcott street, 
 •Smith, Lisle, city attorney, 107 lake street, (S. Lisle Smith.) 
 •Smith & Co., J. A., hat and cap manufacturers, 127 lake street, 
 Smith & Co., George, exchange brokers, 187 lake street, 
 Stanton & Black, auctioneers, commission merchants, 85 lake street, 
 
 (*Chas. T. Stanton; -Black.) 
 
 Stearns & Hallam, fancy dry goods merchants, 148 lake street, 
 Stoce & White, blacksmiths, corner randolph and wells streets, 
 
 {Clemens Stose; White.) 
 
 Stocking, Rev. Mr., pastor metho. church, opposite pub. square, 
 
 dark St., 
 *Stone, H. O., grocer and provision merchant, south water street, 
 Strode, J. M., register land office, saloon buildings, dark street, 
 •Stuart, W., publisher and editor of Chicago American, south water 
 
 street, 
 Sweet, C, grocery and provision store, north water street, 
 Storms, A., carpenter and builder, state street, 
 Sawyer, S., druggist and apothecary, dearborn street, 
 Shelley, G. E., lake house, north water street, 
 Steele, J. W., city refectory, dearborn street, 
 *Seymour, Jesse, sauganash hotel, market street, 
 Sweetser, J. Oldham, surgeon dentist, rush street, opposite lake 
 
 house, 
 *Stuart, Dr. J. Jay, rush street, opposite the lake house, 
 Scammon, J. Young, attorney and counsellor at law, 107 lake street, 
 *Spring, Giles, attorney and counsellor at law, 107 lake street, 
 Snow, G. W. & Co., lumber merchants, south water street, (* Geo. 
 
 W. Snow, of G. W.S.&r Co.) 
 •Sherman^ F. G, contractor and builder, dark street, 
 Turtle, Nelson, stage agent, 180 lake street, 
 Taylor, Daniel, boot and shoe maker, 1 20 lake street, 
 •Thompson, O. H., grocery and dry goods merchant, south water 
 
 street, 
 •Tucker, William, cooper, south water street,. {Thomas E. T.) 
 Tripp, , carpenter, dark street, next' the methodist church, 
 
 {Robinson Tripp.) 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 19 
 
 Taylor, Francis H., tailor, wolf point, 
 
 *Updike & M'Clure, carpenters and builders, dearborn street, {Peter 
 
 L. Updyke; Andrew McClure.) 
 Van Osdell, John, contractor and builder, corn, wolcott and kinzie 
 
 sts., (John M. Van Osdel.) 
 Vaughan,- William, clothes broker, 159 lake street, 
 Villiard, L. N., grocery and provision store, 187 lake street, 
 Woodworth, R. & J., wholesale dry goods merchants, 103 lake street, 
 
 (* Robert and* James H. W.) 
 * Wheeler, William, tin, sheet-iron and coppersmith, 145 lake street, 
 *Wright, John S., forwarding, commission merchant, north water st., 
 *Weir, John B., cabinet and chair maker, 188 lake street, 
 *White, George, city crier, market street, or at Stanton & Black's, 
 Wilman, Andrew, blacksmith, randolph street, opposite public square, 
 *Whitlock, Thomas, boot and shoe maker, 102 lake street, 
 *Whiting, W. L., produce and commission merchant, Hubbard's store, 
 Wentworth, J., editor and publisher 'of Chicago Democrat, 107 lake st. 
 *Wolcott, Henry, private boarding house, corner kinzie and wolcott 
 
 sts., 
 Wadsworth, Julius, agent for the Hartford insurance Co., 105 lake St., 
 Warner, Seth, merchant, south water street, (Set/i P. W.) 
 *White, Alexander, house, sign and ornamental painter, north water 
 
 street, 
 Wicker, J. H., grocery and provision store, 87 lake street, 
 *Walton, N. C., grocery and provision store, north water street, 
 Walker & Co., grocer and provision merchant, south water street, 
 
 {*Chas. Walker; * Almond Walker.) 
 Williams, Eli B., recorder, dark street; store south water street, 
 Wait, H. M., grocery and provision store,, lake street, 
 Wandell, John, great western, 152^ lake street, 
 Wheeler, W. F., dry goods merchant, 107 lake street, 
 Williams, J., hair cutting and shaving shop, 90 lake street, 
 Wells, H. G., grocery and provision store, 101 lake street, 
 Yates, H. H., grocery and provision store, dark street. 
 
 CHURCHES OF THE CITY. 
 Baptist Church, La Salle, above randolph street; I. T. Hinton, 
 
 elder, 
 Episcopal Church, Cass street, opposite Kinzie Square, 
 Presbyterian Church, west side of Clark street, above the pub. square, 
 Methodist Church, east side of Clark street, above randolph, 
 Roman Catholic Church, Corner of Lake and State street, 
 First Unitarian Society, Rev. Mr. Harrington, Saloon Buildings. 
 
 A number of omissions will probably be found in the foregoing 
 directory, in consequence of the difficulty in procuring a suitable 
 person to collect names and residences for it; but it is the intention 
 of the publisher, as soon as circumstances will permit, to issue an- 
 other edition, enlarged and otherwise improved. 
 
'20 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 DWELLERS LN CHICAGO IN 1839. 
 
 [We had intended this notice for a later page of this vol- 
 ume, but having re-arranged a part of the foregoing suite 
 first issued, we insert it here.] 
 
 We are much pleased with the appearance of Mr. Fergus' 
 beautifully printed pamphlet, entitled "Fergus Directory of 
 the City of Chicago, 1839." We think, though, a more ap- 
 propriate title for it would have been "Fergus' Retrospective 
 List of Chicago Residents in 1839," inasmuch as this list of 
 names has been gotten together thirty-seven years after the 
 date it represents. 
 
 While there may be in that production possible inaccura- 
 cies, we have heard it spoken of, by those competent to 
 judge, as a wonderful compilation for fulness and freedom 
 from error. Yet, whether perfect or otherwise, or with what 
 name Mr. Fergus is pleased to christen his catalogue, we 
 must say that he has done a commendable and lasting ser- 
 vice for Chicago history, and one to which the progressing 
 years will of necessity give increased value. 
 
 Having expressed our appreciation of the "Directory," we 
 will add a word or two in our own behalf, being that Mr. F., 
 in his Introduction, rather intimates something untruthful 
 ("fancy,") as well as mercenary ("statements of interested 
 parties,") on our part. The ground of indignation seems to 
 be, that we had caused to be reprinted a "Chicago Business 
 Directory" published in 1839, °f which original, he claims to 
 have been the sole author and type-setter, albeit Edward H. 
 Rudd's name appears on the title-page as printer, and Mr. 
 Fergus' name does not appear in the book. (That is not sur- 
 prising; perhaps Mr. F. was not carrying on the business 
 himself: at least that model institution, the "Fergus Printing 
 Co.," was not then in being.) Mr. F. does not allow that this 
 original directory was the first of its class,' and would thus 
 appear to ignore the paternity of his own early bantling, 
 ! though he placed the heading "Chicago Business Directory," 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 21 
 
 and put, as an apology for its meagreness, the following, as 
 see ante p. 19: 
 
 " A number of omissions will probably be found in the foregoing directory, in , 
 consequence of the difficulty in procuring a suitable person to collect names and 
 residences for it; but it is the intention of the publisher, as soon as circumstances 
 will permit, to issue another edition, enlarged and otherwise improved. '.' 
 
 Our own excuse for the reprint is this: in the summer of 
 1873, we were shown, by an early settler, (James A. Smith,) 
 a copy of the Laws and Ordinances with the aforesaid Busi- 
 ness Directory, which, as a bibliographical relic of the early 
 City, seemed worthy of preservation; hence its reproduction. 
 It was not our fault that the original was not larger; it was 
 not our freak, commendable or condemnable, the giving it 
 the title "Chicago Business Directory." 
 
 July 1, 1876. 
 
 * • ■ 
 
 A RELIC; WHERE IS IT? 
 
 "Some twenty years since, it was told. in a Chicago daily, 
 that a brass cannon, a part of the armament of Fort Dear- 
 born, thrown into the river at the evacuation of 1812, had a 
 few years before been dredged up from the river bed. Where 
 is that piece? If the War Department took it awaj', ought 
 it not now to be returned?" — Sidney S. Hurlbut's Memorial 
 
 Chart. 
 
 ♦*♦ 
 
 WHA T BECAME OF IT? 
 
 We have heard inquiry made without satisfactory response, 
 as to what had become of the metalic box and its. contents, 
 which were placed within the northeast corner-stone of the 
 late Court House at the time it was built. Neither Mr. 
 T. Mackin or Mr. Knerr, the purchasers of the debris, know 
 anything about the matter. The aforesaid receptacle is said 
 to have contained various documents not elsewhere to be 
 found, and among them a list of the names of every dwellec 
 in Chicago in 1833, outside of Fort Dearborn. We would be 
 pleased to learn of the safety, in proper hands, of; those 
 records, as their destruction would be another "lost pleiad," 
 among the blotted out lights of our local history. 
 
22 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 FORT DEARBORN; WHEN CHRISTENED. 
 It has been often stated, that only after the re-buifding of 
 the Fort (completed in 1817,) it first received the name Fort 
 Dearborn. This was incorrect, for in 1812, the name seems 
 to have been generally known, as the Eastern newspapers 
 mostly so referred to the garrison on learning the news of the 
 abandonment of the Fort by the troops, and the immediate 
 treachery of the Indians. A letter from the War Department 
 admits this, though their records fail to impart anything 
 definite of an earlier date. Yet evidence from other sources 
 has not been wanting, to confirm the statement, that this 
 post was called "Fort Dearborn" in the. year it was first 
 finished, in 1804. The fact appeared in the accounts and 
 papers of the elder John Kinzie, who was here that year. 
 Those documents, at the time of the great fire, were in the 
 library of the Chicago Historical Society. But a living 
 witness is here to-day, October 30, 1875, who was here when 
 the Fort was built in 1803-4, and she has assured us of the 
 fact above stated; we allude of course to Mrs. Whistler. 
 
 THA T SIL VER PITCHER. 
 In the second month A. D. 1853, might be seen at the 
 manufactory of Speer & Gosper in Chicago, a new and mas- 
 sive silver pitcher, a which morning paper noticed as follows : 
 "Made for one of our citizens,— one. of the most superb pieces 
 of plate' this western world can boast of. There is engraved 
 on it the Coat of Arms of his ancestors, and the raised, em- 
 bossed and fretted work, are rich and most effective. Who 
 the owner is,. to us a mystery; all we were told was, that he 
 is an old and time-honored citizen; that he was here when 
 the Indian's war-whoop spread terror along the bank of the 
 lake,— that he took part in the terrific struggle of the Indian 
 War, the sanguineness of which, 44,000 out of the 45,000 
 people now in Chicago can form no conception; has grown 
 up with the city, and now enjoys the fruits of his long. and 
 arduous labors. Long may he live, and may those fruits 
 increase upon him." 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 23 
 
 EARLIEST RESIDENT IN CHICAGO NOW 
 LIVING. 
 
 Very few of the four hundred thousand of the reasonably 
 adult individuals now residing in Chicago are probably aware 
 that the lady of whom we are going to speak is now a visitor 
 in our city. After so long a period, since early in the cen- 
 tury, before those of our citizens who have only reached their 
 "three score years and ten" were born, when she came a 
 
24 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 trustful wife of sixteen, and stepped ashore upon the river 
 bank, it is not a little remarkable that she is, to-day, again 
 passing over and around the locality of this her early home. 
 Under the gentle supervision of this married maiden's blue 
 eyes, our stockade fortress, then so far within the wilderness, 
 was erected. Yet, of all those who came in that summer of 
 1803, the sailor-men of that vessel, the oarsmen of that boat, 
 the company of United States soldiers, Captain and Mrs. 
 Whistler, and their son, the husband and his bride of a year, 
 all, we may safely say, have bid adieu to earth, excepting 
 this lone representative. These are some of the circum- 
 stances which contribute to make this lady a personage of 
 unusual interest to the dwellers here. A few particulars in 
 the life of Mrs. Whistler, together with some of the facts 
 attending the coming of those who arrived to assist in build- 
 ing Fort Dearborn, will certainly be acceptable. 
 
 It was a coveted pilgrimage which we sought, as any one 
 might believe, for it was during the tremendous rain-storm of 
 the evening of 29th October, 1875, that we sallied out to call 
 at Mrs. Col. R. A. Kinzie's, for an introduction to the lady's 
 mother, Mrs. Whistler. When we entered the parlor, the 
 venerable woman was engaged at the centre-table, in some 
 game of amusement with her grandchildren and great-grand- 
 children, seemingly as much interested as any of the juve- 
 niles. [We will remark here that five generations in succes- 
 sion of this family have lived in Chicago.] She claimed to 
 enjoy good health, and was, apparently, an unusual specimen 
 of well - preserved faculties, both intellectual and physical. 
 She is of a tall form, and her appearance still indicates the 
 truth of common report, that, in her earlier years, she was a 
 person of surpassing elegance. A marked trait of hers has 
 been a spirit of unyielding energy and determination, and 
 which length of years has not yet subdued. Her tenacious 
 memory ministers to a voluble tongue, and we may say 
 briefly, she is an agreeable, intelligent, and sprightly lady, 
 numbering only a little over 88 years. "To-day," said she, 
 "I received my first pension on account of my husband's ser- 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 25 
 
 vices." Mrs. Whistler resides in Newport, Kentucky. She 
 has one son and several grandsons in the army. Born in 
 Salem, Mass., July 3, 1787, her maiden name was Julia Fer- 
 son, and her parents were John and Mary (La Dake) Ferson. 
 In childhood she removed with her parents to Detroit, where 
 she received most of her education. In the month of May, 
 1802, she was married to William Whistler (born in Hagers- 
 town, Md., about 1784), a Second Lieut, in the company of 
 his Father, Captain John Whistler, U. S. A., then stationed 
 at Detroit. In the summer of the ensuing year, Captain 
 Whistler's company was ordered to Chicago, to occupy the 
 post and build the Fort. Lieut. James S. Swearingen (late 
 Col. Swearingen, of Chillicothe, O.) conducted the company 
 from Detroit overland. The U. S. schooner "Tracy," Dorr, 
 master, was dispatched at the same time, for same destina- 
 tion, by the lakes, with supplies, and having also on board 
 Captain John Whistler, Mrs. Whistler, their son George W., 
 then three years old (afterwards the distinguished engineer in 
 the employ of the Russian government), Lieut. Wm. Whis- 
 tler, and the young wife of the last named gentleman. The 
 schooner stopped briefly on her route at St. Joseph's river, 
 where the Whistlers left the vessel and took a row-boat to 
 Chicago. The schooner, on arriving at Chicago, anchored 
 half a mile from the shore, discharging her freight by boats. 
 Some 2000 Indians visited the locality while the vessel was 
 here, being attracted by so unusual an occurrence, as the ap- 
 pearance in these waters of "a big canoe with wings." Lieut. 
 Swearingen returned with the "Tracy" to Detroit. 
 
 There were then here, says Mrs. W., but four rude huts or 
 traders' cabins, occupied by white men, Canadian French, 
 with Indian wives; of these were Le Mai, Ouilmette, and 
 Pettell. No fort existed here at that time, though it is un- 
 derstood (see Treaty of Greenville) that there had been one 
 at a former day, built by the French, doubtless, as it was 
 upon one of the main routes from New France to Louisiana, 
 of which extensive region that government long held posses- 
 sion by a series of military posts. [It is said that Durantaye, 
 
26 
 
 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 %8r l ®&- 
 
 a French official, built some sort of a fortification here as 
 early as 1685.] 
 
 Capt. Whistler, upon his arrival, at once set about erecting 
 a stockade and shelter for their protection, followed by get- 
 ting out the sticks for the heavier work. It is worth men- 
 tioning here, that there was not at that time, within hundreds 
 of miles, a team of horses or oxen, and, as a consequence, 
 the soldiers had to don the harness, and with the aid of ropes 
 drag home the needed timbers. The birth of two children 
 within the Fort we have referred to elsewhere. Lt. Whistler, 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 2^ 
 
 after a five years sojourn here, was transferred to Fort Wayne, 
 having previously been made a First Lieutenant. He distin- 
 guished himself at the battle of Maguago, Mich., 9th Aug., 
 1812; was in Detroit at time. of Hull's surrender, and, with 
 Mrs. Whistler, was taken prisoner to Montreal; was pro- 
 moted to a Captain, December, 1812; to Major, in 1826; and 
 a Lieut.-Col., in 1845. At his death, he had rendered sixty- 
 two years continuous service in the army; yet Mrs. W. says 
 she remembers but six short furloughs which he had during 
 the whole term. He was. stationed at various posts, beside 
 those of Green Bay, Niagara, and Sackett's Harbor; at the 
 last named post, Gen. Grant (then a subaltern officer) be- 
 longed to the command of Col. W. In June, 1832, Colonel 
 Whistler arrived again at Fort Dearborn, not the work which 
 he had assisted to build twenty-eight years before, for that 
 was burned in 1812, but the later one, erected in 1816-17. 
 He then remained here but a brief period. 
 
 Col. Wm. Whistler's height at maturity was six feet two 
 inches, and his weight at one time was 260 lbs. He died in 
 Newport, Ky., Dec. 4, 1863. 
 
 Capt. John Whistler, the builder and commandant of the 
 first Fort Dearborn (afterwards Major W.), was an officer in 
 the army, of the Revolution. We regret that we have so few 
 facts concerning his history; nor have we a portrait or signa- 
 ture of the patriot. It is believed, that when ordered at Chi- 
 cago he belonged to a regiment of artillery. He continued 
 in command at Fort Dearborn, until the forepart of 181 1, we 
 think, for we notice that his successor, Captain Heald, gave 
 to the Pottawatomie, Little Chief, a pass to St. Louis, dated 
 here July 11, 181 1. Mrs. Whistler expressed to us her opin- 
 ion, that had Captain W. been continued in the command, 
 the Chicago massacre would not have happened. Major 
 John Whistler died at Bellefontaine, Mo., in 1827. 
 
 Col. James Swearingen was a Second Lieutenant, in 1803, 
 when he conducted the Company of Capt. Whistler from De- 
 troit across Michigan to Chicago. The regiment of artillery, 
 with which he was connected, is understood to have been the 
 
28 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 only corps of that branch of defence. Lieut. Swearingen 
 continued in the service until about 1816, attaining the rank 
 of Colonel, when he resigned his commission, and made his 
 residence in Chillicothe, O., where he died, on his 82d birth- 
 day, in February, 1864. 
 
 
 SJOksx^e-g^**-} 
 
 THE AMERICAN FUR COMPANY AND CHICAGO. 
 
 During the existence of the American Fur Company, Chi- 
 cago was at times the home or head-quarters of various of its 
 agents; Hubbard, Beaubien, Crafts, and the Kinzies, at least, 
 sojourned here more or less. By way of Chicago was the 
 thoroughfare to the Illinois, St. Louis, and below. While 
 Mackinaw had been for more than a century the storehouse 
 and great trading post of the fur dealers, Chicago was the 
 port and point of a very limited district of distribution. But 
 civilization has changed the character of trade, and the set- 
 tlement and cultivation of the country by the white race has 
 transferred from Michilimackinac to Chicago the commercial 
 depot and trade centre of not only a great share of the 
 region comprising the old Northwestern Territory, but of a 
 far greater area of empire. 
 
 To notice slightly the origin of the American Fur Com- 
 pany, we will say that John Jacob Astor, a German by birth, 
 who arrived in New York in the year 1784, commenced work 
 for a bakery owned by a German acquaintance, and peddled 
 cakes and doughnuts about the city. [See ScoviWs "Old 
 Merchants of New York" contradicting other stories of 
 Astor's early life in America.] He was afterwards assisted 
 to open a toy shop, and this was followed by trafficking for 
 small parcels of furs in the country towns, and which led to 
 his future operations in that line. 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 29 
 
 Mr. Astor's great and continued success in that branch of 
 trade induced him, in 1809, to obtain from the New York 
 Legislature a charter incorporating "The American Fur Com- 
 pany," with a capital of a million dollars. It is understood 
 that Mr. Astor comprised the Company, though other names 
 were used in its organization. In 181 1, Mr. Astor, in connec- 
 tion with certain partners of the old Northwest Fur Com- 
 pany (whose beginning was in 1783, and permanently organ- 
 ized in 1787), bought out the association of British merchants 
 known as the Mackinaw Company, then a strong competitor 
 in the fur trade. This Mackinaw Company, with the Ameri- 
 can Fur Company, was merged into a new association, called 
 the Southwest Fur Company. But in 181 5, Mr. Astor bought 
 out the Southwest Company, and the American Fur Com- 
 
 ^M^c^<^--v^ <^y ^^^C^yt^U^^C- 
 
30 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 pany came again to the front. In the winter of 1815-16, 
 Congress, through the influence of Mr. Astor, it is under- 
 stood, passed an act excluding foreigners from participating 
 in the Indian trade. In 1817—18, the American Fur Com- 
 pany brought a large number of clerks from Montreal, and 
 the United States, to Mackinaw, some of whom made good 
 Indian traders, while many others failed upon trial and were 
 discharged. Among those who proved their capability was 
 Gurdon S. Hubbard, Esq., then a youth of sixteen, the earli- 
 est resident of Chicago now living here. Quite appropriate 
 will it be to present a likeness of Mr. H. in connection with 
 this article. He was born in Windsor, Vt., in 1802, and his 
 parents were Elizur and Abigail (Sage) Hubbard. His pa- 
 ternal emigrant ancestor was George Hubbard, who was at 
 Wethersfield, Ct, in 1636. Mr. Hubbard is also a lineal 
 descendant of the clergyman Governor, Gurdon Saltonstall 
 (named for Brampton Gurdon, the patriot M. P., whose 
 daughter was the .grandmother of the Governor), who was 
 the great-grandson of Sir Richard Saltonstall, the firm and 
 efficient friend of early New England. 
 
 [The citizens of Chicago must be pleased to learn that Mr. 
 Hubbard has in hand, getting ready for the press, a volume 
 of autobiography, and reminiscences of men, things, and hap- 
 penings, during his long sojourn in the West.] We need, 
 therefore, merely add here that Mr. Hubbard left Montreal, 
 where his parents then lived, May 13, 1818, reaching Macki- 
 naw, July 4th, and first arrived at Chicago on the last day of 
 October or first day of November of that year. In 1828, he 
 purchased of the Fur Company their entire interest in the 
 trade of Illinois. 
 
 We are indebted t'o Mr. .Hubbard for the following, relating 
 to the American Fur Company, which he has kindly commu- 
 nicated : 
 
 "Having entire charge of the management cf the company in the West, were 
 Ramsey Crooks and Robert Stuart. To William Matthews was intrusted the 
 engaging of voyageurs and clerks in Canada, with his head-quarters in Montreal. 
 Thevoyageurs he took from the habitans (farmers); young, active, athetic men 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 3 I 
 
 were sought for, indeed, none but such were engaged, and they passed under 
 inspection of a surgeon. Mr. M. also purchased at Montreal such goods as were 
 suited for the trade, to load his boats. These boats were the Canadian batteaux, 
 principally used in those days in transferring goods to upper St. Lawrence river 
 and its tributaries, manned by four oarsmen and a steersman, capacity about six 
 tons. The voyageurs and clerks were under indentures for a term of five years. 
 Wages of voyageurs, $100, clerks from $120 to $50° per annum. These were 
 all novices in the business; the plan of the company was to arrange and secure 
 the services of old traders and their voyageurs, who, at the (new) organization of 
 the company were in the Indian country, depending on their influence and knowl- 
 edge of the trade with the Indians; and as fast as possible secure the vast trade 
 in the West and North-west, within the district of the United States, interspersing 
 the novices brought from Canada so as to consolidate, extend, and monopolize, as 
 far as possible, over the country, the Indian trade. The first two years they had 
 succeeded in bringing into their employ seven-eighths of the old Indian traders on 
 the Upper Mississippi, Wabash, and Illinois rivers, Lakes Michigan and Superior, 
 and their tributaries as far north as the boundaries of the United States extended. 
 The other eighth thought that their interest was to remain independent; toward 
 such, the company selected their best traders, and located them in opposition, 
 with instructions so to manage by underselling to bring them to terms. 
 
 At Mackinaw, the trader's brigades were organized, the company selecting the 
 most capable trader to be the manager of his particular brigade, which consisted 
 of from five to twenty batteaux, laden with goods. This chief or manager, when 
 reaching the country allotted to him, made detachments, locating trading houses, 
 with districts clearly defined, for the operations of that particular post, and so 
 on, until his ground was fully occupied by traders under him, over whom he had 
 absolute authority. 
 
 Mr. John Crafts was a trader sent to Chicago by a Mr. Conant, of Detroit; was 
 here at the (new) organization of the American Fur Company. His trading 
 house was located about half a mile below Bridgeport, ("Hardscrabble," the 
 same premises, where in April 1812, two murders were committed by the Indians) 
 on the north side of the river, (south branch) and had, up to 1819, full control of 
 this section, without opposition from the American Fur Company, sending outfits 
 to Rock River and other points within a range say of a hundred miles of Chicago. 
 In fall of 1819, the company transferred Jean Baptiste Beaubien from Milwaukee 
 to this point, for the purpose of opposing Mr. Crafts. He erected his trading 
 houses at the mouth of Chicago river, then about the foot of Harrison street. In 
 1822, Crafts succumbed, and engaged himself to the American Fur Company, 
 taking a charge. Mr. Beaubien was under him. Subsequently, the company 
 bought from the U. S. the Factory House, located just south of Fort Dearborn, 
 to which Beaubien removed with his family. Crafts died here of bilious fever in 
 December, of I think the year 1823. Up to this date, Mr. John Kinzie was not 
 in any business connected with the American Fur Company, but confined himself 
 to his trade, silversmith, making Indian trinkets. At the death of Mr. Crafts, 
 he acted as agent for the American Fur Company. He had no goods, as Mr. 
 Beaubien bought out the Company's right of trade with the Indians. By this 
 
32 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 time there was a very limited trade here, in fact, this place never had been pre- 
 eminent as a trading-post, as this was not the Indian hunting-ground. " 
 
 We will here allude to Mr. Astor' s attempt to establish an 
 American emporium for the fur trade at the mouth of the 
 Columbia river, which enterprise failed, through the capture 
 of Astoria by the British in 1814, and the neglect of our 
 Government to give him protection. The withdrawal of Mr. 
 Astor from the Pacific coast, left the Northwest Fur Com- 
 pany to consider themselves the lords of the country. They 
 did not long enjoy the field unmolested, however. "A fierce 
 competion ensued between them and their ojd rivals, the 
 Hudson's Bay Company, which was carried on at great cost 
 and sacrifice, and, occasionally, with the loss of life. It 
 ended in the ruin of most of the partners of the Northwest 
 Company, and merging of the relics of that establishment, in 
 1 82 1, in the rival association." 
 
 Ramsey Crooks was a foremost man in the employ of Mr. Astor in the fur 
 trade, not only in the east,- but upon the western coast, and has been called "the 
 adventurous Rocky Mountain trader. " Intimately connected, as Mr. Crooks was, 
 with the American Fur Company, a slight notice of him will not be out of place. 
 Mr. Crooks was a native of Greenock, Scotland, and was employed as a trader, 
 in Wisconsin, as early as 1806. He entered the service of Mr. Astor in 1809. 
 In 1813, he returned from his three years' journey to the western coast, and in 
 1817 he joined Mr. Astor as a partner, and, for four or five years ensuing,' he was 
 the company's Mackinaw agent, though residing mostly in New York. Mr. 
 Crooks continued a partner until 1830, when this connection was dissolved and. 
 he resumed his place with Mr. Astor in his former capacity. In 1834, Mr. Astor, 
 being advanced in years, sold out the stock of the company, and transferred the 
 charter to Ramsey Crooks and his associates, whereupon Mr. C. was elected 
 president of the company. Reverses, however, compelled an assignment in 1842, 
 and with it the death of the American Fur Company. In 1845, Mr. Crooks 
 opened u. commission house, for the sale of furs and skins, in New York city. 
 This business, which was .successful, Mr. C. continued until his death. Mr. 
 Crooks died in New York, June 6, 1859, in his 73d year. 
 
 [Through the politeness of a lady of Chicago, we have 
 been favored with the loan of a volume, formerly one of the 
 books of the American Fur Company, containing various 
 items of interest. The lady referred to was formerly of 
 Mackinaw, and had the good taste when noticing, some years 
 since, the waste of numerous books and papers of the old 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 33 
 
 Fur Company, to secure quite a number from such a fate. 
 All those book and papers, excepting the one lying before 
 us, she afterward presented to the Chicago Historical Society, 
 and they shared the flames which consumed its valuable col- 
 lection. 
 
 Though only in part referring to our immediate locality, 
 we think it will be excusable to place upon record the follow- 
 ing extracts and items (mostly of persons and their destina- 
 tion) from the volume above mentioned. The book com- 
 prises outward invoices of the year 1821 and '2, from the 
 Agency at Mackinaw, or "Michilimackinac" as it was written. 
 Pains have been taken to carefully follow the orthography, of 
 the names of persons and places.] 
 
 (For account and risk of the American Fur Co., Merchandise delivered.) 
 
 Josette Gauthier, for the Trade of Lake Superior. Michilimackinac, 23 July, 
 1821. 
 
 Madeline Laframboise, for the Trade of Grand River and its dependencies. 
 3 Sept., 1821. 
 
 [Madam Laframboise was of the Indian race, an Ottawa woman, whose 
 husband had taught her to read and write. She was of a tall and commanding 
 figure, and Mr. Hubbard informs us that "she was a woman of extraordinary 
 ability, spoke French remarkably well, and, in deportment and conversation, a 
 lady highly esteemed; her husband was killed on the Upper Mississippi." After 
 his death, "she took control of the business, and continued as a trader in the 
 Company's employ,'' was accustomed to visit the various trading posts, and 
 looked closely after the doings of the clerks and employes. The daughter of 
 Madam Laframboise became the wife of Lieut. John S. Pierce, of the army, 
 brother of the late President Pierce.] 
 
 (On their own account and risk. ) 
 
 Therese Schindler, for her Trade at and about Michilimackinac. 23 August, 
 1821. 
 
 Eliza and James Mitchell for their Trade. August 12, 1822. 
 (For account and risk of the American Fur Co.) 
 
 John F. Hogle, for the Trade of Lac du Flambeau and its dependencies. 24 
 July, 1 82 1. 
 
 Jean Bt. Corbin for the Trade of Lac Courtoreille and its dependencies. 31 
 July, 1821. 
 
 Eustache Roussain, for Trade of Folleavoine and its dep. 31 July, 1821. 
 
 Goodrich Warner, for the Trade of Ance Quirvinan and its dep. 2 August, 
 1821. 
 
 Joseph Rolette, for the Trade of the Upper Mississsippi and its dep. 15 
 August, 1 82 1. 
 
 Amount of Invoice, $25,354.84. 
 
 3 
 
34 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 [Joseph Rolette was at Prairie du Chien as early as 1804. He was a decided 
 character in his day, and numerous anecdotes are told of him which establish that 
 fact. He held sway over the French inhabitants and voyageurs,- and was exacting ^ 
 in his requirements; his will was arbitrary, his word law, and the people feared 
 him, it is said, worse than they did death. He was educated for the Catholic 
 church, officiated at one time as chief-justice, and, it is told to have been rich to 
 watch the proceedings and decisions of that court. In the capture of Mackinaw 
 from the Americans, in 1812, Rolette took an active part on the side of the 
 enemy, having command of the Canadians on that occasion. He also raised a 
 company to take part in the expedition under Col. McKay, against Prairie du 
 Chien, and bore the despatches to Mackinaw after its surrender. Mr. Rolette 
 died at Prairie du Chien in 1841.] 
 
 William H. Wallace for trade of Lower Wabash and its dep. 22 August, 1821. 
 
 [This gentleman was a Scotchman, and is understood to have died in Chicago 
 about 1826. He was connected with the Fur Company upon the Pacific coast 
 some years before. A manuscript narrative of his journey, in 181c, to the North- 
 west coast, from Montreal, via New York, Sandwich Islands, etc. , left by him, 
 ■ was deposited with the Chicago Historical Society.] 
 
 John Henry Davis, for the trade of the Upper Wabash and its dep. 24. 
 August, 1 82 1. 
 
 Jeremie Clairemont, for the trade of Iroquois river and its dep. 22 August, 
 1 821. 
 
 Truman A. Warren, for the trade of Lac du Flambeau and its dep. July 15, 
 1822. 
 
 John Holliday, for the trade of Ance Quirvinan, and its dep. 26 July, 1822. 
 
 Joseph Bertrand and Pierre Navarre, for trade of St. Joseph and Kinkiki and 
 its dep. Aug. 7, 1822. 
 
 [The present village of Bertrand, Mich., formerly called Pare aux Vaches, it 
 is believed, was named for Joseph Bertrand.] 
 
 William Morrison, for the trade of Fon du Lac and its dep. July 20, 1822. 
 
 [This gentleman, who died in 1866, near Montreal, discovered, in 1804, the 
 source of the Mississppi, in advance of Schoolcraft or Beltrami, or, indeed, any 
 other white man.] 
 
 Antoine Deschamps and Gurdon S. Hubbard, for the trade of Iroquois river, 
 and its dep. August 9, 1822. 
 
 [Antoine Deschamps, in the year 1 792, was at what was formerly called La 
 Ville de Maillet, that was afterwards "Fort Clark," and the village of Peoria. 
 He lived there, at least, until 181 1.] 
 
 (Joint Account. ) 
 
 Russell Farnham, for the trade of the lower Mississippi and its dep. 10 Au- 
 gust, 1 82 1. 
 
 Consignment to address of James Kinzie for account of him and the American 
 Fur Company; for trade of Milliwaki and its dep. Shipped per Schooner Ann, 
 Capt. Ransom, from Michilimackinac, to Chicago. 13 Sept., 1821. 
 
 [The late James Kinzie, formerly of Chicago, and half brother of the late John 
 H. Kinzie.] 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 35 
 
 Joseph C. Dechereau, for the trade of Penatangonshine and its' dep. 5 Oct., 
 1821. 
 
 Louis Pensonneau, sen., for trade of Illinois river. August 12, 1822. 
 
 [Louis Penceneau, both senior and junior, lived at Peoria; the former built a 
 house there soon after the peace of 1815.] 
 
 ( Chan account and risk. ) 
 
 Etienne (otherwise Stephen) Lamorandiere, for Trade at Drummond's Island. 
 July si, 1821. 
 
 Michael Cadotte, sen., for his trade at La Pointe, Lake Superior. 23 July, 
 1821. 
 
 Joseph La Perche, alias St. Jean, for his trade on the lower Mississippi. 30 
 July, 1 82 1. 
 
 Joseph Bailly, for trade of Lake Michigan, etc. 10 August, 1821. 
 
 Binette, Buisson and Bibeau, for trade on the Illinois river and its dep. 18 
 August, 1821. 
 
 Joseph Guerette, for trade on Illinois river. 18 August, 1821. 
 
 Augustin Grignon, John Lawe, Jaques Porlier, sen., Pierre Grignon, and 
 Louis Grignon, all of Green Bay, for their trade there. 3 Sept., 1821. 
 
 [The Grignons were grandsons of Charles DeLanglade, who settled at Green 
 Bay as early as 1745.] 
 
 Antoine Deschamps, for the trade of Masqnigon. 11 Sept., 1821. 
 
 Richard M. Price, for the trade of Drummond Island. 5 Sept., 182 1. 
 
 Daniel Dingley, for the trade of Folleavoine, south Lake Superior. July 30, 
 1822. 
 
 Edward Biddle," from 1st Oct., 1821 to 15 Aug., 1822. 
 
 Ignace Pichet. June 28, 1822. 
 
 Kix Robinson, for trade of Grand River, Lake Michigan. August 23, 1822. 
 
 [He studied law in the State of New York, but abandoned it and came to 
 Mackinaw to take up the business of Indian trader.] 
 
 William A. Aitken, for his trade at Fon du Lac and its dep. July 4, 1 822. 
 
 Jean Bt. Beaubien, for his trade at Milliwakie. 
 
 [The late Col. J. B. Beaubien, of Chicago.] 
 
 Pierre Caune for his trade. Aug. 31, 1822. 
 
 Washington Irving, in his "Astoria," gives a graphic ac- 
 count of the occasional meetings of the partners, agents and 
 employes of the old Northwest Fur Company, at Montreal 
 and Fort William, where they kept high days and nights of 
 wassail and feasting; of song and tales of adventure , and 
 hair-breath escapes. But of those lavish and merry halls of 
 the old "Northwest," we need suggest no comparison with 
 the Agency dwelling of the American Fur Company at 
 Mackinaw, where the expenses charged for the year 182 1 
 were only $678.49. In that account,' however, we notice the 
 
36 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 Following entries: 31 % gallons Tenerifte Wine; 4/^ gallons 
 Port Wine; 10 gallons best Madeira; 70% gallons Red Wine; 
 nine gallons brandy; one barrel flour. 
 
 We will close this article by giving a catalogue of goods 
 furnished for the trade of the Chicago country, fifty-three 
 years ago: 
 
 Arm bands, blankets, broad cord, blue cloth, brown Russia sheeting, blue 
 bernagore handkerchiefs, black silk do., black ribbon, boxwood combs, barrel 
 biscuit, black bottles, boys' roram hats, brass jewsharps, beads, blue cloth 
 trowsers, blue cloth capotes, beaver shot, balls, black wampum, barrel salt, 
 colored ribbon, colored gartering, crimson bed-lace, cartouche knives, colored 
 cock feathers, cod lines, colored worsted thread, cotton-wick balls, cow bells, 
 covered copper kettles, common needles, cotton bandanna handkerchiefs, duck 
 shot, darning needles, embossed serge, English playing cards, embossed brooches, 
 ear wheels, furniture cotton, fox tail feathers, flour, fire steels, gun flints, girls' 
 worsted hose, gorgets, gunpowder, gurrahs, highland striped gartering, hawk's 
 bills, hair trunks, half axes, highwines, hose, hand sleds, Irish linen, Indian 
 calico handkerchiefs, ingrain ribbon, ivory combs, ingrain worsted thread, ink 
 powder, japanned quart jacks, kettle chains, knee straps, London scots gartering, 
 large round ear bobs, looking-glasses, mock garnets, maitre de relz, men's shirts, 
 men's imitation beaver hats, moon paper, narrow cord, nuns' thread, nails, north- 
 west guns, printed cotton shawls, plain bath rings, pen knives, pierced brooches, 
 portage collars, pepper, pins, pipes, pork, scarlet cloth, shoes, spotted swan skin, 
 silk ferrets, scarlet milled' caps, scalping knives, St. Lawrence shells, stone rings, 
 sturgeon twine, stitching thread, snuff, snuff boxes, snaffle bridles, stirrup irons, 
 tow sheeting, therick, tomahawks, tobacco, vermillion, white crash brushes, 
 white molton, waist straps, white wampum, whiskey. 
 
 FIRST WHITE CHILD BORN IN CHICAGO. 
 
 [In undertaking this series of historical pamphlets, one object was, to place in a 
 convenient form, for reference, the facts in relation to various events in the early 
 history of Chicago, some of which have been so diversely, and yet so confidently, 
 stated that an unwonted traveler through those historical jungles and forests, 
 •might have great difficulty in getting out of the woods. It is true, that it is not 
 always easy or possible to get at the exact and reliable facts, so barren may be the 
 evidence, or yet so numerous and varied the convergent channels through which 
 it reaches us, tinted or discolored perhaps on its way. " Tradition is a careless 
 story teller," and our memories are often defective; our wishes, while they 
 strengthen our faith, also build up our prejudices, warp our thoughts, and mislead 
 our tongues; so, honestly, perhaps, we go on uttering untruths, it may be, for a 
 lifetime. It is only by diligent search, or by the collation of the numerous and 
 oftentimes contradictory accounts, statements and data, that satisfactory results 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 37 
 
 can be arrived at; indeed, it has been said that written histories, ordinarily, are 
 at the best only an approximation to the truth. It is to this approximation that 
 we would at least strive to attain.] 
 
 In the Weekly Democratic Press of March 18, 1854, ap- 
 peared a historical sketch of Chicago, written by Lieut.-Gov. 
 Bross, one of the editors, embodying the results of consider- 
 able research; we make an extract as follows: 
 
 " So far as we have been able to learn, the oldest inhabitant born in Chicago, 
 and now living here, is a lady — we beg pardon for saying it — she is an unmarried 
 lady. Be not amazed, ye spruce, anxious bachelors, and if you count your gray 
 hairs by scores, stand aside, for we are quite sure there is no chance for you. 
 She is not only an unmarried lady, but a young lady, only twenty- two years of age, 
 as she was born in Fort Dearborn in the early part of 1832. We have not the 
 pleasure of her acquaintance, and, at the peril of incurring her displeasure, we 
 venture to state that the oldest native inhabitant of Chicago, a city of more than 
 sixty thousand people, is Miss Ellen Hamilton, the daughter of our good friend, 
 Col. R. J. Hamilton." 
 
 In a communication concerning David McKee, an old Chi- 
 cago resident, appears this : 
 
 "His oldest son, Stephen J. McKee, was born Sept. 18, 1830, and was the first 
 white male child born in Chicago." 
 
 In the Republican of Feb. 12, 1866, is an article from which 
 we take the following: 
 
 "A daughter of the late Mr. Russell E. Heacock, born in Fort Dearborn, 
 1828, was the first white child born in Chicago. The honor has been claimed 
 by a very respectable lady, daughter of the late Col. R. J. Hamilton, but the 
 facts will not bear out the claim. Mrs. Serena R. Noble, now a resident of 
 California, is the person who has the birthright. " 
 
 Alexander Beaubien, son of the late Col. John B. Beaubien, 
 
 was born in Chicago, Jan. 28, 1822, and lives here still. 
 
 Mr. Wentworth, in a late lecture, said : 
 
 "Gen. John McNeil, one of the heroes at the battle of Lundy's Lane, Canada, 
 in 1814, was stationed here soon after the reconstruction of the Fort (men arrived 
 to rebuild it in 1816), and he claimed that one of his daughters was the first person 
 ever born in the Fort. A few years since, I met her on Michigan Avenue, and 
 she said she had been trying to find the place upon which she was born, claiming 
 the honor of being the first person born in the Fort. As she was unmarried, I 
 disliked to ask her when it was. There are several persons now living in Chicago 
 who claim the distinction of being the first white person born here." 
 
 The late Col. Robert A. Kinzie was born at Chicago, Feb. 
 8, 1 8 10. 
 
38 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 Maria Kinzie (since Mrs. Gen. David Hunter) was born at 
 Chicago, previous to the. month of October in 1807. 
 
 John Harrison Whistler (son of Lieut. Wm. Whistler) was 
 born in Fort Dearborn, Oct. 7, 1807. [This gentleman died 
 in Burlington, Kan., Oct. 23, 1873.] 
 
 Merriweather Lewis Whistler, brother of the above-named 
 John H. W., was also born in the Fort in the fall of the year 
 1805, and was, without doubt, the first white boy baby that 
 "blew his horn" anywhere in this region, since the waters of 
 the Great Lakes discharged their surplus into the Gulf of 
 Mexico, instead of the St. Lawrence, as geologists tell us was 
 formerly the case. But the young lad was drowned in New- 
 port, Ky., when some seven years old. 
 
 The first person, however, born at Chicago of white parent- 
 age, was a sister of the above named Maria and Robert A. 
 Kinzie, and daughter of John and Eleanor Kinzie. The 
 event happened, in what was afterward known as the Kinzie 
 House on the north side, (so Mrs. Whistler tells us,) and the 
 little lady first saw the light upon the shore of the Divine 
 River, (a name sometimes applied to the creek here in former 
 days, though scarcely divine at present, if purity is an essen- 
 tial attribute,) on one of the days of December, 1804. [Her 
 published obituary, gave the date of her birth as Dec. 1865 ; 
 yet Mrs. Whistler assures us that it occurred earlier by some 
 months, than that of her son Lewis, and that it was in .winter 
 or cold weather. Allowing the month to have been Decem- 
 ber, agreeable to the obituary referred to, the conclusion must 
 be, that the year was that of 1804.] In due time, she was 
 given the christian name of Ellen Marion, and her playmates 
 in early childhood were often the Indian children, with whom 
 she gathered the summer flowers along the sedgy banks of the 
 quiet stream. But the war came, the Fort was abandoned, 
 and then occurred an exhibition of brutal carnage which sava- 
 ges so delight in; it was the massacre at Chicago. But the 
 household of Mr. Kinzie, after various perils and escapes, 
 under the care of friendly captors, we're taken to St. Joseph, 
 and thence to Detroit. The re-building of Fort Dearborn 
 brought back the Kinzies to their old home. 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 39 
 
 It will be sufficient here to say that Miss Kinzie received 
 her education at Middletown, Ct., and was married at the age 
 sixteen to Dr. Alexander Wolcott, Indian agent at Chicago. 
 [It was, we believe in 1821, that John Hamlin, a Justice of 
 the Peace, living in Fulton county before that county was 
 organized, was sent for, and officiated in tying the knot.] 
 Doctor Wolcott died in 1830, and his widow subsequently 
 married Hon. George C. Bates, an early resident of Chicago, 
 now (1875) living in Salt Lake City. We have been unable to 
 procure a "counterfeit presentment" of the features of Mrs. 
 
 &&*-*£*&*&* 
 
 Bates, and possibly there is none in existence; if so, it is cer- 
 tainly a matter of regret. She died in Detroit, 1 Aug., i860. 
 
 THE PIONEER LAWYER OF CHICAGO. 
 
 [In a historical article in a late number of the Chicago Times, it is asserted that 
 "the first lawyer who came to Chicago to make his living by his profession and 
 nothing else, was Judge Giles Spring ; there had been other lawyers here before, 
 but they came as circuit riders, accompanying the Court, etc. " The drift of this 
 seems to be, to ignore a plain fact in our local history. Now we suggest that the 
 Times writer, for the lack of a knowledge of the case, has innocently made a 
 blunder in the matter. It would certainly confer honor upon no one, to attempt 
 to hide a palpable truth in the annals of early Chicago. Twenty-five years before 
 Judge Spring came here, possibly before he was born, Mr. Heacock was licensed 
 to practise law. He then lived in Illinois, which at that time was part of the 
 Territory of Indiana. That the mere circumstance of Mr. Heacock's learning in 
 early life the carpenter's trade, or that he could and did, with true Yankee adapt- 
 ability, turn his hand to whatever offered, that he farmed it, kept tavern, etc. , as 
 well as to practise law, for his support, should blot out of the record his title of 
 the earliest practising lawyer of Chicago, seems a little strange. It was no fault 
 of Mr. Heacock's, that Chicago did not, for several years after his arrival, afford 
 business and a living for one of his calling. He came here nearly six years before 
 Judge Spring; he helped to organize the County of /Cook, and furthermore, 
 brought the first suits in the Circuit Court here. If this does not confirm to the 
 name of Mr. Heacock the title which we have placed at the head of this article, 
 we must ask what would? 
 
 From an author, writing in 1866, (understood to have been an early Chicago 
 settler,) in whose candor, intelligence, and accuracy we have confidence, the 
 
4 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 greater part of the items, and much of the language which follow, are taken. 
 Nov. 18, 1875.] 
 
 Russell E. Heacock was born in Litchfield, Ct, in 1781; 
 lost his father at the age of seven; learned the trade of a 
 carpenter; subsequently traveled westward, and in 1806, was 
 studying law in St. Louis. Mr. H. was licensed in Indiana 
 
 Territory, Dec. 29, 1808, to practise law, and lived mostly in 
 the counties of Jackson and Union in Illinois, until 1823, when 
 he returned to the east as far as Buffalo, N. Y. He resided 
 there until 1827, when he again came west, and arrived here 
 on a sail-vessel, July 4th, of that year. In the spring and' 
 summer of 1828, Mr. Heacock and family were living inside 
 Fort Dearborn. (We should have said before, that he mar- 
 ried his wife in Illinois, during his earlier residence.) He sub- 
 sequently lived several miles up the South branch, occupying 
 a rancheor small farm at what was called "Heacock's Point," 
 and coming in to the village as occasion required. In 183 1, 
 he received a license to keep tavern; in 1833, he was Justice of 
 the Peace; in 1835, his law office was opposite the Exchange 
 Coffee House, corner of Lake and Franklin streets. 
 
 It will serve perhaps to indicate a marked trait in Mr. Hea- 
 cock's composition, (that of following the guidance of his own 
 views, independent of, or in opposition to, as it might be, those 
 of all others,) to say, that at a meeting of the citizens, to con- 
 sider the expediency of proceeding agreeable to the statute 
 to incorporate the Town, twelve votes were cast for incorpora- 
 tion, and one (Mr. Heacock's) against it. Yet with his pecu- 
 liarities, it is believed to have been truthfully said of Mr. Hea- 
 cock "as a public speaker he was pleasing, instructive, and 
 often eloquent; his earnest and straightforward out-spoken^ 
 ness, his fine conversational powers, his generosity and frank- 
 ness of character, and his inexhaustible fund of narrative 
 and anecdote, made him most companionable." Besides as- 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 41 
 
 sisting at Vandalia (the former State Capital) to organize the 
 County of Cook and bringing the first suits in the Circuit 
 Court of this County, many of the provisions of our State 
 Constitution, were originated and advocated by him, long be- 
 fore the convention by whom it was framed was assembled. 
 [His son Reuben B. Heacock was a delegate in the conven- 
 tion of 1847, from Cook County.] All questions of a public 
 nature interested him, but the Illinois and Michigan Canal, 
 and its completion, was to him a great question on which 
 hinged the welfare of Chicago and the State of Illinois. His 
 clear and practical mind saw the financial inhability of the 
 State to complete the work as proposed by the authorities in 
 their bill for its construction, passed by the Legislature. He 
 immediately predicted its failure, for which it is said he was 
 assailed by every public man in the State. The plan upon 
 which the Illinois and Michigan canal was proposed to be 
 constructed, was literally a ship canal from the lakes to the 
 Mississippi River, then characterized by him and known as 
 "the deep cut." He then originated and proposed a plan 
 upon which to construct a canal, which would cost the State 
 less than two millions of dollars, called by him the "shallow 
 cut." For his persistent advocacy of this plan, he was cen- 
 sured and ridiculed by tongue and types, and the satire 
 showered upon him from all quarters, found aid in caricatures. 
 But if this derision was popular, if with the public approval 
 Mr. Heacock was given the sobriquet of "shallow cut," it was 
 the humor of the hour and the season; yet that was. halted 
 at length, and the clamor came to an end. Mr. Heacock had 
 his triumph at last; for after the State became bankrupt, its 
 resources were placed in the hands of the Trustees, who 
 adopted Mr. Heacock's plan, and completed the work in the 
 spring of 1848, less than three years. Mr. H. was a democrat 
 of the Jackson school of politics, but he was also an aboli- 
 tionist, when it was a reproach to be known as such. His 
 writings and speeches on the subject, used principally to refer 
 to the overwhelming influence of the slave-power upon the 
 general government. This was the subject, then but little 
 
42 .CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 thought of, and he used to demonstrate its effects, in the dis- 
 tribution of official patronage by the federal executive. 
 
 The magnitude of the great west, its undeveloped resources, 
 and its future greatness, were as clearly seen by him then, as 
 by others since. He predicted the great future of Chicago, 
 and invested in the real estate of City and County, but which 
 the financial crash of 1837, involved mostly beyond redemp- 
 tion. It is believed that those vexations and embarrassments 
 impaired his health beyond recovery. In 1843, he had an 
 attack of paralysis, which confined him helpless to his room 
 until 1849, when he died of cholera. Mrs. Heacock survived 
 her husband but a few months. 
 
 Squire Heacock, as he was commonly called, we can say 
 was physically and intellectually a tall man; the Indians, 
 who were numerous here in those days, feared and respected 
 him, and they called his eyes "the two full moons." He was 
 self-made and self-educated, far in advance of his time, in all 
 his views of public matters, and having little sympathy from 
 the public generally. Yet those who well knew him, have 
 since appreciated his far-seeing sagacity. 
 
 CHICAGO IN THE OLDEN TIME. 
 
 BY KNEE-BUCKLES. 
 
 By the side of this sea of fresh waters, by the beach-pebbles 
 skirting the land, where the waves had long rolled and tum- 
 bled, in fringes and foam on the sand; where the ice-spray 
 long had sparkled, in the light of the sun or the stars, dash- 
 ing wildly against winter's barrier, by the ridges and dunes 
 and sand-bars; by the lawn that spread out by the river, 
 where savages led' the war dance, where Marquette once lifted 
 the cross, where were planted the Lilies of France; a city 
 has grown up on the marshes, like Venice, that mistress of 
 old, but a greater than Venice here nourishes, by the Adriatic 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 43 
 
 of this western world. Renowned was the plat by the creek 
 side, where the stockade was afterward reared, where old time 
 and the weary stranger, stopped to "shake dust from their 
 beard;" and by side of this prairie stream, stood the wig- 
 wams of a dusky race, of frames made of poles tied at top, 
 or bent over in arches of grace ; spread with bark of linden 
 or elm, or hide of the elk or wild ox, with mats inside made 
 of rushes, or of bear skin, or wolf, or of fox. Lifted out on 
 the bank of this bayou, not a gondola, shallop, or ark, but 
 the bark of the Indian, was a canoe, and this famed canoe 
 was of bark. It is said that the leek or wild onion, once 
 found in abundance just here, with a vagrant of bad habits 
 and manners, joined in a league that was queer; 'twas a rank 
 conspiracy to foist, upon the shore of a harmless bayou, the 
 odor of a similar name, as that called by the red men, Chicago. 
 We think though, the tale was mere slander, and that Chicago 
 was named from a chief, so we acquit the Mephitis A mericana, 
 and the little wild onion leaf. The sluggish, small stream or 
 lagoon, that by lake-side meandered south, was, in summer, 
 a narrow, green pond, when the sand-bars had -choked up its 
 mouth; for 'twas only when floods and high water, pushing 
 out with a fortunate tide, bore the creek on to meeting its 
 sweet-heart, and made the lake beauty its bride. In spring 
 time, with thaws and with freshet, the river ran full in its bed, 
 and the natives they cast their bone hooks, catching red-fin 
 and perch and bull-head ; here was a clump of green willows, 
 and a few scattering oaks might be seen, but aside from the 
 spots of dry prairie, there were many wet places between. 
 The wild ducks lit down in the slough, foreshadowing a city 
 park lake, where the cygnets now come at the call, of tiny 
 maidens with nuts and with cake; and- where Beaubien since 
 paddled his ferry, the bears and the deer swam o'er, "and 
 where the tunnels step down 'neath the river, the otter long 
 tunnelled before. In the former moist days of early spring, 
 by river, bog-channel and slough, from the Lake to Des 
 Plaines passed the Indian, without stepping from his craft, 
 his canoe; and so 'twas in days long passed, 'twixt the basin 
 
44 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 of Lakes and Mississippi, the dividing ridge was paddled 
 across, where would spread out a wonderful city. 
 
 A SUGGESTION. 
 
 "A few copyists in a twelvemonth, would have preserved to Chicago and earthly 
 immortality, names and events which now exist only in ashes. " 
 
 As a text embodying both a precept and an example, we 
 extract the above, from an article referring to the then re- 
 cently burned Library of The Chicago Historical Society. 
 Yet, if the Historical Society's collections, were eminently 
 the most important loss sustained by history in America, 
 they were not by any means all the documents which have 
 met destruction, with (as to numerous manuscripts,) no dupli- 
 cate copies existing elsewhere. Many of the ancient town 
 records in New England, as well as in other parts of the 
 country, have been destroyed by fire, or else are decayed, 
 illegible, or departed altogether from other causes; and we 
 might cite numerous other cases. All our records are perish- 
 able, whether upon metal, stone, wood, parchment, paper, or 
 other material. Damp and drouth, heat and cold, the attri- 
 tion of force, disintegration by chemical contact, indeed, all 
 the elements which are constantly working changes in the 
 natural world, make it a mere question of time how soon any 
 record not re-created or renewed, shall be effaced. We have 
 in remembrance, numerous instances, where the value of 
 single copies of important documents stowed away, have 
 scarcely been appreciated until the fact has transpired, of 
 their irrecoverable loss ; that our ideas hitherto, of fire proof 
 protection have been fallacious; and that it cannot be ex- 
 pected, that every library or association, that all public 
 archives or private curators will have provided, ready at one's 
 elbow, a "Fidelity" safety vault. Yet, it must be conceded, 
 that the acquisition of any treasures to 'be heaped up or 
 pigeon-holed, can hardly be commended, unless means are 
 taken, for their use as well as preservation. Where is the 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 45 
 
 way .then, or upon what can we build a reasonable hope of 
 perpetuity and service, for valuable historical writings, which 
 exist in but a single copy? The answer is a brief one, yet 
 the remedy, in the range of probabilities, would be effective; 
 it is, to multiply the copies, in types or otherwise, and dis- 
 tribute far and near. 
 
 LATITUDE AND LONGITUDE. 
 
 Taken in 1858, at the dome of the Court House in Chi- 
 cago. By Lt.-Col. J. D. Graham, U. S. A. 
 
 Latitude. — 41 53 min., 06.2 sec, north. 
 
 Longitude. — West of meridian of Greenwich; 87" 38 min., 
 01.2 sec, or 5 hours 50 min., 32.08 sec. 
 
 FIRST THINGS IN CHICAGO. 
 
 The first negro slave in Chicago, of which we have heard, 
 was "Black Jim," owned by John Kinzie, and brought here 
 by him in 1804. 
 
 The first coroner's inquest was over the body of a dead 
 Indian. 
 
 The first civil execution among the whites, here, was that 
 of John Stone, who was hanged July 10, 1840, for the murder 
 of Mrs. Thompson. The place of execution was the race- 
 course, some three miles south from the river, near the lake 
 shore, back of Myrick's tavern. A portion of Col. Beaubien's 
 60th Regiment was improvised as a guard for the occasion, 
 the command of which Col. B. transferred to Lieut. Col. Seth 
 Johnson. The return of the procession brought back the 
 body of Stone, which was given by the sheriff to the doctors 
 for dissection. [We will here refer to what was' probably the 
 last execution at this place of an Indian by his comrades. 
 It occurred in the fall of 1832, or the ensuing winter, after a 
 council, or their form of a trial. Being adjudged worthy of 
 death, the man was taken outside, into the brush, south of 
 
46 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 Randolph street, near where Market street is now, and, exe- 
 cuted, probably by shooting. Our informant, who was an 
 early settler here, says such was the statement confidently 
 told at the time, though he had no personal knowledge of the 
 matter beyond the assurance of others.] 
 
 The first map of Chicago was by James Thompson, the 
 surveyor employed by the State Canal Commissioners to 
 lay out the town^ or rather, village. This map bore date 
 August 4, 1830, and the original was in the Recorder's Office, 
 and was probably burned. It is understood that the first 
 plat of the village gave to Chicago a public levee upon the 
 plan of the western river towns. Our levee, accordingly, was 
 located on the south side, from South Water street to the 
 river. But the lake vessels could not find it expedient to 
 conform to the ways of the shallow craft of the Mississippi 
 valley waters, and so the Chicago levee was abandoned, and 
 the ground was sold, docked, and built upon. 
 
 The first street leading to Lake Michigan, was laid out 
 April 25, 1832; it commenced at where was called the east 
 end of Water street, and is described by Jedediah Wooley, 
 surveyor, as follows: "from the east end of Water street" (at 
 the west line of the Reservation, or State street?) "in the 
 town of Chicago, to Lake Michigan ; direction of said road is 
 south 88}4 degrees east, from the street to the lake, 18 chains 
 '50 links. Said street was laid out 50 feet wide. The viewers 
 on this occasion also believe that said road is of public utility 
 and a convenient passage from the town to the lake.'.' 
 
 The first extended highway regularly laid out in Chicago, 
 was "The Green Bay Road," in 1835, under the direction of 
 Gen. Scott, U. S. A. 
 
 The first white man's tannery, was that of John Miller. 
 It stood (183 1) near to and on the north side of, his brother 
 Samuel Miller's tavern, near the Junction. 
 
 The first regularly appointed auctioneer was James Kinzie. 
 
 The first debating Society formed here, was organized 
 during the winter 183 1-2 comprising nearly all the male 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 47 
 
 population, mostly within the Fort. Col. J. B. Beaubien was 
 chosen President. 
 
 The first Druggist was Philo Carpenter, who arrived in 
 Chicago in the month of July, 1832; his store was a small 
 log-building, near where is now the east end of Lake Street 
 Bridge. Mr. C. next occupied a log-building, just vacated 
 by Geo. W. Dole, who had removed into his new store. 
 
 The first steamboat fuel furnished by Chicago, was in 
 1832, when Captain Walker of the "Sheldon Thompson' 1 
 bought an old log-cabin and took it on board for his return 
 down the Lake. 
 
 The first printed list of Advertised Letters was in number 
 seven of Mr. Calhoun's paper, the Chicago Democrat, Jan. 7, 
 1834. The list comprised one letter, namely, for Erastus 
 Bowen. 
 
 The first Fair was held by " the ladies of the Protestant 
 Episcopal Church of this Town," on the 18th June, 1835, and 
 is referred to in the village newspaper, as "a novelty in Chi- 
 cago." 
 
 Not in 1835, ( as stated Dec. 5, 1875 in one of the Chicago 
 Times articles, headed "By-Gone Days," those pleasantly told 
 stories, even though occasionally marred with typographical, 
 accidental, or sensational errors, which we shall notice here- 
 after,) but July 4, 1836, was the first spadeful of earth thrown 
 out in the digging of the Illinois and Michigan Canal. 
 
 The first ferryman was Mark Beaubien. 
 
 THE first rock for the harbor piers was furnished by John 
 K. Boyer. 
 
 The first dray in Chicago was shipped from the Hudson, 
 by Philo Carpenter; we think, also, that the first specimen of 
 that renowned pleasure-vehicle of New England, "the one- 
 horse shay," which appeared here, was when that gentleman . 
 and his bride rode into the village in one, in the spring of 
 1834. 
 
 The first two-wheeled pleasure carriage seen here was that 
 
48 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 owned by Col. J. B. Beaubien, and brought from the East. 
 It is said that the villagers, upon its arrival, paid it distin- 
 guished honor, "turning out in procession and parading the 
 streets." 
 
 The first engraver on wood or metal was S. D. Childs, senr. 
 
 The first church bell was placed upon the Unitarian Church 
 edifice, 87-93 Washington Street, January, 1845. 
 
 The first vessel larger than a "shell" built here was the 
 "Clarissa" launched May, 1836. 
 
 The first public edifice erected by the County of Cook, 
 was an Estray Pen. 
 
 The first "balloon" built in Chicago or elsewhere, (a popu- 
 lar style of spike-fastened light frame buildings, which aston- 
 ished by their firmness the old-fashioned mortise and tenon 
 builders,) was erected in the fall of 1832 by Geo. \V. Snow, 
 and stood near the Lake shore. It was but a slight affair, 
 yet served for the while, as his place of business, and to pro- 
 tect his goods or freight received by vessel. The greater 
 share of said freight, we may here add, was made up of 
 whisky or other kinds of the ardent. 
 
 The first steam engine built in Chicago, was made and 
 put up by Ira Miltimore. It was used to run a saw-mill 
 located on the north branch, near the residence of the late 
 Archibald Clybourn. 
 
 THE first suggestion we think on record (or off) by a Chi- 
 cagoan or indeed "any other man" for the establishment, in 
 each of our Collegiate Institutions, of a Professorship to 
 occupy "a Chair of Integrity," for the teaching of that ancient 
 and important accomplishment honesty, now so rare in our 
 public men or officials, (not to speak of others,) was contained 
 in an address by the late Hon. Wm. B. Ogden, not long since, 
 before the Board of Trustees of the Chicago University. 
 
 The first book printed in Chicago was consumed by fire, 
 in the bindery, late in 1840. Scammon's Reports, vol. I. 
 Four incomplete copies were not in that fire. 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 49 
 
 WILDERNESS LETTERS OF WILLIAM 
 
 BURNETT, THE FUR TRADER.— 1 786-1 803. 
 
 We have in our possession a manuscript copy of the letter- 
 book of a gentleman who, for many years, was engaged in 
 the Indian trade in the neighborhood of Lake Michigan. 
 Though these letters, pertain to business matters almost en- 
 tirely, we have yet supposed that, independent of their dry 
 details, they possess considerable interest to the historical 
 student as well as others of the lake region of to-day. They 
 will, if but in a slight measure, assist to answer the questions 
 as to what was doing, who did it, and how was it done, in 
 those transition years, here in the old Northwestern Terri- 
 tory, more than three -fourths of a century ago. 
 
 As William Burnett has identified himself with this lo- 
 cality, for he was a house-owner at Chicago, for occasional 
 occupation, for storage or trade, as early as 1798, we are par- 
 ticularly led to say something of him and his letter-book/ 
 The letters, we may state, include a term of eighteen years 
 of Mr. Burnett's residence in the wilderness; but according 
 to the information we are favored with, from a relative of the 
 family, he abandoned a civilized abode for the wildwoods and 
 prairies long before that; the year 1769 is given as the one 
 in which he arrived in Michigan. 
 
 Though he had sojourned for some time previously at 
 Mackinaw, Mr. Burnett's headquarters, during some of the 
 early years of the period embraced within the dates of these 
 letters, were, it is believed, where now is the village of Bert- 
 rand, Mich. We have thought so from various indications, 
 within as well as outside of these letters, though lacking 
 positive evidence. From there, after crossing the river, was 
 reached, by a portage of no great extent, the headwaters of 
 the Kankakee, which at certain times of the year afforded 
 canoe navigation leading to the Illinois and Mississippi. The 
 explorer, LaSalle, and his party, after building a fort at the 
 mouth of the St. Joseph River, passed by this route down to 
 Lake Peoria in December, 1679; but the same - path had 
 4 
 
50 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 doubtless been a familiar one to the Indians long before 
 LaSalle appeared thereabout. 
 
 Mr. Burnett's residence, upon the bank* of the St. Joseph 
 however, was mostly a few hundred yards above its mouth. 
 In this article, we shall present a number of the letters in 
 full, and various extracts from others, taken from the letter- 
 book referred to, and to which we have appended a few occa- 
 sional notes. Here follows the first communication recorded 
 
 therein : 
 
 St. Josephs, May the 14th, 1786. 
 
 Dr. Sir— I take this opportunity, by Mr. Tabeau, to acquaint 
 you that I have here two hundred and twenty bushels of corn; and 
 as I have no canoe nor Batteau to send the corn to Makina, you will 
 please endeavor to' get what I have here put into the- vessel if she^ is 
 to come back again. Or, if she is to come to Chicago, you can 
 very likely get her to stop at the mouth of the river. However, I 
 leave it entirely to you, as you will best know how to act in this 
 case. Mr. Ducharme leaves this in a few days, and will write you 
 more fully by him, and remain, in the meantime, Dr. Sir, your hum- 
 ble servant. 
 
 WM. BURNETT. 
 To Mr. George Meldrum, 
 
 Merch't, Michilmakina, 
 
 fav'r Mr. Tabeau. 
 
 In 1785, the year previous to the above first letter of the 
 series, the writer, Mr. Burnett, was arrested by British soldiers 
 upon American soil (at Mackinaw), and sent, a prisoner, to 
 Montreal. Though released soon after his arrival there, he 
 was not allowed a pass to go up again via the lakes. But 
 British forces, notwithstanding the treaty, held possession of 
 the military posts, and virtually of a good portion of the 
 country and waters along the northern frontier, eleven years 
 after that, for the posts were not surrendered until the sum- 
 mer of 1796. 
 
 Below we give further extracts from the letter-book, the 
 first of which describes his interview with General St. Leger, 
 etc.: 
 
 St. Josephs, May the 25th, 1786. 
 
 Dr. Sir — My last to you is per Mr. Tabeau, for Michilmakina, 
 in which I promised to write you more fully for Detroit. I will now 
 begin to let you know how I was received at Montreal when I went 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 51 
 
 down as prisoner last fall. When I arrived there, I waited upon 
 General St. Ledger,* who was then commander-in-chief, to let him 
 know that I was the person that was sent down by Captain Robert 
 son, from Michilmakina. "What," says he, "is your name Burnett?" 
 I answered him it was. He then asked me in what manner I came 
 down as a prisoner; if it was with soldiers and fixed Bayonets. I 
 told him no soldiers came down as a guard over me, But was de- 
 livered at every Post as a prisoner, from one Commanding officer to 
 another, to be forwarded down to Montreal. He then said, "By 
 G — d, sir, 1 now release you from being a prisoner; but you shall 
 not have my permission to go up to Makina again, as Captain 
 Robertson has wrote me you are a dangerous man in exciting sedi- 
 tion amongst the Indians." I told him it was a false and malicious 
 accusation, and endeavored to represent everything in its true light 
 to him. But the fellow, or rather the Tyrant, being drunk and 
 mad together, would not hearken to me, as he said there was a 
 sufficient number of witnesses against me to support every com- 
 plaint made against me by Capt. Robertson. He then told me as he 
 had nothing to say with the Civil line, I must go down to Quebec if 
 I wanted a pass and get one from the Lieut. Governor, Mr. Hamil- 
 ton^ and would write down at the same time the complaint made 
 
 * Col. Barry St. Leger, a British officer, was with Wolfe at Quebec, and after- 
 ward commanded the expedition in 1777, via Lake Ontario, Oswego River, and 
 Oneida Lake, intending, after victoriously sweeping the Mohawk Valley, to join 
 Burgoyne at Albany. But Gansevoort, Willett, and Fort Stanwix stood in his 
 path, and the militia of the Mohawk, too, gathered to oppose his progress. St. 
 Leger's white force, however, was too meagre for the undertaking, and his savage 
 allies became demoralized and inconstant from the determined bravery of General 
 Herkimer and his militia at the battle of Oriskany. These circumstances led to 
 the abandonment of the siege of Fort Stanwix, and St. Leger's inglorious retreat. 
 St. L. died in 1789.— H. 
 
 + Col. Henry Hamilton was an officer of the British army, and was Lieut. -Gov- 
 ernor at Detroit early in the Revolution. In December, 1778, we may say, he 
 laid siege to Fort Vincennes, for he arrived before that post with a large force 
 and demanded its surrender. The fortress was then occupied by a force of two 
 men only, a Captain Helm, from Virginia, and one private. Their single can- 
 non, however, was hastily loaded, and with linstock at hand the gun was ready 
 for destruction to the foe. Capt. Helm met the invader with a. stern order to 
 stand, and in reply to the summons, suggested to Hamilton that he should state 
 the terms to be granted in case of surrender. The Governor, it is said, agreed 
 to grant to the garrison the usual honors of war, and Captain H. thought it pru- 
 dent to give up the post; it was one of the most ludicrous incidents of the war. 
 To extend this note a little farther, we add that Col. Geo. Rogers Clarke, in the 
 month of February ensuing, recaptured the post, (then called Fort Sackville) and 
 sent Hamilton, a prisoner, to Virginia. Col. Hamilton left the British army in 
 1783, but was Lieut. -Governor of Quebec in 1785, and afterwards Governor of 
 Dominica; he died 1796. — H. 
 
52 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 by Captain Robertson. Accordingly I went down and waited upon 
 Hamilton, who received me very politely, and told me he had 
 received a letter from General St. Ledger in consequence of giving 
 me a pass for Detroit. He said he did not see the least difficulty of 
 granting me a pass for that place provided I would give the usual 
 security, and that he would write to General St. Ledger in conse- 
 quence of granting me one upon those conditions. This was all 
 that passed between him and me upon this subject, and now asked 
 what I was sent down for. Relying upon what he had told me, I 
 comes up to Montreal again and waits upon General St. Ledger. 
 f'Well," says he, "has the Governor given you a pass?" I told him 
 he had not, but was to have wrote him to grant me one upon those 
 conditions of giving him proper security. "The Governor has wrote 
 me," says he; "but since he has not given you a pass, I may be 
 d d if I do, and you may get along, sir." Finding no satisfac- 
 tion amongst these Tyrants and hell-hounds, I left h— 11 and as- 
 cended round to heaven — I mean New York and Philadelphia — 
 from whence I arrived here the 26th of last month only. 
 
 With respect of what I wrote you in my first letter, which was 
 for an assortment of goods for this season, I have, in consequence, 
 inclosed to you a memorandum of what things I may want, and 
 which, if you think it convenient, and lays in your power to com- 
 pleat, let me know -your answer by the bearer of this, Ducharme. 
 Should the above take place, I would have all the dry goods brought 
 by pack-Horses, and as for the heavy articles, I would wish to have 
 them sent round by Mackina, such as the rum, powder, and ball. 
 You can easily have them sent in a vessell to Mackina, and from 
 that sent in a boat to Chicago in your name, as the little Bashaw 
 at Mackina would not grant anything to come here in my name; and 
 as you will be at Mackina, I suppose you will endeavor to get me 
 four Winterers, which you will send per the boat. As I have an 
 opportunity of making a good deal of Indian corn, I would wish 
 you could contract with somebody at Mackina to furnish them two 
 or three hundred bushels. Or, otherwise, if you should want it your- 
 self, I will deliver it at the bottom of the river as reasonable as pos- 
 sible; and let me know your price at the same time. Meldrum and 
 Parke has not used me well this last year in my absence, I mean 
 last fall. This is the only reason that I would not wish to have any 
 more business with them. 
 
 I remain, Dr. Sir, your humble servant, 
 
 WM. BURNETT. 
 
 N. B. You will see per the memorandum what things there is to 
 be sent per the boat. Should there be a probability of those things 
 coming late by water, I would have some of them brought by land. 
 To Mr. Wm. Hands, 
 
 Merch't, Detroit, per 
 
 Ducharme. 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 53 
 
 Extract from a letter to John Sayers, Michilmakina, dated 
 St. Josephs, June 26th, 1786: 
 
 A few days ago, five unhappy Americans were taken by the Mi- 
 amis, four of which was killed upon the Spott, and one brought to 
 their town, where they burnt him at the stake. This happened 
 about thirty leagues from this. 
 
 The following is a postscript to a letter dated June 30, 
 1786, to William Hands, Detroit: 
 
 About an hour ago, arrived here an Indian from Saguina with a 
 Belt to this nation. The purport of it is to let them know that the 
 road between this and their town is neat and clean, and would be 
 glad to see them. My opinion of it is, it is an invitation of them 
 to mischief. However I may be mistaken. 
 
 St. Josephs, Jan. 20th, 1787. 
 ****** 
 Last spring, on my way home from Fort Pitt, I stopped at St. 
 Tuskey* ; was three days there at one Elliottt and McDonald's ; 
 they charged me seven pounds for lodgings, for which I gave them 
 an order upon Meldrum and Park; and as I have reason to suppose 
 it is not paid, I have sent you five otters, which you will please pay 
 them with. If they are not at Detroit at present, they will be there 
 in the spring, and do not forget to pay them. For I would much 
 sooner owe anybody else as many hundreds. With this goes at the 
 same time another otter, which you will send me tea for. I must 
 here be under the necessity of troubling you with a particular favor : 
 that is to send me some garden seeds, and particular turnip seed and 
 cabbage. I enjoy a very pleasant winter in one respect, and a very 
 lazy one in another, not having anything to do. While I was writing 
 this letter, I have been informed with a bad piece of news by a 
 Frenchman just arrived from the Kaskaski. He says when he left, 
 
 * Sandusky.— H. 
 
 t We have not positive proof, yet we believe the senior member of this firm 
 was the notorious Matthew Elliott, who years before that date, as well as after- 
 ward, exerted an evil influence with the Indians toward their American white 
 neighbors. Matthew Elliott was one of that trio of wretches, Girty, McKee, and 
 Elliott, yet he held a captain's commission from the British authorities. In 1793, 
 he was living on the Canada side, at the mouth of Detroit River, in trade as well 
 as fanning. In a list of the inhabitants of Detroit in 1806, (collections Pioneer 
 Society of Mich. , vol. I. ) we notice the names of both Alexander McKee and 
 Captain Matthew Elliott. After Perry's victory in September, 1813, a force of a 
 hundred Kentucky soldiers, on their way to Detroit, (so we are told in Luther 
 Harvey's Memoirs in Collections Pioneer Society, Mich.) landed near Maiden, 
 and destroyed the house and furniture of Col. Matthew Elliott, British Indian 
 Agent, who, together with Simon Girty, was considered the main instigators of 
 the massacre, by the savages, at River Raisin in January of that year. — H. 
 
54 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 that an Indian arrived there which told him that there had an Eng- 
 lishman with his (a word missing) had been killed at Lafourche* on 
 the Illinois River, on his way from Illinois to Detroit, but cannot 
 learn who it is. Please make my humble respects to Mr. and Mrs. 
 May, and hope they are very well; and am, with regard, 
 Dr. Sir, your obdt. servant, 
 
 WM. BURNETT. 
 Mr. W. Hands, 
 
 Detroit. 
 
 St. Josephs, February 19th, 1787. 
 D'r Hands: 
 
 I had the pleasure yesterday of receiving your favor of the 6th inst. 
 with the tea and paper, for which I am very much obliged to you. 
 I am happy having so early an opportunity of answering. * * 
 * * I am now to confirm that bad piece of news 
 
 mentioned in my first letter, I mean with respect to the Englishman 
 that was killed at the river of the Illinois. It appears not to be an 
 Englishman, but a Frenchman; the difference in the name is imma- 
 terial. It seems there were three of them together, on their way for 
 Detroit. All that we can learn by the villain that done the act 
 (which is only within fifteen leagues of tau Pi), that he happened 
 to meet at their Campment and spoke with the master, who told 
 him he was going to Detroit to see the Big Swan, meaning Mel- 
 drum; that he left them, and came at midnight and shot one of the 
 three, but says not the Trader, and that the other two fled. How- 
 ever, let it be as it is, jhey had the misfortune to have a bag of 
 money with them containing, nearly as I can learn, four hundred 
 dollars, and between two and three hundred guineas. This, with 
 five horses and several other things, is now in the possession of the 
 monster, which he keeps in defiance of all those that will attempt to 
 take anything from him. He says he intends to go and see his Eng- 
 lish father and tell him what he has done, and that he is sorry for it, 
 and expects he will give him a little of his wealth, as he is a brave 
 man. Is it possible that England, so famed for justice and humanity, 
 can bear such murder committed without ever demanding any kind of 
 satisfaction.% The dollars and guineas are flying about among the 
 cormorants as if a Spanish Galleon had been taken. However, 
 
 between you and me, they are no less d d rascals for doing so, 
 
 as it only encourages the Indians to do the like again on some poor 
 unfortunate traveller. 
 
 * Lafourche, it is believed, was situated at junction of the Kankakee and Des- 
 plaines. — H. 
 
 t Name indistinct and not recognized; possibly it is an abreviation, and in- 
 tended for our Portage. — H. 
 
 % The italics are ours; the crime was committed in the Illinois, yet none other 
 than British jurisdiction appears to have been recognized here in those days. H. 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 55 
 
 I hope against this time you have got the Garden seeds, which I 
 beg you will send me by the bearer of this letter. If there is any 
 such things as wire seives at Detroit, do send me one. In your 
 next, let me know if Mr. Williams is at St. Tuskey.* I thank you 
 for your kind offer for my commands on you for Montreal. I have 
 none but one; that is, when I left Montreal, I owed a balance of 
 one halifax shilling to Campbell, the tavern-keeper. - If you remem- 
 ber it, I beg you will pay it. As he is a prattling fellow, he may 
 make a noise about it. I offered him payment, but he had no 
 change. No more. A prosperous voyage to you. I am sincerely 
 yours, WM. BURNETT. 
 
 Wm. Hands, at Detroit. 
 
 N. B. The fellow has delivered up the papers to Mr. Tabeau, 
 amongst which I had a letter from Arundel, wherein he recommends 
 to me one Mr. Janise. By this it appears that Mr. Janise was one 
 of the three. 
 
 St. Josephs, August 22, 1787. 
 
 Sir — When Mr. Lalime was in Detroit last, you was pleased to 
 tell him verbally, that if I should want anything at your house, it 
 should be at my service. Upon which I take the liberty of address- 
 ing you this letter, to acquaint you with my desire of having an 
 assortment of Indian goods this fall (if convenient to you) to the 
 amount of a thousand pounds' worth. If this should meet your 
 approbation, please to let me .know by the bearer of this. As I 
 have horses of my own, I would have everything brought by land. 
 And at the same time, would wish to have made up calico and linen 
 shirts: twelve dozen of calico shirts, twelve dozen of men's linen 
 shirts of twelve-penny linen, and six dozen of women's and chil- 
 dren's shirts. If you have any powder, please to send me a hun- 
 dred weight by the bearer, and remain, 
 
 Sir, your humble servant, 
 
 WM. BURNETT. 
 To Mr. John Casity, 
 
 Merchant, Detroit. 
 
 St. Josephs, April 3, 1788. 
 
 Sir — Understanding you being at Makina, and desirous to ven- 
 ture once on the wheels of fortune, has thought proper to enclose 
 to you a memorandum for an assortment of Indian goods for this 
 place. * * ■* - » 
 
 As Mr. Graham is acquainted with your trade of this country, I have 
 
 given him directions to settle with you as to the price of the goods. 
 * # * # # 
 
 You will endeavor to expedite the whole off in two canoes, soon as 
 possible, for reasons which Mr. Graham will tell you of. Three men 
 in each canoe will be enough; let them be indebted as little as pos- 
 
 * Sandusky. — H. 
 
56 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 sible. Another thing I am to observe: as- 1 am a stranger at present 
 to the prices of peltries, you will note down the prices you will give 
 for them, as it will be at the same time a guide to me how to dis- 
 pose of the goods. The peltries here, in general, are all very good, 
 and in particular the raccoon and otter, and of course deserves a bet- 
 ter price than those that comes from any other country. Very pos- 
 sibly it may lay in your way to want Indian corn, Grease, and Sugar. 
 Should you want any of those articles, let me know the prices you 
 will give for any of them delivered at the entrance of the river. I 
 
 am ' Sir ' Your humble servant, 
 
 WM. BURNETT. 
 
 To Mr. Charles Patterson, 
 
 Merch't, Michilmackina. 
 From letter dated St. Josephs, April nth, 1788: 
 1 had a very fine harvest last fall, among which I had a hundred 
 bushels of wheat. I Jeave this to-morrow for Detroit, with an ex- 
 pectation of getting a mill; for further particulars I refer you to our 
 friend Graham. St Josephs, Feb . 2f I?9a 
 
 D'r Hands: My last to you is dated 10th of December. 
 
 * * * I must now give you an account 
 of my departure from this to the Kinkeki. I left the source the 
 nth December, and with a good deal of trouble breaking the ice 
 now and then, (as the river is very narrow) got down to my win- 
 tering quarters the 16th of the same month. Upon my arrival, we 
 sat about building a small house, and notwithstanding the bad 
 weather, we got it up in eight days with two men and myself. So 
 that upon the whole, considering my bad luck in getting my goods 
 so late, have been very fortunate in getting into the Kinkeki, as the 
 season of the year being so very far advanced. As to the trade of 
 y e the Kinkeki, it goes on but very slowly as yet owing to the mild 
 winter we have here. But am still in hopes what I have taken with 
 me there will dispose of against the spring. * * 
 
 * * * The day before my departure from 
 source of the Kinkeki, one of my men left me in the night, and has 
 made his way to the Oahiya.* I have wrote to Mr. J, Abbott, at 
 the Aumies,t that should he see the fellow there to have him sent 
 to Detroit directed to your care. His name is Jems, and owes me 
 four hundred and fifty livres. I hired him at Makina to winter and 
 return back again, so that it is needless to explain to you how much 
 the rascal is out of my way. 
 
 If possible, I must desire you will get me made a plough shear, 
 as the French calls it en bardeau, about five and twenty pounds 
 weight. Should I not send to Detroit, you will send above to the 
 Mies.t As to the wheat, you will send it to Makina. 
 
 * Ohio, doubtless. + The Maumee. 
 
LATELY PUBLISHED. 
 
 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES: 
 
 COMPRISING 
 
 ORIGINAL ITEMS AND RELATIONS, LETTERS, EXTRACTS, AND NOTES ' 
 
 PERTAINING TO 
 
 EARLY CHICAGO; 
 
 EMBELISHED WITH 
 
 VIEWS, PORTRAITS, AUTOGRAPHS, ETC. 
 
 HENRY H. HURLBUT, 
 
 Member of the Chicago Historical Society ; Corresponding Member of the 
 Wisconsin State Historical Society. 
 
 Mr. Hurlbut's work gives evidence of great industry, critical research, and 
 painstaking accumulation of material, and that personal devotion to his labor that 
 comes from a love of it. * * * The work is sure to be appreciated by every 
 one who will take the time to examine it. — Chicago Evening "Journal. 
 
 It covers a wide range of subjects, from the discussion and exposition of legal 
 controversies about real-estate and the title thereto, to quaint, rambling accounts 
 of the hunting expeditions of early army officers, with their friends and Indian 
 guides and assistants, through the woods, which then stood where parts of the 
 busy city now stand. * * * The mass of matter which Mr. Hurlbut has 
 succeeded in collecting, attests his industry. It is the fruit of patient research, 
 and is a work of great local interest, and should be read by every Chicagoan who 
 has a pride in the City. — Chicago Times. 
 
 Mr. Hurlbut's work is of especial value as a literary storehouse of facts to be 
 drawn upon in the future by the historian, of Chicago's rise and greatness. * " 
 In collecting his material, the compiler has been diligent and industrious, so that 
 it is probably the most complete work of the kind yet published. * * * Mr. 
 Hurlbut's book has an excellent index, and is neatly gotten up and printed. — 
 Chicago Tribune. 
 
It is the most complete history yet written of early Chicago; * * * the 
 book will be found of abounding interest, not only to the old settlers and their 
 descendants, but to the larger class of modern Chicagoans, who equally love and 
 believe in its present and prospective greatness. — Chicago Inter Ocean. 
 
 This is a volume of 673 pages and contains abundant proof that its author was 
 designed by dame Nature herself for an "Antiquarian. " In addition to the vast 
 accumulation of biographical and historical sketches, the book contains many 
 maps and plans of the country prepared by the old Jesuit Fathers, French Voya- 
 geurs, the Army Officers, and. the Indian Traders of early times; Portraits of 
 Pioneers, of Indian Chiefs, and other remarkable persons; Plans of Forts, resi- 
 dences, and places, and fac-similes of Signatures without number. — Racine Advo- 
 cate. 
 
 It is a beautiful book, and a valuable addition to our Western History.— D. S. 
 Durrie, Librarian, Wisconsin State Historical Society. 
 
 I am very much interested in its contents. * * * I like, too, that way of 
 
 telling old history, which does not seek to reduce everything to a uniform narrative. 
 
 In the way you have adopted, one gets much more of the flavor of old times, and 
 
 ,is invited to original investigation, and investigation of his own. — C. C. Baldwin, 
 
 Secretary, Cleveland Historical Society. 
 
 A vast number of old MSS. Schedules, Lists of Names) Autographs, Sketches 
 of eminent men and their families, Celebrated Indians, their Wars and Treaties, 
 Portraits, Maps, and Plates, all which, connected with a racy, running comment- 
 ary from a free and easy pen, make up the body of the work, and furnish one of 
 the most entertaining and at the same time valuable historical books yet published. 
 It is executed in the best style of typographical art; and, best of all, this great 
 storehouse of historical and genealogical information is rendered readily available 
 by an excellent index, the lack of which has spoiled so many otherwise really 
 valuable works. — N. E. Hist, and Geneal. Register. 
 
 This volume will be sent, express charges paid, to those 
 who may order it. Price, $7.50, CO. D. Address 
 
 Miss HATTIE P. HIRLBUT, 
 
 44 South Ann Street, 
 May ' 882 CHICAGO, ILL. 
 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 57 
 
 Chevelleur of the Teppeconno was pillaged of a bale of dry 
 goods by the Indians of the place, which is the Poutwatamies. 
 The only reason for their behavior is this, that he would not give 
 some of them credit. I saw him the other day, and told him he 
 would wish that the above should be made known to Mr. Robinson, 
 of Detroit, as he is equiped by him. There ought to be some ex- 
 ample made of those rascals, as it is a matter mat concerns all in 
 this country. For if there is no notice taken of this, it will be a 
 matter of fact that they will do the same again, if not to him to 
 some other poor devil. 
 
 My respects to Mr. and Mrs. Graham, Mr, May and family, and 
 am sincerely yours, 
 
 WM. BURNETT. 
 
 P. S. I leave this to-morrow for my house in the Kinkeki. 
 
 Ducharme that has been here lately, says that some of the Traders 
 from Makina, going down the Illinois river last fall, was pillaged by 
 a band of Poutwatamies. 
 
 Let me know if you have had any news of the prices of Peltries, 
 and what appearance there is of sales. 
 Mr. Wm. Hands, 
 
 Merch't, Detroit. 
 
 St. Josephs, May 6th, 1790. 
 D'r Hands: 
 
 This is the third letter since I saw you last fall, at LaGlaize, and 
 has not been favored with any from you. I have nothing to write 
 you in particular at present, but only to let you know that I am safe 
 arrived from my wintering quarters, and all very well. I have 
 missed a very great opportunity of doing well for the want of goods 
 this spring. About ten days ago, I ^sent a canoe off for Makina 
 loaded with corn for Mr. Todd. Should not the canoe find Todd 
 there, I have wrote Mr. Barthe to receive it for him. I wrote to 
 you about getting a plough share made ; send it Makina with three 
 bushels of fall wheat, provided you have not sent it to the Aumies 
 already. Let me hear from you by the first opportunity, and what 
 appearance there will be of the sale of peltries. 
 
 I received a letter yesterday from Chicago, wherein it is said that 
 nothing is made in the Mississippi this year. 
 I remain sincerely yours, 
 
 WM. BURNETT. 
 Mr. Wm. Hands, 
 
 Detroit. 
 
 To the same at Detroit: 
 
 MlCHILMAKINA, Aug. 14, 1790. 
 
 Dear Hands: 
 
 I had the pleasure of receiving your favor by the vessel, dated 
 Detroit, July 10th, the contents of which I have paid particular 
 attention to. 
 
58 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 I brought here fifty-six packs, which I sold Mr- Todd for 25,400 
 livres.* I have settled with him for his last year's amount, which is 
 13,592 livres, and for yours also amounting to 3900 livres, the whole 
 of which comes to 19,492 livres, for which amount I have paid him 
 and has his receipt for the same. * 
 
 Makina, Aug. 25, 1790. 
 Sir: A few days after your departure from this, the schooner 
 Nancy arrived here. * * 
 
 Lafromboirt arrived here the 22nd inst. His canoe goes off this 
 evening, and as it is the last canoe that goes off from this for Mon- 
 treal this year, I have enclosed to you my order for the ensuing year. 
 As Mr. McTavish does not come in here this year, will have no other 
 opportunity to write you but by the way of Detroit. I propose to 
 leave this in four days. I have got all my men and every thing else 
 but blankets and strouds. 
 
 I am sir your humble 
 
 servant, WM. BURNETT. 
 
 Mr. ANDRew Todd, 
 
 Montreal. 
 
 Makina, Aug. 30, 1790. 
 Gentlemen : 
 
 Since my last, of the 25th inst, I. have purchased from Mr. Charles 
 Morrison blankets and strouds at 100 per cent, for the amount of 
 which I have given him a draft on you for sixty three pounds, one 
 shilling and six pence, New York currency, which you will please 
 place to my account. Fear of any accident that might happen to 
 the order, I sent down by the Grand river by Lafromboir's canoe. 
 I have enclosed a copy of the same, in this, with some small addi- 
 tions to it. As Mr. fiarthe is selling rum here at nine livres per gal- 
 lon, 1 have taken four kegs more. The two kegs of nails mentioned 
 in the inclosed memorandum you will endeavor to send up by the 
 way of Detroit. Should any thing occur with respect to the change 
 of peltries before the winter express to Detroit, be kind enough to ' 
 write me. I go off from this in the evening. I remain, gentlemen, 
 your most obedient, humble servant, 
 
 WM. BURNETT. 
 Messrs. Todd, 
 
 McGill & Co., 
 
 Montreal. 
 
 * The dealings between Mr. Burnett and the merchants appear to have been 
 reckoned and kept, generally, in the French money of account — livres and sous ; 
 a livre was 18^ cents, or 20 sous. — H. 
 
 + Probably Lafromboise, from Milwaukee. — H. 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 59 
 
 St. Josephs, February 6th, 1791. 
 D'r Hands: 
 
 My last letter to you is dated at Makina, since which I have not 
 been favored with any from you. 
 
 I received a letter the 2nd inst. from Mr. Wm. Todd at the Illi- 
 nois, and under cover for his brother Andrew Todd at Montreal. 
 It is his desire to me, that upon the receipt of his letter, I should 
 hire an Indian and send off, immediately, the letter that is for his 
 brother. According to desire, I have enclosed to you the above 
 letters, with several others, which you will forward by the first op- 
 portunity. I received a letter last fall from Mr. Graiter, with one 
 enclosed from you, which you have here with the rest. I believe it 
 is for Todd. 
 
 There is no appearance of doing any thing here this year, as fear 
 keeps the Indians from hunting. They continually imagine that the 
 Americans are coming upon them. Add to this, we have more 
 traders here this year than what we had last. I wintered in the 
 Kinkeki this year myself, again, and came here only a few days ago. 
 
 # * * * # 
 
 This cursed war that subsists between the Americans and Indians 
 does us more hurt in this country than what is generally imagined. 
 The Indians say here that they beat . the Americans that came 
 against them last fall at the Aumies.* How. far they are in the 
 right I cannot tell, but they behave in such a manner as to confirm 
 ' it. For I never saw them so impertinent as they are at present. 
 Those that has any property in the country are in a very precarious 
 situation, and will be until times take a change, which I hope will be 
 soon. The Pouwatamies, at Chicago, has killed a frenchman about 
 twenty days ago. They say that there is plenty of frenchmen. If 
 you tell them that their father will be angry with them, they will tell 
 you, for answer, what will he gain by that. It is surprising with what 
 disdain they do talk of the English; language too insulting. This 
 the thanks for the millions squandered away upon these rascals ; and 
 if things was to take a change, they will be the first to fall upon you. 
 Let me know if provisions will be scarce this year at Detroit, and 
 in particular if Indian corn will be worth anything. When I left 
 Makina, last fall, there was no great appearance of any great crop at 
 Larbroroche. 
 
 * # * » * 
 
 The bearer of this letter is Mr. Lapence, one of the principal 
 senatorst of this province. Give him plenty of provisions for him 
 and another young man that is with him when they are to come off. 
 As I do not intend to sow any wheat this year, as very likely others 
 
 * Referring, no doubt, to Harmer's defeat. — H. 
 
 + A playful compliment, probably, to the gentleman-half-breed, as well as a 
 recognization of an important branch of the new American government. — H. 
 
60 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 might reap for me, for fear of such an accident, you will be good 
 enough to send me a thousand weight of flour, in the spring, to Ma- 
 kina. Send me, by the bearer, a three gallon keg of good white 
 wine, half-pound of Hyson tea, and 5 lbs good loaf sugar. 
 I am, with the utmost regards, 
 
 Yours sincerely, 
 
 WM. BURNETT. 
 
 N. B. Todd writes me in his letters that the letter that is for his 
 brother is of consequence, and to have it sent to Montreal soon as 
 possible. There is one for Levy Solomon, which came with the 
 above, which you will likewise forward. Send me two dozen black 
 ostrich feathers, and one gross of small metal buttons. Send me, 
 to Makina, as much black silk as to make me two black cravats, and 
 small black edging, and five yards of Blue cassimere. 
 Mr. Hands, 
 
 Merch't, Detroit. 
 
 To same, dated 
 
 St. Josephs, April 11, 1791. 
 
 I am at present moving down to the Lake; fear of any accident, 
 as the Indians report here that the Americans are coming again 
 against them. If you have any newspapers or magazines by you 
 send me some, if you can spare any. I hope there is a good pros- 
 pect of the sale of peltries. No packs here this year. I am sin- 
 cerely yours, 
 
 WM. BURNETT. 
 Mr. Wm. Hands, 
 
 Detroit. 
 
 Give the young lads some Bisquet for their voyage. 
 
 Makina, Aug. 15, 1792. 
 Gents: You will please complete the inclosed memorandum as 
 soon as possible upon the arrival of your spring goods. 
 
 The rum you will have put up in nine gallon kegs, and the salt 
 likewise, which you will have sent up by the way of the Lakes, for 
 this place, by the first spring navigation. Also, you will have sent 
 up, by the same conveyance, some part of the ball and shot, or any 
 other heavy article that may mar the loading of the canoe. 
 
 As it may happen very possibly that there may be more bales 
 than what a canoe may hold, you will therefore have the remainder 
 sent up in some canoe upon freight. I am, Gents, 
 your humble servant, 
 
 WM. BURNETT. 
 McTavish & Frobisher, 
 
 Merch'ts, Montreal. 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 6 1 
 
 St. Josephs, Oct. 7, 1792. 
 D'r Young: 
 
 With pleasure I received your letter per the Speedwell, and has 
 given particular attention to the contents thereof. The things that 
 Mr. Potier sent by the vessel have likewise arrived in good order. 
 I am sorry it is out of my power to procure you the racine of Grand 
 River, as all the Indians are gone out to winter; and another thing, 
 would not have time to dry the roots against the time the vessel 
 would be ready; therefore, will endeavor to get what you want 
 against the spring. McKenzie was telling me you had a pleasant 
 dance before he left Makina. All I am sorry for is, that I was not 
 one of the party. I have twenty packs here at present, and would 
 have sent them by the vessel but were not made up. If not too 
 much trouble, I beg you will have the enclosed memorandum added 
 to the first. I am sorry you did not send me a keg of good wine, as 
 I soon will be out. I am happy to hear that Sayer has settled with 
 the gentlemen you make mention of. With this goes a letter for 
 Sayer, which you will send with the first opportunity. Do me the 
 favor to give Patt McGulphin sixty livres for me. 
 
 No certain news to write ■ you. We hear nothing of the Ameri- 
 cans advancing as yet. The Indians are in hopes they will not 
 come this year. If not, it certainly will be better for trade; but be 
 it as it will, there is but poor hopes owing to the too many traders 
 here this year; but all for the best. Wish you would write to some 
 friend for a good spy-glass. Give my respects to Miss Peggy, and 
 to John Reid. I am, in wishing you a pleasant and happy winter, 
 yours sincerely, 
 
 WM. BURNETT. 
 Mr. G. Ed'rd Young, 
 
 Michilmakina. 
 
 St. Josephs, March 25, 1794. 
 
 Gents: I received your letters, with invoice and other papers, 
 etc., the 27th of December last. But I am very sorry to inform you 
 that I received all the goods in very bad order; all damaged, and 
 some entirely lost. The vessel, by the misconduct of the master, 
 was drove on shore on the point of Mosquigon River. When the 
 vessel struck she filled full of water, and the goods remained ten 
 days after in the hold, from which you must judge in what situation 
 the goods must have been. In the goods arriving so late, left it 
 entirely out of my power to send out; will, therefore, have 2 /i of 
 my goods remaining on hand, the best part of which much damaged. 
 As I do not know rightly what time I will go to Michilmakina this 
 spring, I have enclosed to you two notes, which you will endeavor 
 to, get paid. You will remember that I left one with Mr. Pothier 
 last fall belonging to Reaume, which he is to pay on his arrival, 
 answered by him for Caltos, which last you have his note here for 
 the balance of what he owes me. I am surprised I received no 
 
62 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 letter from Mr. Young, since he went down to Montreal, with 
 respect to the sale of my peltries. 
 
 The bearer of this letter is the Reverend Mr. Ledrue, missioner, 
 formerly at the Illinois. He wintered here with me, and beg you 
 will assist him he gets settled at Makina, which I believe he intends 
 to do if there is good business for his trade. 
 I am, dear sir, 
 
 your humble servant, 
 
 WM. BURNETT. 
 Messrs. Chaboillier & Young, 
 Makina. 
 
 Old Fort,* August 2, 1794. 
 D'r Young: 
 
 I am sorry, before I came away, we forgot to settle about the 
 corn. However, by the first opportunity, let me know the price you 
 will give per bushel, taking it at the entrance of St. Josephs river, 
 next spring. 
 
 In the precarious situation we are all in at present, with respect to 
 this country, makes me a little dubious how to act in regard to order- 
 ing up any goods for next year. * 
 
 * * It strikes me that there will come a vessel 
 
 to St. Josephs this fall. Should this be the case, I beg you will send 
 the following articles: a box of window-glass, four hundred weight 
 of flour, and two barrels of white lime. If you can procure me a 
 piece of white scarlet without paying too dear for it, I beg you will 
 send me a piece by the same opportunity, or by Mr. Durocher, who 
 is to pass our way this fall. If any thing else occurs to my memory 
 on the way, will write you if any opportunity affords. I remain, in 
 the meantime, with esteem, 
 
 Gentlemen, 
 
 Your humble servant, 
 
 WM. BURNETT. 
 Messrs. Chaboillier & Young, 
 
 Merch'ts, Makina. 
 
 Old Makina, Aug. 3, 1794. 
 Dear Sir : Since I came away, I have taken into consideration 
 the subject we were talking about the other day with respect to get- 
 ting me a house built. If you can get the half of Mr. Meldrum's 
 lot for five or six hundred livres, at most, you will then have a house 
 built upon it on the following plan : The House to be thirty foot in 
 front, and twenty-five foot wide. Between the two floors within to 
 be eight foot. The front door to be in the middle, and one on the 
 back right opposite the front door.. Two windows to be in the front, 
 one to be on each side of the door, and two windows to be on the 
 back, one on each side of the door, the same as the front. A win- 
 dow to be on each gable end of the house, to be in each front-room. 
 
 * The locality "Old fort" was probably at or near old Mackinaw. — H. 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 63 
 
 You will have the house covered with bark. The window-lights to 
 be on the same model of those of Mr. Young's house. 
 
 Should the above take place, I expect you will, according to 
 promise, have it built on the cheapest terms as possible. 
 
 When I came away, I forgot the kettle, the roll of Bark, and the 
 Cod line which the men brought from St. Josephs, which I beg you 
 will have put up in some safe place till the Spring. The men eat 
 eighty pounds of flour on their way to St. Josephs, which I think 
 they have a right to pay, as they refused to take corn from Mr. 
 Augustin Chabollier when he met them on their way. You forgot 
 to charge the 2 M weight of flour. Inclosed you have Thomas' 
 account, at least the amount, including the skins he lost when he 
 deserted. He is not charged with the lost time. 
 I am, sir, your humble serv't, 
 
 WM. BURNETT. 
 Mr. Pothier, 
 
 Makina. 
 
 St. Josephs, Nov. 15, 1794. 
 
 Dear Sir: When at Makina, I did not determine whether I 
 
 would order up any goods or not, owing to the news then circulating 
 
 at Makina, that the Americans were to take possession of the posts. 
 # * # * # 
 
 The two first Canoes I received from your House, that is last 
 year, was very well satisfied with, as everything was very well as- 
 sorted. But upon the whole, I was a loser of ten thousand livres 
 upon those two Canoes, owing upon the extraordinary advance upon 
 the goods at Montreal; the rise of the woolens, add to this the 
 receiving ' the goods so late in the season, put it out of my power to 
 send out. And another extraordinary thing, not a single winterer in 
 the two Canoes, a circumstance of the kind I never saw before at 
 Makina. I will want six 'this year, that is, three in each Canoe. I 
 do not doubt but what they may be had with a little trouble, as the 
 merj in general give preference to this Post, more so than any other 
 part of the upper country. * * 
 
 I am, sir, your humble servant, 
 
 WM. BURNETT. 
 Mr. John Gregory & Co., 
 
 Montreal. \ 
 
 Complete the loading of the Canoe with spirits. 
 
 Michilmakina, July 21, 1797. 
 Dear Sir: upon my arrival, which was the 5th inst., * 
 
 Sjt S£ »p 5p fli -P» 
 
 Arrived some canoes yesterday from the Illinois which says that 
 the Spaniards are all very quiet at St. Louis. 
 
 W. BURNETT. 
 James May, Esq., 
 
 Detroit. 
 
64 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 Makina, July 20th, (?) 1797. 
 As I am under the necessity of leaving this to-morrow for St. 
 Josephs, and cannot wait the arrival of the vessel any longer, I have 
 delivered my packs, which is eighty-four in number, to Mr. Porteous, 
 and he has promised me to see them safe shipped, which I hope will 
 arrive safe at Montreal. Upon their arrival, I make not the least 
 doubt that you will dispose of them to the best advantage. As the 
 peltries are good, and every appearance of their selling well, I make 
 not the least dispute but what they will fetch between forty-seven and 
 forty-eight thousand livres. If they should fall much shorter than 
 what is said above, then you will have them shipped to London. 
 However, I mean at the same time that you will act according to 
 the circumstances of the times, that is you will do for the best. 
 Inclosed you have an invoice of the whole. * * 
 
 Therefore, I have concluded to 
 inclose you one for the ensuing spring which I hope will be in your 
 power to accomplish, which in part you will have sent up in one 
 canoe by the Grand River,* and the next in a Batteau by the way 
 of the Lakes. The heavy articles that cannot lightly be put into a 
 Canoe, must, of course, be put into the Batteau. As the Canoe 
 cannot bring all the Blankets and Strouds mentioned in the memo- 
 randum, you will have a few bales of these articles put into the bat- 
 teau. You will endeavor to send three winterers in the Canoe and 
 three in the batteau. I need not urge the necessity of making 
 choice of a good guide, as you know very well that accidents hap- 
 pen at the Grand River very often for want of such. * 
 ****** 
 I am, Gents, your humble servant, 
 
 W. BURNETT. 
 Messrs. John Ogilvy & Co., 
 
 Detroit. 
 N.B. You will have the loading of the boat; whatever may be 
 wanting for the completing of it, you will have put up in rum. 
 
 * * * * * * 
 
 At the mouth of St. Josephs 
 river, Nov. 2, 1797. 
 Gentlemen: 
 
 My last to you is dated at Michilmakina, the 21st July. * 
 
 * * * * * * 
 
 Inclosed you have a small memorandum of sundries, which I beg 
 
 * Trie Grand River referred to is what is now known as the Ottawa. We are 
 indebted to C. C. Baldwin, Esq., of the Historical Society at Cleveland, for an 
 examination of the valuable collection of ancient maps in possession of that So- 
 ciety confirming our idea of the identity of those rivers. The route was a com- 
 mon one, with the early French traders and others, from the St. Lawrence, by 
 the "Grande Riviere" and Lake Nepissing and French River, to Lake Huron. 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. ' 65 
 
 you will add to the first. It is a doubt to me whether every thing 
 can be put into the canoe and batteau, which should it be the case, 
 you will endeavor to have some pieces put on freight, either by the 
 Grand river or by the way of the Lakes to Makina. At all events, 
 you will have fifteen barrels of spirits put into the batteau, with the 
 wine, salt, and tobacco, *. * * 
 
 * None of the people that went down to Montreal this 
 
 summer has passed here as yet, and, from the lateness of the season, 
 I do not expect they will. 
 
 * * * * * * 
 
 I am, gentlemen, 
 
 your humble servant, 
 
 WM. BURNETT. 
 Messrs. Parker, Gerard & Co., 
 
 Montreal. 
 
 St. Josephs, Feb. n, 1798. 
 Gentlemen : 
 
 ****** 
 
 The two letters for Mr. Franks and Legothrie is safe come to 
 hand, and according to your directions I have hired a trusty hand, 
 and will send off with the letters as far as Milwaukie. I have 
 directed them to the care of Mr. Francis Lafromboise, to whom I 
 have written to send them off as soon as possible. I expect that in 
 eight days the letters will be at Lebay.* * * 
 
 As I would wish that my assortment should be complete as possi- 
 ble, I have here added a few more articles to my order, which I 
 hope you will put up with the rest. As I imagine that this will be 
 the last opportunity of writing you by the way of Detroit, I will 
 write early in the spring by the way of Makina. 
 
 I am, Gent'n, your most humble servant, 
 
 Messrs. Parker, Girard and Ogilvy, 1 WM " BURNETT - 
 
 Montreal, J 
 
 St. Josephs, May 17, 1798. 
 Dear Sir: As I do not expect to go to Makina this summer, and 
 as I would wish to dispose of my peltries at Makina, I would wish 
 to know, by the very first opportunity, what prices you will give for 
 peltries. From what I owe you, and for the high advances I gave 
 you last year for your goods, I have every reason to think that you 
 can afford to give generous prices. Therefore, from what is said 
 above, you will not fail to let me know your opinion by the very 
 first canoe. I am, sir, your humble servant, 
 
 WM. BURNETT. 
 Mr. P. Gabriel Cote, 
 
 Michilmakina. 
 
 * Green Bay.— H. 
 
 5 
 
66 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 P.S. You may be assured that the different sorts of peltries are 
 good; and should your prices suit me, I will let you know my answer 
 as soon as possible. This is the different sort of peltries I have: 
 Deer Skins, Raccoons, Beavers, Otter, Musk-rats, Mink, Cat & 
 
 Foxes, Bear. 
 
 St. Josephs, June 16, 1798. 
 
 D'R Sir: 
 
 ****** 
 
 I now send off two canoes loaded with eighty packs of furs. In- 
 closed you have an invoice, 
 
 * J * * * * * 
 
 If this comes to hand before Coursolle goes down to Montreal, 
 order me up twelve large silver crosses, some a foot long, and some 
 to be smaller. 
 
 Your humble servant. 
 
 WM. BURNETT. 
 
 Mr. John Ogilw, 
 
 Makina. 
 
 St. Josephs, July 20, 1798. 
 
 Dear Sir: Yesterday I received your most esteemed favor by St. 
 Jean, covering some newspapers, which were very acceptable, and 
 for which I am very much obliged to you. 
 
 I examined your inclosed account, which I believe is very right, 
 and by the return of my next Canoe, I will send you an order for 
 the amount upon J. Ogilvy & Co., as against that time I expect that 
 Mr. Ogilvy will have arrived from the Grand Portage. 
 
 * * * * * * 
 
 Your humble servant, 
 
 WM. BURNETT. 
 
 Mr. Toussaint Pothier, 
 
 Michilmakina. 
 
 St. Josephs, August 24, 1798. 
 
 Gentlemen : 
 
 ****** 
 
 The method of putting the liquor into kegs is certainly much 
 preferable than having it in large barrels, as it will be much easier 
 for the men to unload. 
 
 For the dry goods, you will have them sent by the way of the 
 Grand River. You will endeavor to procure me seven winterers, 
 amongst which, if possible, get me a blacksmith; get him for two 
 years. 
 
 SfC 5fS 5f! T* *p T* 
 
 In the course of last winter, I wrote you that it is expected that 
 there will be a garrison at Chicago, this summer, and from late ac- 
 counts, I have reason to expect that they will be over there this fall; 
 and should it be the case, and as I have a house there already, and 
 a promise of assistance from head quarters, I will have occasion for 
 a good deal of liquors, and some other articles, for that post. There- 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 67 
 
 fore, should there be a garrison at Chicago this fall, I will write for 
 an addition of articles to my order. I am, gentlemen, your humble 
 servant, WM. BURNETT. 
 
 Messrs. Parker, Girard & Ogilvy, 
 
 Montreal. 
 
 Mouth of St. Josephs River, 
 Dec. 20, 1798. 
 D'r Sir: 
 
 You make mention in your letter that you had not received your 
 goods which you expected from England. McKenzie, of this placej 
 tells me that when he left Detroit that you had stored them at his 
 brother's for the winter. 
 
 As I learn that there is actually no goods at the Illinois, and no 
 appearance of any being there until next summer, and as I think a 
 few Indian goods will sell there in the spring, if you are inclined to 
 sell me those you have in Detroit at a living price, I will take them 
 for the above purpose. I will have them taken up, by the first open 
 navigation, to fort Wayne; from that overland to this. From this I 
 can run down in a few days to the Illinois. As it appears to me 
 that I can sell these goods either for cash or peltries, I imagine I 
 will be at Makina with the returns against August. '* * 
 
 * I would not wish to take any rum, tobacco, or ball, 
 
 as these articles are of no consequence in that country. I am, with 
 much esteem, D'r Sir, yours sincerely, 
 
 WM. BURNETT. 
 Mr. Robert McKenzie, 
 
 Montreal. 
 
 St. Josephs, Oct. 21, 1799. 
 
 Sir: The sloop Russell, Capt. Ruff, master, sailed from this yes- 
 terday in the evening, on board of which I have shipped twenty- 
 four packs of Deerskins, containing 1220 skins, all marked I. O., for 
 
 Mr. J. Ogilvy, at Montreal, which I have addressed to your care. 
 
 * * * * * * 
 
 With this, I have sent in four horses to get a small assortment, 
 which I hope will be in your power to complete. * 
 
 * * * * You will have 
 
 the Bales made up of eighty pounds each, as they will be more con- 
 venient for the horses. * * 
 You will please give the men a little pork and bread for their return. 
 I am, sir, your humble 
 
 servant, WM. BURNETT. 
 
 P.S. You will oblige me very much if you can possibly procure 
 me a few quarts of Timothy seed. * * 
 
 You will give a gun-lock to one of the Indians I send in. 
 Mr. Robert Innes, 
 
 Detroit. 
 
68 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 St. Josephs, Oct. 21,* 1799. 
 
 Gentlemen : 
 
 ****** 
 
 I wrote for 15,000 of wampum and only 1500 was sent up. I 
 wrote for Rifles, in place of which Guns Were sent up, an article 
 very seldom made use of at present in this quarter. The former is 
 only in demand. The Gunpowder sent up is very good of its kind, 
 but the grain is rather too large for rifles. That which is called the 
 double F is the most preferable. With respect to the Iron work, 
 it will be necessary to get good axes made, for what has heretofore 
 come up is nothing more than patch up. When an Indian buys an 
 axe, and should it break shortly after — which commonly is the case 
 — he insists upon having another in its place. Therefore, it will be 
 much cheaper to pay a few more pence upon each axe in order that 
 they may be good. The tomahawks are rather too large towards the 
 edge; two inches and a quarter will be sufficient, and six inches 
 long. You will have the musk rat spear made with a socket, which 
 the French call en dorville. * * * 
 
 Should the goods arrive early in the spring to Montreal, and sent 
 off by way of the Lakes, so that they might get to Detroit before or 
 against the latter end of August, it will then be time enough for 
 them to come here, provided a small vessel like the Russel could be 
 chartered to bring them; which I imagine there will be no difficulty 
 to get one, as there is at present a great plenty of vessels upon 
 these Lakes. Should there not be enough to load one of these 
 small craft, there will always be freight enough at that time of the 
 year from Detroit to Makina; and from her jeturn, from this or 
 Makina, cannot fail of getting freight back again, which will nearly 
 pay the hire of the vessel. This method of conveyance will cer- 
 tainly answer me much better, as it will be so much safer and much 
 cheaper than getting goods by the way of the Grand River. 
 
 ****** 
 
 I am, gentlemen, your humble 
 
 servant, WM. BURNETT. 
 
 Messrs. Parker, Gerard & Ogilvy, 
 
 Montreal. 
 
 St. Joseph, March 27, 1801. 
 D'r Sir: 
 
 ***** 
 
 Kinzie told me, some time ago, that he received a letter from his 
 correspondent at Detroit, wherein they inform him that there is a 
 possibility that all those that took goods from Detroit last fall for 
 this place, which had not paid the duties, will be obliged to pay for 
 them this spring. If any thing of this kind is in contemplation, 
 please let me know it. 
 
 * This date should probably be in November. — H. 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 69 
 
 You will send me by the bearer of this (an Indian,) five carrots of 
 good tobacco, and three pounds of good tea. An order was sent to 
 me some time ago, by the Indian agent at fort Wayne, to tell the 
 Indians to seize the propertyof those that had no license to trade. 
 What will be the consequence I cannot say. 
 I remain, D'r Sir, your 
 
 humble servant, 
 
 WM. BURNETT. 
 Mr. John McGregor, 
 
 Detroit. 
 
 St. Josephs, [no date.] 
 Gentlemen : 
 
 Yours of the 8th February last per Mr. Patterson came to hand, 
 and was glad to hear that a general peace has taken place in 
 Europe; but on the other hand, I am sorry to understand that peace 
 will hurt the sale of peltries, and what is still worse, it will fall upon 
 those that comes from this country. 
 
 You say that the Montreal people prognosticate the downfall of 
 peltries. I never knew them to be otherwise; for this has been the 
 language when peltries were selling at the highest rates in England, 
 and that for five or six years running. Had I any advice to give the 
 Montrealers, I would advise them to keep their goods and not send 
 them to the Indian country, for I am pretty sure it will take a ship 
 load of our peltries to pay a batteau load of their Indian goods. 
 
 I received a note from Mr. Patterson, wherein he mentions that it 
 is your desire that I should get me some juniper berries. If they 
 can be got, you may rely upon my endeavors to procure you all I 
 
 can get. 
 
 ****** 
 
 I am, with esteem, gentlemen, your humble 
 
 serVt, WM. BURNETT. 
 
 Messrs. John & James McGregor, 
 
 Merchants, Sandwich. 
 
 St. Josephs, June 24, 1803. 
 
 Gentlemen : 
 
 # # # « * 
 
 Could I have sold all my goods, I make no doubt but what I 
 might have cleared off my account with you. But I cannot think of 
 throwing away my goods to a loss as some people has done in this 
 country. Blankets and strouds has been given all winter for two 
 skins; and even fine cloth has been given for three skins which cost 
 seven shillings a yard. You are very well convinced that it was not 
 in my power to sell at these prices. It might be said that the loss 
 upon those articles might be made upon some others, but I assure 
 you it is not the case at present, for these very articles that was 
 usually sold to the greatest advantage to the Indians, is now given 
 away to sell the blankets and strouds. 
 
* 
 
 -JO CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 However, from the new arrangements that is to take place, it is to 
 be hoped we will not have so many peddling traders in the country 
 as formerly, which were the very people that ruined all the trade; 
 and I am sorry to say that some of the principal traders were as 
 guilty of this, as those I have above described. - - * ... 
 
 And another thing which was against me last fall, was my not 
 getting the liquor I depended upon. For mostly all the skins that 
 was made at this post, was in part for rum. Consequently had I 
 mine, I might have got my share of what was going, and that for the 
 best peltries. 
 
 I am, gentlemen, 
 
 your humble servant, 
 
 ^~>% 
 
 'J*rr>7^ 
 
 Messrs. J. & J. McGregor, 
 
 Sandwich. 
 
 The following letter to Governor Wm. H. Harrison is the 
 last one we give, and is the last one in the letter-book. It 
 details some attempts to regulate the Indian trade, but the 
 final course which the Governor's action took, whether volun- 
 tary or a necessity on his part, aroused the indignation of Mr. 
 Burnett; the communication is tart, and rather interesting. 
 We will add, that the letter speaks not only of our historic 
 characters — Captain Wells and John Kinzie — but of Harrison 
 at Tippecanoe, though the battle there, where he fought and 
 repulsed the savages, did not happen till eight years later; 
 and it was twenty-nine years after that when, with the rally- 
 ing cry of "Tippecanoe," he was elected president of the 
 nation. 
 
 St. Josephs, Sept. io, 1803. 
 
 Sir: Upon the receipt of your Excellency's letter, dated at the 
 mouth of the Tepeconno this last spring, requesting my attendance 
 at fort wayne, I then could not immediately attend, owing to some 
 business in trade I then had on hand at the time. However, shortly 
 after I repaired to fort Wayne in expectation of finding you there, 
 but was told upon my arrival that you had left for Detroit, but soon 
 expected back again. 
 
 The next day of my arrival, Messrs. Lafontaine and Abbott came 
 to my lodgings and told me that your Excellency had been pleased 
 to appoint them, with myself, as a kind of Committee to fall upon 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 7 1 
 
 some expedient in order to put the Indian trade upon some respect- 
 able footing to what it had been heretofore. And, that whatever 
 was agreed upon by us to that end, if agreeable to your wishes, 
 should be supported by your authority. 
 
 When at first these gentlemen had opened this business to me, I 
 was, for my part, at a loss what expedient to fall upon, well knowing 
 that the trade of this country was equally free, and open to all citi- 
 zens and foreigners alike, and according to law, good and bad had a 
 right to a licence, provided good securities were given for the same 
 to conform to the laws laid down for the Indian trade, which I. ber 
 lieve has been pretty much the case since the laws at first has been 
 published, down to the present time. And further, thought there 
 was no meliorating the trade from the state it actually existing in. 
 But Messrs. Lafontaine and "Abbott told me they had the out lines 
 from your Excellency, in what manner you thought the trade might 
 be carried on to the advantage of the fair trader, in excluding at the 
 same time all bad characters out of the country. And in order to 
 accomplish this,, that your Excellency had appointed these gentle 1 
 men with myself to examine what number of packs each post, place, 
 and river, might produce in this territory. And that, according to 
 the number that each place might furnish, only a certain number of 
 traders should be permitted to trade at those places. 
 
 These proposals of your Excellency met with our approbation, 
 which we thought the most eligible of putting the trade on a respect- 
 able footing, to what it had been. Accordingly it was proposed and 
 agreed upon amongst us, that every place that produced between 
 forty and fifty packs, that one trader was sufficient for such a place. 
 And next it was proposed to know what number of packs was made 
 at each post. To ascertain this, it was agreed that each of us should 
 take such parts of the country as we were best acquainted with, to 
 particularize the number of packs that was generally made at each 
 river and place. Lake Michigan, upon this side of the Lake, and 
 the Illinois' river was allotted to me. The Wabash, and the country 
 about fort Wayne, was allotted to Messrs. Lafontaine and Abbott. 
 When each had finished his report, it was put down upon paper, at 
 the same time inclosing a few lines to your Excellency, making you 
 acquainted with what we had done. 
 
 Two or three days after this, you had all the. traders called 
 together at your quarters. When met, you told us that some traders 
 had most willfully violated the laws by acting contrary to those made 
 for the Indian trade. For which crime, your Excellency said you 
 had shown a great deal of lenity; and finding that some persons still 
 persisted in committing the same over again, that you was resolved 
 for the future to put a stop to it; and more effectually to prevent 
 any encroachments of the kind, that only a certain number of 
 licences should be granted for each post. To facilitate the con- 
 venience of traders for procuring licences, you had, you told us, 
 
72 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 appointed three different places to get them at, and that each place 
 was to have a certain space of country allotted to each district. 
 These districts were as follows : Detroit to be one where an agent 
 was residing, and his district was to extend round the limits and 
 dependencies of Detroit as far as the straits between Lakes Michi- 
 gan and Huron; one at fort Wayne, the limits of which was to ex- 
 tend around that country and Lake Michigan as far as the straits of 
 the said Lake; one at Vincennes, which district was to comprehend 
 the greatest .. part of the Wabash and Illinois rivers. That the 
 Agents of one district was not to give licences to any individual to 
 trade in the district of another. That in whatever district any per- 
 son wished to trade in, that the person was to apply to the Agent 
 of said district. This, sir, I believe was something near to what you 
 told us. And I can assure you the greatest part of the auditors were 
 happy to hear what you had announced to them, thinking you was 
 really in earnest, and apparently to us that you was resolved to sup- 
 port what, you had said at that time; at least for my part, I firmly 
 believed it. 
 
 In consequence of these arrangements, and upon the faith of 
 which, I took such measures as a private individual in trade, to 
 make a large demand of goods, sufficiently to supply the places I 
 had demanded licences for. Which places I then thought, (at least 
 some of them.) I had an exclusive right to. However, my faith in 
 the above arrangement has not been long lived, as will appear from 
 what I am going to relate. 
 
 About the ioth of last month, arrrived here one Mr. Coursolle, 
 from Makina, on his way to the Illinois river. Mr. Coursolle in- 
 quired if the attorney General (Mr. Jones) had sent licences for him 
 according to request. I told Mr. Coursolle that I believed licences 
 were granted for him, but only for four months. When I told him 
 this, he began to smile, and produce me four permits which he got 
 at Makina from Mr. Whiley. I told Mr. Coursolle that I thought 
 that these permits were not to be depended upon, by reason of the 
 late arrangements which took place at fort wayne this spring. Mr. 
 Coursolle said that Mr. Whiley had no contradictory orders to what 
 he had received last year from your Excellency. In this, case, I told 
 him Mr. Whiley's permits were very good, and as good as any licence 
 whatever. But, added Mr. Coursolle, you will be more surprised 
 when I tell you that a quantity of licences were sent, by the Agent 
 of Detroit, to one Mr. Henry, of Makina. That this Mr. Henry 
 will give licences to any body that asks for them, that is to say, 
 either to good or bad characters, no matter who they are, provided 
 they can give two dollars and security which is required by law. I 
 then inquired of Mr. Coursolle, if Mr. Henry gave licences to any 
 body for the east side of Lake Michigan. Mr. Coursolle answered, 
 upon any side that any body wished to have them. 
 
 This piece of news surprised me not a little. But what added 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 73 
 
 more to it, was a letter I received, a few days ago, from a merchant 
 at Sandwich, wherein he says, "In my answer to yours dated at fort 
 wayne, I then told you to be on your guard against the late arrange- 
 ments your governor had made; that they were not to be depended 
 upon, as it is not in his power to make any other regulations than 
 those made by congress. You said that there was to be only a cer- 
 tain number of traders at each trading place, and no more. This, 
 as I have said before, was not in your Governor's power to do. Nor. 
 can he hinder any body from going into the Indian country, nor 
 refuse any body any number of licences he may want. All (I pre- 
 dicted to you,) relating to this business, you do now find, against 
 this time, I expect, to be nothing more than mere bombast." 
 
 This Sir, I must confess, is a very severe reflection against your 
 Excellency. Yet, notwithstanding these severe remarks against you, 
 I could not altogether give to them in my own mind, until convinced 
 by better authority. This happened to be the case within these two 
 days, which was by the arrival of Captain Wells, from Fort Wayne,; 
 on his way to Chicago. I inquired of Captain Wells if he gave 
 more licences than what was agreed upon at the late arrangements. 
 Captain Wells gave for answer, that he gave licences as usual to 
 everybody that asked for them, adding that your Excellency had not 
 given him any orders to the contrary. 
 
 When I had received this answer, comparing it with other circum- 
 stances, I was more fully convinced that your Excellency was not 
 sincere in those pretended arrangements which you made mention 
 of to the body of traders at fort wayne this spring. And Sir, give 
 me leave to say, that you have deceived some people, not a great 
 many, for the greatest many had no confidence in what you said. 
 As for my part, I had rather too. much confidence in what you told 
 me and others; and what confirmed me more in my duplicity, was, 
 your telling of us Sir, that no man should have more than four 
 licences. This, Sir, you told Mr. Kinzie before me, and Mr. Kinzie, 
 at the same time, did not seem to be pleased that he would not get 
 more than four licenses. But after a little reflection, Mr. Kinzie 
 told me that he was perfectly satisfied of getting four licences, by 
 reason of the late arrangements taking place, which he said would 
 tend to a general good to the Indian trade. This was the opinion 
 of a great many. But now what a sudden change. Mr. Kinzie, 
 which had twenty licences last, year, and which your Excellency 
 thought was too many for one trader, can now have a, cart load of 
 them, provided he pays two dollars apiece for them. It was hinted 
 in a letter I received some time ago from Vincennes, that your Ex- 
 cellency would not give licences to anybody without first being very 
 well informed of his character. What a mighty difference in this 
 quarter of the Territory. For a man, or any man, goes and gets a 
 licence, and no questions is asked about his character. Indeed, if 
 Tripolitans, which is the only enemies the United States has at 
 present, were to come to Detroit and Makina, I make not the least 
 
74 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 doubt of their getting licences to winter amongst the Indians, 
 though absolutely against the interest of the United States for grant- 
 ing such. 
 
 This, Sir, is a large field laid open to the enemies of our country, 
 in which they find matter enough at this present time to set their 
 invention at work. And when they do begin, they seem to have 
 very little mercy. They go as far as to say, that the Officers of the 
 Civil department of this Territory, has neither resolution nor forti- 
 tude to execute the duties of their office. Others say again, that 
 all species- of crimes is .committed in the Territory, and that the 
 Guardian of the laws has not courage to punish the culprits. This, 
 Sir, is the language held out against the Government of our Terri- 
 tory, for which I am heartily sorry that its enemies has had such an 
 opportunity of displaying their enmity. And what is most unfor- 
 tunate, that nothing can be said in its defence. 
 
 Some time ago, a peddling trader came to my house with a view 
 to banter me with respect to the arrangements that was to have 
 taken place this spring. I told this peddler, upon my return from 
 Fort Wayne, what good regulations was to take place respecting the 
 Indian trade, and how much it would attend to the advantage of 
 the trade in general, etc. But since, things has taken another 
 turn, and the peddler being very well acquainted with the circum- 
 stances of the change, asked me, in an ironical manner, where was 
 the Governor and his fine regulations which he made this spring. 
 All the answer I made the fellow, and indeed all that was in my 
 power to make, was, that your Excellency was at Vincennes, and as 
 for the regulations, they were carried over our heads by a strong 
 southerly wind. 
 
 I have thought proper here to introduce these different circum- 
 stances, which has occurred to me rather late, in order to show your 
 Excellency with what contempt these different characters has for the 
 laws and regulations of our Territory, and even for the officers of 
 the civil department. This disrespect (if I am not mistaken in 
 opinion,) arises from too much lenity shown by the officers of the 
 different departments, and very likely the want of firmness in perse- 
 vering to enforce the laws and regulations so necessary to make a 
 government respected, particularly with respect to this part of our 
 Territory, where its principal inhabitants is chiefly composed of 
 foreigners. 
 
 Sir, not wishing to serve any more in the capacity of a justice of 
 the peace, I therefore enclose herein the commission that you had 
 been pleased to honor me with. 
 
 I am, with great respect, 
 
 Your Excellency's most obedient 
 and most humble servant, 
 
 WM. BURNETT. 
 His Excellency Wm. H. Harrison, 
 
 Vincennes. 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 75 
 
 We will add that our informant, previously referred to, has 
 understood that Mr. Burnett came from New Jersey origi- 
 nally, but does not know the date or place of his birth, or 
 where his youth was passed. Indeed, he admits that there is 
 a mystery enveloping the history of his early years, and little 
 is known of the matter beyond what is given above. Yet, 
 without positive knowledge, we are inclined to believe that 
 Mr. Burnett came from Scotland rather than New Jersey; we 
 have heard him spoken of, by an individual whose home 
 more than seventy-five years since was on the shore of Lake 
 Michigan, as "William Burnett, the Scotchman." He had a 
 sister, possibly an invalid, at a hospital in Montreal in 1793. 
 The wife of Mr. Burnett (we are not aware that he ever had 
 but one,) was Kaw-kee-me; she was of the red race, and 
 whom he wedded, according to the Indian mode, not long 
 after he became a denizen of the Michigan woods. She was 
 the sister of the Pottawatomie chief To-pay-nah-bay* of the 
 St. Jo' branch or band. She was "my Indian woman," of 
 whom he speaks in one of his letters, complimenting her 
 business capacity. Of this marriage there were two daugh- 
 ters, Nancy and Rebecca, and three sons, John, James, and 
 Abraham. The father, in one of his letters, speaks of "a fine 
 little boy;" and again, of "the boys," whom he hopes "will 
 in time make good members of society." The children were 
 sent away early for education, at Detroit or Montreal, and we 
 conclude that the daughters, at least, never returned to the 
 wigwam. Of the sons, John, the eldest, lived in Detroit in 
 1806, and we have heard he was at Chicago at the time of 
 the evacuation and massacre; probably he was the "Mr. Bur- 
 nett, a trader from St. Josephs," referred to in Mrs. Kinzie's 
 "Waubun," who, after the action of August 15th, was looked 
 for at the boat, in which were a part of the Kinzie family, by 
 a furious Indian with dire intent from some former grudge. 
 John was here at the time of the Indian treaty, in 1821, and 
 by it he was to receive two sections of land. James and 
 
 * We write this name as it was pronounced to us by a chief of the Pottawato- 
 mies. To-pay-«s,4-bay had a brother " Chee-bass. " 
 
•J6 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 Abraham Burnett, by same treaty, were to receive each one 
 section, and the daughters, also, a reservation of land. 
 
 John Burnett, we have heard, at one. time officiated as 
 sheriff of Wayne County, when that county extended from 
 Detroit to Lake Michigan. As for James Burnett, he, like 
 the sons of many other parents, hardly filled the schedule of 
 hopes written down by his father. Says my informant, "I 
 was personally acquainted with James; he was the only son 
 living at the time I went to St. Joseph, in 1829. He was 
 very much of a gentleman when sober, but it was seldom 
 you found him in that condition ; he preferred the whiskey 
 and Indian." James was the owner, at one time, of much 
 land upon the Wabash River and elsewhere, but which, we 
 are assured, "he had but little trouble to spend before his 
 death; he died in 1831 or '32, near Niles, Mich." 
 
 [Near thirty years since, the compiler met' in a town upon 
 the Wabash, a Miss Burnett, an intelligent young woman of 
 lady-like manners, and evidently of Indian extraction. She 
 had come from her home in Kentucky or Missouri, to consult 
 legal counsel for the purpose of recovering some lands for- 
 merly in possession of her family. It has occurred to us, 
 that she was probably a granddaughter of William Burnett. 
 What was the result of her mission, we never heard.] 
 
 William Burnett, it would appear, had been educated for 
 business — probably as a merchant — and his dispatches indi- 
 cate, perhaps, the discipline of good training as well as 
 natural ability. His orthography is generally correct, though 
 his sentences are sometimes otherwise faulty in grammatical 
 construction. Occasionally, names written in the letter-book 
 (hastily, as it would seem, and probably intended for the con- 
 venience of no eyes but his own,) appear indistinct and un- 
 certain. We have endeavored to follow the originals, but 
 now and then are left in doubt whether a word means one 
 thing or another, or possibly not either. He was familiar 
 with the French language, and of necessity in his business 
 and social intercourse, must have acquired various Indian 
 dialects. How much wealth Mr. Burnett had amassed by the 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. yj 
 
 Indian traffic, at any time, we are not informed; but it is 
 quite evident that he encountered, at various periods, the not 
 unfrequent vicissitudes and embarrassments of men in trade. 
 He complains, now and then, of paying too high prices for 
 goods. He speaks of damaged freights, of dull sales, of poor 
 hunts, of short corn crops, of low water, and of war and its 
 threats. He encountered competition in the field, tricky 
 agents or servants, hard-faced creditors, and small prices for 
 peltries in the market. We may, perhaps, reasonably infer, 
 that in some of the years of those days the Indian trade was 
 rather overdone; more traders and more goods found their 
 way to the shores of Lake Michigan than always met with 
 profitable sales. 
 
 .Mr. Burnett owned, occupied, or claimed a large amount of 
 land at his home, near the outlet of the St. Joseph River. 
 After the action following the abandonment of Fort Dear- 
 born, in 1812, Captain Heald, who was taken to St. Joseph, 
 found a temporary home at the house of Mr. B. The relative 
 before named informed us that both Mr. Burnett and his wife 
 died there in 18 14, she having survived him but about two 
 weeks. They were buried a few feet north of where was 
 since the "Hoyt House," upon the bluff overlooking the lake; 
 the spot, a beautiful one for a burial-place, was selected by 
 the Indians, vainly trusting that it would remain without 
 desecration. He says that Mr. B., a short time before his 
 death, had been preparing to build a large storehouse near 
 the mouth of the river; and that the ground in the woods 
 thereabout was to seen, when he was at St. Joseph fifteen 
 years afterward, (in 1829,) strewed with the timber, "moss- 
 covered, decayed, and decaying," once designed for that 
 structure. "In the woods and marshes around St. Joseph, at 
 that day, (1829,) were many wild ponies, mules, hogs, etc., 
 the last remnant of the Burnett estate." We may add, that 
 this wild game disappeared very quickly after the tide of 
 emigration set in. 
 
 Something over a hundred letters appear in the book from 
 which we have here copied. We learn, however, that there 
 
78 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 was another book of like size containing copies, probably, of 
 the later letters of Mr. B., but of its whereabouts, if now in 
 existence, we are not advised. 
 
 EARLY SHOW. 
 
 A writer in the Chicago Tribune, August, 1877, gives some 
 account of what he supposes, for this locality, was "the first 
 exhibition of professional actors." It was a circus, and be- 
 lieved to have been called " The Grand Equestrian Arena." 
 This was in September or October, 1836, and their single 
 tent was located on a vacant lot on Lake Street, where now, 
 1877, stands the store of William Blair & Co., Nos. 172, 4, 6. 
 The New York House, (afterward bearing the number 180 
 Lake Street,) said to be the third hotel in importance here, 
 stood just west, and its barn in the rear, accommodated the 
 nags of the circus, when they retired at the various changes 
 in the performance. One rider is referred to, whose name 
 was Stone, and who was " put forward by the management, 
 as the greatest living equestrian." 
 
 [ It is a very common weakness of humanity, to love to 
 quote our early and intimate acquaintance with great men ; 
 so the compiler of this book desires to say, that he knew 
 Oscar Stone a half dozen years before he astonished the 
 juveniles of Chicago. Stone was then a tailor boy and a 
 good workman, in a little village in Rensselaer County, N.Y.; 
 but his aspirations were of a loftier cast than those of mak- 
 ing button -holes and stitching upon the broadfalls unmen- 
 tionables of that age ; it was before the day of sewing- 
 machines. So he left the shop-board, and mounted Buce- 
 phalus in a ride for fame. Erecting a rustic tent, and gath- 
 ering about him some kindred spirits and a few docile steeds 
 of the valley, they, for days, and weeks, and months, without 
 music or an audience, labored and practised the "ground and 
 lofty." We believe Stone became what was called a good 
 rider, but whether he was "greatest," or whether the term 
 great, when applied to him, was not rather a sarcasm, we 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 79 
 
 will not attempt to decide. In, person, Stone was not bigger 
 than " a pint of cider," but he was lithe and wiry, all muscle 
 and whip-cord ; he would have wriggled out of the clutch of 
 the devil-fish. So, though not a very huge giant, he still had 
 a perfect right to be famous.] 
 
 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY HISTORY OF 
 ST. JOSEPH MICH. 
 
 The following is related by Mr. D. A. Winslow, in his his- 
 torical sketch of Berrian County. 
 
 "During the war of 1812, and in that year, John B. Chan- 
 donia was in the service of the United States, and was en- 
 gaged in carrying dispatches from Detroit to Chicago. On 
 one of his trips from Chicago, in company with the elder Rob- 
 ert Fqrsythe, he stopped near the mouth of St. Joseph River, 
 and camped near the upper end of the Burnett orchard. His 
 uncle, of the same name, then stationed at Mackinaw, that 
 place being in the possession of the British, was sent by the 
 commandant of that post, with a force of some thirty Indians 
 in canoes, to intercept John B. with the dispatches, and to 
 take him prisoner to Mackinaw. This force arrived in the 
 night, and early in the morning his uncle called on John B., 
 and made known his business. John B. had a double-barrel 
 gun in his hands, and told his uncle he should not go with 
 him or be taken prisoner. He then drew a line on the ground, 
 and told his uncle he must not cross it; but the uncle, de- 
 termined on his victim, drew his sword and advanced. As 
 he stept over the line, he was shot dead by the nephew. 
 
 The report of the gun aroused the Indians, who went to 
 John's camp. He met them as he did his uncle, and speak- 
 ing their language, pointed to his uncle's dead body and to 
 the dead line; said he had shot his uncle to save his own 
 life; that he was sorry he had to do it, but if taken prisoner, 
 he himself would be killed; that he would not be taken alive, 
 and the first one that attempted to cross the line was a dead 
 
80 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 Indian. The Indians held a council, and terms were agreed 
 upon. The Indians were to have ten gallons of whiskey the 
 next. morning, — were to help John B. bury his uncle immedi- 
 ately, — he and his traveling companion were to be allowed 
 to depart in peace. Arrangements were made with Mr. 
 Burnett, by which the Indians were to have the whiskey as 
 agreed upon. John B. buried his uncle on the hill back of 
 his camp, and, after raising a cross over his grave, he and 
 Mr. Forsythe immediately departed for Detroit. The next 
 morning, Mr. Burnett gave : the Indians the ten gallons of 
 whiskey, and they started for Mackinaw." 
 
 NA UTICAL. 
 
 Upon the walls of the library of a private dwelling, in the 
 West Division of the City, there hangs a picture frame which 
 embodies a history, could it now be recited, of more than 
 usual interest. But the vicissitudes and fateful untowardness 
 attending the conservation of its story are at least noticeable. 
 We may briefly say, that something over thirty years ago, 
 .there came to the West from the Empire State, considerably 
 advanced in the journey of life, a physician, a man of science, 
 with tastes literary and antiquarian, in short a good deal of a 
 virtuoso. Among his household paraphernalia, or furniture 
 equipments brought hither, were curious and beautiful arti- 
 cles of old furniture, rare and valuable specimens of early 
 engravings, etc., etc. The crowning article in age and asso- 
 ciation in his possession however, as the doctor said, was a 
 picture frame; it was then filled, for the time, by a cheap, 
 simple print, bearing no affinity to the frame. The frame, in 
 size within, is some 16 by 20 inches, apparently made of oak, 
 dark, massive, very heavy; it is fitted and dowelled in .old- 
 world style, with a front of stucco and gilt. From a sad" be- 
 reavement in his family, and his own ill -health, the doctor 
 concluded to return to New York, and he parted, by sale and 
 gift, with the furniture and curious things referred to. Of the 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 8 1 
 
 frame, the doctor said he knew its genealogy, and had veri- 
 fied its history; he could furnish vouchers of every claim for 
 validity in its story; and he added, "It is a rare piece of an- 
 tiquity, once a part of an old ship, of no little celebrity in his- 
 toric legend;" and just then the conversation was interrupted, 
 and so the particulars about the very old frame, and of the 
 old ship away back in the centuries, were not learned by the 
 present possessor, for the matter for the time was forgotten. 
 A few months only intervened, when it was told that the 
 doctor had bid adieu to earth, and was therefore beyond all 
 human questioning. 
 
 It will be sufficient to say, that since that "thirty years 
 ago," an occasional rhymester, together with an amateur 
 artist, having met the old relic, entered into a conspiracy 
 regarding it. The outcome of this was the perpetration, on 
 the part of the first-named, of nearly two dozen stanzas, 
 which the amateur artist, in old English black letter, copied 
 on a paper-board panel and placed within the frame. We 
 give the lines below. Our artist, also, for his further con- 
 tribution, decorated the margin of the panel, encircling the 
 stanzas, with a representation of capstan, oars, compass, tele- 
 scope, lead and line, etc. There is a picture, too, of Neptune 
 and his trident, and the prow of an old Roman galley; a 
 ship of the early Saxons; the ship of Columbus; a junk of 
 the Celestials; a zebec of the Mediterranean; English ships 
 of the 14th and 15th centuries; not to omit, of a later day, 
 Fulton's "Clermont," or the still earlier "Perseverance'' of 
 Fitch, on "the Delaware, the pioneer and first of all steam- 
 boats. 
 
 In one sense a Chicago antiquity, so we have been inclined 
 to bring out the old relic, on which hobby-horse we will sup- 
 pose the bard to be mounted for a short gallop. If the song 
 hobbles considerably, it must be his own fault and not that of 
 the steed. 
 
 Chicago, March, 1876. 
 
82 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 " THE ANCIENT SHIP." 
 
 " Moored safely in harbor, close by the mole, 
 
 By side of the sea, in some old world mart; 
 In some 'quaint old town of traffic and toil;' 
 In some 'quaint old town of song and of art;' 
 
 " Lay a maimed old ship, brigantine, or galliot, 
 
 Whatever they called her, so battered and worn ; 
 All that was left her, whether argosy or shallop, 
 
 'Of larboard or starboard, stem, gunwale or stern.' 
 
 " A renowned old bark, was this ancient craft, 
 
 For many score years she had plowed the main; 
 She had braided the woof of a chapter bright, 
 In the nation's history, fadeless in fame. 
 
 " From far and from near, to look at the ship, 
 
 Came a crowd of the great, as well as the small; 
 For memory they begged a splinter or chip, 
 
 The stranger, the dweller, the burgher and all. 
 
 " An artisan came, with handsaw and axe, 
 
 And out of her sides, from a piece of brown oak, 
 From a dark, rusty section of one her planks, 
 He worked up and fashioned this storied yoke. 
 
 " It was moulded and gilt, as a border quite fitting 
 The head of some great man, some sailor of old, 
 Whose hair had been bleached, o'er the seas he had sailed in, 
 ' A picture of silver in a casket of gold.' 
 
 " But who was that sailor, or which was that vessel, 
 In vain we may ask the wise ones to say; 
 Neptune's lieutenants, told of in chronicle, 
 
 Are many as the barks that are strewed by the way. 
 
 " We need not go back to the earlier days, 
 To the time of the simple Ionian tars, 
 When the seamen knew nothing of rudder or sails, 
 And guided their yawls by the course of the stars. 
 
 " We must not suppose this ship was the Argo, 
 
 Which Jason embarked in, for the Golden Fleece; 
 For whether that wool became a part of her cargo, 
 We 've little to look for in the myths of old Greece. 
 
 " The far-famed Bucentaur, State galley of Venice, 
 
 That pompous old row-barge, all sculptured and etched, 
 With gilding and blazon, with music and banners, 
 Out in the offing, once yearly she swept; 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 83 
 
 " One day in the year, for six centuries full, 
 
 They dropped in the Gulf a ring of fine gold; 
 Twas a type of a marriage, the seal of espousal, 
 The 'City of Commerce' with Adriatic of old. 
 
 " We pass by the ships of Rome and Assyria, 
 
 Of Phenicia and Egypt, Carthage and the Moors ; 
 
 Whether commerce or conquest, crusade or discovery, 
 
 Gave breeze to their sails, or strength to their oars. 
 
 " Of those Spanish caravols, world-wide is the fame, 
 
 Of the 'Nina' and the 'Pinta' with the admiral's own, 
 Which sailed from the Pillars bearing Hercules' name, 
 Into seas of the west, through an ocean unknown. 
 
 " 'Land ho!' was the cry, from the Pinta's mast-head, 
 First blast for Columbus, fame's clarion blew; 
 In 'the course of empire,' it's the watchword still sounded, 
 Faded hopes in the old world revived in the new. 
 
 " We might refer to the barks of those noted voyagers, 
 The Pinzons and Ojeda, and Velasco Nunez; 
 Amerigo Vespucci, Grijalva, and Velasquez, 
 
 Ponce de Leon, Nicuesa, de Soto, and Cortez. 
 
 " Nor should we forget the ships of the Cabots, 
 Or de Gama, or Raleigh, Gosnold or Cartier, 
 Cavendish or Behring, Magellan or the Gilberts, 
 Frobisher or Smith, Cortoreal or Dampier; 
 
 " Or that French bark, 'the Dolphin,' of John de Verrazano, 
 Or the yacht of old Lief, son of Eric the Red, 
 The 'Zoutberg' of Van Twiller, (Gov. Walter 'the doubter,') 
 Or the ship of famed Tromp, with a broom at mast-head. 
 
 "There was 'Great Harry,' of England, first ship of their navy, 
 Drake's 'Golden Hind' and Hudson's 'Half-Moon,' 
 Volckertsen's 'Nachtegael,' the 'Scheld,' and 'de Vriede,' 
 With stanch 'de Brand Van Trogen' from the city of Hoorn. 
 
 " The ships of the Indies, built of lasting teak boards, . 
 And the junk and polacca, quinquereme and ark; 
 The craft of the red man, of American woods, 
 Whose bark 's a canoe, whose canoe is of bark. 
 
 " Last but not least were the emigrant ships, 
 
 With people of Old England to settle the New; 
 And history makes record, with a smile on her lips, 
 
 Of a long list of worthier, though we quote but a few: — 
 
84 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 "The 'Mayflower' preceded, in the glorious aims, 
 The 'Fortune' and 'Ann,' the 'Susan and Ellen;' 
 With the 'Lion' and 'Pied Cow' led by 'Little James,' 
 
 Came 'Love' and 'Defence,' 'Increase,' and a 'Blessing.' 
 
 " But adieu, ancient ship, thine own secrets keep, 
 
 Long since were thy colors hauled down from the mast; 
 And the gales which around thee swept o'er the deep, 
 Have died away in echoes, on the shore of the past." 
 
 FORMER SPORTS OF THE PRAIRIE. 
 
 We copy below, from an old Maryland periodical, several 
 letters written man)'- years ago, giving some account of the 
 out-door amusements here in those days. One of the commu- 
 nications, in the spirit of prophecy, refers to a future railway 
 from Baltimore to Rock River, before there was any railroad 
 west of the Alleghanies. Some names of localities will not, 
 perhaps, be recognized at the present time; we do not know 
 anything of the "Guilleroi," and we are unable to place the 
 "little woods," or the "Big Wabiskokie." The "little woods," 
 however, were some where on the south side, and the "Guil- 
 leroi" on the north. We have sometimes known the Des- 
 plaines River referred to as "the Kickapoo branch of the 
 Illinois;' we are here told that the "Aux Pleins" means soft 
 maple. One of .the marshes near that river, it seems, was 
 known as the " Sa-gua-nash." Possibly one of these letters 
 presents the earliest known poetical effusion from Chicago; 
 the quality of the stanzas we are not of course called to pass 
 upon; but after presenting the relic, we have, it is supposed, 
 done our part. In these letters we detect, from certain initials, 
 various names familiar no doubt to the reader. The "Capt. 
 S." was, we believe, the noted Martin Scott, who was after- 
 ward killed, at the head of his regiment, at the battle of El 
 Molino del Rey, 8th Sept., 1847. We add the names of Dr. 
 Clement A. Finley, Major Robert Kinzie, Dr. Philip Max- 
 well, and Hon. James Grant, now of Davenport, Iowa. The 
 "Mr. B." and "Mr. C." may have been Mr. Beaubien and Mr. 
 Clybourn, or possibly others. J. G. F., the writer of four of 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 85 
 
 these letters, was 2d Lt. John G. Furman, of the 5th Inf'y, 
 U. S. A., who died at Fort Dearborn, that same year, Aug. 
 29, 1830. "J- F. G.," the writer of the last letter, we do not 
 positively identify; but " ' Suminecatha, or Big Wood Wolf," 
 who wrote the one preceding, we learn, by a communication 
 from Judge Grant, was Lt. James Thompson, of the Army. 
 The Judge says: "We hunted that winter, twice a week when 
 the weather was favorable, and killed many wolves in the 
 present city limits." "Thompson," he says, "had the fastest 
 horse, except when Dr. Maxwell changed horses with me and 
 allowed me to ride his big horse, 'Emperor!" 
 
 "Fort Dearborn, Chicago, III., March 26th, 1830. 
 
 "Mr. Editor: One fine morning in December last, while the 
 dew drops were yet lingering on the faded foliage, we marshalled 
 our forces, and sallied forth to the chase, in pretty respectable 
 numbers for this wild, western region. We were in all nine 
 huntsmen. A leash of greyhounds, owned by Capt. S., of the U. S. 
 A., his excellent fox-hounds, and those of Dr. F. and Mr. C. formed 
 a very efficient pack of five couples. 
 
 "The day was lovely — 'the sky so cloudless, clear, and purely 
 beautiful, that God alone was to be seen in heaven,' — the broad, 
 blue face of the lake, (Michigan) unruffled by a breath of air, shone 
 in the morning sun like one vast mirror of polished silver. And the 
 woods were so silent, that the cheering cry of the huntsmen and the 
 wild melody of the hounds were echoed from a thousand points. 
 Every thing thus being propitious, we crossed the Chicago, and pur- 
 sued our route through the thick woods on its north side. We had 
 not proceeded quite a half mile, when the whole pack made a simul- 
 taneous burst, and went off eagerly on the track. 
 
 '"A wolf,' said one; but another, who had hunted more with the 
 hounds, answered 'no — a deer' — clapped rowels into his horse's 
 sides and dashed off for the prairie to head the animal. The hounds 
 at first ran off toward the river, in a westerly direction, and went 
 nearly out of hearing, ' but soon turned and took up a northeast 
 course, the whole pack in full concert. Having ridden about two 
 miles from the starting point, and hearing the quick, savage bark of 
 the ground-hound slut (Cora) close by, I stopped. Mr. B. was about 
 thirty yards in advance of me, and glancing my eye around, I caught 
 glimpse of Capt. S., some little distance behind, urging his horse to 
 the utmost. These observations were the work of an instant only, 
 however, for scarcely had I alighted when a spike buck dashed 
 through the thicket in full sight, and within shooting distance, — 
 Cora within five or six rods of him. Mr. B. and myself both 
 levelled. The first shot was his, by the courteous rules prevalent 
 
86 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 among hunters on like occasions. He fired, but the buck did not 
 fall; and I instantly followed his example. The shots struck on op- 
 posite sides, and were both mortal; but so rapid was the speed of 
 the animal after we had fired, that a gentleman coming up the 
 instant exclaimed, ' By heavens, he is not touched !' He darted for 
 the thicket, but the black greyhound (Nero) got sight of him before 
 he reached it, and the most beautiful chase I ever recollect to have 
 witnessed took place. The trial of speed was nobly contested for 
 about three or four hundred yards, the deer having about thirty 
 yards start. The distance between them lessened by insensible de- 
 grees until the greyhound seized his prey, and sunk his fangs into 
 his ham. After a severe struggle, the buck broke loose before Capt. 
 S. and myself, who had dismounted, could get up to Nero's assist- 
 ance. Another chase, not less beautiful than the first, took place; 
 but Nero again seized the buck and held him till we got up. We 
 knocked him on the head with a tomahawk, and drew the knife 
 across his throat. As soon as 'the pack came up we started, and the 
 hounds gave tongue again. Most of us went off to the prairie, to 
 station ourselves along the points of the wood. The hounds went 
 off to the west, and after running about a mile divided — some of 
 them drove a deer toward the point almost at which they had taken 
 up the trail. Mr. C. shot at it, but as no blood was found we pre- 
 sume it was not injured. The rest of the pack (with the exception 
 of Dr. F.'s beautiful black tan pup Ringwood — and well he deserves 
 the name — who drove three deer across {he prairie to the lake,) fol- 
 lowed a track leading along the Guilleroi, and did not return until 
 late at night. On my return from the head of the prairie, I heard 
 the report of a gun, and on inquiry, found that Mr. S. had killed a 
 fine doe. 
 
 "Our sport for the day was now over; we called in skirmishers 
 and took our way home rejoicing. At the garrison, our spoil was 
 divided^ We then retired to spend the evening with that flow of 
 generous feelings which a fine day's sport never fails to inspire. 
 
 J. G. F." 
 "Fort Dearborn, Chicago, III., June 7, 1830. 
 
 "Mr. Editor: We principally hunt, in this section of the coun- 
 try, the 'prairie wolf,' the 'cants latrans' o'f naturalists, sometimes 
 also called the 'barking wolf or 'wolverine.' Generally speaking, 
 it is not larger than a common sized dog, and is more slim. Its 
 eyes are very brilliant, its ears short, upright, and well set back. 
 Its tail is long and bushy, and darker than the body, which is 
 tawny grey. Its senses of sight and smell are remarkably' acute. 
 It is swift of foot and very long-winded. Wolves seldom approach 
 the habitation of man, except when driven in by hunger. This hap- 
 pens oftenest during the winter, when the ground is covered with 
 snow. They are then quite ferocious, and will attack calves, and 
 sheep, and hogs. They have been known to lay waste 'fields of 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 87 
 
 corn,' which they are very fond of in a green state. In the summer, 
 generally, they live on prairie mice, snakes, etc., in fact, whatever 
 they can find, in their wanderings, like animal food. They are very 
 destructive to deer in a hard winter, when a crust forms upon the 
 snow, and I have been told that they will frequently drive deer into 
 the lake, and sit down behind the sand-hills on shore watching until 
 the exhausted animals return and fall an easy prey to their pursuers. 
 The large black wolf is seldom seen here, but there is a kind inter- 
 mediate between it and the 'prairie wolf which is not unfrequently 
 met with, A description of this kind has not been published by 
 any naturalist that I know of. Whether it springs from the inter- 
 course of the large wolf and the prairie wolf, or whether it is a dis- 
 tinct species, I do not know. Certain it is that they are much 
 larger, more muscular and ferocious than the wolverine. I have 
 never yet seen a dog that could catch and kill a wolf without assist- 
 ance* though I have heard of dogs that could — often. The wolf 
 will seldom give battle of its own accord, but when stopped or over- 
 taken, it fights with all the fury of a coward driven to despair. 
 
 "One day last December we mounted and took the field, three in 
 number, accompanied by four couples of stag and a leash of grey- 
 hounds. We first drew the 'little woods/ on the east side of Chi- 
 cago River, and started in it one of those midnight prowlers which 
 I have just described. He was trailed up handsomely by the 
 hounds, the woods echoing and re-echoing with their 'loud, deep 
 notes.' After seeking safety in the wood for half an hour, but find- 
 ing it an insecure retreat, he dashed out and attempted to cross the 
 frozen stream. But before he could reach the friendly protection of 
 the high grass on the opposite bank, 'old Nero,' the black grey- 
 hound, fastened his fangs in his haunch, and kept him in durance 
 until the other dogs came up and completed the work. Nero was 
 pretty well marked, though it would have been hard for a stranger to 
 distinguish this scar among the many that seamed his 'iron visage,' — 
 the honorable memorials of many a hard-fought conflict. Having 
 ornamented one of the neighboring trees with the countenance of 
 the vagrant, we continued to hunt up the river. The prairie is very 
 level, and objects can be distinguished at a great distance upon its 
 surface when it is, as it was then, covered with snow. About a mile 
 and a half off, a small black object was seen upon the shining white. 
 It was unanimously agreed to be a wolf, and our horses were urged 
 to the utmost of their speed to cut him off from the wood, as he 
 had smelt us and was making for cover. It was some time before 
 the greyhounds saw him, but the stag-hounds were coming up 
 radidly on his trail. As the wolf rose upon a gentle eminence in 
 
 * Perhaps the writer meant the large, not the prairie wolf; else his communica- 
 tion bearing date a few days later, describing the feats of the dog "Nero," would 
 seem to contradict what is said here. 
 
88 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 the prairie, Nero got a glimpse of him, and the 'levin in its wrath' 
 is not quicker than he started and flew, — Rolla pushing hard after, 
 and Cora a little further behind. After a severe run of a mile, Nero 
 ran against the wolf and knocked him 'head over heels' in the 
 snow, and ere he could recover his footing, seized him by the neck. 
 Rolla and Cora soon came up to aid him. How they fought until 
 I came up I do n't know, but when I arrived the common hounds 
 had throttled the gentleman, and so — he died. Turning to the right, 
 among some patches of grass, one of the old dogs (Sir Walter, a most 
 famous wolf-dog I assure you, but he cannot kill a wolf alone!) 
 stopped, and, after mature deliberation, gave notice that there was 
 something ahead. It was a wolf's trail, and it grew warmer every 
 instant. Having trailed about two or three miles, up jumped Bar- 
 rabas a little distance before us. Hid from sight by the high grass, 
 and favored by the difficulties of the ground, which was miry and full 
 of holes, he gained on us a little. Eager to get up first, and, more- 
 over, being somewhat too careless, I got pitched into the snow, but 
 felt consoled on looking up to find that I had company. However, 
 we were all there— up in time to see the fight and death. It was a 
 bloody affair. Several of the dogs were well marked. Having 'done 
 enough for glory in one day,' we set out on our return home. The 
 dogs soon gave tongue again in a thicket beyond the river. We 
 crossed, but the trail was too cold to be followed with profit. So 
 we called them off. But we had gone only a short distance further 
 before they went off in full cry, and, to our astonishment, stopped 
 all of a sudden. On coming up, we found three 'coons,' as they 
 are called here, in a tree. We shook them down to the dust, 'to 
 herd with earth's meaner things,' and reached home safe in wind 
 and limbs. Your obedient servant, 
 
 J. G. F." 
 
 "Fort Dearborn, Chicago, III., June 13, 1830. 
 
 "Mr. Editor: In the month of April, 1829, 1 was ordered to pro- 
 ceed from this post, to pursue several deserters, with a party of five 
 men in a canoe. We passed up the left branch of the Chicago to 
 its source, and thence, in a heavy snow-storm during a night 'as 
 black as Erebus,' through 'Lac Marais' into the riviere Aux Pleins 
 (Soft Maple River.) 
 
 "The prairie between these streams is at all times swampy; but 
 during the spring floods, a considerable lake is formed, the waters of 
 which flow simultaneously through the Chicago, the Aux Pleins, and 
 Illinois Rivers, into the great northern lakes, and into the Missis- 
 sippi. Here, after the waters have subsided, vast quantities of 
 aquatic fowl congregate to feed upon the wild-rice, insects, etc., that 
 abound in it. Swan, geese, and brant, passing to and fro in clouds, 
 keep an incessant cackling; ducks of every kind, from the mallard 
 and canvass-back, down to the tiny water-witch and blue-winged teal, 
 add their mite to the 'discord dire,' while hundreds of gulls hover 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 89 
 
 gracefully over, ever and anon plunging their snowy bosoms into the 
 circling waters. In April, myriads of plover and snipe take the place 
 of the aforementioned; still later, great quantities of woodcock, 
 grouse, and ortolans, make their appearance in its neighbourhood. 
 Of these, we may hereafter send you some account: and when the 
 'railroad' is finished beheeen Baltimore and Rock river, perhaps you 
 may be induced to come out and take a week's sport with us, or if 
 you cannot spare time, we must try and pack up some of our good 
 tilings in ice and send on a locomotive steam-propelled car. But 
 my present object is not to speculate on what may happen, but to 
 relate something that has occurred. •Anna, virumquc cono.' 'be 
 silent that you may hear.' One of the five men accompaning me 
 in the trip mentioned above is named Harthaway. While descend- 
 ing the Aux Pleins river, I saw this man, on the 27 th of April, shoot 
 six shots in succession, off hand, with a smooth bored rifle, loaded 
 each time with a single ball, standing in the canoe while it was 
 descending with the current, the men stopping paddling only long 
 enough to give him time to shoot. In the first rive shots he killed 
 five blue-winged teal, — one at each shot, — die ball striking eidier on 
 the head or on the neck, not half an inch below the junction of the 
 head with die neck; in the sixtii shot he killed a plover flying, shoot- 
 ing it through die body. Of course, I cannot be accurate as to the 
 distances, but as near as I recollect, he was not nearer at any time 
 than thirty yards. This shooting I never saw equalled; and as it 
 may appear almost 'too good' to some of your readers, I herewidi 
 forward the affidavit of the only two men now remaining at the 
 post, who went with me, in confirmation of my statement. 
 "Respectfully, vour obedient servant, 
 
 J. G. F." 
 "We certify, that having carefully perused the above account of 
 Harthaway 's shooting, we find it true and accurate in all its parts. 
 Given under our hands, at Chicago, this 14th day of Tune, 1S30. 
 
 DAVID VAXDIGRIST, 
 Witness— A. B. Foster. JOHX VAX ALSTIXE." 
 
 "Fort Dearborn, Chicago, III., June 13, 1830. 
 
 "Mr. Editor: Having been gratified with the perusal of the 
 notices of one or two remarkable dogs in former numbers of the 
 Sporting Magazine, I do not know how to return the obligation bet- 
 ter dian by sending you one of Capt. S.'s greyhound Xero. 
 
 "This dog was of English blood, and was pupped in the fall of 
 1823, near Nashville, Tennessee. Of his origin, we know nothing 
 further. He came into Capt S.'s possession when about a year old, 
 and was, at that time, an exceedingly cowardly pup. His colour 
 was a perfect black, with the exception of a small white spot in the 
 middle of the breast His limbs were remarkably clean and deli- 
 cate, and his body well compacted, an uncommon but harmonious 
 union of agility and strength. His eye was black and glazed, which 
 
90 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 gave a peculiar air of savageness to his aspect; and he did not belie 
 his looks to strangers and others against whom he had a grudge. 
 The captain twice placed him under the care of other gentlemen, for 
 short periods, and both times his keepers gave Nero some deep 
 offence. Every time they approached him he growled and grumbled 
 and straightened his tail. In spite of clogs, chains, and persuasion, 
 he took up his line of march to the tune of 'over the hills and far 
 away;' and, at one time remained absent above a year, on the Mis- 
 souri, until his master came for him. But in spite of all this ill 
 humour to others, there never was a creature more obedient and 
 affectionate to his master than Nero. 
 
 "To relate all the feats of this noble animal would require a large 
 volume; I must therefore content myself with relating a few anec- 
 dotes of him which have come under my immediate observation. 
 In hunting wolves last winter and fall, it was not unusual for us to 
 set the pack in at the northern extremity of the "little woods," so as 
 to drive the animal through the southern point, and thus have a fair 
 flight across the prairie. It was his constant practice, as soon as 
 the hounds were heard in the woods, to hasten to station himself at 
 the last point, and watch with the greatest interest and anxiety for 
 the appearance of the wolf. If any did appear, the thread of his 
 existence was soon cut short. I have often known him when run- 
 ning at wolves, deer, and foxes, instead of going directly at them, 
 as is usual with greyhounds, to steer either to the right or left, as the 
 case might have been, and place himself between the animal and 
 the thicket, so as to cut him off from cover. One day last Novem- 
 ber, after a splendid chase, we drove a fine doe into the lake. 
 The hounds, as soon as they saw the deer driven fairly in, returned 
 to look for more game, and, of course, left the coast clear. We 
 got to the spot just as the doe was approaching the shore, after 
 being in the water a short time. Xone of us had guns. As soon as 
 she got a footing, I urged Nero on. He went in, but the deer imme- 
 diately made out, and outswam the dog. Nero perceived this, and 
 attempted to swim round her, so as to drive her in shore, but could 
 not accomplish it; so after using his best endeavors for some time, 
 we called him back until the deer should return, hiding behind the 
 sand-hills in the interim. Our vigil was a long one. This time I 
 was more wary, and held my tongue, leaving the direction to others 
 more skilled than myself. As soon as the animal reached the beach, 
 we let loose the dogs and rushed from our concealment The deer 
 ran back into the water, all the dogs in full chase. Nero again 
 swam round and met her, seizing her by the tail, two other dogs 
 went ahead, and took each hold of an ear. Nero then left his for- 
 mer hold and seized her by the nose, which hold he did not relin- 
 quish until life was extinguished, ducking her head under water 
 whenever she attempted to bleat. At another time, I saw Nero 
 catch, and throw twice, a wounded buck, an exploit which few single 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 91 
 
 dogs can perform. In 1828, I am informed, he caught and killed 
 four deer at Green Bay, neither of them being previously injured. 
 The bones of the wolves which he has slaughtered are bleaching on 
 the prairies about fort Crawford, Green Bay, and around us here in 
 every direction. 
 
 "On the 14th May, the morning being fine, we rode out to enjoy 
 it; and it was judged best to take the dogs along, as they had been 
 languishing in the kennel for want of exercise for some time. Hav- 
 ing gone as far as the Big Wabiskokie, we turned to the right and 
 went up the 'long ridge' towards Blue Island, where we bounced a 
 large grey wolf out of the brushwood and dry grass. We gave the 
 war-whoop, and attempted to head him, but did not succeed. The 
 wolf took to the open prairie, and ran for the upper point of Blue 
 Island, the greyhounds being some distance in rear, and the hounds 
 and horsemen hard after. It was miserable riding; the soil being as 
 soft as mush. The grass was not very high, and we could see every 
 step and turn that was taken. After a run of three miles, Nero 
 came up to the wolf. 'Now,' thought we, 'he has him!' but in the 
 next moment the wolf passed on, and Nero was seen no more ; and 
 he was doomed to rise no more, upon earth, poor fellow. We rode 
 up and found him trying to get up, but he could not. The exertions 
 he had made, and the heat, were too much for him. I took up the 
 old veteran in my arms and carried him to Blue Island, where I en- 
 deavored to recover him, but it was all in vain; — he died, and we 
 laid him down on the field which had so often beheld him in all the 
 glory of his triumphs. After ruminating and ransacking my brains 
 for about an hour, all that I got out, by way of an epitaph, is what 
 follows. If you think it will not disgrace your pages, it may as well 
 be tacked on here as elsewhere. If you think it is too much in the 
 'prose run mad' style, please consign it to the 'tomb of all the capu- 
 lets,' and oblige your obedient servant. 
 
 J. G. F. 
 "Like a swift speeding bolt of thunder you flew, 
 
 Leaving scarce a trace of your path behind; 
 From the green bough you swept not the diamond dew, 
 
 But lightly passed by as the summer wind. 
 
 "In the prairie full oft in the pride of your speed, 
 I have seen thee press on like a hero ; 
 Displaying your courage by many a deed, 
 Winning gallant green laurels old Nero. 
 
 "Thou wast light-footed, keen-sighted, gentle, and brave, 
 From the battle thou never didst turn aside; 
 And the wolves may rejoice that the dark willows waye 
 O'er the spot where now you are resting in pride. 
 
 "On the field of your glory, where you fought and fell, 
 Where your ashes repose in honour apart ; 
 
92 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 When the chase is all over the huntsman will tell, 
 How Nero ran on till he bursted his heart." 
 
 "Fort Dearborn, Chicago, Dec. 9, 1835. 
 
 "Mr. Editor: Reflecting upon our numerous excursions on the 
 prairies in this neighborhood, last fall, in pursuit of wolves, one 
 marked by some peculiarity of incident frequently occurs to me, 
 though doubtless with much less force than to some of my brother 
 sportmen of that day. 
 
 "The afternoon was fine, and party large and agreeable, forming a 
 line of about two miles in extent, the intervals generally of a few 
 hundred yards between files, but so regulated as to leave no part of 
 the ground unsurveyed. Advancing in this order, three wolves 
 bounced, almost at the same instant, in front of different parts of 
 the line, and ran in various directions. It fell to my lot to pursue 
 one, assisted only by a greyhound slut. After a run of about three 
 miles, the slut, being rather fat, and overcome by heat, fagged, and 
 fell to the rear. Seeing I was thrown upon my own resources, I 
 made a desperate push to run over the wolf, when, just grazing his 
 brush, my horse plunged both forefeet into a narrow, grass-covered 
 ditch, and fell as suddenly as if he had been shot, and threw me 
 some distance ahead. I fell at full length on my belly, and saved 
 myself from the rolling of my horse by a brisk movement — between 
 a scramble and a dog-trot. In an instant we were both up and 
 under way. Scarcely conscious of what had happened, after a run 
 of five miles, the wolf sought refuge in a dense cluster of juniper on 
 the lake shore, but soon found their fragile branches a poor protec- 
 tion from old hickory. Anxious to learn the success of the other 
 portion of the field, ^the heaving sides and distended nostrils of my 
 good horse plead in vain for a momentary respite,) bedecking his 
 brow with his hard-won trophy, I sprung on and struck up a brisk 
 canter to rejoin the party; and had proceeded but a short distance, 
 when two figures appeared rising over a gentle swell of the prairie, 
 about two miles distance, and as they approached more closely, I 
 discovered they were at full speed and bearing down toward me. 
 While viewing the apparent contest, one of them suddenly dropped 
 below the horizon and disappeared, raising an immense cloud of 
 dust to mark the spot; a badger's hole had received a foot and leg 
 of Emperor, and hurled him and master, Dr. M., headlong to the 
 earth. Mr. R. K., taking advantage of his fallen adversary, passed 
 him sprawling on the ground, (fair play in a wolf-chase,; but he en- 
 joyed only a momentary triumph. The noble Emperor, finding him- 
 self disencumbered of his 230 pounds rider, sprung to his feet and 
 renewed the contest with redoubled vigor. He soon passed his 
 competitors, and was closely pressing the wolf, with ears thrown 
 back, when I, very unsportsmanlike, came in ahead of the game and 
 turned its course. Emperor was momentarily thrown out, but soon 
 regained his advantage, passing Mr. K. and myself, following the 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 93 
 
 wolf in his windings and doublings for a mile and a half, till he 
 skulked in a ditch. Here Emperor drew up on" the crest of the 
 ditch, with head and tail elevated, ears pricked forward, repeatedly 
 snorting, and fiercely gazing at the spot where the wolf lay con- 
 cealed, till I abandoned my horse for the wonted use of old hickory, 
 when, finding good company, both horses moved off toward home 
 on a trot. Esq. G. (full of blood) fortunately arrived to the assist- 
 ance of Mr. K. just as the game was routed from his lurking place, 
 whence he pushed for the lake, where he was soon forced to lower 
 his flag to the superior prowess of Esq. G., who plunged in Qn his 
 foaming steed, and in a regular built sea-fight, closed the day's sport 
 with the existence of the fifth wolf. 
 
 "It gives me pleasure to be able to add, in conclusion, that Dr. 
 M., though severely injured by a contusion on the shoulder, escaped 
 without the loss of life or limb ; and although, for some weeks, de- 
 prived of the pleasure of participating in the chase, he has seldom 
 failed to accompany the party to the field as a looker-on. 
 
 "The number of wolves taken by the party during the season, as 
 taken from the journal, was 157, — 19 wolves and a bear in one day; 
 by straggling parties in the neighborhood, probably 50; in all not 
 less than 200. The season was unusually dry and fine for running, 
 and wolves abundant, probably attracted by the slaughter-houses in 
 the suburbs; but from whatever cause, we never may see such days 
 again. 
 
 SUMINECATHA, or Big Wood Wolf." 
 
 "Chicago, Illinois, May 3, 1840. 
 
 "Dear Sir: In looking over your valuable magazine, I observed 
 your pages were not confined exclusively to reporting the sports of 
 the Turf; and presuming you will b'e interested to hear from the 
 'wild west,' I have taken the liberty of giving you an account how 
 we are getting along, and what we arc doing. 
 
 "In December last, four of us started from this place in 'military 
 array,' fully equipped for encampment, for the Sag, (an abreviation 
 for the Sa-gua-nash, a low, marshy ground, made by the overflowing 
 of the Des-Plaines River,) and arrived at 5 o'clock P. M. Next 
 morning, as 'Aurora began to reflect her liquid fire,' we started in 
 pursuit: our dogs were all 'in trim'; we had not been out but ten 
 minutes, before we were told, by the note of a favorite bitch, that 
 'game was there.' After chasing a large buck about three miles, 'up 
 hill and through the valley,' I shot him; and coming up to where he 
 lay, I cut a gambrel and hung him up to a tree. About twenty rods 
 further on we 'scared up' three more, two of which we killed in less 
 than an hour. We then returned to camp, bearing the trophies of 
 victory ; and after partaking of the needful, to warm the inward man, 
 we started again, and returned at 1 o'clock P. M. with five more. 
 Thinking we had enough venison, we put up our hounds and went 
 in search of grouse or prairie hens, taking along two favorite point- 
 
94 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 ers. After traversing the prairie three hours, we killed sixty grouse ; 
 on the second day,' we killed four deer and thirty-seven grouse; and 
 on the third day, we killed two deer, eighteen grouse, and six ducks : 
 making in all 14 deer, 115 grouse, and 6 ducks. 
 
 "There is no part of this country where game is so plentiful as on 
 the Prairies of Illinois. During this last winter, the citizens of this 
 place and the neighboring farmers, have killed 500 deer, besides 
 grouse, ducks, geese, etc., 'too numerous to mention'; such are the 
 sports of the West. 
 
 "The improvement of the breed of horses has received more 
 attention for a few years past. Could I prevail upon the farmers to 
 subscribe to your 'Register,' I should be glad; they then could de- 
 tect 'counterfeit' from blood horses. Our country is inundated 
 every season by the most worthless blood, which is passed off as 
 genuine, hence the worthlessness of our stock. 
 
 "Col. James M. Strode, formerly of Kentucky, has this season 
 brought a horse here, from the blood of old Rob Roy, of the John 
 Randolph stock ; he is a beauty, and I hope now we may have some 
 good horses. 
 
 "You will observe that I use the phrases current among us Suck- 
 ers. Unaccustomed to writing for public prints, I am 'also unac- 
 quainted with the language of the Turf. 
 
 " I am respectfully yours, J. F. G." 
 
 JOE BAIES; OR, A SABBA TH-DA Y INCIDENT 
 IN CHICA GO, IN 1832. 
 
 Joseph Baies, or as the English call it, Bailly, a French or 
 Canadian fur-trader, was living on Grand River, Mich., prob- 
 ably as long ago as the first year of the present century, for 
 the late Col. J. B. Beaubien, of Chicago, it is said, when a 
 young man, learned the rudiments of his education of him 
 while at Grand River. Afterward, and possibly before also, 
 Bailly lived some time at what is now Bertrand, Mich., and 
 when, in sundry business adventures, he had the late Alex. 
 Robinson as an employe or associate. Wm. Burnett, the fur- 
 trader of St. Joseph River, in a letter dated January, 1787, 
 speaks of a trader named Balie, perhaps the same gentleman 
 of whom we are speaking. In 1821, when Mr. B. bought 
 goods of the American Fur Company, at Mackinaw, he is 
 called of Lake Michigan, without the designation of any par- 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 95 
 
 ticular point. In 1833, he was the proprietor of a house of 
 entertainment, at the station called Baillytown, on the road 
 from Michigan City to Chicago, and is well remembered by 
 many travelers of that day, who were journeying around the 
 head of the Lake. At that time he was considerably advan- 
 ced in years, perhaps near seventy. His wife, (we have heard 
 her called Mau-ne, probably for Mary) was of the Indian 
 race, and they had two intelligent and fine-looking daughters, 
 who had been educated at Detroit or Montreal. Esther, one 
 of the daughters, married John H. Whistler, and Rozanne, 
 the other, became the wife of Frank Howe, formerly a clerk 
 in the Branch of the Illinois State Bank at Chicago.* But 
 of the incident. 
 
 In the year 1832, a rather common custom at Chicago, was 
 to make a holiday of the Sabbath, and to do more business, 
 perhaps, on that day than on any other. Outsiders took occa- 
 
 * We did not succeed, as we hoped to, in getting particulars concerning Mr. 
 Bailly's biography from a source which we made some attempt to reach, and to 
 show how adversely very honest efforts after historical items regarding Chicago 
 and its early residents sometimes result, we detail one case of decided though 
 somewhat ludicrous failure. 
 
 Aware of the fact, that the two daughters of Mr. Bailly married Chicago gentle- 
 men, we addressed a note to a niece of the husband of one of those ladies, for a 
 reference to some one who might impart to us the information sought. The lady 
 politely suggested that' from Mrs. H. (a daughter of Mr. B. ) we would be able to 
 get all the facts desired, and that Mr. C, at the City Engineer's Office, would 
 favor us with the address of Mrs. H. aforesaid. An application to Mr. C, how- 
 ever, only brought the response, that Hon. Mr. S. was attorney for Mrs. H, 
 "and can perhaps give you her address. " There seemed to be something of a 
 doubt implied in the "perhaps" of Mr. C, yet we boldly confronted Mr. S. with 
 a modest missive, requesting the address of the lady, just that and nothing more. 
 Alas for the simplicity of those that essay the task to glean a few straws from the 
 historic field, expecting to find some kernels of neglected grain; such artless indi- 
 viduals are scarcely fitted to encounter the mounted huzzars of worldly business 
 strife, ready to ride down every pedestrian, as though tainted with complications, 
 plots, intrigue, and fees. Mr. S. vouchsafed us an answer to the effect, that 
 Mrs. H. resided in the State of Kentucky, but if we had any business with that 
 lady, it must be by and through him as agent. It was no matter that we explained 
 our humble aims, devoid of covetousness and the like, for no words came back; 
 if, therefore, any names and facts shall in consequence here fail to be immortalized, 
 it is certainly not our fault. 
 
96 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES: 
 
 sion then to come to the village to look about and make pur- 
 chases,' and many shopkeepers were quite ready to accommo- 
 date them. But our informant, then a merchant here, held 
 sentiments somewhat at variance with this, and when the old 
 trader, Joe Baies, who was frequently at Chicago, in looking 
 about the settlement, saw the door open at the store of our 
 informant, who sat reading therein, he stepped inside and 
 began to inspect some portions of the stock, inquiring prices, 
 etc. The merchant explained to him the condition of affairs, 
 telling him that he sold no goods on Sunday, having been 
 raised in the east, where the propriety of such observance was 
 inculcated, but if he would call upon any other day, he would 
 be happy to wait on him. Baies was taken by surprise, being 
 quite unused to meeting persons of so strict a creed ; in fact, 
 he became suddenly disgusted, and disgust culminated in a 
 fit of towering anger. Lavish with insulting language and. 
 profanity, calling our citizen a fool; he asked him if this was 
 the way to make money, and what he came here for if it was 
 not to make money. Yet, as often happened in the days of 
 the patriarchs, ''a soft answer turneth away wrath," and as 
 there was on this occasion none else, Mr. B. came back to the 
 store before many days, and made ample apologies for his 
 hard words, his rudeness and ill-temper, allowing that our 
 citizen had a perfect right to his opinions, as well as to follow 
 the guidance of his own conscience. After this, he was one 
 of his best customers. We will here add, that Mr. B. was an 
 intelligent and keen business man, of good education, and 
 usually of courteous and gentlemanly manners. 
 
 'LITTLE TURTLE" AND THE QUAKERS. 
 
 It is not of a late date merely, that that respectable class 
 or religious body of citizens known as Quakers, have made 
 earnest efforts to improve the condition, moral as well as physi- 
 cal, of the American Indians. That key-note from the voice 
 of humanity, was sounded when William Penn met the natives 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 97 
 
 on the banks of the Delaware near two centuries since. It is 
 the common impulse of our nature to be courteous to them 
 that treat us- kindly, and the trait is quite as marked in the 
 savage as the civilized man. 
 
 The speech of Little Turtle given below, is copied from a 
 manuscript found among the papers of Judge Jouett, formerly 
 Indian Agent at Chicago, by whom it was preserved at the 
 time of its delivery, something over three score years ago. 
 It seems proper that this speech should not be lost; and 
 though it may seem to the reader prolix and tame, lacking 
 the fire and passion that we usually expect in the speech of 
 an Indian orator, yet the subject matter was one of peace, 
 and refers to the comparatively quiet and dull life of civiliza- 
 tion. The speaker, however, believed it involved the best 
 interests of his people. 
 
 Little Turtle frequently sojourned at Chicago, but whether 
 this reply was made here or at some other point in the west, 
 we cannot say. 
 
 Early in the year 1798, accompanied by Captain William 
 Wells, (who, it has been said, was his adopted son,) he was 
 visiting in Philadelphia,* and it is told by Volney, the French 
 traveler, that the Chief made known his wishes to the "benevo- 
 lent Society of Friends," as to "the necessity of turning the 
 attention of his. people from hunting and fishing to tillage." 
 
 Mechecunnaqua, or Little Turtle, was a Miami, and though 
 but little is known of his early history, in his maturer years 
 he was a brave and able warrior. He once said of the Miamis, 
 "My forefather kindled the first fire at Detroit; from thence 
 he extended his lines to the head waters of the Scioto; from 
 thence to its mouth; from thence down the Ohio to the mouth 
 of the Wabash; and from thence to Chicago over Lake Mich- 
 igan. These are the boundaries within which the prints of my 
 ancestors' houses are everywhere to be seen." Little Turtle 
 
 * It was during this visit to Philadelphia that Little Turtle paid his respects to 
 Gen. Washington, as well as to our Polander patriot Kosciusko; the last named, 
 presented to the Indian chief his elegant brace of battle pistols. Little Turtle 
 again visited the seat of Government, then at Washington, in company with sev- 
 eral other Indians, in 1802. 
 
 7 
 
98 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 was the leader of the Indians at Harmer's defeat, on the 
 Maumee, in October, 1790, as well also as that of St. Clair, 
 the year following. It has been claimed by the family of 
 Joseph Brant, that he (Brant) was the head and General o£ 
 the Indian forces which destroyed St. Clair's army, but the 
 main weight of evidence is to the contrary. 
 
 In June, 1794, at the head of a force of a thousand Indians 
 or more, Little Turtle attacked Fort Recovery, (built by Gen. 
 Wayne on the field of St. Clair's defeat,) but was repulsed; 
 and the crushing blows given the Indians by "mad Anthony," 
 in the autumn of that year, was followed by a peace and the 
 Treaty of Greenville, (in June, 1795,) to which Treaty Little 
 Turtle was a signer. It is believed that this Chief had re- 
 ceived some education in Canada, and until the Treaty of 
 Greenville, was attached to British interests, which interests 
 seemed to find gratification in cultivating in the savages a 
 hatred of the Americans. John Johnston, of Piqua, Ohio, 
 who was well acquainted with Little Turtle, said of this " cele- 
 brated orator and chief," that he was "a man of great wit, 
 humor, and vivacity, fond of the company of gentlemen, and 
 delighted in good eating. When I knew him, he had two 
 wives, living with him, under the same roof, in the greatest 
 harmony. * * * * This distinguished 
 
 chief died at Fort Wayne, of a confirmed case of the gout, 
 brought on by high living, and was buried with military 
 honors by the troops of the United States." 
 
 Mrs. Callis, daughter of Judge Jouett, tells us that her 
 mother often spoke of the chief, for whose oratorical powers 
 she had great admiration. She particularly referred to a 
 speech of that chief which she heard delivered at some coun- 
 cil held at Chicago. A sentence of that speech is remem- 
 bered; speaking of an enemy upon whom he (Little Turtle) 
 had taken deadly vengeance, he said, " We met ! I cut him 
 down ! and his shade, as it passes on the wind, shuns my walk." 
 
 The death of Little Turtle, it is understood, occurred, not 
 "in the year 1804 or 1805," as stated in the Narrative of Ma- 
 jor S. H. Long's Expedition of 1823, but on the 14th July, 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 99 
 
 181 2, and he was buried on the west bank of the river at Fort 
 Wayne. 
 
 SPEECH OF LITTLE TURTLE IN REPLY TO AN ADDRESS FROM 
 THE QUAKERS — GEORGE ELLIOTT AND GERARD T. HOPKINS. 
 
 Brothers: It appears to me necessary that I should give 
 you an immediate answer, as you are about to return to your 
 families from whence you came. 
 
 Brothers and Friends : We are all pleased to see you here, 
 and to take our Brothers, the Quakers, through you, by the 
 hand. We rejoice that the Great Spirit has appointed that 
 we should this day meet, for we believe this meeting will be 
 of the utmost consequence to your Red Brethren. 
 
 Brothers : What you have said we have carefully gathered 
 up ; we have placed it in our hearts, in order that it may be 
 communicated to our posterity. We are convinced that what 
 you have said is for the good of your Red Brethren. We are 
 also convinced that our Chiefs and Warriors, our women and 
 children, will be all of our opinion, and will be glad when they 
 hear what you have said. 
 
 Brothers : We take you by the hand, and through you take 
 the people who sent you by the hand, and assure you that 
 we are pleased that the Great Spirit has let us see each other, 
 and converse together upon the subjects that have been com- 
 municated to us. 
 
 Brothers: You see that there are but few of us here; what 
 you have said to us, will not remain with the few that are 
 here alone ; it will be communicated to all your Red Brethren 
 in this country, and I again repeat that I am convinced that 
 they will be glad to hear what you have said to us, to our 
 women and children. 
 
 Brothers : When we saw you with the rest of your Brothers 
 in Baltimore upwards of two years ago, I expect you recollect 
 perfectly the conversation between us at that time and place. 
 I then, with my Brother Chiefs, told you that we were glad 
 to find you so much disposed to assist us, our women and 
 children; we told you that your, good wishes. should be made 
 
IOO CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 known to all your Red Brethren in this country, which has 
 been done. 
 
 Brothers: Ever since that time, I, as well as some others of 
 my Brother Chiefs, have been endeavoring to turn the minds 
 of our people 'toward the cultivation of the "earth, but am 
 sorry to say we have not yet been able to effect anything. 
 
 Brothers: There are so .few of us here present, we could 
 not now undertake to give you any positive answer; we ex- 
 pect, in a few .moons, there will be many of our people together. 
 At- that time it will be proper that we should give you an an- 
 swer to all the subjects you now mention to us. 
 
 Brothers: The things you have said to us require our 
 greatest attention. It appears to.be really necessary that we 
 should deliberate upon them. In order to do so we must beg 
 you to leave the paper on which 'they are written, that we may 
 communicate them to the Chiefs when they assemble. 
 
 Brothers:.. All the words you said to-day, were certainly cal- 
 culated for our good. You have enumerated to us the differ- 
 ent kinds. of grains arid animals we ought to raise for our com- 
 fort. You have told us that if we all adopt the plan you have 
 proposed, we shall want for nothing. This Brothers, myself 
 and. many of our people believe is true, and we hope we shall 
 finally be able to convince our young men that this is the plan 
 we should adopt to get our living. 
 
 Brothers : You have come a long distance to render service, 
 to us,; we hope you will meet with the success you wish. You 
 have been very particular in pointing out to us what will be 
 for our good; you have been very particular in pointing out 
 the .duties of our women, and you have told us that in adopt- 
 ing your mode of living, our numbers would increase and not 
 diminish. In all this I perfectly agree with you, and hope all 
 the Chiefs will also agree with you. 
 
 Brothers : We are pleased to hear you say you are going to 
 leave one. of your Brothers with us, to show us in what man- 
 ner, you cultivate the earth. We shall endeavor, Brothers, to 
 make. his. situation among us as agreeable to him as will be 
 p.Qs.sibJe,.for.;usj 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. : IOI 
 
 Brothers: We are convinced the plan you propose will be 
 advantageous to your Red Brethren. We are convinced you 
 have observed very justly, that we' shall not then be so liable 
 to sickness. We are certain we shall then be able to make a 
 more comfortable living with less labor- than at present, and 
 hope this will be the opinion of us all. 
 
 Brothers: I again repeat, I am extremely glad to hear the 
 things you have said, and that we will keep- them in our hearts 
 for the good of our young men, our women and our children. 
 I have now delivered to you the sentiments of our people that 
 are present. .« 
 
 (After a short pause he added), :\ . 
 
 Brothers: Assure your people who have sent you here, tell 
 your old Chiefs we are obliged to them for their friendly offers 
 to assist us in changing our present mode of living. Tell them 
 it is a work which cannot be done immediately, that we are 
 all that way disposed, and we hope it will take place gradually. 
 
 ( Sitting down a short space, he rises' again.) 
 
 Brothers: My heart is so overjoyed and 'warm with what 
 you have said, that I forgot to mention one of the most im- 
 portant things. At the time we first -met at this place, the 
 Five Medals * and myself formed some idea of your business ; 
 we expected you had come to do for us the things you pro- 
 posed to us when in Baltimore, and consulted each other upon 
 the answer necessary to return to you in every respect, and 
 now find our idea was right. Brothers, the sentiments which 
 I have delivered to you, were his sentiments. You have now 
 told us that your Brother has a mind to live among us, to 
 show us how to cultivate the earth, and has desired us to show 
 him the spot where to begin. We agreed then that he should 
 be at neither of our villages, lest our younger Brothers should 
 be jealous of our taking him to ourselves. We have deter- 
 mined to place him on the Wabash, where some of our families 
 will follow him; where our young men, I hope, will -flock to 
 him, and where he will be able to instruct them as he wishes. 
 This is all I have to say. I could all day repeat the senti- 
 * Name of a Chief. 
 
102 
 
 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 ments I have already expressed ; also, how much I have been 
 gratified in seeing and hearing from our Brothers, but that is 
 not necessary. I am sorry the Chiefs of our country are not 
 all present, that they might all hear what you have said, and 
 have an opportunity to talk with you. 
 
 CHARLES JOUETT, THE FIRST U.S. INDIAN 
 A GENT RESIDING A T CHICA GO. 
 
 Charles Jouett (not "Jewett," as it is often written) was 
 born in Louisa County, Virginia, in 1772, and was the young- 
 est of a family of four boys and five girls. His father was 
 John Jouett, of Charlottesville, Va., and the maiden name of 
 his mother was Harris. The father was with the Virginians at 
 Braddock's defeat, and John, Jr., and Robert fought the enemy 
 in many of the battles of the Revolution. John, Jr., or Jack 
 as he was usually called, received a vote of thanks and a sword^ 
 it is said, from the Legislature of Virginia, for an exhibition 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. IOJ 
 
 of daring and timely notice to that body, whose capture by 
 Col. Tarkton was determined on. Jouett having knowledge 
 of the plan, and being mounted in the guise of a British dra- 
 goon, passed (a necessity under the circumstances) through 
 the enemy's camp without detection, and gave the alarm. 
 Another story has been told of Jack Jouett ; while with Gen. 
 Greene, in North Carolina, in the vicinity of Guilford Court - 
 House, on one occasion near a spring between the contending 
 forces, he pounced upon an incautious Briton who had come 
 for water,* and easily carried him away under one arm a pris- 
 oner. It is proper here to say that John Jouett, Sen., and his 
 four sons, were all of gigantic stature and strength. Charles 
 Jouett is said to have been raised under the immediate notice 
 and enjoyed the friendship of presidents Jefferson, Madison, 
 and Monroe. He studied law and practiced a few years in 
 Charlottesville, Va., but in 1802, he accepted from the Govern- 
 ment the appointment of Indian agent at Detroit, Mich. Mr. 
 J. ably filled this position, not only there, but after his transfer 
 to the new and perhaps more important agency at Chicago. 
 In 1804, while in Michigan, he took measures at the request 
 of the Government, to learn the facts concerning the settle- 
 ments at Detroit and vicinity, and submitted an extended 
 report of the same, which appears in one of the printed vol- 
 umes of American State Papers. Charles Jouett was the first 
 Indian agent stationed at Chicago; and William Wells, ( Cap- 
 tain Wells, subsequently killed at Chicago,) the Agent at Fort 
 Wayne, had been advised by the Department, October 17, 
 1804, that the annuities of the Pottawatomie and Kickapoo 
 Indians under his charge, would in future be sent to Chicago. 
 Mr. Jouett under his new appointment removed here in 1805, 
 and by instructions from the War Department, was informed, 
 October 26, of that year, that there would be included in his 
 agency here, the Sacs, Foxes, and Pottawatomies, as well as 
 other tribes in the vicinity of Chicago. 
 
 Hon. John Wentworth, in a supplement to one of his lec- 
 tures, gives the names of quite a number of Virginians who 
 were early residents of Chicago ; to those may be added that of 
 
104 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 Charles Jouett. Mr. J. had married in 1803,- Miss Eliza Dodb- 
 mead; she died in 1805. From the time of his first arrival at 
 Chicago, we are unable to state precisely how often or how 
 long he was absent from this post, yet we are advised of one 
 furlough at least, reaching along through the holidays it is 
 understood, in the winter of 1808-9. The occasion was his 
 (2d) marriage, the lady being Miss Susan Randolph Allen, of 
 Clark County, Ky., and we must characterize it as something 
 extraordinary, that their wedding-tour was made on horse- 
 back, in the month of January, through the jungles, over the 
 snow-drifts, on the ice, and across the prairies, in the face of 
 driving storms, and the frozen breath of the winds of the north. 
 They had on their journey, a negro servant named Joe Battles, 
 and an Indian guide whose name was Robinson, possibly the 
 late chief Alex. Robinspn. A team and wagon followed, con- 
 veying their baggage, and they marked their route for the 
 benefit of any future traveler. 
 
 After some six years residence here, Mr. Jouett, probably 
 from Indian difficulties and complications, which rendered a 
 continuance in the office impracticable, resigned his position 
 in 181 1, and removed to Kentucky, and settled in Mercer 
 County, near Harrodsburg. In 1812, he was made one of the 
 Judges of that county. After the close of the war with Eng- 
 land, and the rebuilding of Fort Dearborn, Judge Jouett again 
 occupied the position of Indian Agent at Chicago, having 
 been re-appointed in 1815, and made the journey to this place 
 across the country, accompanied by his family. 
 
 The first Agency Building, or United States Factory, as 
 sometimes called, Mrs. Whistler told us, was near the river on 
 the south side, a short space above the Fort; and in Mrs. 
 Kinzie's "Waubun," we are informed that "it was an old- 
 fashioned log-building, with a hall running through the centre, 
 and one large room on each side. Piazzas extended the whole 
 length of the building in front and rear." This structure is 
 understood to have been built soon after Mr. Jouett came; 
 it did not of course survive the destruction of the first Fort 
 Dearborn. The Agency House, during Judge Jouett's second 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 105 
 
 term as Indian Agent here, and the home of hisTamily during 
 the period, was on the north side of the river. It was a log- 
 building of two large rooms, standing some "two or three hun- 
 dred yards from the lake," and close by the river. "It was 
 about twenty steps from the river bank," says a lady now liv- 
 ing, a daughter of Judge Jouett, and who, coming with her 
 parents in 18 16, remained here several years. The log-dom- 
 icile referred to, was one built previous to the evacuation of 
 Fort Dearborn, in 1812, and we much believe that it was the 
 same frequently spoken of in connexion with an earlier date 
 as "the Burns house." It stood where is now a freight depot 
 of the N. W. Railroad, at corner of North State and Water 
 Streets. The future building of the Indian Agency, sometimes 
 called "Cobweb Castle," was afterwards erected close by it; 
 indeed it was already commenced, but never occupied or com- 
 pleted during Judge Jouett's sojourn here. We will here 
 remark that the timbers of the old log-building were a stolid 
 witness to a deed of blood, supplementary perhaps to the 
 massacre on the south side. Says Mrs. Callis (the daughter 
 of Judge Jouett before referred to), "The house in which my 
 father lived, was built before the massacre of 1812; I know 
 this from the fact that ' White Elk', an Indian chief, and the 
 tallest Indian I ever saw, was frequently pointed out to me as 
 the savage who had dashed out the brains of the children of 
 Sukey Corbin (a camp-follower and washer-woman), against 
 the side of this very house." We have reason to think that 
 this savage was the same fiend that had previously toma- 
 hawked the dozen other children, after the action and surren- 
 der by the soldiers. Mrs. Jouett told her daughter of a 
 frantic mother,* a former acquaintance of hers, who on that 
 
 * Perhaps the same Mrs. Corbin before referred to, and who is spoken of also 
 in Mrs. Kinzie's "Waubun." In that work the name of Mrs. Corbin appears as 
 part of the statement of Mrs. Helm, but in the earlier published account, from 
 which much of the Waubun account is copied, Mrs. Corbin's name is not ; men- 
 tioned, nor is that part of the incident which is there, given as communicated by 
 Mrs. Helm. This may possibly account for some little indefinitenessor ; confu- 
 sion regarding the locality of the Corbin family murder-. . Yet the main facts of a 
 horrid slaughter cannot be doubted. 
 
106 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 occasion fought the monster all the while the butchery was 
 being done, yet who in turn fell a victim herself. Says Mrs. 
 C. "how I shuddered at the sight of this terrible savage." In 
 Augustin Grignon's Recollections, (Wis. His. Soc. Colls, v. 3,) 
 we find that he speaks of Op-po-mish-shah or the "White Elk" 
 as a Menomonie chief of "considerable distinction." He may 
 have been ; yet if he was the same Indian before spoken of (of 
 which, however, we are not sure, as we supposed the Menom- 
 onies did not take part in the attack at Chicago), his deeds of 
 cowardly butchery here will ever distinguish this child mur- 
 derer as eminent in brutality.* Mrs. C. remembers that Mr- 
 Kinzie lived near the lake, opposite the Fort, at the old cabin 
 or "Kinzie House," the picture of which is familiar to readers 
 of Chicago history. She says, "between my father's house 
 and Mr. Kinzie's was a house occupied by a gunsmith, a Mr. 
 Bridges, who had been a silversmith. A man named Dean 
 had a store near Mr. Kinzie's house; there may have been 
 other houses which I do not remember. Just across the river 
 from our house, and near the river bank, was a little space en- 
 closed by a paling, where, on the surface of the ground, lay- 
 bleaching, the bones of Non-no-ga, an Indian who had be- 
 friended some of the whites in their peril, at the time of the 
 massacre, but was pursued and killed at that spot, it was said. 
 My father's interpreter was James Riley.-f- * • * * 
 
 My mother was respected and loved by the Indians ; many 
 
 * The " White Elk " referred to by Grignon, joined Tecumseh the following 
 year (1813), from which it seems probable that he was the same as the one at 
 Chicago. 
 
 t James Riley, and his brothers Peter and John, were sons of Judge Riley, of 
 Schenectady, who was at one time a trader with the Indians at Saginaw. The 
 boys were half-breeds, the mother being of the Indian race. Judge Wifherell 
 says, "They were educated men. When with white people, they were gentle- 
 manly, high-toned, honorable fellows; when with the Indians in the forest, they 
 could be perfect Indians, in dress, language, hunting, trapping, and mode of liv- 
 ln ^' The three were thorough-going Americans in every 
 
 thought and feeling." The British authorities, it is said, were so jealous of the 
 active enmity of James Riley during the war of 1812, that they procured his cap- 
 ture, and sent him to Halifax for awhile. In what year we are not informed, bat 
 he finally lost his life by the explosion of a keg of gunpowder at Grand Rapids, 
 Michigan. 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 107 
 
 were frequent visitors at her home, and were especially kind 
 to her children, sister and myself. * * * Our 
 
 nurse was an Indian girl, a faithful, devoted servant, who after- 
 ward married a soldier of the garrison." 
 
 We notice that the agents of the Indian Department, within 
 the then Illinois Territory, were all in 181 7, placed under the 
 superintendence of this Territory. "The most strict and vig- 
 orous economy in the expenditures," was enjoined by the War 
 Department, and "the whole amount of the expenditures for 
 the Indian Department within the Illinois Territory, includ- 
 ing rations, presents, contingencies of Agents," etc., etc., was 
 "limited to $25,000 per annum." 
 
 Judge Jouett secured the confidence of the Indians by kind 
 and honorable treatment; we add also that his commanding 
 presence and physical strength doubtless added to his influ- 
 ence with them; his height was six feet and three inches; he 
 was erect, broad-shouldered, and muscular. An incident is 
 told of by Mrs. C. of a fearless encounter which her father had 
 here with a drunken Indian chief named "Mar Pock," (so 
 called from his face being badly disfigured by small-pox,) 
 who was brandishing his scalping-knife with furious menaces, 
 betokening bloody violence ; but Jouett, confronting the savage 
 sternly ordered him to give up his knife; we are told that Mr. 
 Aborigine immediately quailed and surrendered. 
 
 The name given by the Indians to Judge Jouett was "The 
 White Otter;" his negro servant they called "Blackmeat." 
 
 The following, relating to Judge J., written at the time of his 
 decease, was not an unmerited tribute to his worth: 
 
 "Few men in the United States Indian Department ever 
 showed more devotion to the interests of the Government, 
 more unbending integrity of purpose or promptitude of action, 
 or more impartiality and justice to the Indians; few had more 
 the confidence of the Government. The management, finesse, 
 and double-dealing, by which so many Indian Agents have 
 enriched themselves from the spoils of the Indians, whose 
 rights it was their duty to maintain, had no place in the school 
 of honor where he was educated." 
 
108 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 Judge Jouett finally resigned the Agency in Chicago in 1818 
 (or '19), and returned to Mercer County, Ky. He was soon 
 appointed by Mr. Monroe to the position of Judge of the U. 
 S. Court for Arkansas, where he removed, and assisted in the 
 organization of that Territorial Government, etc.; but the 
 unhealthiness of that region at the time obliged him to relin- 
 quish the position within a half year. In 1820, he removed 
 to Trigg County, Ky., which was afterward his home. His 
 death occurred while on his way to Lexington, at the house 
 of a friend in Barren County, Ky., May 28, 1834, being in his 
 62d year. His widow, Mrs. Susan R. Jouett, died near Hop- 
 kinsville, Ky, in 1871. Judge Jouett's children were (1st m.)' 
 Jane Harris, born 1804, died in Christian County, Ky., 1839. 
 (2dm.) Charles La Lime, born in Chicago, Oct., 1809, died 
 1 8 10; Catharine, born in Mercer County, Ky., Feb. 8, 181 1; 
 Susan M., born in Mercer County, Ky., Nov. 18 12; Mildred 
 R., born in Mercer County, Ky., July, 18 14; the two last named 
 are living in Kentucky. Mr. William O. Callis, a grandson of 
 Judge Jouett, now, 1876, resides in Chicago. 
 
 THE FIRST TEMPERANCE SOCIETY OF 
 CHICA GO. 
 
 [The following, by the compiler of this book, appeared in 
 the Chicago Times, perhaps we may as well insert it here, 
 together with a few additional paragraphs:] 
 
 Chicago, June 20, 1876. 
 
 Ed. Chicago Times .-—The efforts of the Hon. John Wentworth 
 to place upon record the facts pertaining to early Chicago history,' 
 deserve much credit, and we wish many of our other early residents 
 would do likewise, and write up their recollections of the rapidly 
 receding past. ' For whether all such impressions may be strictly 
 accurate or otherwise, it is better that they should be told now, when 
 the statements may be examined and verified, or else .corrected or 
 denied, as the case may be. And just here, I wish to say, that the 
 association referred to, called "The First Temperance Society" in 
 "By-gone Days" of last Sunday's Tiihes, is not entitled to such de- 
 signation. The First Chicago Temperance Society did not date its 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 109 
 
 organization in "1835." It had existence, January 30, 1834, and 
 earlier, for on that day it met at the Presbyterian church, and had a 
 new election of officers, as follows: Dr. John T. Temple, Pres.; Dr. 
 Josiah C. Goodhue, Vice-President; Philo Carpenter, Sec. and Treas.; 
 Capt. D. Wilcox, (U. S. A.), M. D. Harmon, Dr. H. Van Der Bogert; 
 Lt. J. L. Thompson, (U. S. A.), Executive Committee. In 1833, J. 
 Watkins was secretary of the same Society. From time immemorial, 
 since the red-man's early acquaintance here with the whites, the fire- 
 water had tracked its serpent-like way without much restraint. Yet 
 the Indians were not the only victims. In 1812, when Capt. Heald, 
 on evacuating Fort Dearborn, endeavored secretly to destroy the 
 liquors in the Fort, by emptying them into the river, the keen nos- 
 trils of the savages detected that effort to smother the spirit-devil. 
 The Indians (from white men's teaching) had an insuperable weak- 
 ness and hankering after the demon, and considered themselves on 
 that occasion, at least, robbed and wronged; and hence, perhaps, an 
 extra spur and edge to the tomahawk and scalping-knife on that luck- 
 less August morning. 
 
 But just a score of years later, for it was in Father Walker's log- 
 cabin at Wolf Point, in the year 1832, there gathered the first tem- 
 perance meeting at Chicago. This was the initiative, leading to the 
 formation of the Chicago Temperance Society. The prime mover 
 and originator of the enterprise, we need scarcely add,- was Philo 
 Carpenter, who had arrived here that season. Mr. C, by the distri- 
 bution of various tracts and papers bearing on the subject, prepared 
 the Chicago public mind for the innovation and shock of so unusual 
 an occurrence as a temperance meeting in the scattered, unfledged, 
 and "rough-and-tumble" settlement. Yet, Mr. C. had the aid of 
 Col. R. J. Hamilton, Col. T. J. V. Owen, Mark Noble, and others, 
 though at the meeting referred to, which was as large as the cabin 
 could accommodate, the principal address devolved upon him. A 
 pledge was also drawn up, which met with varied success, but not a 
 few, alas, of those who signed it, went over soon or slowly, to the 
 enemy. Among the names of the signers,* we may mention that 
 of the Indian chief, Chee-chee-bing-way — Alexander Robinson. Rob- 
 inson received the appeal to sign the pledge with hesitation, and 
 • pointing to his whiskey bottle, acknowledged his attachment to the 
 syren; he afterwards, however, allowed that he believed he had bet- 
 ter join the Society and leave strong drink alone. Signing the pledge, 
 or authorizing his name to be placed thereon, it was not without an 
 exhibition of humor, when he attacked his bottle with a hostile 
 weapon, knocking it this way and that, until effectually demolished. 
 
 It may not be out of .place here to recall a few facts rela- 
 tive to the early history of the mad waters with the Ameri- 
 can Indians. 
 
 * John Noble, an early settler and respected citizen, still living in the vicinity, 
 it is remembered, signed the pledge with the proviso, " wine excepted. " 
 
I IO CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 In 1609, when Henry Hudson made discovery of, and passed 
 into the river which has since borne his name, he, at his first 
 interview with the natives of the shore, gave them to drink 
 of their first bowl of the misnamed "aqua-vita." Indeed, 
 according to a tradition of the Delawares, the Indian name 
 of Manhattan Island (now New York), in its literal interpre- 
 tation, was "the place where we all got drunk? Some three- 
 fourths of a century later, Wm. Penn wrote to his friend, the 
 Earl of Sunderland, and from which letter we extract the fol- 
 lowing: 
 
 Philadelphia, 28, 5 mo.,* 1683. 
 
 My Noble Friend : 
 
 ***** 
 
 "I have lay'd out the Province into Countys. Six are begun to be 
 seated; they lye on the great River, and are Planted about six miles 
 back, the town platt is a mile long, and two deep, — has a navigable 
 river on each side ; the least as Broad as the thames at Woolwych, 
 from 3 to 8 fathom water; there is built about 80 houses, and I have 
 settled at least 300 farms contiguous to it. * * 
 
 The country is in soyle good, aire Sereen (as in Languedock) and 
 sweet from the Ceder Pine, and sassefrax; 
 
 For the people, they are savage to us; in their Persons and furniture 
 all that is rude, but they have great shape, strength, agility; and in 
 Councel, for they (tho in a kind of Community among themselves), 
 observe Property and government, grave, Speak Seldom, inter spaces 
 of Silence, short, elegant, fervent. The old sitt in a half moon upon 
 the grourid, the middle aged in a like figure, at a little distance be- 
 hind them, and the young fry in the same manner behind them; 
 none speak but the aged, they having consulted the rest before; thus 
 in selling me their land, they ordered them selves ; I must say that, 
 their obscurity consider'd, wanting tradition, example, and instruc- 
 tion, they are an extraordinary People. Had not the dutch, Sweeds, 
 and_ English, learn'd them drunkenness (in which condition they kill 
 and burn one another), they had been very tractable, but Rum is so . 
 dear to them, that for 6 Penny worth of Rum, one may buy that fur 
 from them that five shillings in any other commodity shall not Pur- 
 chase. Yet many of the old men, and some of the young People, 
 will not touch with such spirits ; and because in those fitts they mis- 
 chief both themselves and our folks too, I have forbid to sell them 
 any. * * 
 
 WM. PENN." 
 
 We are told that the French king, having been informed 
 
 * July; Ite year beginning in March in those days. 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. Ill 
 
 of the ill effects upon the Indians of the west, from the sale 
 of intoxicating drinks, issued, with the advice of the Catholic 
 Bishops, and the court called Sarbonne, an edict forbidding 
 the transportation of brandy to Michilimackinac, for the pur- 
 pose of traffic. 
 
 Count Frontenac was governor of New France, in 1694, 
 and that year M. de la Motte Cadillac (subsequently the 
 founder of Detroit, governor of Louisiana, etc.) succeeded 
 Louvigny in the command of the post of Michilimackinac 
 and the surrounding region. We make the following extracts 
 from a letter of Cadillac to a friend in Quebec. The language 
 (evidently sincere) was written in behalf of sordid cupidity 
 upon one side and of base abandonment in a degrading habit 
 on the other, and constitutes a plea which will appear curious 
 if not convincing : 
 
 "Fort Buade, Michilimackinac, August 3, 1695. 
 Monsieur : — * * In regard to the decision of 
 
 the Court concerning the transportation of liquors to this place, 
 * * * It is important that you should 
 
 know, in case you are not already informed, that this village is one 
 of the largest in Canada. There is a garrison of well-disciplined, 
 chosen soldiers, consisting of about two hundred- men, the best 
 formed and most athletic to be found in the New World; besides 
 many other persons who are residents here during two or three 
 months in the year. This being an indubitable fact, it seems to me 
 that this place should not be deprived of the privilege, which His 
 Majesty has accorded to all the other places and villages in Canada 
 — the privilege of furnishing themselves with the necessary drinks 
 for their own use. * The situation 
 
 of the place and the food also require it. The houses are arranged 
 along the shore of this great Lake Huron, and fish and smoked 
 meat, constitute the principal food of the inhabitants, so that a drink 
 of brandy after the repast, seems necessary to cook the bilious meats and 
 the crudities which they leave in the stomach. * * 
 
 What reason can there be for the prohibition of intoxicating drinks, 
 in regard to the French who are now here? * * 
 
 What reason can one assign that the savages should not drink brandy 
 bought with their own money.* * * 
 
 * It is not surprising that the selfishness of men of that day, coveting the silver 
 crowns of the French realm, should be regardless of the welfare of others, since 
 even now, near two centuries later, when the world claims to be much wiser, and 
 when this scourge of intoxicating. drinks, the greatest curse of America, surpassing 
 
112 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 This prohibition has much discouraged the Frenchman here from 
 trading in future. * * * It seems very 
 
 strange that they should pretend that the savages would ruin them- 
 selves by drinking. The savage himself- asks why they do not leave 
 him in his beggary, his liberty, and his idleness; he was born -in it, 
 and he wishes to die in it, — it is a life-to which he has been accus- 
 tomed since Adam. Do they wish him to build palaces and orna- 
 ment them with beautiful furniture? He would not exchange his 
 wigwam, and the mat on which he camps like -a monkey, for the 
 Louvre I" 
 
 FIRST SUNDAY-SCHOOL IN CHICAGO. 
 
 It was in 1832, the year of the Black-Hawk war, the year 
 that General Scott's army arrived, bringing with it that terri- 
 ble scourge the Asiatic cholera, (its first year in America,) 
 that occurred two notable events, which, though quiet and 
 unobtrusive, yet not the less memorable, perhaps, as a por- 
 tion of the history of the early town. We allude to the first 
 sabbath-school, as well ' as "the first temperance meeting, in Chi- 
 cago. The last-named gathering has been already described, 
 and the school we will speak of here. 
 
 It will be proper to say, that the spring of that year had 
 not passed without finding Chicago in a condition of unusual 
 excitement. Several murders had been committed by Ind- 
 ians (the Sauks, from the west side of the Mississippi,) among 
 the whites of northern Illinois, and the scattering settlers had 
 flocked in from various localities to Fort Dearborn, which 
 they believed to be the only place of available security. No 
 United States soldiers had occupied the Fort during the past 
 winter, and Chicago, it is said, numbered then only about 
 fifty residents. But the dangers and alarms referred to had 
 sent in a crowd of refugees, and the forepart of the month 
 of May found Fort Dearborn peopled with some six or seven 
 hundred persons. But Illinois and Michigan troops, organ- 
 ized for protection against the foe, and General Scott, who 
 
 all war, debt, pestilence, and famine which our country has ever encountered, 
 still seems not apparent to our rulers, our law-makers, and the majority who com- 
 prise their constituency. . 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 113 
 
 arrived in the month of July with U. S. soldiers, though his 
 force. was more than decimated by the cholera, marched after 
 the red-skins, and the settlers returned to their homes on the 
 prairie. But the fatality which attended the fearful disease 
 could not otherwise than awaken the minds of various indi- 
 viduals to the fact that death reigned in their midst. 
 
 We may say there were at least a few persons then here 
 wit"h decidedly religious proclivities, and hence, as may be 
 supposed, there were prayer - meetings as well as sabbath 
 gatherings, where, if there was no preacher to discourse to 
 them, there were yet printed sermons frequently read to an 
 audience. 
 
 Of the Sunday-school, we have been told, by one of the 
 parties in the enterprise, that it was on a fine summer Sun- 
 day, the 19th of August, 1832, when a few individuals, includ- 
 ing Luther Childs, Mrs. Capt. Seth Johnson, Mrs. Charles 
 Taylor, the Misses Noble, (daughters of Mark Noble,) and 
 Philo Carpenter, organized the first sabbath -school in Chi- 
 cago. The school was first gotten together in a small frame 
 building lately put up by Mark Beaubien on the Reservation, 
 near Mr. Noble's house. The building was incomplete, there 
 being no doors hung or windows in, but there was a floor 
 laid, and the structure was sided up, and some boards were 
 on the rafters. The school, we will add, was afterwards held 
 in various places, as accommodation offered, namely: in the 
 Fort, as well as at Rufus Brown's house, Father Walker's 
 cabin at the Point, and also in the upper part of Mr. Peck's 
 store. From that first school to the present time, each recur- 
 ring sabbath in Chicago has brought the children together 
 for Sunday-school instruction. 
 
 TOWN OF CHICAGO; TRUSTEES' LEASE, 1835. 
 
 c.} SS - 
 
 State of Illinois, 
 County of Cook. 
 This Indenture, made and entered into on the twenty-third day 
 of the month of November, in the year of our Lord one thousand 
 
II 4 ' CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 eight hundred and thirty-five, between Hiram Hugunin, George W. 
 Dole, Samuel Jackson, Eli B. Williams, Francis C. Sherman, James 
 Kinzie, Alexander Loyd, Walter Kimball, and Byram King, the 
 Trustees of the Town of Chicago, being a body politic and corpo- 
 rate, duly 'elected, acting in their corporate name and capacity, of 
 the first part, and Philo Carpenter, of the Town of Chicago in the 
 County of Cook and the State of Illinois aforesaid, of the second 
 part, Witnesseth, that for and in consideration of the sum of one 
 thousand dollars, the sum of two hundred and fifty dollars parcel of 
 the said sum is hereby acknowledged to have been received at and 
 before the signing of these Presents, and the remaining three-fourths 
 part of the first aforesaid sum is to be p.aid to the said Trustees of 
 the Town of Chicago and their successors by whatever name, char- 
 acter, or title their said successors may be hereafter known and dis- 
 tinguished, as follows, namely: The sum of two hundred and fifty 
 dollars in one year from the date of these Presents ; a like sum of 
 two hundred and fifty dollars in two years from the date of these 
 Presents, and a like sum of two hundred and fifty dollars in three 
 years from the date of these presents; each of the said payments to 
 bear interest at the rate of six per centum per annum, until the full 
 and perfect payment of the same, and in consideration of the yearly 
 rent, covenants, conditions, provisos, and agreements, hereinafter ex- 
 pressed and contained, the said Trustees of the Town of Chicago, 
 in their said corporate name and capacity, have let, leased, and de- 
 mised unto the said Philo Carpenter, party of the second part, his 
 heirs, executors, administrators, or assigns, the lot, or wharfing privi- 
 lege, in the said Town of Chicago, opposite to lot number three in 
 block number Nineteen in the said Town of Chicago, as the same 
 was heretofore laid out and flescribed by the Canal Commissioners 
 of the said State of Illinois, being part and parcel of section nine, 
 in Township thirty-nine North, Range fourteen East, of third princi- 
 pal Meridian in the said State of Illinois, the said lot or wharfing 
 privilege more particularly described as follows : the West half of the 
 lot numbered three in the block lettered U, having forty feet upon 
 South Water Street, and a like number of feet upon the Chicago 
 river, and being forty feet in depth from the street to the river, as 
 the same is marked, defined, and designated on the plan -or profile 
 of the said lots, or wharfing privileges, as the same has been pre- 
 pared by Edward B. Talcott, Town Surveyor, under the direction of 
 the said Trustees of the Town of Chicago, and by them filed and 
 deposited in the Recorder's Office for the said County of Cook for 
 public record and for reference in all time to come ; a copy of which 
 said plan or profile is also deposited of record, with the Treasurer of 
 the said Trustees of the Town of Chicago, with all the liberties and 
 privilege belonging to the same not herein otherwise provided 
 against, to have and to hold the said described lot or wharfing privi- 
 lege, and every part and parcel thereof to him, the said Philo Car- 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. IIS, 
 
 penter, party of the second part, his heirs, executors, administrators, 
 or assigns, for, and during the full term and time of nine hundred 
 and ninety-nine years from the date of these Presents, fully to be 
 complete and ended, yielding and paying therefor, yearly and every 
 year during said term, unto the said Trustees of the Town of Chi- 
 cago, and their successors as aforesaid, the yearly rent of one barley 
 corn at or upon the twenty-third day of the month of November in 
 each and every year, if demanded, 
 
 Provided always, and upon condition that if it shall happen that 
 the aforesaid sums of two hundred and fifty dollars, and the interest 
 thereon as aforesaid, or any part thereof shall be behind and unpaid 
 for the space of twenty days next after each of the said three pay- 
 ments shall become due, and ought to be paid as is herein men- 
 tioned, (being lawfully demanded,) that then it shall and may be 
 lawful to, and for the said Trustees of the Town of Chicago, and 
 their successors as aforesaid, to enter into and upon the said before 
 described and hereby leased lot or wharfing privilege, and thg same 
 to retain and repossess. 
 
 And the said Philo Carpenter, party of the second part, for him- 
 self, his heirs, executors, administrators, and assigns, do hereby 
 covenant, promise, and agree to and with the said Trustees of the 
 Town of Chicago and their successors aforesaid, that he will, at his 
 own proper costs and charges, erect and construct a good, sufficient, 
 and permanent dock, five feet in width, along the whole length of 
 the above described and hereby leased lot or wharfing privilege, 
 upon the side thereof nearest the river, to be at all times properly 
 and safely covered and left open at all times for the uses of the pub- 
 lic as a tow and foot path; the top of said dock to be of an uniform 
 heighth with the other docks along the whole length of the said 
 river, the top or surface of the said dock to be three feet above 
 ordinary high water mark, and to be completed and finished within 
 two years from the date of these presents; and in default thereof 
 this lease shall become null and void, and the said above described 
 and hereby leased lot or wharfing privilege, shall revert to the said 
 Trustees of the Town of Chicago and their successors aforesaid, 
 who shall have full right and power to re-enter upon the same and 
 take the entire and absolute possession thereof, and to re-let the 
 same at their will and pleasure. 
 
 And the said Trustees of the Town of Chicago, do hereby cove- 
 nant and agree to and with the said Philo Carpenter, party of the 
 second part, that the said Trustees of the Town of Chicago, and 
 their successors aforesaid, shall and will within four years from the 
 date of these presents, dredge out or remove the earth or soil upon 
 the margin and in the bed of said river, along the line of the said 
 above described leased lot or wharfing privilege, so that the water in 
 the said river shall be at the depth of ten feet at least. 
 
 And it is hereby further covenanted by and between the said Trus- 
 
Il6 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 tees of the Town of Chicago, and their successors aforesaid, and the 
 said Philo Carpenter party of the second part, that the said above 
 described and hereby leased lot or wharfing privilege, shall be liable 
 to all such dues, taxation and duties as other lands, tenements and 
 premises of the said Town of Chicago shall be subject and liable to 
 by law, to be paid by the said Philo Carpenter party of the second 
 part his heirs, executors, administrators, or assigns. 
 
 And it is hereby covenanted and agreed by and between the said 
 Trustees of the Town of Chicago, and their successors aforesaid, 
 and the said Philo Carpenter party of the second part his heirs, ex- 
 ecutors, administrators, or assigns, that they, the said Trustees of the 
 Town of Chicago, and their successors as aforesaid, shall not cause 
 any building or buildings which the said Philo Carpenter party of 
 the second part, his heirs, executors, administrators, or assigns, of 
 the second part, may erect upon the said lot or wharfing privilege, 
 for the greater benefit and better use of the said privilege, to be 
 removed, destroyed, or demolished, 
 
 Provided Always, that every such building or buildings shall be 
 subject to all laws and ordinances of the said Trustees of the Town 
 of Chicago, and their successors aforesaid, in common with other 
 buildings within the limits of the Town of Chicago. 
 
 In Witness Whereof, The parties to these Presents have inter- 
 changeably set their hands and seals in duplicate, the day and year 
 above written, in presence of 
 
 E. Peck, Clerk. 
 
 HIRAM HUGUNIN, 
 GEORGE W. DOLE, 
 ELI B. WILLIAMS, 
 SAMUEL JACKSON, Trustees of the 
 
 [Seal.] FRANCIS C. SHERMAN, 
 
 JAMES KINZIE, Town of Chicago. 
 
 ALEXANDER LOYD, 
 WALTER KIMBALL, 
 BYRAM KING, 
 
 PHILO CARPENTER. [Seal.] 
 
 Recorder's Office, Cook County, Illinois. 
 This is to Certify, That the foregoing Lease was left for Record 
 on the 6th day of January, 1836, and recorded on the 8th 
 day of January, 1836, in Book L of Deeds, page 100. 
 
 RICH'D J. HAMILTON, 
 
 Rec'r, Cook Co., 111. 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. WJ 
 
 ORIGIN OF THE NAME CHICAGO. 
 
 Far back of any printed histories which we have, the 
 locality of Chicago, the River and Portage to the Des Plaines, 
 were well known to the nations of red men occupying the 
 country of the Lakes and Upper Mississippi. The name Chi- 
 cago has been variedly written by early travelers and historians, 
 etc. Commonly, upon the old-time maps, it is printed Chica- 
 goit. LaHonton gives the name Chekakou. Marquette, the 
 missionary, speaks of " Ckackagwessiou" an Illinois, perhaps a 
 chief, who evidently had a decided taste for trade. DuBuis- 
 son, of Detroit, in 1712, tells of a "grand chief" named " Cha- 
 chagonache" of Illinois. In the Treaty of Greenville, the name 
 was written "Chikajo;" Hon. John Wentworth said, in one of 
 his Lectures, "Gen. Wayne spelled Chicago with a 'j' The 
 baby's name, in 1795, was 'jo'. He had not got the go then." 
 
 Some years since, in referring to this subject, we quoted 
 what Mrs. Kinzie had gathered from the Indian tradition, 
 that the place Chicago received its name from a chief who 
 was drowned, a long time past, in the river here. It was per- 
 haps a relief to spme sensitive minds, who disliked the fame 
 of a certain animal as well as the odor of a particular vege- 
 table, when "Waubun" gave to the world that traditional 
 account. But whence came the name of the chief? We sug- 
 gested, when it was urged by some, that a great chief would 
 hardly consent to wear the name of so unsavory an animal as 
 the polecat, even though some of the tribes gave special honor 
 to that quadruped, that possibly the claim of the wild onion 
 might command more respect. Some early traveler we 
 remembered had told that leeks or wild onions were numer- 
 ous here by the stream. Now, the Chicago River was, in 
 olden time, often called "the Divine' River," and (we said) we 
 may, perhaps, be pardoned if we cite a fact, with a feature 
 possibly somewhat analogous, from the banks of the Nile, in 
 Egypt. We have read that, at some former day, along the 
 last-mentioned river, high respect was paid to the onion by 
 the natives, who regarded that bulb as a kind of divinity- 
 
Il8 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 But Chicago is an Indian name, and if the riddle — to get at 
 its origin and signification — cannot be solved here, we scarcely 
 need go to the banks of the Nile, or the Connecticut even, for 
 that purpose. Certainly, we have those in Chicago who can 
 talk Chippewa, zvhoop Dacotah, sing Winnebago, and dance 
 Kickapoo; indeed, there are not a few here with Indian blood 
 in their veins, yet if they cannot help us out of the dilemma, 
 we will endeavor to aid the reader by quoting the following 
 from the press: 
 
 (From H. R. Schooler affs "Oneota.") 
 "Chicago. — This name, in the lake Algonquin dialects, to preserve 
 the same mode of orthography, is derived from Chicagowunzh — the 
 wild onion, or leek. The orthography is French, as they were the 
 discoverers, etc. Kaug, in those dialects, is a porcupine, and She- 
 kaug a polecat. The analogies in these words are apparent; but 
 whether the onion was named before or after the animal, must he 
 judged, if the age of the derivation be sought for." 
 
 (From the Historical Mag., vol. 6, p. 258; J. G. Shea, Editor; 
 August, 1862.) 
 
 "The Meaning of Chicago. — The following query and its reply 
 appeared in the National Banner, Chicago. Can the position of its 
 editor be sustained? 
 
 "'What is the signification of the name Chicago? Is it true that 
 it means skunk, or something strong? Whence do we derive the 
 name of our River and City — Chicago? R.' 
 
 "Reply. — 'The name of Garden City is not, as has been repre- 
 sented by various writers, derived from the Indian word Checaque, 
 meaning leeks, or wild onions, which formerly grew profusely in this 
 vicinity; nor is it derived from Checague, the Indian name for skunk 
 or polecat, but from Checaqua, a name borne by a long line of chiefs 
 of the Tamaroas, the principal tribe of the Illinois Indians, and sig- 
 nifying strong, mighty, powerful; appellations which the wonderful 
 growth of Chicago in wealth, population, and commercial impor- 
 tance richly entitles her to.' — Nat. Ban. 
 
 "We fear not. No authorities are cited, and all that we know 
 militate against it. In Chippewa, the skunk is jikag, as spelt by 
 Baraga, in his dictionary, where he expressly says that the name of 
 Chicago is derived from it. Garlic is yigagawani. In a splendid 
 old manuscript, belonging to a gentleman in Brooklyn, N. Y., and 
 containing a very full Illinois dictionary, skunk is tchicac8o; garlic, 
 8anississia; though chicac8o is given as an improper word for it. If 
 we might conjecture, the name Chicago might come from Chigaakwa 
 or Jigaakwa— the woods are thin; but, as Indian tradition, the source 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 119 
 
 of Baraga's information, gives the derivation from chica8o, which 
 means primarily skunk, and secondly garlic, it would seem to be 
 most likely. The assertion that it is derived from the chief, Chicago, 
 needs proof. Marquette, LaSalle, and his companions mention the 
 River Chicago under the names Checagou, Chicagou ; but, during all 
 that time, there is no allusion to any chief of the Tamaroas by name 
 Chicago; and the Tamaroas dwelt at a distance from Chicago. At 
 a subsequent date, and after the commencement of the 18th century, 
 Chicago (not Checaqua), an Illinois chief, went to France, and the 
 name then first appears as the name of a chief. The next assertion, 
 that in Illinois Chicago means strong, mighty, powerful, is unsup- 
 ported by the Illinois dictionary, which gives, — powerful, metchi- 
 kir8o; / am strong, nichin chira8e; I am great, mecha8i It seems, 
 therefore, necessary to prove — 1st, that there were chiefs of the 
 name of Chicago prior to 1673; 2d, that the Tamaroas resided at 
 Chicago; 3d, that it means strong, great, powerful. It should not 
 be omitted that LeClercq mentions the Chicago as the Divine River. 
 Whether this epithet was intended as an interpretation of the name, 
 does not appear. J. G. S." 
 
 (From His. Mag., vol. 6, p. 338.) 
 "The Rev. Louis Lafleche, a good Cree scholar, in a list of Ind- 
 ian names, with definitions, in the Rapport sur les Missions for April, 
 1857, Quebec, p. 101, says: Chicago, at the skunk (Cree), from Chi- 
 kak, skunk; which makes Shikakok in the locative case. B." 
 
 (From the Chicago Tribune, Aug. 10, 1879.) 
 CHIC A GO : Origin and Meaning of the Name. 
 To the Editor of the Tribune. 
 
 In preparing an article on Chicago, I had occasion, recently, to 
 investigate the original signification and use of the word Chicago. 
 
 We have had more than a score of lectures and historical sketches, 
 in which the origin of this word has been given, with quotations 
 from various authorities : but I found the discrepancies in these dif- 
 ferent statements so great that it was not easy to decide on the 
 real meaning of the original words, without looking beyond them. 
 I accordingly directed my inquiries to a master of the Indian 
 tongues, and obtained from him the information I desired. 
 
 Before presenting his letter, I will first introduce some of the most 
 important notices of the name Chicago that have been published, 
 together with several statements which have been kindly furnished 
 by those who have made this question a matter of special study : 
 
 The Chicago Magazine for May, 1857, has the following: 
 
 "Along the shores of the river, among the sedgy grass, the wild 
 onions grew in great abundance. The Indian name for these pe- 
 culiarly native productions is Chi-ka-go. It was very natural that 
 the Indians should give to this locality that name which more than 
 anything else to their minds gave it character; therefore they called 
 
120 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 it Chicago. Chi-ca-go-nauk, in the Pottawatomie language, would 
 mean Chicago land, or place." 
 
 The Hon. Sidney Breese, who settled in Kaskaskia in 1818, re- 
 cently wrote the Hon. John Wentworth : 
 
 "I have a copy of a map, which I made from one in the Congres- 
 sional Library, which I found among the papers of President Jeffer- 
 son, made in 1685; in which is a place on the lake shore, about 
 where your city now is, marked 'Chicagou'; and Father Louis 
 Vivier, who was a priest at Kaskaskia in 1752, in a letter to his 
 superior, says : ' Chikagou was a celebrated Indian Chief who went 
 to Paris, and the Duchess of Orleans, at Versailles, gave him a 
 splendid snuff-box, which he was proud to exhibit, on his return, to 
 his brother redskins.'" 
 
 Mrs. John H. Kinzie, who had peculiar facilities for studying the 
 early history of Chicago, writes in Wau-bun: 
 
 "The origin of the name Chicago is a subject of discussion; some 
 of the Indians deriving it from the fitch, or polecat, others from the 
 wild onion, with which the woods formerly abounded; but all agree 
 that the place received its name from an old Chief who was drowned 
 in the' stream in former times. That this event, although so care- 
 fully preserved by tradition, must have occurred in a very remote 
 period, is evident from an old French manuscript brought by Gen. 
 Cass from France. 
 
 "In this paper, which purports to be a letter from M. de Ligney, 
 at Green Bay, to M. de Siette, among the Illinois, dated as early as 
 1726, the place is designated as ' Chicagoux.'' This orthography is 
 also found in old family letters of the beginning of the present cen- 
 tury." 
 
 From "Discovery and Conquests of the Northwest, with the His- 
 tory of Chicago." By Rufus Blanchard: 
 
 "These unlettered lexicographers gave symbolic names to their 
 rivers, lakes, islands, and to themselves, and in their vocabulary they 
 had the name Chicago, which, in the language of the Illinois tribes, 
 meant an onion. This is all it meant in a positive sense; and by 
 this name the place where our city stands has 'been known from a 
 period antedating its history. It is highly probable that it was thus 
 named because wild onions grew in great profusion there." 
 
 Schoolcraft, in his "Thirty Years with the Indian Tribes," under 
 date of 1834, says: 
 
 "The etymology of Chicago appears to be this: 
 " Chi-cag, Animal of the Leek, or Wild Onion. 
 " Chi-cag-o-wunz, The Wil'd Leek, or Polecat Plant. 
 u Chi-ca-go, Place of the Wild Leek." 
 
 From Chamberlin's "Chicago and Its Suburbs": 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 121 
 
 "A popular but superficial writer makes even the name Chicago an 
 aboriginal memorial of the repulsive site. So the phrase of euchre- 
 players, sent to Chicago, instead of the coarser word skunked, em- 
 bodied the same error. But philologists recognize the word Che- 
 caqua, through various corruptions, as one of the Indian names of 
 irate Deity, — the thunder god, much like the Scandinavian Thor. 
 The dignity of the name is placed beyond dispute, not only by its 
 etymology, but by the frequency with which, in the old French 
 maps of 1684, 1687, 1688, 1696, etc., the great Mississippi himself 
 is called 'Chacaqua or Divine River.'" 
 
 Statement of the Hon. William - Bross : 
 
 "All my information gained from the early settlers of the city, and 
 from an examination and comparison of historical records, leads me 
 to believe that Chicago is the Indian name for skunk, and I am con- 
 firmed in this opinion by the fact that our Iowa neighbors have a 
 considerable river which they call ' Chicagua or Skunk River.' Mr. 
 Lo and his family are by no means squeamish as to the words they 
 use, as I learned on my recent trip up the Missouri River." 
 
 Mr. Gurdon S. Hubbard, who is still living, came to Chicago in 
 1 818. He was perfectly familiar with the Indian language, and he 
 now says : 
 
 "There can be no question as to the word Chicago being an Ind- 
 ian word; and the meaning is skunk, onion, or smelling thing." 
 
 Mr. A. I). Hager, Secretary of the Chicago Historical Society, 
 says: 
 
 "I will give it as my opinion that the literal meaning of the word 
 Chicago is itrength or strong. Chicago, in its different spellings, 
 meant, in the Indian language, skunk, wild onion, and was also a 
 name applied to a powerful (strong) chief." 
 
 Dr. William Barry, first Secretary of the Chicago Historical So- 
 ciety, who has given much attention to this question, makes the 
 following statement: 
 
 "Whatever may have been the etymological meaning of the word 
 Chicago, in its practical use it probably denoted strong or great. 
 The Indians applied this term to the Mississippi River, to thunder, 
 or the voice of the Great Manitou; and, according to Bossu, there 
 was a successive line of Illinois Chiefs bearing the name Chicago, 
 one of whom went to France, and was there honored with a medal." 
 
 Mr. Edwin Hubbard, the genealogist, adopts a similar view, and 
 says the word Chicago, in its applications, "signified strong, mighty, 
 powerful." 
 
 After comparing these various opinions, and many others, I wrote 
 to Dr. J. Hammond Trumbull, of Hartford, Conn., who is the 
 highest authority in the country on all questions relating to the 
 Indian tongues. His statement in regard to the etymological deri- 
 
122 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 vation of the word Chicago leaves no further question on that point. 
 He writes as follows : 
 
 "The meaning of the name Chicago is not doubtful. 'Chicagou' 
 (as the French wrote the name) signifies 'The Skunk,' — and cannot 
 be made to signify anything else. It has (with slight modifications 
 of local dialects) this meaning in all Indian languages of that region. 
 
 "As the name comes to us through the French, the first syllable 
 indicates the French pronunciation of the Indian name. Dr. James, 
 in a note to Tanner's Narrative, 1830, observes that the common 
 Indian pronunciation is ' Shig-gau-go,' and, with the locative inflection 
 ' Shiggaugo-ong, at Chicago.' In the same dialect (Chippeway) James 
 writes, 'Shegahg, sjtunk'; ' Shiggaugawinje, onion, i. e. skunk-weed.' 
 Bishop Baraga, in his excellent 'Otchipwe Dictionary,' has '■Jikag.' 
 [French j'= Engl, zh], polecat, fitchat, fitchew,' and notes: 'From 
 this word is derived the name of the City of Chicago.' For garlic 
 or wild onion, he gives Jigaga-wanj , and kitchi-jigaga-wanj [big 
 skunk- weed], or the garden onion. 
 
 " Chicagou, as the French name for the river, may be traced back 
 at least to 1679. (See 'Chicago from 1673 t0 J 7 2 5>' by Dr. J. G. 
 Shea, in the Historical Magazine, v., 99 — 104.) The French learned 
 it from the Miamis, the nearly-related Weas, or the Illinois. 'Chi- 
 cagou,' who went to .France, with other Indians, in 1725, is called 
 'Chief of the Illinois' (Shea's Charlevoix, vi., 76, note). In the Illi- 
 nois language, Chicagoua, as Father Gravier wrote it, is the equiva- 
 lent of the Chippeway Jikag of Baraga, 'bete puante.' 
 
 "I infer-that the appellation of a chief or brave — 'The Skunk' — 
 was transferred by the French to the river, and passed from the 
 river to the locality when a French post was established there. 
 
 "The Rev. James Evans, a Wesleyan Missionary to the Chippe- 
 ways and Crees of Canada, and a master of both languages, in his 
 Chippeway 'Speller and Interpreter,' printed in 1837, gives the same 
 words (though in a different notation) for 'skunk' and 'onion, leek, 
 skunk-weed,' that are given by Edwin James and Baraga, and in a 
 foot-note to 'Segimg' \=Zhegahg\ a skunk, says: 'From this the City 
 of Chicago derives its name.' " 
 
 In summing up the results, I find 'the main facts to be these : 
 
 1. The original meaning of the word Chicago is skunk. 
 
 2. In its uses, it became a synonym of strong, mighty, great, etc. 
 
 3. It was applied to the skunk, to the wild onion, to a line of 
 Indian Chiefs, to the Mississippi River, and to thunder, or the voice 
 of the Great Spirit. 
 
 4- The place was called Chicago from an Indian Chief of that 
 name, who, at some remote period, was drowned in the river on 
 which Chicago is situated. 
 
 Aug. 9, 1879. Wl H ' WELLS - 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 1 23 
 
 (From the Chicago Tribune, August 15, iSyp.) 
 Origin of the Name " Chicago." 
 
 Chicago, Aug. 13. — I am pleased to see the communication of 
 Mr. W. H. Wells in The Tribune of the 10th inst, in relation to the 
 origin and meaning of the name Chicago, and quoting various ex- 
 pressions of opinion in the matter from sundry individuals. It is 
 well to bring .together these views of intelligent persons; though, 
 however learned any may be in Indian philology or etymological 
 derivation, however ingenious may be their hypotheses and inferen- 
 ces, they can tell Kttle to afford us material light beyond what -we 
 have had already. 
 
 Mr. Wells' quotes what the Chicago Indians told Mrs. Kinzie ; 
 namely: that the place received its name from an old chief, who was 
 drowned in the stream here in former time. This is a pretty story 
 enough; yet Indian gossip called tradition is rather a feeble staff to 
 lean upon, particularly where it reaches back for centuries; and we 
 have "Chicago", with slightly varied orthography, upon the maps for 
 near 200 years. The tale unquestionably has the popular belief, 
 though the early explorers and travelers say nothing of it. The 
 reasonable conclusion must be that the little quadruped, that cou- 
 rageous little rascal known to naturalists by the several names of 
 Viverra Mephitis, Stifling Weasel, Striated Weasel, Mustela Ameri- 
 cana, and Mephitis America7ia, gave its aboriginal name to the 
 locality, whether it passed directly or by inheritance, as the mantle, 
 or rather blanket, of some big Indian. It is all one and the same 
 name, we suppose, though we find it in old histories and maps in 
 varied forms of orthography, as follows: "Chicagou," "Chicagoux," 
 "Checagou," "Eschecagou," "Les Checagou," "Fort Chicagou," 
 "Point Chicagou River," "Portage de Chegakou," "Chikajo," etc. 
 
 If, then, our city owes the great debt of its name for all time to 
 that curious and peculiar weasel (thanks to the naturalists for that 
 term; it is not so abrupt a word, and is certainly more poetical than 
 skunk), then let us study up his good qualities; for our municipality 
 may yet with great propriety place upon the city seal or coat-of-arms, 
 as its crest, a portrait of his form. In 1654, New Amsterdam, now 
 the City of New York, had a beaver represented on its seal. When 
 our population reaches a million, it might be a sensible idea to drop 
 that totem of the baby on our city seal. Perhaps I should here 
 apologize to the Hon. John Wentworth, for I am aware of his ten- 
 der recollections and fondness still for that same baby. Indeed, I 
 remember hearing him speak its lullaby in the words of the old 
 nursery song, beginning, "Hush, my dear, lie still and slumber." 
 For a live, stirring, mighty city like Chicago, perhaps the quadruped 
 would be more appropriate and preferable to the forever sleeping- 
 infant. You can seldom catch a weasel asleep. Should it happen 
 that our wise suggestion may be adopted, it will be only a graceful 
 
124 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 act to extend to those who believe in the garlic theory a braided 
 wreath of the leaves of the leek, to surround the aforesaid city seal. 
 Some, perhaps, claiming it to be more imposing, might prefer the 
 fleur delis in place of the leek; inasmuch as this plant also used to 
 be abundant here by the stream, and regarding too the historical fact 
 that it was the insignia of Louis the Grand, King of the French, the 
 monarch who owned the soil here in the days when Marquette came. 
 But the French lilies by the Chicago were at length trampled out by 
 the British Lion ; and that feline with the shaggy mane was in turn 
 smothered and brushed away by the banner of stars. The leek was 
 our own; and the skunk, or, rather weasel, was and is specially our 
 own by memorable prescription ; and we need scarcely recoil at the 
 imaginary fragrance of a name while we have endured for years the 
 literal perfumes of Bridgeport without a riot. The little animal of 
 which 1 will speak further, I may say, is not an unworthy representa- 
 tive of Chicago in one respect; its enterprise and active arms extend 
 all over the Continent; he is found from Labrador to Chili. His 
 conquests are those of industrious enterprise. He is called a peace- 
 ful animal, and no doubt has very correct sentiments regarding jus- 
 tice; he never begins an attack; but we must believe that he might 
 say to his enemies, "Please forbear, else you may get the worst of it, 
 when pop goes the weasel." He makes little noise or bravado; yet 
 he is a plucky fighter. Among the Sioux Indians, skunk skins are a 
 badge of honor; only the tried braves are allowed to wear them on 
 their heels. 
 
 As for the matter of strength, applied to the skunk, I am inclined 
 to think the claim is not a happy one. Ordinarily, I do not think 
 he is stronger than a woodchuck; and in the exceptional cases his 
 strength is but weakness, causing, if not envy, at least dire animosity 
 among all his neighbors. Therefore I will not make a boast of the 
 strength of our peaceful little warrior. 
 
 HENRY H. HURLBUT. 
 
 CANE PRESENTATION, 1863. 
 
 Archibald Clybourn was born in Giles County, Virginia, 
 August 28, 1802, and reached Chicago August 5, 1823. A 
 party of the friends of Mr. C, mostly old settlers, on the 
 fortieth anniversary of his arrival, and in commemoration of 
 that event, were mindful of the day, and paid him their re- 
 spects at his residence on Wednesday evening, August 5, 
 1863. Hon. John Wentworth was chosen Chairman, and 
 Henry M. Hugunin, Esq., Secretary. There were speeches 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 125 
 
 and a supper; fine music was supplied by the Union Band; 
 and the graceful testimonial of a cane was presented to Mr. 
 Clybourn. 
 
 Mr. Wentworth, on taking the chair, referred to the early 
 settlement and rapid growth of our City; and, with words 
 highly complimentary to Mr. Clybourn, he added "that he 
 had been called an old settler, and he was one; but, when he 
 came to Chicago, Archibald Clybourn was as well known here 
 as he is now. Last year, the City thought enough of Mr. 
 Clybourn to come out and embrace him — his whole family — 
 homestead and all; he was taken in by the City, and now the 
 citizens had come out to let him take them in." 
 
 Mr. John H. Kinzie, being called for, spoke briefly, refer- 
 ring to the past of Chicago, and the gathering of our old citi- 
 zens at this festival. 
 
 A committee was appointed to enroll the names of the old 
 citizens present, and the presentation speech by Mr. Shu- 
 man, and the response by Mr. Clybourn, were as follows: 
 
 By Mr. Shuman: "Mr. Clybourn, a number of your old friends, 
 desirous of testifying to you their appreciation and admiration of 
 your earnest loyalty and plucky patriotism, as displayed on at least 
 one striking occasion since this struggle for our national preservation 
 commenced; and wishing, also, to possess you of a substantial testi- 
 monial of their friendship, which, during the many years of their ac- 
 quaintance and intercourse with you, has ripened into a permanent 
 and precious sentiment, have prepared for you this beautiful cane, 
 which they have delegated me to present to you on this occasion. 
 May it prove a prop to your declining years, as well as be a lasting 
 testimonial from old friends and fellow-citizens who know you well, 
 and who respect and esteem you heartily because they do know you 
 so well. Permit me, sir, both in behalf of those for whom I speak 
 and in my own behalf, to congratulate you upon the many years of 
 life a good Providence has vouchsafed to you, and upon whatever 
 good fortune has attended your forty years' residence here. You have 
 seen Chicago rise and expand, from the nothing it was when you first 
 came here, to be the great metropolis of the West; you have grown 
 with its growth, prospered with its prosperity, rejoiced in its prog- 
 ress. Chicago must be to you like a pet child that has come up 
 to manhood under your watchful eye, and the object of your jealous 
 and honorable pride. May you live to see a continuance of its 
 growth and progress for many years to come. May you live, sir, to 
 celebrate forty more anniversaries here, and so see Chicago the 
 
126 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 greatest city on the American continent — an event by no means 
 impossible if the future may be judged by its past history. Accept 
 this, sir, as a testimonial of the honest regard of old and true 
 friends." 
 
 On receiving the cane, Mr. Clybourn said: 
 
 " Mr. Shuman and Gentlemen : I accept this cane as a present, 
 and will endeavor to preserve it, and hand it down to my latest pos- 
 terity. This is the happiest hour of my life. I am happy to see so 
 many old and familiar faces at my own home, and to be so highly 
 and unexpectedly complimented." After briefly referring to the hap- 
 py days of the past, trying times though they were, he added : "Those 
 who have lived through those days, and are now met together, have 
 a sympathy and fellow-feeling which new-comers cannot understand 
 or appreciate. I will accept this cane, and endeavor never to dis- 
 grace it, or incur the displeasure of the donors. I came here from 
 the 'Old Dominion,' which until two years ago had never done a 
 wicked thing. I have always been loyal to the core, and always will 
 be. I cannot express my gratitude to my friends for this token of 
 their remembrance — this magnificent present. I am happy to see 
 every one who has come to see me; and I hope you will all do your 
 best to make yourselves and those around you happy." 
 
 The cane, a beautiful' specimen of manufacture, was of a 
 dense and heavy species of California wood, with a sold gold 
 head, made by the late Isaac Speer, of Chicago, and inscribed 
 as follows: 
 
 "Presented to A. Clybourn, 'the oldest inhabitant,' Snd the true 
 and fearless patriot, by his friends of Chicago, Aug. 5, 1863." 
 
 After a short and patriotic speech by Brig.- Gen. John 
 McArthur, the company made a successful charge on the 
 supper-table; and, in the words of Mr. Hugunin, who fur- 
 nished the report of the proceedings to the Journal, "While 
 it does honor to the giver of the feast, all fervently pray that 
 when his half-century in Chicago is ended he may, in a green 
 old age, again gather around him the many and sincere 
 friends of his youth who may then survive to congratulate 
 him." 
 
 We will here add, that Mr. Clybourn did not survive to 
 quite reach "his half-century in Chicago," having died at his 
 residence August 23, 1872. 
 
 We append a part of the names of those who comprised 
 the gathering, omitting the dates of arrival, as given, as the 
 list from which we copy contains various errors: 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 127 
 
 Mr. & Mrs. Archibald Clybourn. 
 
 11 11 John H. Kinzie. 
 
 11 n {3. B. Cobb. 
 
 n 11 Philo Carpenter. 
 
 11 11 Wm. Osborn. 
 
 n 11 Jerome Beecher. 
 
 11 11 L. P. Hilliard. 
 Alexander Wolcott. 
 Thomas Church. 
 John Wentworth. 
 J. J. Richards. 
 Calvin DeWolf. 
 Henry M. Hugunin. 
 D. C. Thatcher. 
 S. F. Gale. 
 Isaac Speer. 
 Benj'n T. Lee. 
 R. M. Hough. 
 Wm. H. Clarke. 
 K. K. Jones. 
 J. W. Steele. 
 Joel Ellis. 
 
 Joseph Wilson. 
 Thomas Speer. 
 J. H. Fisher. 
 James Lane. 
 Timothy Wright, 
 Wm. H. Stow. 
 John Bates, Jr. 
 J. M. Van Osdel. 
 Thomas M. Downing. 
 Joel H. Wicker. 
 W. H. Morris. 
 C P. Albee. 
 Luther Nichols. 
 Fernando Jones. 
 Lemuel Brown. 
 J. V. Buxton. 
 Mrs. R. A. Kinzie. 
 
 11 W. H. Adams. 
 
 n S. G. Pitkin. 
 
 11 W. Robinson. 
 
 11 Maria Adams. 
 
 11 Edw. Simons. 
 
 NARROW ESCAPE. 
 
 An early comer tells us of a cholera incident, of 1832, as 
 related to him by a Sergeant in Fort Dearborn, whose name 
 was Carpenter. It was after General Scott's arrival, and the 
 stricken troops were fast dying with the dreadful disease; 
 Serg't C. was on duty one morning, when two soldiers, appar- 
 ently dead, were ordered to be taken out and thrown into the 
 dead-pit. This grave or pit was a large excavation near 
 Wabash avenue, not far from the river. The stretchers were 
 brought and the bodies taken out to the hole, and one of 
 them thrown in. When they moved toward the other, to 
 put him in, the man turned his head and shoulders, showing 
 plainly that he was alive. The Sergeant said he gave utter- 
 ance to the sensible remark, "This man is not ready to be 
 buried yet," and ordered him taken back. The fresh air had 
 given him renewed animation, and" extended to the supposed 
 dead man a new lease of existence; for it is understood that 
 he recovered. 
 
128 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 THE OLD GUN; or, THE "MONS MEG" OF FORT 
 DEARBORN. 
 
 The inquiry has been made, and which also appears on 
 page 43 of this volume, relative to the whereabouts of a gun, 
 "a part of the armament of Fort Dearborn thrown into the 
 river at the evacuation of 1812." After not a little search, we 
 have had the pleasure of meeting a gentleman whose knowl- 
 edge of the matter is probably surpassed by none, and to 
 whom we are mainly indebted for the details of this article. 
 It will be proper, however, to say. that, since our informant's 
 first acquaintance with the gun, the mists of long years have 
 intervened, which possibly may have dimmed his recollection 
 regarding various particulars, and some of the names and 
 'dates may have been misplaced, and a little out of joint; yet. 
 it is our candid and unyielding belief that the greater part, 
 or at least one : half of the story, is reliable, and perfectly true. 
 
 It has been supposed that there were two cannon sunk in 
 the stream on the eve of the abandonment, in August, 1812; 
 but we are able to tell of the finality of only one. Whether 
 , the, other still rests in its bed of mud and ooze, just opposite 
 where the. sally-port, or rather the northern gate of the Fort, 
 which looked out upon the natural, ample, and ever-flooded 
 ditch that surrounded two sides of the fortress, where it was 
 tumbled and unceremoniously pitched, or else gently lowered, 
 into the water; or whether it has already been fished up; or 
 whether there was really an "other" gun, is what we do not 
 here propose to demonstrate or decide. 
 
 It was somewhere about the middle of the present century, 
 when Hon. James Curtiss (or, if not he, some one else,) was 
 Mayor of this even then city of lofty aspirations, that a 
 dredge was busily at work scooping up the sand and clay, or 
 whatever might obstruct navigation inside the harbor. Some- 
 thing too unwieldy for the. mud-shovel, capacious as it was, to 
 dip up and toss upon the scow, whether it was block, column, 
 bowlder, or anything else that you might have been pleased 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 1 29 
 
 to suppose it, the dredge encountered. Yet the voluminous 
 spoon scraped around it, and moreover caught on one end 
 and half raised the thing upright in its pit. A pike was 
 brought into requisition, and by that it was allowed that they 
 had found something huge, hard, and heavy; then a chain 
 was lowered, and by hook and coil, or noose, the lasso caught 
 around it. The steam apparatus now began puffing away, 
 and up, up rose the cable, and, dripping with dirt from the 
 water, came also the object referred to, at the lower end of 
 the chain. Avast heaving there that windlass! what have we 
 now? Can it.be that we have raised from the depths one of 
 the antideluvians, a fossil sea-dog, perhaps, or a monstrous 
 lizard or salamander? From its head it tapers gradually tail- 
 ward, while two stumps of arms or flippers are plainly to be 
 seen. Or, possibly, it is one of the famed dolphins, with its 
 brilliancy still intact; for we perceive through the covering of 
 mud a golden patch, glittering in the sunshine. Here on the 
 dredge, though, we must remember that we are in classic 
 waters; just ashore there was the old Fort Dearborn; its site 
 was within the lines of the present enclosure ; it was once the 
 citadel as well as forum of this more-to-be-than-imperial 
 Rome. Our thoughts turn back to the time of the older 
 Whistler, the builder of the fortress, who was once a British 
 soldier, captured with Burgoyne at Saratoga. Subsequently; 
 in the U. S Army, he was wounded in St. Clair's conflict and 
 defeat in November, '91. Yet afterward, no doubt, within 
 the stockade of Fort Dearborn, he cordially received Meche- 
 cunnaqua the renowned Little Turtle, who had been the 
 leader of the enemy in the disastrous field above named. 
 Little Turtle was frequently at Chicago; after the Treaty at 
 Greenville, he was ever, the fast friend of our Government 
 and the American people. There were other famed com- 
 mandants and noted chiefs who met on that arena, yet we 
 cannot here attempt an imperfect catalogue even, of the 
 celebrities of our storied fortress; but may say that there 
 have been giants here in past days. 
 
 Inanimate objects often acquire, from their human associa- 
 
 9 
 
130 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 tions, distinguished and greatest value. Comprehending the 
 situation, therefore, and the nature of the particular prize just 
 fished up, we are forced to assert, that never before nor since 
 in Chicago has there hung, suspended from a crane derrick, 
 so remarkable a memento, so much embodied yet unwritten 
 history. So lower away there! This was done, and the find 
 was laid upon the deck, and washed without and within, 
 showing a bright and beautiful piece of brass ordnance, un- 
 derstood to be a six-pounder, and bearing upon its face, our 
 informant assures us, an etched representation of the British 
 Crown. The news of the recovery of the gun soon reached 
 the ears of the city authorities; and we beg to remark, that 
 there is just here a most excellent opportunity to recite a 
 homily, and that such an effort would be appropriate and 
 expedient if the discouraging fact did not stare us in the 
 face, that of the great mass of homilies delivered, but a 
 small fraction of them are ever heeded or followed. Yet on 
 the present occasion there were principles, good sense, and 
 good manners involved, the same as in those of some greater 
 events in the history of nations, of which we have some 
 knowledge. There is often no occasion to distinguish be- 
 tween royalty or republicanism, between monarchical and 
 aristocratical illiberality, or the tyranny of democratic and 
 official despotism, whether attending the nations, states, or 
 municipalities. These remarks are occasioned by the assur- 
 ance which we have, that no thanks by the city government 
 or any other government were given to those who lifted the 
 cannon up from the river bed into daylight; no compliments 
 were made through the press; no polite note written at the 
 instance of the city or national authorities concerning the 
 transfer of the piece; no public reception was suggested 
 where every citizen should be invited, when the mounted gun, 
 revered by the patriot, caressed by the children, arrayed with 
 flowers and garlanded with speeches, might respond to the 
 crowd in its own emphatic language. 
 
 It may be reasonably supposed, that the War Department 
 or General Government had the best legal title to the cannon; 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 131 
 
 it was said that the City ordered that dredge work, which 
 very likely it did, and possibly considered that its claim sur- 
 passed all others. At any rate, the City Marshal, Ambrose 
 Burnam, suddenly appeared upon the dredge and took pos- 
 session of the piece, and had it landed on the North Side; 
 but, like any common plunder, he dumped it into the tool- 
 house, a small, low, wooden building just below Scranton's 
 rope-ferry, where Rush Street bridge is now. 
 
 It is not strange, that the individual most active in the 
 resurrection of the piece was somewhat annoyed at the course 
 matters had taken; and the sentiment did not slumber, but 
 rankled in the heart that felt itself wronged. Whether or no 
 partisanship or political animosities helped to bind the sheaf 
 of conspirators from the outset, we will not say; though the 
 political complexion of most of the band, subsequently, 
 might seem to warrant that inference. Morgan L. Shapley, 
 it is understood, was connected with the dredge, and was the 
 one especially aggrieved, and was the one foremost in planning 
 the scheme of attack and reprisal. He had no difficulty in 
 presenting reasons sufficient to secure the sympathy and aid 
 of a few enterprising and kindred spirits. Of these were Cap- 
 tain Fred. Wheeler, of one of the lake steamers, and David 
 C. Thatcher, of Chicago, besides several others. We may 
 say, that it was but an act of ordinary politeness to knock at 
 the door of that shanty for admittance; but, as no answering 
 word of welcome came, the door mysteriously swung upon 
 its hinges, and the relief squad filed in. It was not a large 
 yawl that Captain Wheeler furnished for the expedition that 
 evening; and we will here refer to the fact, that before the 
 cargo was quite in position on board, and the crew in place, 
 the weighty cylinder slid or shifted upon a block beneath, 
 and came near swamping or upsetting the craft and all on 
 board, seriously jeopardizing life, limb, and the pleasant pro- 
 gress of the adventure. Yet an equilibrium was mastered at 
 length; and, with oars in row-locks, and her prow turned 
 westward, we will say that gently and steadily the boat 
 moved up the stream. We have the best of evidence that 
 
132 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 the evening was bright and calm; and it is not surprising, 
 
 with mind pervaded by the fact that they had luckily escaped 
 
 a damp and unpleasant, if not a more serious, accident, and 
 
 with the peaceful and lovely surroundings of that beautiful 
 
 night, that one of the party should begin the recital of the 
 
 fine lines of. Charles Wolf, namely: "The Burial of Sir John 
 
 Moore," commencing, — 
 
 " Not a drum was heard, not a funeral note, 
 As his corse to the ramparts we hurried." 
 
 The rehearsal of the full eight stanzas was scarcely fin- 
 ished when they had arrived at Lake street, where, near the 
 corner of Market (as many will remember), stood the old red 
 warehouse, at that time occupied by Captain R. C. Bristol* 
 There, under the rather open wharf, the gun was settled 
 down beneath the surface of the water. 
 
 Many, no doubt, will remember a peculiar-looking class of 
 water craft which, more than thirty years ago, navigated our 
 river. There were dozens of them, and generally manned by 
 rough-looking, half-grown youngsters. Always guiltless of 
 paint, they bore invariably a genuine mud tint, or rat color, 
 indeed they were called "wharf rats;" and such was their con- 
 struction, hollowed out of a small log in the form of a pirogue, 
 (never more than ten feet long by fifteen inches in breadth), 
 they could run their heads into almost any place which might 
 receive their prototypes, the rodents. Numerous half-built 
 and incompletely piled wharves gave them caves for shelter, 
 and to hide their plunder. Whatever their masters may have 
 claimed to follow as their occupation, it was generally under- 
 stood to be that of freebooters and pirates, whose hands were 
 given to the weakness of appropriating other folks' goods. 
 Anything lying around loose, that was portable, had wonder- 
 ful attraction for them: and the boats referred to, though 
 crank as cockle-shells, yet, in their capacity for freight, it was 
 wonderful how much they would carry. 
 
 * Robert C. Bristol, in 1834, in the Brig John Kinzie, of which vessel he was 
 master (built the year previous under his direction), took from Grand River, 
 Mich., the first cargo of wheat from Lake Michigan. The amount was about 
 2000 bushels. 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 1 33 
 
 Well, though covered when left there the evening before, 
 the water had now fallen away, by a change in the wind per- 
 haps, and left the gun uncovered, or at least partly exposed; 
 and the pirates of the pirogues had discovered it, and what 
 they judged would be a rare prize. A very good joke is told 
 of Alexander the Great, that he shed tears, indeed that he 
 audibly boo-hoo-ed, when, in one of his unusual or sober mo- 
 ments, he was given to understand that there were no more 
 worlds to conquer. Rather covetous that, it seems to us, in 
 Alexander; yet there is no limit to human or inhuman desire 
 or ambition to acquire and accumulate; and it was an inci- 
 dent not devoid of the humorous, that those juvenile thugs 
 spoken of were intending to carry off the cannon, maugre its 
 heftiness, at an early opportunity, in one of their diminutive 
 pirogues. Members of the "club" were on the alert, how- 
 everj and claimed, or rather took, precedence, and secured 
 the services of a dray, or stone -wagon, and at evening 
 removed the piece to the hardware store of Jonas Clark (or, 
 if it was not Clark, then possibly it was some other Jonas). 
 This store was at or near the old Sauganash corner, where, 
 sought to be hidden under a pile of axehelves, shovels, and 
 tin- ware, it was temporarily deposited. It seemed, however, 
 to Clark (or Jonas), and particularly to any of the league 
 who might have ostensibly called in to buy a jack-knife or a 
 cork-screw, that there was a strange and special desire among 
 the customers generally to purchase or examine goods in 
 that particular pile over the gun more than anywhere else 
 about the store. So it was solemnly decided by the aforesaid 
 league, in a whispered wayside conference, to remove the gun 
 from this public place at least; and we are reminded, at this 
 particular point of the gun's history, of the line, — 
 "Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown.'' 
 
 James D. Merritt owned some lots on the west side of the 
 river not far from the cor. of Canal and west Adams Streets; 
 and thence it was decided to take the cannon and bury it. 
 This was done on the first favorable evening, a pit being dug; 
 and there, some three feet below the surface, it was left and 
 
134 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 covered, though without tablet or memorial stone to mark 
 the spot -where it was planted. For the movement just de- 
 scribed, there seemed several cogent reasons, the principal 
 one being that no tity government, "nor any other man," 
 should recapture the gun. The authorities, as may be sup- 
 posed, were not remiss in efforts to learn its whereabouts and 
 who the culprits were; yet it seemed tlrat not a soul knew 
 anything about it, and of course no one had aUgh* to com- 
 municate. Still, the burthen of the matter was ill at resti 
 and, we may say, it bore down with leaden weight sometimes 
 on the nervous organs of various members of the lodge or 
 clique. But mutual sympathy acted the part of the good 
 Samaritan, and poured oil into all imaginary gun wounds. 
 It is proper to add that our club took into its companionship 
 various others, who were gentlemen of similar tastes, fre- 
 quently benevolent and kind to others' faults; but still it is 
 believed their fun-loving proclivities were a marked trait, 
 even to the immolation of their victims sometimes.* If it 
 
 * Endeavoring to illustrate a point or statement in the text, we will say that 
 George Wandall kept a fruit stand on Randolph street, between Franklin and 
 Market streets; but, like some others, he possessed an enterprising turn of mind, 
 and it probably occurred to him that an institution something after the plan of the 
 Zoological Garden at Regent's Park, London, was a desideratum in this city of 
 the lakes, and not only would it be a public beneficence, but a paying affair for his 
 own cash box. With this idea, George abandoned fruit and struck out for fur; 
 that is, he made determined efforts to collect various specimens of wild animals, 
 and for that purpose we believe he visited St. Louis, at any rate he returned 
 here, after a month or so, with a consignment of wonders, the like whereof, 
 George flattered himself, had rarely been seen in Chicago. There was a vacant 
 lot on the S.-E. corner of Randolph and State streets, where the new Music Hall 
 is (1879) being erected, and it was there where Wandall built his show-house. 
 The structure was rather an indifferent one, its form octagonal perhaps, merely a 
 rough board fence carried up six or eight feet, and above that a circular canvas, 
 terminating at an apex or top of the pole in the centre of the arena. Here, we 
 may say, was gathered the first resident menagerie of Chicago. The collection 
 we are able to name only in part; but there was a wolf, and a bear, a deer, and a 
 raccoon, a few squirrels, and a pair of guinea-pigs, a horned frog, and a horned 
 owl, a few white mice, a small monkey, and a big anthered elk. It was some- 
 thing of an achievement for Chicago to have its own abiding collection in natural 
 history, and the enterprise seemed to deserve support; so thought a knot of "the 
 boys," a dozen or so, who were together that first evening the show was to be 
 opened; among them, probably, were Miner, Graves, Russell, Kennedy, and Rew. 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 1 35 
 
 may be suggested that further names of those connected 
 with the "club," if given, would make the reader any happier, 
 we will say that we have a list of such persons, but cannot 
 say that all of them were received into full membership. 
 Among those names we observe Wilson, Smith, Harris, 
 Mcllroy, Edwards, Ballingal, Tracy, Meeker, Forest, Miner, 
 Beers, Rew, Dean,* Russell, Graves. We may add that there 
 
 Thereupon the squad marched over to the menagerie, with amiable feelings 
 toward all the animals; and it is to be supposed, perhaps, that they had ready a 
 "how d'ye do" for the wolf, a shake of the paw for the bear, some nuts for the 
 squirrels, a little cake for the monkey, and a few words of encouragement for the 
 towering elk, hoping he might grow to be a giraffe. But the boys had a set-back 
 when they came to the gateway. The payment of entrance money was not a part 
 of their programme; they came to patronize, not to pay. Remonstrance was of 
 no avail; with "the boys" it was out or in, and they decided it was in, and in 
 they went. But they turned over the hurdy-gurdy, cuffed the ears of the owl, 
 threw snuff in the wolf's nostrils, upset the squirrel cage, kicked the bear in 
 the rear, twisted the monkey's tail, and dashed a bucket of water on the coon. 
 Then one of the party (Doc. Norman Rew) mounted the elk's back, which ani- 
 mal they forthwith led into the street, and down State to Lake street. If there 
 had been forty howling dervishes, or that number of yelling Comanche Indians 
 in the procession, the noise would not have been greater. It will be sufficient to 
 inform the reader that Rew rode the elk about until he at last brought up at the 
 Washington Coffee-House, or some other coffee-house (which was anything else 
 rather than a coffee-house), located in the second story of a building in the neigh- 
 borhood, for the elk went up-stairs, whether voluntarily or otherwise, we may say, 
 horns and all. Our informant gave us to understand that Wandall did not lose 
 anything after all on this opening night; when the spree was over, a purse was 
 made up for the pioneer menagerie man. , 
 
 * Philip Dean was a street commissioner. To his name attaches the fame of a 
 most decisive and happy expedient. We may here remark, that the dog nuisance 
 in those days was a rather perplexing question to the city authorities. It was not 
 without frequent disturbance when the properly commissioned agents, the police, 
 aimed at their duty by rapping the bow-wouis on the head with their billy-thumpers. 
 The tie which bound the master to his canine friend would not, sometimes, be 
 lightly severed; and hence quarrels and fights ensued. Then in place of the 
 bludgeon came the revolver ; but that mode of extermination, if less frightful lo 
 the dogs, was not so to the masters, and upon the whole was more unsatisfactory. 
 It was Dean, however, that' now suggested a mode of exit that seemed apparently 
 causeless, noiseless, effectual, and speedy. Small but powerful doses, disguised 
 in a pleasant and pretentious fraud of appearance, were placed here and there 
 upon the highway; and it was quite as much a mistake with the dogs, when they 
 seized and swallowed those inviting little parcels, as it often is with many of the 
 human family, who partake of what is seemingly attractive, to their great and 
 lasting detriment. 
 
136 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 were prominent men, brilliant men, keen and skilful men; 
 there were men of means, — enterprising and public-spirited, 
 as well as some of a varied fabric, — men of great exuberance 
 of good feelings, but yet of slight, or indeed, either present 
 or prospective, of no pecuniary estate. We might reasonably, 
 perhaps, add to these names those of the proprietors of the 
 most prominent drinking places in town, such as the "Euro- 
 pean Coffee-House" "Exchange" "Lafayette" "Washington" 
 etc., all coffee-houses. Those last-named gentlemen, perhaps 
 we might say, were the honorary members of the club. If it 
 is objected to by some that we are giving undue prominence 
 to the drinking halls, we answer that those institutions bore 
 an important part (though a melancholy one) in the history 
 of the Town. They were the pioneers, the vanguard of the 
 hydra-headed, the many thousands, indeed, of whiskey tem- 
 ples which since then have here reared their crests. In 
 writing about the gun, there appeared relationships, and ties, 
 and identities, which we deemed it proper to allude to, 
 which cords held men together, of yet very different positions 
 in society. We do not speak merely of those who took the 
 cannon from the tool-house, but of various others, whether 
 linked together by that particular secret of the gun, or by 
 political affinity, or by the still broader bond of fun, convivi- 
 ality, and drink.* 
 
 * In this connection we will speak of two individuals who might not Improperly 
 be classed with those " infinite wit and humor " gentlemen that we read of; and it 
 is understood that they were so immensely entertaining, so takingly and desper- 
 ately comic, that this pair of practical jokers were kept and furnished, supplied 
 and provided for, by a ring of Chicago fun-lovers. The names of the pair were 
 Timothy Wait and Jack Cox. The first-named was a bar-tender, and the other 
 was a. tailor; but the demands upon their time outside of their ordinary calling 
 were so numerous, that they left their occupations and devoted their whole time 
 (as though such employment was the main purpose in the life of a human being) 
 to witticisms and jokes, to playing rigs and sells, and enjoying the boisterous 
 approval of their audience, and the gratuitous stimulant of drink which invaria- 
 bly followed. We will here cite a little incident to show the drift of humor in 
 which that pair traveled. Tim Wait was blessed (or cursed, which?) with the 
 natural gift or ability of turning up and inside out the upper lids of his eyes, pre- 
 senting a most comical and rather frightful appearance; not only that, but he 
 could displace, or throw out of joint, his jawbone, and in such condition could, 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 1 37 
 
 It was perhaps three full years or more since the gun had 
 been left on the West Side; and the question was frequently 
 brought up, what should they do with it? Many suggestions 
 were made; one of these was, that on the following 4th of 
 July there should be a rousing celebration; that the gun 
 should be brought out and presented to the people. Lisle 
 Smith, the matchless orator, was to be applied to to address 
 them on the occasion; indeed, we believe Smith was con- 
 sulted on the subject, and to which he agreed. Yet, other 
 counsels prevailed. What fear of coup de main from unknown 
 quarter, what terror of possible ridicule to come, what bitter, 
 lingering insult there may have been to avenge, or what other 
 cause influenced each individual decision, cannot now be 
 learned. It is enough to know that they concluded to sell 
 the piece to be broken up ; for that purpose, Charley Beers 
 
 it is said, play a tune to perfection on those jaw-yiiX eastinets. Dr. Daniel 
 Brainard, the distinguished surgeon of this City, had just returned from his first 
 visit to Paris, where he had been to improve himself in the line of his profession. 
 Not as many Chicagoans at that day visited Europe as now, and Brainard cer- 
 tainly was talked of as a notable individual. Wait was also a personage of some 
 prominence; that might be inferred from the fact that a second-story drinking- 
 room, with which Wait was or had been connected, presented a sign marked 
 " Tim Wait is up stairs;" the information so conveyed was considered an impor- 
 tant and thoughtful decoy. Seeing Brainard coming on the street one day soon 
 after his return, Wait muttered to his associates the suggestion and determination 
 to appeal to him at once (a fraud of course) for relief to his eyes. Followed by 
 several of his admirers, Wait immediately started off to meet the Doctor, at the 
 same time turning up his eyelids, and in the pitiable appearance peculiar to him- 
 self, with eyes blear and bloodshot, he stopt directly in front of him, which of 
 necessity occasioned a halt, and in the supposed newly acquired pronunciation of 
 the Doctor's name, he said: "Doctor Brexard, bless yer soul, I'm glad yer back. 
 Oh, me ailin' sick wife and seven childer cryin' for brid; an' Doctor, can yer do 
 suthin' for me poor lids?" Brainard at once attempted a slight or superficial 
 examination, and proceeded to manipulate and turn down one of the lids to its 
 proper place, and then the other also; but, queerly enough, when he had turned 
 down the second, up again went the other. This was repeated several times, but 
 before the Doctor had expressed any opinion as to the case, the laughter of Wait's 
 companions who had gathered around could no longer be suppressed; and as Tim 
 beat off the beautiful old air known as "The Devil's Dream," in the music of his 
 jawbone, the Doctor walked statelily away, thinking no doubt that he had re- 
 turned to encounter those, occasionally, who were scarcely provided with French 
 forbearance or Parisian good manners. 
 
138 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 was authorized to ascertain what he could get for it. Beers 
 applied not only to Nugent & Owens, but to Fred. Letz, a 
 worker also in brass, etc. ; but, as the ready cash funds of the 
 latter did not enable him to swing it, the offer of N. & O. was 
 accepted. Then a select number of the club had to be noti- 
 fied, a negro drayman (for certain legal and prudential rea- 
 sons) was to be employed, all to meet on the first dark night, 
 with suitable tools for excavation, near Adams street, a little 
 west of the river; which plan was so far carried out. But 
 those whose presence at the interment should have enabled 
 them to point out the spot, seemed incompetent to do so; 
 the grass and weeds had hidden it entirely. One spoke of 
 having lately seen, at the "European" saloon, a quantity of 
 unfinished or unused pigeon-hole billiard-cues of uncommon 
 length. The rods were sent for, and each having received 
 one they commenced prospecting, and after a long search 
 they touched the metal, though we are assured that it had 
 settled full two feet lower than where originally placed. Then 
 the shovels and the ropes and considerable work brought it. 
 up and loaded it on the cart, where, covered with a quantity 
 of burlaps, it began its final march across Randolph Street 
 bridge, and thence to the brass foundery of N. & O., which 
 was a brick building on the S.-E. corner of Washington and 
 Market Streets. Charley Beers was awaiting its arrival on 
 Market street to look after its reception, and with hushed 
 steps the party moved off, but not one of the escort presum- 
 ed to whistle "Over the river to Charley." The proceeds of 
 the sale, for which Messrs. N. & O. gave their check on R. K. 
 Swift, Banker, was a mere trifle, being in amount only be- 
 tween 35 and 40 dollars. It will be needless to say that the 
 purchasers were not losers in the operation, inasmuch as the 
 material was really worth many times what they paid. The 
 gun was of superior metal ; and it is understood that the bulk 
 of it helped to form the structure of more than one church 
 bell of the City; and in such shape, a dim, unrecognizable 
 representative of the past, now in spirit tones did it hint, not 
 so much of the past as to a coming future. 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 1 39 
 
 We are told that a meeting of the club was had for the 
 purpose of dividing and distributing to the members the 
 "thirty pieces of silver," more or less, received from the sale 
 of the cannon. That proposition, however, failed, and it was 
 at length agreed to have a gathering at the saloon under the 
 Sherman House, and then and there settle and wipe out every 
 vestige of a balance remaining in the hands of the treasurer. 
 "That 'gathering' was had," said our informant; "and if the 
 occasion could not have been properly denominated a 'blow- 
 out', there were, in those days, scarcely any that could." 
 Now here we may as well as anywhere say for ourself, look- 
 ing to the Tesuit -aad .culmination of the matter, in the 
 destruction of a truly venerable relic, we must esteem the 
 affair as (where human life was not involved) the most unfor- 
 tunate and profitless piece of deviltry ever perpetrated within 
 our borders. 
 
 Probably to the average loiterer and humorist there might 
 have seemed something, extremely ludicrous in that filibus- 
 tering expedition, extending through several years, starting 
 out with a corps of six or seven full-grown, athletic men, 
 who tugged repeatedly with might and main at a dead weight 
 of near half a ton, removing and hiding it again and again. 
 However reliable masons they proved themselves in keeping 
 a secret that year or two, and still on for more than a genera- 
 tion, they sometimes, and occasionally (until convinced that no 
 open-mouthed and brazen-faced witness might appear against 
 them), were followed by that "Will-o'-the-wisp" trepidation 
 and nervousness, the same as dogs the steps of an escaped 
 convict, or perhaps somewhat identical with the feelings of a 
 burglar, who thinks it more difficult to hide than to steal. 
 They felt, perhaps, impressed with the idea of — 
 
 " Cannon to the right of them, 
 " Cannon to the left of them, 
 " Cannon in front of them." 
 
 That abiding consciousness of mischief would not be laid 
 any more than the gun, though it tarried several feet under 
 ground, over there in the west division for two years or more. 
 
140 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 And what a chase for that hidden deposit on the prairie; no 
 seekers, with rod of witch-hazel or of steel, hunting for old 
 Kidd's sunken chests of coin along the shores of the Sound, 
 were ever more in doubt, whether or no they should touch the 
 chink, than were our stake-drivers on that ebon night, punch- 
 ing and probing the mud up there by the South Branch. 
 But the acme of the sublime as well as the ludicrous was 
 when the cannon was carted down to the foundry, — that 
 charnel-hoyse of effaced identities, the place of chisel, sledge- 
 hammer, and heated crucible, — on that chosen night, as dark 
 as Erebus; the reins being held by an alien, a child of dark- 
 ness, selected because unrecognized as a citizen, and whose 
 oath, though his word was reliable, the laws of Illinois would 
 not allow to convict a white man. What a solemn procession 
 it was, following that dray through the blackness of that mid- 
 night hour, each still armed with his baton or ashen treasure- 
 wand, and each ready to utter, — 
 
 " Take thy beak from out my heart, and take thy form from off 
 my door." 
 
 Another phase attending the movements of the league or 
 club, which we have already hinted at, was that of their con- 
 vivial and bacchanalian proclivities. That the gentlemen 
 comprising the club were of a generous nature, liberal and 
 whole souled, cannot be questioned ; but it has been some- 
 times suggested, that such natures are the least inclined to 
 observe the restraints which repel the approaches of the 
 siren strong drink. Be that as. it may, Chicago then as 
 now presented as ready facilities for a dram, or a moderate 
 carouse, or a decided drunk, or, indeed, for a rapid and sure 
 down-grade track to ruin, as any other town of its size. 
 We were once told by a lawyer, an old-time resident of 
 Chicago, that all the early lawyers here were drinking men; 
 " and," said he, " I was one of them." While we know 
 that this charge was too broad a one, for we are aware 
 at least of some marked exceptions, yet the habit was 
 sufficiently general with those professional worthies (not 
 that it was peculiar to them only) as to give occasion to the 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 141 
 
 saying. As with some others, so with the club; suspicion 
 was bearded and courage invoked in drinks; when friends 
 met, they took a drink; if there was any important news, 
 they must drink; if a neighbor was showing up the town to a 
 stranger, his introduction was marked by the drinks; if a sale 
 of real estate was made, then came the drinks; if success of 
 any kind met a friend, why of course then followed the 
 drinks; again, if misfortune touched him, there was sympathy 
 and drinks. Political tastes were supposed to be confirmed 
 and allies won by drinks. The political complexion of "the 
 club," we may say, was, for a time at least, whig to a man; 
 there were whig speeches, whig songs, whig toasts, "whig lies," 
 also, the Democrats used to say, and whig whiskey. We will 
 add that they were industrious workers in the whig cause, 
 and that a fundamental pillar upon which rested their politi- 
 cal creed was (then, not to-day,) a most lively and cordial 
 hatred of John Wentworth. Sundry individuals not initiated 
 or taken within the inner veil of the mysteries regarding the 
 various and latter places of deposit of the old arm — yet to all 
 appearance they were members of the ring, for they never 
 missed roll-call, or rather intuitively happened around, when- 
 ever the drinks might be expected. 
 
 Abraham Lincoln, we will say, was frequently in Chicago 
 on professional business in those days. He was then scarcely 
 counted more than a second or third rate lawyer; but he was 
 noted as a story-teller, and often on pleasant evenings he 
 chose to sit out upon the sidewalk in front of the old wooden 
 Tremont (sometimes he sojourned at the American Temper- 
 ance House, but generally at the Tremont), where, surrounded 
 by a knot of listeners, he dispensed numerous and amusing 
 yarns, of which he seemed to possess an inexhaustible sup- 
 ply. He was seldom heard to tell the same story twice. But 
 we are led to say, possibly it may have been one of the im- 
 portant underlying rock-strata which bore up the manliness 
 of character and the greatness of Mr. Lincoln, that he never 
 joined in that social error of tippling so common in Chicago 
 as well as elsewhere. 
 
142 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 It is time this extended article came to an end ; we would 
 much rather have placed on this page a drawn portrait of 
 the living gun than to have written of its departure, — its 
 extinction. It may be that we are singular in our ideas, and 
 are, perhaps, rather a desperate and headlong rider of our 
 hobby " antiquities ;" but our native stock or catalogue of 
 antiques is, we think, rather a limited one. Certainly we 
 have little of the unchanged, the peculiar, and recognizable 
 antiquities of early Chicago. What there are left, excepting 
 the fleeting lives of a few remaining pioneers, are mostly but 
 memories and pictures and shadows. We have, it is true, 
 old Lake Michigan ; but our river is not what it was ; its de- 
 bouchure is changed, its banks are clipped and cribbed, and 
 its waters, though once drinkable, are not so to-day. And 
 Fort Dearborn is no more. The Indian tribes, too, have 
 departed ; and none are with us, unless we except those stark 
 and grinning plaster synonyms or abominations in the guise 
 of a plea for a vile narcotic; our native groves are all gone; 
 neither dwelling, workshop, storehouse, or temple built with 
 hands, bearing earlier date than 1833, exists; not one of those 
 memorable sloughs of the South Division remain ; not even a 
 fence-rail is now, as formerly, sometimes seen placed upright 
 in the mire of Lake street, bearing a strip of board with the 
 topographical suggestion "No Bottom!' Indeed, we claim to 
 have hidden, under a depth of some six feet of earth, the 
 whole original prairie and City surface. 
 
 Before we close, we take the opportunity to say that it 
 was not true, as sometimes asserted, that this was the gun 
 which was fired on the Court House Square, on the receipt of 
 the news of the victory of Buena Vista, in the latter part of 
 February, 1847, and seriously maimed the late Richard L. 
 Wilson. It was also a mistake of an "old settler," referring 
 to this cannon in the Tribune, August, 1877, when he said, 
 "After being used firing salutes for awhile, it was probably 
 carried off by some vessel." The evidence seems unques- 
 tionable that the gun fired no salutes after the month of 
 August, 18 12. 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 143 
 
 We do not propose to write the epitaph of the old field- 
 piece, yet will conclude by saying that often, in after time, as 
 the Sabbath-bells were ringing for church, when any members 
 of the club happened to meet, it was quite usual for one or 
 the other to exclaim: "Do you hear it? that is the voice of 
 our gun!' 
 
 P. 0. EQUIPMENTS IN 1832. 
 
 It was on one of those primitive days in the fall of the 
 year 1832, as we were told by an early settler, that he (our 
 informant) was somewhat impressed by the peculiar customs 
 of the Chicago Post-office, which was then located in a log 
 building at the angle of Lake and South Water streets, and 
 where John S. C. Hogan was then a merchant, as well as 
 postmaster. The manner of keeping the letters and papers 
 for delivery to their proper owners might have been charac- 
 terized, perhaps, as a little loose, the whole stock (a mere 
 handful, it is true,) being chucked into a corner upon a shelf. 
 Our informant rallied the worthy office-holder upon the point 
 of order, assuring him that he was sadly behind the times, 
 saying, furthermore, that in the country from which he came, 
 the postmasters usually provided boxes, sometimes called 
 pigeon-holes, wherein might be placed the mail matter belong- 
 ing to various individuals or firms, and having others alpha- 
 betically-arranged, etc. This onslaught speedily produced a 
 revolution; and, though there was not, perhaps, within the 
 boundaries of Cook County, a professional cabinet-maker, — 
 certainly not one at hand, — yet, the ingenuity of that govern- 
 ment official improvised a substitute. We refer to the forcible 
 conscription into the public service, and the utilizing, all the 
 old boots readily to be found in the settlement. From those 
 venerable mud-mixers, a part of the legs were taken off; and, 
 nailing up the lower part at the back to, a log (a portion of 
 the main wall of the building), the improved institution was 
 moving onward upon the tide of successful achievement when 
 our informant again called for his mail. 
 
144 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 SOCIAL PROFANITY, JUDICIAL PROPRIETY. 
 
 An early settler of Chicago, tells us about His Honor T. 
 W. S., a former resident here, and one of the shining lights 
 of the Illinois Bench some years ago. We are assured that 
 the Judge was "rather a jovial sort of man, quite a political 
 manager, and withal, to the unprofessional and common- 
 sense crowd at least, a good judge." But eminent position, 
 as we often see, is not exempt from human frailty; and so 
 we are told that Judge S. had at least one besetting sin and 
 folly. In his ordinary intercourse with men, his language too 
 often savored of the sort known as the very profane. Upon 
 the bench, however, he was a different individual. It is 
 remembered that on one occasion at Chicago, a suit was 
 being tried before him, between parties from the interior, 
 concerning the ownership of some cattle. One witness de- 
 scribed the different cattle, telling their various colors, etc.; 
 then came on the stand another witness, whom our informant 
 characterized as "a tall, lank, and lantern -jawed Hoosier, 
 indeed the worst-looking Hoosier that I ever saw;'' and the 
 Judge, after some questions by one of the counsel, began 
 asking the witness in relation to the color of the cattle, as 
 given in the evidence of the previous witness: " Wal," said 
 the Hoosier, "them cattle was so d — d poor, I reckon I couldn't 
 tell ivhat color they was'.' "Clerk," said the Judge directly 
 but dignifiedly, "enter a fine of ten dollars to this witness 
 for profane swearing; and you, Mr. Sheriff, will commit him 
 to jail till the fine shall be paid." The witness, however, 
 passed over an X bearing the signature of N. Biddle, Pres., 
 for it was in the old days of the U. S. Bank. 
 
 As already intimated above, Judge S. was a politician; and 
 it will, perhaps, illustrate one of the ways of that enterprising 
 class of citizens, to quote another incident of Chicago of long 
 ago. An early Chicago resident, the late Archibald Cly- 
 bourn, related that he once met Judge S. at Ike Cook's 
 saloon, on an evening, together with quite a crowd, composed 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 145 
 
 mostly of that genial class of democrats known as Irishmen, 
 and who were evidently great admirers of the Judge, and 
 were eager listeners to all that fell from his lips. After 
 a while Clybourn said to S.: "Come, Judge, it's time that 
 you and I were at home." "Home!" replied the Judge, 
 straightening himself up to his full height, "I have just 
 ordered supper for my friends here;" and then, in a whisper 
 close to Clybourn's ear, he added, "I shall have use for these 
 cattle in November." 
 
 NOTICES OF CHICAGO AND ITS VICINITY 
 
 BY EARLY TRAVELERS, ETC. 
 
 In the present chapter, we give various extracts relating 
 to this locality, written by missionaries, sojourners, travelers, 
 historians, etc., and reaching from the time when Joliet and 
 Marquette passed through here in 1673, down to the year 
 1835, when the Indians danced here their last great dance, 
 before their departure toward the setting sun. 
 
 Louis Joliet and James Marquette, on their return from the Mis- 
 sissippi, as we have elsewhere said, "came by way of the Illinois, 
 the Desplaines, and Chicago. As far as satisfactorily proven, they 
 were the first white men who placed foot upon the soil, or voyaged 
 upon the stream, at Chicago. I am aware that Charlevoix tells that 
 Nicholas Perot was here several years before them, but Dr. Shea, 
 the editor of a late edition of Charlevoix, claims that the source of 
 Charlevoix's information does not warrant the statement. I am 
 inclined to think, however, that it would appear, could we arrive at 
 the truth of the case, that more than one white man had been at 
 Chicago before either Joliet, Marquette, or Perot, even if the latter 
 may have been here in 1671. We are assured that Jean Nicolet, a 
 Frenchman, an envoy from Canada, was at Green Bay in the year 
 1639, where he held a treaty with several thousand Indians. This 
 council was held purposely to form a reciprocal and friendly ac- 
 quaintance with the natives whose country bordered on the great 
 upper lakes. It was designed to extend the dominion of the French 
 King, Louis XIII., and specially and directly to aid and further the 
 traffic of Canadian merchants, who wished to furnish their red 
 brothers of the wilderness, ,in exchange for furs, the conveniences 
 and luxuries, as well as the gauds and taints, of civilization. Nico- 
 let, on this visit, crossed the portage to the Wisconsin, but we are 
 
 10 
 
146 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 not advised that any of his party went further south. Yet I am loth 
 to believe that thirty years passed away, after Nicolet's introduction 
 at Green Bay, before any Canadian trader coasted along the Illinois 
 shore of Lake Michigan, or, following a then old-time route, went 
 up the Chicago River and down the Desplaines to the interior. 
 Those early traders followed the thoroughfares to the Indian villages - r 
 but, ever greedy for furs which might bring lucrative prices and early 
 gains, they preserved no note of their business tours; at least no 
 record was left behind, that I am aware of, which has been kept to 
 answer the inquiries of the present day." 
 
 Joliet* and Marquette, after leaving the Chicago in the fall 
 of 1673, continued north, Joliet on his way to Quebec, and 
 Marquette to go to the mission of St. Francis Xavier, near 
 Green Bay, where he remained till the autumn of the follow- 
 ing year. Joliet, it is known, lost all his papers, relating to 
 his recent voyage, in passing the rapids above Montreal; yet, 
 from a communication (Historical Magazine, vol. 5, p. 237,) 
 purporting to be from Father Dablon,y Superior-General 
 of the Missions of the Society of Jesus, and bearing date 
 
 * Louis Joliet, the son of a wheelwright, according to Mr. Shea, was born in. 
 Quebec, in 1745. He was educated at the Jesuit College of Quebec, but after- 
 ward engaged in the fur trade in the West, and was selected by the Govern- 
 ment to lead the expedition in 1673, for the exploration of the Mississippi. We 
 know the result of that journey; while the fatefulness of an accident has left a 
 cloud which envelopes the deserved fame of Louis Joliet, the lovely character 
 of Pere Marquette, his story of their tour to the Mississippi, his struggles and 
 death, has also led us to forget that Joliet was first entitled to the laurel wreath 
 for that exploration and discovery. The reward bestowed by the French sovereign 
 upon Joliet for that distinguished service was rather a barren one, being the Island 
 of Anticosti, in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The gift proved an unlucky one; his 
 island, in 1691, was captured, and himself and family made prisoners, by a British 
 fleet under Sir Wm. Phipps, suffering the entire loss of his estate. Shea says:. 
 " He died apparently in the last year of the seventeenth century. " 
 
 + Father Claudius Dablon, Mr. Shea informs us, came to Canada in 1655, and 
 was sent directly to Onondaga, where he continued a few years; afterward made 
 an attempt to reach Hudson's Bay by the Saguenay, but was stopped by Iroquois 
 war-parties. " In 1668, he followed Father Marquette to Lake Superior, became 
 superior of the Ottawa mission, founded Sault Ste. Marie, visited Green Bay, and 
 reached the Wisconsin with Allouez; then returned to Quebec to assume his post 
 as superior of all the Canada missions. This office he held, with intervals, for 
 many years, certainly till 1693; and he was still alive, but not, apparently, superior 
 in the following year. * * The period of his death 
 
 is unknown. " 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 147 
 
 August 1, 1674, giving the verbal information received from 
 Sieur Joliet, we extract as follows : 
 
 "The fourth remark concerns a very important advantage, and 
 which some will, perhaps, find it hard to credit; it is, that we can 
 quite easily go to Florida in boats, and by a very good navigation. 
 There would be but one canal to make, by cutting only one-half a 
 league of prairie, to pass from the Lake of the Illinois* into St. 
 Louis River.t The route to be taken is this : the bark should be 
 built on Lake Erie, which is near Lake Ontario; it would pass easily 
 from Lake Erie to Lake Huron, from which it would enter the Lake 
 of the Illinois. At the extremity of this lake would be the cut or 
 canal of which I have spoken, to have a passage to St. Louis River, 
 which empties into the Mississippi. The bark, having entered this 
 river, would easily sail to the Gulf of Mexico. Fort Catarokoui, 
 which the Count de Frontenac has erected on Lake Ontario, would 
 greatly favor this enterprise, because it would facilitate the communi- 
 cation from Quebec to Lake Erie, from which this fort is not very 
 far distant; and but for a waterfall, which separates Lake Erie from 
 Lake Ontario, a bark built at Catarokoui could go to Florida by the 
 routes of which I have spoken. The fifth remark regards the great 
 advantages there would be in founding new colonies in such beauti- 
 ful countries and such fertile soil. Hear what Sieur Joliet says: 
 'When they first spoke to us of these lands without trees, I figured 
 to myself a burned-up country, where the soil was so wretched that 
 it would produce nothing. But we have seen the reverse, and no 
 better can.be found either for wheat, or the vines, or any fruit what- 
 ever. The river to which we have given the name of St. Louis, and 
 which has its source not far from the extremity of the Lake of the 
 Illinois, seemed to me to offer on its banks very fine lands well 
 suited to receive settlements. The place, by which after leaving the 
 river you enter the lake, is a very convenient bay to hold vessels and 
 protect them from the wind.'" 
 
 Extract from a letter zvritteu by Count De Frontenac to M. 
 Colbert; dated Quebec, Nov. 14, 1674. : 
 
 "Sieur Joliet, whom M. Talon advised me on my arrival from 
 France to detach for the discovery of the South Sea, has returned 
 three months ago, and discovered some new countries, and a naviga- 
 tion so easy through the beautiful rivers he has found, that a person 
 can go from Lake Ontario and Fort Frontenac, in a bark canoe, 
 to the Gulf of Mexico, there being only one carrying place, half a 
 league in length, — where Lake Ontario communicates with Lake 
 Erie. He has been within ten days of the Gulf of Mexico, and 
 believes that water communication could be found leading to the 
 
 * Michigan. t Desplaines. 
 
148 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 Vermillion and California seas (called by the ■ Spaniards Mar de 
 Cortes) by means of the river that flows from the west into the great 
 river (Mississippi) that he discovered, which runs from north to 
 south, and is as large as the St. Lawrence opposite Quebec. I send 
 you, by my secretary, the map he has made of it, and the observa- 
 tions that he has been able to recollect, as he has lost all his minutes 
 and journals in the shipwreck he met with within sight of Montreal, 
 where, after having completed a voyage of fifteen hundred leagues, 
 he was near being drowned, and lost all his papers, and a young 
 Indian whom he brought from those countries. He left, with the 
 fathers of the Sault St. Marie (Lake Superior), copies of his journals; 
 these we cannot get before next year." 
 
 In Father Marquette's* account of his and Joliet's voyage 
 of exploration, he says {French's His. Coll., part 2, p. 296) ; 
 "We then ascended the Mississippi with great difficulty, against 
 
 * James Marquette was a descendant o.f a somewhat distinguished family, and 
 was born in the City of Laon, France, in the year 1637. As we have said on a 
 previous occasion, " he became a Jesuit at the age of seventeen, and twelve years 
 afterward, in 1666, sailed for Canada as a missionary, landing at Quebec in Sep- 
 tember of that year. During the two succeeding years he was engaged in study- 
 ing the Indian languages, and in the spring of 1668, he embarked, via the Ottawa 
 and French Rivers and Lake Huron, for the River St. Mary, at the falls of which 
 a mission was to be established, with Marquette at its head. There were, of the 
 same religious faith, earlier missionaries than Marquette in the region of the great 
 upper lakes who were brave and devoted men; but it was Marquette's tour to the 
 Mississippi which has made his name pre-eminently famous. Pushing out as he 
 did into the region of the yet undiscovered wonders of the great valley, details of 
 which journey have been fortunately preserved to us by his faithful obedience to 
 the instructions of his Superior, our admiration is enlisted by the charm of its 
 romance. Yet it was the lofty aim of Marquette to be of enduring service to his 
 fellow-men; it was his integrity, his unselfishness, his untiring zeal, his gentle and 
 uncomplaining disposition, and his early self-sacrifice near akin to martyrdom, 
 that command our sympathies, and these are what made him truly great. In 
 the autumn of 1669, he was chosen to go to Lapoint, or Chegoimegon, near the 
 west end of Lake Superior, to continue the labors begun some years before by 
 Allouez, or still earlier by Menard. In the spring of 1671, Marquette accom- 
 panied the fleeing Hurons, who sought a refuge at the Straits of Mackinaw from 
 the fierce Sioux warriors, who had taken the war-path against them; thence, in 
 the spring of 1673, Joliet, the leader, having arrived, they departed on their ex- 
 pedition for the great river.'''' We have given in the text various 'extracts from 
 his journal. " Marquette returned to Chicago, without doubt, after his visit to the 
 Indian village on the Illinois, and in the month of May, 1675, he passed out of 
 our river to the other side of the lake, and not only to the other side of it, but to 
 
PI. I. 
 
 Tac Simile ofTJap 
 otTather Marquette, 
 1673. 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 149 
 
 the current, and left it in latitude 38° north to enter another river,* 
 which took us to the Lake of the Illinois, t which is a much shorter 
 way than through the River Mesconsin,J by which we entered the 
 Mississippi. I never saw a more beautiful country than we found 
 on this river. The prairies are covered with buffaloes, stags, goats, 
 and the rivers and lakes with swans, ducks, geese, parrots, and 
 beavers. The river upon which we sailed was wide, deep, and placid 
 for sixty-five leagues, and navigable most all the year round. There 
 is a portage of only half a league into the Lake of the Illinois. We 
 found on the banks of this river a village called Kuilka, consisting 
 of seventy-four cabins. They received us very kindly, and we prom- 
 ised to return and instruct them. The chief, with most of the youth 
 of this village, accompanied us to the lake, from whence we returned 
 to the Bay of Puans."§ 
 
 After this tour, and during his stay at the Mission of St. 
 Francis Xavier, Marquette no doubt made'the map, a small 
 facsimile of the greater part of which is herewith presented. 
 A feature in this map will be observed, namely: the Chicago 
 River appears a continuous stream from Lake Michigan to 
 the waters of the Illinois. Marquette gave no name to this 
 stream on his map, yet he refers to it in his last letter as 
 "Portage River." 
 
 The following is an extract from Father Marquette's final 
 letter; it was addressed to Father Claudius Dablon, Superior, 
 but was never completed. We copy from a translation which 
 appears in an article, by Hon. J. G. Shea, in Historical Mag- 
 azine, vol. 5, P- 99: 
 
 Dec. 4. We started well to reach Portage River, || which was 
 frozen half a foot thick. There was more snow there than anywhere 
 
 the eternal shores beyond. On his way to Mackinaw, by the eastern shore of the 
 lake, accompanied, doubtless, by the faithful Peter and James, he went ashore at 
 the mouth of a river, since known by his name, and retired by himself, having 
 requested the men to leave him alone for a brief space. But the good father 
 had died in a little time, and they buried him upon the bank of the stream. 
 Such is the tradition. So much, certainly, is not unreasonable, without giving 
 credence to the numerous, minute, and dramatic details, portrayed by imaginative 
 and artistic limners, as attending the exit of that true gentleman and kind-hearted 
 missionary. He is understood to have died on the 18th of May, 1675." 
 
 * Illinois. + Michigan. % Wisconsin. 
 
 § Green Kay. \\ Meaning the Chicago. 
 
ISO CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 else, and also more tracks of animals and turkeys. The navigation 
 of the lake from one portage to the other* is quite fine, there being 
 no traverse to make, and landing being quite feasible all along, pro- 
 viding you do not obstinately persist in traveling in the breakers and 
 high winds. The land along the shore is good for nothing, except 
 on the prairies. You meet eight or ten pretty fine rivers. Deer 
 hunting is pretty good as you get away from the Pottawatomies." 
 
 "Dec. 12. As they began to draw to get to the portage, t the Illi- 
 nois having left, the Pottawatomies arrived with much difficulty. J 
 We could not say mass on the Feast of the Conception on account 
 of the bad weather and the cold. During our stay at the mouth of 
 the river, Pierre and Jacques killed three buffalo and four deer, one 
 of which ran quite a distance with his heart cut in two. They con- 
 tented themselves with killing three or four turkeys of the many 
 which were around our cabin, because they were almost dying of 
 hunger. Jacques brought in a partridge § that he had killed, every 
 way resembling those of France, except that it had like two little 
 wings of three or four feathers, a finger long, near the head, with 
 which they cover the two sides of the neck, where there are no 
 feathers." 
 
 "Dec. 14. Being cabined near the portage, two leagues || up the 
 river, we resolved to winter there, on my inability to go farther, 
 being too much embarrassed, and my malady not permitting me to 
 stand much fatigue. Several Illinois passed yesterday, going to 
 carry their furs to Nawaskingwe. We gave them a buffalo and a 
 deer that Jacques had killed the day before. I think I never saw 
 Indians more greedy for French tobacco than these. They came 
 and threw beaver skins at our feet to get a small piece; but we 
 returned them, giving them some pipes, because we had not yet 
 concluded whether we should go on." 
 
 "Dec. 15. Chachagwessiou and the other Illinois left us to go and 
 find their people, and give them the merchandise which they had 
 brought in order to get their furs, in which they act like traders and 
 hardly give more than the French. I instructed them, before their 
 departure, deferring the holding of a council till spring, when I 
 should be at their village. They gave us for a fathom of tobacco 
 three fine buffalo-robes, which have done us good service this winter. 
 Being thus relieved, we said the mass of the Conception. Since the 
 14th, my disease has turned into a dysentery." 
 
 "Dec. 30. Jacques arrived from the Illinois village, which was 
 
 * Meaning those of Sturgeon Bay and the Desplaines. 
 f That is, upon the ice on the river, as I understand it. 
 
 X Two parties of Indians who left Green Bay at the same time he did are here 
 referred to by Marquette. 
 
 § It was a grouse or prairie chicken no doubt. 
 
 || The leagues were guessed at, of course, not measured. 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 1 5 I 
 
 only six leagues from here, where they are starving. The cold and 
 snow prevent their hunting. Some having informed la Toupine and 
 the surgeon that we were here, and unable to leave their cabin, had 
 so alarmed the Indians (believing that we would starve remaining 
 here) that Jacques had great trouble in preventing fifteen young men 
 from coming to carry all our affairs." 
 
 "Jan. 16, 1675. As spon as the two Frenchmen knew that my 
 illness prevented my going to them, the surgeon came here with an 
 Indian to bring us some whortleberries and bread; they are only 
 eighteen leagues from here, in a beautiful hunting-ground for buffalo 
 and deer, and turkeys, which are excellent there. They had, too, 
 laid up provisions while awaiting us, and had given the Indians to 
 understand that the cabin belonged to the black gown. And I may 
 say, that they said and did all that could be expected of them. The 
 surgeon having stopped to attend to his duties, I sent Jacques with 
 him to tell the Illinois, who were near there, that my illness pre- 
 vented my going to see them, and that, if it continued, I should 
 -scarcely be able to go there in the spring." 
 
 "Jan. 24. Jacques returned with a bag of corn and other refresh- 
 ments that the French had given him for me; he also brought the 
 tongues and meat of two buffalo that he and an Indian had killed 
 near by; but all the animals show the badness of the season." 
 
 "Jan. 26. Three Illinois brought us from the head men two bags 
 •of corn, some dried meat, squashes, and twelve beavers; 1st, to 
 make me a mat; 2d, to ask me for powder; 3d, to prevent our being 
 hungry; 4th, to have some few goods. I answered them: firstly, 
 that I had come to instruct them, by speaking to them of the prayer, 
 •&c; secondly, that I would not give them powder, as we were en- 
 deavoring to diffuse peace on all sides, and I did not wish them to 
 begin a war with the Miamies; thirdly, that we were in no fear of 
 starving; fourthly, that I would encourage the French to carry them 
 goods, and that they must satisfy those among them for the wampum 
 taken from them as soon as the surgeon started to come here. As 
 they had come twenty leagues, to pay them for their trouble and 
 what they had brought me, I gave them an axe, two knives, three 
 clasp knives, ten fathoms of wampum, and two double mirrors; tell- 
 ing them that I should endeavor to go to the village, merely for a 
 few days, if my illness continued. They told me to take courage, 
 to stay and die in their country, and said that they had been told 
 that I would remain long with them." 
 
 "Feb. 9. Since we addressed ourselves to the Blessed Virgin 
 Immaculate, to whom we began a nevena by a mass, at which Pierre 
 and Jacques, who do all they can to relieve me, received, to ask my 
 recovery of the Almighty, my dysentery has ceased; there is only a 
 weakness of the stomach left. I begin to feel much better, and to 
 recover my strength. None of the Illinois who had ranged them- 
 selves near us have been cabined for a month; some took the road 
 
152 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 to the Pottawatomies, and some are still on the lake waiting for 
 the navigation to open. They carry letters to our Fathers at St. 
 Francis." 
 
 "Feb. 20. We had time to observe the tide which comes from 
 the lake rising and falling, although there appears no shelter on the 
 lake. We saw the ice go against the wind. These tides made the 
 water good or bad, because what comes from above flows from the 
 prairies and small streams. The deer, which are plentiful on the 
 lake shore, are so lean that we had to leave some that we killed." 
 
 "March 23. We killed several partridges; only the male has the 
 little wings at the neck, the female not having any. These par- 
 tridges are pretty good, but do not come up to the French." 
 
 "March 30. The north wind having 1 prevented the thaw till the 
 25th of March, it began with a southerly wind. The next day game 
 began to appear; we killed thirty wild pigeons, which I found better 
 than those below,* but smaller, both young and old. On the 28th, 
 the ice broke and choked above us. -On the 29th, the water was so 
 high that we had barely time to uncabin in haste, put our things on 
 trees, and try to find a place to sleep on some hillock, the water 
 gaining on us all night; but having frozen a little, and having fallen, 
 as we were near our luggage, the dyke burst and the ice went down; 
 and as the waters are again ascending already, we are going to em- 
 bark to continue our route." 
 
 "March 31. Having started yesterday, we made three leagues on 
 the river, + going up without finding any portage. We dragged for 
 half an arpent. Besides this outlet the river has another, J by which 
 we must descend. Only the very highest grounds escape inunda- 
 tion. That where we are§ has increased more than twelve feet. 
 Here we began our portage more than eighteen months ago. Geese 
 and duck pass constantly. We contented ourselves with seven. 
 The ice still brought down detains us here, as we do not know in 
 what state the river is lower down." 
 
 From a narrative of the missionary Claude Allouez,|| in 
 
 * At Quebec. + Meaning Mud Lake channel. 
 
 J Meaning, no doubt, the Desplaines. 
 
 § On or near the Desplaines, no doubt. 
 
 || Father Claude Allouez was born in France, but in what part or when we 
 have not learned. He was a Jesuit, and sailed in 1658, arriving at Quebec in 
 July of that year. We do not give particular details, but " he was, " says Shea, 
 "not inferior in zeal and ability to any of the great missionaries of his time. " He 
 was at .the Falls of St. Mary in September, 1665, and subsequently at Chegoi- 
 megon, on Lake Superior, and founded the Mission of St. Francis Xavier, near 
 Green Bay. After the death of Marquette, he succeeded to the Illinois Mission. 
 Whatever may have been the cause, it is known that this missionary was not a 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 153 
 
 "Shea's History and Exploration of the Mississippi Valley," 
 page 71: 
 
 "I embarked about the close of October, 1676, in a canoe with 
 two men, to endeavor to go and winter with the Illinois ; but I had 
 not got far when the ice prevented us, so early had the winter set 
 in. This obliged us to lie to and wait till it was strong enough 
 to bear us; and it was only in February that we undertook a very 
 extraordinary kind of navigation, for instead of putting the canoe 
 in the water we put it on the ice, on which a favorable wind car- 
 ried it along by sails, as if it was on the water. When the wind 
 failed us, instead of paddles, we used ropes to drag it as horses do 
 a carriage. * * * ' Twelve 
 
 leagues from the Pouteaouatami town we entered a very deep bay,* 
 whence we transported our canoe across the wood to the great lake 
 of the Illinois (Michigan). This portage was a league and a half. 
 On the eve of St. Joseph, the patron of all Canada, finding ourselves 
 on the lake, we gave it the name of that great saint, and shall hence- 
 forth call it Lake St. Joseph. We accordingly embarked on the 23d 
 of May,t and had much to do with the ice, through which we had 
 to break a passage. * * * After 
 
 making seventy-six leagues on Lake St. Joseph, we at last entered 
 the riverj: which leads to the Illinois. I here met eighty Indians of 
 the country, by whom I was handsomely received. The chief ad- 
 vanced about thirty steps to meet me, holding in one hand a fire- 
 brand and in the other a feathered calumet. As he drew near he 
 raised it to my mouth, and himself lit the tobacco, which obliged 
 me to pretend to smoke. He then led me to his cabin, and giving 
 me the most honorable place, addressed me thus : ' Father ! take pity 
 on me; let me return with thee, to accompany thee and lead thee to 
 my village; my meeting with thee to-day will be fatal to me unless I 
 profit by it. Thou bearest to us the gospel and the prayer; if I 
 lose the occasion of hearing thee, I shall be punished by the loss of 
 my nephews, whom thou seest so numerous, but who will assuredly 
 be defeated by the enemy. Embark then, with us, that I may profit 
 
 favorite of the explorer LaSalle, indeed his presence was offensive to him, and it 
 is understood that Allouez retired from Illinois, expecting M. LaSalle, and 
 went to Wisconsin, but returned again, it is understood, and is believed to have 
 been there in 1689. Possibly he died that year, but the place of his death is 
 not learned. Bancroft says of that missionary : " Father Claude Allouez has im- 
 perishably connected his name with the progress of discovery in the West. " 
 
 * Probably Sturgeon Bay, the same path which Marquette had taken two years 
 before, being a route familiar to the Indians. 
 
 t There is an error by somebody in this date; probably it should be March. 
 % The Chicago River. 
 
154 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 by thy coming into our land.'* With these words, he embarked at 
 the same time as ourselves, and we soon after reached his village. 
 
 "In spite of all our efforts to hasten on, it was the 27th April be- 
 fore I could reach Kachkachkia, a large Illinois town." 
 
 Father Hennepin, who, in 1679, accompanied LaSalle on 
 his way to St. Joseph, Mich., says nothing of being himself 
 at Chicago, which they probably passed near shore, by the 
 way; he returned to the east by another route. 
 
 From "Memoir to Frontenac, by M. De LaSalle, Nov. g, 1680"; His. 
 Mag., v. 5, p. ig6; Translated [apparently by Mr. Shea] from "Geol- 
 ogic Pratique de la Louisiane." "The basin into which you enter to 
 go from the Lake of the Illinois to the Divine Rivert is no way 
 suited for communication, there being no anchorage, wind, or 
 entrance for a vessel, nor even for a canoe, except in a great calm; 
 the prairies by which a communication is spoken of % being flooded, 
 whenever it rains, by the waters from the neighboring hills. It is 
 very difficult to make and keep up a channel there that will not at 
 once fill up with sand and gravel; and you cannot dig into the ground 
 without finding water; and there are sand-hills between the lake and 
 the prairies. And were this channel possible, at great expense, it 
 would be useless, because the Divine Rivert is not navigable for 
 forty leagues from there to the great village of the Illinois. Canoes 
 cannot pass there in summer; and there is even a great rapid this 
 side of the village." 
 
 By the date of the "Memoir" from which we take the 
 
 above extract, it is believed that it was written after LaSalle 
 
 had returned from the East, and again reached Lake Michir 
 
 gan, perhaps at St. Joseph River, where he had built a fort 
 
 the year before. Whether he looked about the Chicago when 
 
 he passed here in his leisurely journey the year previous 
 
 (1679) from Green Bay to the St. Joseph, or upon his return 
 
 from the lower lakes that present year, or yet formed his 
 
 opinion from the information of others, we cannot certainly 
 
 say. Yet, however disparagingly he speaks of the thorough- 
 
 * The name of this chief who met Father AUouez near the mouth of the river, . 
 and who evidently lived on some of the waters of the Chicago, we are sorry to 
 say is not given. The address is the first formal oration or reception speech 
 which we have seen reported as of this locality. 
 
 + Here applied to the Desplaines. 
 
 J Probably referring to the information by Joliet. 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 155 
 
 fare by the Chicago, in 1680, he had the good sense to avail 
 himself of this route the year afterward, though the season in 
 this latitude deprived him of the benefit of river navigation. 
 In that "Memoir," LaSalle refers to a map of Joliet, criti- 
 cising various particulars upon it as well as some other state- 
 ments and conclusions of that explorer. He also speaks of 
 the missionary, Allouez, in strictures of some severity. Mr. 
 Shea, however, refers to the cotemporary account of Father 
 Marquette as collateral evidence to the correctness of some 
 of Joliet's items, and hints at the scarcely reasonable state- 
 ments of LaSalle regarding other particulars. As to the 
 matter concerning Allouez, we quote from a note of Mr. Shea 
 to the Memoir referred to, as follows: 
 
 "The party of Frontenac was at issue with the Bishop, his clergy, 
 and the Jesuits; and LaSalle was a warm partisan of Frontenac; but, 
 in some transactions at La Chine, he seems to have had a personal 
 quarrel with the Jesuits at Sault St. Louis. As to the actual merits 
 of the matter in the text, it is difficult to tell." 
 
 One annoyance which those studying early Western history 
 have had occasionally to contend with, has been, not only the 
 doubts and contradictions of interested or prejudiced parties, 
 but of fraudulent publications of accounts of pretended 
 travels and discoveries, etc. There seemed, among various 
 of those early French and Flemish travelers, officials, mis- 
 sionaries, and publishers, an unfortunate inclination, whether 
 merited or not, to call out suspicion, charges, and denuncia- 
 tion regarding themselves or the works bearing their names. 
 We are indeed constrained to believe, now and then, of ac- 
 cused or accusers, that ignorance, or else anger, avarice, 
 vanity, jealousy, envy, deceit, positive lying, or unquestion- 
 able theft, had possession of some of them. How otherwise 
 may we account for the following examples : — 
 
 "All the writers," says Shea, in Dis. and Exp. of the Miss. Valley, "connected 
 with LaSalle's expedition, except the first edition of Hennepin, published in 
 1683, speak of Jolliet's voyage as a fiction. Marquette they never mention; but 
 in LeClercq and those whom he cites, in the second Hennepin, in Joutel, in all, 
 in fact, except the faithful Tonty, the narrative of Marquette is derided, called a 
 fable, or narrative of a pretended voyage; and one (Father Anastasius Douay) 
 
156 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 actually goes so far as to say that, sailing up the river with the book in his hand, 
 he could not find a word of truth in it. * " As to the 
 
 charges themselves, they are clearly refuted by Frontenac's despatches. " 
 
 Regarding LeClercq, Mr. Shea says further: "LeClercq, or the real author, 
 doubts the authenticity of the Relation of 1626, ascribed to F. Charles Lalemant. 
 * * * Having thus thrown a slur on the first Relation, 
 
 he next brings the whole forty volumes of Relations, from 1632 to 1672, into the 
 same category. ' Joutel, who contradicts the 'Etab- 
 
 lissement' (LeClercq's publication), pointedly, in several places, says it was com- 
 posed on false relations, and thus gives some force to a charge brought in 1697, by 
 the strange Hennepin, who asserts broadly that the Etablissement was published by 
 Father Valentine LeRoux, under the borrowed name of LeClercq; and he charges 
 that the so-called narrative of Membre, in the work, is really a transcript of the 
 journal of his great voyage down the Mississippi, a copy of which he had left in 
 le Roux's hands at Quebec. At a still later date, when all had become calm, 
 Charlevoix states it as a common impression that Frontenac himself had a con- 
 siderable hand in it. When, with all this, we remember that the first published 
 narrative of Tonty is regarded as spurious, and that Mr. Sparks has irrefragably 
 shown Hennepin's later works to be mere romances, and literary theft, the whole 
 series of works relative to LaSalle seems drawn up or moulded to suit some party 
 views. " 
 
 The works of Father Hennepin, "Description de la Louisane, '' first pub. in 
 Paris, 1683, and "Nouvelle Decouverte d'un tres grand pays, "1697; the latter, 
 containing his previous work enlarged by a narrative of a pretended voyage down 
 the Mississippi, was printed in Dutch, English, Italian, and Spanish, and received 
 much commendation; but was soon the subject of attack. J. G. Shea says: 
 "The editor of Joutel, in 1713, calls it in question; but he was too ignorant of 
 Canadian history to give his charge any weight. Severer strictures were passed 
 upon it by Harris, and by Kalm, the celebrated Swedish traveller. Harris says, 
 'As to the accounts of La Honton and Father Hennepin, they have been for- 
 merly very much admired, yet we are now well satisfied that they are rather 
 romances than relations, and that their authors had their particular schemes so 
 much in view that they have made no scruple of abusing the confidence of man- 
 kind. ' In this country, within the last few years, a more thorough examination 
 of authorities has consigned Hennepin, La Honton, and Lebeau- to that amiable 
 class who seem to tell truth by accident and fiction by inclination. " 
 
 Of Louis Hennepin's first publication, a writer says " it is a work of value not- 
 withstanding the exaggeration of its author ; of his second book, containing the 
 matter of his History, with the addition of an account of his voyage down the 
 lower Mississippi, according to Jared Sparks, it is a fabrication copied from Le- 
 Clercq's Narrative. " 
 
 A Memoir by Henry de Tonty, sent to France in 1693, relating to LaSalle's 
 discoveries, formed the basis of a spurious work (disavowed by Tonty to Iber- 
 ville and Father Marest), printed in Paris, 1697, entitled " Derniers Decouvertes 
 dans l'Amerique, " etc. 
 
 Baron La Honton's work, published 1703, though not altogether without 
 value, is yet, much of it, a sheer fabrication; the evidence is abundant. 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 157 
 
 Of Charlevoix, whose Tetters or Journal in America, and History of New 
 France, are well known, it is said, " he is often quoted as good authority, though 
 not free from partiality and credulity." Shea, too, accuses him sometimes of 
 extravagance and misstatements. 
 
 [Inasmuch as the U. S. Government pays for the printing 
 of the documents, in the French archives, etc., brought to 
 light by the researches of Mr. Margry, relating to early 
 French exploration in the valley of our great river and lakes," 
 it is to be regretted that those valuable communications could 
 not have been given an English dress. Our thanks would 
 have been doubly due had it favored us with a translation of 
 those documents into our own language, placed, in parallel 
 columns, upon the pages with the originals.] 
 
 From a letter of dc LaSalle. The following extracts are 
 from a translation, as appears in the Mag. of Am. His., from 
 a fragment or part of a letter by LaSalle in one of Mr. 
 Margry's volumes. The date does not appear, but it would 
 seem to have been written after the communication to Fron- 
 tenac given above. No inconsiderable essay is this that we 
 have here from LaSalle, in which he combats the views of 
 Joliet, and presents for that day a not very encouraging pic- 
 ture for the pursuit of lake or canal navigation. It has been 
 suggested that Joliet was, in some manner, a rival of LaSalle; 
 but if so, perhaps that had nothing to do with the opinion of 
 the latter regarding navigation. Still, in the consciousness 
 which attends present experience, in the light of science, 
 conceding everything as it is presumed we must, not only to 
 gunpowder, steam, and electricity, but to all the overriding 
 arrogance of modern discovery and invention, it must be 
 allowed that Joliet had the clearest prophetic vision of the 
 two. Pony transportation from starved rock, to Chicago, as 
 suggested by LaSalle, would scarcely fill the order now-a- 
 days; yet they, poor fellows, those earliest Chicago sled- 
 wrights that we read of, had each to bow their necks to the 
 yoke and pull those simple and clumsy contrivances, and 
 their hundred and fifty pounds weight to a man. In connec- 
 tion, however, with this expression of LaSalle's ideas regard- 
 
I J8 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 ing navigation, we should bear in mind that on the lakes 
 there were hidden shoals, head-winds, and lee shores; there 
 were crooked and shallow channels through St. Clair; there 
 were then no charts to aid the pilot, no improved lake har- 
 bors, and the natural harbors, the streams, were usually bar- 
 ricaded and leveed with bars of sand. LaSalle, on his way 
 up the lakes on the Griffon, had, it is believed, some very 
 boisterous weather and rough seas. His memory of that 
 voyage, probably, was not altogether happy ; the pilot of that 
 ship had uttered some reproaches, not only in self-condemna- 
 tion, but involving the intimation of some blame in the com- 
 mander himself, inasmuch as he, the pilot, said he had been 
 persuaded to leave the ocean, where all his fame had been 
 won, to come to these dirty lakes to lose it. We may also,, 
 add, that the impression which LaSalle had, concerning the 
 River Uesplaines, seems to have been an untoward one; 
 indeed, he found it generally flush or fallen. It was in sum- 
 mer, perhaps, an almost bare and dry channel, but in spring 
 its waters sometimes were booming, and about equally 
 divided in opinion, apparently, whether they should reach 
 the ocean by the way of Labrador or the Balize. 
 
 "I sent M. de Tonty in advance with all my people, who, after 
 marching three days along the Lake, and reaching the division line 
 called Checagou, were stopped, after a day's march along the river 
 of the same name which falls into the Islinois, by the ice, which en- 
 tirely prevented further navigation. This was the 2d and 3d Janu- 
 ary, 1682. I remained behind* to direct the making of some caches 
 in the earth of the things I left behind. * * * 
 
 Having finished my caches, I left the 28th December, and went on 
 foot to join the Sieur de Tonty, which I did the 7th January, the 
 snow having detained me some days at the portage of Checagou. 
 This is an isthmus of land at 41 degrees 50 minutes north latitude, 
 at the west of the Islinois Lake, which is reached by a channel 
 formed by the junction of several rivulets, or meadow ditches. It is 
 navigable for about two leagues to the edge of the prairie, a quarter 
 of a league westward. There is a little laket divided by a. causeway 
 made by the beavers, about a league and a half long, from which 
 runs a stream which, after winding about a half league through the 
 rushes, empties into the river Checagou, and thence into that of the 
 Islinois. This laket is filled by heavy summer rains, or spring fresh- 
 
 * At the St. Joseph Riifer. t Mud Lake. 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. I 59 
 
 ets, and discharges also into the channel which leads to the lakes 
 of the Islinois, the level of which' is seven feet lower than the prai- 
 rie on which the lake is. The river of Checagou does the same 
 thing in the spring when its channel is full. It empties a part of its 
 waters by this little lake into those of the Islinois, and at this sea- 
 son, Joliet says, forms, in the summer time, a little channel for a 
 quarter of a league from this lake to the basin which leads to that 
 of the Islinois, by which vessels can enter the Checagou and de- 
 scend to the sea. This may very well happen in the spring, but 
 not in the summer, because there is no water at all in the river as 
 far as Fort St. Louis, where the Islinois begins to be navigable at 
 this season, whence it continues to the sea. It is true there is still 
 another difficulty which the proposed ditch would not remedy, which 
 is that the lake of the Islinois always forms a sand bar at the mouth 
 of the channel which leads to it; and I greatly doubt, notwithstand- 
 ing what is said, that it could be cleared or swept away by the force 
 of the current of the Checagou, since a much greater, in the 
 same lake, has not removed it. Moreover, the utility of it would 
 be inconsiderable, because I doubt, even if it should be a complete 
 success, whether a vessel could resist the great freshets caused by 
 the currents in the Checagou in the spring, which are much heavier 
 than those of the Rhone. Moreover, it would only be serviceable 
 for a short time, and at most for fifteen or twenty days each year, 
 after which there would be no more waters. What confirms me in 
 the opinion that the Checagou could not clear the mouth of the 
 channel is, that when the lake is full of ice, the most navigable 
 mouths are blocked at this period; and when the ice is melted, there 
 is no more water in the Checagou to prevent the mouth from filling 
 up with sand. Nor should I have made any mention of this com- 
 munication if Joliet had not proposed it without regard to its diffi- 
 culties. Moreover, I maintain that even should such a communica- 
 tion between Louisiana and New France be desired, it is too diffi- 
 cult by way of the lakes because of the diversity of the winds to 
 which their situation exposes them; the furious gales that must 
 always be encountered near land on account of their narrowness of 
 the waters and want of depth or anchorage in case of necessity. The 
 channel between Lake Erie and Huron presents a great difficulty be- 
 cause of its great current, which cannot be surmounted except by a 
 strong stern-wind, and because there are places between where there 
 is only a width of four feet of water, so that vessels capable of sup- 
 porting the storm of the lakes could scarcely pass, for, whether be- 
 cause of the height of their situation on the mountains of Niagara, 
 or the. nearness of other mountains by which they are almost wholly 
 surrounded, the autumn and spring storms are so furious, so sudden, 
 and so long, particularly furious from the northwest and northeast, 
 and from the southeast in the spring, that sometimes for three or 
 four, days it would be ..impossible to carry sail or keep clear of the 
 
l60 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 land, which is never more than fifteen or sixteen leagues distant, the 
 lakes being no more than thirty leagues wide; and because if this 
 communication should be insisted upon by means of barques, the 
 lakes could not be navigable before the middle of April, and some- 
 times even later, because of the ice and winter at this season; nor 
 for the rest of the year is the Checagou navigable, even for canoes, 
 unless after a storm. The waters being always low in the month of 
 March, it would be easier to effect the transportation from Fort St. 
 Louis to the lakes by land by using horses, which it is easy to have, 
 there being numbers among the savages called Pana, &c, &c. 
 
 * * This is what I have to say concerning this 
 
 passage by which Joliet pretended an easy communication could be 
 had with Louisiana. 
 
 "Having there joined M. de Tonty, I caused some sleighs to be 
 made to draw our canoes, our supplies, and the rest of our equip- 
 ment, over the ice; they were made in this manner: strips of wood, 
 as hard and smooth as possible, such as the wild cherry, maple, wal- 
 nut, or other similar kind, are selected ; the ends of which are then 
 made thin enough to be curved, and the large end turned to the rear, 
 in which three holes are pierced, by which small cross pieces of wire 
 are fastened, on which the baggage is placed. A yoke is fastened 
 from the two extremities to the two curved ends of these pieces of 
 wood, which a man puts upon his neck. This slides easily enough; 
 and a hundred to a hundred and fifty weight can be easily drawn in 
 this manner, without fatigue, eight to ten leagues a day." 
 
 From the "Proces Verbal of taking Possession of Louisiana,'' by 
 LaSalle* gt/i Apiil, 1682; French's His. Colt. La., Part 1. "On the 
 
 * The most remarkable character among the explorers of the Mississippi Val- 
 ley, in the latter half of the seventeenth century, was Robert Cavelier de LaSalle. 
 Viewed in the light and sense of worldly, enterprise, he is to be considered 
 as surpassing all others in lofty and comprehensive aims, in determined energy 
 and unyielding courage, both moral and physical. He faltered at no laborious 
 undertaking; no distrust by nerveless friends, no jealous envy or schemes of active 
 enemies, no misfortune, damped the ardor of his plans and movements. If there 
 was a mountain in his track, he could scale it; if a lion beset his path, he could 
 crush it. Nothing but the hand of the lurking assassin could quench the fire of 
 that brave heart. We may briefly say, that LaSalle was born in the city of 
 Rouen, France, November 22, 1643. The name LaSalle was borrowed from an 
 estate, in the neighborhood of Rouen, belonging to his family, the Caveliers. 
 Robert was educated at one of the Jesuit Seminaries, and as one of that order 
 he continued a short time; but in 1666, he came to America, and it is said that 
 he made early exploration to the Ohio, and was possibly near the Mississippi' 
 before Joliet and Marquette's voyage hither. We can here only allude to a few 
 items and facts in LaSalle's career. It was a marked incident, and so appears on 
 the Historic page, when LaSalle, in 1679, voyaged to Green Bay on the Griffon, 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. l6l 
 
 27th of December, 1681, M. De LaSalle departed on foot to join M. 
 De Tonty, who had preceded him, with his followers and all his 
 equipage, 40 leagues into the Miami's country; where the ice on the 
 River Chekagou, in the country of the Mascontens, had arrested his 
 progress; and where, when the ice became stronger, they used sledges 
 to drag the baggage, the canoes, and a wounded Frenchman, through 
 the whole length of this river, and on the Illinois, a distance of 70 
 leagues." 
 
 From " Memoir by the Sieur De LaTonty;"* His. Coll. La., by B. 
 
 the first sail vessel of the lakes above the Falls, and which he had built on the 
 bank of Cayuga Creek, a tributary of the Niagara. But that business trip was a 
 mere pleasure excursion when compared with the efforts required of him to engi- 
 neer and bring about certain indispensible preparations, involving ways and 
 means, before the keel of that renowned craft should be laid, and before she 
 spread her wings to the breeze and departed outward from Buffalo Harbor of the 
 future. And what an unhesitating morning walk was that of his, in 1680, when 
 he set out on foot from the Fort which (not him) they termed Broken Heart, 
 where Peoria is, to go, some twelve hundred miles perhaps, to Fort Frontenac, 
 where Kingston is, at the lower end of Lake Ontario. His unyielding purpose 
 was not to be delayed, but accelerated, by the avalanche of misfortune which had 
 fallen on him. He could not wait for railroads, nor turnpikes, nor civilization; 
 he could not even wait for canoe navigation, for it was early spring — in the month 
 of March — when the ice still lingered by the lake shores, and was running thickly 
 in the streams. So, with one Indian and four white men, with small supply of 
 edibles, yet with a large stock of resolution, he took his way. The journey was 
 accomplished, and he was back on Lake Michigan in the autumn ensuing. It 
 has been suggested that his own enduring, iron nature, as it might be called, — 
 unbending as it was in its requirements of others, — served, perhaps, to create 
 enmities and to occasion the final catastrophe. It may have been so; but what- 
 ever view may be taken, the doings of LaSalle must be called wonderful, his 
 misfortunes numberless, and his death sad. The day on which LaSalle was 
 killed is said to have been March iy, 1687. 
 
 * There is much of romantic interest in the life of Henry de Tonty which will 
 ever attract attention to the story of his experience in the wilds of America. He 
 was born in Naples, Italy, in or near the year 1650. In a Memoir, said to be 
 written by him in 1693, — or but a. short time before that, — (which was used by 
 others as the groundwork of a spurious publication in 1697), he says: "After 
 having been eight years in the French service, by land and by sea, and having 
 had a hand shot off in Sicily by a grenade, I resolved to return to France to 
 solicit employment.'' It was at the time when LaSalle had returned from 
 America, and was getting recruits of means (particularly from the French Gov- 
 ernment) for his Western enterprise. The prime minister of Louis 14th, he that 
 was called the great Colbert, knowing the soldier Tonty well, specially provided 
 that the important project to be undertaken by LaSalle should have the benefit 
 of the personal aid of de Tonty, who, though maimed and single-handed, was yet 
 II 
 
1 62 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. , 
 
 F. French, Part i. "At the Miamis River, I assembled some 
 Frenchmen and savages for the voyage of discovery, and M. De 
 LaSalle joined us in October, (1681.) We went in canoes to the 
 River Chicagou, where there is a portage which joins that of the 
 Illinois. The rivers being frozen, we made sledges and dragged our 
 baggage thirty leagues below the village of Illinois, where, finding 
 the navigation open, we arrived, at the end of January, at the great 
 River Mississippi. The distance from Chicagou was estimated at 140 
 leagues." Returning, "From thence we came to Fort Prudhomme, 
 where M. De LaSalle fell dangerously ill, which obliged him to send 
 me forward, on the 6th of May, to arrange his affairs at Michilima- 
 kinac. * * * We arrived about the 
 
 end of June, 1683 (1682), at the River Chicagou, and, by the mid- 
 dle of July, at Michilimakinac. M. De LaSalle, having recovered, 
 joined us in September." Subsequently, in fall of 1685, "After 
 going 120 leagues, I arrived at the Fort of Chicagou, where M. De 
 La Durantaye commanded; and from thence I came to Fort St. 
 Louis, where I arrived in the middle of January, 1685 (1686)." 
 
 From the "Narrative of LaSalle 's Voyage Down the Mississippi, 
 
 ready to go forth to dare and to do. Tonty says, " We sailed from Rochelle on 
 the 14th of July, 1678, and arrived at Quebec on the 15th of September follow- 
 ing. " We cannot, of course, in this note, attempt to follow the brave and capa- 
 ble lieutenant of LaSalle in his various movements even if we had a knowledge of 
 them; yet we may say, that if a trustful agent or manager was needed for any 
 adventure by LaSalle, Tonty was the man to fill the requirement. If a fort was 
 wanted, he was the architect and overseer to construct it; if a peaceable envoy to 
 the Indians was required, he was the gifted embassador; if a tribe needed chas- 
 tisement in battle, he was the able captain of the forces. We need not cite 
 examples. Tonty was provided with some sort of a metallic arrangement as a 
 substitute for the loss of part an arm; and he was known, it is said, far and near 
 among the tribes of red men, as " La Bras de Fer, " or The man ptilh the iron 
 arm. If we rightly remember, more than one tale has been constructed by 
 novel-writers, with its scenes laid in the West, presenting de Tonty as the princi- 
 pal character. In long time past, an island at lower end of Lake Ontario was 
 known as, and called, the Isle of Tonty, being named after our hero — the man 
 with the iron arm; but the name was afterwards changed to that of Amherst. 
 Whether this was done by the British Government, or some other body, the 
 movement had its origin in the conceit of an ignoramus who knew little of the 
 facts of history and the merits of individuals, which would discourage the stupid 
 officiousness of such an outrage; for whatever the deserts of the titled General 
 Jeffrey Amherst may have been, Henry de Tonty was the greater man of the 
 two. De Tonty died at Fort St. Louis, on Mobile Bay, in the year 1704. 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 1 63 
 
 drawn up from the manuscripts of Father Zenobius Membre* by Father 
 Chretien Le Clercq."\ "M. LaSalle having arrived safely at the Mi- 
 amis on the 3d of November, 1681, began, with his ordinary activity 
 and vast mind, to make all preparations for his departure. He 
 selected twenty -three Frenchmen, and eighteen Mohegans and 
 Abnakis, all inured to war. The latter insisted on taking along 
 ten of their women to cook for them, as their custom is, while they 
 were fishing or hunting. These women had three children, so that 
 the whole party consisted of but fifty-four persons, including the 
 Sieur De Tonty and the Sieur Dautray. * * * 
 
 "On the 21st of December, I embarked with the Sieur De Tonty 
 
 * We are told, in a note upon a page of Shea's Dis. and Exp. of the Missis- 
 sippi Valley, that if we should believe the statement in Hennepin's last work, it 
 might be said that Father Zenobius Membre was born at Bapaume, since in 
 France, but then in the Spanish Netherlands. He came to Canada in 1675, witri 
 LeClercq, who, it is said, was his cousin. From Fort Frontenac he accompanied 
 LaSalle to Niagara in 1678, and thence at length to Fort Creveceur, where he 
 was left with Tonty and Father Gabriel de la Ribourde. Upon the inroad 
 of the Iroquois, and flight of the Illinois Indians, he, with others, left for Green 
 Bay. Father Gabriel was killed on the way by the Kickapoos, but the others 
 were hospitably received by the Jesuits at the Bay, and where they passed the 
 winter. In the spring, they went in company with Father Enjalran to Mack- 
 inaw. After a journey to Lake Ontario, he went with LaSalle to the lower 
 Mississippi. He left a journal of his voyage at Quebec, but as he declined com- 
 municating it to the new governor, De la Barre, the Governor, in his report, 
 threw imputations on any account of the Missionary. Membre returned to 
 France and Bapaume, where he continued till he joined LaSalle for his last sea 
 voyage. With that expedition he arrived in Texas, and was one of those left at 
 the fort on the Gulf by LaSalle when he took his last journey into the country. 
 But from that journey LaSalle never returned; and Membre, with all the others 
 at' that fort, were attacked and massacred. 
 
 + Christian Le Clercq, a Recollect missionary, was born in Artois, and was 
 sent to Canada in 1675, where he was zealously active in the duties of his mission 
 on the coast of Gaspe, but returned to Europe after a few years. His work, 
 "Etablissement de la Foi," was published by Auroy, in Paris, 1691. This, as per 
 Mr. Shea's notice, assumed to be "a general history of religion in Canada, and of 
 LaSalle's voyages, " etc. , being the first printed account of LaSalle's voyage down 
 the Mississippi. Mr. Shea tells us, " Of Father Le Clercq, under whose name 
 the work is thus published, we know little beyond what we glean from this 
 work, " and one other. Several pages are devoted by Mr. Shea to the examina- 
 tion of the three parts of the " Etablissement, " in which it is divided, and he dis- 
 cusses the condition of things in Canada of the time in which the author wrote. 
 Mr. S. calls the work "curious and rare," yet doubts if its authorship can be 
 credited altogether to Le Clercq. " A striking feature in the work is its literary 
 skepticism as to a great mass of early works on Canada. " In a previous note, 
 we have referred to the work of Le C. 
 
I64 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 and a part of our people on Lake Dauphin* to go toward the Divine 
 River, called by the Indians Checagou, in order to make necessary 
 arrangements for our voyage. The Sieur LaSalle joined us there, 
 with the rest of his troop, on the 4th of January, 1682, and found 
 that Tonty had had sleighs made to put all on and carry it over the 
 Chicago, which was frozen; for though the winter in these parts is 
 only two months long, it is notwithstanding very severe. 
 
 "We had to make a portage to enter the Illinois River, which we 
 found also frozen. We made it on the 27th of the same month, and 
 dragging our canoes, baggage, and provisions about eighty leagues 
 on the river Seignelay, which runs into the river Colbert, we tra- 
 versed the great Illinois town without finding any. one there, the 
 Indians having gone to winter thirty leagues lower down, on Lake 
 Pimiteoui, where Fort Creveceur stands." ' 
 
 "In 1685," says Shea, "De La Durantaye, who had been stationed 
 at Michilimackinac, erected a Fort at Chicago, and it became a kind 
 of depot." 
 
 We have seen, however, no record of his impressions con- 
 cerning this locality during his residence here. 
 
 Henri Joutel, as well as LaSalle, was a native of Rouen, 
 France ; and when the latter was preparing for his last voyage 
 to America, Joutel, with others of that city, volunteered to 
 join the expedition. He has given in detail (published in 
 171 3) an account of the successive disasters which befel that 
 effort of the great but luckless explorer to colonize the banks 
 of the Mississippi. LaSalle, leaving a part of his company 
 at their fort on Matagorda Bay, made several excursions with 
 the purpose of reaching the Mississippi. Upon his last tour 
 to the interior, among others he was accompanied by Joutel. 
 We may briefly say, that after the assassination of LaSalle, 
 and the subsequent killing of two of his murderers by two 
 others of the assassins, and the withdrawal of more to join 
 the Indian tribes, there remained but seven, who designed, if 
 possible, to get to Canada, and thence to France. The names 
 of these were Father Anastasius Douay, M. Cavelier the 
 brother of LaSalle, and his nephew, also, De Marie, Teissier, 
 Bartholomew, and Joutel. Df these, De Marie was drowned 
 before reaching the Mississippi, and Bartholomew remained 
 
 * Lake Michigan. 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 165 
 
 behind at a French post. The other five, as seen by the 
 extract below from Joutel's journal, made a double trip from 
 Fort Louis* (as he calls it) to Chicago, and then onward to the 
 St. Lawrence. 
 
 "On Sunday, the 14th of September, 1687, about two in the after- 
 noon, we came into the neighborhood of Fort Louis. * 
 
 At length we entered the fort, where we found 
 and surprised several persons, who did not expect us. All the 
 French were under arms, and made several discharges to welcome 
 us. M. de la Belle Fontaine, lieutenant to M. Tonty, was at the 
 head of them, and complimented us. * * * 
 
 Sieur Boisrondet, clerk to the late M. de la Salle, having told us he 
 had a canoe in which he designed to go down to Canada, we pre- 
 pared to make use of that opportunity. Care was taken to gather 
 provisions for our voyage; to get furs to barter as we passed by 
 Micilimaquinay. * * * M. Cavelier wrote a 
 
 letter for M. Tonty, which he left there to be delivered to him, and 
 we repaired to the lake to embark. It would be needless to relate 
 all the troubles and hardships we met with in that journey; it was 
 painful and fruitless, for, having gone to the bank of the lake in 
 very foul weather, after waiting there five days for that foul weather 
 to cease, and after we had embarked — notwithstanding the storm, — 
 we were obliged to put ashore again, to return to the place where we 
 had embarked, and there to dig a hole in the earth to bury our 
 baggage and provisions, to save the trouble of carrying them back to 
 Fort Louis, whither we returned, and arrived there the 7 th of 
 October, where they were surprised to see us come back. Thus we 
 were obliged to continue in that fort all the rest of autumn and part 
 of the winter. * * * On the 27 th of October, 
 
 of the same year, M. Tonty returned from the war with the Iro- 
 quois.t * * * We continued after this manner 
 
 till the month of December, when two men arrived from Montreal. 
 They came to give notice to M. Tonty that three canoes, laden with 
 merchandise, — powder, ball, and other things, — were arrived at Chi- 
 cagou; that there being too little water in the river, and what there 
 was being frozen, they could come no lower; so that, it being requi- 
 site to send men to fetch those things, M. Tonty desired the chief of 
 the Chahouanous to furnish him with people. That chief accord- 
 ingly provided forty, men as well as women, who set out with some 
 Frenchmen. The honesty of the Chahouanous was the reason of 
 preferring them before the Illinois, who are naturally knaves. That 
 
 * Otherwise "Fort St. Louis," or " Starved Rock." 
 
 t Mr. Shea properly condemns Joutel, as well as Father Anastasius Douay, for 
 representations to Tonty concerning M. de LaSalle, and concealing from him the 
 information of his death. 
 
l66 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 ammunition and the merchandise were soon brought, and very sea- 
 sonably, the fort being then in want. * • * * 
 At length we set out, the 21st of March, from Fort Louis. The 
 Sieur Boisrondet, who was desirous to return to France, joined us; 
 we embarked on the river, which was then become navigable, and 
 before we had advanced five leagues met with a rapid stream, which 
 obliged us to go ashore, and then again into the water, to draw along 
 our canoe. I had the misfortune to hurt one of my feet against a 
 rock that lay under water, which troubled me very much for a long 
 time. * Vf * We arrived at Chicagou on the 
 29th of March, and our first care was to seek what we had concealed 
 at our former voyage, having, as was there said, buried our luggage 
 and provisions. We found it had been opened, and some furs and 
 linen taken away, almost all of which belonged to me. This had 
 been done by a Frenchman whom M. Tonty had sent from the fort, 
 during the winter season, to know whether there were any canoes at 
 Chicagou, and whom he had directed to see whether anybody had 
 meddled with what he had concealed; and he made use of that advice 
 to rob us. The bad weather obliged us to stay in that place till April. 
 That time of rest was advantageous for the healing of my foot; and 
 there being but very little game in that place, we had nothing but 
 our meal, or Indian wheat, to feed on ; yet, we discovered a kind of 
 manna, which was a great help to 'us. It was a sort of trees resem- 
 bling our maple, in which we made incisions, whence flowed a sweet 
 liquor, and in it we boiled our Indian wheat, which made it deli- 
 cious, sweet, and of a very agreeable relish. There being no sugar- 
 canes in that country, those trees supplied that liquor, which, being 
 boiled up and evaporated, turned into a kind of sugar, somewhat 
 brownish, but very good. In the woods we found a sort of garlic, 
 not so strong as ours, and small onions, very like ours in taste, and . 
 some charvel of the same relish as that we have, but different in the 
 leaf. The weather being somewhat mended, we embarked again, 
 and entered upon the lake on the 5 th of April, keeping to the north 
 side* to shun the Iroquois." 
 
 Baron LaHonton (whose work was published in 1703) is so 
 unreliable, that we scarcely know when he tells the truth; but 
 he claims to have gone down the Mississippi as far as the Illi- 
 nois River, which lie then ascended to an Indian village and 
 employed four hundred men to carry his baggage over the 
 portage. He writes, "This they did in four days; for on the 
 24th (April, 1689,) I arrived at Chekakou." 
 
 West side. 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 167 
 
 Rev. John Francis Buisson de St. Cosine, a native of Que- 
 bec, and a priest, was, we are told, zealously devoted to 
 Christianizing the Indians, and was a minister at the Natchez 
 and elsewhere on the Mississippi ; but was killed by the sav- 
 ages of that region in 1707. In the year 1699, he passed, 
 with several others, from Mackinaw to the Illinois. He 
 would have preferred going by the way of the Fox and Wis- 
 consin Rivers, but the menaces of hostile Indians prevented, 
 and he came via the lake shore. His account of the journey 
 appears in a letter written at the mouth of the Arkansas, 
 addressed to the Bishop of Quebec, which, with other matter, 
 appears in a volume entitled "Early Voyages up and down 
 the Mississippi" zvith notes by J. G. Shea; Albany, 1861. We 
 will remark that the house of the missionaries referred to by 
 St. Cosme, we suppose, may have been at the junction of the 
 north and south branches of Chicago River, where the meet- 
 ing of the three channels formed the natural basin or small 
 lake spoken of; or possibly it was at Mud Lake, unless, 
 indeed, Mr. Adams may send us to the Calumet to look for 
 it. We quote from St. Cosme as follows: 
 
 1699. "On the 10th of October, having left Meliwarik early in 
 the morning, we arrived in good season at Kipikawi,* which is about 
 eight leagues from it. There we parted with Mr. de Vincenne's 
 party, who continued their course towards the Miamis. Some Ind- 
 ians had led us to suppose that we might ascend by this river, and 
 that after making a portage of about nine leagues, we could descend 
 by another river called Pistrui,t which empties into the River of the 
 Illinois about twenty-five or thirty leagues from Chikagu. We 
 avoided this river. * * * This obliged us 
 
 to take the route of Chicagu, which is about twenty-five leagues 
 from it. * * * We left it on the 17 th, and, 
 
 after having been detained by wind the 18th and 19th, we cabined 
 on the 20th, five leagues from the Chicaqw. We should have reached 
 it early on the 21st, but the wind, which suddenly sprung up from 
 the lake, obliged us to land half a league from Apkaw.J We had 
 
 * Evidently Root River, at Racine. + Fox River. 
 
 % Probably intended to apply to a spot on the river here, or the immediate 
 
 neighborhood. Shea says, " This name is inexplicable. They certainly stopped 
 
 at Chicago, and the name may have been a transcriber's blunder for cette place, 
 that place.' 1 ' 1 Was not Chicaqw intended to be written? 
 
1 68 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 considerable difficulty in getting ashore and saving our canoes. We 
 had to throw everything into the water. This is a thing which you 
 must take good care of along the lakes, and especially on [Lake] Mis- 
 sigan, (the shores of which are very flat,) to land soon when the water 
 swells from the lake, for the breakers get so large in a short time that 
 the canoes are in risk of going to pieces and losing all on board; 
 several travellers have already been wrecked there. We went by 
 land, Mr. de Montigny, Davion, and myself, to the house of the 
 Rev. Jesuit Fathers, our people staying with the baggage. We found 
 there Rev. Father Pinet and Rev. Father Buinateau, who had re- 
 cently come in from the Illinois, and were slightly sick. I cannot 
 explain to you, Monseigneur, with what cordiality and marks of 
 esteem these reverend Jesuit Fathers received and caressed us dur- 
 ing the time that we had the consolation of staying with them. 
 Their house is built on the banks of the small lake, having the lake 
 on one side and a fine large prairie on the other. The Indian village 
 is of over 150 cabins, and one league on the river there is another 
 village almost as large. They are both of the Miamis. Rev. Father 
 Pinet makes it his ordinary residence, except in winter, when the 
 Indians all go hunting, and which he goes and spends at the Illinois. 
 We saw no Indians there; they had already started for their hunt.* 
 
 sj* * * * * * 
 
 "On the 24th of October, the wind having fallen, we made our 
 canoes come with all our baggage; and perceiving that the waters 
 were extremely low, we made a cache on the shore, and took only 
 what was absolutely necessary for our voyage, reserving till spring to- 
 send for the rest; and we left in charge of it Brother Alexander, 
 who consented to remain there with Father Pinet's man; and we 
 started from Chicaqw on the 29th, and put up for the night about 
 two leagues off, in the little river which is then lost in the prairies. • 
 The next day we began the portage, which is about three leagues 
 
 * Mr. Edward F. Adams, in a communication published in the Post and Mail, 
 October 10, 1875, relating to the matter of precedence in the settlement of Ca- 
 hokia over Kaskaskia, on the Mississippi, speaks of St. Cosme's journey hither, 
 and quotes a portion of the extract above. Mr. A., for himself, remarks : " They 
 arrived at Chicago, October 21, where they found a Jesuit mission established 
 among the Miamis. This mission, however, was not here, but on the Calumet. " 
 Also, " Oct. 26, they set out from the Calumet for the Illinois. Pinet and Buine- 
 teau also started about the same time for their winter's work ; but, being more 
 lightly loaded, pushed on ahead. " Mr. Adams does not, in this, give to us his 
 meaning quite clearly. When he says "arrived at Chicago," does he mean Calu- 
 met ? Does he mean that the mission-house_/6««</ by St. Cosme and his compan- 
 ions at Chicago was really a dozen miles away at the Calumet? Or would he 
 intimate that though the missionaries' house was at Chicago, or at the Indian 
 village in its near vicinity, where Father Pinet had his "ordinary residence," yet 
 the labors of the missionaries were mostly at the Calumet? , 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 1 69 
 
 long when the water is low, and only a quarter of a league in the 
 spring; for you embark on a little lake that empties into a branch 
 of the river of the Illinois, and when the waters are low you have to 
 make a portage to that branch. We made half our portage that day, 
 and we should have made some progress further, when we perceived 
 that a little boy whom we had received from Mr. de Muys, having 
 started on alone, — although he had been told to wait, — had got lost 
 without any one paying attention to it, all hands being engaged. 
 We were obliged to stop and look for him. All set out; we fired 
 several guns, but could not find him. It was a very unfortunate 
 mishap; we were pressed by the season, and the waters being very 
 low, we saw well that being obliged to carry our effects and our 
 canoe it would take us a great while to reach the Illinois. This made 
 us part company; Mr. de Montigny, de Tonty, and Davion contin- 
 ued the portage next day, and I, with four other men, returned to 
 look for this little boy; and, on my way back, I met Fathers Pinet 
 and Buinateau, who were going, with two Frenchmen and one Ind- 
 ian, to the Illinois. We looked for him again all that day without 
 being able to find him. As next day was the feast of All Saints, 
 this obliged me to go and pass the night at Chikagou with our peo- 
 ple, who having heard mass, and performed their devotions early, 
 we spent all that day too in looking for that little boy without being 
 able to get the least trace. It was very difficult to find him in the 
 tall grass, for the whole country is prairies, — you meet only some 
 clumps of woods. As the grass was. high, we durst not set fire to it 
 for fear of burning him. Mr. de Montigny had told me not to stay 
 over a day, because the cold was becoming severe. This obliged me 
 to start after giving Brother Alexander directions to look for him; 
 and to take some of the French who were at Chicag8. I set out 
 the second of November, in the afternoon, made the portage, and 
 slept at the river of the Illinois."* 
 
 Rev. Thanmur de La Source, who, in 1699, accompanied to 
 the Mississippi, St. Cosme and others of the party of which 
 M. de Montigny was the leader, also wrote from the Arkan- 
 sas. Below that point they seem to have met with short 
 rations; he says: 
 
 "We set out on the 4th of January (1700), with little provisions, 
 expecting to find game as usual, for from Chikagou to the Akanseas 
 in the Micissipi the bison and cows are so numerous that you can- 
 not lack provisions if you have powder and ball. Bear and deer are 
 very numerous; we killed several with swords. On starting from 
 the Akanseas we had rain for the space of five days, during which 
 we made no great progress. Our whole stock of provision consisted 
 
 * Meaning the Desplaines. 
 
lyo CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 of dried squash, and even of that we did not make half a meal. On 
 Twelfth day we did not eat a bit. * * * 
 
 "We left there (the Natchez) on the 27th to return to the Tonicas. 
 Mr. de Montigny and Mr. de St. Cosme resolved to go up together 
 to bring down the things left at Chicagou, where Brother Alexander 
 had remained to guard them, because there was no water in the Illi- 
 nois.* * * * We arrived on Maundy 
 Thursday at Chicagou after making thirty leagues by land. * 
 * * I will tell you that Mr. de Montigny took a 
 boy twelve or fifteen years old with him, who got lost, while making 
 the first portage, in the prairie's. Mr. de St. Cosme remained, with 
 five men, and spent two days looking for him without being able to 
 find him; and during this time I, and two others, with Mr. de Mon- 
 tigny, made a portage of two leagues. This boy made his way to 
 Chicagou, where Brother Alexander was, thirteen days after. He 
 was utterly exhausted, and was out of his head. * * 
 We are to start from Chicago on Easter Monday. The finest coun- 
 try that we have seen is all from Chicagou to the Tamarois.t It is 
 nothing but prairies and clumps of wood as far aS you can see.J 
 
 Father James Gravier, the Jesuit, came from France, and 
 arrived in Canada not long after 1679. He was one of the 
 early missionaries to the Indians of the Illinois, with whom he 
 continued for near thirty years, and is said to have compiled 
 a grammar of their language. He died soon after 1706. 
 The following appears in his letter from the lower Missis-" 
 sippi, dated Feb. 16, 1701 : 
 
 "On my return from Michihmackinac, I received your letter, 
 which you did me the honor to write by the Mississipy, addressed 
 to Father Aveneau, who sent it to me at Chikagoiia, whence I set 
 out on the eighth of September, 1700, to come here. * 
 
 * God grant that the road from Chikagoiia to 
 
 the Strait (au Detroit§) be not closed, and the whole Illinois mission 
 suffer greatly." 
 
 The following is an extract from a "rough draft" by James 
 
 * Meaning the Desplaines. 
 
 + The locality called Tamarois, we believe, was where since was Cahokia, 
 which, according to Mr. E. F. Adams, is the oldest white-settled town in Illinois. 
 
 % Shea says : " The Rev. Dominie Thaumur de La Source had been a pupil of 
 Father Charlevoix at Quebec, and was ordained there. Charlevoix found him at 
 Cahokia in 1721." 
 
 § Understood to apply to some part of the Illinois River. 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 171 
 
 Logan,* bearing date December, 1718, designed to aid Gov. 
 Keith, of Pennsylvania, in preparing his Memorial to the 
 British Board of Trade. Various other routes to the Missis- 
 sippi were referred to in the same paper: 
 
 "From lake Huron they pass by the Strait of Michilmakina four 
 leagues, being two in breadth, and of a great depth, to the Lake Illi- 
 noise ; thence one hundred and fifty leagues on the lake to Fort Miami, 
 situated at the mouth of the River Chicagou. This fort is not regu- 
 larly garrisoned. From hence came those Indian's of the same name, 
 viz., Miami, who are settled on the forementioned river" (Miami, 
 now Maumee,) "that runs into Erie. Up the River Chicagou they 
 sail but three leagues to a portage of a quarter of a league; they 
 then enter a very small lake of about a mile, and have another very 
 small portage; and again of another of two miles, to the river of 
 Illinoise; thence down the same one hundred and thirty leagues to 
 the Mechasipi." 
 
 Peter Francis Xavier Charlevoix, who was born at St-. 
 Quentin, France, Oct., 1682, sometime a teacher in a Jesuit 
 college, and also a missionary in Canada, made a tour from 
 the St. Lawrence to New Orleans, via Lake Michigan, in 
 1721. He was at St. Joseph River, having come from the 
 straits along the east shore of the lake. He intended to take 
 the Chicago route, but failed to do so, as appears by the fol- 
 lowing extracts from his journal. Charlevoix died in La- 
 fleche, France, in 1761 : 
 
 "Fort on the River St. Joseph, September 14, 1721. Madam: It 
 is now three days since I set out from this place for Chicagou, by 
 coasting along the south shore of Lake Michigan; but we found the 
 lake so stormy that we resolved to return hither, and to seek out 
 some other way to reach Louisiana. * * * 
 
 "Source of the River Theakiki,t September 17, 1721. * 
 
 * James Logan was born in Ireland, of Scottish parentage, in 1674. He was a 
 precocious scholar, being proficient in many of the dead languages at the age of 
 13 years. He came over with Wm. Penn, on his second visit to America, as his 
 secretary, landing at Philadelphia in Dec, 1699. He filled with ability many 
 offices in the Province, including that of Chief- Justice, as well as officiating as 
 President of the Council, also as Governor for two years. " He was a firm friend 
 of the Indians; possessed uncommon abilities, and great wisdom and modera- 
 tion." He died near Philadelphia, in 1751. 
 
 + Kankakee. 
 
172 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 * * I believe I gave you to understand, in my 
 
 last, that I had two routes to chuse, in order to gain the country of 
 the Illinois; the first was by returning by Lake Michigan, coasting 
 along the southern coast, and entering the little river of Chicagou. 
 After ascending five or six leagues up this river, there is a passage to 
 that of the Illinois by means of two carrying places, the longest of 
 which is not above a league and a quarter; but being informed that 
 at this season of the year there is not water sufficient for a canoe, I 
 have taken the other route, which has likewise its inconveniences, 
 and is far from being so agreeable, but it is more certain." 
 
 From a Memoir concerning the peace made by M. deLigney 
 with the chiefs of the Foxes (Renards), Sauks (Sakis), and 
 Winnebagoes (Puans a la Baie), June J, IJ26. This is a 
 translation by Col. Whittlesey (in v. 1, Wis. His. Society 
 Coll.) of one of the MSS. procured in France by Gen. Cass; 
 we extract as follows: 
 
 "Monsieur De Siette, who now commands in the Illinois country 
 in the place of M. De Boisbriante, has written to M. De Ligney 
 that the Foxes are afraid of treachery, and the surest mode of secur- 
 ing our object is to destroy and exterminate them; that he has 
 made the same proposition to the Council General, of New Orleans, 
 and has given to the gentlemen who are Directors of the company 
 of the Indies the same opinion. We agree that this would be the 
 best expedient, but must maintain that nothing can be more danger- 
 ous or prejudicial to both colonies than such an enterprise in case it 
 should fail. It would be necessary to effect a surprise, and to keep 
 them shut up in a fort — as in the last war; for, if the Foxes escape 
 to the Sioux, or to the Agouais, they would return to destroy us in 
 all the Upper Country, and the French of both colonies would be 
 unable to pass from post to post, except at the risk of robbery and 
 murder. * * * In the meantime, it is proper 
 
 that M. De Siette should cause to be restored to the Foxes, by the 
 Illinois, the prisoners that they may have with them, as M. De Lig- 
 ney has made the Foxes promise to send to the Illinois their prison- 
 ers ; and that you do not follow the example of other commandants 
 before you, who have thought to intimidate the Foxes and cause 
 them to lay down their arms by burning Fox prisoners that fell into 
 their hands, which has only served to irritate that people, and arouse 
 the strongest hatred against us. If, with these arrangements on the 
 part of the Illinois, the Foxes can be persuaded to remain in peace 
 from this time a year, we shall be able to have an interview with M. 
 De Siette, at "Chicagoux," or at the Rock (on the Illinois), from 
 whence to make an appointment for the Chiefs of the Illinois nation 
 and of the Bay, where they can agree upon the numbers of French 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 1 73 
 
 and of Indians, on the part of the Illinois and on the part of Can- 
 ada, who shall mee.t at a fort to be built at an agreed place designed 
 for the meeting." 
 
 [From the date of the last above quoted notice, to wit, of 
 the year 1726, we can give nothing written at or of Chicago 
 worth speaking of, for a term of some fifty years, or say 
 down to the period of the American revolution. If, as it is 
 said, the wild-onion and polecat claimed this locality as their 
 joint and special home and domain, they may have grown 
 and flourished here during that quiet half-century, for aught 
 we know, in all their strength and pristine beauty, without let 
 or hindrance. Yet we must suppose that those roving, dis- 
 quiet people — the red men of field and forest — were here 
 often, and away; and the fur-trader, no doubt, passed and 
 repassed, and dwelt here, too ; but if any there were that did 
 thus sojourn, and grow old and depart hence, as old men 
 often do, they yet left no record which tells us concerning the 
 then Chicago. % 
 
 But at least in other parts of Illinois there was continuous 
 occupation by Frenchmen, Canadians, etc. D'Artaguette, 
 governor of. Illinois, at the head of an expedition, composed 
 of whites and Indians, against the Chicasaws, left Illinois in 
 Feb., 1736. Yet that was unsuccessful, and DArtaguette, as 
 well as "the young and gallant de Vincennes," and a devoted 
 Jesuit priest named Senat, suffered death at the hands of the 
 savages. 
 
 As far back as 1748, "the Illinois settlements, few as they 
 were, sent flour and corn, the hams of hogs and bears, pickled 
 pork and beef, myrtle-wax, cotton, tallow, leather, tobacco, 
 lead, iron, copper, and some little buffalo wool, venison, poul- 
 try, bear's grease, oil, skins, and coarse furs, to the New-Or- 
 leans market." Even in 1746, several hundred barrels of 
 flour went there from Illinois. 
 
 Quebec surrendered to the British Sept. 18, 1759, but the 
 submission of Canada did not directly follow, and it was the 
 month of February, 1763, before the definitive treaty between 
 France and England was signed. By that treaty, Illinois be- 
 
174 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 came British soil. But the principal fortress of this now State 
 of Illinois, that, of Fort Chartres, a well-built stone struct- 
 ure erected in 1720, repaired and improved in 1750, stand- 
 ing originally a mile or so from the Mississippi, continued 
 under French command until the autumn of 1765. Repeated 
 efforts were made by various British officers to reach Fort 
 Chartres and demand its submission; but all were unsuccess- 
 ful until Captain Thomas Sterling, with a small force, on the 
 10th of Oct., 1765, appeared before it, and presented his cre- 
 dentials, which the commandant, St. Ange de Bellerive, duly 
 recognized, and the British flag above its walls was the signal 
 that Britain, not France, was ruler in the Illinois. Fort Char- 
 tres, since that day, we may say, has been invaded, not merely 
 by Yankee impertinence and progress, but by that of the 
 Father of Waters, whose inroads have swept away a portion 
 if not all of that old-time stronghold.] 
 
 # Augnstin Grignon, of Butte des Morts, in Wisconsin, at an 
 extended interview of two weeks, in 1857, communicated to 
 Mr. Draper, the Secretary of the Wisconsin His. Society, a 
 lengthened narrative of his recollections. Mr. Grignon was 
 then seventy-seven years old. The report, or narrative, is 
 of great value, and appears in third vol. of Wis. His. Society 
 Coll., from which we extract as follows : ' 
 
 "Chicago means the place of the skunk. I understood these ani- 
 mals were very plenty there. At a very early period, there was a 
 negro lived there named Baptist Point de Saible; my brother, Per- 
 rish Grignon, visited Chicago about 1794, and told me that Point 
 De Saible was a large man ; that he had a commission for some 
 office, but for what particular object, or from what Government, I 
 cannot now recollect. He was a trader, pretty w.ealthy, and drank 
 freely. I know not what became of him." 
 
 Mr. Draper (in v. 3 as above) refers to a notice of De 
 
 Saible in Col. De Peyster's Miscellanies* under date of July 
 
 4, 1779, wherein he says: 
 
 "Baptist Point De Saible, a handsome negro, well educated, and 
 settled at Eschecagou, but much in the French interest." 
 
 * Col. Arent Schuyler DePeyster, commanded the Bricish post Michilimacki- 
 nac, from 1774 to the autumn of 1779, and left a volume of Miscellanies. 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 1 75 
 
 He also refers to "Eschikagou, a river and fort at the head 
 of Lake Michigan." 
 
 [The definitive treaty of peace between Great Britain and 
 the United States of America was signed on the 23d of Sep- 
 tember, 1783, and Illinois thenceforth became American ter- 
 ritory.] 
 
 We will extract and copy here from the Treaty of Green- 
 ville, dated August 3, 1795, as it appears in a publication of 
 Indian Treaties, at Washington, in 1837, compiled under the 
 supervision of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs. The 
 name Chicago, it will be noticed, appears " Chikago," not 
 Chikajo, as in Lansman's His. of Mich., and, as Hon. John 
 Wentworth said, and we supposed, that General Wayne spelt 
 Chicago with a '• j ". 
 
 "A Treaty of peace between the United States of America and 
 the tribes of Indians called the Wyandots, Delawares, Shawnees, 
 Ottawas, Chippewas, Pottawatamies, Miamis, Eell Rivers, Weeas, 
 Kickapoos, Piankshaws, and Kaskaskias. To put an end to a 
 destructive war; to settle all controversies, etc. And for the same 
 consideration, * * * the said Indian tribes 
 
 do also cede to the United States the following pieces of land, to 
 wit: * * * (14). One piece of land, six 
 
 miles square, at the mouth of. Chikago River, emptying into the 
 southwest end of Lake Michigan, where a fort formerly stood. * 
 
 * * And the said Indian tribes will allow to the 
 people of the United States a free passage by land and by water, as 
 one and the other shall be found convenient, through their country, 
 along the chain of posts hereinbefore mentioned, that is to say, 
 
 * * * Again, from the mouth of Chikago 
 to the commencement of the portage between that river and the 
 Illinois, and down the Illinois River to the Mississippi." 
 
 From The War, a weekly periodical (commenced to be 
 published June 27, 1812, and continued two years), we copy 
 the following; a few of the statements, however, so conveyed 
 were incorrect. From The War, of Sept. 26, 1 8 1 2 : 
 
 "From the West. — Fall of Fort Dearborn, at Chicauga. — Yesterday 
 afternoon, the Queen Charlotte arrived at Fort Erie in 7 days from 
 Detroit. A flag of truce soon landed at Buffalo Creek Major At- 
 water and Lieut. John L. Eastman, who gave the following account 
 
1^6 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 of the fall of Fort Dearborn: On the ist of September, a Pottawat- 
 tamie chief arrived at Detroit, and stated that about the middle of 
 August, Capt. Wells, from Fort Wayne (an interpreter), arrived at 
 Fort Dearborn to advise the commandant of the fort to evacuate it 
 and retreat. In the meantime, a large body of Indians of different 
 nations had collected and menaced the garrison. A council was 
 held with the Indians, in which the Indians agreed that the garrison 
 should be spared on condition that all property in the fort should be 
 delivered up. The Americans marched out, but were fired upon and 
 nearly all killed. There were about 50 men in the fort, besides 
 women and children, and probably not more than 10 or 12 taken 
 prisoners. Capt. Wells and Capt. Heald (the commandant) were 
 killed. The affairs at Detroit remained without any material change. 
 —Buffalo Gaz." 
 
 From The War, of October 10, 1812: 
 
 " Surrender of Fort Dearborn (Chicago). — Aaron Greely, esq., late 
 surveyor-general of the Michigan territory, with his family and effects, 
 has arrived at Buffalo from Maiden in a flag of truce. Mr. G. has 
 furnished the following particulars of the surrender of Fort Dear- 
 born. He states that the Indians had besieged that place; that the 
 Pottawattamies, with a Mr. Burnet, a trader from St, Josephs, had 
 come down to the relief of the garrison, but that the besieging Ind- 
 ians compelled them to join them, threatening to make war upon 
 them and destroy them if they did not. The garrison surrendered; 
 the terms of capitulation were, tiiat the Indians should spare the 
 lives of the garrison, who were to have as much of the arms, ammu- 
 nition, provisions, &c, as they could carry away. Captain Wells, 
 who had come from Fort Wayne to conduct the garrison to that 
 place at night, ordered a quantity of powder and balls to be thrown 
 into the Chicago river, to prevent its falling into the Indians' hands, 
 which, when they discovered in the morning, so incensed them that 
 they fired upon the garrison as they marched out of the fort. Cap- 
 tain Wells was killed. Captain Heels, the commandant of the gar- 
 rison, and his lady, who were marching out of the fort, were both 
 wounded — captain H. through both his thighs, and Mrs. H. by a 
 rifle ball in her wrist and another through the same arm. Their 
 lives were saved by Mr. Burnet, the trader, who claimed them as 
 friends, and offered to purchase their ransom. Captain Heels and 
 his lady are now at St. Josephs with Mr. Burnet. There were no 
 British officers or troops at this engagement. Mr. Greely had the 
 above information from a Pottawattamie chief residing at St. 
 Josephs, who was present at the surrender of Fort Dearborn. Mr. 
 G. also states that an expedition against Fort Wayne, consisting of 
 200 regulars, 900 Indians, and some militia, set out on the 14th Sep- 
 tember under captain Muir. But as Gen. Harrison arrived at Fort 
 Wayne on the 12th, no fears can be entertained of the safety of that 
 important post." 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 1 77 
 
 •The same paper has also this : 
 
 "The following extract of a letter from St. Louis, Missouri terri- 
 tory, received in Washington city, furnishes an account of the mel- 
 ancholy fate of the garrison of Chicago (or Fort Dearborn) after the 
 surrender, and exhibits a distressing picture of the dangers to which 
 the inhabitants of our Western Frontiers are exposed in consequence 
 of the surrender of Detroit : 
 
 " 'Fort Chicago, on the Illinois, was evacuated on the 15th of last 
 month, and the officers and soldiers put to death one mile from the 
 place. Three women and nine children were among the slain. 
 The credulous captain Wells (Indian agent) had his breast cut open 
 and his heart roasted and eaten by the chiefs present.' " 
 
 Also, from The War, of Nov. 14, 18 12, we copy: 
 
 "Extract of a letter from Capt. Heald, late commandant at Fort 
 Chicago, dated at Pittsburg, Oct. 23, 1S12: — On the 9th of August 
 last, I received orders from General Hull to evacuate the post and 
 proceed with my command to Detroit by land, leaving it at my dis- 
 cretion to dispose of the public property as I thought proper. The 
 neighboring Indians got the information as early as I did, and came 
 in from all quarters in order to receive the goods in the factory 
 store, which they understood were to be given them. On the 13th, 
 capt. Wells, of Fort Wayne, arrived with about 30 Miamies, for the 
 purpose of escorting us in by the request of General Hull. On the 
 14th, I delivered the Indians all the goods in the factory store, and 
 a considerable quantity of provisions which we could not take away 
 with us; the surplus and ammunition I thought proper to destroy, 
 fearing they would make bad use of it if put in their possession. 1 
 also destroyed all the liquor on hand soon after they began to col- 
 lect. The collection was unusually large for that place, but they 
 conducted with the strictest propriety till after I left the fort. On 
 the 15th, at 9 in the morning, we commenced our march; a part of 
 the Miamies were detached in front and the remainder in our rear 
 as guards, under the direction of Capt. Wells. The situation of the 
 country rendered it necessary for us to take the beach, with the 
 lake on our left, and a high sand-bank on our right, about 100 yards 
 distance. We had proceeded about a mile and a half, when it was 
 discovered that the Indians were prepared to attack us from behind 
 the bank. I immediately marched up with the company to the top 
 of the bank, when the action commenced; after firing one round 
 we charged, and the Indians gave way in front and joined those on 
 our flanks. In about 15 minutes they got possession of all our 
 horses, provisions, and baggage of every description ; and finding the 
 Miamies did not assist us, I drew off the few men I had left and 
 took possession of a small elevation in the open prairie, out of shot 
 of the bank, or any other cover. The Indians did not follow me, 
 but assembled in a body on the top of the bank, and, after some 
 
 12 
 
178 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 consultation among themselves, made signs for me to approach 
 them. I advanced towards them alone, and was met by one of the 
 Potawatamie chiefs, called the Black Bird, with an interpreter. 
 After shaking hands, he requested me to surrender, promising to 
 spare the lives of all the prisoners. On a few moments' considera- 
 tion, I concluded it would be most prudent to comply with his 
 request, although I did not put entire confidence in his promise. 
 After delivering up our arms, we were taken back to their encamp- 
 ment, near the fort, and distributed among the different tribes. The 
 next morning they set fire to the fort and left the place, taking the 
 prisoners with them. Their number of warriors was between four 
 and five hundred, mostly of the Potawatamie nation, and their loss, 
 from the best information I could get, was about 15. Our strength 
 was 54 regulars and 12 militia, out of which 26 regulars and all the 
 militia were killed in the action, with two women and twelve chil- 
 dren. Ensign George Ronan, and Dr. Isaac V. Van Voorhis, of my 
 company, with Capt. Wells, of Fort Wayne, are, to my great sorrow, 
 numbered among the dead. Lieut. Lina T. Helm, with 25 non- 
 commissioned officers and privates, and 1 1 women and children, 
 were prisoners when we were separated. Mrs. Heald and myself 
 were taken to the mouth of the river St. Joseph, and being both 
 badly wounded, were permitted to reside with Mr. Burnet, an Indian 
 trader. In a few days after our arrival there, the Indians all went 
 off to take Fort Wayne, and in their absence I engaged a French- 
 man to take us to Michilimackinac by water, where I gave myself 
 up as a prisoner of war, with one of my sergeants. The command- 
 ing officer, Captain Roberts, offered me every assistance in his power 
 to render our situation comfortable while we remained there, and to 
 enable us to proceed on our journey. To him I gave my parole of 
 honor, and came on to Detroit and reported myself to Col. Proctor, 
 who gave us a passage to Buffaloe; from that place I came by the 
 way of Presque Isle, and arrived here yesterday." 
 
 The following, relating to the same event, from Niles Reg- 
 ister, we copy as communicated by Hon. John Wentworth to 
 the Evening Journal: 
 
 (From Niks' Register, May 8, 1813.) 
 
 EXTRACT OF A LETTER FROM WALTER JORDAN, A NONCOMMISSIONED 
 OFFICER OF THE REGULARS, AT FORT WAY^E, TO HIS WIFE IN 
 ALLEGHENY COUNTY, DATED FORT WAYNE, OCTOBER 1 9, l8l2: 
 
 I take my pen in hand to inform you that 1 am well, after a long 
 and perilous journey, through the Indian country. Captain Wells, 
 myself, and a hundred friendly Indians, left Fort Wayne on the ist 
 of August, to escort Captain Heald from Fort Chicaugo, as he was 
 in danger of being captured by the British. Orders had been given 
 to abandon that fort and retire to Fort Wayne, a distance of 150 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. ,lpg 
 
 miles. We reached Chicaugo on the ioth of August, and on the 15th 
 we prepared for an immediate march, burning all that we could not 
 fetch with us.. On the 15th, at 8 o'clock, we commenced our march 
 with our small force, which consisted of Captain Wells, myself, and 
 1 06 Confute Indians, Captain Heald's 100 men, ten women, and 
 twenty children — in all 232. We had marched one-half a mile when 
 we were attacked by 600 Kickapoo and Winnebago Indians. In 
 the moment of trial, our 100 Confute savages joined the savage 
 enemy. Our contest lasted ten minutes, when every man, woman, 
 and child was killed except fifteen. Thanks be to God, I was one 
 of those who escaped. First they shot the feather off my cap, next 
 the epaulette off my shoulders, and then the handle from my sword. 
 I then surrendered to four savage rascals. The Confute Chief, tak- 
 ing me by the hand and speaking English, said: "Jordan, I know 
 you. You gave me tobacco afFort Wayne. We won't kill you, but 
 come and see what we will do with your Captain." So, leading me 
 up to where Wells lay, they cut off his head and put it on a long 
 pole, while another took out his heart and divided it among the 
 chiefs, and eat it up raw. Then they scalped the slain and stripped 
 the prisoners, and gathered in a ring, with us fifteen poor wretches 
 in the middle. They had nearly all fallen out about the divide; but 
 my old chief, the White Raccoon, holding me fast, they made the 
 divide and departed to their towns. They tied me hand and foot 
 that night, and placed a guard over me. I lay down and slept 
 soundly until morning, for I was tired. In the morning they untied 
 me and set me parching corn, at which I worked attentively until 
 night. They said if we would stay and not run away that they 
 would make a chief of me; but if I would attempt to run away, 
 they would catch me and burn me , alive. I amused them with a 
 fine story, in order to gain their confidence, and fortunately made 
 my escape from them on the 19th of August, and took one of their 
 best horses to carry me, being seven days in the wilderness. I was 
 joyfully received at Wayne on the 26th. On the 28th they attacked 
 the fort, and blockaded us until the 16th September, when we were 
 relieved by General Harrison. 
 
 (From the Niks' Register, 4th *June, 1814.) 
 
 CHICAGO. 
 
 Among the persons who have recently arrived at this place (says 
 the Plattsburgh, N. Y., paper), from Quebec, are: 
 James Van Horn, Elias Mills, Dyson Dyer, 
 
 Joseph Knowles, Joseph Bowen, < James Corbin, 
 
 Paul Grummow, Nathan .Edson, Phelim Corbin, 
 
 of the First Regiment of United States Infantry, who survived the 
 massacre at Fort Dearborn or Chicago on the 15th of August, 1812. 
 It will be recollected that the commandant at Fort Dearborn was 
 ordered by General Hull to evacuate the fort and proceed with his 
 
ISO CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 command to Detroit; that, having proceeded about a mile and a 
 half, the troops were attacked by a body of Indians, to whom they 
 .were compelled to capitulate. Captain Heald, in his report of this 
 affair, dated. Oct. 23, 181 2, says: 
 
 "Our strength was fifty-four regulars and twelve militia, out of 
 which twenty-six regulars and all the militia were killed in the action, 
 with two women and twelve children. Lieutenant Linai T. Helm 
 with twenty-five non-commissioned officers and privates, and eleven 
 women and children, were prisoners when we separated. Lieutenant 
 Helm was ransomed. Of the twenty-five non-commissioned officers 
 and privates, and the eleven women and children, the nine persons 
 above mentioned are believed to be the only survivors. They state 
 that the prisoners who were not put to death on the march were 
 taken to the Fox river, in the Illinois Territory, where they were 
 distributed among the Indians as servants. 
 
 "Those who survived remained in this situation nine months, 
 during which time they were allowed scarcely a sufficiency of sus- 
 tenance to support nature, and were then brought to Fort Chicago,* 
 where they were purchased by a French trader, agreeable to the 
 directions of General Proctor, and sent to Amherstburg, and thence 
 to Quebec, where they arrived November 8, 1813. 
 
 "John Neads, who was one of the prisoners and formerly from 
 Virginia, died among the Indians between the 15th and 20th of 
 January, 18 13. 
 
 "Hugh Logan, an Irishman, was tomahawked and put to death, 
 he not being able to walk, from excessive fatigue. 
 
 "August Mott was killed in the same manner for the like reason. 
 
 "A man by the name of Nelson was frozen to death while a cap- 
 tive with the Indians. He was formerly from Maryland. 
 
 "A child of Mrs. Neads, the wife of John Neads, was tied to a 
 tree to prevent its following its mother, and crying for victuals. Mrs. 
 Neads afterwards perished with hunger and cold. 
 
 "The officers who we're killed on the 15th of August had their 
 heads cut off and their hearts taken out and broiled in the presence 
 of the prisoners. 
 
 "Eleven children were massacred and scalped in one wagon. 
 
 "Mrs. Corbin, wife of Phelim Corbin, in an advanced stage of 
 pregnancy, was tomahawked and scalped, and cut open and had the 
 child taken out and its head cut off." 
 
 It was related by the chief, Black Hawk, in detailing the 
 circumstances of his warfare against the Americans, dating 
 as far back as 1812, that he met, by invitation, at Green Bay, 
 Col. Dickson, the British agent. He was by him persuaded 
 to join their side by aid of presents and the assurance he 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. l8l 
 
 gave that the English Father had sent him and his braves to 
 drive them (the Americans) back to their own country. - Said 
 Black Hawk (Smith's His. Wis.): 
 
 "The next day, arms and ammunition, tomahawks, knives; and 
 clothing were given to my band. We had a great feast in the eve- 
 ning, and the morning following I started with about five hundred 
 braves' to join the British army. The British war-chief accompanied 
 us. We passed Chicago. The fort had been evacuated by the 
 American soldiers, who had marched for Fort Wayne. They were 
 attacked a short distance from that fort and defeated. They had a 
 considerable quantity of powder in the fort at Chicago which they 
 promised to the Indians, but the night, before they marched they 
 destroyed it. I think it was thrown into the well. If they had ful- 
 filled their word to the Indians, I think they would have. gone safe." 
 
 James W. Biddle, of Pittsburgh, Pa., in a communication 
 dated Jan., 1854, to Mr. Draper of the Wis. His. Society, and 
 which appears in vol. 1 of the Society's Coil's, says: 
 
 "My first visit to Green Bay was in the fall of 181 6. I was con- 
 cerned with Col. James Thomas in the supply of the troops at 
 Detroit, Mackinaw, Chicago, Green Bay, — provided, said the con- 
 tract, that a military post should be established at the latter place 
 within the year.". (The post at Green Bay was established that 
 year — 1816.) "Chicago then had no trading reputation, vessels 
 only visiting it to carry troops or provisions to supply them ; and 
 these provisions and supplies, up to that time, were principally 
 brought from Pittsburgh, including pork, flour, whiskey, soap, can- 
 dles, vinegar, conveyed by keel-boats up the AUeghany, and French 
 Creek, to Le Boeuf, or Waterford, and thence wagoned, over to Erie." 
 
 From a printed letter of Samuel A. Storrow to Major-Gen- 
 eral Brown, dated Brownville, 1st December, 1817, giving par- 
 ticulars of a three months' tour through the west; we make 
 the. extracts below., Mr. Storrow's route from Detroit em- 
 braced brief visits to Fort Gratiot, Mackinaw, St. "Mary's 
 Falls, and Lake Superior, Green Bay, Lake Winnebago, Fort 
 Dearborn, Fort Wayne, Detroit, and through Canada to Fort 
 Niagara, and thence to Brownville. Of Samuel Appleton 
 Storrow, we know not much beyond the above-named letter. 
 S. M. A. Storrow, probably the same, was a student, but not 
 a graduate, at Harvard College in 1806. He wasfrom Mas- 
 
1 82 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 sachusetts, and was acting Judge Advocate U. S. A. in 1815, 
 Judge Advocate July 9, 18 16, retained April, 18 18, resigned 
 5 Feb., 1820. The compliment of an honorary degree was 
 conferred on him in 1821, by Dartmouth College. He died 
 in 1837, aged 50. We will add that our pamphlet copy of 
 Mr. Storrow's letter, comprising 39 printed octavo pages, like 
 the copy belonging to the Wis. His. Soc, has no title-page. 
 
 "On the 2d of October, after" walking for three or four hours, I 
 reached the River Chicago, and after crossing it, entered Fort^Dear- 
 born, where I was kindly entertained by Major Baker and the offi- 
 cers of the garrison, who received me as one arrived from the moon. 
 At Chicago I perceived I was in a better country. It had become 
 so by gradual melioration. That which I had left was of a.charac- 
 ter far' above mediocrity, but labors under the permanent defects of 
 coldness of soil and want of moisture. The native strength of it is 
 indicated by the growth of timber, which is almost entirely of white 
 oak and beach, without pine, chestnut, maple, ash, or any kind 
 which denotes warmth. The country suffers, at the same time, from 
 water, and from the want of it. The deficiency of circulation, not 
 of water itself, produces this contradiction. It is not sufficiently 
 uneven to form brooks to lead off its redundant rains, and form a 
 deposit for mid-summer. The snows of winter dissolve and remain 
 on the ground, until exhaled by the sun, at a late period of spring. 
 In Prairies that are entirely level, this produces a cold which is 
 scarcely dissipated by the heat of summer; in such as are undulated, 
 it renders one-half (that on which the water rests) useless, or of in- 
 ferior value. It must be remembered, moreover, that this region is 
 not to undergo the changes incident to new countries generally, 
 from the thinning of the forests and exposure of the soil. It is 
 already on the footing of the oldest, and has received, for the lapse 
 of ages, all the heat it is ever to derive from the sun alone. At 
 some remotely future period, when a dense population enables the 
 husbandman to apply artificial warmth to his grounds, means of life 
 may lye extracted from this soil which are latent at present. It 
 requires industry, and is capable of repaying it. 
 
 "The River Chicago (or, in English, Wild Onion River) is deep, 
 and about forty yards in w.dth. Before it enters the lake, its two. 
 branches unite, the one proceeding from the north, the other from 
 the west, where it takes its rise in the very fountain of the Plein, or 
 Illinois, whinh flows in an opposite direction. The source of these 
 two rivers illustrates the geographical phenomenon of a reservoir on 
 the very summit of a dividing ridge. In the autumn they are both 
 without any apparent fountain, but are formed within a mile and a 
 half of each other by some imperceptible undulations of the Prairie, 
 which drain it and lead to different directions. But in the spring, 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 1 83 
 
 the space between the two is a single sheet of water, the common 
 reservoir of both, in the centre of which there is no current towards 
 either of the opposite streams. This circumstance creates the singu- 
 lar fact of the insulation of all the United States excepting Louisi- 
 ana, making the circumnavigation of them practicable from the Guli 
 of St. Lawrence to that of Mexico, with the single hindrance of the 
 falls of Niagara. 
 
 "The Chicago forms a third partition of the great country I had 
 passed. The Ouisconsin and Fox Rivers make a water communi- 
 cation between the Mississippi and Michigan, with the exception ot 
 four miles. The Millewackie and River a la Roche the same, with 
 half the exception. The Chicago and De Plien make, in the man- 
 ner I have described, the communication entire. This latter should 
 not escape national attention. The ground between the two is 
 without rocks, and with little labour would admit of a permanent 
 connection between the waters of the Illinois and Michigan. 
 
 "The site and relations of Fort Dearborn I have already ex- 
 plained. It has no advantage of harbour, the river itself being 
 always choaked, and frequently barred, from the same causes that I 
 have imputed to the other streams of this country. In the rear oi 
 the fort is a Prairie of the most complete flatness, no signs of eleva- 
 tion being within the range of the eye. The soil and climate are 
 both excellent. Traces yet remain of the devastation and massacre 
 committed by the savages in 1812. I saw one of the principal per- 
 petrators (Nes cot no meg). On the 4th of October I left Chicago 
 for Fort Wayne, having provided less uncomfortable means of travel- 
 ling than for the ten previous days. 
 
 "The River Chicago was first explored by LaSalle and Fra. Hen- 
 nepin, in 1679. I have been led into many errors from the misap- 
 plied names and antiquated style of Fra. Hennepin's narration. He 
 calls Lake Michigan the Lake of the Illinois, and Chicago the River 
 Miamis. Time must have made a great alteration in this region, or 
 both Hennepin and LaSalle have erred egregiously in the description 
 of it. The triangular eminence 'naturally fortified' at the mouth of 
 the Chicago, and the distance of twenty five leagues from the port- 
 age, between the Chicago and the Illinois, to the confluence of the 
 former with the lake, induce a belief that neither of them were there.* 
 LaSalle, in his letter to Count Frontenac, errs in his description of 
 the ground between the Chicago and the Illinois, or, as he calls it, 
 the Divine River. 
 
 "Our course was to lay, for about 60 miles, on the beach of Lake 
 Michigan, from thence inclining eastwardly to the St. Joseph's, of 
 the Lake, and thence due south to the Miami, of Lake Erie. On 
 the night of the 4th I slept on the beach, after having forded the 
 
 * The description had reference, no doubt, to the St. Joseph River, and the 
 portage to the Kankakee. 
 
1 84 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 little Kennomick. I call it after the Indian pronunciation; Calumet 
 is probably the name." 
 
 William Darby, an author and statist of some prominence, 
 made a tour from New York City to Detroit in 1818, and his 
 notes of the same were published in a volume the year fol- 
 lowing. His remarks were not limited by the extent of his 
 journey westward, and we will take the occasion to present a 
 few extracts from his book, showing much sound sense and 
 veritable prophecy, though uttered sixty years ago. Mr. 
 Darby died in Washington, D. C, October, 1854. The Na- 
 tional Intelligencer said of him : " He was a man of singular 
 sincerity, probity, and benevolence, and was equally deserv- 
 ing of respect for his virtues and admiration for the powers 
 of his enlightened understanding." 
 
 "No doubt now remains but that the Chicago and Illinois rivers 
 afford by far the mosc eligible natural connexion between the north- 
 ern and southern waters of the United States. It appears that the 
 great spine running from the Hudson to the Maumee river termi- 
 nates at, or is interrupted by, the valley of the Illinois. The latter 
 stream is formed towards its source by two branches, one of which 
 rises south of lake Michigan, and the other (river Plein) rises in the 
 flat country west of Chicago, and, flowing south, unite to the south- 
 west of the extreme south part of Michigan. The Chicago heads 
 in the same plain with the river Plein, and winding for some dis- 
 tance parallel to the latter stream, thence turns east, falls into Lake 
 Michigan. The Chicago and Plein intermingle their sources, and 
 afford one of those • instances where rivers have their sources in 
 plains so nearly approaching the curve of a real sphere as to leave, 
 for the discharge of the waters, scarce inclination sufficient to deter- 
 mine their courses. This is the case with the two rivers we are now 
 reviewing. The precise descent of the Chicago, from its nearest 
 approach to the Plein to the level of Lake Michigan, has, never been 
 ascertained, but it is known to be without falls, or even rapids. The 
 Plein also flows with a very slight current, and the two streams pre- 
 sent almost a strait between the Mississippi river and lake Michigan. 
 The land contiguous to this important pass was ceded to the United 
 States by the savage tribes who .formerly possessed the right of soil. 
 The land thus ceded, is now about being surveyed, and in course 
 will, ere long, be sold to individuals and settled. The development 
 of the natural sources of this region will be disclosed with the ordi- 
 nary celerity that marks the newly established settlements in^our 
 western world. * * * It can scarce be 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 185 
 
 doubted but that beyond Buffalo, when the contiguous countries are 
 equally inhabited, the Illinois river and Canadian lakes will form the 
 channel of communication with the upper waters of the Mississippi 
 in preference to the route by the Ohio. The navigation of the latter 
 river is subject to great embarrassment from frost, and long dry 
 weather in the fall season. So much of the northern channel of 
 commerce permits the use of vessels of considerable tonage, thai 
 transportation from Buffalo to Chicago will be less expensive than 
 that of any equal distance by the Ohio route. If the people of the 
 United States ought to ever unite in opening any channel of com- 
 munication, it is that by the Illinois river and lake Michigan. If 
 If the various points from St. Louis to Buffalo were united by com- 
 mercial facility, a numerous population would be the immediate con- 
 sequence. * , * * With the particular features 
 of the country around lake Michigan, I am unacquainted ; but from 
 all the scattered information I have been able to procure, I am 
 induced to believe that the shores of Lake Erie and Michigan are, 
 in a great part, similar; and if such is the fact, the latter is environed 
 with shores possessing all the attributes necessary to permit a dense 
 and flourishing settlement. * * * Before 
 the middle of the current century, if no catastrophy occurs to dis- 
 turb the present course of events, there will exist between the City 
 of New York, and St. Louis, within less than fifty miles of the line 
 we are now examining, more than five milions of people, or about 
 one-half as many as are now in the whole. United States." 
 
 Mr. Darby then quotes a recent editorial from the St. Louis 
 Enquirer: 
 
 "Communication with the lakes. — Messrs. Graham and Phillips, 
 commissioners on the part of the United States, and Mr. Sullivan, 
 surveyor, have set out to lake Michigan to mark the boundary lines 
 of the lands ceded to the United States by the Ottawa, Chippewa, 
 and Pottowattima Indians in the summer of the year 1816. They 
 will run a line from the southern extremity of this lake to the Mis- 
 sissippi. The Indians have ceded to the United States what lies to 
 the south ot this line. The commissioners will run two other lines 
 from the southwestern part of lake Michigan to the Illinois river. 
 The lines will be paralell to each other, and twenty miles apart. 
 They will begin on the shore of the lake, at points ten miles north 
 and south of Chicago, and will embrace the little rivers Chicago and 
 Plein, and the carrying place between them, which form the channel 
 of communication between lake Michigan and the Illinois river. 
 The Indrans have ceded to the United States this important pass, 
 with ten miles of country on each side of it, and it is the business 
 of the commissioners to mark out the grant, that the American gov- 
 ernment may reduce it to possession. The communication between 
 the lake and the Illinois is a point which will fix the attention of the 
 
lS6 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 merchant and the statesman. They will see in it the gate which is 
 to open the northern seas into the valley of the Mississippi, and 
 which is to connect New York and New Orleans by a water line, 
 which the combined navies of the world cannot cut off. Never did 
 the work of nature require so little from the hand of art to com- 
 plete so great a design! The lakes Superior, Huron, Erie, and 
 Ontario, lie from west to east, in the direction of the St. Lawrence, 
 manifestly seeking their outlet through the valley of that river. But 
 the Michigan departs from that direction; she lays from north to 
 south. United to the other lakes by a strait, she stretches the body 
 of her water down towards the head of the Illinois river, as if intend- 
 ing to discharge herself through that channel into the Mississippi. 
 And no hills or mountains intervene to prevent the conjunction; on 
 the contrary, the ground between is flat, and covered with ponds in 
 wet weather, which turn their waters partly to the lake and partly to 
 the river. The Chicago and the Plein are the drains from these 
 ponds; they have neither falls nor shoals; they have not the charac- 
 ter of streams, but of canals; the water hardly moves in their deep 
 and narrow channels. The Illinois itself is more a canal than a 
 river, having hardly current enough to bend the lofty grass which' 
 grows in its bed. The French of Canada, and of the valley of the 
 Mississippi, have communicated through this channel since the set- 
 tlement of the countries. In high water, boats of ten or a dozen 
 tons pass without obstruction. In the dry season, they are un- 
 loaded, placed on vehicles, and drawn by oxen over a portage of a 
 few miles, and launched into the river or lake, as the course of the 
 voyage may require. Hundreds, nay thousands, of boats have been 
 seen at St. Louis which have made a similar passage. It may be 
 hoped that the government will not limit itself to the barren work of 
 marking the lines about this portage. While the state of New York 
 opens a canal of three hundred miles, the federal government should 
 not be appalled at undertaking one of three hundred rods. It might 
 be dug in the time that a long-winded member of Congress would 
 make a speech against its constitutionality." 
 
 Col. Abram Edwards was the writer of a communication, 
 dated Janesville, Aug. 30, 1855, which appeared in the Stand- 
 ard, newspaper, of that town. We make an extract there- 
 from, the letter being published in vol. 5, Wis. His. Soc. Coll.: 
 
 "In the year 1S18, I was a resident of Detroit, and the owner of 
 a large mercantile establishment located in that place, and from this 
 had branches at Fort Gratiot, the outlet of Lake Huron, and at 
 Mackinaw, Green Bay, and Chicago. In May of that year, business 
 required my presence at each of the branches, and I accompanied 1 
 the army Pay-master, Major Phillips, who was ordered to pay the 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 1 87 
 
 troops stationed at those places, then military posts. We left De- 
 troit in the month of May in a small schooner for Mackinac, and 
 from thence, on the same mode of conveyance, to Green Bay. Af- 
 ter our business was finished at the Bay, and we were looking for a 
 conveyance to Chicago, Inspector Gen. Wool arrived, and requested 
 we would not leave until he had inspected the troops, and he would 
 accompany us to that place. In the interim, we purchased a bark 
 canoe and had it fitted up for our voyage. Major Z. Taylor, after- 
 wards President, commanding the post, furnished us with seven 
 expert canoe-men to manage our frail bark. We left Green Bay 
 garrison after dinner, and went to the head of Sturgeon Bay, 40 
 miles, and encamped for the night. The next morning we carried 
 our canoe two and a half miles over the portage to the shore of Lake 
 Michigan, and, after getting the baggage over, we were willing to 
 encamp for the night. The next morning found us in our canoe 
 afloat on the waters of the Lake, paddling our way to Chicago, 
 where we arrived the third day from our Lake shore encampment. 
 On our passage, although we frequently landed, we did not meet with 
 a white man; we were, however, informed one was trading with the 
 Indians at Milwaukee. At Twin Rivers, Manitowoc, Sheboygan, 
 and Milwaukee, the shore of the Lake was lined with Indians; 
 near Manitowoc, many were out in canoes spearing white fish. I 
 am reminded of these reminiscences, having recently noticed in the 
 public prints a census of the inhabitants of the cities and towns that 
 have grown upon this very Lake shore, which for beauty and popu- 
 lation are equal to many of the cities and towns of the old States, 
 and which shores when traversed were then peopled by savages, and, 
 indeed; from the shores of Lake Michigan to the Mississippi River 
 was one wide waste of unoccupied country. Indeed, from Chicago 
 to Detroit you had no track but the Indian path from one city to the 
 other, and without any shelter for the weary traveler; where now, in 
 Michigan, there is nearly one million of inhabitants, with all the 
 facilities of conveyances and comfort you find in the older States. 
 * * . * Chicago, in r8i8, was only a garri- 
 
 son, commanded by Major Baker, with no settlements near; now it 
 probably contains a population of over 70,000, probably ro,ooo 
 more than can be numbered in the old city of Albany." 
 
 ' ■ Summary Narrative of an Exploratory Expedition to the 
 Sources of the Mississippi River; Resumed and Completed by 
 the Discovery of its Origin, in Itasca. Lake, in 1832. By Henry 
 R. Schoolcraft, 1855'' The first expedition referred to on the 
 above-named title-page had its origin in a letter by Gov. 
 Lewis Cass to John C. Calhoun, Secretary of War, dated 
 Detroit, Nov. 18, 18 19, suggesting a tour of exploration' 
 
1 88 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 through the northwest, and country of the upper lakes and 
 Mississippi, to examine not only the mineral prospects of the 
 region, together with a view of its zoology, botany, etc., but 
 the condition and disposition of the Indian tribes, and, be- 
 sides other matters, "To ascertain the views of the Indians in 
 the vicinity of Chicago, respecting the removal of the six Na- 
 tions to that district of country; an extract from the letter of 
 Mr. Kinzie, sub-agent at Chicago, upon this subject will show 
 the situation in which this business' stands:" "To explain to 
 the Indians the views of the Government respecting their 
 intercourse with the British authorities at Maiden, and dis- 
 tinctly to announce to them that their visits must be discon- 
 tinued." 
 
 The project met the approval of the Secretary of War; 
 the expedition to be conducted under the leadership of Gov- 
 ernor Cass. Captain D. B. Douglas, of the army, and Henry 
 R. Schoolcraft, mineralogist, were assigned to accompany the 
 Governor. In addition to them, Dr. Alexander Wolcott, Lt. 
 Eneas Mackay, U. S. A-, Major Robert A. Forsyth, Private- 
 Secretary of the Governor, James D. Doty, and Charles C. 
 Trowbridge; together with ten Canadian voyageurs to man- 
 age the canoes, ten U. S. soldiers for an escort, and ten Ind- 
 ians to act as hunters, under the direction of James Riley and 
 Joseph Parks as interpreters, constituted the force of the 
 exploring party. Three large bark canoes were required for 
 their accommodation. Leaving Detroit on the 24th May, 
 1820, their route led them to Mackinaw, Sault St. Mary, 
 Lake Superior, crossing in their way Keweenaw Point 
 through Portage Lake; thence to the west end of Superior, 
 and up St. Louis River to the portage from the Savanna to 
 Sandy Lake and the Mississippi; thence up that river, 
 through Lake Winnepeg, to Cass Lake, the extent of their 
 journey. They returned via the Mississippi and Wisconsin 
 Rivers, and Green Bay, where a number of their party, 
 including Messrs. Trowbridge, Doty, and Riley, were detailed 
 to make examination of the shore of the north end of Lake 
 Michigan, while others, with the Governor, continued to Chi- 
 cago. We copy from Mr. Schoolcraft's book as follows: 
 
¥•, ' 
 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 1 89 
 
 "The next day's journey, 28th (August, 1820), carried us forty 
 miles, in which distance, the most noticeable fact in, the topography 
 of the coast was the entrance of the Racine or Root River; its 
 eligible shores being occupied by some Pottawatomie lodges. Hav- 
 ing reached within ten or twelve miles of Chicago, and being anxious 
 to make that point, we were in motion at a very early hour on the 
 morning of the 29th, and reached the village at five o'clock A. M. 
 We found four or five families living here, the principal of which 
 were those of Mr. John Kinzie, Dr. A. Wolcott, J. B. Bobian, and 
 Mr. J. Crafts, the latter living a short distance up the river. The 
 Pottawattomies, to whom this site is the capital of their trade, ap- 
 peared to be lords of the soil, and truly are entitled to the epithet 
 if laziness, and an utter in appreciation of the value of time, be a 
 test of lordliness. Dr. Wolcott, being the U. S. Agent for this 
 tribe, found himself at home here, and constitutes no further a mem- 
 ber of the expedition. Gov. Cass determined to return to Detroit 
 from this point, on horseback, across • the peninsula of Michigan, 
 accompanied by Lt. Mackay, U. S. A.. Maj. Forsyth, his private 
 secretary, and the necessary number of men and pack horses to pre- 
 pare their night encampments. This left Capt. Douglas and myself 
 to continue the survey of the Lakes, and after reaching Michilimack- 
 inac, and rejoining the party of Mr. Trowbridge, to return to De- 
 troit from that point. The preparation for these ends occupied a 
 couple of days, which gave us an opportunity to scan the vicinity. 
 We found the post (Fort Dearborn) under the command of Capt. 
 Bradley, with a force of one hundred and sixty men. The river is 
 ample and deep for a few miles, but is utterly choked up by the lake 
 sands, through which, behind a masked margin, it oozes its way for a 
 mile or two till it percolates through the sands into the lake. Its 
 banks consist of a black, arenaceous, fertile soil, which is stated to 
 produce abundantly, in its season, the wild species of cepa, or leek. 
 This circumstance has led the natives to name it the place of the 
 wild leek. Such is the origin of the term Chicago, which is a deriv- 
 ative, by elision and French annotation, from the word Chi-kaug-ong. 
 Kaug is the Algonquin name for the hystrix, or porcupine. It takes 
 the prefix Chi when applied to the mustela putorius.* The particle 
 Chi is the common prefix of nouns, to denote greatness in any natu- 
 ral object; but it is also employed, as here r .to mean increase, or ex- 
 cess, as acridness, or pungency in quality. The penultimate, ong,f 
 denotes locality. The putorius is so named from this plant, and not, 
 as has been thought, the plant from it. I took the sketch, % which is 
 reproduced in the fourth vol. of my Ethnological Researches, Plate 
 27, from a stand-point on the flat of sand which stretched in front of 
 the place. This view embraces every house in the village, with the 
 
 * The polecat. 
 
 t Not the "penultimate," but the last, it would seem. 
 
 X We present herewith, opposite this page, a copy of Mr. Schoolcraft's Sketch 
 of Chicago, in 1820. 
 
190 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 fort; and if the reproduction of the artist in vol. 4 may be subjected 
 to any criticism, it is perhaps that the stockade bears too great a 
 proportion to the scene, while the precipice observed in the shore 
 line of sand is wholly wanting in the original. The country around 
 Chicago is the most fertile and beautiful that can be immagined It 
 consists of an intermixture of woods and prairies, diversified with 
 gentle slopes, sometimes attaining the elevation of hills, and it is 
 irrigated with a number of clear streams and rivers, which throw 
 their waters partly into Lake Michigan and partly into the Missis- 
 sippi River. As a farming country, it presents the greatest facilities 
 for raising stock and grains, and it is one of the most favored parts 
 of the Mississippi Valley. The climate has a delightful serenity, 
 and it must, as soon as the Indian tittle is extinguished, become one 
 of the most attactive fields for the emigrant. To the ordinary ad- 
 vantages of an agricultural market town, it must add that of being a 
 depot for the commerce between the northern and southern sections 
 of the Union, and a great throroughfare for strangers, merchants, and 
 travellers. * * It was now the last day of August. 
 
 Having partaken of the hospitalities of Mr. Kinzie, and of Captains 
 Bradley and Green, of Fort Dearborn, during our stay at Chicago, 
 and completed the reorganization of our parties, we separated on 
 the last day of the month, at two o'clock P. M., Gov. Cass and 
 his party, on horseback, taking the old Indian trail to Detroit, and 
 Capt. Douglas and myself being left, with two canoes, to complete 
 the circumnavigation of the lakes. We did not delay our departure 
 over thirty minutes, but bidding adieu to Dr. Wolcott, whose man- 
 ners, judgment, and intelligence had commanded our respect during 
 the journey, embarked with two canoes; our steersmen immediately 
 hoisted their square sails, and, favored by a good breeze, we pro- 
 ceeded twenty miles along the southern curve at the head of Lake 
 Michigan and encamped. Within two miles of Chicago we passed, 
 on the open shores of the lake, the scene of the massacre of Chi- 
 cago of the 15th August, 1812, being the day after the surrender of 
 Detroit* by Gen. Hull. Gloom hung, at that eventful period, over 
 every part of our western borders. Michilimackinac had already 
 been carried by surprise; and the ill-advised order to evacuate Chi- 
 cago was deemed by the Indians an admission that the Americans 
 were to be driven from the country. The Pottawattomies deter- 
 mined to show the power of their hostility on this occasion. Capt. 
 Heald, the commanding officer, having received Gen. Hull's order 
 to abandon the post, and having an escort of thirty friendly Miamis 
 from Fort Wayne, under Capt. Wells, had quitted the fort at nine 
 o'clock in the morning with fifty-four regulars, a subaltern, physi- 
 cian, twelve militia, and the necessary baggage-wagons for the pro- 
 visions and ammunition, which contained eighteen soldiers, women, 
 
 * The day before; Detroit surrendered Aug. 16. 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 191 
 
 and children. They had not proceeded more than a mile and a 
 half, along the shore of the lake, when ap ambuscade of Indians 
 was discovered behind the sand-hills which encompass the flat, sandy 
 shore. The horrid yell, which rose on the discovery being made, 
 was acompanied by a general and deadly fire from them. Several 
 men fell at the first fire; but Capt. Heald formed his men, and 
 effected a charge up the bank, which dispersed his assailants. It 
 was only, however, to find the enemy return by a flank movement, 
 in which their numbers gave them the victory. In a few moments, 
 out of his effective force of sixty-six men, but sixteen survived. 
 With these he succeeded in drawing off to a position in the prairie, 
 where he was not followed by the Indians. On a negotiation, opened 
 by a chief called Mukudapenais, he surrendered, under promise of 
 security for their lives. This promise was afterwards violated, with 
 the exception of himself and three or four men. Among the slain 
 was Ensign Ronan, Dr. Voorhis, and Capt. Wells. The latter had 
 his heart cut out, and his body received other shocking indignities. 
 The saddest part of the tragedy was the attack on the women and 
 children who occupied the baggage wagons, and were all slain. 
 Several of the women fought with swords. During the action, a 
 sergeant of infantry ran his bayonet through the heart of an Indian 
 who had lifted his tomahawk to strike him ; not being able to with- 
 draw the instrument, it served to hold up the Indian, who actually 
 tomahawked him in this position, and both fell dead together. The 
 Miamis remained neuter in this massacre. Mr. Kinzie, of Chicago, 
 ■ of whose hospitalities we had partaken, was a witness of this trans- 
 action, and furnished the principal facts of this narrative." 
 
 Rev. Isaac McCoy, a Baptist clergyman, was the author of 
 a work published in 1840, entitled "History of Baptist Indian 
 Missions ; embracing remarks on the former and present condi- 
 tion of the aboriginal tribes, their settlement within the Indian 
 Territory, and their future prospects!' Mr. McCoy was evi- 
 dently a man of considerable ability, and a marked trait of 
 character was that he ignored self and devoted himself to 
 the cause of humanity in the service of his Divine Master. 
 To any one entitled to such a record, we know of nothing 
 more noble and honorable within the whole range of bio- 
 graphical history. Accepting the evidently truthful statements 
 of the volume above named, the great services of Mr. as well 
 also as Mrs. McCoy, for a series of years among the Indians, 
 may be characterized as laborious and self-sacrificing, at- 
 
192 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 tended with circumstances of much danger as well as suffer- 
 ing. Mr. McC. had the respect and confidence of many of 
 the prominent and best men of our nation. He was a mis- 
 sionary in Illinois as early as the year. 1817, and without 
 ignoring the teachings of the early French Catholics, as far 
 as we know, he delivered in the autumn of 1825, the first 
 sermon ever preached in Chicago. We may briefly say that 
 to him, as their founder, were various mission schools in- 
 debted, namely, at Fort Wayne, and at what was then called 
 Carey (about a mile distant from the site of the present Niles, 
 Mich.), and also at Grand River, Mich., etc. Essential service, 
 also, was rendered by him in locating the Indians in their new 
 home beyond the Mississippi. We shall extract and present 
 several items from his History. 
 
 In the month of June, 182 1, he sat out from his school 
 at Fort Wayne, with Abraham Burnett, one of his pupils, on 
 a tour to the Pottawatomies, in the vicinity of St. Joseph 
 River, of Michigan. His purpose was to look over the ground 
 and canvass the prospects for a permanent mission and a 
 school, that at Fort Wayne not expected to continue: 
 
 "June 10th, 182 1. I met Topenebe, Chebass, and Cheshaugen, 
 and others, at one of their villages. As is usual on those occasions, 
 business was opened by throwing my tobacco in a heap on the ground, 
 in the midst of the company, followed by a round of smoking. Next 
 came our talk." 
 
 " 1 2th June. * * * About three o'clock 
 
 we fell in with a company of Sauks, on their way to Canada for 
 presents, which the British there make to them and other tribes 
 annually. In the afternoon reached the residence of the Burnetts, 
 Abraham's relations, who were half breeds, and who resided near 
 Lake Michigan. Here we were made comfortable; rested two days, 
 and obtained a supply of provisions. * * * 
 
 The Burnetts, who were acknowledged Indians by their tribe, were 
 related to Topenebe, the principal chief of the Putawatomie' tribe. 
 They were intelligent, and I availed myself of their influence in 
 bringing the Putawatomies into measures. We awaited the arrival 
 of one of them who attended a feast at Topenebe's, at which they 
 cooked eight deer. * * * We left the Burnett's 
 
 early on the 1 6th. * * * On the night of 
 
 the 17th, we encamped near a company driving cattle through the 
 wilderness to the army at Chicago." 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 193 
 
 Mr. McCoy speaks about the Treaty of 1 821, at Chicago,* 
 which gathering was convened some time in August of that 
 
 * We here present a copy of the Treaty at Chicago, in the summer of 182 1, as 
 it is given in the volume of Indian Treaties, compiled by the Commissioner of 
 Indian Affairs. Washington, 1837: 
 
 Articles of a treaty made and concluded at Chicago, in the State of Illinois, between 
 Lewis Cass and Solomon Sibley, commissioners of the United States, and the Otta- 
 wa, Chippewa, and Pattiwatima nations of Indians. 
 , Art. i. The Ottawa, Chippewa, and Pattiwatima nations of Indians cede to 
 the United States all the land comprehended within the following boundaries: 
 Beginning at a point on the south bank of the river St. Joseph of lake Michigan, 
 near the Pare aux Vaches, due north from Rum's village, and running thence 
 south to a line drawn due east from the southern extreme of lake Michigan; 
 thence with the said line east to the tract ceded by the Pattiwatimas to the United 
 States by the treaty of fort Meigs, in 1817, if the said line should strike the said 
 tract, but if the said line should pass north of the said tract, then such line shall 
 be continued until it strikes the western boundary of the tract ceded to the United 
 States by the treaty of Detroit in 1807, and from the termination of the said line, 
 following the boundaries of former cessions, to the main branch of the grand river 
 of lake Michigan, should any of the said lines cross the said river; but if none of 
 the said lines should cross the said river, then to a point due east of the source of 
 the said main branch of the said river, and from such point due west to the source 
 of the said principal branch, and from the crossing of the said river, or from the 
 source thereof, as the case may be, down the said river, on the north bank thereof, 
 to the mouth; thence following the shore of lake Michigan to the south bank of 
 the said river St. Joseph, at the mouth thereof, and thence with the said south 
 bank to the place of beginning. 
 
 Art. 2. From the cession aforesaid, there shall be reserved, for the use of the 
 Indians, the following tracts : 
 
 One tract at Mang-ach-qua village, on the river Peble, of six miles square. 
 
 One tract at Mick-ke-saw-be, of six miles square. 
 
 One tract at the village of Na-to-wa-se-pe, of four miles square. 
 
 One tract at the village of Prairie Ronde, of three miles square. 
 
 One tract at the village of Match-e-be-nash-she-wish, at the head of the Ke- 
 kalamazoo river. 
 
 Art. 3. There shall be granted by the United States to each of the following 
 persons, being all Indians by descent, and to their heirs, the following tracts of land : 
 
 To John Burnet, two sections of land. 
 
 To James Burnet, Abraham Burnet, Rebecca Burnet, and Nancy Burnet, each 
 one section of land; which said John, James, Abraham, Rebecca, and Nancy, 
 are children of Kaw-kee-me, sister of Top-ni-be, principal chief of the Pattiwa- 
 tima nation. 
 
 The land granted to the persons immediately preceding, shall begin on the 
 north bank of the river St. Joseph, about two miles from the mouth, and shall 
 extend up and back from the said river for quantity. 
 
 J3 
 
194 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 year. He was unable to attend in person, but he sent a mes- 
 senger to represent the interests he had in view regarding 
 
 To John B. La Lime, son of Noke-no-qua, one-half a section of land, adjoin- 
 ing the tract before granted, and on the upper side thereof. 
 
 To Jean B. Chandonai, son of Chip-pe-wa-qua, two sections of land, on the 
 river St. Joseph, above and adjoining the tract granted to J. B. La Lime. 
 
 To Joseph Daze, son of Chip-pe-wa-qua, one section of land above and adjoin- 
 ing the tract granted to Jean B. Chandonai. 
 
 To Monguago, one-half a section of land, at Mish-she-wa-ko-kink. 
 
 To Pierre Moran or Peeresh, a Pattiwatima chief, one section of land, and to 
 his children two sections of land, at the mouth of the Elk-heart river. 
 
 To Pierre Le Clerc, son of Moi-qua, one section of land on the Elk-heart 
 river, above and adjoining the tract granted to Moran and his children. 
 
 The section of land granted by the treaty of St. Mary's, in 1818, to Peeresh or 
 Perig, shall be granted to Jean B. Cicot, son of Pe-say-quot, sister of the said 
 Peeresh, it having been so intended at the execution of the said treaty. 
 
 To O-she-ak-ke-be or Benac, one-half of a section of land on the 'north side 
 of the Elk-heart river, where the road from Chicago to fort Wayne first crosses 
 the said river. 
 
 To Me-naw-che, a Pattiwatima woman, one-half of a section of land on the 
 eastern bank of the St. Joseph, where the road from Detroit to Chicago first 
 crosses the said river. 
 
 To Theresa Chandler or To-e-ak-qui, a Pattiwatima woman, and to her daugh- 
 ter Betsey Fisher, one section of land on the south side of the Grand river, oppo- 
 site to the Spruce Swamp. 
 
 To Charles Beaubien and Medart Beaubien, sons of Man-na-ben-a-qua, each 
 one-half of a section of land near the village of Ke-wi-go-shkeem, on the Wash- 
 tenaw river. . 
 
 To Antoine Roland, son of I-gat-pat-a-wat-a-mie-qua, one-half of a section of 
 land adjoining and below the tract granted to Pierre Moran. 
 
 To William Knaggs, or Was-es-kuk-son, son of Ches-qua, one-half of a sec- 
 tion of land adjoining and below the tract granted to Antoine Roland. 
 
 To Madeline Bertrand, wife of Joseph Bertrand, a Pattiwatima woman, one 
 section of land at the Pare aux Vaches, on the north side of the river St. Joseph. 
 
 To Joseph Bertrand, junior, Benjamin Bertrand, Laurent Bertrand, Theresa 
 Bertrand, and Amable Bertrand, children of the said Madeline Bertrand, each 
 one-half of a section of land at the portage of the Kankakee river. 
 
 To John Riley, son of Me-naw-cum-e-go-quoi, one section of land, at the 
 mouth of the river Au Foin, on the Grand River, and extending up the said river. 
 
 To Peter Riley, the son of Me-naw-cum-e-go-qua, one section of land, at the 
 mouth of the riv#^u Foin, on the Grand River, and extending down the said 
 river. 
 
 To Jean B. Le Clerc, son of Moi-qua, one-half of a section of land, above 
 and adjoining the tract granted to Pierre Le Clerc. 
 
 To Joseph La Frambois, son of Shaw-we-no-qua, one section of land upon the 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 1 95 
 
 schools and other things intended to benefit the Indians. 
 With him, also, was accompanied Abraham Burnett. Col. 
 
 south side of the river St. Joseph, and adjoining on the upper side the land ceded 
 to the United States, which said section was also ceded to the United States. 
 
 The tracts of land herein stipulated to be granted, shall never be leased or con- 
 veyed by the grantees or their heirs to any persons whatever, without the permis- 
 sion of the President of the United States. And such tracts shall be located 
 after the said cession is surveyed, and in conformity with such surveys as near as 
 may be, and in such manner as the President may direct. 
 
 Art. 4. In consideration of the cession aforesaid, the United States engage to 
 pay to the Ottawa nation one thousand dollars in specie, annually forever, and 
 also to appropriate annually, for the term of ten years, the sum of fifteen hun- 
 dred dollars, to be expended as the President may direct, in the support of a 
 blacksmith, of a teacher; and of » person to instruct the Ottawas in agriculture,, 
 and in the purchase of cattle and farming utensils. And the United States also 
 engage to pay to the Pattiwatima nation five thousand dollars in specie, annually, 
 for the term of twenty years, and also to appropriate annually, for the term of 
 fifteen years, the sum of one thousand dollars, to be expended as the President 
 may direct, in the support of a blacksmith and a teacher. And one mile square 
 shall be selected, under the direction of the President, on the north side of the 
 Grand River, and one mile square on the south side of the St. Joseph, and within 
 the Indian lands not ceded, upon which the blacksmiths and teachers employed 
 for ihe said tribes, respectively, shall reside. 
 
 Art. 5. The stipulation contained in the treaty of. Greenville, relative to the 
 right of the Indians to hunt upon the land ceded while it continues the property 
 of the United States, shall apply to this treaty. 
 
 Art. 6. The United States shall have the privilege of making and using a road 
 through the Indian country, from Detroit and fort Wayne, respectively, to Chicago. 
 
 Art. 7. This treaty shall take effect and be obligatory on the contracting par- 
 ties, as soon as the same shall be ratified by the President of the United States, 
 by and with the advice and consent of the Senate thereof. 
 
 In testimony whereof, the said Lewis Cass and Solomon Sibley, commissioners 
 as aforesaid, and the chiefs and warriors of the said Ottawa, Chippewa, and 
 Pattiwatima nations, have hereunto set their hands, at Chicago aforesaid, 
 this 29th day of August, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred 
 and twenty-one. 
 
 Lewis Cass, Solomon Sibley. 
 
 ottawas. 
 Kewagoushcum, his x mark, Ep-pe-san-se, his x mark, 
 
 Nokawjegaun, his x mark, Kay-nee-wee, his x mark, 
 
 Kee-o-to-aw-be, his x mark, Mo-a-put-to, his x mark, 
 
 Ket-che-me-chi-na-waw, his x mark, Mat-che-pee-na-che-wish, his x mark. 
 
 CHIPPEWAS. 
 
 Met-tay-waw, his x mark, Mich-el, his x mark. 
 
196 
 
 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 Wm. A. Trimble, of Ohio, U. S. Senator at that time, as- 
 sisted in aiding the project of Mr. McC. From an extended 
 
 PATTIWATIMAS. 
 
 To-pen-ne-bee, his x mark, 
 Mee-te-ay, his x mark, 
 Chee-banse, his x mark, 
 Loui-son, his x mark, 
 Wee-saw, his x mark, 
 Kee-po-taw, his x mark, 
 Shay-auk-ke-bee, his x mark, 
 Sho-mang, his x mark, 
 Waw-we-uck-ke-meck, his x mark, 
 Nay-ou-chee-mon, his x mark, 
 Kon-gee, his x mark, 
 Shee-shaw-gan, his x mark, 
 Aysh-cam, his x mark, 
 Meek-say-mank, his x mark, 
 May-ten-way, his x mark, 
 Shaw-wen-ne-me-tay, his x mark, 
 Francois, his x mark, 
 Mauk-see, his x mark, 
 Way-me-go, his x mark, 
 Man-daw-min, his x mark, 
 Quay-guee, his x mark, 
 Aa-pen-naw-bee, his x mark, 
 Mat-cha-wee-yaas, his x mark, 
 Mat-cba-pag-gish, his x mark, 
 Mongaw, his x mark, 
 Pug-gay-gaus, his x mark, 
 Ses-cobe-mesh, his x mark, 
 
 Aw-be- 
 
 Chee-gwa-mack-gwa-go, his x mark, 
 Waw-seb-baw, his x mark, 
 Pee-chee-co, his x mark, 
 Quoi-quoi-taw, his x mark, 
 Pe-an-nish, his x mark, 
 Wy-ne-naig, his x mark, 
 Onuck-ke-meck, his x mark, 
 Ka-way-sin, his x mark, 
 A-meck-kose, his x mark, 
 Os-see-meet, his x mark, 
 Shaw-ko-to, his x mark, 
 No-shay-we-quat, his x mark, 
 Mee-gwun, his x mark, 
 Mes-she-ke-ten-now, his x mark, 
 Kee-no-to-go, his x mark, 
 Wa-baw-nee-she, his x mark, 
 Shaw-waw-nay-see, his x mark, 
 Atch-wee-muck-quee, his x mark, 
 Pish-she-baw-gay, his x mark, 
 Waw-ba-saye, his x mark, 
 Meg-ges-seese, his x mark, 
 Say-gaw-koo-nuck, his x mark, 
 Shaw-way-no, his x mark, 
 Shee-shaw-gun, his x mark, 
 To-to-mee, his x mark, 
 Ash-kee-wee, his x mark, 
 Shay-auk-ke-bee, his x mark, 
 tone, his x mark. 
 
 In presence of 
 Alex. Wolcott, jr., Indian Agent, Jacob B. Varnum, U. S. Factor, 
 
 J no. R. Williams, Adft Gen. M. Ma., John B. Beaubien, 
 
 G. Godfroy, Indian Agent, 
 
 W. Knaggs, Indian Agent, 
 
 Jacob Visget, 
 
 Henry I. Hunt, 
 
 A. Phillips, Paymaster U. S. Army, 
 
 R. Montgomery, 
 
 Conrad Ten Eyck, 
 J. Whipley, 
 George Miles, jun., 
 Henry Connor, 
 James Barnerd, 
 John Kenzie,' Sub- Agent. 
 The tract reserved at the village of Match-e-be-nash-she-wish, at the head of 
 the Ke-kal-i-ma-zoo river, was by agreement to be three miles square. The 
 extent of the reservation was accidentally omitted. 
 
 LEWIS CASS, 
 SOLOMON SIBLEY. 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. I<J7 
 
 letter to Mr. McCoy from Gov. Lewis Cass, of Michigan Ter- 
 ritory, dated July 16, 1822, embracing instructions, etc., relat- 
 ing to both the St. Joseph and Grand River enterprises, we 
 copy as follows: 
 
 "All attempts to meliorate the condition of the Indians must 
 prove abortive so long as ardent spirits are freely introduced into 
 their country. * * * One fact will place 
 
 this lamentable evil in a clearer point of view than the most labored 
 discussion. At the treaty, concluded September last at Chicago, 
 Topenebe, the principal chief of the Putawatamies, a man nearly 
 eighty years of age, irritated at the continual refusal on the part of 
 the commissioners to gratify his importunities for whiskey, exclaimed 
 in the presence of his tribe: 'We care not for the land, the money, 
 or the goods; it is the whiskey we want — give us the whiskey.'" 
 
 In this connection, we copy from Mr. McCoy: 
 
 "After the business of the treaty was- completed at Chicago, and 
 before the Indians left the treaty ground, they received seven barrels 
 of whiskey; and within twenty-four hours afterwards, ten shocking 
 murders were committed among them." 
 
 We will say here, that if any one wishes to be told the full 
 story of utter debasement, brutality, and wretchedness, re- 
 sulting from the use of strong drink, he has only to read the 
 pages of Mr. McCoy's book. 
 
 Here is an account of an early Chicago confidence-man : 
 
 "I had occasion to record in my journal an instance of misplaced 
 confidence. A soldier, belonging to the army at Chicago, had fre- 
 quently been sent express to our post (Fort Wayne), and had insin- 
 uated himself into my favorable opinion so far, that, from his having 
 been much in the wilderness, a man of good English education, and 
 now professedly serious, I hoped that he might be employed usefully 
 in our wilderness excursions, and as a school teacher. At his press- 
 ing request, I wrote to the commanding officer in Michigan, and suc- 
 ceeded in obtaining his discharge from the army by furnishing a 
 substitute, which he himself found. This matter cost me sixty dol- 
 lars. He appeared very grateful, and his widowed mother, in Can- 
 ada, wrote me a letter of many thanks. I put him into our school, 
 but he soon became drunken and worthless, and I was compelled to 
 dismiss him, lose my money that I had advanced on his account, 
 and to bear the affront of his ingratitude in various ways." 
 
 "On the first of January, we deemed it expedient to invite Tope- 
 nebe and Chebass, principal chiefs, and some others, to partake of 
 a frugal meal with us, — some attention having generally been paid to 
 the 25th of Dec. and the 1st of January by white men among them, 
 
198 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 most of whom have been French Catholics, from whom the natives 
 derived a knowledge of these holidays. From them also they have 
 learned on those days to shake hands and kiss their acquaintances. 
 With the latter civility we chose to dispense. They retired from our 
 house much gratified with the attentions which they had received, 
 and said privately to our interpreter, 'they could not think there 
 were any more such good people among the whites.' " 
 
 "Our first report to Governor Cass, at Detroit, and to Dr. Wol- 
 cott, the United States' Agent at Chicago, was dated July 1st, 1823. 
 At that time, we had sixty acres of land enclosed with good fence. 
 The boys* of our school spent about half their time in manual labor 
 on the farm, and half at their studies in school. The girls labored 
 more than half their time. This was not a matter of choice, but of 
 necessity, growing out of the circumstance of the number of males 
 exceeding that of females, by which domestic labours became the 
 more onerous to those who sustained them. All could use the 
 needle in sewing, twelve of them could knit, six could spin, two 
 could weave, and twelve of 'them could embroider with a needle, 
 and in the performance of domestic labour in common, they were 
 not surpassed by any white girls of their ages." 
 
 "The navigation of these upper lakes was at this time in its incipi- 
 ent state, and supplies by this route were often attended with great 
 expense. Sundry articles of importance to us had been left at Chi- 
 cago, a distance by water of more than a hundred miles from us, 
 and we had to encounter the expense of sending a barge for them. 
 On the 5th of September, 1825, we started a periogue to Grand 
 River with iron and steel, and other articles needed at that station. 
 * + In the fore part of October I attended, 
 
 at Chicago, the payment of an annuity by Dr. Wolcott, United 
 States' Indian Agent, and, through his politeness, addressed the 
 Indians on the subject of our mission. On the 9th of October, 
 1825, I preiached in English, which, as I was informed, was the first 
 sermon ever, delivered at or near that place. Between our place 
 and Chicago was a wilderness, in which we took five nights' lodging 
 on the tour." 
 
 The following is an extract from a letter addressed to Mr. 
 McCoy during his absence to the eastward in 1826: 
 
 "Since we last wrote you, I suppose the Indians have not passed 
 a single day without drinking. 'Poor old Topenebe is said to be 
 near his end, from intoxication." 
 
 Mr. McCoy continues : 
 
 "Among our expensive inconveniences was the necessity of send- 
 ing expresses. We had no mail, and it was necessary to keep up 
 a communication with Chicago, ninety miles from us, with Fort 
 
 * Medore B. Beaubien, a Chicago boy, was a pupil of this school. 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 199 
 
 Wayne, one hundred miles, and with Detroit, two hundred miles. 
 * Gov. Cass and Col. T. L. McKenney 
 
 were commissioners for the purpose of negotiating treaties with the 
 Chippewas and others this year, (1827), * "* * which 
 
 would be at Green Bay. * * * Gov. Cass 
 
 very politely invited me to attend the treaty. Twice I had ap- 
 pointed to set out on the journey, and each time was prevented by 
 sickness. These disappointments afterwards appeared to us to have 
 been providential. My route lay by way of Chicago; and the dis- 
 tance to Green Bay was nearly three hundred miles, and through an 
 unsettled country, excepting a few families at Chicago. I should 
 have necessarily passed through the Winnebago towns, and should 
 have entered them unconscious of danger, whereas it appeared by 
 an express, which passed us on the 27th of July, 1827, going from 
 Chicago to Detroit, that the Winnebagoes were in a state of almost 
 open hostility. Had I entered their country at the time that I de- 
 sired I should probably not have left it. * * * 
 Some information which Governour Cass received at Green Bay 
 induced him to proceed across to Prarie du Chien, on the Missis- 
 sippi river. * * * Governour Cass returned 
 in his canoe up the Illinois river to Chicago, and thence went to 
 Green Bay by way of the lake. The little settlement at Chicago 
 was thrown into great alarm, being only two days' journey from the 
 enemy's towns. They took refuge in the fort at the place, but no 
 troops being st tioned their at the time, their dependance for pro- 
 tection, for some time, was on their own prowess. Subsequently, 
 two hundred militia from the State of Illinois arrived for their relief. 
 Governour Cass invited as many of the Putawatamie chiefs to a 
 council at Chicago as his haste would allow, and gave them such a 
 talk as the times required, in order to prevent them from participa- 
 ting in the hostilities of the Winnebagoes. All appeared friendly 
 excepting one chief, named Bigfoot, who refused to come into 
 council."* 
 
 "Chebass, a noted Putawatamie chief of our neighborhood, stated 
 to us that while they had been at Chicago, to receive their late an- 
 nuity, four men from the hostile Indians, in a formal manner accord- 
 ing to Indian custom in such cases, invited them to join in the war 
 against the whites, by presenting them their tomahawk, war pipe, 
 and war beads, with the hair of a buffalo, or of a cow's tail, sus- 
 pended to one arm, all of which emblems were coloured red." 
 
 * The disturbance generally known as the Winnebago War, is the subject of an 
 article by Mr. Hiram W. Beckwith, in one of the " Fergus Historical Series. " A " 
 narrative relating to the affair, by Col. Gurdon S. Hubbard, also appears in the 
 same pamphlet, as well as in the 7th vol. of Wis. His. Soc. Coll. Mr. McCoy 
 seems to be in error, in saying that Governor Cass held a council here with the 
 Indians, on his way to Green Bay; Col. Hubbard says, "he remained, probably 
 two hours, and left." 
 
200 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 At the above-named Treaty of 1821, Me-te-a, a prominent 
 but. not the principal chief of the Pottawatomies, was one of 
 the orators, and his speech may be found in Drake's book of 
 the Indians, and also in the old Chicago Magazine of 1857. 
 It was a manly though sad expression in view of inevitable 
 fate. His speech closed as follows: "Behold our warriors, 
 our women and children. Take pity on us, and on our 
 words." Me-te-a accepted the situation, and succumbed to 
 apparent destiny. He opposed, with energy, the ceding of 
 the lands involved in the proposed Treaty; yet, when the 
 other side proved the strongest, he concluded to pay a mem- 
 orable tribute to vanity, and placed his mark upon the quit- 
 claim conveyance. His behavior at that bargain and sale, 
 when compared with that of the head-chief, To-pay-nah-bay, 
 was, as we have seen, far the most creditable of the two. 
 
 Another distinguished Indian speaker at that council was 
 Ke-wa-goush-kum, the head-chief of the Ottawas. He ac- 
 companied Gov. Cass, in 1820, in his expedition to the north- 
 west. Schoolcraft speaks of him as "a sedate and respecta- 
 ble man." In the Chicago Magazine, of 1857, it is stated 
 that Ke-wa-goush-kum opposed the Treaty of 1821; but his 
 speech as. in the Magazine, quoted from Drake's History of 
 the Indians, seems not to show it. Indeed, the Ottawas 
 blamed their chief for the part he had taken in the Treaty, 
 in consenting to approve of its conditions. It is not surpris- 
 ing that many Ottawas, of Grand River, were unfriendly to 
 that sale to the American Government ; nearly every one of 
 their warriors of sufficient age had fought under the British 
 flag in the war of 18 12, and "they considered themselves still 
 in the British interest." A sad fate awaited the. "friendly, 
 modest, and sensible chief," Ke-wa-goush-kum. Returning 
 from the Treaty of Chicago, his canoe capsized, near the 
 mouth of Grand River, and his wife and all his children but 
 one were drowned ; one son and himself made out. to reach 
 shore. And that son also was afterward destroyed, poisoned, 
 it was said, through the malice of some of his own tribe, on 
 account of the father's action at the before-mentioned Treaty. 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 201 
 
 From a Paper read before the Historical Society of Michi- 
 gan, by Charles C. Trowbridge, May, 1864.: 
 
 "If any person desired to go' south, it was quite common to wait 
 for Baron,* because he knew the bad places in the road, and where 
 best to cross the streams. I remember as well as if it were yester- 
 day, that on my first journey to Chicago, forty-two years ago, I was 
 guided by Baron as far as the Maumee river. My route was via 
 Fort Wayne, where I was ordered to report. The treaty of Chicago, 
 of the previous year,t had provided for the session of the Indian 
 title to the western part of the lower peninsula. The eastern part 
 had been ceded by the treaty of Saginaw, of 18 19. The Chicago 
 treaty provided for the establishment of a teacher, farmer, and black- 
 smith, for the period of fifteen years, among the Pottawatamies of 
 the St. Joseph river, and a like establishment among the Ottawas, 
 for ten years, on the Grand River ; and the object of the journey 
 was to select suitable places for their location. A guide was pro- 
 cured from Fort Wayne to Chicago, at which place there then stood 
 the little Fort Dearborn, one log house, occupied by Mr. John Kin- 
 zie, agent for Mr. Astor, another by Dr. Wolcott, United States Ind- 
 ian agent, and anodier by the late Gen. Beaubien, then a trader. 
 There was also one other establishment, a sort of trading house 
 called the Factory, established by the government with the humane 
 motive of protecting the helpless sons of the forest from the rapacity 
 of the traders, who were accused, in some instances, of favoring the 
 rule adopted by the followers of Hendrick Hudson with the natives 
 of the Mohawk valley, the hand, in weighing Beaver, to be one 
 pound, and the foot ten pounds. The factor was instructed to deal 
 justly, to add regular prices, and to pay fairly for the furs; and some 
 philanthropic men fancied a commercial millenium was at hand for 
 the poor savages. But the scheme was a total failure. Indeed, it 
 was as, profitless to both sides as the 'farmers' stores' we used to see 
 established in order to save the profits gained by the regular mer- 
 chants. Many a farmer was drawn in and lost his whole farm by 
 attempting a thing he did not understand. My compagnon de voyage 
 as far as Chicago was Mr. Lindsay, an agent sent out by government 
 to suppress the Factory. % On rny return from Chicago I met, at St. 
 
 * The mail-carrier. f 1821. 
 
 % The U. S. Government, in its benevolent attempt to do the Indians a kind- 
 ness by the plan of establishing Factories or Trading-Houses to furnish goods 
 and take the furs of the Indians, — wherein all gain in prices should be for their 
 benefit, — met the competition and opposition of all other traders, small or great. 
 Whether or not the Government lacked sufficient principle to persevere, or the 
 force to command success, (he result to the Indians following the encounter not 
 only of the duplicity of alien dealers, but the antagonism on all sides of heartless 
 cupidity, with whiskey as its hand-maiden, was, as we might suppose, disastrous. 
 
202 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 Joseph, Col. Gabriel Godfrey, § an aged but vigorous French gentle- 
 man, a sub-Indian agent and interpreter, who acted as guide for the 
 remainder. of our journey." 
 
 In the prosecution of its business, the American Fur Company, or the South- 
 west Company (which were only other names for Mr. Astor), probably found 
 their most experienced servants among British subjects, who were our enemies in 
 the then late war; many of those persons, however, found it their interest to 
 exchange their fealty to this side of the line. 
 
 The matter of the Indian Trade and Factory system, is discussed in several com- 
 munications by Matthew Irwin, Jr. (who, from 1810 to 1812, was United States 
 Factor at Chicago, and subsequently for some years at Green Bay), and Col. 
 Thos. L. McKenney, Supt. at Washington of the Indian Trade, which communi- 
 cations appear in the Sroenth volume of Wis. His. Soc. 's Coil's. We here make 
 a few extracts : 
 
 From a letter of Major Irwin to Col. McKenney, dated " Green Bay, March 
 10, 1 81 7. The opportunity of conveying this being immediate, leaves me but 
 little time to state why so little business has been done at this Factory during the 
 winter; and, without going into a detail of minor reasons, I believe the principal 
 ones will be found to be these : 1st, the admission of many British traders, who 
 have been accustomed to do business in this quarter, and who placed themselves 
 in the most advantageous places for business within fifty, seventy, and one hun- 
 dred miles of this; 2d, the hints given the Indians by these traders to follow 
 them, lest the Americans might punish them for their recent bad conduct during 
 the Late War; 3d, the practice (conducted secretly) of vending whiskey; 4th, the 
 prejudices excited by the traders against our Factories. " From Col. McKenney 
 to Major Irwin: "Office of Indian Trade, May 28, 1817. * * 
 
 I feel the force of your remarks on British traders, 
 and hope they will soon be expelled. I am aware of their pertinacious adherence 
 to a system which nothing but exertions, active and constant on your part, can 
 check; and if they cannot be controlled, their influence can be lessened. Are 
 there no means to detect those who sell whisky? If so, why not make examples 
 of a few of them?" From Major Irwin to Col. McKenney: "Sept. 29, 1817. 
 * Besides the British traders licensed to trade 
 
 at the Ouisconsin, others were licensed by the Agent at Mackinac to trade at the 
 Upper Mississippi and this place, at which, in the village alone, six are licensed; 
 and all of them, with one exception, held commissions during the late War, are 
 influential with the Indians, and were named by me in my letter of the 24th of 
 July last to the Indian Agent here, a copy of which I transmitted to you. * 
 
 Governor Clark last year directed the stoppage of 
 British subjects entering the Mississippi; Governor Edwards requested the Agent 
 at Chicago to prevent them from entering the Illinois. What reasons exist for 
 allowing them to trade with the Indians in this quarter, I am at a loss to imagine. 
 
 There appears a palpable incongruity in 
 the manner of conductihg the Indian trade; the factors are sent to supply the 
 
 * Col. Godfroy, it is believed, was interpreter for the Commissioners at the 
 Treaty of Chicago, in 1821. — H. . 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 203 
 
 We will add here a line or two from a note of Mr. Trow- 
 bridge to the Sec'y of the Wis. His. Soc'y, as appears in v. 5 
 of its collections: 
 
 wants of the Indians, and the Indian Agents can adopt such measures as to de- 
 feat all their plans to that end. " From same to same : " * * 
 
 Added to these irregularities, must be noticed the traffic 
 carried on secretly in whisky at this place. The Indians are frequently kept in 
 a state of intoxication, giving their furs, etc., at great sacrifices for whisky. A 
 return to reason will induce many of them to mention who sold them the whisky; 
 but it is deemed illegal to accept Indian testimony, so that the British and Ameri- 
 traders (of the latter several have arrived here) may deal in whisky without the 
 smallest chance of detection. The agents of Mr. Astor hold out an idea that 
 they will, ere long, be able to break down the Factories; and they menace the 
 Indian Agents, and others who may interfere with them, with dismission from 
 office, through Mr. Astor. They say that a representation from Messrs. Crooks 
 and Stewart (Mr. Astor's agents) led to the dismission of the Indian agent at 
 Mackinac, and they also say that the Indian Agent here is to be dismissed. It 
 appears that the commanding officer at Prairie du Chien undertook, at the insti- 
 gation of the Indian Agent, to stop and send to St. Louis some of Mr. Astor's 
 British trading subjects. For this act, it is said, the Agent will be dismissed 
 from the public service; and we have now the novel spectacle before us of a 
 British subject (Mr. Crooks) traveling to the Prairie, with a passport from Gov- 
 ernor Cass, said to have been given by authority of the War Department, to 
 enquire into the conduct of the Indian Agent and commanding officer." 
 
 Mr. Irwin stated to a gentleman from the East, on a tour of observation, that 
 Mr. J.B. Varnum, who was Government Factor at Chicago, wrote him from there 
 under date of Dec. 5, 1818, that there were "five establishments then within the 
 limits of this agency headed by British subjects. These, with the large number 
 of American traders in every part of the country, will effectually check the pro- 
 gress of this Factory. I have hardly done a sufficiency of business this season to 
 clear the wages of my interpreter. " In another letter from Mr. Varnum, dated 
 Chicago, May 23d, 1820, he says : " The Indians have been induced to come 
 here this season, by the facility with which they are enabled to procure whisky. 
 In fact, the commerce with them (the Indians) this season has been almost exclu- 
 sively confined to that article. I will venture to say, that out of two hundred 
 barks (boxes averaging about forty pounds each) of sugar taken, not five have 
 been purchased with any other commodity than whisky. " From Col. McKenney 
 to Major Irwin: "Indian Trade Office, July 5, 1851. Sir, 1 have the honor 
 respectfully to represent, that for three years last past, the two Factories on the 
 Lakes— one at Chicago and the other at Green Bay— have been in a measure use- 
 less to the Indians, and, in a pecuniary point of view, to the Government also. 
 This state of things is owing entirely to the unsuitable provisions which exist for 
 the regulation of trade." We>need not quote further particulars as given in the 
 Superintendent's letter, which would be a repetition, in substance, of what ap- 
 pears above; the information, is imparted, however, that it is decided "to break 
 up and discontinue the two Factories located at Chicago and Green Bay. " 
 
204 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 "Even as late as 1834, I declined becoming a party to the pur- 
 chase of one-fourth of the Kinzie Addition, Chicago — the North 
 Side — at five thousand dollars. Ten years prior to' that I was in 
 Chicago, and would not have given that sum for both sides of the 
 river as far as the eye could extend." 
 
 From a Narrative of an Expedition to the Source of St. Peter's 
 River, &c, in 1823, under Major Stephen H. Long, U. S. A. 
 By Wm. H. Keating. In 2 Vols. London, 1825. 
 
 [Stephen Harriman Long was born in Hopkinton, N. H., 30 
 Dec, 1784; Grad. of Dartmouth college, 1809; 2d-Lt. of Engineers, 
 U. S. A., 12 Dec, 1814; Prof, of Math, at West Point, Mar., 1819. 
 Had charge of explorations west of the Mississippi, 1818, and sev- 
 eral successive years, and subsequently of various western river and 
 lake harbor improvements; brevet Lt.-Col. top. eng., 29 April, 1826; 
 Major, 7 July, 1838; Col., 9 Sept., 1861; retired 1 June, 1863. The 
 account of his first expedition, by Dr. Edwin James, was pub. in 
 1823. "Long's Peak," in the Rocky Mts., was named from him. 
 He died, Alton, 111., 4 Sept., 1864. 
 
 William H. Keating was professor of mineralogy and chemistry in 
 the University of Pa., and geologist and historiographer of Major 
 Long's second expedition; but we are unable to give any further 
 particulars of his history.] 
 
 Vol. 1, p. 161. — "Our path led us over the scene of the bloody 
 massacre perpetrated in 1812, when the garrison of Chicago was 
 entirely destroyed by the Indians (principally Potawatomis,) after 
 they had abandoned the fort, and in violation of the pledge given 
 to them by the Indians. No traces are now to be seen of the mas- 
 sacre; the bones, which are said to have remained for a long while 
 bleaching upon the prairie, were at last gathered up and buried, by 
 order of Captain Bradley, who had the command of the new fort 
 built on the ruins of the old one, but no one could point out to us 
 the spot where they had been deposited. 
 
 ****** 
 
 " In the afternoon of the fifth of June, we reached Fort Dearborn, 
 (Chicago,) having been engaged eight days in travelling a distance 
 of two hundred and sixteen miles, making an average of twenty- 
 seven miles per day. 
 
 "Fort Dearborn is situated in the State of Illinois, on the south 
 bank and near to the mouth of Chicago River; the boundary-line 
 between this State and that of Indiana strikes the western shore of 
 Lake Michigan, ten miles north of its southernmost extremity, and 
 then continues along the shore of the lake until it reaches the forty- 
 second and a-half degree of north latitude, along which it extends to 
 the Mississippi. The post at Chicago was abandoned a few months 
 after the party visited it. Its establishment had been found neces- 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 205 
 
 sary to intimidate the hostile and still very powerful tribes of Indians 
 that inhabit this part of the country; but the rapid extension of the 
 white population to the west, the establishment along the Missis- 
 sippi of a chain of military posts which encloses them, and at the 
 same time convinces them of the vigilance of the government, and 
 of the inevitable destruction which they would bring upon them- 
 selves by the most trifling act of hostility on their part, have, it is 
 thought, rendered the continuance of a military force at this place 
 unnecessary. An Indian agent remains there in order to keep up 
 amicable relations with them, and to attend to their wants, which are 
 daily becoming greater owing to the increasing scarcity of game in 
 the country. 
 
 "We were much disappointed at the appearance of Chicago and 
 its vicinity. We found in it nothing to justify the great eulogium 
 lavished upon this place by a late traveller,* who observes that 'it is 
 the most fertile and beautiful that can be imagined.' 'As a faftning 
 country,' says he, 'it unites the fertile soil of the finest lowland 
 prairies with an elevation which exempts it from the influence of 
 stagnant waters, and a summer climate of delightful serenity.' The 
 best comment upon this description of the climate and soil is the 
 fact that, with the most active vigilance on the part of the officers, 
 it was impossible for the garrison, consisting of from seventy to 
 ninety men, to subsist upon the grain raised in the country, although 
 much of their time was devoted to agricultural pursuits. The diffi- 
 culties which the agriculturist meets with here are numerous; they 
 arise from the shallowness of the soil, from its humidity, and from its 
 exposure to the cold and damp winds which blow from the lake 
 with great force during most part of the year. The grain is fre- 
 quently destroyed by swarms of insects. There are also a number 
 of destructive birds of which it was impossible for the garrison to 
 avoid the haneful influence, except by keeping, as was practiced at 
 Fort Dearborn, a party of soldiers constantly engaged in shooting at 
 the crows and blackbirds that committed depredations upon the 
 corn planted by them. But, even with all these exertions, the maize 
 seldom has time to ripen owing to the shortness and coldness of the 
 season. The provisions for the garrison were, for the most part, 
 conveyed from Mackinaw in a schooner, and sometimes they were 
 brought from St. Louis, a distance 6f three hundred and eighty-six 
 miles, up the Illinois and Des Plaines rivers. 
 
 "The appearance of the country near Chicago offers but few 
 features upon which the eye of the traveller can dwell with pleasure. 
 There is too much uniformity in the scenery; the extensive water 
 prospect is a waste uncheckered by islands, unenljvened by the 
 spreading canvas, and the fatiguing monotony of which is increased 
 by the equally undiversified prospect of the land scenery, which af- 
 fords no relief to the sight, as it consists merely of a plain in which 
 
 * Schoolcraft. 
 
206 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 but few patches of thin and scrubby woods are observed scattered 
 here and there. 
 
 "The village presents no cheering prospect, as, notwithstanding 
 its antiquity, it consists of but few huts, inhabited by a miserable 
 race of men, scarcely equal to the Indians from whom they are de- 
 scended. Their log or bark houses are low, filthy, and disgusting, 
 displaying not the least trace of comfort. Chicago is, perhaps, one 
 of the oldest settlements in the Indian country; its name, derived 
 from the Potawatomi language, signifies either a skunk or wild onion, 
 and each of these significations has been occasionally given for it. 
 A fort is said to have formerly existed there. Mention is made of 
 the place as having been visited, in 167 1, by Perrot, who found 
 'Chicagou' to be the residence of a powerful chief of the Miamis. 
 The number of trails centering all at this spot, and their apparent 
 antiquity, indicate that this was probably for a long while the site 
 of a^arge Indian village. As a place of business, it offers no induce- 
 ment to the settler; for the whole annual amount of the trade on the 
 lake did not exceed the cargo of five or six schooners, even at the 
 time when the. garrison received its supplies from Mackinaw. It is 
 not impossible that at some distant day, when the banks of the Mi- . 
 nois shall have been covered with a dense population, and when the 
 low prairies, which extend between that river and Fort Wayne, shall 
 have acquired a population proportionate to the produce which they 
 can yield, that Chicago may become one of the points in the direct 
 line of communication between the northern lakes and the Missis- 
 sippi; but even the intercourse which will be carried on through this 
 communication, will, we think, at all times be a limited one; the- 
 dangers attending the navigation of the lake, and the scarcity of 
 harbours along the shore; must ever prove a serious obstacle to the 
 increase of the commercial importance of Chicago. The extent of 
 the sand-banks, which are formed on the eastern and southern shore 
 by the prevailing north and northwesterly winds, will likewise pre- 
 vent any important works from being undertaken to improve the 
 post of Chicago. 
 
 "The south fork of Chicago river takes its rise about six miles 
 from the fort, in a swamp which communicates also with the Des 
 Plaines, one of the head branches of the Illinois. Having been 
 informed that this route was frequently travelled by traders, and that 
 it had been used by one of the officers of the garrison, who returned 
 with provisions from St. Louis a few days before our arrival at the 
 fort, we determined to ascend the Chicago river in order to observe 
 this interesting division of waters. We accordingly left the fort on 
 the 7th of June, in a boat, which, after having ascended the river 
 about four miles, we exchanged for a narrow pirogue that drew less 
 water; the stream we were ascending was very narrow, rapid, and 
 crooked, presenting a great fall; it continued so for about three 
 miles when we reached a sort of swamp, designated by the Canadian 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 207 
 
 voyagers under the name of le petit lac. Our course through this 
 swamp, which extented for three miles, was very much impeded by 
 the high grass, weeds, etc.; through which our pirogue passed with 
 difficulty. Observing that our progress through the fen was very 
 slow, and the day being considerably advanced, we landed on the 
 north bank, and continued our course along the edge of the swamp 
 for about three miles, until we reached the place where the old port- 
 age road meets the current, which was here very distinct towards the 
 south. We were delighted at beholding, for the first time, a feature 
 so interesting in itself, but which we had afterwards an opportunity 
 of observing frequently on the route, viz.: the division of waters 
 starting from the same source and running in two different directions, 
 so as to become the. feeders of streams that discharge themselves 
 into the ocean at immense distances apart. Although at the time 
 we visited it there was scarcely water enough to permit our pirogue 
 to pass, we could not doubt that in the spring of the year the route 
 must be a very eligible one. Lieut. Hopson, who accompanied us 
 to the Des Plaines, told us that he had travelled it with ease in a 
 boat loaded with lead and flour. The distance from the fort to the 
 intersection of the Portage road and Des Plaines is supposed to be 
 about twelve or thirteen miles; the elevation of the feeding lake 
 above Chicago river was estimated at five or six feet; and, it is 
 probable, that the descent to the Des Plaines is less considerable. 
 The Portage road is about eleven miles long; the usual distance 
 travelled by land seldom, however, exceeds from four to nine miles; 
 in very dry seasons, it has been said to amount to thirty miles, as 
 the portage then extends to Mount Juliet, near the confluence of the 
 Kankakee. When we consider the facts above stated, we are irre- 
 sistibly led to the conclusion, that an elevation of the lakes of a few 
 feet (not exceeding ten or twelve) above their present level would 
 cause them to discharge their waters, partly at least, into the Gulf of 
 Mexico; that such a discharge has at one time existed, every one 
 conversant with the nature of the country must admit; arid it is 
 equally apparent that an expenditure, trifling in comparison to the 
 importance of the object, would again render Lake Michigan a tribu- 
 tary of the Mexican gulf. Impressed with the importance of this 
 object, the legislature of Illinois has already caused some observa- 
 tions to be made upon the possibility of establishing this communi- 
 cation. The commissioners appointed to that effect visited Chicago 
 after we left it, and we knew not what results they obtained as their 
 report has not reached us; but we have been informed that they had 
 considered the elevation of the petit lite, above Chicago, to be some- 
 what greater than we had estimated it. It is the opinion of those 
 best acquainted with the nature of the country, that the easiest com- 
 munication would be between the Little Calamick and some point of 
 the Des Plaines, probably below the Portage road; between these 
 two points there is, in wet seasons, we understand, a water commu- 
 
208 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 nication of ten or twelve miles. Of the practicability of the work, 
 and the sufficiency of a supply of water, no doubt can exist. The 
 only difficulty will, we apprehend, be in keeping the communication 
 open after it is once made, as the soil is swampy, and probably will 
 require particular care to oppose the return of the soft mud into the 
 excavations. 
 
 "In the immediate vicinity of Chicago, a secondary limestone is 
 found disposed in horizontal strata; it contains many organic re- 
 mains. 
 
 "Although the quantity of game in this part of the country is 
 diminishing very rapidly, and although it is barely sufficient for the 
 support of the Indians, still there is enough, and particularly of the 
 smaller kind, to offer occupation to the amateur sportsman. There 
 are many different kinds of aquatic birds, which feed upon the wild 
 rice (Zizania aquatica,) and other plants that thrive in the swamps 
 which cover the country. Mr. Say observed, among others, the mal- 
 lard (Anas boschas), shoveller-duck (A. clypeata), blue-winged teal 
 (A. discors), common merganser (Mergus serrator), common coot 
 (Fulica Americana), stellate heron or Indian hen (Ardea minor), 
 &c, &c. In the lake there is also a great quantity of fish, but none 
 appears to be of a very superior quality; the white fish, (Corregonus 
 albus, Lesueur,) which is the greatest delicacy found in the lakes, is 
 not caught at Chicago, but sometimes twenty or thirty miles north 
 of it. 
 
 "During our short residence at Chicago, we were, by the favor of 
 Dr. Wolcott, the Indian agent, furnished with much information con- 
 cerning the Indians of this vicinity, through his interpreter, Alexan- 
 der Robinson, a half-breed Chippewa, who informed us that the 
 Indians who frequent this part of the country are very much inter- 
 mixed, belonging principally to the Potawatomis, Ottawas, and Chip- 
 pewas, (ochepewag,) from which circumstance, a great admixture of 
 the three languages prevails here. The vicinity of the Miamis has 
 also, in his opinion, tended to adulterate the language of the Potawa- 
 tomis in the neighborhood of Fort Wayne, and it is believed that this 
 language is spoken, in the greatest purity, only along the banks of the 
 St. Joseph, of Lake Michigan. Robinson did not suppose the Pota- 
 watomis to exceed two thousand five hundred souls; but it is proba- 
 ble that their number must be greater, especially as they are united 
 with the Kickapoos, whose population amounts to six hundred in the 
 State of Illinois. According to his observations, the Potawatomis 
 believe that they came from the vicinity of the Sault de St. Marie, 
 where they presume that they were created. 
 
 "Having spent a few days in Chicago, the party left that post on 
 Wednesday, June nth. * * * The first 
 
 stream passed, on that day, was the Chicago river, which we crossed 
 about half a mile above the fort, and immediately above the first 
 fork, (or Gary river). The party next came to the River Des Plaines, 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 209 
 
 which is one of the head branches of the Illinois; it receives its 
 name from a variety of maple, which, by the Canadians, is named 
 Plaine. In Potawatomi, the river is termed Sheshikmaoshike Sepe, 
 (which signifies flumen arboris que mingif). This appellation is de- 
 rived from the great quantity of sap which flows from this tree in the 
 spring. We crossed the Des Plaines about four miles above the 
 Portage road; it was forty yards wide, and so deep that part of our 
 baggage was wet while fording it, but fortunately none materially 
 injured." 
 
 [Here we will speak of the extensive collection of MSS., 
 bearing dates 1803 to 1825, inclusive, comprising the books, 
 letters, and papers of account, etc., of John Kinzie, which 
 were presented by his son, the late John H. Kinzie, to the 
 Historical Society of Chicago, in October, 1857. We pre- 
 sume there are no copies of any of these documents in exist- 
 ence, and that the originals were burned in the great fire of 
 1871. Some of the entries were at St. Joseph, Mich., 1803, 
 and the first Chicago entry was May 12, 1804. It was said 
 at the time the documents came into the possession of the 
 Historical Society, that from them a nearly complete list of 
 all the residents of Chicago for the period 1804 to 1825 
 might be compiled, as well, also, "as approximate estimates 
 of the extent of the trade carried on here, during that period, 
 with interior points, including the amount of peltries col- 
 lected here or received in transitu."] 
 
 The "Recollections of Wisconsin since 1820, by Col. Ebenezer 
 Childs, of LaCrosse," bearing date March, 1858, appear in vol. 
 4 of Wis. His. Soc. Coll., and from which we copy a few sen- 
 tences. Mr. Childs was born in Barre, Mass., April 3, 1797; 
 left that State in 18 16, and, gradually working his way to the 
 westward, the spring of 1820 found him at Green Bay. He 
 removed to LaCrosse in 1852: 
 
 "In 1 82 1, I made a trip to St. Louis in a bark canoe, up Fox 
 River, across the Portage, and down the Wisconsin to Prairie du 
 Chien, and thence down the Mississippi. I was sixteen days on my 
 journey, and saw but seven white men in the whole distance outside 
 the forts. * * * I remained two weeks; did 
 
 my business, when I was advised to return by way of the Illinois 
 
2IO CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES.. 
 
 River. * * * We continued up the Illinois to 
 
 the junction of the Kankakee and Eau Plaine, and thence up the 
 Eau Plaine to where I supposed we had to make a portage to Chi- 
 cago River; but I could not see any signs of the portage. There 
 had been heavy rains for several days, which had so raised the 
 streams that they overflowed their banks. I concluded that I had 
 gone far enough for the portage, so I left the Eau Plaine and took a 
 northeast direction. After traveling a few miles, I found the current 
 of the Chicago River. The whole country was inundated; I found 
 not less than two feet of water all the way across the portage. That 
 night I arrived at Chicago, pitched my tent on the bank of the Lake, 
 and went to the Fort for provisions. I was not, however, able to 
 obtain any, the commissary informing me that the public stores were 
 so reduced that the garrison were subsisting on half rations, and he 
 knew not when they would get any more. I went to Col. Beaubien, 
 who furnished me with a small supply. I found two traders there 
 from Mackinaw; and as my men were all sick, I exchanged my tent 
 and canoe for a horse, and took passage on board the Mackinaw 
 boat as far as Manitowoc. One of our party had to go by land and 
 ride the horse. There were, at this time, but two families residing 
 outside of the Fort at Chicago, those of Mr. Kinzie and Col. Beau- 
 bien." * * * * * 
 
 "1825. Col. Wm. S. Hamilton, son of the celebrated Alexander 
 Hamilton, drove the first cattle to Green Bay for the use of troops. 
 He purchased his cattle in Illinois, and drove them by way of Chi- 
 cago." ***** 
 
 "1827. Judge Arndt took the contract to supply the troops at 
 Fort Howard with fresh beef. He employed me to go to Illinois or 
 Missouri to purchase a drove of cattle for him. I left the Bay the 
 fore part of March, in company with Arndt's son and a Menomonee 
 Indian, and two horses. We travelled through the wilderness to 
 Milwaukee, where we found Solomon Juneau. From him we got a 
 small supply of provisions and started for Chicago. We took the 
 wrong trail, and went too far west, and soon found ourselves on the 
 west side of the Eau Plaine River, which we could not cross. We 
 got out of provisions the fourth day. I heard the discharge of a 
 gun in the distance, and started in the direction of the report. I 
 found an Indian, who had a large quantity of muskrats; I bought a 
 number, and had a fine feast. We got the Indian to take us and 
 our baggage across the Eau Plaine in his canoe, making our horses 
 swim along side. We learned that we had passed Chicago, having 
 gone some fifteen miles to the west. The Indian put us on the 
 right track, and we arrived at Chicago the next morning pretty well 
 used up. We remained there a few days. The place had not im- 
 proved any since 1821. Only two families yet resided there, those 
 of Kinzie and Col. Beaubien." 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 211 
 
 A series of Reminiscences appeared, during the fore part of 
 the year 1858, in the columns of the Prairie du Chien Courier, 
 written by the editor of that paper, but dictated by the aged 
 pioneer, John H. Fonda, being the recollections of his own 
 experience of Western life and adventure. We copy a few 
 extracts from the said series, finding them given in vol. 5 of 
 the Wis. His. Coll. Mr. Fonda was born in Watervliet, N. 
 Y., but had been more than forty years in the West, during 
 thirty of which he had been a resident of Prairie du Chien: 
 
 "It was no other than a natural consequence then, that having 
 heard of Prairie du Chien, and the 'Lead Diggings' south-east of it, 
 that I should have a desire to take a trip up the Mississippi River to 
 the Mineral Region, from where, reports came of fortunes 'being 
 made by prospecting; these stories formed alluring inducements. 
 Having some money, and a sound constitution that five years of 
 border life had made capable of enduring any degree of hardship 
 and fatigue, I left St. Louis, and started up the river in a little Ohio 
 steamboat, — I believe steamboats commenced running above St. 
 Louis the same year I left, 1825, — loaded with army stores for mili- 
 tary posts on the Upper Mississippi. The boat proceeded up 
 stream till we reached the mouth of the Illinois River, where we 
 met a keel-boat coming down, on board of which was an express, 
 bound with dispatches for the commanding officer at Jefferson Bar- 
 racks. They brought reports of Indian murders in the north, and 
 the same boat bearing the dispatches had been attacked, and had 
 many ball-marks on its sides; also a wounded man on board. The 
 steamboat took the express aboard, and was about to return with 
 him to St. Louis; so I bid Captain Bates good-bye, and left his boat. 
 I learned now that the mining region was the scene of the Indian 
 troubles; that the inhabitants were leaving the country through fear, 
 and the greatest misery and confusion prevailed at the Diggings. 
 So, instead of continuing up the Mississippi as intended, I joined a 
 party of five Frenchmen, who designed going to Green Bay, and 
 having no definate object in view at the time, I agreed to go with 
 them. We had little knowledge of the route; but one of the French- 
 men had somewhere seen an old outline map, and assured us we 
 could reach the Lakes by going up the Illinois river. * 
 
 * * While engaged in securing the choicest por- 
 
 tions of the venison, our Indian guide told us it was but a short 
 distance to a larger body of water, on the shore of which lived the 
 great chief of his tribe, whose name was Muck-ke-tay-pe-nay. This 
 piece of intelligence made us think we were near the large lake, Lake 
 Michigan; but we were disappointed, for late in the afternoon we 
 entered the foot of Lake Peoria, and were met at landing by a num- 
 
212 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 ber of Indians, from whom we learned that it was more than two 
 hundred miles to the nearest trading post on the Lake, which was 
 Chi-ca-a-go. We had to remain with tribe several days before our 
 guide would leave the encampment, and during which time I saw 
 several Indians of other tribes, one of whom was Black Hawk, who, 
 I afterwards found out, was then trying to get these Indians to join 
 the Winnebagoes against the whites in the North-West. At length 
 the councils were concluded, and our guide signified his willingness 
 to proceed. Under his direction we paddled along until we came 
 to the Des Plaines river, from which we passed into a large slough 
 or lake that must have led us into a branch of the Chicago river, for 
 we followed a stream that brought us opposite Fort Dearborn. At 
 this period, Chicago was merely an Indian Agency; it contained 
 about fourteen houses, and not more than 75 or 100 inhabitants at 
 the most. An agent of the American Fur Company, named Gurdon 
 S. Hubbard, then occupied the Fort. The staple business seemed 
 to be carried on by Indians and run-away soldiers, who hunted 
 ducks and muskrats in the marshes. There was a great deal of low 
 land, and mostly destitute of timber. The principal inhabitants 
 were the agent, Mr. Hubbard, a Frenchman by the name of Ouil- 
 mette, and John B. Beaubien. It never occurred to me then that a 
 large city would be built up there. But great changes have taken 
 place during the last thirty-three years. I read that the old log Fort, 
 surrounded with its palisades, was torn down two years ago, and that 
 Chicago is now one of the largest cities in the West. Great changes 
 have I seen in my life; I was mail-carrier in the North-West before 
 there was a white settlement between Prairie du Chien and Fort 
 Snelling; a Government express, and volunteer, during the Sauk 
 War; from mere love of adventure have I wandered through the 
 wilderness of the West. * * * The poor 
 
 Red Man has been robbed, deceived, and driven from his posses- 
 sion. This I have seen; indeed, I have assisted to drive them from 
 their homes. * * * It is near half a century 
 
 since I came West, and the changes that have been rapidly effecting 
 everything are too numerous for me to describe. The growth of 
 Chicago is one of those changes. When there, in the year 1825, it 
 could boast of an old log Fort and a few cabins. What is it now? 
 You know best, for J haven't been there these last thirty years; but 
 I know its inhabitants are numbered at over a hundred thousand, 
 and where I once paddled in a dug-out is now erected large blocks 
 of buildings. But to go on with my story, we departed from Fort 
 Dearborn in a fishing boat, and proceeded north along the Lake 
 shore towards Green Bay. * * * When at 
 
 Fort Howard, in the year 1827, the Indian affairs had assumed a 
 threatening aspect. Reports of murders and disturbances had 
 spread through the settlements. Not a straggler arrived but brought 
 an exaggerated account of Indian difficulties. * * 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 213 
 
 * It was the winter of 27, that the U. S. Quarter-Master, 
 
 having heard of me through some of the men with whom I was a 
 favorite, came to me one day and asked me if I thought I could 
 find the way to Chicago. I told him it wasn't long since I made 
 the trip by the Lake. He said he wanted to get a person who was 
 not afraid to carry dispatches to the military post at Fort Dearborn. 
 I said I had heard that the Indians were still unfriendly, but I was 
 ready to make the attempt. He directed me to make all the pre- 
 parations necessary, and report myself at tjis quarters at the earliest 
 moment. * * * It was necessary at the 
 
 time of the Winnebago out-break, in 1827, for every man, and 
 woman too, to be constantly on their guard against surprise. Much 
 trouble was apprehended from the Indian tribes generally, who were 
 jealous at the encroachment of the emigrants, especially in the 
 region of the Lead Diggings. * * * It was 
 
 during such a state of affairs that I had passed my word to carry the 
 mail between Fort Howard, at Green Bay, and Fort Dearborn, com- 
 manded by Capt. Morgan, that stood on a point now forming a part 
 of the city of Chicago. Although the danger from the Winneba- 
 goes had abated, owing ,to Black Hawk's failing to entice other 
 tribes into the conspiracy against the whites, and the Indian War of 
 '27 ended, yet the recent troubles made me rub up my rifle and 
 prepare everything needful to insure the successful performance of 
 the duty I was about to undertake. * * * 
 
 I chose a companion to go on the tramp with me. He was a Cana- 
 dian, named Boiseley, * * * a comrade 
 with me for many years. * * * It was in 
 company with this Boiseley that I presented myself before the Quar- 
 ter-Master, and reported ourselves ready for the start. * 
 
 * * He intrusted me with the — not mail-bag, 
 
 but a tin canister or box of a flat shape, covered with un tanned 
 deer-hide, that contained the dispatches and letters of the inhabi- 
 tants. * * * One noon we arrived at the 
 southern terminus of our journey at Fort Dearborn — after being on 
 the way more than a month. Jt was in January, thirty years ago 
 (1828), and with the exception that the Fort was strengthened and 
 garrisoned, there was no sign of improvement having gone on since 
 my former visit. This rime I was on business, and I advanced up 
 to the sally-port with a sense of my importance, was challenged by 
 the sentry, and an orderly conducted me to the Adjutant's office, 
 where I reported myself as the bearer of dispatches for the com- 
 manding officer. Captain Morgan was in the office, and, advanc- 
 ing, intimated that he was that person and took the case of letters, 
 directing me to await his further orders. Getting a pass, I went 
 outside the palisades to a house built on the half-breed system — 
 partly of logs and partly of boards. This house was kept by a Mr. 
 Miller, who lived in it. with his family. Here Boiseley and I put up 
 
214 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 during the time we were in the settlement. I received my orders 
 from Morgan abou\t the 23d of January, and prepared to return with 
 other letters. We started up one branch of the Chicago river, and 
 after leaving this we followed the Des Plaines, taking pretty much 
 the same way we had come." 
 
 We will here speak of a letter, bearing date May 8, 1828, 
 written by Russell E. Heacock, then living here (or near that 
 part of the city now known as Bridgeport), giving a descrip- 
 tion and an account of the prospects of this locality. The 
 letter was addressed to Simeon Francis, then of Buffalo, N. 
 Y., and was presented to the Historical Society of Chicago 
 in 1859 by Mr. F. The letter was burned, no doubt, and 
 probably no copy exists. 
 
 Captain Augustus Walker, in the summer of 1862, gave to 
 the Historical Society of Chicago an account of his voyage 
 on the steamboat Shelden Thompson, in 1832, with General 
 Scott and troops, from Buffalo to Chicago. The troops were 
 for the Black-Hawk war; and that steamboat was the first 
 one seen at Chicago. Capt. W. related the incidents of the 
 voyage, the cholera having shown itself on board. He gave, 
 also, particulars of the condition and appearance of Chicago 
 at that time.* 
 
 Charles Joseph Latrobe, the traveler and author, was born 
 in England early in the present century; he wrote several 
 books of travel, one of them being entitled "The Rambler in 
 North America'' containing an account of a visit to Chicago 
 in 1833, from which we. make the extracts below: 
 
 "As far as the town of Niles, the route was good. But here we 
 had to change the regular stage for an open vehicle of a stronger 
 build, furnished with three or four rows of rude spring seats." 
 
 "By this time (1835), a steamboat communication has been, pro- 
 bably, established between St. Joseph's river and Chicago; but as it 
 was, we had to follow the old Indian trail for a hundred miles round 
 the lower southern shores of the lake." 
 
 * Some years afterward, Captain Walker's steamboat, the Great Western, bore 
 the first full upper deck cabin on a lake steamer, Capt. Amos Pratt's boat, the 
 General Wayne, having been partially the first with that improvement. 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 215 
 
 "Major W., an Officer of the staff of the United States Army, sat 
 on the third bench, a most accomplished and gentlemanly man." 
 
 "When within five miles of Chicago, we came to the first Indian 
 encampment. Five thousand Indians were said to be collected 
 round this little upstart-village for the prosecution of the Treaty, by 
 which they were to cede their lands in Michigan and Illinois." 
 
 "I have been in many odd assemblages of my species, but in few, 
 if any, of an equally singular character as with that in the midst of 
 which we spent a week at Chicago. This little mushroom town is 
 situated upon the verge of a perfectly level tract of country, for the 
 greater part consisting of open prairie lands, at a point where a 
 small river (whose sources interlock in the wet season with those of 
 the Illinois) enters Lake Michigan. It however forms no harbor, 
 and vessels must anchor in the open lake, which spreads to the hori- 
 zon to the north and east in a* sheet of unbroken extent. The river, 
 after approaching nearly, at right angles to within a few hundred 
 yards of the lake, makes a short turn, and runs to the southward 
 parallel to the beach. Fort Dearborn and the light-house are placed 
 at the angle thus formed. The former is a small stockaded en- 
 closure, with two block-houses, and is garrisoned by two companies 
 of infantry. It had been nearly abandoned, till the late Indian war 
 on the frontier made its occupation necessary. The upstart village 
 lies chiefly on the right bank of the river, above the fort. When 
 the proposed steamboat communication between Chicago and St. 
 Joseph's river, which lies forty miles distant across the lake, is put 
 into execution, the journey to- Detroit may be effected in three days, 
 whereas we had been upwards of six on the road. We found the 
 village, on our arrival, crowded to exteess; and we procured, with 
 great difficulty, a small apartment, comfortless and noisy from its 
 close proximity to others, but quite as good as we could have hoped 
 for. The Pottawatamies were encamped on all sides — on the wide, 
 level prairie beyond the scattered village, beneath the shelter of the 
 low woods which chequered them, on the side of the small river, or 
 to the leeward of the sand hills near the beach of the lake. They 
 consisted of three principal tribes, with certain adjuncts from smaller 
 tribes. The main divisions are the Pottawatamies of the Prairie 
 and those of the Forest, and these are sub-divided into district vil- 
 lages under their several chiefs. The General Government of the 
 United States, in pursuance of the scheme of removing the whole 
 Indian population westward of the Mississippi, had empowered cer- 
 tain gentlemen to frame a Treaty with these tribes to settle the terms 
 upon which the cession of their Reservations in these States should 
 be made. A preliminary council had been held with the chiefs some 
 days before our arrival. The principal commissioner had opened it, 
 as we learnt, by stating that as their great Father in Washington had 
 heard that they wished to sell their land, he had sent Commissioners 
 to treat with them. The Indians promptly answered, by their organ, 
 
2l6 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 'that their Great Father in Washington must have seen a bad bird 
 which had told him a lie; for, that far from wishing to sell their 
 land, they wished to keep it' The commissioner, nothing daunted, 
 replied, 'that nevertheless, as they had come together for a council, 
 they must take the matter into consideration.' He then explained 
 to them promptly the wishes and intentions of their Great Father, 
 and asked their opinion thereon. Thus pressed, they looked at the 
 sky, saw a few wandering clouds, and straightway adjourned sine die, 
 as the weather is not clear enough for so solemn a council. How- 
 ever, as the treaty had been opened, provision was supplied to them 
 by regular, rations; and the same night they had great rejoicings — " 
 danced the war-dance, and kept the eyes and ears of all open by 
 running, howling about the village. Such was the state of affairs on 
 our arrival. Companies of old warriors might be seen sitting smok- 
 ing under every bush; arguing, palavering, or pow-wow-ing, with 
 great earnestness; but there seemed no possibility of bringing them 
 to another Council in a hurry. 
 
 "Meanwhile, the village and its occupants presented a most mot- 
 ley scene. The fort contained within its palisades by far the most 
 enlightened residents in the little knot of officers attached to the 
 slender garrison. The quarters here, consequently, were too con- 
 fined to afford place of residence for the Government Commis- 
 sioners, for whom, and a crowd of dependents, a temporary set of 
 plank huts were erected on the north side of the river. To the lat- 
 ter gentlemen, we, as the only idle lookers on, were indebted for 
 much friendly attention; and in the frank and hospitable treatment 
 we received from the inhabitants of Fort Dearborn, we had a fore- 
 taste of that which we subsequently met with everywhere under like 
 circumstances during our autumnal wanderings over the Frontier. 
 The officers of the United States Army have, perhaps, less oppor- 
 tunities of becoming refined than those of the Navy. They are 
 often, from the moment of their receiving commissions after the ter- 
 mination of their Cadetship at West Point, and at an age when good 
 society is of the utmost consequence to the young and ardent, exiled 
 for long years to the posts on the Northern' or Western frontier, far 
 removed from cultivated female society, and in daily contact with 
 the refuse of the human race. And this is their misfortune not 
 their fault; but wherever we have met with them, and been thrown 
 as strangers upon their good offices, we have found them the same 
 good friends and good company. But I was going to give you an 
 inventory of the contents of Chicago, when the recollection of the 
 warm-hearted intercourse we had enjoyed with many fine fellows, 
 whom probably we shall neither see nor hear of again, drew me 
 aside. Next in rank to the Officers and Commissioners may be 
 noticed certain store-keepers and merchants residents here, looking 
 either to the influx of new settlers establishing themselves in the 
 neighborhood, or those passing yet farther to the westward, for cus- 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 217 
 
 torn and profit, not to forget the chance of extraordinary occasions 
 like the present. Add to these a doctor or two, two or three law- 
 yers, a land agent, and five or six hotel keepers. These may be 
 considered as stationary, and proprietors of the half a hundred clap- 
 board houses around you. Then for the birds of passage, exclusive 
 of the Pottawatamies, of whom more anon, and emigrants and land 
 speculators, as numerous as the sand. 
 
 "You will find horse-dealers, and horse stealers — rogues of every 
 description — white, black, brown, and red; half-breeds, quarter- 
 breeds, and men of no breed at all; -dealers in pigs, poultry, and 
 potatoes; men pursuing Indian claims, some for tracts of land, 
 others, like our friend 'Snipe,'* for pigs which the wolves had eaten; 
 creditors of the tribes, or of particular Indians, who know that they 
 have no chance of getting their money if they do not get it from the 
 Government Agents; sharpers of every degree; pedlars, grog-sellers; 
 Indian Agents and Indian traders, of every description, and con- 
 tractors to supply the Pottawatamies with food. The little village 
 was in an uproar from morning to night, and from night to morning ; 
 for during the hours of darkness, when the housed portion of the 
 population of Chicago strove to obtain repose in the crowded plank 
 edifices of the village, the Indians howled, sang, wept, yelled, and 
 whooped in their various encampments. With all this, the whites 
 seemed to me to be more pagan than the red men. . You will have 
 understood, that the large body of Indians collected in the vicinity 
 consisted not merely of chiefs and warriors, but in fact the greater 
 part of the whole tribe were present; for where the warrior was 
 invited to feast, at the expense of Government, the squaw took care 
 to accompany him; and where the squaw went, the children or pap- 
 pooses, the ponies, and the innumerable dogs followed, and here 
 they all were living merrily at the cost of the Government." 
 
 "All was bustle and tumult, especially at the house set apart for 
 the distribution of the rations. Many were the scenes which here 
 presented themselves, portraying the habits of both the red men and 
 the demi-civilized beings around them. The interior of the village 
 was one chaos of mud, rubbish, and confusion. Frame and clap- 
 board houses were springing up daily under the active axes and ham- 
 mers of the speculators, and piles of lumber announced the prepara- 
 tion for yet other edifices of an equally light character. Races oc- 
 curred frequently on a piece of level sward without the village, on 
 which temporary booths afforded the motley multitude the means of 
 'stimulating,' and betting and gambling were the order of the day. 
 Within the vile two-storied barrack, which, dignified as usual by the 
 
 * A sobriquet applied to a late fellow passenger "on his way to Chicago, to be 
 present at the impending Treaty, with a view to prefer certain claims to the Gov- 
 ernment Commissioner for the loss of hogs, which, doubtless, the wolves had 
 eaten; but which, no matter, the Indians might be made to pay for. " 
 
2l8 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 title of Hotel, afforded us quarters, all was in a state of most appall- 
 ing confusion, filth, and racket. The public table was such a scene 
 of confusion that we avoided it from necessity. The French land- 
 lord was a sporting character, and everything was left to chance, 
 who, in the shape of a fat housekeeper, fumed and toiled round the 
 premises from morning to night." 
 
 "Within there was neither peace nor comfort, and we spent much 
 of our time in the open air. • A visit to the gentlemen at the fort, a 
 morning's grouse-shooting, or a gallop on the broad surface of the 
 prairie, filled up the intervals in our perturbed attempts at reading 
 or writing indoors, while awaiting the progress of the treaty. 
 
 "I loved to stroll out, towards sunset, across the river, and gaze 
 upon the level horizon, stretching to the northwest over the surface 
 of the prairie, dotted with innumerable objects far and near. Not 
 far from the river lay many groups of tents constructed of coarse 
 canvass, blankets, and mats, and surmounted by poles supporting 
 meat, moccasins, and rags. Their vicinity was always enlivened by 
 various painted Indian figures dressed in the most gaudy attire." 
 
 "Far and wide the grassy prairie teemed with figures; warriors, 
 mounted or on foot, squaws, and horses. Here a race between 
 three or four Indian ponies, each carrying a double rider, whooping 
 and yelling like fiends. There a solitary horseman with a long 
 spear, turbaned like an Arab, scouring along at full speed; groups 
 of hobbled horses; Indian dogs and children; or a grave conclave 
 of gray chiefs seated on the grass in consultation. It was amusing 
 • to wind silently from group to group, here noting the raised knife, 
 the sudden drunken brawl quashed by the good-natured and even 
 playful interference of the neighbors; there a party breaking up their 
 encampment, and falling, with their little train of loaded ponies and 
 wolfish dogs, into the deep, black, narrow trail running to the north." 
 
 "It is a grievous thing that Government is not strong-handed enough 
 to put a stop to the shameful and scandalous sale of whiskey to these 
 poor miserable wretches. But here lie casks of it for sale under the 
 very eye of the Commissioners, met together for purposes which demand 
 that sobriety should be maintained, were it only that no one should be 
 able to lay at their door an accusation of unfair dealing, and of havings 
 taken the advantage of the helpless Indian in a bargain whereby the '; 
 people of the United States were to be so greatly the gainers. And such 
 was the state of things day by day. However anxious I and others 
 might be to exculpate the United States Government from the charge of 
 cold and selfish policy toward the remnant of the Indian tribes, and 
 from that of resorting to unworthy and diabolical means in attaining 
 possession of their lands, — as long as it can be said with truth that 
 drunkenness was not guard d against, and that the means were fur- 
 nished at the very time of the Treaty and under the very nose of the 
 Commissioners,— how can it be expected but a stigma will attend every 
 transaction of this kind." 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 219 
 
 "But how sped the Treaty? you will ask. Day after day passed 
 It was in vain that the signal-gun from the fort gave notice of an 
 assemblage of chiefs at the council fire. Reasons were always found 
 for its delay. One day an influential chief was not in the way; an- 
 other, the sky looked cloudy, and the Indian never performs any 
 important business except the sky be clear. At length, on the 21st 
 September, the Pottawatomies resolved to meet the Commissioners. 
 We were politely invited to be present." 
 
 "The Council-fire was lighted under a spacious open shed on the 
 green meadow on the opposite side of the river from that on which 
 the Fort stood. From the difficulty of getting all together, it was 
 late in the afternoon when they assembled. There might be twenty 
 or thirty chiefs present, seated at the lower end of the enclosure, 
 while the -Commissioners, Interpreters, &c, were at the upper. The 
 palaver was opened by the principal Commissioner. He requested 
 to know why he and his colleagues were called to the council. An 
 old warrior arose, and in short sentences, generally of five syllables, 
 delivered with a monotonous intonation and rapid utterance, gave 
 answer. His gesticulation was appropriate, but rather violent. Rice, 
 the half-breed Interpreter, explained the signification, from time to 
 time, to the audience; and it was seen that the old chief, who had got 
 his lesson, answered one question by proposing another, the sum and 
 substance of his oration being that the assembled chiefs wished to 
 know what was the object of their Great Father at Washington in 
 calling his Red Children together at Chicago ! This was amusing 
 enough, after the full explanation given a week before at the opening 
 session, and particularly when it was recollected that they had feasted 
 sumptuously during the interval at the expence of their Great Father ; 
 it was not making very encouraging progress. A young chief rose, 
 and spoke vehemently to the same purpose. Hereupon the Com- 
 missioner made them a forcible Jacksonian discourse, wherein a 
 good deal which was akin to threat was mingled with exhortations 
 not to play with their Great Father, but to come to an early deter- 
 mination whether they would or would not sell and exchange their 
 territory; and this done, the council was dissolved. One or two 
 tipsy old chiefs raised an occasional disturbance, else matters were 
 conducted with due gravity. The relative positions of the Commis- 
 sioner and the whites before the Council-fire, and that of the Red 
 Children of the Forest and Prairie, were to me strikingly impressive. 
 The glorious light of the setting sun, streaming in under the low roof 
 of the Council-House, fell full on the countenances of the former as 
 they faced the West, while the pale light of the East hardly lighted 
 up the dark and painted lineaments of the poor Indians, whose souls 
 evidently clave to their birth-right in that quarter. Even though 
 convinced of the necessity of their removal, my heart bled for them 
 in their desolation and decline. Ignorant and degraded as they 
 may have been in their original state, their degradation is now ten- 
 
220 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 fold after years of intercourse with the whites; and their speedy dis- 
 appearance from the earth appears as certain as though it were 
 already sealed and accomplished. Your own reflection will lead 
 you to form the conclusion, and it will be a just one, that even if 
 he had the will, the power would be wanting for the Indian to keep 
 his territory; and that the business of arranging the terms of an Ind- 
 ian Treaty, whatever it might have been two hundred years ago, while 
 the Indian tribes had not, as now, thrown aside the rude but vigor- 
 ous intellectual character which distinguished many among them, 
 now lies chiefly between the various traders, agents, creditors, and 
 half-breeds of the tribes, on whom custom and necessity have made 
 the degraded chiefs dependent, and the Government Agents. When 
 the former have seen matters so far arranged that their self-interest, 
 and various schemes and claims, are likely to be fulfilled and allowed 
 to their hearts'' content, the silent acquiescence of the Indian fol- 
 lows, of course; and till this is the case, the Treaty can never be 
 amicably effected. In fine, before we quitted Chicago on the 25th, 
 three or four days later, the Treaty with the Pottawatomies was con : 
 eluded — the Commissioners putting their hands and the assembled 
 chiefs their paws to the same."* 
 
 * We copy from a volume of Indian Treatise, an official publication, the fol- 
 lowing Treaty; concluded Sept. 26, 1833; ratified February 21, 1835. 
 Articles of a treaty made at Chicago, in the State of Illinois, on the twenty-sixth day 
 of September, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and thirty-three, 
 between George B. Porter, Thomas y. V. Owen, and William Weatherford, com- 
 missioners on the part of the United States, on the one part, and the United Nation 
 of Chippewa, Ottawa, and Potawatamie Indians, of the other part, being fully 
 represented by the chiefs and head men whose names are hereunto subscribed; which 
 treaty is in the following words, to wit: 
 
 Art. I. The said United Nation of Chippewa, Ottowa, and Potawatamie Ind- 
 ians, cede to the United States all their land along the western shore of lake . 
 Michigan, and between this lake and the land ceded to the United States by the 
 Winnebago nation, at the treaty of fort Armstrong, made on the 15th September, 
 1832: bounded on the north by the country lately ceded by the Menominees, and 
 on the south by the country ceded at the treaty of Prairie du Chien, made on the 
 29th July, 1829, supposed to contain about five millions of acres. 
 
 Art. 2. In part consideration of the above cession, it is hereby agreed that the 
 United States shall grant to the said United Nation of Indians, to be held as 
 other Indian lands are held which have lately been assigned to emigrating Ind- 
 ians, a tract of country west of the Mississippi river, to be assigned to them hy 
 the President of the United States, to be not less in quantity than five millions of 
 acres, and to be located as follows : Beginning at the mouth of Boyer's river, on 
 the east side of the Missouri river; thence, down the said river to the mouth of 
 Naudoway river; thence, due east to the west line of the State of Missouri; 
 thence, along the said State line to the northwest corner of the State; thence, 
 east along the said State line to the point where it is intersected by the western 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. * 221 
 
 In number one of the first Chicago newspaper, of date 26 
 Nov., 1833, high praise is awarded to Col. Owen, Indian 
 Agent, in the matter of the late Treaty with the Indians. 
 
 boundary line of the Sacs and Foxes; thence, north along the said line of the 
 Sacs and Foxes, so far as that when a straight line shall be run therefrom to the 
 mouth of Boyer's river, (the place of beginning, ) it shall include five millions of 
 acres. And as it is the wish of the Government of the United States that the 
 said nation of Indians should remove to the country thus assigned to them as 
 soon as conveniently can be done; and it is deemed advisable on the part of their 
 chiefs and head men that a deputation should visit the said country west of the 
 Mississippi, and thus be assured that full justice has been done, it is hereby 
 stipulated that the United States will defray the expenses of such deputation, to 
 consist of not more than fifty persons, to be accompanied by not more than five 
 individuals, to be nominated by themselves, and the whole to be under the 
 general direction of such officer of the United States Government as has been or 
 shall be designated for the purpose. And it is further agreed, that as fast as the 
 said Indians shall be prepared to emigrate, they shall be removed at the expense 
 of the United States, and shall receive subsistence while- upon the journey, and 
 for one year after their arrival at their new homes. It being understood, that 
 the said Indians are to remove from all that part of the land now ceded, which 
 is within the State of Illinois, immediately on the ratification of this treaty, but 
 to be permitted to retain possession of The country north of the boundary line 
 of the said State, for the term of three years, without molestation or interrup- 
 tion, and under the protection of the laws of the United States. 
 
 Art. 3. And in further consideration of the above cession, it is agreed, that 
 there shall be paid by the United States the sums of money hereinafter mentioned, 
 to wit : One hundred thousand dollars, to satisfy sundry individuals in behalf of 
 whom reservations were asked, which the commissioners refused to grant; and 
 also, to indemnify the Chippewa tribe who are parties to this treaty for certain 
 lands along the shore of lake Michigan, to which they make claim, which have 
 been ceded to the United States by the Menominee Indians : the manner in 
 which the same is to be paid is set forth in schedule "A," hereunto annexed; one 
 hundred and fifty thousand dollars to satisfy the claims made against the said 
 United Nation, which they have here admitted to be justly due, and directed to 
 be paid, according to schedule "B," hereunto annexed; one hundred thousand 
 dollars to be paid in goods and provisions, a part to be delivered on the signing 
 of this treaty, and the residue during the ensuing year; two hundred and eighty 
 thousand dollars to be paid in annuities of fourteen thousand dollars a year, for 
 twenty years; one hundred and fifty thousand dollars to be applied to the erection 
 of mills, farm-houses, Indian houses, and blacksmiths' shops, to agricultural 
 improvements, to the purchase of agricultural implements and stock, and for the 
 support of such physicians, . millers, farmers, blacksmiths and other mechanics, as 
 the President of the United States shall think proper to appoint; seventy thou- 
 sand dollars for purposes of education and the encouragement of the domestic 
 arts, to be applied in such manner as the President of the United States may 
 
222 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 Mr. Calhoun, the editor, however was not here at that gather- 
 ing and bargain, not having arrived until several weeks after 
 its consummation; therefore, his opinion was formed from 
 
 direct. [The wish of the Indians being expressed to the commissioners as follows : 
 The United Nation of Chippewa, Ottowa, and Potawatamie Indians, being de- 
 sirous to create a perpetual fund for the purposes of education and the encourage- 
 ment of the domestic arts, wish to invest the sum of seventy thousand dollars in 
 some safe stock, the interest of which only is to be applied as may be necessary 
 for the above purposes; they' therefore request the President of the United States 
 to make such investment for the nation as he may think best. If, however, at 
 any time hereafter, the said nation shall have made such advancement in civili- 
 zation, and have become so enlightened as, in the opinion of the President and 
 Senate of the United States, they shall be capable of managing so large a fund 
 with safety, they may withdraw the whole or any part of it.] Four hundred 
 dollars a year to be paid to Billy Caldwell, and three hundred dollars a year to 
 be paid to Alexander Robinson, for life, in addition to the annuities already 
 granted them; two hundred dollars a year to be paid to Joseph Lafromboise, and 
 two hundred dollars a year to be paid to Shabehnay, for life; two thousand 
 dollars to be paid to Wau-pon-eh-see and his band, and fifteen hundred dollars 
 to Awnkote and his band, as the consideration for nine sections of land, granted 
 to them by the 3d article of the treaty of Prairie du Chien, of the 29th of July, 
 1829, which are hereby assigned and surrendered to the United States. 
 
 Art. 4. A just proportion of the annuity money, secured as well by former 
 treaties as the present, shall be paid west of the Mississippi to such portion of the 
 nation as shall have removed thither during the ensuing three years. After 
 which time, the whole amount of the annuities shall be paid at their location 
 west of the Mississippi. 
 
 Art. 5. The reservation of two sections of land to Shab-eh-nay by the second 
 clause of the third article of the treaty of Prairie du Chien, of the 29th July, 
 1829, shall be a grant in fee simple to him, his heirs and assigns forever, and all 
 the individual reservations of lands in the treaty concluded at Camp Tippecanoe, 
 dated 20th October, 1832, shall be considered as grants in fee simple to the 
 persons to whom they are made, their heirs and assigns forever, and that the 
 reservations in the said last mentioned treaty of one section of land, to be located 
 at Twelve Mile Grove, or Na-be-na-qui-nong, "for Joseph Laughton, son of 
 Waiske-shaw, " and of two sections of land to include the small grove of timber, 
 on the river above Rock village, "for the children of Waiske-shaw," shall be 
 considered as grants in fee simple to their father, David Laughton, his heirs and 
 assigns forever. That the reservation in said treaty of one section of land to he 
 located at Soldiers' village, for Maw-te-no, daughter of Francis Burbonnois, jun., 
 shall be considered as a grant in fee simple to her father, the said Francis Bur- 
 bonnois, jun., his heirs and assigns forever: and that the reservation in said 
 treaty of one section of land to be located at Skunk Grove, for the children of 
 Joseph La Framboise shall be considered as a grant in fee simple to the said 
 Joseph La Framboise, his heirs and assigns forever. Provided that no sale of 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 223 
 
 the information of others. Whatever credit Gov. Geo. B. Por- 
 ter and others, on the part of the United States, may have 
 deserved, we have the expression of one gentleman, an early 
 
 any of the said reservations shall be valid unless approved by the President of the 
 United States. 
 
 The fifth article has been inserted at the request of the said chiefs, who allege 
 that the provisions therein contained were agreed to at the time of the making of 
 the said treaties, but were omitted to be inserted, or erroneously put down. It 
 is however distinctly understood that the rejection of said article by the President 
 and Senate of the United States shall not vitiate this treaty. 
 
 This treaty, after the same shall have been ratified by the President and Senate 
 of the United States, shall be binding on the contracting parties. 
 
 In testimony whereof, the said George B. Porter, Thomas J. V. Owen, and 
 William Weatherford, and the undersigned chiefs and head men of the said 
 nation of Indians, have hereunto set their hands at Chicago, the said day and 
 year. 
 
 G. B. Porter, 
 Th. J. V. Owen, 
 William Weatherford, 
 To-pen-e-bee, his x mark, 
 Sau-ko-noek, 
 
 Che-che-bin-quay, his x mark, 
 Joseph, his x mark, 
 Wah-mix-i-co, his x mark, 
 Ob-wa-qua-unk, his x mark, 
 N-saw-way-quet, his x mark, 
 Puk-quech-a-min-nee, his x mark, 
 Nah-che-wine, his x mark, 
 Ke-wase, his x mark, 
 Wah-bou-seh, his x mark, 
 Mang-e-sett, his x mark, 
 Caw-we-saut, his x mark, 
 Ah-be-te-ke-zhic, his x mark, 
 Pat-e-go-shuc, his x mark, 
 E-to-wow-cote, his x mark, 
 Shim-e-nah, his x mark, 
 O-chee-pwaise, his x mark, 
 Ce-nah-ge-win, his x mark, 
 Shaw-waw-nas-see, his x mark, 
 Shab-eh-nay, his x mark, 
 Mac-a-ta-o-shic, his x mark, 
 Squah-ke-zic, his x mark, 
 Mah-che-o-tah-way, his x mark, 
 Cha-ke-te-ah, his x mark, 
 
 Me-am-ese, his x mark, 
 Shay-tee, his x mark, 
 Chis-in-ke-bah, his x mark, 
 Mix-e-maung, his x mark, 
 Nah-bwait, his x mark, 
 Sen-e-bau-um, his x mark, 
 Puk-won, his x marl;, 
 Wa-be-no-say, his x mark, 
 Mon-tou-ish, his x mark, 
 No-nee, his x mark, 
 Mas-quat, his x mark, 
 Sho-min, his x mark, 
 Ah-take, his x mark, 
 He-me-nah-wah, his x mark, 
 Che-pec-co-quah, his x mark, 
 Mis-quab-o-no-quah, his x mark, 
 Wah-be-Kai, his x mark, 
 Ma-ca-ta-ke-shic, his x mark, 
 Sho-min, (2d.) his x mark, 
 She-mah-gah, his x mark, 
 O'Ke-mah-wah-ba-see, his x mark, 
 Na-mash, his x mark, 
 Shab-y-a-tuk, his x mark, 
 Ah-cah-o-mah, his x mark, 
 Quah-quah, tan, his x mark, 
 Ah-sag-a-mish-cum, his x mark, 
 Pa-mob-a-mee, his x mark, 
 Nay-o-say, his x mark, 
 
224 
 
 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 resident here, but now or lately living in Pennsylvania, who 
 was present at the Treaty, and was familiar with the whole 
 proceedings, and whose ideas of the business scarcely accord 
 
 Ce-tah-quah, his x mark, 
 Ce-ku-tay, his x mark, 
 Sauk-ee, his x mark, 
 Kee-new, his x mark, 
 Ne-bay-noc-scum, his x mark, 
 Naw-bay-caw, his x mark, 
 O'Kee-mase, his x mark, 
 Saw-o-tup, his x mark, 
 Me-tai-way, his x mark, 
 Na-ma-ta-way-shuc, his x mark, 
 Shaw-waw-nuk-wuk, his x mark,. 
 Nah-che-wah, his x mark, 
 
 Sho-bon-nier, his x mark, 
 Me-nuk-quet, his x mark, 
 Ah-quee-wee, his x mark, 
 Ta-cau-ko, his x mark, 
 Me-shim-e-nah, his x mark, 
 Wah-sus-kuk, his x mark, 
 Pe-nay-o-cat, his x mark, 
 Pay-maw-suc, his x mark, 
 Pe-she-ka, his x mark, 
 Shaw-we-mon-e-tay, his x mark, 
 Ah-be-nab, his x mark, 
 Sau-sau-quas-see, his x mark. 
 
 In presence of 
 
 Wm. Lee D. Ewing, Secretary to Com- 
 mission, 
 
 E. A. Brush, 
 
 Luther Rice, Interpreter, 
 
 James Conner, Interpreter, 
 
 John T. Schermerhorn, Commissioner, 
 etc. west. 
 
 A. C. Pepper, S. A. R. P. 
 
 Gho. Kercheval, Sub-agent, 
 
 Geo. Bender, Major jtA. Regt Inf. 
 
 D. Wilcox, Capt. 3th Regt. 
 J. M. Baxley, Capt. 5th Inf. 
 R. A. Forsyth, U. S. A. 
 
 L. T. Jamison, Lieut. U. S. A. 
 
 E. K. Smith, Lieut. 5th. Inf. 
 P. Maxwell, Asst. Surgeon, 
 J. Allen, Lieut. Jth Inf. 
 
 I. P. Simonton, Lieut. U. S. A. 
 George F. Turner, Asst. Surgeon U. S. 
 
 Army, 
 Richd. J. Hamilton, 
 Robert Stuart, 
 Jona. McCarty, 
 
 Daniel Jackson, of New York, 
 
 Jno. H. Kinzie," 
 
 Robt. A. Kinzie, 
 
 G. S. Hubbard, 
 
 J. C. Schwarz, Adjt. Gen. M. M. 
 
 Jn. B. Beaubrier, 
 
 James Kinzie, 
 
 Jacob Beeson, 
 
 Saml. Humes Porter, 
 
 Andw. Porter, 
 
 Gabriel Godfroy, 
 
 A. H. Arndt, 
 Laurie Marsh, 
 Joseph Chaunier, 
 John Watkins, 
 
 B. B. Kercheval, 
 Jas. W. Berry, 
 Wm. French, 
 Thomas Forsyth, 
 Pierre Menard, Fils, 
 Edmd. Roberts, 
 Geo. Hunt, 
 
 Isaac Nash. 
 
 SCHEDULE A. 
 Referred to in the treaty containing the sums payable to individuals in lieu of 
 
 reservations. ) 
 Jesse Walker, 
 
 $1500 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 225 
 
 with those who would commend the action of our Govern- 
 ment officials on that occasion. We have endeavored to get 
 this early settler to write out a sketch of that last Chicago 
 
 Henry Cleavland, $800 
 
 Rachel Hall, 600 
 
 Sylvia Hall, 600 
 
 Joseph Laframboise and children, - 1,000 
 
 Victoire Porthier and her children, 700 
 
 Jean Bt. Miranda, ■, \ 300 
 
 Jane Miranda, f For each of whom John H. f 200 
 
 Rosetta Miranda, I Kinzie is trustee, I 300 
 
 Thomas Miranda, ' ' 400 
 
 Alexander Muller, Gholson Kercheval, trustee, 800 
 
 Paschal Muller, do do 800 
 
 Margaret Muller, 200 
 
 Socra Muller, 200 
 
 Angelique Chevallier, 200 
 
 Josette Chevallier, 200 
 
 Fanny Leclare, (Captain David Hunter, trustee,) 400 
 
 Daniel Bourassa's children, 600 
 
 Nancy Contraman, \ j 
 
 Sally Contraman, [ For each of whom J. B. ( 6oo 
 
 Betsey Contraman, ) Campbell is trustee, ) 
 
 Alexis Laframbois, 1,800 
 
 Alexis Laframbois' children, 200 
 
 Mrs. Mann's children, 600 
 
 Mrs. Mann, (daughter of Antoine Ouilmet,) 400 
 
 Geo. Turkey's children, (Fourtier,) Th. J. V. Owen, trustee, - 500 
 
 Jacques Chapeau's children, do do 600 
 
 Antonie Roscum's children, 75° 
 
 Francois Burbonnais' sen. children, 400 
 
 Francois Burbonnais' jun. children, 300 
 
 John Bt. Cloutier's children, (Robert A. Kinzie, trustee,) - 606 
 
 Claude Laframboise's children, 300 
 
 Antoine Ouilmet's children, 300 
 
 Josette Ouilmet, (John H. Kinzie, trustee,) 200 
 
 Mrs. Welsh, (daughter of Antoine Ouilmet,) 200 
 
 Alexander Robinson's children, 4°° 
 
 Billy Caldwell's children, 600 
 
 Mo-ah-way, 20 ° 
 
 Medare B. Beaubien, 3°° 
 
 Charles H. Beaubien, 3°° 
 
 John K. Clark's Indian children, (Richard J. Hamilton, trustee,) 400 
 
 Jossette Juno and her children, 1,000 
 
 Angelique Juno, ■ - 3 00 
 15. 
 
226 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 » 
 
 Treaty between the Indians and the Government, inasmuch 
 as he had assured us "It is all clear upon my mind, and I 
 presume I know it better than any other man that can be 
 
 Josette Beaubiens' children, $i,oo» 
 Ma-go-que's child, (James Kinzie, trustee,) -_ 300 
 
 Esther, Rosene and Eleanor Bailly, 500 
 
 Sophia, Hortense and Therese Bailly, i,ooo> 
 
 Rosa and Mary, children of Hoo-mo-ni-gah, wife of Stephen MacI?, 600 
 
 Jean Bt. Rabbu's children, 400- 
 
 Francis Chevallier's children, 800 
 
 Mrs. Nancy Jamison and child, 800 
 
 Co-pah, son of Archange, 250 
 
 Martha Burnet, (Rt. Forsyth, trustee,) "*■ - 1,000 
 
 Isadore Chabert's child, (G. S. Hubbard, trustee,) 400 
 
 Chee-bee-quai, or Mrs. Allen, 500 
 
 Luther Rice and children, 2,500 
 
 John Jones, „ - 1,000 
 
 Pierre Corbonno's children, 800 
 
 Pierre Chalipeaux's children, 1,000 
 
 Phoebe Treat and children, 1,000 
 
 Robert Forsyth, of St. Louis, Mo. 500 
 
 Alexander Robinson, 10,000 
 
 Billy Caldwell, 10,000 
 
 Joseph Leframboise, 300 
 
 Nis noan see, (B. B. Kercheval, trustee,) 200 
 
 Margaret Hall, 1,000 
 
 James, William, David and Sarah, children of Margaret Hall, 3,200 
 Margaret Ellen Miller, Mont- •,• For each of whom .. 
 
 gomevy Miller, and Filly / Richard J. Hamil- / „ 
 
 Miller, grand - children oft ton, of Chicago, is t 
 
 Margaret Hall, > trustee, ' 
 
 Jean Letendre's children, 200 
 
 Bernard Grignon, - loo 
 
 Josette Polier, I0 o 
 
 Joseph Vieux, Jacques Vieux, Louis Vieux, Josette Vieux, each $100, 100 
 
 Angelique Hardwick's children, ,. 1,800 
 
 Joseph Bourassa and Mark Bourassa, 200 
 
 Jude Bourassa and Therese Bourassa, 200 
 
 Stephen Bourassa and Gabriel Bourassa, 200 
 
 Alexander Bourassa and James Bourassa 200 
 Elai Bourassa and Jerome Bourassa, . 200 
 
 M. D. Bourassa, NX> 
 
 Ann Rice, and her son, William M. Rice, and nephew, John Leib, 1,000 
 
 Agate Biddle and her children, 900 
 
 Magdaline Laframbois and her son, 400 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 227 
 
 found at this date;" but the effort was not successful. We 
 
 may fancy something of the deeply dark shadows which the 
 limning of the picture would have presented had he filled the 
 
 Therese Schandler, $200 
 
 Joseph Dailly's son and daughter, Robert and Therese, 500 
 
 Therese Lawe and George Lawe, 200 
 
 David Lawe and Rachel Lawe, 200 
 
 Rebecca Law and Maria Lawe, 200 
 
 Polly Lawe and Jane Lawe, 200 
 
 Appotone Lawe, 100 
 
 Angelique Vieux and Amable Vieux, 200 
 
 Andre Vieux and Nicholas Vieux, 200 
 
 Pierre Vieux and Maria Vieux, 200 
 
 Madaline Thibeault, 100 
 
 Paul Vieux and Joseph Vieux, 200 
 
 Susanne Vieux, 100 
 
 Louis Grignon and his son Paul, 200 
 
 Paul Grignon, sen. and Amable Grignon, 200 
 
 Perish and Robert Grignon, 200 
 
 Catist Grignon and Elizabeth Grignon 200 
 
 Ursul Grignon and Charlotte Grignon, 200 
 
 Louise Grignon and Rachel Grignon, 200 
 
 Agate Porlier and George Grignon, 200 
 
 Amable Grignon and Emily Grignon, 200 
 
 Therese Grignon and Simon Grignon, 200 
 
 William Burnett, (B. B. Kercheval, trustee,) 1,000 
 
 Shan-na-nees, 400 
 
 Josette Beaubien, 500 
 
 For the Chippewa, Ottawa, and Potawatamie students at the Choctaw 
 
 Academy. The Hon. R. M. Johnson to be the trustee, S,ooo 
 
 James and Richard J. Conner, 700 
 
 Pierre Duverney and children, 300 
 
 Joshua Boyd's children, (Geo. Boyd, Esq. to be trustee,) 500 
 
 Joseph Baily, 4, 000 
 
 R. A. Forsyth, 3,000 
 
 Gabriel Godfroy, 2,420 
 
 Thomas R. Covill, i>3°° 
 
 George Hunt, 750 
 
 James Kinzie, 5> 00 ° 
 
 Joseph Chaunier, 55° 
 
 John and Mark Noble, 180 
 
 Alexis Provansalle, 100 
 
 One hundred thousand dollars, $100,000 
 
228 
 
 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 outline that he gave us, namely: "You, or hardly any other 
 man, can imagine what was done, pr how ridiculous the whole 
 thing was carried on or closed up. It should have been con- 
 
 SCHEDULE B. 
 ( Referred to in the treaty containing the sums payable to individuals on claims 
 admitted to be justly due, and directed to be paid. ) 
 
 Brewster, Hogan & Co. 
 
 John S. C. Hogan, 
 
 Frederick H. Contraman, 
 
 Brookfield & Bertrand, 
 
 R. E. Heacock, 
 
 George W. McClure, U. S. A. 
 
 David McK.ee. 
 
 Oliver Emmell, 
 
 George Hollenbeck, 
 
 Martha Gray, 
 
 Charles Taylor, 
 
 Joseph Naper, 
 
 John Mann, 
 
 James Walker, 
 
 John Blackston, 
 
 Harris & McCord, 
 
 George W. Dole, 
 
 George Haverhill, 
 
 Wm. Whistler, U. S. A. 
 
 Squire Thompson, 
 
 C. C. Trowbridge, 
 Louis Druillard, 
 Abraham Francis, 
 
 D. R. Bearss & Co. 
 Dr. E. Winslow, 
 Nicholas Klinger, 
 Joseph Porthier, 
 Clark Hollenback, 
 Henry Enslen, 
 Robert A. Kinzie, 
 Joseph Ogie, 
 Thomas Hartzell, 
 Calvin Britin, 
 Benjamin Fry, 
 Pierre F. Navarre, 
 C. H. Chapman, 
 James Kinzie, 
 
 G. S. Hubbard, 
 
 $343 Jacque Jenveaux, 
 50 John B. Du Charme, 
 
 200 John Wright, 
 
 100 James Galloway, 
 100 William Marquis, 
 
 125 Louis Chevalier, adm'r of J. 
 180 Chevalier, dec'd, 
 
 300 Solomon McCullough, 
 
 100 Joseph Curtis, 
 
 78 Edward E. Hunter, 
 
 187 Rachel Legg, 
 
 71 Peter Lamseet, 
 
 200 Robert Beresford, 
 
 200 G. W. & W. Laird, 
 
 100 M. B. Beaubien, 
 
 175 Jeduthan Smith, 
 
 133 Edmund Weed, 
 
 60 Philip Maxwell, U. S. A. 
 
 1,000 Henry Gratiot, 
 
 100 Tyler K. Blodgett, 
 
 2,000 Nehemiah King, 
 
 350 S. P. Brady, 
 
 25 James Harrington, 
 
 250 Samuel Ellice, 
 
 150 Peter Menard, (Maumee,) 
 
 77 John W. Anderson, 
 
 200 David Bailey, 
 
 50 Wm. G. Knaggs, 
 
 75 John Hively, 
 
 1,216 John B. Bertrand, sen. 
 
 200 Robert A. Forsyth, 
 
 400 Maria Kercheval, 
 
 46 Alice Hunt, 
 
 400 Jane C. Forsyth 
 
 100 John H. Kinzie, 
 
 30 Ellen M. Wolcott, 
 
 300 Maria Hunter, 
 
 125 Robert A. Kinzie, 
 
 B. 
 
 $150 
 
 55 
 
 15 
 
 200 
 
 150 
 
 112 
 100 
 
 50 
 90 
 
 25 
 100 
 200 
 150 
 440 
 
 60 
 100 
 
 35 
 116 
 
 5° 
 125 
 188 
 
 68 
 
 5° 
 500 
 
 350 
 
 50 
 
 100 
 
 150 
 
 50 
 3,000 
 3,000 
 3,000 
 3,000 
 5,000 
 5,000 
 5,000 
 5,000 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 229 
 
 ducted upon principles of truth and justice; but the whole 
 thing was a farce, acted by those in office in our Govern- 
 ment." 
 
 Samuel Godfroy, 
 
 $120 
 
 Wm. Huff, 
 
 $81 
 
 John E. Schwarz, 
 
 4,800 
 
 Stephen Mack, in trust for the 
 
 
 Joseph Loranger, 
 
 5.°o8 
 
 heirs of Stephen Mack, dec'd. 
 
 500 
 
 H. B. and C. W. Hoffman 
 
 35° 
 
 Thomas Forsyth, 
 
 1,5°° 
 
 Phelps & Wendell, 
 
 660 
 
 Felix Fontaine, 
 
 200 
 
 Henry Johns, 
 
 270 
 
 Jacques Mette, 
 
 200 
 
 Benjamin C. Hoyt, 
 
 20 
 
 Francis Boucher, 
 
 250 
 
 John H. Kinzie, in trust for the 
 
 
 Margaret Helm, 
 
 2,000 
 
 heirs of Jos. Miranda, dec'd. 
 
 250 
 
 O. P. Lacy, 
 
 1,000 
 
 Francis Burbonnais, senr. 
 
 500 
 
 Henry and Richard G. Conner, 
 
 1,500 
 
 Francis Burbonnais, junr. 
 
 200 
 
 James W. Craig, 
 
 500 
 
 R. A. Forsyth, in trust for Cath- 
 
 
 R. A. Forsyth, (Maumee,) 
 
 1,300 
 
 erine McKenzie, 
 
 1,000 
 
 Antoine Peltier, do 
 
 200 
 
 James Laird, 
 
 5° 
 
 R. A. Forsyth, in trust for Mau- 
 
 
 Montgomery Evans, 
 
 250 
 
 se-on-o-quet, 
 
 300 
 
 Joseph Bertrand, jr. 
 
 300 
 
 John E. Hunt, 
 
 1.45° 
 
 George Hunt, 
 
 900 
 
 Payne C. Parker, 
 
 70 
 
 Benjamin Sherman, 
 
 150 
 
 Isaac Hull, 
 
 1,000 
 
 W. and F. Brewster, asssignees 
 
 
 Foreman Evans, 
 
 32 
 
 of Joseph Bertrand, senr. 
 
 700 
 
 Horatio N. Curtis, 
 
 300 
 
 John Forsyth, in trust for the 
 
 
 lea Rice, 
 
 250 
 
 heirs of Charles Peltier, dec'd. 
 
 900 
 
 Thomas P. Quick, 
 
 35 
 
 William Hazard, 
 
 3° 
 
 George B. Woodcox, 
 
 60 
 
 James Shirby, 
 
 125 
 
 John Woodcox, 
 
 40 
 
 Jacob Platter, 
 
 25. 
 
 George B. Knaggs, 
 
 1,400 
 
 John B. Bourie, 
 
 2,500 
 
 Ebenezer Read, 
 
 100 
 
 B. B. Kercheval, - 
 
 1,500 
 
 George Pomeroy, 
 
 150. 
 
 Charles Lucier, 
 
 75 
 
 Thomas K. Green, 
 
 70 
 
 Mark Beaubien, 
 
 500 
 
 William Mieure, in trust for 
 
 
 Catherine Stewart, 
 
 82 
 
 Willis Fellows, 
 
 500 
 
 Francis Mouton, 
 
 200 
 
 Z. Cicott, 
 
 1,800 
 
 Dr. William Brown, 
 
 40 
 
 John Johnson, 
 
 100 
 
 R. A. Forsyth, in trust for heirs 
 
 
 Antoine Antilla, 
 
 100 
 
 of Charles Guion, 
 
 200 
 
 John Baldwin, 
 
 500 
 
 Joseph Bertrand, senr. 
 
 652 
 
 Isaac G. Baily, 
 
 100 
 
 Moses Rice, 
 
 800 
 
 James Cowan, 
 
 35 
 
 James Conner, 
 
 2,250 
 
 Joseph D. Lane, 
 
 5° 
 
 John B. Du Charme, 
 
 250 
 
 J. L. Phelps, 
 
 250' 
 
 Coquillard & Comparat, 
 
 5,000 
 
 Edmund Roberts, 
 
 5° 
 
 Richard 5. Hamilton, 
 
 509 
 
 Augustus Bona, 
 
 60 
 
 Adolphus Chapin, 
 
 80 
 
 E. C. Winter & Co. 
 
 1,850 
 
 John Dixon, 
 
 140 
 
 Charles W. Ewing, 
 
 200 
 
230 
 
 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 We are, however, aware that a dilemma was encountered, 
 a crisis had arrived ; it was one which not only the Govern- 
 ment had perceived, but the Indians also saw it; as well 
 
 Antoine Ouilmet, 
 
 
 
 $800 
 
 David Bourie, 
 
 $500 
 
 John Bt. Chandonai, 
 
 (one thou- 
 
 
 Carolina Ferry, 
 
 500 
 
 dollars of this sum 
 
 to be paid 
 
 
 Bowrie & Minie 
 
 500 
 
 to Robert Stuart, 
 
 agent 
 
 of 
 
 
 Charles Minie, 
 
 600 
 
 American Fur Company, 
 
 by 
 
 
 Francis Minie, 
 
 700 
 
 the particular request of Ji 
 
 10. 
 
 
 David Bourie, 
 
 150 
 
 B. Chandonai,) 
 
 
 
 2,SOO 
 
 Henry Ossum Read, 
 
 200 
 
 Lawrin Marsh, 
 
 
 
 3.290 
 
 Francoise Bezion, 
 
 2,500 
 
 P. &. J. Godfroy, 
 
 
 
 2,000 
 
 Dominique Rousseau, 
 
 500 
 
 David Hull, 
 
 
 
 500 
 
 Hanna & Taylor. 
 
 1.570 
 
 Andrew Drouillard, 
 
 
 
 500 
 
 John P. Hedges, 
 
 1,000 
 
 Jacob Beeson & Co. 
 
 
 
 220 
 
 Francois Chobare, 
 
 1,000 
 
 Jacob Beeson, 
 
 
 
 900 
 
 Isadore Chobare, 
 
 600 
 
 John Anderson, 
 
 
 
 600 
 
 Jacob Leephart, 
 
 700 
 
 John Green, 
 
 
 
 IOO 
 
 Amos Amsden, 
 
 400 
 
 James B. Campbell, 
 
 
 
 600 
 
 Nicholas Boilvin, 
 
 350 
 
 Pierre Menard, jun., 
 
 in right 
 
 of 
 
 
 Archibald Clyburn, 
 
 200 
 
 G. W. Campbell, 
 
 
 
 250 
 
 William Connor, (Michigan,) 
 
 70 
 
 George E. Walker, 
 
 
 
 1,000 
 
 Tunis S. Wendall, 
 
 500 
 
 Joseph Thebault, 
 
 
 
 5° 
 
 Noel Vassuer, 
 
 800 
 
 Gideon Lowe, U. S. 
 
 A. 
 
 
 160 
 
 James Abbot, agent of the Amer- 
 
 
 Pierre Menard, jun. 
 
 
 
 2,000 
 
 ican Fur Company, 
 
 2,3O0 
 
 John Tharp, 
 
 
 
 45 
 
 Robert Stewart, agent of the 
 
 
 Pierre Menard, jun., 
 
 in trust 
 
 for 
 
 
 American Fur Company, 
 
 17,000 
 
 Marie Tremble, 
 
 
 
 500 
 
 Solomon Ieauneau, 
 
 2,100 
 
 Henry B Stilman, 
 
 
 
 300 
 
 John Bt. Beaubien, 
 
 250 
 
 John Hamblin, 
 
 
 
 500 
 
 Stephen Mack, junr. 
 
 350 
 
 Francois Page, 
 
 
 
 100 
 
 John Lawe, 
 
 3,000 
 
 George Brooks, 
 
 
 
 20 
 
 Alexis Larose, 
 
 1,000 
 
 Franklin McMillan, 
 
 
 
 100 
 
 Daniel Whitney, 
 
 1.350 
 
 Lorance Shellhouse, 
 
 
 
 3° 
 
 P. & A. Grignon, 
 
 650 
 
 Martin G. Shellhouse 
 
 
 
 35 
 
 Louis Grignon, 
 
 2,000 
 
 Peter Belair, 
 
 
 
 150 
 
 Jacques Vieux, 
 
 2,000 
 
 Joseph Morass, 
 
 
 
 200 
 
 Laframboise & Bourassa, 
 
 1,300 
 
 John I. Wendell, 
 
 
 
 2,000 
 
 Heirs of N. Boilvin, deceased, 
 
 1,000 
 
 A. T. Hatch, 
 
 
 
 300 
 
 John K. Clark, - 
 
 400 
 
 Stephen Downing, 
 
 
 
 roo 
 
 William G. & G. W. Ewing, 
 
 5,000 
 
 Samuel Miller, 
 
 
 
 100 
 
 Rufus Hitchcock, 
 
 400 
 
 Moses Hardwick, 
 
 
 
 75 
 
 Reed and Coons, 
 
 200 
 
 Margaret May, 
 
 
 
 400 
 
 B. H. Laughton, 
 
 1,000 
 
 Frances Felix, 
 
 
 
 1,100 
 
 Rufus Downing, 
 
 500 
 
 John B. Bourie, 
 
 
 
 500 
 
 Charles Reed, 
 
 200 
 
 Harriet Ewing, 
 
 
 
 500 
 
 
 
 
 
 Nancy Hedges, 
 
 
 
 500 
 
 $175,000 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 23 1 
 
 might King Canute, who sat in the water's edge by the sea- 
 shore, expect the flowing tide to retire at his bidding, as here 
 ■for the Government or the Indians to push back the rushing 
 
 The above claims have been admitted and directed to be paid, only in case 
 they be accepted in full of all claims and demands up to the present date. 
 
 G. B. Porter, 
 Th. J. V. Owen, 
 William Weatherford. 
 
 Agreeably to the stipulations contained in the third article of the treaty, there 
 have been purchased and delivered at the request of the Indians, goods, provi- 
 sions, and horses, to the amouut of sixty-five thousand dollars, (leaving the balance 
 to be supplied in the year one thousand eight hundred and thirty-four, thirty-five 
 thousand dollars. ) 
 
 As evidence of the purchase and delivery as aforesaid, under the direction of 
 the said commissioners, and that the whole of the same have been received by 
 the said Indians, the said George B. Porter, Thomas J. V. Owen, and William 
 Weatherford, and the undersigned chiefs and head men, on behalf of the said 
 united nation of Indians, have hereunto set their hands, the twenty-seventh day 
 of September, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and thirty- 
 three. 
 
 G. B. Porter, Tshee-Tshee-chin-be-quay, his x mark, 
 
 Th. J. V. Owen, Joseph, his x mark, 
 
 William Weatherford, Shab-e-nai, his x mark, 
 
 Jo-pen-e-bee, his x mark, Ah-be-te-ke-zhic, his x mark, 
 
 We-saw, his x mark, E-to-won-cote, his x mark, 
 
 Ne-kaw-n ish-kee, his x mark, Shab-y-a-tuk, his x mark, 
 
 Wai-saw-o-ke-ne-aw, his x mark, Me-am-ese, his x mark, 
 
 Ne-see-waw-bee-tuck, his x mark, Wah-be-me-mee, his x mark, 
 
 Kai-kaw-tai-mon, his x mark, Shim-e-nah, his x mark, 
 
 Saw-ko-nosh, We-in-co, his x mark. 
 
 In presence of 
 Wm. Lee D. Ewing, Secr'y to the Com- Andw. Porter, 
 
 mission, Joseph Bertrand, junr. 
 
 R. A. Forsyth, U. S. A. Jno. H. Kinzie, 
 
 Madn. F. Abbott, James Conner, Interpreter, 
 
 Saml. Humes Porter, J. E. Schwarz, Adjt. Gen. M. M. 
 
 Articles supplementary to th treaty made at Chicago, in the State of Illinois, on the 
 26th day of September, one thousand eight hundred and thirty-three, between 
 George B. Porter, Thomas J. V. Owen, and William Weatherford, commis- 
 sioners on the part of the United States, of the one part, and the United Nation df 
 Chippewa, Ottawa, and Potawatamie Indians, of the other part, concluded at the 
 same place, on the twenty-seventh day of September, one thousand eight hundred 
 and thirty-three, between the said commissioners, on the part of the United State's, 
 
232 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 waves of white men that crowded forward to the country 
 west of Lake Michigan. 
 
 However much intrigue, corruption, dishonesty, and wrong 
 
 of the one part, and the"- chiefs and head men of the said United Nation of Indians, 
 residing upon the reservations oj land situated in the territory of Michigan, south 
 of Grand river, of the other part. 
 
 Art. i. The said chiefs and head men cede to the United States, all their land 
 situate in the territory of Michigan, south of Grand river, being the reservation at 
 Notawasepe, of 4 miles square contained in the 3d clause of the 2d article of the 
 treaty made at Chicago, on the 29th day of August, 1821, and the ninety-nine 
 sections of land contained in the treaty made at St. Joseph, on 19th day. of Sep- 
 tember, 1827; and also the tract of land on St. Joseph river, opposite the town 
 of Niles, and extending to the line of the State of Indiana, on which the villages 
 of To-pe-ne-bee and Pokagon are situated, supposed to contain about forty-nine 
 sections. 
 
 Art. 2. In consideration of the above cession^ it is hereby agreed that the said 
 chiefs and head men. and their immediate tribes, shall be considered as parties to 
 the said treaty to which this is supplementary, and be entitled to participate in all 
 the provisions therein contained, as a part of the United Nation; and further,, 
 that there shall be paid by the United States the sum of one hundred thousand 
 dollars, to be applied as follows : 
 
 Ten thousand dollars, in addition to the general fund of one hundred thousand 
 dollars contained in the said treaty, to satisfy sundry individuals in behalf of 
 whom reservations were asked, which the commissioner refused to grant. The 
 manner in which the same is to be paid being set forth in the schedule "A," here- 
 unto annexed. 
 
 Twenty-five thousand dollars, in addition to the sum of one hundred and fifty 
 thousand dollars, contained in the said treaty, to satisfy the claims made against all 
 composing the United Nation of Indians, which they have\ admitted to be justly 
 due, and directed to be paid according to schedule " B, " to the treaty annexed. 
 
 Twenty-five thousand dollars to be paid in goods, provisions, and horses, in 
 addition to the one hundred thousand dollars contained in the treaty. 
 
 And forty thousand dollars to be paid in annuities of two thousand dollars a 
 year, for twenty years, in addition to the two hundred and eighty thousand dollars 
 inserted in the treaty, and divided into payments of fourteen thousand dollars a 
 year. 
 
 Art. 3. All the Indians residing on the said reservations in Michigan, shall 
 remove therefrom within three years from this date, during which time they shall 
 not be disturbed in their possession, nor in hunting upon the lands as heretofore. 
 In the mean time, no interruption shall be offered to the survey and sale of the 
 same by the United States. In case, however, the said Indians shall sooner 
 remove, the Government may take immediate possession thereof. 
 
 Art. 4. By the last clause of the 3d article of the treaty of St. Joseph, made 
 on the 27th day of September, 1828, there is granted to Madeline Bertrand, wife 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 233 
 
 there was practiced at that Treaty of 1833, whether by Gov- 
 ernment officials or "sharks" outside of office, or whether or 
 not such crime, from lack of moral principle or from indolent 
 
 of Joseph Bertrand, one section of land;- and as the same has not been located, it 
 is requested by the said chiefs and head men that it shall be purchased by the 
 United States. It is therefore agreed that the same shall be purchased by the 
 United States, if it can be done, for the sum of eight hundred dollars; also, the 
 reservation in the treaty, concluded at camp Tippecanoe, dated the 20th of Oc- 
 tober, 1832, to Me-saw-ke-qua and her children, of two sections of land at Waw- 
 us-kuk-s village, shall be considered as a grant in fee simple to the said Me-saw- 
 ke-qua, her heirs and assigns forever ; provided that no sale of the same shall 
 be valid, unless approved by the President of the United States. 
 
 The 4th article has been inserted at the request of the said chiefs; and as the 
 individuals named are desirous of accompanying their friends on their removal to 
 the west, it has been assented to by the commissioners, with the express under- 
 standing that the rejection of this article by the President and Senate of the 
 United States shall not vitiate the treaty. 
 
 These supplementary articles, after the same shall have been ratified by the 
 President and Senate of the United States, shall be binding on the contracting 
 parties. 
 
 In testimony whereof, the said' George B. Porter, Thomas J. V. Owen, and 
 William Weatherford, and the undersigned chiefs and head men of the said 
 United Nation of Indians, have hereunto set their hands at Chicago, the said 
 day and year. 
 
 G. B. Porter, Pam-ko-wuck, his x mark, 
 
 Th. J. V. Owen, No-taw-gai, his x mark, 
 
 William Weatherford, Kauk-muck-kisin, his x mark, 
 
 To-pen-e-bee, his x mark, Wee-see-mon, his x mark, 
 
 We-saw, his x mark, Mo-so-ben-net, his x mark, 
 
 Ne-kaw-nosh-kee, his x mark, Kee-o-kum, his x mark, 
 
 Wai-saw-o-ko-ne-aw, his x mark, Maatch-kee, his x mark, 
 
 Po-ka-gon, his x mark, Kaw-bai-me-sai, his x mark, 
 
 Kai-kaw-tai-mon, his x mark, Wees-ke-qua-tap, his x mark, 
 
 Pe-pe-ah, his x mark, Ship-she-wuh-no, his x mark, 
 
 Ne-see-waw-bee-tuck, his x mark, Wah-co-mah-o-pe-tuk, his x mark, 
 
 Kitchee-bau, his x mark, Ne-so-wah-quet, his x mark, 
 
 Pee-chee-ko, his x mark, Shay-o-no, his x mark, 
 
 Nai-gaw-geucke, his x mark, Ash-o-nees, his x mark , 
 
 Wag-maw^ian-so, his x mark, Mix-i-nee, his x mark, 
 
 Mai-go-sai, his x mark, Ne-wah-ox-sec, his x mark, 
 
 Nai-chee-wai, his x mark, Sauk-e-mau, hii x mark, 
 
 Aks-puck-sick, his x mark, Shaw-waw-nuk-wuk, his x mark, 
 
 Kaw-kai-mai, his x mark, Mo-rah, his x mark, 
 
 Mans-kai-sick, his x mark, Suk-see, his x mark, 
 
234 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 forbearance at Washington, had -been nursed and encouraged, 
 perhaps there was then no greater demonstration of iniquity 
 than has often, on similar occasions, happened before. We 
 
 Quesh-a-wase, his x mark, Mo-gua-go, his x mark, 
 
 Pat-e-go-to, his x mark, Pe-qua-shuc, his x mark, 
 
 Mash-ke-oh-see, his x mark, A-muwa-noc-sey, his x mark, 
 
 Mo-nase, his x mark, Kau-ke-che-ke-to, his x mark, 
 
 Wab-e-kaie, his x mark; Shaw-waw-nuk-wuk, his x mark. 
 Shay-oh-new, his x mark, 
 
 In presence of 
 
 Wm. Lee D. Ewing, Sec. to the Com- Thomas Forsyth, 
 
 mission, Daniel Jackson, of New York, 
 
 E. A. Brush, J- E. Schwarz, Adjut. Gen. M. M. 
 
 Luther Rice, Inter. Robt. A. Kinzie, 
 
 James Connor, Interpreter, G. S. Hubbard, 
 
 Joseph Bertrand, jr. Interpreter, L. M. Taylor, 
 
 Gho. Kercheval, Sub Ind. Agt. Pierre Menard, fills, 
 
 Geo. Bender, Major 5th Regl. Infy. Jacob Beeson, 
 
 D. Wilcox, Capt. jtA Regt. Samuel Humes Porter, 
 J. M. Baxley, Capt. 5th Infy. Edmd. Roberts, 
 
 R. A. Forsyth, U. S. A. - Jno. H. Kinzie, 
 L. T. Jamison, Lt. U. S. A. Jas. W. Berry, 
 
 E. K. Smith, Lt. jtA Infy. Gabriel Godfroy, jr. 
 J. L. Thompson, Lt. jth Inf. Geo. Hunt, 
 
 J. Allen, Lt. 5th Inf. A. H. Arndt, 
 
 P. Maxwell, Asst. Surgeon U. S. A. Andw. Porter, 
 
 Geo. F. Turner, Asst. Sur. U. S. Army, Isaac Nash, 
 
 B. B. Kercheval, Richard J. Hamilton. 
 
 SHEDULE "A." 
 Referred to in the article supplementary to the treaty, containing the sums 
 payable to individuals, in lieu of reservations of land. 
 
 Po-ka-gon, $2,000 
 
 Rebecca Burnett, 1 1 5°° 
 
 Mary Burnett, j Edward Brooks ' trustee for each - [ 250 . 
 
 Martha Burnett, (R. A. Forsyth, trustee,) Z50 
 
 Madaline Bertrand, 200 
 
 Joseph Bertrand, junr. 200 
 
 Luke Bertrand, junr. 200 
 
 Benjamin Bertrand, i 200 
 
 Lawrence Bertrand, 200 
 
 Theresa Bertrand, - 206 
 
 Amable Bertrand, 200 
 
 Julianne Bertrand, 20fr 
 
 Joseph H. Bertrand, 10D 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 235 
 
 beg to call the particular attention of the reader to that part 
 of the extract above, from Mr. Latrobe's book, to which we 
 have given italics; the paragraph, we believe, conveys a truth- 
 ful and merited stricture. 
 
 Mary M. Bertrand, 
 
 $100 
 
 M. L. Bertrand, 
 
 100 
 
 John B. Du Charme, 
 
 200 
 
 Elizabeth Du Charme, (R. A. Forsyth, trustee,) 
 
 800 
 
 George Henderson, 
 
 400 
 
 Mary Nado and children, 
 
 400 
 
 John Bt. Chandonai, 
 
 1, 000 
 
 Charles Chandonai, j For each of whom R. A. Forsyth is j 
 Mary Chandonai, 1 trustee, ( 
 
 400 
 
 400 
 
 Mary St. Comb and children, 
 
 300 
 
 Sa-gen-nais, 
 
 200 
 
 Me-chain, daughter of Pe-che-co, 
 
 206 
 
 Alexis Rolan, 
 
 200 
 
 Polly Neighbush, 
 
 200 
 
 Francois Page's wife and daughter, 
 
 200 
 
 Pierre F. Navarre's children, 
 
 100 
 
 Jarmont (half-breed,) 
 
 100 
 
 Ten thousand dollars, $10,000 
 
 Agreeably to the stipulations contained in the articles supplementary to the 
 treaty, there have been purchased and delivered at the request of the Indians, 
 goods, provisions, and horses, to the amount of fifteen thousand dollars (leaving 
 the balance to be supplied hereafter ten thousand dollars. ) 
 
 As evidence of the purchase and delivery as aforesaid, under the direction of 
 the said commissioners, and that the whole of the same been received by the said 
 Indians, and the said George B. Porter, Thomas J. V. Owen, and William 
 Weatherford, and the undersigned chiefs and head men on behalf of the said 
 United Nation of Indians, have hereunto set their hands the twenty-seventh day 
 of September, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and thirty- 
 three. 
 
 G. B. Porter, Tshee-tshee-chin-ke-bequay, his x mark, 
 
 Th. J. V. Owen, Joseph, his x mark, 
 
 William Weatherford, Shab-e-nai, his x mark, 
 
 To-pen-e-bee, his x mark, Ah-be-to-ke-Zhic, his x mark, 
 
 Wee-saw, his x mark, ' E-to-wau-coto, his x' mark, 
 
 Ne-kaw-nosh-kee, his x mark, Shab-y-a-tuk, his x mark, 
 
 Wai-saw-o-ko-ne-aw, his x mark, Me-am-ese, his x mark, 
 
 Ne-see-waw-be-tuk, his x mark, Wah-be-me-mee, his x mark, ' 
 
 Kai-kaw-tai-mon, his x mark, Shim-e-nah, his x mark, 
 
 Saw-Ka-Nosh, his x mark, We-in-co, his x mark, 
 
236 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 In presence of 
 Wm. Lee D. Ewing, Secretary to the Saml. Humes Porter, 
 Commission, Joseph Bertrand, junr, 
 
 R. A. Forsyth, U. S. A. Andw. Porter, 
 
 John H. Kinzie, J. E. Schwarz, Adj. Genl. M. M. 
 
 Madn. F. Abbott, James Conner, Interprt. 
 
 On behalf of the chiefs and head men of the United Nation of Indians who 
 signed the treaty to which these articles are supplementary, we hereby, in evi- 
 dence of our concurrence therein, become parties thereto. 
 
 And, as since the signing of the treaty a part of the band residing on the reser- 
 vations in the territory of Michigan, have requested, on account of their religious 
 creed, permission to remove to the northern part of the peninsula of Michigan, it 1 
 is agreed that in case of such removal the just proportion of all annuities payable 
 to them under former treaties, and that arising from the sale of the reservation on 
 which they now reside, shall be paid to them at L'arbre Croche. 
 
 Witness our hands the said day and year. 
 
 Saw-ka-nosh, his x mark, O-cheep-pwaise, his x mark, 
 
 Che-ohe-bin-quay, his x mark, Maug-e-sett, his x mark, 
 
 Ah-be-te-ke-zhic, his x mark, Shim-e-nah, his x mark, 
 
 Shab-e-nay, his x mark, Ke-me-nah-wah, his x mark, 
 
 In the presence of 
 Wm. Lee D. Ewing, Secretary to the R. A. Forsyth, U. S. X A. 
 
 Commisiion, < Saml. Humes Porter, 
 
 Jno. H. Kinzie, J. E. Schwarz, Adjt. Genl. M. M. 
 
 Richd. J. Hamilton, James Conner, Interpr. 
 
 Robert Stuart, 
 
 The commissioners certify that when these supplementary articles were ready 
 for signature, the original paper, of which the annexed is a copy, was presented 
 by Messrs. Peter and James J. Godfrey, and the due execution of it was made 
 satisfactorily appear to the commissioners, the subscribing witnesses, R. A. For- 
 syth and Robert A. Kinzie, being present. The chiefs and head men present 
 recognizing this as a reservation, it was agreed that it shall be considered in the 
 same light as though the purport of the instrument had been inserted in the body 
 of the treaty; with the understanding that the rejection of it by the President and 
 Senate of the United States shall not affect the validity of the treaty. 
 
 G. B. Porter, 
 Th. J. V. Owen, 
 William Weatherford. 
 
 (Copy of the instrument referred to in the above certificate.) 
 
 Know all men by these presents, that we, the undersigned chiefs and young 
 men, of the Pottawatamie tribe of Indians, living at Na-to-wa-se-pe, in the terri- 
 tory of Michigan, for and in consideration of the friendship and sundry services 
 rendered to us by Peter and James J. Godfroy, we do hereby, by these presents, 
 give, grant, alien, transfer, and convey unto the said Godfrpys their heirs and 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 237 
 
 assigns forever, one entire section of land, situate, lying, and being, on our reserve 
 of Na-to-wa-se-pe, in the territory aforesaid, to be located by said Godfroys 
 wherever on said reserve they shall think it more to their advantage and benefit. 
 It is moreover the wishes of the undersigned chiefs and young men as aforesaid, 
 that so soon as there shall be a treaty held between the United States and our 
 said tribe of Pottawattamies, that our great father the President confirm and make 
 good this our grant to them,- and the said Godfroys, by issuing a patent therefor 
 to them and to their heirs forever. Iii so doing our great father will accomplish 
 the wishes of his children. Done at Detroit, this eighteenth day of May, A. D. 
 one thousand eight hundred and thirty. 
 
 In witness whereof, we have hereunto signed, sealed, and' set our hands and 
 seals, the day and year last above written. 
 
 Penenchese, his x mark, L. s. Na-wa-po-to, his x mark, L. s. 
 
 Pit-goit-ke-se, his x mark, L. S. To-ta-gas, his x mark, I., s. 
 
 Nah-o-te-nan, his x mark, L. s. Pierre Morin, alias Perish, his x 
 
 Ke-a-sac-wa, his x mark, l. s. mark, L. s. 
 
 Sko-paw-ka, his x mark, L. s. We-say-gah, his x mark, L. s. 
 
 Ce-ce-baw, his x mark, L. s. 
 
 Signed, sealed, and delivered in the presence of us : 
 
 R. A. Forsyth, 1 
 
 R ht A K" ' y - Witnesses 10 the signatures of Pierre Morin, alias 
 
 G.Vodfroy," 12 j Perish, and Wa-say-gah. 
 
 Richard Godfroy, Francis Mouton. 
 
 Chicago, Illinois, Oct. /, 1874. 
 Tho. J. V. Owen, Esq., ) J 
 
 U. S. Indian Agent. 1 
 
 Father: Feeling a disposition to comply with the resolution of Senate of the 
 United States, and the views of the Government in relation to an alteration in the 
 boundaries of the country ceded to the United Nation of Chippewa, Ottowa, and 
 Pottawatamie Indians at the treaty at Chicago, in the State of Illinois, concluded 
 on the 26th and 27th days of September, 1833: we therefore propose, as the 
 chiefs of the said United Nation, and for and on their ,behalf, that we will accept 
 of the following alteration in the boundaries of the said tract of country, viz : — 
 Beginning at the mouth of Boyer's river; thence down the Missouri river, to a 
 point thereon; from which a due east line would strike the northwest corner of 
 the State of Missouri; thence along the said east line, to the northwest corner of 
 said State; thence along the northern boundary line of the said State of Missouri, 
 till it strikes the line of the lands of the Sac and Fox Indians: thence north- 
 wardly along the said line to a point from which a west line would strike the 
 sources of the Little Sioux river; thence aloug said west line, till it strikes the 
 said sources of said river; thence down the said river to its mouth; thence down 
 the Missouri river, to the place of beginning : Provided, the said boundary shall 
 contain five million of acres; but should it contain more, then said boundaries are 
 to be reduced so as to contain the said five millions of acres. 
 
 And, in consideration of the alteration of said boundary we ask that ten thou- 
 
238 CHICAGO 'ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 sand dollars should be paid to such commissioner, as shall be designated by us to 
 receive the same west of Mississippi river, at such place on the tract of country 
 ceded to the said United Nation as we may designate, and to be applied, as we 
 may direct, for the use and benefit of the said nation. And the further sum of 
 two thousand dollars. to be paid to Gholson Kercheval, of Chicago, 111., for ser- 
 vices rendered the said United Nation of Indjans during the late war between the 
 U.S. Government and the Sacs and Foxes; and the further sum of one thousand 
 dollars to George E. Walker, for services rendered the said United Nation, in 
 bringing Indian prisoners from west of the Mississippi river to Ottowa, Lasselle 
 county, 111., for whose appearance at the circuit court of said county, said nation 
 was bound. 
 
 The foregoing propositions are made with the expectation, that with the excep- 
 tion of the alteration in the proposed boundary, and the indemnity herein de- 
 manded as an equivalent for said exchange, the whole of the treaty made and 
 concluded at this place on the 26th and 27th days of September, 1833, be ratified 
 as made and concluded at that time, within the space of five months from the 
 present date; otherwise it is our wish that the whole of the said treaty should be 
 considered as cancelled. 
 
 In witness whereof, we, the undersigned chiefs of the said United Nation of 
 Chippewa, Ottowa, and Pottawatamie Indians, being specially delegated with 
 power and authority to effect this negotiation, have hereto set our hands and 
 seals, at Chicago, in the State of Illinois, on the first day of October, A. D. 
 
 1834- 
 
 R. Caldwell, L. s. 
 
 Kee-tshee-zhing-ee-beh, his x mark, L. s. 
 
 Tshee-tshee-beeng-guay, his x mark, L. s. 
 
 Joseph, his x mark, 1.. s. 
 
 Ob-ee-tah-kee-zhik, his x mark, L. s. 
 
 Wau-bon-see, his x mark, L. s. 
 
 Kay-kot-ee-mo, his x mark, L. s. 
 
 In presence of 
 Richd. J. Hamilton, J. Grant, jr. 
 
 Jno. H. Kinzie, E. M. Owen, 
 
 Dr. P. Maxwell, U. S. Army, J. M. Baxley, Capt. 5th Inf. 
 
 Ratified upon the conditions expressed in the resolutions of the Senate, passed 
 May 22, 1834, and February 11, 1832, which conditions as contained in the first 
 named resolution are as follows : 
 
 "That the Senate do advise and consent to tie ratification of the treaty made 
 on the 26th day of September, 1833, at Chicago, by George B. Porter, and others, 
 commissioners on the part of the United States, and the United Nation of Chip- 
 pewas, Ottowas, and Pottawatamies Indians, and the supplementary articles 
 thereto, dated on the 27th day of September, 1833, with the following amend- 
 ments and provisions, to wit : 1st. amend the third article in schedule A, by striking 
 out the word 'ten' and inserting the word/w as to each of the sums to be paid to 
 Billy Caldwell and Alexander Robinson; so that the sum of five thousand dollars 
 only will be paid to each of them, and the sum often thousand dollars, thus de- 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 239 
 
 ducted, to be paid to the Indians. 2d. All the debts mentioned in schedule B, in 
 the same article, and which are specified in exhibit E, to the report of the com- 
 mittee, to be examined by a commissioner to be appointed by the President, with 
 the advice and consent of the Senate, and the individuals to be paid only the sums 
 found by said commissioner, to have been justly due; in no instance increasing 
 the sum agreed to be paid; and whatever sum is saved by deduction or disallow- 
 ance of the debts in exhibit E, to be paid to the Indians, and the residue to the 
 claimants respectively. 3d. Strike out article 5th in the treaty. 4th. Strike out 
 article 4th in the supplementary articles : and provided that the lands given to the 
 said Indians, in exchange, in place of being bounded in the manner described in 
 the treaty be so changed, that the first line shall begin at the mouth of Boyer's 
 river, and run down the river Missouri to a point thereon, from which a line 
 running due east will strike the northwestern corner of the State of Missouri; 
 from that point due east, till it strikes said northwestern corner; then, along the 
 northern boundary line of said State, till it strikes the line of the lands belonging 
 to the Fox and Sac Indians; thence northwardly, so far as to make to the Indians 
 full compensation for the quantity of land which will be thus taken from them on 
 the southwestern part of the tract allowed them by the boundaries as at present 
 described in the treaty; and provided, further, that this alteration of boundaries 
 can be effected with the consent of the Indians. Also the said commissioner 
 shall examine whether three thousand dollars, a part of the sum of seventeen 
 thousand dollars, directed to be paid to Robert Stuart, agent of the American 
 Fur Company, was to be paid and received in full discharge of all claims and 
 demands which said company had against Gurdon S. Hubbard and James Kinzie; 
 and if he finds it was to be so paid, that then the sum of fourteen thousand 
 dollars, only, be paid, until said agent of said company give a receipt of all debts 
 due, and demands which said company had against said Hubbard and Kinzie; 
 and, upon giving such receipt, that then the said sum of three thousand dollars Be 
 likewise paid to said agent. " 
 
 And those contained in the second named resolution are as follows : 
 " That the Senate do advise and consent to the alteration proposed by the chiefs 
 of the United Nation of Chippewa, Ottawa, and Pottawatamie Indians, concluded 
 at Chicago, in the State of Illinois, on the first day of October, 1834, to the treaty 
 concluded between the commissioners on the part of the United States and the 
 chiefs of the said United Nation on the 26th of September, 1833: — it being ex- 
 pressly understood by the Senate that no other of the provisions of the resolution 
 of the Senate of the 22d day of May, 1834, ratifying the said treaty, shall be 
 affected, or in any manner changed, by the said proposed alteration of 1st Octo- 
 ber, 1834, excepting the proposed alteration in the boundaries therein mentioned, 
 and the sums of money therein stipulated to be paid. " 
 
 [To add to the list of Indian conveyances to the United States, of territory em- 
 bracing the locality of Chicago, we here take the occasion to present the following 
 from a treaty concluded at St. Louis, August 24, 1816, between Ninian Edwards, 
 William Clark, and Auguste Chouteau, U. S. Commissioners, and the Ottawas, 
 Chippewas, and Pottawatamies, "residing on the Illinois and Melwakee rivers 
 
240 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 and their waters, and on the southwestern parts of Lake Michigan. " This treaty 
 was to settle all dispute concerning a cession to the U. S. of land by the Sacs and 
 Foxes in a treaty held and concluded at St. Louis, in November, 1804: "And 
 they moreover cede to the United States all the land contained within the follow- 
 ing bounds, to wit : Beginning on the left bank of the Fox river, of Illinois, ten 
 miles above the mouth of said Fox river; thence running so as to cross Sandy 
 creek ten miles above its mouth; thence in a direct line, to a point ten miles north 
 of the west end of the Portage between Chicago creek, which empties into Lake 
 Michigan, and the Depleines, a fork of the Illinois; thence in a direct line to a 
 point on Lake Michigan, ten miles northward of the mouth of Chicago creek; 
 thence along the lake, to a point ten miles southward of the mouth of the said 
 Chicago creek; thence in a direct line to a point on the Kankakee, ten miles 
 above its mouth; thence, with the said Kankakee and the Illinois river, to the 
 mouth of the Fox river, and thence to the beginning."] 
 
 We copy below a few pages from C. F. Hoffman's Winter 
 in the West, published in New York, 1835. Mr. Hoffman 
 reached Chicago on or about the last day of the year 1833, 
 spending here some two weeks. He had, as we infer, left 
 New York in the month of October preceding, .and, passing 
 through New Jersey and Pennsylvania, reached the Ohio 
 River at Wheeling, Va. ; thence via Pittsburgh, Cleveland, 
 Detroit, Chicago, Galena, Prairie du Chien to St. Louis, and 
 returning by way of Cincinnati, Kentucky, Virginia, etc.:* 
 
 "Chicago, Jan. 1, 1834. 
 
 * * * * * * 
 
 "Our route was still along the shore; and after passing round the 
 end of the lake and taking a northwardly direction, the way in which 
 the icy. blast would come down the bleak shore of the lake 'was a 
 caution.' We galloped at full speed, every man choosing his own 
 route along the beach, our horses' hoofs ringing the while as if it 
 were a pavement of flint beneath them. The rough ice piled up on 
 
 * Charles Fenno Hoffman, a son of Judge J. Ogden Hoffman, was born in 
 New York, 1806. At the age of eleven years, he was compelled to submit to 
 thf loss of a leg by amputation, caused, if we remember rightly, from a burn by 
 a fire-ball on 4th July evening. He was yet an active rider on horseback, and a 
 proficient in many other out-door exercises. He studied law, and practised it 
 several years; but as an editor, became associated with Charles King, in the N. 
 Y. American, and subsequently began the Knickerbocker magazine. Mr. Hoff- 
 man established a reputation as a brilliant and pleasing writer, as his many pro- 
 ductions will testify; but it is sad to remember that for about 30 years past, from 
 a mental disease, he has been retired from the world's acquaintance, and, if still 
 living, is, we think, an inmate of an asylum for the insane. 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 24 1 
 
 the coast prevented us from watering our beasts; and we did not 
 draw a rein till the rushing current of the Calamine, which de- 
 bouches into Lake Michigan some ten miles from Chicago, stayed 
 our course. A cabin on the bank gave us a moment's opportunity 
 to warm, and then being ferried over the wintry stream, we started 
 with fresh vigor, and, crossing about a mile of prairie in the neigh- 
 borhood of Chicago, reached here in time for an early dinner. Our 
 horses this, morning seem none the worse for this furious riding; 
 their escape from ill consequences being readily attributable to the 
 excellence of the road, and the extreme coldness of the weather 
 while travelling it. For my own part, I never felt better than after 
 this violent burst of exercise. We had not been here an hour be- 
 fore an invitation to a public ball was courteously sent to us by the 
 managers; and though my soiled and travel-worn riding-dress was 
 not exactly the thing to present one's self in before ladies of an 
 evening, yet, in my earnestness to see life on the frontier, I easily 
 allowed all objections to be overruled by my companions, and we 
 accordingly drove to the house in which the ball was given. It was 
 a frame-building, one of the few as yet to. be found in Chicago; 
 which, although one of the most ancient French trading-posts on 
 the Lakes, can only date its growth as a village since the Indian 
 war, eightheen months since.* When I add that the population has 
 quintupled last summer, and that but few mechanics have come in 
 with the prodigious increase of residents, you can readily imagine 
 that the influx of strangers far exceeds the means of accommoda- 
 tion; while scarcely a house in the place, however comfortable look- 
 ing outside, contains more than two or three finished rooms. In the 
 present instance, we were ushered into a tolerably sized dancing- 
 room, occupying the second story of the house, and having its un- 
 finished walls so ingeniously covered with pine-branches and flags 
 
 * " The writer is informed by a gentleman recently from Illinois, that Chicago, 
 which but eighteen months since contained but two or three frame-buildings, and 
 a few miserable huts, has now five hundred houses, four hundred of which have 
 been erected this year, and two thousand two hundred inhabitants. A year ago, 
 there was not a place of public worship in the town ; there are no w five churches 
 and two school-houses, and numerous brick stores and warehouses. The ship- 
 ping-lists of daily arrivals and departures show how soon the enterprise and 
 activity of our citizens have discovered and improved the capabilities of that port. 
 There have been three hundred arrivals this year, and more than $56,000 worth 
 of salt has been sold there this season, and of European and domestic merchan- 
 dise to the amount of $400,000. A. line of four steamboats of the largest class 
 of lake-boats, and regular lines of brigs and schooners, are now established be- 
 tween that port and the principal ports of the lower lakes. 
 
 "It is gratifying to hear of such improvement in the western country, and. to 
 have predictions so recently made of the growth and prosperity of this point in 
 particular, thus far more than fulfilled. " 
 16 
 
242 CHICA.GO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 borrowed from the garrison, that, with the white -washed ceiling 
 above, it presented a very complete and quite pretty appearance. 
 It was not so warm, however, that the fires of cheerful hickory, which 
 roared at either end, could have been readily dispensed with. An 
 orchestra of unplaned boards was raised against the wall in the cen- 
 tre of the room; the band consisting of a dandy negro with his vio- 
 lin, a fine military-looking bass drummer from the fort, and a volun- 
 teer citizen, who alternately played an accompaniment upon the flute 
 and triangle. Blackee, who flourished about with a great many airs 
 and graces, was decidedly the king of the company, and it was 
 amusing, while his head followed the direction of his fiddle-bow 
 with pertinacious fidelity, to see the Captain Manual-like precision 
 with which the soldier dressed to the front on one side, and the 
 nonchalant air of importance which the cit attempted to preserve 
 on the other. As for the company, it was such a complete medley 
 of all ranks, ages, professsions, trades, and occupations, brought 
 together from all parts of the world, and now for the first time 
 brought together, that it was amazing to witness the decorum with 
 which they commingled on this festive occasion. The managers 
 (among whom were some officers of the garrison) must certainly be 
 an fait at dressing a lobster and mixing regent's punch, in order to 
 have produced a harmonious compound from such a collection of con- 
 trarieties. The gayest figure that was ever called by quadrille play- 
 ing Benoit never afforded me half the amusement that did these 
 Chicago cotillons. Here you might see a veteran officer in full uni- 
 form balancing to a tradesman's daughter still in her short frock and 
 trousers, while there the golden aiguillette of a handsome surgeon 
 flapped in unison with the glass beads upon a scrawney neck of fifty. 
 In one quarter, the high-placed buttons of a linsey-woolsey coat 
 would be dos a dos to the elegantly turned shoulders of a delicate- 
 looking southern girl; and in another, a pair of Cinderella-like slip- 
 pers would chassez cross with a brace of thick-soled broghans, in 
 making which, one of the lost feet of the Colossus of Rhodes may 
 have served for a last. Those raven locks, dressed a la Madonne, 
 over eyes of jet, and touching a cheek where blood of a deeper hue, 
 mingling with the less glowing current from European veins, tell of 
 a lineage drawn from the original owners of the soil; while these 
 golden treeses, floating away from eyes of heaven's own colour over 
 a neck of alabaster, recall the Gothic ancestry of some of 'England's 
 born.' How piquantly do these trim and beaded leggins peep from 
 under that simple dress of black, as its tall, nut-brown wearer moves, 
 as if unconsciously, through the graceful mazes of the dance. How 
 divertingly do those inflated gigots, rising like windsails from that 
 little Dutch-built hull, jar against those tall plumes which impend 
 over them like a commodore's pennant on the same vessel. But 
 what boots all these incongruities, when a spirit of festive good- 
 humour animates every one present. 'It takes all kinds of people 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 243 
 
 to make a world' (as I hear it judiciously observed this side the 
 mountains), and why should not all these kinds of people be repre- 
 sented as well in a ball-room as in a legislature? At all events, if 1 
 wished to give an intelligent foreigner a favourable opinion of the 
 manners and deportment of my countrymen in the aggregate, 1 
 should hot wish a better opportunity, after explaining to him the 
 materials of which it was composed, and the mode in which they 
 were brought together from every section of the Union, than was 
 afforded by this very ball. 'This is a scene of enchantment to me, 
 sir,' observed an officer to me, recently exchanged to this post, and 
 formerly stationed here. 'There were but a few traders around the 
 fort when I last visited Chicago, and now I cant contrive where the 
 devil all these well-dressed people have come from !' I referred him 
 to an old resident of three months' standing, to whom I had just 
 been introduced, but he could throw no light upon the subject, and 
 we left the matter of peopling Chicago in the same place were phi- 
 losophers have put the question of the original peopling of the Con- 
 tinent. I made several new acquaintances at this New-year's balk 
 and particularly with the officers of the garrison, from whose society 
 I promise myself much pleasure during my stay. The geographical 
 position of Chicago is so important that I must give you a more min* 
 ute description of the place in my next. Would that in folding this 1 
 could enclose you half the warm wishes for your welfare which the 
 season awakens in my bosom. 
 
 "Chicago, Illinois, Jan. 10, 1834. 
 "I have been here more than ten days, without fulfilling the 
 promise given in my last. It has been so cold, indeed, as almost 
 to render writing impracticable in a place so comfortless. The 
 houses were built with such rapidity, during the summer, as to be 
 mere shells; and the thermometer having ranged as low as 28 below 
 zero, during several days it has been almost impossible, notwith- 
 standing the large fires kept up by an attentive landlord, to prevent 
 the ink from freezing while using it, and one's fingers become so 
 numb in a very few moments when thus exercised, that; after vainly- 
 trying to write in gloves, I have thrown by my pen, and joined the 
 group, composed of all the household, around the bar-room fire. 
 This room, which is an old log-cabin aside of the main house, is* 
 one of the most comfortable places in town, and is, of course, much 
 frequented; business being, so far as one can judge from the con- 
 course that throng it, nearly at a stand still. Several persons have 
 been severely frost-bitten in passing from door to door; and not to 
 mention the quantity of poultry and pigs that have be"en frozen, an 
 ox, I am told, has perished from cold in the streets at noonday. An 
 occasional Indian,* wrapped in his blanket, and dodging about from 
 
 * "The Indians that frequent the neighborhood of Chicago (pronounced Tshi- 
 cawgo), though not so numerous, are composed of the same mixture of different 
 
244 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 store to store after a dram of whiskey, or a muffled-up Frenchman, 
 driving furiously in his cariole on the river, are almost the only hu- 
 man beings abroad ; while the wolves, driven in by the deep snows 
 which ^preceded this severe weather, troop through the town after 
 nightfall, and may be heard howling continually in the midst of it. 
 "The situation of Chicago, on the edge of the Grand Prairie, 
 with the whole expanse of Lake Michigan before it, gives the freez- 
 ing winds from the Rocky Mountains prodigious effect, and renders 
 a degree of temperature, which in sheltered situations is but little 
 felt, almost painful here. 
 
 " 'The bleak winds 
 Do sorely ruffle; for many a mile about, 
 There 's scarce a bush. ' 
 
 "The town lies upon a dead level, along the banks of a narrow 
 forked river, and is spread over a wide extent of surface to the 
 shores of the lake, while vessels of considerable draught of water 
 can, by means of the river, unload in the centre of the place. I 
 believe I have already mentioned that four-fifths of the population 
 have come in since last spring: the erection of new buildings during 
 the summer has been in the same proportion; and although a place 
 of such mushroom growth can, of course, boast of but little solid 
 improvement in the way of building, yet contracts have been made 
 for the ensuing season which must soon give Chicago much -of that 
 metropolitan appearance it is destined so promptly to assume. As 
 a place of business, its situation at the central head of the Missis- 
 sippi Valley will make it the New-Orleans of the north; and its easy 
 and close intercourse with the most flourishing eastern cities will give 
 it the advantage, as its capital increases, of all their improvements 
 in the mode of living. 
 
 "There is one improvement to be made, however, in this section 
 of the country, which will greatly influence the permanent value of 
 property in Chicago. I allude to a cinal from the head of Lake 
 Michigan to the head of steam navigation on the Illinois, the route 
 of which has been long since surveyed. The distance to be over- 
 come is something like ninety miles; and when you remember that 
 the head waters of the Illinois rise within eleven miles of., Chicago 
 River, and that a level plain of not more than eight feet elevation 
 above the latter is the only intervening obstacle, you can conceive 
 how easy it would be to drain Lake Michigan into the Mississippi 
 by this route; boats of eighteen tons having actually passed over the 
 
 tribes which Major Long noticed ten years since. They are chiefly Potrawatta- 
 mies and Ottawas, with, a few Chippewas (6-che-pe-wag) and a straggling Kicka- 
 poo or Miami; and a great "admixture of the different languages (or rather dialects, 
 for they are radically the same) of the three first prevails there. Among them 
 are many who have borne arms against the Americans; and some who, doubtless, 
 took a part in the massacre at the fall of the place in 1812." 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 245 
 
 intervening prairie at high water. Lake Michigan, which is several 
 feet or more above Lake Erie, would afford such a never-failing body 
 of water that it would keep steamboats afloat on the route in the 
 driest season. St. Louis. would then be brought comparatively near 
 to New- York, while two-thirds of the Mississippi Valley would be 
 supplied by this route immediately from the markets of the latter. 
 This canal is the only remaining link wanting to complete the most 
 stupendous chain of inland communication in the world. I had a 
 long conversation this morning, on the subject, with Major H., the 
 United States' engineer, who is engaged in superintending the con- 
 struction of a pier at this place. He was polite enough to sketch 
 the main features of the route, with his pencil, in such a manner as 
 to make its feasibility very apparent. The canal would pass for the 
 whole distance through a prairie country, where every production of 
 the field and the garden can be raised with scarcely any toil, and 
 where the most prolific soil in the world requires no other prepara- 
 tion for planting than passing the plough over its bosom. The 
 most effectual mode of making this canal would be to give the lands 
 along its banks to an incorporated company, who should construct 
 the work within a certain time. The matter is now merely agitated 
 at elections as a political handle. 
 
 "January 13. 
 
 "I had got thus far in a letter to you, when several officers of the 
 garrison, to whom I am indebted for much hospitable attention and 
 many agreeable hours, stopped opposite the door with a train of cari- 
 oles, in one of which I wasoffered a seat to witness a pacing-match 
 on the ice. There were several ladies with gentlemen in attendance 
 already on the river, all muffled up, after the Canadian fashion, in 
 fur robes, whose gay trimmings presented a rich as well as most 
 comfortable appearance. The horses, from which the most sport 
 was expected, were a black pony bred in the country, and a tall 
 roan nag from the lower Mississippi. They paced at the rate of a 
 mile in something less than three minutes. I rode behind the win- 
 ning horse one heat, and the velocity with which he made our cariole 
 fly over the smooth ice was almost startling. The southern horse 
 won the race; but I was told that in nine cases out of ten, the nags 
 from his part of the country could not stand against a French pony. 
 
 "In the middle of the chase, a wolf, probably roused by the 
 sleigh-bells from his lair on the river's bank, trotted along the prairie 
 above, within gunshot, calmly surveying the sport. The uninvited 
 presence of this long-haired amateur at once suggested a hunt for 
 the morrow, and arrangements were accordingly made, by the sev- 
 eral gentlemen present, for that most exciting of sports, a wolf-chase 
 on horseback. 
 
 "I was not present at the assembling of the hunt; and the first 
 intimation I had of the game being afoot, was from hearing the cry 
 of hounds and the shouting of a party of horsemen, as they clat- 
 
246 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 tered along the frozen river, with two prairie wolves and one gray 
 wolf running at full speed, about a pistolshot ahead of them. One 
 Wolf was killed, and another had made his escape, before I joined 
 the party. But the third, the gray wolf, which had struck off into 
 the prairie, was still fresh when I came into the hunt with an untired 
 horse. But one of the hunters had been able to keep up with him, 
 and him I could distinguish a mile off in the prairie, turning and 
 winding his foaming horse as the wolf would double every moment 
 upon his tracks, while half a dozen dogs, embarrassed in the deep 
 snow, were slowly coming up. I reached the spot just as the wolf 
 first stood at bay. His bristling back, glaring eyes, and ferociously 
 distended jaws might have appalled the dogs for a moment, when an 
 impetuous grayhound, who had been for some time pushing through 
 the snow-drifts with unabated industry, having now attained a com- 
 paratively clear spot of ground, leaped with such force against the 
 flank of the wolf as to upset him in an instant, while the grayhound 
 shot far ahead of the quarry. He recovered himself instantly, but 
 not before a fierce, powerful hound, whose thick neck and broad 
 muzzle indicated a cross of the bull-dog blood with that of a nobler 
 strain, had struck him first upon the haunch, and was now trying to 
 grapple him by the throat. Down again he went, rolling over and 
 over in the deep snow, while the clicking of his jaws, as he snapped 
 eagerly at each member of the pack that by turns beset him, was 
 distinctly audible. The powerful dog, already mentioned, secured 
 him at last, by fixing his muzzle deeply into the breast of the pros- 
 trate animal. This, however, did not prevent the wolf giving some 
 fearful wounds to the other dogs which beset him ; and, accordingly, 
 with the permission of the gentlemen who had led the chase, I threw 
 •myself from my horse, and gave the game the coup de grace with a 
 dirk-knife which I carried about me. The success of this hunt 
 induced us, upon the spot, to appoint another for this day. 
 
 "It was a fine bracing morning, with the sun shining cheerily 
 through the still cold atmosphere far over the snow-covered prairie, 
 when the party assembled in front of my lodgings, to the number of 
 ten horsemen, all well mounted and eager for the sport. The hunt 
 was divided into two squads; one of which was to follow the wind- 
 ings of the river on the ice, and the other to make a circuit on the 
 prairie. A pack of dogs, consisting of a grayhound or two for' run- 
 ning the game, with several of a heavier and fiercer breed for pulling 
 it down, accompanied each party. I was attached to that which 
 took the river; and it was a beautiful sight, as our friends trotted 
 off in the prairie, to see their different coloured capotes and gayly 
 equipped horses contrasted with the bright carpet of spotless white 
 over which they rode, while the sound of their voices was soon lost 
 to our ears, as we descended to the channel of the river, and their 
 lessening' figures were hid from our view by the low brush which in 
 some places skirted its banks. The brisk trot in which we now 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 247 
 
 broke brought us rapidly to the place of meeting, where, to the dis- 
 appointment of each party, it was found that neither had started any 
 game. We now spread ourselves into a broad line, about gunshot 
 apart from each other, and began thus advancing into the prairie. 
 We had not swept it thus more than a mile, when a shout on the 
 extreme left, with the accelerated pace of the two furthermost riders 
 in that direction, told that they had roused a wolf. 'The devil take 
 the hindermost' was now the motto of the company, and each one 
 spurred for the spot with all eagerness. Unhappily, however, the 
 land along the bank of the river, on the right, was so broken by 
 ravines, choked up with snow, that it was impossible for us, who 
 were half a mile from the game, when started, to come up at all 
 with the two or three horsemen who led the pursuit. Our horses 
 sunk to their cruppers in the deep snow-drift. Some were repeatedly 
 thrown; and one or two, breaking their saddle-girths from the des- 
 perate struggles their horses made in the snow-banks, were com- 
 pelled to abandon the chase entirely. My stout roan carried me 
 bravely through all; but when I emerged from the last ravine, on the 
 open plain, the two horsemen who led the chase, from some ine- 
 quality in the surface of the prairie, were not visible; while the 
 third, a fleet rider, whose tall figure and Indian headdress had hith- 
 erto guided me, had been just unhorsed, and abandoning the game 
 afoot, was now wheeling off apparently with some other object in 
 view. Following on the same course, we soon encountered a couple 
 of officers in a train, who were just coming from a mission of charity 
 in visiting the half-starved orphans of a poor woman, who was frozen 
 to death on the prairie a day or two since — the wolves having already 
 picked her bones before her fate became known. One by one, our 
 whole party collected around to make inquiries about the poor chil- 
 dren, and the two fortunate hunters soon after joined us, one of 
 them with a large prairie wolf hanging to the saddle-bow.* 
 
 "It was now about eleven o'clock; we were only twelve miles 
 from Chicago; and though we had kept up a pretty round pace, 
 considering the depth of the snow, in coursing backward and forward 
 since eight, our horses generally were yet in good condition, and we 
 scattered once more over the prairie, with the hope of rousing more 
 game. 
 
 "Not ten minutes elapsed before a wolf, breaking from the dead 
 weeds which, shooting eight or ten feet above the level of the snow, 
 indicated the banks of a deep ravine, dashed off into the prairie 
 
 * From the Chicago Democrat of Jan. 28, 1834: "Mrs. Smith, wife of a Mr. 
 Smith residing at Blue Island, who left this place 2d of January (which was the 
 coldest day we have experienced this winter) for her home, and when within a 
 mile and a half of her dwelling, she sank benumbed and exhausted to rise no 
 more. When found, she was dreadfully mangled and torn to pieces by the 
 wqlves. She has left a husband and five children to mourn her untimely end. " 
 
248 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 pursued by a horseman on the right. He made instantly for the 
 deep banks of the river, one of whose windings was within a few 
 hundred yards. He had a bold rider behind him, however, in the 
 gentleman who led the chase (a young educated half-blood, of pre- 
 possessing manners, and well connected at Chicago). The precipi- 
 tous bank of the stream did not retard this hunter for a moment, but 
 dashing down to the bed of the river, he was hard upon the wolf be- 
 fore he could ascend the elevation on the opposite side. Four of 
 us only reached the open prairie beyond in time to take part in the 
 chase. Nothing could be more beautiful. There was not an ob- 
 stacle to oppose us in the open plain ; and all our dogs having long 
 since given out, nothing remained but to drive the wolf to death on 
 horseback. Away, then, we went, shouting on his track; the hotly 
 pursued beast gaining on us whenever the crust of a deep snow-drift 
 gave him an advantage over the horse, and we in our turn nearly 
 riding over him when we came to ground comparatively bare. The 
 sagacious animal became at last aware that his course would soon 
 be up at this rate, and turning rapidly in his tracks as we were scat- 
 tered over the prairie, he passed through our line and made at once 
 again for the river. He was cut off, and turned in a moment, by a 
 horseman on the left, who happened to be a little behind the rest; 
 and now came the keenest part of the sport. The wolf would 
 double every moment upon his tracks, while each Horseman in suc- 
 cession would make a dash at, and turn him in a different direction. 
 Twice I was near enough to strike him with a horsewhip, and once 
 he was under my horse's feet; while so furiously did each rider push 
 at him, that as we brushed by each other and confronted horse to 
 horse, while riding from different quarters at full speed, it required 
 one somewhat used 'to turn and wind a fiery Pegasus' to maintain 
 his seat at all. The rascal, who would now and then look over his 
 shoulder and gnash his teeth, seemed at last as if he was about to 
 succumb — when, aftpr running a few hundred yards in an oblique 
 direction from the river, he suddenly veered his course, at a moment 
 when every one thought his strength was spent ; and gaining the 
 bank before he could be turned, he disappeared in an instant. The 
 rider nearest to his heels became entangled in the low boughs of a 
 tree which grew near the spot; while I, who followed next, was 
 thrown out sufficiently to give the wolf time to get out of view, by 
 my horse bolting as he reached the sudden edge of the river. The 
 rest of the hunt were consequently at fault when they came up to 
 us; and after trying in vain to track our lost quarry over the smooth 
 ice for half an hour, we were most vexatiously compelled to abandon 
 the pursuit as fruitless, and return to the village with only one scalp 
 as the reward of our morning's labour. 
 
 "It was with no enviable feelings, I assure you, that, on making 
 my arrangements, an hour ago, to start in the new line of stage- 
 coaches which has just been established between this point and St. 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 249 
 
 Louis, I found myself compelled to part with the friend to whom I 
 was chiefly indebted for my share in the glorious sports I have just 
 attempted to describe to you — the four-footed companion of my last 
 six weeks' rambles." 
 
 Hon. John T. Kingston, in 7th vol. Wis. His. Coll., says: 
 
 "The writer was at Chicago early in the spring of 1835, before 
 the opening of navigation on the Lakes, and saw Messrs. Newberry 
 and Dole, who kept a flour and provision store on the corner of 
 Dearborn and South Water streets, sell the last barrel of flour in 
 the market for twenty-eight dollars. 
 
 "Probably no circumstance more fully shows the wonderful de- 
 velopment of agriculture in the Western country than this fact^- 
 flour twenty-eight dollars a barrel in the spring of 1835; and in 
 1855, just twenty years from that date, Chicago was the greatest 
 primary and provision market in the world." 
 
 We will close this somewhat extended chapter with a refer- 
 ence merely to the last war-dance here of the Pottawatomies, 
 whom we may properly call the Chicago Indians, or the last 
 of the tribes here nominally in possession. Judge John D. 
 Caton, in a paper read before the Chicago Historical Society 
 in 1870, and published in one of the pamphlets of the Fergus 
 Historical Series, gives a sketch of that tribe, and a descrip- 
 tion of that war-dance, and from which we copy a few lines: 
 
 "The number who joined in the dance was, probably, about eight 
 hundred. Although 1 cannot give the precise day, it must have oc- 
 curred about the last of August, 1835.* It was the last war-dance 
 ever performed by the natives on the ground where now stands this 
 great city, though how many thousands had preceded it no one can 
 tell. They appreciated that it was the last on their native soil — 
 that it was a sort of funeral ceremony of old associations and mem- 
 ories, and nothing was omitted to lend to it all the grandeur and 
 solemnity possible. Truly, I thought it an impressive scene, of 
 which it is quite impossible to give an adequate idea by words 
 alone." 
 
 The day was Tuesday, August 18, 1835. 
 
250 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 EARLY MAPS, AND THE LOCALITY OF 
 CHICA GO. 
 
 Whatever may be said of early maps suggested, planned, 
 or drawn,* the map of Father Marquette, a copy of a part 
 of which appears opposite page 149, is no doubt the earli- 
 est one preserved which exhibits definitely the features of 
 this part of the country. Yet Marquette, though he pre- 
 sented the line of a stream intended for the Chicago from 
 the lake to the Desplaiftes River, he did not append to it its 
 name, by which it was then known as well as since, in any of 
 its varied orthography. 
 
 Inasmuch as two early maps at least are involved in the 
 extracts or remarks which follow, we will take advantage of 
 the occasion here to say, that in entertaining several questions 
 regarding facts of history, we shall step outside the strict line 
 implied in the title of this chapter. We therefore will here 
 confess our incredulity where, in the 2d chapter of "LaSalle 
 and The Discovery of the Great West," the noted historian, 
 Francis Parkman, quotes the authority of an unknown writer, 
 at a date equally mysterious, of a paper or historical sketch 
 of LaSalle, and claims, or gives credit to the statement, that 
 LaSalle visited the south end of Lake Michigan, and the 
 
 * Mr. Parkman (p. 16 of "LaSalle, and the Dis. of the Great West,") tells of 
 Dollier and Galinee, two Sulpitian priests, who, in 1669, met Louis Joliet at a 
 village near the west end of Lake Ontario; and that "Joliet showed the priests a ■ 
 map which he had made of such parts of the Upper Lakes as he had visited, and 
 gave them a copy of it, telling them at the same time of the Pottawatomies, and 
 other tribes of that region, in grievous need of spiritual succor. " 
 
 Galinee, one of the priests above referred to, the year thereafter (1670) con- 
 structed a map (still in manuscript in Paris) ; but only gives a view of the region 
 actually visited by them, the extent westward being Saut Ste. Marie. 
 
 "The map of Lake Superior, published in the Jesuit Relation of 1 670-1671, was 
 made at about the same time with Gaiinee's map. Lake Superior is here styled 
 'Lac Tracy ou Superieur.' Though not so exact as it has been represented, this 
 map indicates that the Jesuits had explored every part of this fresh-water ocean, 
 and that they had a thorough knowledge of the straits connecting the three Upper 
 Lakes, and of the adjacent bays, inlets, and shores. The peninsula of Michigan 
 ignored by Galinee is represented in its proper place. " — Appendix to Parkman's 
 Dis. of the Great West. 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 25 I 
 
 upper Illinois River or its tributaries, previous to the journey 
 of Joliet and Marquette. We have previously suggested (see 
 p. 145 of this vol.) that white men may have been here before 
 the last-named gentlemen ; but the evidence which Mr. Park- 
 man presents, to prove that LaSalle was the individual who 
 did so, is what we object to, and believe we have good reason 
 to discredit the testimony. The other statement, that of 
 reaching the Mississippi River likewise earlier than Joliet, 
 we leave to Mr. Parkman himself to combat, which he does, 
 while allowing the improbable other half of the story. We 
 copy the following from Mr. Parkman's book. Speaking of 
 LaSalle, he says: 
 
 Page 21. — "As for himself, the only distinct record of his move- 
 ments is that contained in a paper entitled 'Histoire de Monsieur de 
 la Salle.' It is an account of his explorations, and of the state of par- 
 ties in Canada previous to the year 1678, taken from the lips of La- 
 Salle himself, by a person whose name does not appear, but who 
 declares that he had ten or twelve conversations with him at Paris, 
 whither he had come with a petition to the Court. The writer him- 
 self had never been in America, and was ignorant of its geography; 
 hence, blunders on his part might reasonably be expected. His 
 statements, however, are in some measure intelligible, and the fol- 
 lowing is the substance of them." 
 
 [We omit what is said of LaSalle's journey to Central New 
 York', Lake Erie, and the Ohio River. The date suggested 
 by Mr. Parkman was 1669-70.] 
 
 Mr. P. continues: 
 
 "But how was LaSalle employed in the following year? The 
 same memoir has its solution to the problem. By this, it appears 
 that the indefatigable explorer embarked on Lake Erie, ascended 
 the Detroit to Lake Huron, coasted the unknown shores of Michi- 
 gan, passed the Straits of Michillimackinac, and, leaving Green Bay 
 behind him, entered what is described as an incomparably larger 
 bay, but which was evidently the southern portion of Lake Michi- 
 gan. Thence he crossed to a river flowing westward, — evidently the 
 Illinois, — and followed it until it was joined by another river flowing 
 from the north-west to the south-east. By this, the Mississippi only 
 can be meant; and he is reported to have said that he descended it 
 to the thirty-sixth degree of latitude, where he stopped, assured that 
 it discharged itself not into the Gulf of California, but into the Gulf 
 of Mexico; and resolved to follow it thither, at a future day, when 
 better provided with men and supplies." 
 
252 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 After endeavoring to enlighten us, and to make clear some 
 part of the "Histoire," as well as to adjust supposable dates 
 to an indefinite relation, Mr. Parkman closes the chapter as 
 follows: "LaSalle discovered the Ohio, and in all probability 
 the Illinois .also; but that he discovered the Mississippi has 
 not been proved ; nor, in the light of the evidence we have, is 
 it likely." 
 
 It is not without considerable misgiving on Mr. Parkman's 
 account, regarding that "Histoire de Monsieur de la Salle," 
 that we read his serious consideration and discussion of the 
 merits of that paper, and the amount of credit awarded to 
 it by him. Of course,. we must esteem it an error and a de- 
 fect in his interesting and valuable volume. We can scarcely 
 avoid the conclusion arrived at in some other cases; and that 
 the document spoken of must be classed with those . of a 
 quality to which we have alluded on a previous page (see 
 ante, p. 1 5 5)- Indeed, Mr. Parkman, speaking, we suppose, 
 of the writer of the "Histoire," says: "But it comes to us 
 through the medium of a person strongly biassed in favor of 
 LaSalle, and against Marquette and the Jesuits." 
 
 Before giving our own reasons for placing no faith in the 
 above-named "Histoire," or in Mr. Parkman's definition of 
 its meaning, we will here quote what Mr. P. says of two maps 
 in the appendix of his book, where appear notices, also, of 
 various other maps, mostly unpublished, of the lake region 
 of the West. 
 
 "Three years or more after. Galine'e made the map mentioned 
 above, another, indicating a greatly increased knowledge of the 
 country, was made by some person whose name does not appear. 
 This map, which is somewhat more than four feet long and about 
 two feet and a-half wide, has no title. All the Great Lakes, through 
 their entire extent, are laid down on it with considerable accuracy. 
 Lake Ontario is called 'Lac Ontario, ou de Frontenac.' Fort Fron- 
 tenac is indicated, as well as the Iroquois colonies of the north 
 shore. Niagara is 'Chute haute de 120 toises par oil le Lac Erie' 
 tombe dans le Lac Frontenac.' Lake Erie is 'Lac Teiocha-rontiong, 
 dit communement Lac Erie? Lake St. Clair is 'Tsiketo, ou Lac de 
 la Chaudiere.' Lake Huron is 'Lac Huron, ou Mer Douce des Hu- 
 rons.' Lake Superior is 'Lac Supeneur.' Lake Michigan is 'Lac 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIKS. 253 
 
 Mitchiganong, ou des Illinois.' On Lake Michigan, immediately 
 opposite the site of Chicago, are written the words, of which the 
 following is the literal translation: 'The largest vessels can come to 
 this place from the outlet of Lake Erie, where it discharges into 
 Lake Frontenac [Ontario]; and from this marsh into which they can 
 enter, there is only a distance of a thousand paces to the River La 
 Divine [Des Plaines], which can lead them to the River Colbert 
 [Mississippi], and thence to the Gulf of Mexico.' This map was 
 evidently made after that voyage of La Salle in which he discovered 
 the Illinois, or at least the Des Plaines branch of it. The Ohio is 
 laid down with the inscription, 'River Ohio, so called by the -Iro- 
 quois on account of its beauty, which the Sieur de la Salle de- 
 scended." 
 
 [After noticing the map of Marquette, as well as two other 
 maps* which Mr. Parkman says were made by the Jesuits, he 
 presents the following, which we copy :] 
 
 "Of far greater interest is the small map of Louis Joliet, made 
 and presented to Count Frontenac after the discoverer's return from 
 
 * The following is from the appendix in Mr. Parkman's "LaSalle and the Dis- 
 covery of the Great West. " 
 
 "Not long after Marquette's return from the Mississippi, another map was 
 made by the Jesuits, with the following title: Carte de la nouvelk decouverte que 
 les peres lesuites ontfait en Vannee 1672, et continuee par le P. Jacques Marquette de 
 la mesme Compagnie accompagne de quelques francois en VannSe 1673, qu'on pourra 
 nommer en francois la Manitoumie. This title is very elaborately decorated with 
 figures drawn with a pen, and representing Jesuits instructing Indians. The map 
 is the same published by Thevenot, not without considerable variations, in 1681. 
 It represents the Mississippi from a little above the Wisconsin to the Gulf of 
 Mexico, the part below the Arkansas being drawn from conjecture. The river 
 is named 'Mitchisipi, ou grande Riviere.' The Wisconsin, the Illinois, the Ohio, 
 the Des Moines (?), the Missouri, and the Arkansas, are all represented, but in a 
 very rude manner. Marquette's route, in going and returning, is marked by lines ; 
 but the return route is incorrect. The whole map is so crude and careless, and 
 based on information so inexact, that it is of little interest." 
 
 "The Jesuits made also another map, without title, of the four Upper Lakes 
 and the Mississippi to a little below the Arkansas. The Mississippi is called 
 'Riuuiere Colbert. ' The map is remarkable as including the earliest representation 
 of the Upper Mississippi, based, perhaps, on the reports of Indians. The Falls 
 of St. Anthony are indicated by the word 'Saut.' It is possible that the map 
 may be of later date than at first appears, and that it may have been drawn in 
 the interval between the return of Hennepin from the Upper Mississippi and that 
 of La Salle from his discovery of the mouth of the river. The various tempo- 
 rary and permanent stations of the Jesuits are marked by crosses. " 
 
 "Joliet, at about the same time, made another map, larger than that just men- 
 tioned, but not essentially different. The letter to Frontenac is written upon 
 both. There is a third map, of which the following is the title: Carte generalle 
 de la France septentrionale contenanl la descouuerle du pays des Illinois, faite par le 
 S r - jfolliet. This map, which is inscribed with a dedication by the Intendant 
 Duchesneau to the minister Colbert, was made some time after the voyage of 
 Joliet and Marquette. It is an elaborate piece of work, but very inaccurate. It 
 represents the continent from Hudson's Strait to Mexico and California, with the 
 
254 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 the Mississippi. It is entitled Carte de la decouuerte du S r jfolliet 
 ou I'on voit La Communication dufleuue St. Laurens auec les lacs fron- 
 tenac, Erie, Lac des Hurons et Jlinois. Then succeeds the following, 
 written in the same antiquated French, as if it were a part of the 
 title: 'Lake Frontenac [Ontario] is separated by a fall of half a 
 league from Lake Erie, from which one enters that of the Hurons, 
 and by the same navigation, into that of the Illinois [Michigan], 
 from the head of which one crosses to the Divine River [Riviere 
 Divine; i. e., the Des Plaines branch of the river Illinois], by a 
 portage of a thousand paces. This river falls into the river Colbert 
 
 whole of the Atlantic and a part of the Pacific coast. An open sea is made to 
 extend from Hudson's Strait westward to the Pacific. The St. Lawrence and all 
 the Great Lakes are laid down with tolerable correctness, as also is the Gulf of 
 Mexico. The Mississippi, called 'Messasipi,' flows into the Gulf, from which it 
 extends northward nearly to the 'Mer du Nord.' Along its course, above the 
 Wisconsin, which is called 'Miskous,' is a long list of Indian tribes, most of 
 which cannot now be recognized, though several are clearly sub-tribes of the 
 Sioux. The Ohio is called 'Ouaboustikou.' The whole map is decorated with 
 numerous figures of animals, natives of the country, or supposed to be so. 
 Among them are camels, ostriches, and a giraffe, which are placed on the plains 
 west of the Mississippi. But the most curious figure is that which represents one 
 of the monsters seen by Joliet and Marquette, painted on a rock by the Indians. 
 It corresponds with Marquette's description. This map, which is an early effort 
 of the engineer Franquelin, does more credit to his skill as a designer than to his 
 geographical knowledge, which appears in some respects behind his time. " 
 
 "Carte de VAmerique Septentrionale depuis V embouchure de la Riviere St. Laurens 
 jusques ,au Sein Mcxique. On this curious little map, the Mississippi is called 
 'Riuiere Buade' (the family name of Frontenac); and the neighboring country 
 is 'La Krontenacie. ' The Illinois is ' Riuiere de la Diuine ou Loutrelaise, ' and 
 the Arkansas is 'Riuiere Bazire. ' The Mississippi is made to head in three lakes, 
 and to discharge itself into 'B. du S. Esprit' (Mobile Bay). Some of the legends 
 and the orthography of various Indian names are clearly borrowed from Mar- 
 quette. This map appears to be the work of Raudin, Frontenac's engineer." 
 
 "Carte des Parties les plus occidentales die Canada, par le Pere Pierre Raffd.\, 
 S.J. This rude map shows the course of Du Lhut from the head of Lake Supe- 
 rior to the Mississippi, and partly confirms the story of Hennepin, who, Raffeix 
 says in a note, was rescued by Du Lhut. The course of Joliet and Marquette is 
 given, with the legend 'Voyage et premiere descouverte du Mississipy faite par le 
 P. Marquette et M r - Joliet en 1672.' The route of La Salle in 1679, 1680, is also 
 laid down. " 
 
 " In the Depot des Cartes de la Marine is another map of the Upper Missis- 
 sippi, which seems to have been made by or for Du Lhut. Lac Buade, the 
 Tssatis,' the 'Tintons,' the 'Houelbatons,' the 'Poualacs,' and other tribes of 
 this region, appear upon it. This is the map numbered 208 in the Cartographic 
 of Harrisse. " 
 
 "Another map deserving mention is a large and fine one, entitled Carle de 
 PAmerique Septentrionale et partie de la Mcridionale . . . avec les nouvelles decou- 
 vertes de la Riviere Missisipi, ou Colbert. It appears to have been made in 1682 
 or 1683, before the descent of La Salle to the mouth of the Mississippi was 
 known to the maker, who seems to have been Franquelin. The lower Missis- 
 sippi is omitted, but its upper portions are elaborately laid down; and the name 
 La Louisiane appears in large gold letters along its west side. The Falls of St. 
 Anthony are shown, and above them is written 'Armes du Roy gravees sur cet 
 arbre l'an 1679.' This refers to the acte de prise de possession of Du Lhut in July 
 of that year, and this part of the map seems made from data supplied by him." 
 
* 
 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 255 
 
 [Mississippi], which discharges itself into the Gulf of Mexico.' A 
 part of this map is based on the Jesuit map of Lake Superior, the 
 legends being here for the most part identical, though the shape of 
 the lake is better given by Joliet. The Mississippi, or 'Riuiere 
 Colbert,' is made to flow from three lakes in latitude 47 °, and it 
 ends in latitude 37 , a little below the mouth of the Ohio, the rest 
 being apparently cut off to make room for Joliet's letter to Fronte- 
 nac, which is written on the lower part of the map. The valley 
 of the Mississippi is called on the map ' Colbertie, ou Amerique Oc- 
 cidental. ' The Missouri is represented without name, and against 
 it is a legend, of which the following is the literal translation: 'By 
 one of these great rivers which come from the west and discharge 
 themselves into the river Colbert, one will find a way to enter the 
 Vermilion Sea (Gulf of California). I have^ seen a village which 
 was not more than twenty days' journey by land from a nation which 
 has commerce with those of California. If I had come two days 
 sooner, I should have spoken with those who had come from thence, 
 and had brought four hatchets as a present.' The Ohio has no name, 
 but a legend over it states that La Salle had descended it." 
 
 The "Histoire," as we have seen, or by the assurance of 
 Mr. Parkman, professes to give particulars of LaSalle's ex- 
 plorations, as well, also, to treat of the condition of parties 
 in Canada, personally known to him, down to the year 1678. 
 
 LaSalle, as we understand, went to France in 1677, and 
 sailed the following summer for Canada. He did not visit 
 France again until 1683. 
 
 Now, we are informed by the interpretation of Mr. P. that 
 it was in 1671, two years before Joliet and Marquette's voy- 
 age, which voyage the Government of Canada had taken 
 considerable pains to set afoot, or rather afloat, that LaSalle, 
 according to the writer of the "Histoire," had half or wholly 
 accomplished the work; yet nobody in America seems to 
 have known of it. Frontenac, the Governor, however, was a 
 particular friend of LaSalle. 
 
 But how had "the indefatigable explorer embarked on 
 Lake Erie, ascended the Detroit to Lake Huron, coasted the 
 unknown shores of Michigan, passed the Straits of Michilli- 
 mackinac, and, leaving Green Bay behind him, entered what 
 is described as an incomparable larger bay, but which was 
 evidently the southern portion of Lake Michigan ?" Had he 
 constructed an earlier Griffon than the one of which we have 
 
256 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 previously read, which made the passage of the lakes in 
 1679, eight years afterward? If so, is it not strange that 
 none ever told of it? But possibly he came by canoe; if so, 
 that voyage ought not to have been forgotten. That journey, 
 if in the frail bark, was of necessity greatly lengthened by 
 having to follow and keep near shore all the way; no long 
 traverse could be made in canoe. We are quite well aware 
 that LaSalle was equal to these tours, and greater; but we 
 are considering the subject in connection with the evidence 
 presented. 
 
 Mr. Parkman suggests that "the southern portion of Lake 
 Michigan" was reached, and then the "tres-beau havre" which 
 he supposes "may have been the entrance to the River Chi- 
 cago." (In November, j68o, when taking Joliet to task, he 
 did not call it tres-beau havre) But why not let Green Bay, 
 Fox River, Lake Winnebago, and the Wisconsin fill the de- 
 scription as well? 
 
 We might, however, propose a theory if indeed the "His- 
 toire" was worthy of a theory; that would be this: Inasmuch 
 as the "Histoire" presents no very rigid or precise dates, we 
 are at liberty, in opposition to Mr. Parkman's ideas, to choose 
 very reasonable ones if we please. We propose thert that we 
 adopt the year of 1683 or 4, a part of both of which years 
 LaSalle passed in France during his last visit; and it was 
 then that the information so loosely recorded was imparted 
 to the writer of the "Histoire." Therefore, we would hint 
 that we are saved further speculation as to the above-named 
 journey, which began when "the indefatigable explorer em- 
 barked on Lake Erie," for that was when he went on board 
 the identical Griffon, in the year 1679. The reader will 
 please compare the two stories, and see how similar they are. 
 
 But if LaSalle had discovered and was really familiar with 
 the route from Lake Michigan via the Chicago or other chan- 
 nel to the Mississippi in 1671, would he not very likely have 
 somewhere told of it, intelligently and definitely, in some of 
 his communications? His letter to Frontenac, dated Novem- 
 ber, 1680, is a long one; and he discusses the subject of the 
 
Pf./I. 
 
 7'/-/t/"/?f///i /fi'S'-/- 
 
 Nation dp Fxkx 
 , , . 2„„ ^Cr\Ouparo/e 
 
 j/if'""" jy 
 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 257 
 
 Chicago route, which had been first communicated by Joliet, 
 but he says nothing of his own earlier acquaintance with this 
 locality in that letter or any other. Neither does Frontenac 
 (see ante, p. 147); nowhere does he give him precedence in 
 the matter before Joliet, and nothing appears in the publi- 
 cations of Shea, French, or Margry, that can be tortured into 
 a meaning to the contrary. 
 
 Mr. Parkman, as we have seen, says: "Three years or more 
 after Galinee made the map mentioned above, another, indi- 
 cating a greatly increased knowledge of the country, was 
 made by some person whose name does not appear." 
 
 Galinee made his map in 1670; adding the "three years" 
 would make it the same year that Joliet returned from the 
 Mississippi. But the convenient "or more" which Mr. Park- 
 man appends, while it implies a doubt in his own mind as to 
 when it was made, yet takes away the force of any suggestion 
 which he appears to urge, that it was made from LaSalle's 
 information and not that of the well-known tour of Joliet and 
 Marquette. We are forced to assert that it seems an 
 error, illy insisted on by Mr. P.; when speaking of this map, 
 he says: "This map was evidently made after that voyage 
 of LaSalle in which he discovered the Illinois, or at least the 
 Desplaines branch of it." 
 
 The above quoted notices of the two maps are placed in 
 the order as given by Mr. Parkman in the appendix of his 
 book; but we beg the reader to compare the descriptions, as 
 they were evidently by the same person, who was Louis 
 Joliet. Certainly, Joliet compiled these maps, after his voy- 
 age of 1673, mainly from what he had personal knowledge 
 of; and the first-named (by Mr. P.), or the larger one of the 
 two, was probably the latest made. 
 
 We present opposite this page the likeness of a small por- 
 tion of the map constructed by Franquelin in 1684.* We 
 
 * We extract the following notices from the Appendix in the " Discovery of the 
 
 Great West :" 
 
 "The J>reat map of Franquelin, the most remarkable of all the early maps of 
 the interior of North America; though hitherto completely ignored by both 
 
 17 
 
258 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 have copied it mainly from a representation which appears in 
 Parkman's "Discovery of the Great West;" the picture of 
 "Starved Rock," the site of LaSalle's Fort St. Louis,* we have 
 added from a recent view of that noted spot. The details of 
 this partial map are, in a measure, rude and inaccurate, but 
 were improved it is understood in Franquelin's later maps. 
 This map, we see, aims to represent Chicago under the name 
 Cheagoumeinan ; also the Illinois River and its tributaries, 
 together with the Indian villages of various tribes gathered 
 in the near vicinity of Fort St. Louis, numbering, according 
 to LaSalle's report, some four thousand warriors. The name 
 "R. Chekagou" appears; but we are a little in doubt whether 
 or not intended for the Desplaines, or the sloughs and stream 
 whose current sometimes ran westerly beyond Mud Lake. 
 Mr. Parkman gives credit to LaSalle for the probable infor- 
 mation furnished to Franquelin, of much which appears on 
 
 American and Canadian writers. It is entitled Carte de la Louisiana ou des Voy- 
 ages du S r - de • la Salle et des pays qu'il a decouverts depuis la Nouvelle France 
 /usau'au Golfe Mexique les annees 1679, 80, 81, et 82, par Jean Baptiste Louis 
 Franquelin. Van 1684. Paris. Franquelin was a young engineer, who held 
 the post of hydrographer to the king, at Quebec, in which Joliet succeeded him. 
 Several of his maps are preserved, including one made in 1681, in which he lays 
 down the course of the Mississippi, — the lower part from conjecture, — making it 
 discharge itself into Mobile Bay. It appears from a letter of the Governor, La 
 Barre, that Franquelin was at Quebec in 1683, engaged on a map which was pro- 
 bably that of which the title is given above, though, had La Barre known that it 
 was to be called a map of the journeys of his victim La Salle, he would have 
 been more sparing of his praises. 'He' (Franquelin), writes the Governor, 'is 
 as skilful as any in France, but extremely poor, and in need of a little aid from 
 his Majesty as an Engineer: he is at work on a very correct map of the country, 
 which I shall send you next year in his name ; meanwhile, I shall support him 
 with some little assistance. ' 
 
 " The map is very elaborately executed, and is six feet long and four and a half 
 wide. It exhibits the political divisions of the continent, as the French then 
 understood them; that is to say, all the regions drained by streams flowing into 
 the St. Lawrence and the Mississippi are claimed as belonging to France, and 
 this vast domain is separated into two grand divisions, La Nouvelle France and 
 La Louisiane. The boundary line of the former, New France, is drawn from the 
 Penobscot to the southern extremity of Lake Champlain, and thence to the Mo- 
 hawk, which it crosses a little above Schenectady, in order to make French sub- 
 jects of the Mohawk Indians. Thence it passes by the sources of the Susque- 
 hanna and the Alleghany, along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across Southern 
 Michigan, and by the head of Lake Michigan, whence it sweeps north-westward 
 to the sources of the Mississippi. Louisiana includes the entire valley of the 
 Mississippi and the Ohio, besides the whole of Texas. The Spanish province 
 
 » 
 
 * The view of "Starved Rock" is copied from a photograph taken by the dis- 
 tinguished artist, \V. E. Bowman, of Ottawa, IH. 
 
pi.m. 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 259 
 
 his map, on his arrival at the St. Lawrence from the Illinois 
 in the fall of 1683. 
 
 We cannot avoid speaking further of that remarkable man, 
 Rene Robert Caveiier de la Salle. 
 
 In April, 1682, at one of the mouths of the Mississippi, he 
 had taken formal possession of the country in the name of 
 Louis the Great and France. Possibly that was the most 
 joyful day of his life; one grand accomplishment had crowned 
 his efforts at length. Yet a final purpose and goal which he 
 entertained, and he at least could plainly see, — the future 
 occupation and settlement of the great valley to which and 
 beyond it he gave the name Louisiana, — was now the main 
 object and aim to which he bent his efforts. Frontenac, the 
 Governor of Canada, a friend and supporter of LaSalle, was 
 however recalled to France that same year of 1682, and his 
 successor, Antoine Lefevre de la Barre, proved to him no 
 
 of Florida comprises the peninsula and the country east of the Bay of Mobile, 
 drained by streams flowing into the Gulf; while Carolina, Virginia, and the other 
 English provinces, form a narrow strip between the Alleghanies and the Atlantic. 
 
 "The Mississippi is called 'Missisipi, ou Riviere Colbert ;' the Missouri, 'Grande 
 Riviere des Emissourittes, ou Missourits;' the Illinois, 'Riviere des Ilinois, ou 
 Macopins;' the Ohio, which La Salle had before called by its present name, 
 'Fleuve St. Louis, ou Chucagoa, ou Casquinampogamou ;' one of its principal 
 branches is 'Ohio, ou Olighin' (Alleghany); the Arkansas, 'Riviere des Acansea;' 
 the Red River, 'Riviere Seignelay,' a name which had once been given to the 
 Illinois. Many smaller streams are designated by names which have been en- 
 tirely forgotten. 
 
 " The nomenclature differs materially from that of Coronelli's map, published 
 four years later. Here the whole of the French territory is laid down as ' Canada, 
 ou La Nouvelle France,' of which 'La Louisiane' forms an integral part. The 
 map of Homannus, like that of Franquelin, makes two distinct provinces, oi 
 which one is styled ' Canada ' and the other ' La Louisiane, ' the latter including 
 Michigan and the greater part of New York. Franquelin gives the shape of 
 Hudson's Bay, and of all the Great Lakes, with remarkable accuracy. He makes 
 the Mississippi bend much too far to the West. The peculiar sinuosities of its 
 course are indicated; and some of its bends, as, for example, that at New Or- 
 leans, are easily recognized. Its mouths are represented with great minuteness; 
 and it may be inferred from the map that, since La Salle's time, they have ad- 
 vanced considerably into the sea. 
 
 "He reproduced the map in 1688, for presentation to the king, with the title 
 Carte de FAmiriqtte Septentrianale, depuis U sjjusq'au 65 degre de latitude el envi- 
 ron 140 et 235 degres de longitude, etc. " * 
 
 "Two later maps of New France and Louisiana, both bearing Franquelin's 
 name, are preserved in the Depot des Cartes de la Marine, as well as a number 
 of smaller maps and sketches, also by him. They all have more or less of the 
 features of the great map of 1684, which surpasses them all in interest and com- 
 pleteness. " 
 
260 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 helper; indeed, he was one of the obstacles which beset the 
 rugged path of the great explorer, who, in more than one 
 sense, was never henceforth to reach the haven of his brilliant 
 dreams* 
 
 There is a map in "Blome's Britannia," said to have been 
 designed (1673) by Sanson, geographer to the French King, 
 
 * We desire to say here, that in the volume before named, Mr. Parkman details 
 in words of much interest the treatment extended to LaSalle by the new Gov- 
 ernor, de la Earre, who was " advanced to a post for which he proved himself 
 notably unfit. " That treatment was harsh, ungentlemanly, and despicable. La- 
 Salle was in the Illinois, yet he early felt the sting of the viper; but no words of 
 the explorer could conciliate that rough'son of Neptune. There appears in one of 
 the volumes of Mr. Margry " Lettre de La Salle a La Barre, Portage de Chkagou, 
 4 Juin, 1683." Mr. Parkman gives the greater part of the substance of the 
 named letter as follows : 
 
 " The Iroquois are again invading the country. Last year, the Miamis were so 
 alarmed by them that they abandoned their town and fled; but at my return they 
 came back, and have been induced to settle with the Illinois at my fort of St. 
 Louis. The Iroquois have lately murdered some families of their nation, and 
 they are all in terror again. I am afraid they will take flight, and so prevent the 
 Missouris and neighboring tribes from coming to settle at St. Louis, as they are 
 about to do. 
 
 " Some of the Hurons and French tell the Miamis that I am keeping them here 
 for the Iroquois to destroy. I pray that you will let me hear from you, that I 
 may give these people some assurances of protection before they are destroyed in 
 my sight. Do not suffer my men who have come down to the settlements to be 
 longer prevented from returning. There is great need here of reinforcements. 
 The Iroquois, as I have said, have lately entered the country; and a great terror 
 prevails. I have postponed going to Michillimackinac, because, if the Iroquois 
 strike any blow in my absence, the Miamis will think that I am in league with 
 them; whereas, if I and the French stay among them, they will regard us as pro- 
 tectors. But, Monsieur, it is in vain that we risk our lives here, and that I ex- 
 haust my means in order to fulfil the intentions of his Majesty, if all my measures 
 are crossed in the settlements below, and if those who go down to bring muni- 
 tions, without which we cannot defend ourselves, -are detained under pretexts 
 trumped up for the occasion. If I am prevented from bringing up men and sup- 
 plies, as I am allowed to do by the permit of Count Frontenac, then my patent 
 from the king is useless. It would be very hard for us, after having done what 
 was required, even before the time prescribed, and after suffering severe losses, to 
 have our efforts frustrated by obstacles got up designedly. 
 
 " I trust that, as it lies with you alone to prevent or to permit the return of the 
 men whom I have sent down, you will not so act as to thwart my plans. A part 
 of the goods which I have sent by them belong not to me, but to the Sieur 4e 
 Tonty, and are a part of his pay. Others are to buy munitions indispensable for 
 our defence. Do not let my creditors seize them. It is for their advantage that 
 my fort, full as it is of goods, should be held against the enemy. I have only 
 twenty men, with scarcely a hundred pounds of powder; and I cannot long hold 
 the country without more. The Illinois are very capricious and uncertain. . 
 If I had men enough to send out to reconnoitre the enemy, I would have done so 
 before this; but I have not enough. I trust you will put it in my power to obtain 
 more, that this important colony may be saved. " 
 
Pl.IY. 
 
 Koi. 
 De Lisle, 1203. 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 26 1 
 
 revised into English, by Richard Blome, in 1674. This map 
 is in the Historical Society Library, at Madison, Wis. Mr. 
 Durrie, the librarian of that Institution, informs us that Lake 
 Michigan does not appear on it; "Lake Huron, or, as the 
 map has it 'Karegondi or Sweet Water,' is down much out of 
 shape; 'Lac des Puans' is on the map, abreviated, as well as 
 Lake Superior. The Mississippi River is not found, as the 
 date was prior to Marquette. The mouth and outlet of Chu- 
 cagua River is given into Gulf of Mexico." [Was not this 
 Chucagua, which is a name similar to one sometimes at an 
 early day applied to the Mississippi River, the echo of a rumor 
 of the existence of the great river?] Yet, at the rooms of the 
 Chicago Hist. Soc, on a map entitled "Le Nouveau Mexique 
 et La Floride; Par N. Sanson d'Abbeville, Paris, 1679," pre- 
 sumed to be by the same Monsieur Sanson as above, we can- 
 not see either names "Chucagua" or "Mississippi." There are, 
 it is true, two rivers thereon emptying into the Gulf, bearing 
 the name "Del Spiritu Santo," (the old Spanish name for the 
 Mississippi) but either of them is a poor representation of that 
 river, if so intended. At the north, "Ontario ou Lac De St. 
 Louis" and "Erie Lac" are drawn with a more natural appear- 
 ance, but the features of the region to the westward, by the 
 other great lakes, are not attempted to be given. Mr. Bald- 
 win says, "Sanson was no doubt much indebted to maps still 
 in manuscript;" and he refers to Mr. Parkman's notices; yet, 
 that remarkable map* of Lake Superior and parts of Lake 
 Huron and Michigan, prepared by Father Dablon, or other of 
 the Jesuit missionaries, and which appears in their printed 
 Relations of 1670- 1, seems not to have imparted any instruc- 
 tion to M. Sanson. 
 
 We present (see No. 1 of Plate III.) a section from the map 
 in an early edition of La Hontan's work, probably that of 
 
 1703-t 
 
 * A copy appears in the third volume of Mr. Bancroft's History. 
 
 + We will here take the occasion to say, that in presenting sketches or draw- 
 ings of small areas from various maps we shall not attempt perfect facsimiles, yet 
 
262 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 Mr. Baldwin tells us, "If Hennepin had a rival in literary 
 fame, it was the Baron La Hontan, whose maps were as men- 
 dacious as the other's books." 
 
 But if La Hontan's "Dead River" or "Long River" and 
 some other things upon his map, were a fraud not soon to be 
 forgotten, the small section of his map, copied upon the plate 
 referred to above, though not altogether free from distortion, 
 yet, may not be accused as the other. 
 
 Of Father Hennepin, whose works, published in 1683 and 
 1697, each present a map, Mr. Baldwin says: he "did a good 
 deal to debase the geographical accuracy of maps. His two 
 maps correspond with his change of claims. His first shows 
 the upper part of the Mississippi, having in the lower part a 
 dotted line as a guess into the Gulf of Mexico. The other is 
 carried to the Gulf, much abridged in length, but with the 
 characteristic curves, islands, and cut-offs. The upper Missis- 
 sippi is much alike in the two maps, though in the last, Lake 
 Superior is more correctly shaped, and Lake Michigan less 
 sprawling. The River Seignelay becomes the Illinois, and 
 Fort des Miamis, and the river it was on, now St. Joseph, is 
 moved from the east and correct side of Lake Michigan to 
 the west. The portage is marked alike in both." Concerning 
 the map in "Joutel's Journal of LaSalle's Last Voyage, Lon- 
 don, 1714," he remarks that it "is little more than a sketch. 
 The lower part bears marks of actual observation, though the 
 Mississippi is not as correctly given in its course as in Henne- 
 pin's even. It is called Mississippi, or Colbert, with a note 
 
 giving representations of the originals, sufficiently exact for all purposes to be de- 
 sired. 
 
 From the examples in the maps quoted in our copies, some idea can be formed 
 of the progress among the map-makers toward accuracy, in the two centuries 
 past; yet it is believed that it was not every published map which might properly 
 claim to be more truthful than its predecessor; indeed, such advances sometimes 
 were retrogressive. 
 
 The compiler of this book, expresses his obligations to C. C. Baldwin, Esq., of 
 Cleveland, O., not only for a copy of his Tract on the early maps of the west, but 
 also for numerous tracings from ancient and rare maps in his possession, many of 
 which are editions difficult to be found elsewhere. 
 
Pl.V 
 
 ISTo.l. 
 
 Senex,17i0. 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 263 
 
 that in the year 1712, 'it changed its name, and is called St. 
 Louis.' The Missouri appears by that name. The river 
 'Ullinois, or Seignly,' is too far east. A branch of the 'Ra- 
 many' reaches below the west end of Lake 'Eria,' the direc- 
 tion and position of which is more correct than in Hennepin's, 
 but it has square ends. The River 'Douo or Abacha (Ohio 
 or Wabash) is far too small and too far south. M. Joutel 
 returned .along the Illinois. On the 19th of August, 1687, he 
 passed the 'River called Houabache' (Ohio), 'said to come 
 from the country of the Iroquois toward New England.'" 
 
 In the Library of the Chicago Historical Society are three 
 original maps of M. De L'Isle, namely, those of 1700, 1703, 
 1718. Probably the first named was one of his earliest if not 
 Pearliest of his publications; its title in part, is 'L'Ameri- 
 que Septentrionale. Dressee sur les Observations de M" de 
 TAcademie Royale des Sciences." The map represents the 
 region from below Panama to the north of "Baye de Baffins." 
 In No. 2, Plate III., we transfer a small fraction of it, includ- 
 ing Lake Michigan. A creek, not there named, represents 
 the Chicago. We quote the following from Mr. Baldwin's 
 Tract: "A geographer, very celebrated in his time, was Wil- 
 liam De L'Isle, Royal Geographer to the French King. He 
 was born in 1675, died in Paris, in 1726, and is considered the 
 most learned geographer of France. He produced a large 
 number of excellent maps, having wonderful industry, and 
 was the authority for map-makers of all other countries. He 
 seems to have worked modestly, and at his death was prepar- 
 ing a new map of America, which he hoped to be much better 
 than those he had made already. * * * * * 
 It is instructive to see how often De L'Isle's maps are men- 
 tioned in the Colonial despatches, and how many plans, even 
 of the English Territories, taken from them, were sent to Eng- 
 land." 
 
 De L'Isle's map of 1703, is entitled "Carte Du Canada ou 
 de la Nouvelle France." 
 
 La Hontan's Long River, here "la Riviere Longue ou 
 
264 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 Riviere Morte" or "Moingona," gains a place in this map, 
 and appears with its lakes a more important stream than the 
 Missouri. Yet we may readily see that those early maps 
 abounded in errors and inaccuracies.. In No. 1 of Plate IV, 
 we have copied from the map referred to. 
 
 In the map of 1618, by M. De L'Isle, called "Carte De la 
 Louisiane et du Cours du Mississipi," there is improvement 
 in many particulars. La Hontan's Long River or the "Moin- 
 goina" in this map, has become of less extent and size than 
 the Missouri. This map seems to be the same, or rather a 
 reduced fac-simile of the one in Part 2, of B. F. French's His- 
 torical Collection of Louisiana. Mr. Baldwin refers to the 
 fact that Governor Burnett, of New York, in his memoir in 
 1720, to the Lords of Trade governing the English Colonies, 
 complained that De L'Isle, in his map of 1718, makes en- 
 croachments on the Kings territories, since his map of 1703 
 was made. But we are not surprised at the Governor's exhi- 
 bition of nervousness; he felt, no doubt, that upon his shoul- 
 ders were borne up the honor and a large share of England's 
 glory and territory in America ; and now, the map-maker at 
 least, had hedged out and barricaded, as the whole British 
 possessions here, a mere strip of country along the Atlantic 
 Coast, running from near Charleston, S. C, by way of a chain 
 of mountains, and a yellow stripe to the south end of Lake 
 Champlain. In our No. 2 of Plate IV., will be seen all that 
 we have copied from this map. 
 
 In No. 1 of Plate V, we give a tracing from John Senex's 
 map of 1 710, with a representation of the locality of Chicago 
 and ' vicinity. A "General Atlas of the World," published 
 "London, 1721," was by the same author; one of the maps 
 (that of Western America, with date 1719) is said to be "quite 
 inaccurate;" another, of Louisiana, evidently much indebted 
 to the maps of De L'Isle, is more correct. 
 
 We have a tracing from a map bearing the title "Nouvelle 
 France," with name Gerard Van Keulen, Amsterdam, at- 
 
Pl.VI 
 
 mi. 
 
 Popple, 1733. 
 
 LAKE 
 XLLOTOIS 
 
 CIiarlevoir.1744. 
 
 S r 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 265 
 
 tached. It is without date, but, seemingly, made early in the 
 1 8th century, probably before that above referred to, by John 
 JSenex. It has thereon Lake Michigan, with a stream in its 
 proper locality, with cabins, and a name " les Checagou." 
 The Desplaines river also appears, reasonable enough, un- 
 named, however; but a river, coming from the eastward, ap- 
 parently about where the Kankakee should run, is given the 
 name "Riv. de Checagou," and on its north bank a dot, evi- 
 dently meaning a village, or somebody's place of residence, 
 also named "Checasrou." 
 
 Herman Moll, an English geographer, was the author of 
 various maps, whose dates range from 171 1 to 1720. From 
 a map of the last-named date, we present a tracing in No. 2., 
 Plate V. 
 
 In No. 1, Plate VI., we give a view from Henry Popple's 
 Atlas, "America Septentrionalis," published London, 1733. 
 "These maps," says Mr. Baldwin, "were undertaken with the 
 approbation of the Lords of Trade, using all the maps, charts, 
 and observations that could be found, and especially the 
 authentic records and actual surveys transmitted by the gov- 
 ernors of the British Plantations." Mr. B. yet adds, "The 
 engraver has bestowed much labor upon them, but the prog- 
 ress is backwards ;" many particulars are referred to. 
 
 Father Charlevoix, the missionary and traveller, passed 
 along the east shore of Lake Michigan in 172 1. His Journal 
 or Letters, written during his passage through Canada, Illi- 
 nois, etc., were published, with a map ; his History of New 
 France appeared in 1744, illustrated with maps; which work 
 has been translated into English, with the addition of ex- 
 tended and valuable notes, by Hon. J. G. Shea, not many 
 years since. Charlevoix acknowledged his indebtedness for 
 the accuracy of his maps to N. Bellin, engraver of the depart- 
 ment of Marine, and to the charts, etc., there gathered. It is 
 understood, however, that the reduced fac-simile copy, in Mr. 
 
266 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 Shea's Charlevoix, is not as good as the original Belfin map. 
 In No. 2., Plate VI., is given a small section, as transferred 
 from a map in Charlevoix's work. 
 
 In No. i, Plate VII., appears a small portion from a map 
 in "Bowen's General Atlas," "London, 1752." 
 
 No. 2, Plate VII., is from D'Anville, a Frenchman, whose 
 map is entitled "Canada, Louisiane, et Terres Angloises," 
 1755. D'Anville expresses his obligation to the map of Bd- 
 lin (1744). In "Thomas Jeffrey's Natural and Civil History 
 of the French Dominions in N. and S. America," London, 
 1 76 1, he refers to the route by way of the Chicago to the 
 Illinois, copying much of the language from Charlevoix's 
 Journal, or the letter bearing date Sept. 17, 172 1. The map 
 in Jeffrey is said to be D'Anville's "improved," but it seems 
 to us inferior in some respects to the earlier one. 
 
 In No. 1 of Plate VIII., we give a reduced extract from 
 John Mitchell's map, "repeatedly printed, much used, and 
 long of authority." We are quoting from Mr. Baldwin. 
 "John Mitchell, M.D., F.R.S., came to Virginia early in the 
 1 8th century, as a botanist. He lived long in America, and 
 died in England, in 1768,. His large and elaborate map has 
 a certificate from John Pownall, Secretary of the Board of 
 Trade, and brother of Governor Thomas, that it was under- 
 taken at. his request, composed from drafts, charts, and actual 
 surveys, transmitted from the different colonies by the gov- 
 ernors thereof. This certificate is dated July 1, 1755. The 
 various editions of the map generally have no date but this. 
 It continued to be much thought of, and was used by the 
 Commissioners in making the Treaty of Peace, in 1783, by. 
 which our country became a nation. The copy thus used, 
 was not long since presented by the English Government to 
 Hon. Chas. Francis 1 Adams, who gave it to the American 
 Geographical Society, and it hangs as a principal ornament 
 in its lecture-room, in New York City." On this map we 
 
pi.m . 
 
 mi. "1 
 
 Bowen,U52.J 
 
 MASCOUTENS 
 ,oa &ens daFeu 
 
 ¥0.2. 1 
 
 D 1 Anwlle,lI55^ 
 
 > r 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 267 
 
 notice the name "Quadoghe," apparently attached to a locali- 
 ty at south end of Lake Michigan; we do not remember see- 
 ing this name so applied on any other map of a previous date. 
 
 [We will here speak of a valuable manuscript chart or map, 
 presented to the Chicago Historical Society, in the spring of 
 1859, by Mr. Geo. F. Rumsey. It was one of a collection of 
 maps imported from Europe and offered for sale in Chicago, 
 and this was purchased by Mr. R. It was executed with a 
 pen and colored, and exhibited "with much clearness and 
 accuracy the cantonment of the British forces in America, in 
 the summer of 1768, and the proposed distribution of the 
 same, consisting of 17 Regiments. Fort Chartres, in the Illi- 
 nois territory, probably the most finished fortification west of 
 the Alleghanies, was assigned a garrison of six companies. 
 The various fortified posts in British America, with the num- 
 ber of the respective regiments and battalions, and the subor- 
 dinations of the several commands. The westerly bounds of 
 the principal Atlantic Colonies follow the ridge of the Appa- 
 lachian range."] 
 
 We have in our possession "Bowies' Universal Atlas," by 
 John Palairet, Agent to Their High Mightinesses The States 
 General. Revised and improved by other eminent geogra- 
 phers. All the maps were designed to be sold separately as 
 well, many of them having for part of their title, "Bowies' New 
 Pocket Map," etc. Some of them bear the date of 1791 ; 
 probably the one of U. S. was made about that date. The 
 Desplaines is called "Chicagou;" "Quadoghe" has its place 
 without any very definate appearance of what it is intended 
 to mean, though believed to indicate the locality of an Indian 
 tribe of that name, at some former date. We notice a stream, 
 tributary to the Illinois, from its right or west bank below the 
 Rock, is called Chacagouctie. A'dotted line upon said map, 
 which we trace at least, from the "Uttaway," striking Lake 
 Huron east of St. Mary's riyer, thence, passing through the 
 Straits and the middle of Lake Michigan to Chicago, and 
 
268 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 down the Illinois and Mississippi to the Gulf; we hardly 
 know whether it is intended to represent a route of travel, or 
 a line of an Indian conveyance, or of disputed territory of a 
 previous date. 
 
 [In 1862, the Chicago Historical Society added to their 
 collections, Shelton and Kinsett's large map of the United 
 States, of date 18 16, exhibiting early surveys, with the forts, 
 trading-posts, and Indian villages of the Northwest.] 
 
 We close .this partial list of map-references with that from 
 Carey's General Atlas, an extract of which appears in No. 2, 
 
 Plate VIII. 
 
 — ■+++■ • 
 
 HON. E. M. HAINES, AND THE NAME CHICAGO. 
 
 A lengthy communication in the Chicago Tribune of Dec. 
 7, 1879, much of the substance of which, from other sources, 
 appears elsewhere in these pages, closes with the following 
 summary, as Mr. Haines' view of the gist of the matter: 
 
 "Mr. Lewis H. Morgan, in his excellent work entitled 'League 
 of the Iroquois,' adds a large number of geographical names of 
 Indian origin, with definitions. But many of them seem to have 
 undergone such changes by corruption that their meaning, in our 
 language, could not be traced. As to such words, he frankly adds 
 'signification lost.' Now, in regard to this word Chicago, after the 
 various opinions which have been given as to its meaning, and since 
 no satisfactory result can be reached, it would seem proper, rather 
 than contend for any given opinion, unsupported by satisfactory 
 evidence, that we should set it down 'signification lost.' At any 
 rate, all must agree that the original word has undergone changes 
 by corruption, and just what the original word was, and what its 
 meaning in our language may have been, we have now no means of 
 showing beyond mere conjecture.* E. M. Haines." 
 
 * Yet after all, a condition of doubt, it must be allowed, is a rather unsatisfac- 
 tory one with many minds. A very old native of the West has already told us in 
 these pages, without hesitation, that "Chicago means the place of the skunk;" and 
 we wish to suggest that one of the early St. Louis Indians, of whom we have 
 heard, was unquestionably prepared, on Iiis hasty flight homeward, to utter an 
 equally unhesitating assurance of a similar purport, to wit : Great chief, squaw, 
 
pi/vm 
 
 ATOMl s 
 
 ' Ko.2. 
 Carey-,1818. 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 269 
 
 EARLY INDIAN DEED; "CHICAGO, OR 
 GARLIC CREEK r 
 
 To Mr. Forsythe we must acknowledge indebtedness for 
 the following copy of an early conveyance; it is apparently 
 genuine, though we are not informed where the parchment 
 was resurrected. The gentlemen, grantees of the instrument, 
 certainly had an eye to business in thus providing themselves 
 each a farm of such liberal dimensions at the cost of a few 
 hundred yards of shoddy, some blankets, gun -flints, and 
 brass kettles. Those two nice little parcels of land were 
 bounded by Heron Creek, Hilly Plains, Crab-tree Plains, Big 
 Buffalo Hoofs, seven leagues or thereabouts (some hoofs those!), 
 to the Ohio and Mississippi ; also, from the mouth of the Illi- 
 nois River to Chicagou or Garlic Creek; thence to an ancient 
 
 pappoose, arrived here at night from St. Louis; great chief doesn't work, he 
 great warrior, rests while squaw puts up wigwam; big chief has weakness like 
 other men, sometimes gets hungry, wants to eat now; great chief rises and walks 
 out to find place for squaw to cut wood — to build fire — to get his supper; great 
 chief high warrior, holds head lofty, looks for north star towards Milwaukie, 
 stept on something, did n't see it, but something hit him, little chemical-squirt- 
 engine, perhaps, — no, fire-patrol wasn't here yet; twasn't a cologne-bottle either; 
 big chief didn't find wood for squaw, who didn't make fire, didn't get supper, 
 big chief did n't want supper, had n't wanted any, is n't going to Milwaukie, but 
 leaves hurriedly in the other direction. 
 
 We might say that Indian had no doubts struggling with his opinion. But 
 another legend, leading to a faith quite as decided in another quarter, may be 
 told as follows : A big brawny brave, bare-legged, miserably moccasined, and 
 almost as poorly breeched as one of the classic cupids of Canova, hadn't now 
 any squaw, for, as he was too lazy to hunt, she therefore took a divorce, and 
 henceforth he had to paddle his own canoe, or in other words, to grub for him- 
 self. He therefore came to Chicago and grovelled for garlics. He ate them raw 
 as well as roasted; he breakfasted, he lunched, he dined, and supped on them, 
 and became frouzy, fat, and fetid; indeed, he wore a string of onions like pearls 
 around his neck. The Indians sometimes called him "o/d Garlic," but most 
 usually he was known by the term " .SAr-kaug, " not only for the reason that he 
 was partial to onions, but because he had come down from the lofty position of a 
 brave to that of a woman, to dig in the dirt for the coveted bulbs; the Indian 
 women perform the servile drudgery and hard work, which the braves never do. 
 We will add, that it is supposed that this was the same chief that was long ago 
 drowned in Chicago River, of whom the Indians told Mrs. Kinzie. 
 
270 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 battle-field, and two remarkable hills, as well as the Foggy 
 Spring and the White Buffalo Plain. We cannot attempt to 
 place these metes and bounds; it is enough to assert that 
 they encircled the head as well as the caudal extremity, and 
 nearly everything between them, of what is now the State of 
 Illinois. The Treaty of Greenville, twenty-two years after- 
 wards, securing to the American Government "six miles 
 square at the mouth of Chikago River," was a mere baga- 
 telle to the other; yet the fact that such an institution as an 
 American Government had existence, we suppose, was suffi- 
 cient to take the wind out of the other sale. 
 
 Nearly twenty years ago, there was presented to the Chi- 
 cago Historical Society an old manuscript, which bore date 
 at Fort Gage, in the -"Illinois country," 1773, the same year, 
 and place as in the deed below. The document was called a 
 "national protest," but beyond that we are not informed of 
 its purport; it was, no doubt, burned with the Society's Li- 
 brary. It has occurred to us that the execution of the con- 
 veyance named may have called out this protest; but whether 
 or no our supposition may be correct, we do not know of any 
 more creditable employment for a protest to be engaged in, 
 than to attack such a stupendous steal as the one embodied 
 in the deed. 
 
 The remarks of the Chicago Tribune regarding this deed, 
 relating to the signification of the name Chicagou, are rather 
 ingeniously put, and the conclusion arrived at is that the mat- 
 ter is now forever settled by four certain words in that deed, 
 though placed there, possibly, by the presumptuous whim of 
 a notary's clerk. Yet, even supposing there may be better 
 authority for those words — that of aboriginal prescript — we 
 cannot perceive why one Indian's caprice should receive 
 credit before all others. Present opinion concerning the sub- 
 ject is far from being a unit, and we know there were varied 
 early ideas also. The venerable Grignon, himself part Ind- 
 ian, whose great-grandfather, De Langlade, is supposed to 
 have been in De Ligney's expedition against the Fox Ind- 
 ians, in 1728, received from his grandfather numerous facts 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 271 
 
 in Western history, and he gave a different definition from 
 that of the Fort Gage man.* 
 
 " To the Editor of The Chicago Tribune. 
 
 "Chicago, Jan. 2. — Many articles have been published in The 
 Tribune as to the origin and meaning of the word Chicago, but in 
 every instance, so far as I know, the writers have failed to furnish 
 any direct evidence derived from the Illinois nations of Indians as 
 to what they understood the word to mean. We have had the opin- 
 ions of many men who, it is claimed, were perfectly familiar with the 
 Indian language, and yet no two of them agree. * * 
 
 "The meaning of the word 'Chicagou,' as denned in the Indian 
 
 * One thing we believe may be relied on, that_ is the utter untrustworthiness of 
 much of what is called Indian tradition. No Indian whose complacency has 
 been secured, or whose confidence has been won, was ever at a loss to give for 
 anything a reason, whether truthful, curious, or absurd. Possibly in attempting 
 to account for this we may suggest, that if there is any trait in the composition of 
 the Indian mind that may be termed a marked one, it is that known as the imagi- 
 native. It is, perhaps, common with most of the Indian tribes, whether in our 
 own land or others; it is, very likely, one of the resources of a condition of igno- 
 rance and consequent superstition, looking or reaching out for some ray of a 
 hopeful possibility. Not so much of the actual as the ideal is the burthen of 
 their leisurely gossip; it is little of history to which they cling, and that little is 
 preserved in memory by a few belts or strings of wampum. No fact that may 
 have happened beyond « few generations past can be related by them with any 
 definiteness of particulars and detail. If the many Indian tribes of North Amer- 
 ica were, as we suppose, descendants of the Tarter clans in Northern Asia, we 
 get no light upon the subject from that part of the race living in this hemisphere. 
 No response from Indian pen or lips comes to us as to who, how, when or whence, 
 unless, possibly, in similar shape to that of David Cusick's History of the Six Na- 
 tions. Cusick was educated at Yale College, and, in 1825, issued the pamphlet 
 referred to; it comprises something less than forty pages, and has very little his- 
 tory in it, but much of the wonderful. These wonders commence upon the title- 
 page; for instance, "the foundation of the Great Island, now North America;'' 
 the "Creation of the Universe," etc. His book tells us of huge "Stonish 
 Giants," the "Flying Head," the "Lake Serpent," and numerous other grotesque 
 and extraordinary things. It only demonstrates, however, the prevalence of the 
 trait to which we have referred; and we may remark, that Schoolcraft's books 
 abounds in examples also; and Mrs. Kinzie's Wau-bun has a few; others may be 
 seen in nearly every volume of Indian life. 
 
 The nomadic habits of the Indians, mutation of place and condition, further- 
 more, have deprived tradition of any worth, where other circumstances might 
 have given some value. To those two prominent factors, war and strong drink, 
 assisted on by white mens' cupidity a;id counsel, the tribes might often, no doubt, 
 have charged their debasement and ruin. 
 
272 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 deed following, is conclusive that in its application to the Chicagou 
 Creek it means garlic. 
 
 "The deed is a matter of interest, not only on account of the 
 light it throws upon the meaning of the name of bur city, but as 
 being a very ancient conveyance of a large portion of the North- 
 west and from matters of historical interest incidentally mentioned 
 in it. John Forsythe." 
 
 " To all people to whom these presents shall come, Greeting: Know 
 ye that we, Tomaroa, or Gabriel; Petaguage, or Michael; Maugh- 
 quayah, or John Baptiste; Couroway, Kicounaisa, or Fish; and 
 Tontowaraganih, or Peter, sometimes called La Cloche, or the Bell, 
 Kaskaskias Chiefs; Maughquinthepe, or Bear's' Head; otherwise 
 called the Black Dog; Meinquipaumiah, Achiswewah, and Escha- 
 winikiwah, Pervariahs and Cahoquias Chief; Chiefs and Sachems of 
 the different tribes of the Illinois nations of Indians, and being and 
 effectually representing all the tribes of the said Illinois Indians, 
 send greeting: 
 
 "Whereas, William Murray, of the Illinois country, merchant, 
 one of the grantees hereinafter named, as well for himself as on the 
 parts and behalfs of the several other grantees hereinafter also 
 named, did at several conferences publicly held with us, the said 
 Chiefs and Sachems, at Kaskaskias Village, in the Illinois country 
 aforesaid, treat and confer with us,- the said Chiefs and Sachems, for 
 the purchase of certain quantities or tracts, of land belonging and 
 appertaining unto us and to the several tribes or nations of Indians 
 whom we represent; and 
 
 "Whereas, We, the said Chiefs and Sachems, have deliberately 
 and maturely considered for ourselves, and consulted with the na- 
 tives of our several tribes or nations, of the requests and proposals 
 made as aforesaid by the said William Murray, for himself and 
 others, to us, the said Chiefs and Sachems;, and 
 
 "Whereas, We, the said Chiefs and Sachems, as well as the other 
 natives of our several tribes or nations, are fully satisfied and con- 
 tented (for the consideration hereinafter mentioned) to grant and 
 confirm unto the said William Murray, and to the other grantees 
 hereinafter named, the several tracts or quantities of land, herein- 
 after bounded and described: 
 
 "Now know ye, therefore, that we, the said Chiefs and Sachems 
 of the several tribes of the Illinois Indians aforesaid, in full and 
 public council assembled, at Kaskaskias Village aforesaid, for and in 
 consideration of the sum of five shillings, to us in hand paid by the ; 
 said William Murray, and for and in consideration of the following 
 goods and merchandise to us, the said Tomaroa, Petaguage, Maugh- 
 quayah, Couroway, Kicounaisa, Tontowaraganih, Maughquinthepe, 
 Achiswewah, Meinquipaumiah, and Eschawinikiwah, paid and de- 
 livered in full council aforesaid, that is to say, 260 strouds, 250 
 blankets, 350 shirts, 150 pairs of stroud and half-thick 'stockings, 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 273 
 
 150 stroud breech-cloths, 500 pounds of gunpowder, 4000 pounds 
 of lead, one gross of knives, thirty pounds of vermilion, 2000 gun- 
 flints, 200 pounds of brass kettles, 200 pounds of tobacco, three 
 dozen gilt looking-glasses, one gross of gun-worms, two gross. of 
 awls, one gross of fire-steels, sixteen dozen of gartering, 10,000 
 pounds of flour, 500 bushels of Indian corn, twelve horses, twelve 
 horned cattle, twenty bushels of salt, and twenty guns, the receipt 
 whereof we do hereby acknowledge, have granted, bargained, sold, 
 aliened, released, enfeoffed, ratified, and fully confirmed, and by 
 these presents do grant, bargain, sell, alien, release, enfeoff, ratify, 
 and fully confirm unto the said William Murray, Moses Franks, and 
 Jacob Franks, of the City of London, in the Kingdom of Great 
 Britain, Esquires; David Franks, John Inglis, Bernard Gratz, 
 Michael Gratz, Alexander Ross, David Sproat, and James Mil- 
 ligan, all of the City of Philadelphia, in the Province of Penn- 
 sylvania, merchants; Moses Franks, of the same city, attorney at 
 law; Andrew Hamilton and William Hamilton, of the same city, 
 gentlemen; Edmund Milne, of the same city, goldsmith and jeweler; 
 Joseph Simons and Levi Andrew Levi, of the Town of Lancaster, 
 in the County of Lancaster, and Province aforesaid, merchants; 
 Thomas Minshall, of York County, and Province aforesaid, Esquire; 
 Robert Calender and William Thompson, of Cumberland County, 
 and Province aforesaid, Esquires; John Campbell, of Pittsburg, 
 Westmoreland County and Province aforesaid, merchant; George 
 Castles, of the Illinois country aforesaid, and James Rumsey, late 
 of the same county, merchants, their heirs and assigns, in severalty, 
 or unto his Most Sacred Majesty George III., by the grace of God, 
 of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, King, defender of the faith, 
 etc., his heirs, and successors, for the use, benefit, and behoof of all 
 the said several above-named grantees, their heirs and assigns, in 
 severalty as aforesaid (by whichever of these tenures the said gran- 
 tees may most legally hold the same), the two several tracts or par- 
 cels of land hereinafter described and bounded, viz. . 
 
 "One tract or parcel of land, situate, lying, and being on the east 
 side of the River Mississippi, beginning at the mouth of the Heron 
 Creek, called by the French the River of Mary, being about a league 
 below the mouth of the Kaskaskias River; thence a northward of 
 east course, in a direct line back to the Hilly Plains, eight leagues 
 or thereabouts, be the same more or less; thence the same course, in 
 a direct line, to the Crabtree Plains, seventeen leagues or therea- 
 bouts, be the same more or less; thence the same course, in a direct 
 line, to a remarkable place known by the name of the Big Buffalo 
 Hoofs, seven leagues or thereabouts, be the same more or less; 
 thence the same course, in a direct line, to the Salt Lick Creek, 
 about seven leagues, be the same more or less; then, crossing the 
 said creek about one league below the ancient Shawanese town, in an 
 easterly or a little to the north of east course, in a direct line to the 
 
274 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 river Ohio, about four leagues, be the same more or less; then down 
 the Ohio, by the several courses thereof, until it empties itself in the 
 Mississippi, about thirty-five leagues, be the same more or less; and 
 then up the Mississippi, by the several courses thereof, to the place 
 of beginning, thirty-three leagues or thereabouts, be the same more 
 or less ; and also one other piece or parcel of land, situate, lying, or 
 being on the east side of the Mississippi, beginning at a place or 
 point in a direct line opposite to the mouth of the Missouri River; 
 thence up the Mississippi, by the several courses thereof, to the 
 mouth of the Illinois River, about six leagues, be the same more or 
 less; then up the Illinois River, by the several courses thereof, to 
 Chicagon,* or Garlick Creek, about ninety leagues, or thereabouts, be 
 the same more or less; then nearly a northerly course, in a direct 
 line, to a certain place remarkable, being the ground on which an 
 engagement, or battle, was fought about forty or fifty years ago be- 
 tween the Pewaria and Renard Indians, about fifty leagues, be the 
 same more or less; thence, by the same course, in a direct line, to 
 two remarkable hills close together, in the middle of a large prairie, 
 or plain, about fourteen leagues, be the same more or less; thence a 
 north by east course, .in a direct line, to a remarkable spring, known 
 by the Indians by the name of Foggy Spring, about fourteen leagues,, 
 be the same more or less; thence the same course, in a direct line, 
 to a great mountain to the northward of the White Buffalo Plain, 
 about fifteen leagues, be the same more or less; thence nearly a 
 southwest course, in a direct line, to the place of beginning, about 
 forty leagues, be the same more or less; and also all minerals, ores, 
 trees, woods, underwoods, water, water-courses, profits, commodities, 
 advantages, rights, liberties, privileges, hereditaments, and appurte- 
 nances whatsoever, to the said two several tracts or parcels of land, 
 belonging, or in anywise appertaining, and also the reversion and 
 reversions, remainder and remainders, rents, issues, and profits 
 thereof, and of every part and parcel thereof, and all the estate, 
 right, title, and interest, use, property, possession, claim, and de- 
 mand of them, the said Tomaroa, Petaguage, Maughquayah, Couro- 
 way, Kicounaisa, Tontowaraganih, Maughquinthepe, Achiswewah, 
 Meinquipaumiah, and Eschawinikiwah, Chiefs and Sachems afore- 
 said, and of all and every other person and persons whatsoever, of 
 or belonging to the said nations, of, into, and out of, the premises, 
 and every part and parcel thereof; to have and to hold the said sev- 
 eral tracts or parcels of land, and all and singular the said granted 
 or bargained premises, with the appurtenances, unto them, the said 
 William Murray, Moses Franks, Jacob Franks, David Franks, John 
 Inglis, Bernard Gratz, Michael Gratz, Alexander Ross, David Sproat, 
 James Milligan, Moses Franks, Andrew Hamilton, William Hamil- 
 ton, Edmund Milne, Joseph Simon, Levi Andrew Levi, Thomas 
 Minshall, Robert Calender, William Thompson, John Campbell, 
 
 * So printed, Chicagon, in Tribune copy. 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 275 
 
 George Castles, and James Rumsey, their heirs and assigns, forever, 
 in severalty, or unto his said Majesty, his heirs and successors, to 
 and for the use, benefit, and behoof of the said grantees, their heirs 
 and assigns, forever, in severalty, as aforesaid; and the said Toma- 
 roa, Petaguage, Maughquayah, Couroway, Kicounaisa, Tontwara- 
 ganih, Maughquinthepe, Achiswewah, Meinquipaumiah, and Escha- 
 winikiwah, for themselves, and for their several tribes of the Illinois 
 nations, and all and every other nation and nations, tributaries and 
 dependants on the said Illinois Indians, and their and every of their 
 posterities, the said several tracts of land and premises, and every 
 part thereof, against them the said Tomaroa, Petaguage, Maughqua- 
 yah, Couroway, Kicounaisa, Tontowaraganih, Maughquinthepe, 
 Achiswewah, Meinquipaumiah, and Eschawinikiwah, and against the 
 said Illinois nations, and their tributaries, and dependants, and all 
 and every of their posterities, unto the said William Murray, Moses 
 Franks, Jacob Franks, David Franks, John Inglis, Bernard Gratz, 
 Michael Gratz, Alexander Ross, David Sproat, , James Milligan, 
 Moses Franks, Andrew Hamilton, William Hamilton, Edmund 
 Milne, Joseph Simon, Levi Andrew Levi, Thomas Minshall, Robert 
 Calender, William Thompson, John Campbell, George Castles, and 
 James Rumsey, their heirs and assigns, in severalty, or unto His said 
 Majesty, his heirs and successors, to and for the only use, benefit, 
 and behoof, of the said grantees, their heirs and assigns in severalty, 
 as aforesaid, shall and will warrant, and forever defend, by these 
 presents. 
 
 "In witness whereof, we, the said Chiefs and Sachems, in behalf of 
 ourselves, respectively, and in behalf of all the different tribes of the 
 Illinois Indians as aforesaid, have hereunto set our hands and seals, 
 in the presence of the persons subscribing as witnesses hereunto, at 
 a public council held at Kaskaskias Village aforesaid, this 5th day 
 of July, in the thirteenth year of his Majesty's reign, and in the year 
 of our Lord 1773: 
 
 "Tomaroa, or Gabriel 
 (being baptized), a Chief of the Kaskaskias. His X mark. 
 
 Petaguage, or Michael 
 (being baptized), a Chief of the Kaskaskias. His X mark. 
 
 Maughquayah, or John Baptiste 
 (being baptized), a Chief of the Kaskaskias. His X mark. 
 
 Couroway, 
 
 a Chief of the Kaskaskias. His Xmark. 
 
 Kicounaisa, or Fish, 
 
 a Chief of the Kaskaskias. His X mark. 
 
 TONTOWARAGANIAH, Or PETER 
 
 (being baptized), a Chief of the Kaskaskias. His X mark. 
 Maughquinthepe, or Black Dog, 
 
 a Chief of the Pewariahs. His X mark. 
 
276 . CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 ACHISWEWAH, 
 
 a Chief of the Pewariahs. His X mark. 
 
 ESCH AWIN I KI WAH, 
 
 a Chief of the Pewariahs. His X mark. 
 Meinquipaumiah, 
 
 a Chief of the Cahoquias. His X mark. 
 
 "Sealed and delivered in the presence of us. The word (thou- 
 sand) in the twenty-eighth line of the first page being first written 
 upon an erasure. The word (course) in the fifteenth line and the 
 word (Murray) in the twenty-eighth line of the second page being 
 first interlined; and also (Meinquipaumiah), the last subscribing Chief 
 of the Cahoquias, his name was first interlined in two places in the 
 first page, and the same Chief's name was also interlined in three 
 places in the second page of these presents before signing. 
 
 "Sealed and delivered in presence of us. All the foregoing inter- 
 lineations, erasure, and writing on the erasure being first made, the 
 considerations in the above-written deed-poll being also delivered in 
 our presence to the said Chiefs, the said deed was translated or ex- 
 plained by Richard Winston in French to Michael Dannee, inhab- 
 itant of the said Village of Kaskaskias, and to Piero Bloit, Indian 
 interpreter for the Crown, who explained and interpreted the same 
 to the said Indian Chiefs in council. The said Michael and Piero 
 Bloit, interpreters, cannot write their names. 
 
 "Datchserut, Wm. Connell, 
 
 J. Merier, Page, 
 
 Lapiek, Lachenay, 
 
 Patt. Kennedy, Viviert, 
 
 Capitaine le Milke % 
 J. Morris, Richard Winston, 
 
 French Interpreter. 
 "Kaskaskias, Illinois Country, ss. 
 
 "Personally appeared before me, Richard Winston and Michael 
 Dannee, of the country aforesaid, inhabitants, and Piero Bloit, Ind- 
 ian interpreter for his Majesty at this place, who, being solemnly 
 sworn upon the Holy Evangelists, do depose and say as follows, 
 viz. : The said Richard Winston deposeth and saith that he acted as 
 French interpreter during the negotiation of the purchase of the 
 lands in the foregoing deed-poll, bounded and described; that he, 
 the said Richard Winston, did, to the best of his knowledge and 
 understanding, faithfully interpret and explain in the French lan- 
 guage, to the said Michael Dannee and Piero Bloit, the purport or 
 tenor of the aforesaid deed -pool, the considerations therein ex- 
 pressed, the boundaries of the lands thereby bargained and sold to 
 the grantees therein named, and was a subscribing witness to the 
 executing of the same deed, as well as present at the delivery of the 
 consideration in the said deed mentioned. The said Michael Dan- 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 277 
 
 nee and Piero Bloit depose and say that they both acted as Indian 
 interpreters in the said transaction; that they, to the best of their 
 knowledge and understanding, did faithfully interpret and explain to 
 the several chiefs whose marks are affixed to the foregoing deed or 
 grant, the purport of the same, as it was interpreted or explained to 
 the deponents in the French language by the said Richard Winston ; 
 that the said Michael Dannee and Piero Bloit were present at the 
 executing the aforesaid deed or grant, but that they cannot write 
 their names. 
 
 "Richard Winston, 
 Michael Dannee, His X mark. 
 Piero Bloit, His X mark. 
 Hugh Lord, 
 Captain Eighteenth Regiment, Commandant Illinois country. 
 "Fort Gage, July 20, 1773. 
 
 "Enregistre au Livre V., en mon etude, anx Kaskaskias, pages 21, 
 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, et 29. Deuxieme Septembre, 1773. 
 
 "Vieerault Lemerance, Notaire Public." 
 
 THE LAST OF THE WILD BEARS. 
 
 The last wild bear killed in Chicago, and the first also, as 
 far as we know, (for we remember no other told of in white 
 or red men's chronicles), was the one shot in the autumn 
 (October 6) of the year 1834. 
 
 We may state, that his bearship was roused to a conscious- 
 ness of personal identity, by the fact, that he was encountered 
 by Sam George, the baker,* who happened to be rambling 
 through the thicket, or woods, in the neighborhood of' Ran- 
 dolph Street, somewhere between LaSalle St. and the River. 
 The timber along the east side of the South Branch, then 
 reached, in places, down north as far as Randolph Street. 
 Whichever individual, whether bruin or Sam George, was the 
 most surprised, we cannot say; but the first-named, whether 
 to show his remote or immediate kinship to the biped who 
 had now approached him, or, perhaps, with the design of 
 
 * Samuel C. George, we believe, that year (1834) had a business connection 
 with E. H. Hadduck and Josiah P. Cook, in a bakery, corner of Lake and La- 
 Salle Streets. 
 
278 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 exhibiting his dexterity in a wrestling feat, reared himself up 
 on two feet, with all the dignity of a senator in Congress 
 about to deliver a speech. George, however, did n't wait for 
 any further formalities; he, very likely, bethought him that 
 his oven must be getting hot, and that his bread might be 
 dough, unless he left immediately, which we are assured he 
 did. The "settlement" was not far distant, but for the first 
 half-minute or so, till he got clear of the brush, it was under- 
 stood that Samuel George neither spoke, nor groaned, nor 
 breathed; but there are few individuals so determinedly quiet, 
 who, upon some occasions, do not accept the necessity of 
 making a bluster. Therefore, as George emerged into the 
 clearing, or, as sometimes termed, into the daylight, his voice 
 was heard; he yelled, and whooped, and hollered, and pow- 
 wowed; some thought the fellow was crazy, or else slightly 
 elevated, but the facts in the case soon transpired, and it was 
 plain enough that Sam George had seen, if not the de'il him- 
 self, certainly a bear, or some other gentleman in black. Chi- 
 cago, in those days, was fast casting its chrysalis, but the wild 
 deer, and the wolf, and the Indian, still lingered about, and 
 many a settler who had journeyed to what they termed this 
 far-away frontier, had brought hither from Ohio or New York, 
 Pennsylvania or Vermont, his trusted rifle or shot-gun, or, 
 possibly, the old musket or queen's arm, that had been his 
 grandfather's, which long graced the chimney above the fire- 
 place, at the ancestral home. In short, many had the shoot- 
 ing-irons ready loaded ; and, of a crowd of villagers, whom 
 the hallo-belloo had aroused, among the first who answered the 
 summons, were Ashbel Steele, who kept the Illinois House, 
 or some other tavern on . Lake Street, and John Sweeney, a 
 carpenter, who had arrived here in the spring of that year. 
 Bailey Courtney, a tailor, was also electrified with the news, 
 and Courtney had a dog, and the dog too was excited, and 
 they all hastily pushed forward to the onslaught. Coming in 
 sight of the bear, we may say that Steele got the^first shot at 
 the "varmint," which had started off on a trot, but the charge 
 failed to hit him, and, as the dog was yelping at him furiously, 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 279 
 
 he was induced to climb a tree. Sweeney's turn now came, 
 and as the bear was quietly resting at the base of a limb, he 
 had the advantage of the previous marksman, and, as he says, 
 he deliberately took aim at the bear's head, "just back of his 
 ears." Mr. S. assures us, that before he had time to blow the 
 smoke from his rifle, bruin came tumbling down very care- 
 lessly, with no apparent caution, as to which side uppermost 
 he might reach the ground. Thinking that it may be desired, 
 by future generations, to know the particular spot where bruin 
 boldly bled, we will tell them that it was on LaSalle Street, 
 where Adams Street' crosses ; the streets there, at that time, 
 though laid out, were not improved; LaSalle Street being 
 cleared up only as far south as Madison Street; so says Mr. 
 S. Some persons, with a redundant stock of impertinent 
 curiosity, may wish to be enlightened concerning that instinct 
 of the bear which led him to cling so desperately to LaSalle 
 Street, but as we are not learned in the matter, we must refer 
 them to a Board of Trade man. Regarding the fate of the 
 Chicago bear of 1834, it is almost needless to remark, that 
 the shot was a beautiful one, the trophy a distinguished one, 
 and the event, we conclude, will be ever-memorable and his- 
 toric. Briefly we may say, the bear was dead ; he was drawn 
 by an ox team on a sled to the meat-market of Edward Sim- 
 ons, on Lake Street, where his weight was found to be 400 
 lbs., and where he was skinned and dressed as neatly as a 
 sensible bear could wish. Mr. S. informs us that he has but 
 one regret concerning the matter, which is, that the hide, 
 paws, and jaws were not preserved for the Chicago Historical 
 Society. It is proper to say, that the prevailing and notable 
 food of the village then for some days, was bear's meat ; all 
 the taverns and most of the private houses had each a piece; 
 every frying-pan and gridiron in the settlement, it is presumed, 
 was, for a season, redolent and reeking with bear's fat. The 
 villagers had a pride in the matter, because the product was 
 that of their own groves; they fully felt that fatness followed 
 and filled their forests and their fields. 
 
 Mr. S. desires to correct the report which was erroneously 
 
280 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 given to Mr. Calhoun, the publisher of the Chicago Democrat, 
 to the purport, that the bear ran, after falling from the tree, 
 and that two shots were fired at him while so running, one of 
 them piercing his heart, and that this was at or near the cor- 
 ner of Jackson and Market Streets. There were but two 
 shots fired, all told; and as the second one entered his brain 
 there was no attempt at running, nor any need for further 
 shots. This will also correct the statement in Gov. Bross' 
 History. 
 
 Mr. S. wishes to add, that many of those who had come to 
 that bear-hunt, were scarcely satisfied ' that it was so soon 
 over; so they, at once, organized for a wolf-hunt, which 
 proved a success, something like twenty wolves having been 
 brought in at evening.* 
 
 WEA THER IN 1820. 
 
 [The unusual temperature of the months just now passed — 
 Jan., Feb., March (1880), seem to have had their counterpart 
 sixty years ago (1820); as we notice, from a record of which 
 the following is a copy.] 
 
 Meteorological Journal kept at Chicago by Dr. Alex Wolcott. 
 
 
 820 
 
 
 Daylight. 
 
 9A. M. 
 
 2P.M. 
 
 9P.M. 
 
 WIND. 
 
 WEATHER. 
 
 Jan. 
 
 I, 
 
 4° 
 
 11° 
 
 10° 
 
 o° 
 
 W. N. W. 
 
 Cloudy; light snow; first ice 
 in the river, 14 inches 
 thick; none in the lake. 
 
 
 F 
 
 2, 
 
 10 
 
 14 
 
 25 
 
 12 
 
 W. N. W. 
 
 Clear. 
 
 
 1 
 
 3. 
 
 4 
 
 9 
 
 13 
 
 14 
 
 W. S. W. 
 
 Clear. 
 
 
 1 
 
 4, 
 
 9 
 
 14 
 
 19 
 
 9 
 
 W. 
 
 Clear. 
 
 
 1 
 
 5. 
 
 9 
 
 5 
 
 4 
 
 10 
 
 W. N. W. 
 
 Clear. 
 
 
 P 
 
 6, 
 
 11 
 
 4 
 
 15 
 
 28 
 
 S. S. W. 
 
 Clear. 
 
 
 1 
 
 7, 
 
 36 
 
 36 
 
 39 
 
 36 
 
 S. W. 
 
 Cloudy. 
 
 
 1 
 
 8, 
 
 32 
 
 32 
 
 34 
 
 33 
 
 N. N. E. 
 
 Cloudy. 
 
 * It is hardly necessary to say, that we are indebted to the old settler, the slayer 
 of the bear, Mr. John Sweeney himself, living at No. 320 West Harrison Street, 
 still a hale and hearty gentleman, now in his 70th year, for the substance of the 
 above. Mr. Sweeney's reputation, however, need not rest upon the number or 
 the size of the bears that he has killed; but, as an upright citizen and a good me- 
 chanic, who has superintended the construction of more wooden bridges than any 
 other man in the West. His bridges, it is said, hide no deceit, and therefore 
 have never fallen. 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 28 I 
 
 " 9. 32 33 36 34 N. E. Cloudy. 
 
 11 10, 32 31 31 25 N. E. Snow-storm. 
 
 n 11, 14 14 16 2 N. Clear. 
 
 11 12, 17 15 2 12 S. S. W. Clear. 
 
 n 13, 20 24 25 12 W. S. W. Clear. 
 
 n 14, 14 15 15 15 N. Snow-squalls. 
 
 11 15, 12 14 15 10 N. N. W. Clear; lake covered with 
 
 moving ice, as far as the 
 eye can see. 
 
 11 16, 20 20 21 21 E. N. E. Snow-storm. 
 
 ,1 17, 14 14 25 10 W. N. W. Clear. 
 
 „ 18, 14 18 15 6 W. Cloudy. 
 
 11 19, 10 o 10 2 W. N. W. Clear. 
 
 1. 20, 6 12. 25 13 W. Clear. 
 
 11 21, 20 22 26 28 E. N. E. Snow-storm. 
 
 n 22, 7 11 12 S . N. W. Clear. 
 
 11 23, 20 4 o 3 W. Clear. 
 
 „ 24, 2 6 18 16 W. Clear. 
 
 " 25, 4 3 9 7 W. Clear. 
 
 11 26, 16 19 26 28 E. S. E. Snow-storm. 
 
 1, 27, 18 21 25 8 S. W. Cloudy. 
 
 ,,28, 8 1 11 10 W. N. W. Clear. 
 
 11 29, 12 20 31 18 W. Cloudy; ice 18 inches on 
 
 river. 
 
 11 30, 6 6 4 s w - Clear. 
 
 11 31, 6 5 3 17 W. N. W. Clear; snow 22 inches deep. 
 
 Feb. 1, 12 o 14 16 S. E. Cloudy. 
 
 M 2, 22 25 29 20 E. N. E. Snow-storm; ice l8| inches 
 
 on river. 
 
 11 3, 10 7 9 7 W. Clear. 
 
 11 4, o S 25 24 E. S. E. Clear. 
 
 ,1 5, 30 36 40 40 S. W. Clear. 
 
 11 6, 11 12 32 24 S. Clear. 
 
 11 7, 28 33 42 30 W. S. W. Clear. 
 
 ,1 8, 30 34 40 32 E. Cloudy and mist; snow dur- 
 ing the night fell 6 inches. 
 
 „ 9, 30 34 34 31 E. Clear. 
 
 11 10, 31 32 39 32 E. Cloudy. 
 
 11 11, 28 32 38 34 S. Clear. 
 
 11 12, 32 39 34 20 N. E. Cloudy. 
 
 11 13, 12 22 39 32 W. S. W. Clear. 
 
 11 14, 34 39 37 36 E. Cloudy; some rain with thun- 
 der. 
 
 „ ij ( 36 38 39 36 E. Cloudy; somerain with thun- 
 der. 
 
 11 16, 38 42 47 33 S. W. Clear. 
 
 11 17, 27 27 28 22 W. Light clouds. 
 
 .1 18, 10 22 28 30 E. Cloudy. 
 
 19, 32 36 46 24 W. Clear. 
 
 20, 15 22 
 
 21, 8 20 
 
 22, 34 40 
 
 47 
 
 33 
 
 28 
 
 22 
 
 28 
 
 3° 
 
 46 
 
 24 
 
 24 
 
 16 
 
 37 
 
 38 
 
 45 
 
 32 
 
 46 
 
 36 
 
 40 
 
 39 
 
 59 
 
 54 
 
 38 
 
 36 
 
 W. Clear. 
 
 S. W. Clear. 
 
 W. Clear. 
 
 23! 28 37 46 36 S. W. Cloudy; rain and hail with 
 
 thunder. 
 E. Clear. 
 
 25) 44 50 59 54 S. W. Clear. 
 
 26, 50 49 38 36 S. W. Cloudy; tempest of wind 
 
 with flurries of rain and 
 hail. 
 
282 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 Mar. 
 
 27, 
 
 3° 
 
 3 1 
 
 34 
 
 28 
 
 W. N. W. 
 
 Clear. 
 
 
 28, 
 
 20 
 
 28 
 
 3° 
 
 39 
 
 S. E. 
 
 Clear. 
 
 
 2 9, 
 
 28 
 
 36 
 
 5° 
 
 37 
 
 S. W. 
 
 Clear. 
 
 
 1, 
 
 32 
 
 35 
 
 36 
 
 18 
 
 N. N. W. 
 
 Clear. 
 
 
 2, 
 
 8 
 
 15 
 
 25 
 
 20 
 
 N. N. W. 
 
 Clear. 
 
 
 3, 
 
 26 
 
 3° 
 
 36 
 
 22 
 
 W. N. W. 
 
 Cloudy. 
 
 
 4, 
 
 19 
 
 28 
 
 42 
 
 36 
 
 S. W. 
 
 Clear. 
 
 
 5, 
 
 3° 
 
 32 
 
 36 
 
 23 
 
 N. E. 
 
 Cloudy. 
 
 
 6, 
 
 13 
 
 19 
 
 25 
 
 14 
 
 N. N. W. 
 
 Clear. 
 
 
 7, 
 
 16 
 
 17 
 
 24 
 
 18 
 
 E. N. E. 
 
 Cloudy; 
 
 light snow. 
 
 8, 
 
 17 
 
 24 
 
 23 
 
 21 
 
 N. E. 
 
 Cloudy. 
 
 
 9. 
 
 22 
 
 24 
 
 26 
 
 23 
 
 • N. N. E. 
 
 Cloudy. 
 
 
 10, 
 
 24 
 
 26 
 
 31 
 
 24 
 
 N. N. E. 
 
 Cloudy. 
 
 
 II) 
 
 22 
 
 24 
 
 29 
 
 31 
 
 E. N. E. 
 
 Cloudy. 
 
 
 12, 
 
 28 
 
 32 
 
 33 
 
 32 
 
 E. S. E. 
 
 Cloudy; 
 
 light snow. 
 
 13, 
 
 32 
 
 37 
 
 39 
 
 34 
 
 E. N. E. 
 
 Cloudy. 
 
 
 14. 
 
 32 
 
 36 
 
 36 
 
 33 
 
 E. N. E. 
 
 Cloudy; 
 
 light snow. 
 
 15. 
 
 26 
 
 32 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 PROPOSITION OF THE LAND-OFFICE OF 1830. 
 
 [We extract the following copy of a letter which we find 
 in a volume of the American State Papers, being a proposition 
 to establish a town at Chicago, Illinois.] 
 
 Comtntmicated to the U. S. Senate, March 23, 1830, 
 
 "General Land-Office, March 22, 1830. 
 
 "Sir: — I take the liberty to enclose you a diagram, exhibiting 
 the survey of the public lands lying on Lake Michigan, at the mouth 
 of Chicago Creek, and would recommend that an act be passed, 
 authorizing the President to lay off a town at this point. Section 9 
 has been allotted to the State of Illinois, under the act granting to 
 her certain lands for the purpose of making a canal. 
 
 " Should the United States establish a town at the mouth of the 
 Creek, the State would probably derive much benefit. by extending 
 the lots into section 9, as Chicago Creek affords a good harbor 
 through the whole of this section. 
 
 "It is understood that the waters of Lake Michigan may be 
 drawn into the Illinois River, by a thorough cut of moderate length, 
 and not more than seventeen feet deep at the summit ; when this is 
 effected, and the bar on the outside of the mouth of Chicago Creek 
 is so deepened as to admit into the harbor with facility, vessels of 
 the largest class navigating the lakes, Chicago must inevitably 
 become one of the mo'st important depots and thoroughfares on the 
 Lakes. 
 
 " The Government are about bringing into market, a vast extent 
 of country between Lake Michigan and the Mississippi river, which 
 as to advantages of local position, fertility of soil, healthfulness of 
 

 PROPOSED PLAN 
 
 FOR IMPROVING THE MOUTH OF CHICAGO RIVER. 
 
 Drawn by 
 
 FlHarrison Jr., U.S.Assis!-. Civil Engineer. 
 
 Feby. 2 4-^ 1830. 
 
 Wm.Howard.U.S.Civil Engineer. 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 283 
 
 climate, and mineral resources, is not perhaps excelled by any other 
 tract of country of equal extent in the United States. The deep- 
 ening of the inlet of the harbor of Chicago would essentially facilitate 
 the sale of these lands, and promote the settlement of the country. 
 ****** 
 " With great respect, your obedient servant, 
 
 "GEO. GRAHAM." 
 
 EARLY SCHOOLS OF CHICAGO. * 
 
 In compiling this article, we will preface it with the re- 
 mark, that no one at the present day, who attempts to give 
 particulars and facts concerning the early schools of Chicago, 
 can afford to neglect the information conveyed in the histori- 
 cal sketch accompanying the- Report* of Mr. Wm. H. Wells, 
 Superintendent, to the Board of Education, bearing date 
 
 /7fW^^/. 
 
 March 20, 1858. We have availed ourself of the opportunity, 
 by the loan of that document by Mr. W. to copy freely from 
 its pages, knowing that " it embodies the result of extensive 
 inquiries among those who were personally engaged in the 
 schools and those who were instrumental in their welfare." 
 
 While the substance or the greater part of the value of our 
 chapter is made up of extracts from Mr. Wells' Sketch, we 
 have added a few items from other sources, and, occasionally, 
 made additional or more extended extracts from the letters 
 used by Mr. W., which were addressed to him some years 
 ago, and the use of which communications he kindly conferred 
 upon us. 
 
 We copy here from Mr. Wells' Sketch : 
 
 "The first regular tuition given in Chicago, was in the winter of 
 1810-n, by Robert A. Forsyth,t late Paymaster in the United 
 
 * The Fourth Annual Report of the Superintendent of Public Schools of the 
 City of Chicago. 
 
 t Robert A. Forsyth was a cadet in Sept., 1814; Paymaster in the army, 1821; 
 dismissed under act, 1823; Paymaster in 1846, and died at Detroit, 2 [ Oct. , 1849. 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 283 
 
 climate, and mineral resources, is not perhaps excelled by any other 
 tract of country of equal extent in the United States. The deep- 
 ening of the inlet of the harbor of Chicago would essentially facilitate 
 the sale of these lands, and promote the settlement of the country. 
 ****** 
 " With great respect, your obedient servant, 
 
 "GEO. GRAHAM." 
 
 EARLY SCHOOLS OF CHICAGO. J 
 
 In compiling this article, we will preface it with the re- 
 mark, that no one at the present day, who attempts to give 
 particulars and facts concerning the early schools of Chicago, 
 can afford to neglect the information conveyed in the histori- 
 cal sketch accompanying the- Report* of Mr. Wm. H. Wells, 
 Superintendent, to the Board of Education, bearing date 
 
 /^/^^^^ 
 
 March 20, 1858. We have availed ourself of the opportunity, 
 by the loan of that document by Mr. W. to copy freely from 
 its pages, knowing that " it embodies the result of extensive 
 inquiries among those who were personally engaged in the 
 schools and those who were instrumental in their welfare." 
 
 While the substance or the greater part of the value of our 
 chapter is made up of extracts from Mr. Wells' Sketch, we 
 have added a few items from other sources, and, occasionally, 
 made additional or more extended extracts from the letters 
 used by Mr. W., which were addressed to him some years 
 ago, and the use of which communications he kindly conferred 
 upon us. 
 
 We copy here from Mr. Wells' Sketch : 
 
 "The first regular tuition given in Chicago, was in the winter of 
 1810-n, by Robert A. Forsyth,t late Paymaster in the United 
 
 * The Fourth Annual Report of the Superintendent of Public Schools of the 
 City of Chicago. 
 
 + Robert A. Forsyth was a cadet in Sept., 1814; Paymaster in the army, 1821; 
 dismissed under act, 1823; Paymaster in 1846, and died at Detroit, 2 [ Oct. , 1849. 
 
284 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 States Army; and the first pupil was our present respected citizen, 
 John H. Kinzie, Esq. The teacher was about thirteen years of age, 
 and the pupil six. The principal aid employed in this course of pri- 
 vate lessons was a spelling-book, that had been brought from Detroit 
 to Chicago in a chest of tea. 
 
 The first school, taught in Chicago, was opened in the fall of 1 816, 
 by William L. Cox, a discharged soldier, in a log-building, belonging 
 to John Kinzie, Esq. The house had been occupied as a bakery, 
 and stood in the back part of Mr. Kinzie's garden, near the present 
 crossing of Pine and Michigan Streets, just east of the Lake House. 
 The children composing this school, were John H. Kinzie, with two 
 of his sisters and one brother, and three or four children from the 
 Fort. 
 
 There was a small school in the Garrison, taught by a sergeant, 
 about 1820. 
 
 In 1829, Charles H. Beaubien, son of J. B. Beaubien, Esq., Agent 
 of the American Fur Company, taught a small family school, near 
 the Garrison, embracing the children of Messrs. J. B. and Mark 
 Beaubien." 
 
 Mr. Russell E. Heacock, of whom there is some notice on 
 a previous page of this book, and to whom Mr. Forbes alludes 
 in the letter below, probably taught in Fort Dearborn in 1827, 
 or at least, previous to May of the ensuing year, when he was 
 living at or near where Bridgeport is now. 
 
 Mr. Stephen Forbes, who opened a school in 1830, ad- 
 dressed Mr. W. a letter, relating to the subject; we omit Mr. 
 Wells' summary of the information contained therein, and 
 give the letter entire. 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 285 
 
 Newburgh, Cayahoga County, O., 
 March 12th, 1858. 
 W. H. Wells, Esq.— Dear Sir: 
 
 In reply to your inquiries relative to the school I taught in Chica- 
 go at an early day. I can now only say that I commenced school 
 in June, 1830, and taught in all one year, assisted by Mrs. Forbes. 
 
 vt&0 
 
 I was employed by Jno. Bt. Beaubien, then Ag't of the Am. Fur Co., 
 to teach his children, Lieut. Hunter, of Fort Dearborn, to teach the 
 children belonging to the Fort, and the people living near the Fort 
 sent their children also. The house I taught in, and where I also 
 resided, belonged to J. B. Beaubien, Esq., was situated on the east 
 side of Michigan Avenue, near the east end of Randolph Street, was 
 a large, low, and gloomy building containing five rooms, and formerly 
 occupied by the sutler of the Fort. My school consisted of about 
 twenty-five scholars, from four years of age up to twenty, and were 
 taught only the simple branches of an English education. I think 
 there was a school taught in the Fort, previous to this time, by R. 
 E. Heacock, Esq., who, with other settlers, occupied rooms there 
 while it was vacated, previous to Maj. Fowles' arrival with U. S. 
 soldiers, in the fall of 1828. I did not receive any public money for 
 teaching; the sale of the school section, which is now a part of the 
 City of Chicago, did not take place until the fall of J 833, and the 
 first sale of Gov't lands, on the Chicago Land District, did not take 
 place until June, 1835; consequently, there was no public rhoney at 
 the time I taught. 
 
 A gentleman, by the name of Foot, succeeded me in teaching. I 
 
286 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 I 
 do not now recollect who taught the first public school, neither do I 
 remember when the schools became entirely free; these facts must be 
 a matter of record, and if so, will be found in the School Commis- 
 sioner's Office for Cook County, 111. 
 
 I do not think of any incidents or anecdotes having reference to 
 the schools, at that early day, worthy a place in your statistics. 
 Chicago was then a small place, and a great way off; the few settlers 
 then were a mixed community, speaking a variety of language's, and, 
 like those in most new settlements, generally poor. Thcmost Quix- 
 otic of us all never thought or dreamed of the great changes and im- 
 provements to be made there in one quarter of a century. I regret 
 that I cannot answer your inquiries more definately and satisfactory; 
 the only excuse I can offer is, that an active life in other occupations, 
 and a part of the time spent in different sections of the country, has 
 had a tendency to obliterate what little knowledge I once had on 
 this subject.* In haste, Very Respectfully Yours, etc., etc. 
 
 ^7^: 
 
 In October, 1831, Richard J. Hamilton, Esq., was appointed 
 
 Commissioner of School Lands for Cook County, and the School 
 Fund remained in his charge till 1840. 
 
 * Stephen Forbes was born in Wilmington, Vt., 26 July, 1797; his parents 
 were John and Anna (Sawyer) Forbes. He married in Newburgh; O., 25 March, 
 1830, Elvira (born in Moncton, Vt., 30 Nov., 1806), daughter of Noble and 
 Aurilla (Booth) Bates. Mr. Forbes first came to Chicago in the summer of 1829. 
 and returned to Ohio the ensuing fall; came back to Chicago in the spring of 
 1830, and taught school three months, and then went to Ohio again, and returned 
 here with Mrs. Forbes in the month of September, of that year. They lived in 
 the Dean house, so called, just by the outlet of the river. The boats, which un- 
 loaded the vessels, turned in there just by this house. The house was a block or 
 timber-built one, being of logs hewed on two sides, with two main rooms, with an 
 addition of one room. The school was kept in this house, Mrs. Forbes and her 
 class occupying one room, and Mr. F. and the boys the other. Of the 'children 
 of this school, a boy and girl came from the garrison; the girl, whose name was 
 Julia Shuttleworth, was the daughter of an Englishman, a soldier in the fort. . 
 The other scholars were mostly French or half-breeds. Late in 1831, Mr. F. 
 removed to where Riverside is now, or near there, where the Laughtons lived, 
 but returned to Chicago in 1832, in consequence of the Indian troubles. David 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 287 
 
 The following is from Mr. Wells' Report ; yet a statement 
 or two seems to be qualified somewhat by the letter of Mr. 
 Watkins, and a note on a subsequent page of this article. 
 
 In the spring of 1833, Col. Hamilton and Col. Owen employed 
 Mr. John Watkins to instruct a small school in the North Division, 
 near the old Indian Agency House, in which Col. Hamilton then 
 resided. Its location would now be marked by the crossing of Wol- 
 cott and North Water Streets. The same two gentlemen afterward 
 built a 'house, in which Mr. Watkins continued his school, on the 
 north bank of the river, just east of Clark Street. This was the first 
 house built for a school in Chicago. 
 
 In the pamphlet called "Reception of the Settlers of Chi- 
 cago, by the Calumet Club, May, 1879," appears the letter 
 below, as from John Watkins. 
 
 Joliet, III., 22d June, 1879. 
 Messrs. Silas B. Cobb, Franklin D. Gray, Mark Kimball, Marcus C. 
 
 Stearns, James H. Rees, Frederick Tuttle, and Joel C. Walter, 
 
 Committee of Reception, Calumet Club. 
 ■ Gentlemen: — If your invitation had reached me in time, the 
 infirmities of age would have prevented my attendance. Neverthe- 
 less, I thank you for your kind remembrance. It certainly would 
 have afforded me great pleasure to have embraced such a golden 
 opportunity to meet old friends whom I can never expect to meet 
 again on earth. 
 
 I arrived in Chicago in May, 1832, and have always had the repu- 
 tation of being its first school-teacher. I never heard my claim dis- 
 puted. I commenced teaching in the fall, after the Black-Hawk 
 
 and Bemardus H. Laughton were Indian-traders, and a few years before, had a 
 store at Hardscrabble on the Chicago South Branch. The wife of the last-named 
 gentleman was a sister of Mrs. Forbes. Mr. Forbes returned to live at Laugh- 
 ton's, but where both those gentlemen died within a few weeks of each other; he 
 helped to bury them. Mr. F. was the first sheriff of Cook County, elected by the 
 people, 1832. 
 
 These items, with others, we received from Mr. F. at an interview on his 81st 
 birthday, July 26, 1878. The above portraits were copied from photographs 
 taken about 1868; the autograph signature of Mr. F. is the same as the one 
 which accompanies his letter; that of Mrs. F. was written in her 72d year. 
 
 Mr. F. had a paralytic attack some years since, but continued to walk out fre- 
 quently in pleasant weather. He died suddenly of apoplexy, in Chicago, at the 
 house of his son-in-law, Nathan S. Peck, on Tuesday evening, II Feb., 1879. 
 
 We add here that several of the morning papers of the City spoke of Mr. F. as 
 "S. V. R," or "Stephen Van Rensselaer Forbes." With the knowledge of Mr. 
 Forbes' signatures at intervals of many years, we conclude that his name was, as 
 he wrote it, " Stephen Forbes. " 
 
288 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 war, 1832. My first school-house was situated on the North-Side, 
 about half-way between the lake and the forks of the river, then 
 known as Wolf Point. The building belonged to Col. Richard J. 
 Hamilton; was erected for a horse-stable, and had been used as 
 such. It was twelve feet square. My benches and desks were 
 made of old store boxes. The school was started by private sub- 
 scription. Thirty scholars were subscribed for. But many sub- 
 scribed who had no children. So it was a sort of free-school, there 
 not being thirty children in town. During my first quarter I had 
 but twelve scholars, and only four of them were white. The others 
 were quarter, half, and three-quarter Indians. After the first quar- 
 ter, I moved my school into a double log-house on the West-Side. 
 It was owned by Rev. Jesse Walker, a Methodist minister, and was 
 located near the bank of the river where the north and south 
 branches meet. He resided in one end of the building, and I 
 taught in the other. On Sundays, Father Walker preached in the 
 room where I taught. 
 
 In the winter of 1832-3, Billy Caldwell, a half-breed chief of the 
 Pottawatomie Indians, better known as Sauganash, offered to pay the 
 tuition and buy books for all Indian children, who would attend 
 school, if they would dress like the Americans, and he would also 
 pay for their clothes. But not a single one would accept the propo- 
 sition conditioned upon the change of apparel. 
 
 When I first went to Chicago, there was but one frame building 
 there, and it was a store owned by Robert A. Kinzie. The rest of 
 the houses were made of logs. There were no bridges. The river 
 was crossed by canoes. 
 
 I was born in Scipio, Cayuga County, New York, in 1802. I left 
 Chicago in 1836, and have resided in Joliet and vicinity ever since. 
 I had the acquaintance, when in Chicago, of Col. Richard J. Hamil- 
 ton, Thomas Owen, (Indian Agent), George W. Dole, John Wright, 
 P. F. W. Peck, Philo Carpenter, John S. C. Hogan, Col. John B. 
 Beaubien, Mark Beaubien, John H., Robert A., and James Kinzie. 
 
 I will now give you the names of some of my scholars: Thomas, 
 William, and George Owen; Richard Hamilton; Alexander, Philip, 
 and Henry Beaubien; and Isaac N. Harmon, now a merchant in 
 Chicago. 
 
 I remember Stephen R. Beggs, who sometimes preached in Father 
 Walker's building, where I taught school. 
 
 Respectfully yours, 
 
 JOHN WATKINS. 
 
 The following from Mr. Wells' Sketch, is a copy of the 
 
 Petition for the sale of the School Lands; the date of the 
 
 paper does not appear: 
 
 The undersigned, your petitioners, inhabitants of Congressional 
 Township Thirty Nine, north, Range Fourteen, east, represent that 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 289 
 
 they are desirous of having Section Number Sixteen in said Town- 
 ship sold, for the purpose for which it was given ; and your petition- 
 ers are of the opinion, that it would promote their interest by selling 
 said Section on a credit of one, two, and three years, under the pro- 
 visions of the act authorizing a credit on sales of School lands, and 
 at an interest of not less than ten per centum per annum, payable 
 semi-annually in advance." 
 
 We are informed that "This petition received ninety-five 
 signatures, embracing most of the principal citizens of the 
 town." 
 
 [We have heard it intimated, that the above-named peti- 
 tion, though ostensibly signed by ninety-five citizens, yet 
 really fell much short of that number, if genuine signatures 
 and citizenship only were to be taken into account. That 
 spirit of patriotism, it has been suggested, may possibly have 
 been prevalent, which perceived a small and incidental public 
 benefit and interest, by directly furthering a greater one, that 
 of their individual selves. 
 
 We need not speculate, however, concerning the mania of 
 that speculative era, but will take the occasion to say, that 
 there was at least one gentleman, then and still a resident of 
 Chicago, who did not sign that petition. Mr. Philo Carpen- 
 ter opposed the sale of the School Section at that time; and 
 when he found a sale determined on, he used all the argu- 
 ments at his command, to prevail upon the Commissioner to 
 sell alternate Blocks in said Section, retaining one-half at 
 least, until some future day. It was, however, of no avail, 
 but it may be added, that Chicago long since discovered the 
 great mistake.] 
 
 Mr. Wells, in his Report of 1858, says: 
 
 "The School Section of the original Township is situated near the 
 centre of the City. In October, 1833, all but four of the one hun- 
 dred and forty-two Blocks of this Section, were sold at auction, for 
 $38,865, on a credit of one, two, and three years. The remaining 
 four Blocks are now valued at about $700,000. The value of that 
 portion which was sold is now estimated at about $12,000,000. 
 
 In the autumn of 1833, Miss Eliza Chappel, now the wife of Rev' 
 19 
 
29O CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 Jeremiah Porter, of Green Bay, opened an Infant School, of about 
 twenty children, in a log-house, on South Water Street, a short dis- 
 tance west of the grounds belonging to the Fort. A portion of the 
 children attending this school were from the families connected with 
 the Garrison.* 
 
 In the latter part of the same year, 1833, Mr. G. T. Sproat came 
 from Boston, and opened an English and Classical School for boys, 
 in a small house of worship, belonging to the First Baptist Church, 
 on South Water Street, near Franklin. t 
 
 In March, 1834, Miss Sarah L. Warren, now Mrs. Abel E. Carpen- 
 ter, of Wsfrrenville, was engaged, as an assistant, in Mr. Sproat's 
 school. :£ 
 
 * In an early number of the Chicago Democrat, we observe the following 
 
 notices : 
 
 "INFANT SCHOOL. 
 
 "By order of the Board of Trustees, Dr. Temple will deliver a lecture on 
 Caloric, in the Baptist Church, on Monday evening, 31st inst., at 6 P.M. Ad- 
 mittance, 25 cents. Infant-School children will attend free of any charge. The 
 necessary arrangements for Tickets, etc., will be made by Maj. H. S. Handy. 
 
 "Chicago, March 12, 1834. R. J. Hamilton, Pres't." 
 
 In an advertisement, dated March 12, 1834, patrons and subscribers are re- 
 quested to attend an examination at the Infant School- House. 
 
 Signed, J. T. Temple, Sec'y. 
 
 + The following advertisements appear in the Chicago Democrat: 
 The Chicago English and Classical Academy, corner of Water and Franklin 
 Streets. G. T. Sproat, Preceptor. 
 
 January 7, 1834. 
 
 Also, under date of February 21, 1834: 
 
 Chicago Academv, 
 
 G. W. Snow, ) 
 E. B. Williams, > Trustees 
 D. Graves, ) 
 
 • G. T. Sproat, Preceptor. 
 
 X The following is a copy of a letter addressed to Mr. Wells : 
 "Mr. Wells — Sir: 
 
 "Agreeable to request, I take the earliest convenient opportunity of trying to 
 answer some of yonr inquiries. As near as my memory serves me, Mr. Granville 
 Temple Sproat was the first school-teacher in Chicago; he taught in the upper 
 part of the house where the Baptists held their meetings, on Water Street, up to- 
 ward the point, I should think about the corner of Water and Franklin Streets. 
 Mr. P. F. W. Peck could, I presume, tell you the place where the house stood. 
 In the winter of 1833, I was teaching in Yankee Settlement, and there became 
 acquainted with Rev. A. B. Freeman, of Chicago, and, through his influence,, I 
 obtained a situation as assistant in the Sproat School. I find, by referring to my 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 29 1 
 
 The Infant School of Miss Chappel met with general favor in the 
 town, and in the summer of 1834 it was removed, for better accom- 
 modations, to the First Presbyterian Church. Though called an 
 Infant School, and composed mostly of young children, a portion of 
 the scholars were ten or twelve years of age. 
 
 By the School Law of 1833, the county commissioner was required 
 to apportion the interest derived from each Township School Fund, 
 among the several teachers in the town, according to the number of 
 their scholars residing in the township, and the number of days each 
 scholar was instructed; on condition, however, that the Trustees of 
 the several schools should first present a certificate that the teachers 
 had given gratuitous instruction to all such orphans and children of 
 indigent parents, residing in the vicinity, as had been presented for 
 that purpose. 
 
 In 1834, an appropriation was made to Miss Chappel from the 
 School Fund of the town, and the school taught by her at that time, 
 in the First Presbyterian Church, on the west side of Clark Street, 
 between Lake and Randolph, was properly the first public school of 
 Chicago. 
 
 journal, that I went into the school March 21st, 1834; Mr. S. had then been 
 teaching 4 or 6 weeks. I do not know anything about the re-organization of the 
 school. I remember school-meetings were frequent, and think Dr. John Temple 
 was one of the trustees. We were paid quarterly from the public fund, by applying 
 to Col. Hamilton; my salary was $300 a year, and I think the gentleman teacher 
 $600. I taught in the same school from March, 1834, to June, 1836, during 
 which time there was 5 male teachers. Mr. Sproat was succeeded by Dr. Henry 
 Van Derbogart, who remained in school till August, 1834; next, Mr. Thomas 
 Wright, and then a young man — whose name I have forgotten — was in only a few 
 weeks, and next, Mr. James McClellen. I think Miss Chapel and Miss Lucy 
 Beach must have commenced that infant school late in the spring or early in the 
 summer of 1834; they taught in the Presbyterian Church, and then I think the 
 next school was on the west side, taught by Mr. Watkins. 
 
 I boarded at Eld. Freeman's; his house must have been situated some 4 or 5' 
 blocks S.-E. of the meeting-house, (Mr. Snow was one of his neighbors), with 
 scarce a house between. What few buildings there were then, were mostly on 
 Water Street. I used to go across without regard to streets. It was not uncom- 
 mon, in going to and from school, to see prairie-wolves, and we could hear them 
 howl any time in the day. We were also frequently annoy'd by Indians, but the 
 great difficulty we had to encounter was mud. No person, now, can have a just 
 idea of what Chicago mud used to be; rubbers were of no account. I got me a 
 pair of Gent's Brogands, and fastened them tight about the ankle, but would go 
 over them in mud and water, and was obliged to get a pair of men's boots made. 
 
 " Through the multiplicity of cares, I have forgotten many incidents respecting 
 the schools which were of interest to us then, and perhaps might be to you now, 
 and which, were circumstances to bring them out, I could call to mind. 
 
 "With willingness to answer any further inquiries, I remain, 
 
 "Yours, 
 
 " Warrenville, March 6th, 1858." 
 
292 
 
 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 Miss Chappel's school at length became a boarding-school for 
 older pupils, and a considerable number came from other townships, 
 and boarded with her and her assistants. One object of the school, 
 at this time, was to train up teachers for the common-schools in the 
 new settlements. The Infant Department was still continued, and 
 both branches of the school occupied the same room in the church, 
 being separated by a curtain. 
 
 In the winter of 1834-5, Miss Chappel* resigned her charge, and 
 the school passed into the hands of Miss Ruth Leavenworth, after- 
 ward Mrs. Joseph Harmon. 
 
 * Miss Chappel returned to the State of New York, and June 16, 1834, in 
 Rochester, N. Y., she married Rev. Jeremiah Porter, of Chicago. We present 
 above a likeness of that lady, from a photograph taken in 1879. 
 
 Mr. Wells said in a note : " Mrs. Porter's passion for teaching is so strong and 
 abiding, that after the lapse of a quarter of a century she had returned to her 
 former employment; and is at the present time engaged as a teacher in one of 
 the Primary Schools at Green Bay." This was in 1858; yet in a letter from Mr. 
 Porter to the compiler of this book, fifteen years afterward, dated Fort Sill, 
 Indian Territory, August 27, 1873, speaking of Mrs. P., he said, "She began to 
 teach in her native town, Geneseo, N.Y., more than fifty years ago, and now, 
 after being the mother of nine children, and laboring in the hospitals of our 
 country for three and a-half or four years, and then carrying on the Rio Grande 
 Female Seminary, at Brownsville, Texas, for three years, she is now, at this very 
 hour, teaching at this Post, from love of teaching and doing good." 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 293 
 
 Referring to the school of Miss Leavenworth, Mr. Wells 
 says: 
 
 "This school received much sympathy and aid from John S. 
 Wright, Esq., who built a house for its use at his own expense. 
 
 This house was situated on the west side of Clark Street, just south 
 of Lake.* It was first occupied by Miss Leavenworth's school. 
 
 "The school taught in the Baptist Church, on Water Street, be- 
 came a public school in 1834." [Mr. Wells, in a note, expresses his 
 regret that he is "not able to. speak more definately of the distinc- 
 tion between public and private schools at this period. The books 
 which were kept by Col. Hamilton from 1833 to 1837, and which 
 passed into the hands of his successor, I have not been able to find."] 
 "During this year (1834), Mr. Sproat was succeeded by Henry Van 
 Derbogart, M.D., who also resigned before the close of the year, and 
 was succeeded by Mr. Thomas Wright. In 1835, the school was 
 
 committed to the care of Mr. James McClellan. Miss Warren was 
 engaged as an assistant in this school, from March, 1834, to June, 
 1836. 
 
 In the winter of 1834-5, Mr. George Davis had a school over a 
 
 / &fo.'0/bnjr ) 
 
 store, on Lake Street, between Dearborn and Clark. In 1835, Mr- 
 Davis taught a public school in the Presbyterian Church, on Clark 
 Street; and the school of Mr. Watkins, which had now become a 
 public school, was also continued on the north side of the river. 
 
 * The following is a note from p. 263 of John S. Wright's " Past, Present, and 
 Future : '' 
 
 "To Mr. W. H. Wells, to whom, as Superintendent, we are so much indebted 
 for the present efficient system of public schools, am I indebted for the knowledge 
 that that building was the first erected specially for school purposes. But the 
 honor is due to my sainted mother. Having then plenty of money, it was spent 
 very much as she desired. Interested in an infant school, she wanted the build- 
 ing, and it was built. " 
 
 Yet the structure, on the north side, before-named, as built by Cols. Owen and 
 Hamilton, it would seem, was a competitor for the honor of being " the first house 
 built for a school in Chicago. " 
 
294 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 "In February, 1835, an act was passed by the Legislature of the 
 State, in relation to Schools, in Township Thirty-nine North, and 
 Range Fourteen East." [The provisions contained in that act are 
 here omitted.] 
 
 "In November, 1835, the town was divided into four School Dis- 
 tricts. District No. 1 was in the North Division of the City, and 
 the designation of the other districts was entirely different from that 
 which has since been adopted. The whole number of schools in the 
 town at that time, including both public and private schools, was 
 seven. 
 
 "In the spring of 1836, Miss Leavenworth's school, which had 
 been taught in Mr. Wright's building, was discontinued, and Miss 
 Frances L. Willard opened, in the same place, a school for the instruc- 
 tion of young ladies in the higher branches of education. Miss 
 Louisa Gifford, now Mrs. Dr. Dyer, was afterward employed as an 
 assistant, and a Primary Department was opened. 
 
 "In the spring of 1837, this school, which had now become a 
 public school, passed into the hands of Miss Gifford, and Miss Wil- 
 lard opened another school, of a similar character. 
 
 "In 1836, and till March, 1837, Mr. John Brown taught a private 
 school in the North Division, near the corner of Dearborn and Wol- 
 cott Streets. 
 
 "In March, 1837, Mr. Edward Murphy* opened a private school 
 in the same building." 
 
 * The letter which follows, from which Mr. W. gave an extract, we give in full. 
 
 We are inclined to think that there are various inaccuracies of statement in Mr. 
 
 M.'s communication, as well as in those of some of the other letter writers; but as 
 
 many years had passed by when they wrote, it is not, perhaps, surprising. As to 
 
 teaching the first District or Public School, there were several names claimed for 
 
 the distinction. Mr. Wentworth, in his Calumet Club speech, said that John 
 
 Watkins " taught our first district school, and was the first clerk of our first school 
 
 district. " 
 
 "Evanston, March 11, iSjS. 
 " H. W. Wells, Esq.— Dear Sir : 
 
 _ "Yours of the 6th inst., came to hand; it will afford me much pleasure to fur- 
 nish you with any aid in my power, relative to the early history of schools in 
 Chicago. At the request of a few prominent citizens, who wrote me to London, 
 Canada West, I arrived in Chicago early in March, 1837, and opened a select 
 school near the corner of Dearborn and Wolcott Streets, N. Division. My pre- 
 decessor was Mr. John Brown, from whom I rented the school-room, during his 
 unexpired lease of the premises. Some of Mr. Brown's pupils beat him severely, 
 in consequence of which he resigned. 
 
 "An incident, connected with the opening of my school, may not be out of 
 place. I addressed the pupils, some thirty-six in number; pointed out the neces- 
 sity of strictly observing the rules by which the school should be governed, and 
 that a departure from the strict observance of those rules, w'd subject any pupil 
 to a merited chastisement. The day after, I placed an oak sapling, an inch in 
 diameter, on my desk; that afternoon, a Mr. Sheppard, who owned the building, 
 came into the school-room, and seeing the walls decorated with caricatures and 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 295 
 
 "Mr. McClellan, who took charge of the school in the Baptist 
 Church, on Water Street, in 1835, continued to teach a public school 
 till 1838. 
 
 "In March, 1837, Chicago became a city. By the conditions of 
 the charter, the Common Council were made Commissioners of 
 Schools for the city, They were to appoint, annually, not less than 
 five, nor more than twelve, School Inspectors. The legal voters of 
 each School District were to meet annually and elect three Trustees 
 
 the likeness of almost every animal, from a rabbit to an elephant, got in a raging 
 passion, and used rather abusive language. I explained; he became more violent. 
 I walked to my desk, took the sapling, and shouted 'clear out,' which he obeyed 
 by a rapid movement. This trifling incident effectually calmed down the bellig- 
 erent propensities of the ringleaders, some of whom now occupy honorable and 
 respectable positions in society. 
 
 "I taught till the ensuing August, at $10 per quarter, for each pupil. 
 
 " Meantime, pursuant to an advertisement in the columns of two weekly papers 
 then published in Chicago, the Democrat and ■, I offered myself as a can- 
 didate, and obtained the enclosed certificate to teach a district school, the first 
 taught or established in Chicago. The trustees, namely, Dr. E. S. Kimberly, 
 Theophilus Greenwood, and Jacob Russell, rented my school-room, at $56 per 
 year; the Dr. and Mr. Greenwood personally notified each householder that the 
 school was free for all, and employed me at eight hundred dollars per year, exclu- 
 sive of all necessary materials. I continued to teach till about Nov. 10, 1838, 
 when I rec'd a written notice that the funds were exhausted, having been loaned 
 out to irresponsible persons. 
 
 "Up to March, 1838, where I taught, was designated District No. 4; in the 
 early part of 1838, it was changed to District No. 5, (see enclosed receipt), and 
 late in 1839, or early in 1840, to District No. 7. Subsequently, I took no inter- 
 est in school affairs, having been elected Coroner for two continuous terms. 
 
 " I will now endeavor to answer some of your questions from memory. Thomas 
 Wright taught select school, should think in 1835 and early in 1836; John Brown 
 from the winter of 1836 till March, 1837; no other school in Chicago. 
 
 "Edward Murphy from early in March, 1837, till Nov. IO, 1838, five months 
 select school, taught District school fifteen months; during eight or nine months 
 of this period, no other school in Chicago. 
 
 " Chauncey Baker taught District school a few months in S. Division, small 
 room. 
 
 "Geo. C. Collins taught select school; built school-house at his own expense in 
 the spring of 1838, the first school-house ever built in Chicago, previous to that 
 date; subsequently, taught District school till funds were exhausted. 
 
 "Calvin DeWolf and Thomas Hoyne, Esqs., taught school at an early period; 
 being then unacquainted with those gentlemen, I cannot say when or where they 
 taught. 
 
 " Bennet taught District school in Mr. Collins' school-house, don't recol- 
 
 ,lect when; should think in 1839. 
 
 "The most prominent Board of Inspectors, were Thomas Hubbard, Thomas 
 Wright, both able mathematicians, N. H. Bolles, and Rev. Hinton. 
 
 "The most active and zealous in the organization of schools, as trustees, were 
 Dr. E. S. Kimberly, Theophilus Greenwood, N. H. Bolles, the latter an Inspect- 
 or, and subsequently, Henry L. Rucker, chairman of Committee on Schools. 
 
 "The successors of Bolles, Hubbard, etc., were Rev. T. O'Meara, Catholic 
 
 Priest, of Chicago, Rev. Berrien, Methodist, an estimable and accomplished 
 
 gentleman; subsequently, I. N. Arnold, J. Y. Scammon, and Wm. Jones. 
 
 " The District school, of which I was appointed teacher, became entirely free, 
 on or about the 10th of August, 1837, to children from each Division of Chicago. 
 
 " I was the first teacher who rec'd the first appropriation from school funds, 
 
296 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 of Common Schools, as before. The first Board of Inspectors, after 
 the incorporation of the city, was elected May 12, 1837. It con- 
 sisted of the following members : Thomas Wright, N. H. Bolles, John 
 Gage, T. R. Hubbard, I. T. Hinton, Francis Peyton, G. W. Chad- 
 wick, B. Huntoon, R. J. Hamilton, W. H. Brown. The teachers 
 in the public schools in 1837, beside those already named, were Miss 
 Sarah Kellogg, and Messrs. A. Steel Hopkins, George C. Collins, 
 Hiram Baker, C. S. Bailey, and Samuel C. Bennett. The school of 
 
 either Mr. Bennet, or myself, taught the longest, I don't know which, previous to 
 1840. District No. I commenced at Fort Dearborn, and extended into 2d ward; 
 don't know the lines of demarkation between the Districts, nor of more than seven 
 districts; I know the South Division was divided into three districts; the West 
 Division to two, and North Division to two, making seven in all. 
 
 "You say that Col. Hamilton's accounts, previous to June, 1837, are lost. I 
 am of the opinion that no accounts, relative to District schools, were filed in his 
 office prior to that date, as no teacher received an appropriation till the fall of 
 
 I837- 
 
 " You ask my idea of the size and character of the different schools; school-room, 
 where I taught, corner of Dearborn and Wolcott* Streets, 24 x 30 greatest No. of 
 120 at any time. 
 
 " Geo. C. Collins' school, some four blocks south of Market, on State Street, 
 about 24x36 feet; good classical scholar; superficial in English department; 
 lacked decision of character. 
 
 " Chauncey Baker, literary attainments limited for a scholar. 
 
 " C. DeWolf and Thomas Hoyne, no doubt well qualified. 
 
 "Mr. Bennet, an able and efficient teacher, decision of character, eminently 
 qualified to conduct a school. 
 
 " Thomas Wright, an able mathematician. Secretary of Board of Inspectors. 
 
 "John Brown, classical scholar, in English department limited. 
 
 " My salary was $800 per year. 
 
 " Chauncey Baker, $500 per year. 
 
 "G. C. Collins, $500 per year. 
 
 " Salary of the others, don't know, sh'd think $500 per year. 
 
 " The above-named gentlemen, except Mr. Bennet and myself, are now mem- 
 bers of the legal profession. 
 
 " I would have written sooner, but having arrived at home on Saturday last, 
 after an absence of over three months, will plead my excuse. 
 
 " I remain, Dear Sir, with sentiments of respect, 
 
 " Yours very truly, 
 
 "W. H. Wells, Esq., Supt. Public Schools. 
 
 "excuse haste." 
 [Mr. Edward Murphy was born in Ireland, 1805, had lived in Chicago and 
 vicinity since 1837, and died at Rogers' Park, Jan. 25, 1875.] 
 
 * Error ; Dearborn and Wolcott were parallel streets. 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 297 
 
 Miss Kellogg, and those of Messrs. Collins and Bennett, were in the 
 South Division ; that of Mr. Bailey was in the West Division. 
 
 "In 1838, public schools were taught by Messrs. McClellan, Mur- 
 phy, Bennett, Collins, Bailey, Calvin DeWolf, and Thomas Hoyne. 
 Mr. DeWolf succeeded Mr. Bailey, in the West Division. 
 
 "In 1839, th e School Fund was mostly unproductive, and the 
 schools were in a depressed condition. 
 
 "In 1839, a special act was passed by the Legislature, in relation 
 to the Common Schools of Chicago, which laid the foundation of 
 our present school system. By this act, the School Fund of Chicago 
 was transferred from the charge of the School Commissioner of the 
 county, and placed entirely under the control of the Common Coun- 
 cil of the City. The Council were also empowered to raise money, 
 by taxation, for the support of schools, and for the purpose of sup- 
 plying the inadequacy of the fund for the support of teachers. 
 
 "It was made the duty of the Council to appoint seven School- 
 Inspectors for the City, and three Trustees for each school district.* 
 
 "In February, 1840, William H. Brown, Esq., was appointed 
 School Agent, and assumed the charge of the School Fund of the 
 city. This office he continued to hold for a period of thirteen years, 
 and during the first portion of this time, he declined receiving any 
 compensation for his services. It is worthy 'of remark, that Mr. 
 Brown did not make a single loan by which the School Fund suffered 
 a loss. 
 
 "The first Board of School Inspectors, under the new organiza- 
 tion, was composed of William Jones, J. Young Scammon, Isaac N. 
 Arnold, Nathan H. Bolles, John Gray, J. H. Scott, and Hiram Hu- 
 gunin. The first meeting of this Board was held in November, 
 1840, and William Jones was elected Chairman. It is at this date 
 that the written Records of the public schools commence. 
 
 "In December, 1840, an ordinance, in relation to the public 
 schools, was prepared by J. Young Scammon, of the Board of In- 
 
 &?£>644>'*t*^0^£ t ^<' 
 
 spectors, and adopted by the Common Council. 
 
 "The only public school teachers, employed at this time, were A. 
 G. Rumsey, and H. B. Perkins, in the South Division; A. D. Stur- 
 tevant, in the West Division; and A. C. Dunbar, in the North Divis- 
 ion. The salary paid to each of these teachers was $33.33 a - month. 
 
 * "For the form of this act," says Mr.. Wells, "'drawn up with more than or- 
 dinary care and discrimination, the city is indebted to the pen of J. Y. Scammon, 
 Esq. " 
 
298 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 "From the regulations adopted by the Board of Inspectors in 
 April, 1 84 1, it appears that the schools were kept five days and a 
 half a week, with 'a recess of a few minutes' each half- day; and the 
 amount of vacation allowed in a year, was four weeks. 
 
 "Instruction in Vocal Music was first introduced into the public 
 schools in January, 1842. The first teacher employed was Mr. N. 
 Gilbert. Instruction in this department, appears for a time to have 
 met with considerable opposition. In January, 1 843, it was ordered 
 by the Common Council, that the School Inspectors 'dispense with 
 the services of a Music Teacher, as soon as it can be done, consist- 
 ently with the present contracts.' 
 
 # * # * » * 
 
 "In 1844, the first public school-house was erected, on Madison 
 Street, between Dearborn and State. This important measure was, 
 in a great degree, accomplished by the well-directed efforts of Ira 
 Miltimore, Esq.,* who was, at that time, a member of the Common 
 
 * "Janesville, March, ij, 1858. 
 "W. H. Wells— Dear Sir: 
 
 "Your letter of the loth ult., containing some inquiries in regard to the early 
 history of the present school system in Chicago, is before me, and I regret that I 
 cannot, from recollection, now give you as minute a history as the subject demands. 
 I think it will be admitted, by all who have carefully observed the progress and 
 influence of the school system of your City, that the measure was wise in its con- 
 ception, though at the time when it was adopted, it was regarded by at least seven- 
 eighths of the people as extravagant and visionary, and had I now access to the 
 City Records, I could satisfy you that no measure so important and happy in its 
 results was ever carried through the Council by so small a minority, not only in 
 the Board, but with citizens generally. 
 
 "The educational interests of Chicago, as well as the great North- west, had 
 become the subject of deep solicitude on the part of a few, some years prior to 
 1844, but no very definate plan had been matured till about this time, when it 
 was decided to adopt the present system, and after a very excited and protracted 
 struggle, both in and out of the Board, School-house Number one, on Madison 
 Street, was erected, which I think was the first school-house ever built by the 
 City. Previous to this, we had rented small buildings as best we could, but this 
 time, the singular result of our Charter Election favored our plans. 
 
 "The new Council was composed of twelve Aldermen, and stood, I think, as 
 follows : six Democrats, five Whigs, and one Liberty man. I was againireturned 
 from the Third Ward, but at this time by the Liberty party, (which, by the way, 
 I think was the first man, if not the only one, ever elected on that ticket in Chica- 
 go. ) The Mayor was with us on the school question, and some of the members 
 were elected on local interests, as for instance, John P. Chapin and A. Rossiter 
 were elected on the lake- shore-protection issue, also, to bring forward the measure 
 for planking Lake Street. Others were elected by the wharjing interests, and 
 then there were a number of important appointments to be made by the Council, 
 and Chicago, even then as now, had many citizens whose patriotism would force 
 them to forego all personal or pecuniary considerations, and for the good of their 
 country, accept those little offices, and upon these several appointments as well as 
 measures, the Council was nearly equally divided, and as I chose to make the 
 school interests my favorite measure, and as I represented the Lone- Star- Party, 
 and as the Council then stood, I clearly saw that my vote would be often wanted 
 to reconcile so many interests, and determined to take advantage of these circum- 
 stances, and by applying some of those tactics so familiar with politicians of Illi- 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 299 
 
 Council. The house was regarded by a large portion of the citizens, 
 as a monument of folly; and the Mayor elected, the following year, 
 recommended in his inaugural address, that the Council should 
 either sell the house or convert it into an Insane Asylum; and build 
 one, two, or more small houses, suited to the wants of the city. This 
 building is now occupied by the Dearborn School. 
 
 # * * * *■ # * 
 
 "In January, 1841, the public schools were taught by four male 
 teachers. In January, 1846, five years later, there were three male 
 
 nois (viz. : by log-rolling), and set the ball in motion. Immediately after the or- 
 ganization of the new Board, and prior to the election of its officers, I consulted 
 with the School Commissioners, which I think consisted of J. Y. Scammon, Mark 
 Skinner, and Squire Meeker, as to the best plan of a school-house of Board No. 
 I; and after preparing several rough sketches, I submitted them to Alexander 
 Loyd, who drew the plans and specifications for House No. I, as it was finally 
 built. Before the next meeting of the Board, I was solicited by most of the mem- 
 bers, to give my support to their favorite men or measures, each urging the im- 
 portance of his scheme, as well as the care and consistency with which I could do 
 so, as I was the only man from my party in the Board, and could not expect to 
 accomplish anything alone. The Whigs said, that with my vote they could get a 
 tie on every question, and as the Mayor was elected on the people's ticket, they 
 would stand an equal chance; besides, they were more favorable to my principles. 
 The Democrats thought they were quite as favorable to my party, and could do 
 more for any measure that I wished to get through, and if I voted with them, 
 they could carry their points every time. To a majority, I explained my favorite 
 measure, and if I could have their hearty support to it, I would support the Lake- 
 shore protection, and other measures, which, in fact, I was in favor of and had 
 been for years, as my vote on the record showed, and I was not a little amused to 
 find -nearly all of them professing to be deeply interested in the subject of schools, 
 and willing to do anything, consistent with economy, to advance them. I also 
 stated to them that I was but one-twelfth of the Board, I should require that the 
 plans of the House I then had, should be adopted, and the whole matter settled 
 before the appointments were made, to which they assented. I then had a reso- 
 lution drawn up, providing for the adoption of the plans, and authorizing the 
 Committee on Schools, together with the Mayor, to advertise, receive proposals, 
 and enter into contract with responsible parties with proper securities, to build 
 the House according to the plans and specifications. At the next meeting, after 
 the Mayor had announced the standing Committees, (I was appointed Chairman 
 of the School Committee), I moved to suspend the Rules and regular order of 
 business, and then moved the adoption of my resolutions, both of which were 
 carried. We then proceeded to close up the balance of the programme. The 
 next day, a notice to contractors appeared, and before the next meeting the con- 
 tract was duly executed. The mason-work was awarded to A. C. Wood, and the 
 joiner work, painting, etc., Eathan Wetherby. A large amount of material was 
 also delivered on the ground, and the foundation commenced. At the next meet- 
 ing, a remonstrance numerously signed, praying the Council to reconsider their 
 proceedings on the School question, and abstain from such a wanton waste of 
 money. One of the members who voted with us, moved to reconsider, and was 
 set back when the Mayor informed him that the whole matter was under contract, 
 and the motion would not be entertained. At this stage of the affairs, the opposi- 
 tion commenced howling, and Miltimore was made the scape-goat to bear the 
 sins of the whole Council. You may well suppose I had something of a load, 
 but, by the perseverance of the friends of the measure, and the contractors, the 
 House was completed, and the School successfully organized, during that admin- 
 istration. The friends of education then waited with some anxiety, to see what 
 
300 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 teachers and six female teachers; in January, 185 1, four male 
 teachers and twenty female teachers; and at the present time, March, 
 1858, there are seventeen male teachers and sixty-two female teach- 
 ers. The teachers that have been longest engaged in the public 
 schools, are Mr. A. D. Sturtevant, sixteen years; and Mr. A. G. 
 Wilder, fourteen years."* 
 
 ^*--C£^7x^-/ is{_^ 
 
 would be the complexion and policy of the next Board on that subject. Mr. Gar- 
 ret was next mayor, and in his inaugural, he recommended that the Council should 
 sell the Big School-House, or convert it into an Insane Asylum, and build one, 
 two, or more small houses, suited to the wants of the City. But I think that the 
 Mayor and opposition made more noise than capital out of this subject, as the 
 next year witnessed the erection of another of these monuments of folly, as he 
 termed it. 
 
 " I have already extended this communication too long, yet, had I the records 
 before me, I could add many interesting facts, and, in connection, will only say, 
 too much credit cannot be awarded to the following gentlemen, for their efforts 
 in the cause of education at this particular crisis : J. Y. Scammon, Mark Skinner, 
 Squire Meeker, William H. Brown, A. S. Sherman, Alderman Tallmadge, Wm. 
 Jones, A. W. Ingalls (who was appointed principal of School No. I, at its first 
 organization), John P. Chapin, John Gray. 
 
 "Most Respectfully," 
 
 (^Jy^-iZC- ^^2^-^VyT^ 
 
 [Ira Miltimore was born in Windham, Vt., in 1813; he learned the trade of a 
 millwright, and came to Chicago in 1836. Mr. M. was employed by the Canal 
 Commissioners to construct the pumping-works at Bridgeport, securing the avail- 
 ability of the canal for navigation in 1848. He was also the builder of the old 
 hydraulic works, which supplied the South Side with water from the lake. In 
 1838, he was elected Alderman of the 3d Ward, and, as shown above, was the 
 projector and originator of the first school- building constructed by the City gov- 
 ernment. Mr. Miltimore had been a resident of Janesville, Wis., several years 
 before the late war, and he was Captain of Company E, 33d Wis. Infantry, 
 during the Rebellion, was at the seige of Vicksburg, etc. He died in Janesville, 
 Wis., June 8, 1879.] 
 
 * Mr. Wells says in reference to the above, which comprises the greater part of 
 his historical notice of the early schools: "I have attempted only an outline 
 sketch, but I trust it will aid in perpetuating the memory of at least a few of those 
 who have labored to plant the pillars on which our present system of popular 
 education rests. When in the far-distant future, the philosophic historian shall 
 write the history of our city; when the character and the acts of successive genera- 
 tions shall be weighed in the scales of impartial judgment; when material wealth 
 shall be regarded in its true light, as a means to an end; when social enjoyment, 
 and intellectual cultivation, and moral worth shall be rightly estimated, as essen- 
 tial elements of prosperity in every community — then will the wisdom of those 
 who have laid the foundations of our public- school system be held in grateful 
 remembrance; then will the names of Scammon and Brown and Jones and Milti- 
 more and Moseley and Foster and their coadjutors be honored as among the truest 
 and most worthy benefactors of Chicago. " 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 301 
 
 Before closing this chapter, we will refer to the school of 
 the late Rev. A. W. Henderson, a Presbyterian Clergyman, 
 
 J.frrXt 
 
 who established here, in the fall of 1843, "the first young 
 ladies' seminary of a higher grade." This institution, called 
 the " Chicago Female Seminary," subsequently on Clark St., 
 between Madison and Monroe Streets, and many of our older 
 residents will remember the "low, roomy, wooden structure, 
 embowered in trees, and cut off from the street by a high 
 board fence," — the school-premises of Mr. Henderson. After 
 some four years of successful labor in this school, Mr. Hen- 
 derson* retired from it, and resumed his work in the pulpit. 
 
 A long-time resident of Chicago, assures us that many of 
 Mr. Henderson's pupils "are now gracing their own elegant 
 homes" in Chicago and elsewhere. We have no doubt of it; 
 yet, are there not many in humble homes, who worthily and 
 courageously adorn their position? It is certainly to be con- 
 sidered a part, which the office of education gives, to grace 
 elegant homes, when possessed; though it must, perhaps, be 
 remembered that there is yet an important and may be a still 
 
 * Abner W. Henderson was born in Bridgewater, N. Y., in the year 1812. 
 His parents subsequently removed to Schenectady, and he entered Union College 
 at the age of thirteen years, and graduated four years thereafter, having taken 
 front rank in scholarship. He pursued his theological studies privately, under the 
 guidance of his pastor, and after licensure, he occupied the Home-Mission field a. 
 year or more in the State of Georgia. From a lung difficulty, he was obliged to 
 suspend his missionary labors, and returning to the North, he opened a female 
 seminary, in the village of Whitesboro, N. Y. During his residence in Whites- 
 boro, he married the daughter of Dea. Seth Eddy, a prominent merchant of Still- 
 water, N. Y. Subsequently, he taught in Utica, N. Y. , and in the autumn of 
 1843, ne removed to Chicago, and opened a seminary for young ladies. After 
 four or five years, he resumed his ministerial labors, several years in Morris, 111. , 
 and also in Elgin. Returning to Chicago, he was, subsequently, Chaplain in the 
 Army, during the late War; afterward, with his family, he passed some four 
 years in Europe, but returned to this City in 1869. Mr. Henderson died in Chi- 
 cago, Oct. 18, (872; in the words of Rev. Dr. Patterson, who preached his 
 funeral sermon, "In all his career through life, Mr. Henderson bore with him 
 the characteristics of a righteous man. " 
 
302 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 loftier service, which a true and christian education confers. 
 We allude to the power which it gives the pupil in the vicis- 
 situdes of her life journey, in the voyage of future years, 
 whether amid the storms of adversity, or in the flattering 
 beauty of an oft- changeful prosperity; the power of self- 
 respect and self-control, the power of resource, not only for 
 work, but for mental pastime ; the power of principle to bless 
 the world, not to curse it; these are what education lends to 
 life's voyager, whether the skies prove fair or adverse, whether 
 in the elegant abode, or in the home of the lowly. 
 
 BEAUBIENIANA. 
 
 The name Beaubien, is one which we must esteem as of no 
 slight antiquity, as well as celebrity, in the West, and along 
 the shores of Lake Michigan. Near, if not quite, eighty years 
 since, our late fellow-citizen, Col. John B. Beaubien, beneath 
 the shades of the forest of Grand River, of Michigan, had 
 taken his "degrees" of knowledge, "to read, write, and to 
 cypher;" he had learned to converse with the red men in their 
 own native tongue; he had chaffered for furs at the Mihvau- 
 kie; and he had plighted his troth to the Indian maiden, 
 Mah-naw-bun-no-quah. It was Governor Cass who once said 
 in a lecture: — 
 
 "It is difficult, at this day, to trace the causes of the attachment 
 and aversion, which were respectfully manifested by the various 
 tribes for the French and English. The interest of the former gen- 
 erally predominated, and they seem to have had a peculiar facility 
 in identifying themselves with the feelings of the Indians, and in 
 gaining their affections. * * * Whatever may have 
 
 been the cause, the fact is certain, that there is in the French char- 
 acter a peculiar adaptation to the habits and feelings of the Indians, 
 and to this day, the period of French domination is the era of all 
 that is happy in Indian reminiscence." 
 
 That the Canadian French did, and do, readily assimulate 
 in many of their ways and habits to those of Indian life, while 
 lending at the same time, to the red men, a portion of their 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 303 
 
 own language and customs, is patent to every one that has 
 had the opportunity to observe. For more than two centu- 
 ries past, the Indian villages, the wilderness trails, and the 
 water-paths of the North have been familiar with the echoes 
 of the songs of the French as well as those of the whoop of 
 the savage. "Bon Jour, Bon Jour" is still the recognized 
 passing salutation from Indian as well as white men's lips ; 
 you hear it from the bark canoe, the Mackinaw boat, and the 
 pirogue. 
 
 But of the house of Beaubien; far back, many generations 
 ago, over the sea in sunny France, there lived a wealthy and 
 noted family, from which, paternally, all our American Beau- 
 biens, it is believed, have descended. Yet "Beaubien" was 
 not the original family name; and when we say that Trotter 
 was the former and real patronymic of the clan, we are tell- 
 ing, perhaps, what may be news to every Beaubien in the 
 western world. The old home of the family, it is said, was at 
 St. Martin d'lge, in the Departnient of Perche. The family 
 Beaubien received (as did each of still other branches with 
 other names) its designation from certain estates or fiefs of 
 the Trotiers.* 
 
 We are unable to tell in what year the first of the Beau- 
 biens, who came to America, sailed from his native land ; but 
 we have been told, by one of the family in Michigan, that the 
 emigrant ancestor from LaBelle France was the grandfather 
 of our former citizen, the late Jean Baptiste Beaubien, and 
 also bore the same name. The names of eight children have 
 
 * We have procured the above old-world items from a reliable source. It is 
 proper to state, however, that in a late work comprising two volumes, printed in 
 the French language, entitled "Les Canadiens De L'Ouest," by Joseph. Tasse, 
 Montreal, iSyS, which contains a notice of Col. J. B. Beaubien, there appears, 
 besides several other things which we know to be incorrect, the name " Cuil- 
 lerier " given as the true family name rather than Beaubien, when said family 
 settled in Detroit, which statement we believe also to be an error. 
 
 To those specially interested, we would direct for further particulars, a reference 
 to the Genealogical Dietionary of Abbe Tanguay; a search, also, at the National 
 Library of the Marine, as well as the National Records of Paris, might give them 
 further light. 
 
304 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 been communicated to us as the sons and daughters of that 
 head of the family in the new world ; namely, Jean Baptiste, 
 Jr., Joseph, Jean Marie, Lambert, Antoine, Genevive, Marien, 
 and Susan. It was understood that this household pitched 
 their tent j at Detroit, after something of a sojourn upon the 
 St. Lawrence. It is not the purpose of this article, to embrace 
 a comprehensiveness which would involve the necessity of a 
 search of the public records either at home or abroad ; there- 
 fore, we say little of the family during those earlier years, but 
 we would recommend, to whom it may concern, a search 
 among the archives of the ancient town of Detroit, to be 
 found in the Clerk's Office of that city. We notice that there 
 is a Beaubien Street in Detroit. Jean Marie Beaubien, the 
 uncle of Jean Baptiste, seems to have been a builder, as we 
 observe that he erected, on the north shore of Lake St. Clair, 
 in the year 1790, a saw-mill and dwelling for Meldrum and 
 Parke, of Detroit. 
 
 It is understood that otir late Col. J. B. Beaubien was the 
 son of the above-named Joseph Beaubien, and was born in 
 Detroit about the year 1778, or possibly a year or so later. 
 That he early caught the spirit of adventure, and as a trader's 
 assistant, pushed his way far into the wild woods and waters 
 of the North-west, we are well assured. Possibly, he may 
 have been at the Treaty of Greenville, for we observe among 
 the signatures, of the witnesses to that document, that of "Jn. 
 Beau Bien;" if it was not his own autograph, perhaps his 
 uncle's or other relative. In what year he was first a clerk for 
 the late Joseph Bailly, the fur-trader, upon the Grand River 
 of Mich., we are not informed; but it was there, under Mr. 
 B.'s instruction, with the aid of birch-bark and charcoal, which 
 supplied the place of pen and paper, or slate and pencil, that 
 he perseveringly acquired the greater part of the education 
 which he possessed. From Augustus Grignon's Recollections 
 (v. 3, Wis. His. Soc. Coll.) we conclude that Mr. Beaubien was 
 selling goods to the Indians at Milwaukie but little later than 
 the year 1800; possibly he was then acting for Mr. Bailly. 
 In what year Mr. Beaubien wedded his first bride, with' name 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 305 
 
 certainly more musical than that of Pocahontas, we cannot 
 say; yet her son, Medore B. Beaubien, was born in the sum- 
 mer of 1809, and his brother, Charles Henry, was still older. 
 Mr. Wentworth, in one of his lectures, says: "Gen. John B. 
 Beaubien was living at Mackinaw, when the Fort there was 
 surrendered to the British, in 18 12; if so, probably the sojourn 
 was intended as temporary merely; Mackinaw was a central 
 depot of supplies, and he may have been awaiting goods or 
 orders. 
 
 Though the home of Mr. Beaubien, as would appear by a 
 subsequent note in this article, was that same year of 1812, at 
 Chicago, and so continued for many years, yet, of necessity 
 at that day, the fur-trader was quite a traveler, almost as 
 migratory as the Indians themselves, one season in one place 
 and the next in others. 
 
 It is to be presumed that Mrs. Mah-naw-bun-no-quah Beau- 
 bien, the first wife of the future Col., had departed this life 
 previous to the year 18 12, for we are told that in that year he 
 formed a new alliance, in his marriage, with Miss Josettie, the 
 daughter of Francis Laframboise,* whose home is claimed to 
 have been at Chicago. The young lady, it has been said, was 
 raised in the family of the elder John Kinzie, and was be- 
 lieved to have accompanied them to St. Joseph, after the 
 battle and surrender in August, 18 12; she is referred to, in 
 "Wau-bun," as in the boat, but the boat, after the defeat, 
 returned with the passengers to the river. We have heard 
 doubts expressed, by some incredulous individuals, regarding 
 the statement that Mr. B. afterward that year, with his new 
 
 * Francis Laframboise, Sen., the father of Mrs. John B. Beaubien, it is be- 
 lieved, was the same mentioned by Mr. Burnett (ante, p. 6j) as at Milwaukee, and 
 •was brother, we think, of Alexis Laframboise, who is supposed to have 
 been the husband of Mrs. Madeline L. , as named on p. 33 of this volume. We 
 were informed by Medore Beaubien, that Francis Laframboise, Sen., as he under- 
 stood, purchased of John Crafts, the trader, when he (Crafts) left there, the loca- 
 tion of Hardscrabble, on the south branch of Chicago River, and that Mr. L. 
 (and he believed F. L., Jr., also) died at that place; the dates we did not learn. 
 We see, in the appendix to one of Mr. Wentworth's lectures, the names of both 
 F. L., Sen. and Jr., at an election here in August, 1826. 
 20 
 
306 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 bride, made his home at Chicago. But Medore B. B. told us 
 that his father and himself were at Chicago in the spring of 
 1813. Medore at that time, though but a youngster of not 
 quite four years, distinctly recollects strolling with his father 
 over the blackened remains and ruins of the burned Fort 
 Dearborn. The year after (1814), we learn from Judge 
 Witherell's Reminiscences (v. 3, Wis. His. Soc. Coll.) that J. 
 B. Beaubien was temporarily at Detroit, and one of a hastily 
 gotten up volunteer company, collected by Gen. Cass, to 
 attack a party of Indians who had approached the town and 
 committed several murders. Judge Witherell said: 
 
 "They were ready at the first blast of the bugle, mounted on 
 ponies, such as could be had (for there were but few left), and armed 
 with all varieties of weapons — rifles, shot-guns, war-clubs, and toma- 
 hawks, swords, and spears, and whatever instrument of death could 
 be had — they mustered for this fight. I knew nearly every one of 
 them personally, and a better lot of fellows, for the business they 
 were on, could not well be got together." 
 
 The names of some twenty-seven are given, including John 
 B. and Lambert Beaubien, several of the Meldrums, James 
 Riley and his two brothers, etc. We will add that they en- 
 countered the red-skins on that occasion, and killed several of 
 them. 
 
 The various movements of Mr. Beaubien, in the line of his 
 occupation, in much definiteness of detail, cannot at this day 
 be written ; we can merely, pick up an item here and there. 
 The following extracts regarding his. residence in Chicago, 
 are found in the Chicago Magazine of 1857.: 
 
 "In 1817, J. B. Beaubien came to this City and purchased of Mr. 
 Dean, an army contractor, the house and enclosure, containing a 
 garden and field, near the Fort, which was known as the Dean house, 
 for which he paid the sum of one thousand dollars. Col. Beaubien 
 built another house upon this place, and continued the occupant of 
 it till 1836. Upon the Lake Shore, a little distance south of the 
 Fort, Col. Beaubien resided in the cabin which he had purchased of 
 the American Fur Company, in 181 7 — which he had elevated to the 
 dignity of a homestead, and which was now familiarly known among 
 the settlers by the name of the 'Wigwam.' Near this residence was 
 his store, in which the American Fur Company kept a stock of goods 
 for the Indian trade. Further south, the old Dean house had 
 started on the way to ruin." 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 307 
 
 "In 1823, the factory houses adjoining, or on the same premises, 
 were sold, by order of the Secretary of the Treasury, to Wm. Whiting, 
 who sold the same to the American Fur Company, and of whom Col. 
 Beaubien purchased the buildings of the factory for the sum of five 
 hundred dollars. Mr. Beaubien, by these purchases, became the 
 owner and occupant of all the premises of the so-called Reservation, 
 outside of the Fort, and claimant to the lands not covered by the 
 buildings of the government." 
 
 Mr. Hubbard says (see ante, page 31): 
 
 "In fall of 1819, the company (Am. Fur, Co.) transferred Jean 
 Baptiste Beaubien from Milwaukee to this point, for the purpose of 
 opposing Mr. Crafts. He erected his trading-houses at the mouth 
 of Chicago River, then about the foot of Harrison Street. In 1822, 
 Crafts succumbed, and engaged himself to the American Fur Com- 
 pany, taking a charge. Mr. Beaubien was under him. Subsequently, 
 the Company bought, from the U. S., the factory house, located just 
 south of Fort Dearborn, to which Beaubien removed with his family." 
 
 He says, furthermore, that Mr. B. afterward 
 "Bought out the Company's right of trade with the Indians." 
 There are some slight variations or disagreements in the 
 above quotations; and if they do not contradict the evidence 
 presented in the affidavits, which appear in a lengthy note to 
 this article, we may say that the above extracts do not go to 
 strengthen the claim that Col. Beaubien was the purchaser of 
 a building at Chicago in 18 12, and a resident here at that 
 time. 
 
 By the note to follow, and before referred to, Mr. Leten- 
 dere says Mr. Beaubien was living at Chicago in 1815, when 
 he commenced to work for him. [Yet we are knowing to the 
 suggestion of one skeptical person, who has hinted as much 
 as to say that Mr. Letendere was a very old, though well- 
 meaning French voyageur, who could scarcely be relied on to 
 date back very accurately, more than sixty years ; and that 
 a few years in that far distant past, would make no material 
 impression upon his mind, one way or the other.] 
 
 Col. Ebenezer Childs, late of LaCrosse, Wis., passed through 
 Chicago in 182 1, and found here Col. Beaubien and Mr. Kin- 
 zie, whose families were the only ones living here outside the 
 Fort. He was here again in 1827, but scarce any but those 
 two families were yet here. 
 
3 o8 
 
 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 In the summer of 1822 (ante p. 35), Col. B. had a consign- 
 ment of goods, from the Am. Fur Co., on his own account, 
 "for his trade at Milliwakie." 
 
 Mr. J. H. Fonda, of Prairie du Chien, said he was at Chi- 
 cago in 1825, and the principal inhabitants were Mr. Beau- 
 bien, Mr. Ouilmette, and Gurdon S. Hubbard of the Am. Fur 
 Co., the latter occupying the Fort. 
 
 A gentleman came to Chicago in 1828, on the Schooner 
 Napoleon, with Oliver Newberry, the vessel lying outside. 
 "The whole neighborhood was a bog," said he, but Col. Beau- 
 bien, who was here, told him the Commissioners were coming 
 to lay out the City, "City!" was his response, "I wouldn't 
 give five hundred dollars for all the land my eye can cover." 
 
 In the winter of 183 1-2, Col. Beaubien was president of the 
 village debating society, the meetings being held within the 
 Fort, and "although not very conversant with Jefferson's 
 Manual," he yet filled the position "with much efficiency and 
 dignity," as Richard J. Hamilton informed Lt.-Gov. Brass. 
 During the Indian excitement in 1832, Mr. B. had command 
 of a company of some 25 mounted men, who as scouts, did 
 duty for a short time. 
 
 [The above portrait is a copy from a miniature picture in 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 309 
 
 possession of the family, said to be taken for Col. Beaubien ; 
 the original picture is on a metallic plate, but when and where 
 painted, or the name of the artist, we have been unable to 
 learn.] 
 
 It is said that the Col. was the owner of the first four-wheel 
 pleasure carriage which appeared in Chicago. 
 
 In the third number of Mr. Calhoun's paper, we observe 
 that he advertised a caution to trespassers who might be dis- 
 posed to meddle with Fractional Section 29, T. 39 North, R. 
 14 East, generally known as "Hardscrabble." 
 
 He officiated as administrator of an estate. That Col. 
 Beaubien had the popular regard, there seems not any doubt; 
 "he had quite a military air or manner," says one of our early 
 settlers; "we all liked the Col.," says another; he was one of 
 the "indispensable personages in the early day," we have been 
 told. Indeed, he was indebted to this amiable sentiment 
 among the people, for the title of Colonel,* which is generally 
 
 * The election of Mr. J. B. Beaubien to the office of Colonel, is related in the 
 following story, which has received the title of "The Punch Bowl of Ogden 
 Avenue;" and though a prominent gentleman in a lecture upon early Chicago 
 history, has recited, as having happened on an occasion of a later year, an occur- 
 rence in part somewhat similar, yet the earlier event which we are now to detail, 
 should not be cobbed of its renown, either by the playful plagiarism of the orator, 
 or the ingenious conceit of such as essay to manufacture tradition. 
 
 In the year 1834, it is said, and so believed, that the military commandant of 
 the State of Illinois, gave orders that the militia of Cook County should be duly 
 organized and officers elected. It has been told that there were in Chicago, at 
 that time, some gentlemen who, like the immortal Falstaff, did not fancy that 
 sort of exercise known as military drill, and they professed to cherish an abiding 
 horror of all the concomitants of " the wrinkled front of grim visage war. " Yet 
 there were others of different tastes; those who saw in the exact practice of mili- 
 tary exercises, a most useful aid to a manly carriage and a healthful constitution, 
 and even professed to believe that in such drills were the foundations of many im- 
 portant virtues, such as subordination, courtesy, etc. , etc. But it has been ungra- 
 ciously suggested that a love of "pomp and circumstance," which some waspish 
 persons interpret "fuss and feathers," obviously cropped out in the desire to 
 achieve, on this occasion, military title. Be this as it may, the election was to 
 be held, and the opposing parties were those that wanted to train and those that 
 didn't; Mr. Beaubien, we may say, was the candidate of the latter. The election 
 was held at the house of Mr. Laughton, who kept a tavern on what was since 
 called the South-Western Plank Road, or, more recently, Ogden Avenue, and 
 
3 io CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 used in connection with his name. It is true he was subse- 
 quently given the rank of General, but no body believes that 
 it conferred any greater honor, indeed, we think the "General" 
 was generally sunk in the more familiar term of "Colonel." 
 
 If Col. Beaubien occupied, though with occasional absences, 
 and quietly held possession for the space' of a quarter of a 
 century or so, with none to molest or make him afraid, the 
 
 GcsxytiStr-e^Giyi^ 
 
 near where the beautiful suburb of Riverside is now, on Saturday, June 7th, 1834. 
 A large share of that part of the population of Chicago, subject to military duty, 
 turned out en masse, it is said, on that occasion. It has been also reported that 
 they took with them, as an important part of their outfit, one keg of brandy, four 
 packages of loaf sugar, and sixteen dozen lemons. It will be proper here to say, 
 that Mr. Beaubien was then and there elected above all aspirants for the honored 
 position of Colonel of the bloody 60th Regiment of Illinois Militia; and it was 
 quite in keeping with the custom of those days to celebrate the victory of the suc- 
 cessful candidate. At the base of the bluff, then, near the house, was a fine spring. 
 A dam was made across the outlet, and the brandy, lemons, and sugar were all 
 emptied into the basin so formed, and the mixture duly and properly stirred up. 
 We have been assured, that of drink and drinkers, much and many were found at 
 that novel punch-bowl. Col. B. was, it is said, quite satisfied with the honor con- 
 ferred on him, and meeting the proclivities, or wishes, of his constituents, he, for 
 a long period, never called out, for drill or inspection, the strength 'of his forces. 
 
 [ We have yet heard the statement made that Col. B. did, upon one occasion, 
 call out the troops; such, at least, must be the inference, judging from one of the 
 Colonel's speeches, at the close of a drill or muster, given as follows : " Boys, you 
 have been good soldiers to-day; so you will all go down to my friend, George 
 Chocksfield, and take some whiskey; George he got some good; I try it, this 
 morning. "] 
 
 It will be proper to say, that we have heard a different version of the above 
 story, something like the following: A party of gentlemen, evidently bent on a 
 spree, met at the Sauganash tavern one evening, and with very little effort, soon 
 made way with a basket or two of Champagne. Yet the question of payment 
 was not so easily adjusted as the disposition of the wine. Among the matters dis- 
 cussed during the sitting, however, was that of the Governor's late order concern- 
 ing military organization.; and it was an eminently expedient proposition of one 
 of the party, then present, to suggest that Mr. J. B. Beaubien be fixed on, as a 
 candidate, for the office of Colonel of our regiment. By said fixing, it was urged, 
 would be involved the settlement and payment, by the candidate, of the aforesaid 
 wine bill. The idea was a taking one, the motion was carried, and a committee 
 appointed to wait upon Mr. B., and invite his immediate attendance. It is need- 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 31 1 
 
 pasture-lot or common, the plantation or garden, and the 
 buildings pertaining to that homestead, which fields in part 
 were called, by the Government "the reservation," the suc- 
 ceeding forty years could not, in such peaceful terms, be so 
 classed, whether those years were threaded by the Col. him- 
 self, or, after his final departure, by any of the princes or heirs 
 of the house of Beaubien. 
 
 The particulars, which appear in the notes,* will convey 
 
 less to say that Mr. B. readily fell into the snare, yet he did; Dr. Egan made the 
 speech to the candidate, regarding the choice of the meeting. The Doctor had 
 the ability, and so his address was worthy of the occasion; he referred to Caesar 
 and Napolean, Black Hawk, Alexander the Great, King Philip, the Cid, and 
 General Jackson. According to the obvious mode of the times, Mr. B. ordered 
 the champagne, to express his thanks; yet the bill for the drink on the occasion, 
 greatly surprised the candidate, when it came to be presented. Regarding the 
 " punch bowl, " this account says it was a barrel set in the ground, which caught 
 the water from the spring, and when, after the election, the company was about 
 to leave, there was still unused a quantity of the brandy, sugar, and lemons. It 
 was therefore decided that the surplus should be thrown into the barrel and stirred 
 up with the dirt at the bottom, and that every man then present, should, with his 
 old felt hat, his beaver, or wolf- skin chapeau, dip therefrom and drink, or else 
 suffer the penalty of having his head ducked into the caldron. We can believe, 
 as was told, that their return to town was a furious ride, with yells "hideous and 
 howling o'er the heath. " Who were the owners of the broken necks, or mashed 
 heads, if such there were, we cannot say; yet, though we would speak of those 
 ancients with great care, to avoid all slander, we must fearlessly assert, that that 
 most properly behaved cavalcade, which rode out to election from Chicago, on 
 that pleasant June morning, was, on its return at evening, traditionally drunk. 
 
 * The foundation of the claim of John B. Beaubien, and of his heirs after his 
 decease, to lands formerly a part of, or pertaining to, Fort Dearborn, will be 
 shown in this note, the greater part of which we copy from a pamphlet, entitled, 
 " The Argument of Wm. H. Standish, before Congress, explaining the Beaubien 
 Title to the Lake Front Lands, at Chicago, in Section 10," etc., ( Washington, 1878.) 
 
 We do not give the argument of Mr. S., as detailed in the pamphlet referred 
 to, any farther than will convey an idea of the historical facts in the case, or 
 slightly more than what the affidavits present. 
 
 The land in question, and to which the Bill in Congress proposed granting a 
 pre-emption to the heirs of the late John B. Beaubien, was a part of that ceded 
 to the U. S. by the Treaty of Greenville, 3 Aug., 1795. 
 
 "It was not entered as a reservation until 1824, and from August, 1812, to July 
 1816, was not a post of any kind, and had no buildings on of the Government, 
 or soldiers, or agents of the Government in possession. " 
 
 We will here give the following abstract of title, copied from a communication 
 to the press, and presumed to be authentic : 
 
312 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 sufficiently in detail, an idea of the pursuit and efforts which 
 were followed (possibly, still continued) in behalf of what was 
 
 " Fractional Section 10, embracing the territory bounded by Madison and State 
 Streets, Chicago Avenue and the Lake, was, on the first of October, 1824, re- 
 served from sale, for military purposes, by order of John C. Calhoun, then secre' 
 tary of war. These boundaries include what is now known as Fort Dearborn and 
 Kinzie's Additions, and accretions from the Lake. Previous to this time, John 
 Baptiste Beaubien had entered upon and, at the time of the reservation, occupied 
 a part of the tract, on the south side of the river. In 1831, Robert A. Kinzie 
 was permitted to enter at private sale, the north fraction of fractional Section 10, 
 or so much of the Section as lay north of the river; (Mr. Beaubien's claim at 
 same time at Palestine, 111., for that part lying south of the river was rejected). 
 In 1834, Beaubien undertook to pre-empt all that portion of the reservation lying 
 south of the river, including Fort Dearborn, and known as the south-west frac- 
 tional quarter; and in 1835, he obtained a certificate, from the Register of the 
 Land Office at Chicago. He conveyed to Murray McConnell, a well-known and 
 eminent lawyer of Illinois, who brought the ejectment suit of Jackson vs. Wilcox, 
 who was an officer in command at Fort Dearborn. In that case, the Supreme 
 Court of the United States, decided that the land was not subject to entry, and 
 that the absolute title was in the United States. Afterwards, in 1839, the Secre- 
 tary of War determined to sell a portion of the reservation, and sent a Mr. Bir- 
 chard, then Solicitor of the Treasury, to Chicago to survey, plat, and sell the 
 same. He made and recorded the original plat of 'Fort Dearborn Addition to 
 Chicago.' On this map, Michigan Avenue was projected to the river, through 
 land then occupied by the buildings of Fort Dearborn, but the tract, so occupied, 
 was reserved from sale and surrounded by dotted lines lettered 'line of reserva- 
 tion.' Upon this map, also, the strip of ground between Randolph and Madison 
 Streets, east of and including Michigan Avenue, was designated as 'public ground, 
 forever to remain vacant of buildings,' and, by a memorandum added to the map, 
 it was declared that 'the public ground between Randolph and Madison Streets, 
 and fronting upon Lake Michigan, is not to be occupied with buildings of any 
 description.' " 
 
 In 1845, on motion of Aid. Scammon, the Street Commissioner of Chicago was 
 directed to remove "the obstructions at the north end of Michigan Avenue." 
 Mr. Scammon's theory, at that time, evidently was, that, by the recording of the 
 plat, and by virtue of the act of the Legislature of Illinois, of Feb. 27, 1833, the 
 fee in Michigan Avenue rested in the City of Chicago, in trust for the public, and 
 subject to the control of the municipal authorities. As this proposed action in- 
 volved the destruction of a part of the U. S. buildings, the Attorney-General in- 
 terposed and applied for an injunction to restrain the action of the Street Com- 
 missioner. The case went to the Supreme Court of the United States upon a cer- 
 tificate of division in opinion between the Judges of the District and Circuit Courts 
 upon the question "whether making and recording the map did not convey the 
 legal estate in the streets to the City of Chicago, so as to authorize said City to 
 keep them open. " The Supreme Court decided that the making and recording 
 of the map had no such effect, and that the fee was in the United States. " 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 313 
 
 claimed, not only as a plain legality, but as a merited equity. 
 We may remark, however, without presuming to express any 
 
 The argument in favor of the U. S. Senate Bill, No. 773, in the 45th Congress, 
 for the relief of the heirs of Jean Baptiste Beaubien, was accompanied by the fol- 
 lowing affidavits as collateral proofs, etc. 
 
 AFFIDAVIT OF MADORE B. BEAUBIEN. 
 
 State of Kansas, 1 
 County of Shawnee, > SS. 
 
 City of Silver Lake, ) 
 
 Madore B. Beaubien, being first duly sworn, makes oath and says that he re- 
 sides at said town of Silver Lake; that he is past sixty-eight years of age, and that 
 he was the second son of Colonel John B. Beaubien, otherwise named Jean B. 
 Beaubien, now deceased; and who was an early pre-emption settler on the south- 
 west fractional quarter of Section 10, township 39, north range 14, east of the 
 third principal meridian in the now City of Chicago, County of Cook, and State 
 of Illinois. 
 
 Affiant states that his memory of the matters hereafter stated runs back to the 
 spring of 1813, and these matters and things herein stated as having occurred prior 
 to that date are based on such information as affiant, after the spring of 1813, 
 obtained from his father and from his stepmother, Josettie Beaubien, and the 
 other people then living in and near the aforesaid fractional quarter section of 
 land, and are true according to such knowledge and the best of said affiant's be- 
 lief. 
 
 With this qualification, affiant states that in the year 1812, the father of affiant 
 purchased from the rightful owner thereof a dwelling-house on the aforesaid frac- 
 tional quarter section of land that had been built thereon about the year 1804, 
 and used and occupied from and after the year 1804, and from and after said last 
 date a piece of ground on said fractional quarter section of land, and in and about 
 said house by the rightful owner and occupier of said house had from year to year 
 been cultivated. 
 
 Affiant personally recollects that early in the year 1813 the father of affiant, 
 and with affiant, and with the stepmother of affiant, and then the wife of the father 
 of affiant, were all residing in the said house on said tract of land, that, as before 
 stated, had been purchased by him during the year 1812, and that each year 
 thereafter the said John B. Beaubien occupied said house and land a portion of 
 each year, and at all times from and after that date spoke of the same as their 
 home, even when absent from it; that in 1817, or thereabouts, the said John B. 
 Beaubien purchased another house on said tract of land of one Dean, and from 
 and after that date during his yearly stays at the now Chicago, Illinois, ceased to 
 occupy and use the aforesaid house that had been built about 1804, and purchased 
 by him in 1812; and the said first house was turned into a stable or barn, and 
 from and after 1817, or thereabouts, was so used. 
 
 Affiant states that when the said John B. Beaubien, in 18 12, purchased his said 
 first house on said land, that he was then about to marry, and soon did marry 
 Josettie Lafromboise, who had been reared in that locality, and whose relatives 
 then resided there, and that she was then residing on an adjoining fractional quar- 
 ter section of land, and that the said purchase was made for his permanent and 
 future home, that the said marriage was made, and the said Gen. John B. Beau- 
 bien and wife remained residents of Chicago, aforesaid, on the aforesaid land, 
 until after 1839, on which tract of land there was born unto them as the fruit of 
 said marriage a very large family of children. 
 
 The business of the said John B. Beaubien did not permit him to be perma- 
 nently located at any one point for a whole year. He was then an Indian trader, 
 and was required to be some of the time in each year at the now Chicago, Illi- 
 nois, some of the time at the now Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and some of the time 
 
314 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 opinion touching the propriety of the result thus far, that is, 
 of the verdict of judicial or legislative bodies regarding the 
 
 at the now Green Bay, Wisconsin, all of which points at that time and for years 
 thereafter were in the then Territory of Illinois, but that the said John B. Beau- 
 bien never at any time in his life resided or did business at Mackinaw, save and 
 except as he visited that point to take his furs, and purchase his supplies for use 
 at the aforesaid posts in the then Territory of Illinois. 
 
 On these trips to these posts in the then territory of Illinois, the wife and chil- 
 dren of the said John B. Beaubien, from 1 812 to 1 819, or thereabouts, usually 
 accompanied him, going by way of boat; and particularly was this the case as to 
 his trips to the now Milwaukee and Chicago, as these points were quite near each 
 other, and by a water route connected. These trips to the north by the said 
 Beaubien were, however, for business purposes solely; and as soon as that busi- 
 ness necessity ended the said Beaubien settled down and remained permanently 
 on the aforesaid tract of land in Chicago, and during absence on these northern 
 trips the said John B. Beaubien and wife always used to speak of the said Chica- 
 go place as their home; and at none of said northern posts, during the continu- 
 ance of these trips, or the time they were being made, did the said John B. Beau- 
 bien make any such purchases as the said Dean purchase, or the 1812 purchase of 
 improvements on the aforesaid tract of land, so far as affiant is informed; and had 
 such purchases been made at these northern posts affiant believes he would have 
 known of them. 
 
 Affiant states that from and after the time his father purchased said house on 
 said tract of land in the year 1812, that he did not remove at any time thereafter, 
 in any period of his life from the then Territory of Illinois, and that on the fifth 
 day of February, A.D. 1813, the said tract of land was not in the occupancy and 
 use of the United States Government for any purpose whatever, and therefore as 
 affiant is informed and believes was not a reservation by occupancy, and that at 
 said date no part of said tract of land had been entered as reserved at any Govern- 
 ment land or other office, as affiant is informed and believes, that the said tract of 
 land was not then a reservation for any purpose either by occupancy or entry, 
 and that no part of said tract of land was at that date reserved from sale by any 
 act of Congress, nor had any part thereof been directed to be sold in town lots or 
 out lots, and therefore that as said affiant is informed, the said tract of land be- 
 came and was subject to the attachment of pre-emptive rights thereto by settle- 
 ment, theretofore made, or thereafter to be made on said tract of land, under the 
 provisions of the pre-emption law of the above date, for the then Illinois Terri- 
 tory, with the exception, that the aforesaid tract of land on survey might be found 
 to be a fractional quarter section of land, and held to be excluded for that reason 
 from the pre-emption settlement, and that to meet such a contingency and other 
 contingencies, affiant states that an amendment to said act was passed and ap- 
 proved, April 29, 1816, making the said law applicable to fractional quarter sec- 
 tions of land, and that on the date of the passage of this amendment the said tract 
 of land had not in any way been in the occupation or use of the Government for 
 nearly four years, either by an agent in possession, nor did it have a building there- 
 on, or a fort thereon of the Government, nor had it had for the space of about four* 
 years, and the said John B. Beaubien was then in the actual possession of said 
 tract of land with a house thereon, and had had possession thereof and cultivated 
 a portion thereof for several years, and at said date the Government had not been 
 in possession of any part of said tract of land for a period of near four years, nor 
 was it known in the vicinity of said land at that time, that the Government ever 
 intended to resume possession of any portion of said tract of land, nor at said last 
 named date, so far as affiant is informed and believes had any portion of .said tract 
 of land been reserved by any former act of Congress, or directed to be sold in 
 town lots or out lots. 
 
 Affiant further states that after this tract had thus passed in equity to the said 
 John B. Beaubien, under and by virtue of the said legislation of Congress, giving 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 315 
 
 matter, that it often happens, that the pioneers themselves 
 are not the great gainers from their enterprise; too often may 
 
 him a pre-emption right therein, one of the officers of said Government with a 
 company of its troops, in the month of July, or thereabouts, of the year 1816, 
 took possession of about four acres thereof, and enclosed the same by a fence, 
 thereby designating the extent of the land thus appropriated, and erected a Gov- 
 ernment building inside of said fence, which post so fenced and enclosed was not 
 at the time known would include any of the land, which by an equitable grant 
 from Congress had previously passed to, and become vested in equity in the said 
 Beaubien, as it was found when the said tract came to be first surveyed by the 
 Government of the United States, which said first survey was not made until 
 about the year 1821, as affiant is informed and believes, and that, as affiant is in- 
 formed and believes, the land in said tract or fractional quarter section of land, 
 not in July, 1816, for the use of the Government, taken possession of would have 
 remained, by the terms of the said two pre-emption acts, subject to pre-emption 
 settlement after that date, had the same not before that date been settled on and 
 been then owned by the said John B. Beaubien, and affiant states that on the said 
 part of said tract, or fractional quarter section of land, outside of the enclosed 
 limits of said fort, rebuilt in 1816, were both the houses and cultivated piece of 
 ground purchased by said Beaubien in the year 18:2, and the house, that in or 
 about the year 181 7 the said Beaubien had purchased of one Dean, this Dean 
 house being then comparatively new, and for that date of much value, and the 
 said part of said tract of land that was outside of the post limits had been, and 
 was the home and residence of the said John B. Beaubien at the time said tract of 
 land was first surveyed, and at the time the survey and plat thereof was filed and 
 approved in the proper office therefor, and the said Beaubien was also in the pos- 
 session and actual occupancy of the said land on the first day of October, 1824, 
 and then had valuable buildings thereon, procured at his own private expense, 
 and then regarded his private property, at which latter date, as affiant is informed 
 and believes, the said buildings of the said Beaubien, and his said land were, with- 
 out his knowledge or authority therefor, reserved for the use of the General Gov- 
 ernment without any compensation therefor being made to him, the said Beau- 
 bien, and that from and after said last-named date, the said tract of land remained 
 reserved for the use of the Government until the spring of 1839, and that a part 
 of said tract of land did not cease to be such a reservation until on or about the 
 twenty-fifth day of May, A. D. 1872. 
 
 Affiant states that he has read the said acts of February 5, 1813, and the amend- 
 ment thereof, dated and approved April 29, 1816, and that he is familiar with 
 what the said John B. Beaubien did in compliance with the terms of the said acts, 
 and he states that at the time of the said appropriation of about four acres of said 
 tract or fractional quarter section of land by the Government of the United States, 
 the said Beaubien was in no default with any of the terms of either of said acts, 
 and was then in the actual possession of said tract of land ; and that when a reser- 
 vation of the residue of said tract or fractional quarter section of land was made 
 by entry in the Land Office on the first day of October, A.D. 1824; that the said 
 John B. Beaubien was then in no default with any of the terms of either of said 
 ajts; and that on said last date, as before stated, the said John B. Beaubien was 
 also in the possession of said tract of land then residing thereon. 
 
 Affiant further states that he is advised and believes that the said reservation, 
 notwithstanding the said private rights theretofore and then in said land in favor 
 of the said John B. Beaubien operated to exclude the said land from either entry 
 or sale until it should cease to be used by the United States Government, and the 
 reservation of the same entered in the Land Office, should be canceled and vacated; 
 and that while this reservation should last the pre-emption right of the said Beau- 
 bien could not in any way be asserted; and that if he should attempt to assert it 
 his act, whatever it might be, • would be void ; but that nevertheless his pre- 
 emption right for the period of time the reservation would last would continue 
 
316 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 it be said that "they shake the bush for others to gather the 
 fruit." 
 
 to exist in abeyance in the land to revive upon the reservation being vacated. 
 
 Affiant states that he is advised and believes that the said reservation as to a 
 part of said tract of land was first vacated in the spring of the year 1839, by the 
 issuing of an order for the sale thereof; and that the said order was then made by 
 the Secretary of War that he, as Secretary of War, would cause the same to be 
 sold, after being subdivided into lots and blocks, and be sold in single lots to the 
 highest private bidder, and not otherwise, which lots were of about the size of 
 twenty-two feet front by usual and ordinary depth for city lots to alleys in the rear, 
 and some perhaps a little larger; that the manner and terms of said order were of 
 themselves a prohibition to the said John B. Beaubien; that the said tract would 
 not in whole or in any part be sold to him as a pre-emptor; and that being ordered 
 to be sold by the Secretary of War, the said order was a refusal to give the said 
 John B. Beaubien the privilege to first prove and enter and purchase the same, 
 as the law, as affiant is advised, required, for the reason that at that time the said 
 Secretary had no authority or jurisdiction, nor has he ever had, so far as affiant is 
 informed, to hear and determine pre-emptive proofs, or to issue and deliver pre- 
 emption certificates of purchase; nevertheless, affiant states that the said John B. 
 Beaubien was then ready and anxious and able to make the necessary proof of his 
 settlement on the aforesaid tract of land, and of his compliance with the require- 
 ments of the aforesaid pre-emption acts; and that the said John B. Beaubien was 
 then in the actual possession of said tract of land, re-siding thereon, and that the 
 said Beaubien and his heirs have always been ready and anxious to make, the 
 proper proof, entry, and payment for said land under said law, and that they are 
 still ready and prepared to do this, but that no hour or moment has, that affiant 
 is aware of, ever been allotted them to make this proof, entry, and payment since 
 the aforesaid tract of land was reserved, as aforesaid, and while the said pre-emp- 
 tion title of said John B. Beaubien was in full force, and before he had made any 
 default. 
 
 Affiant further states that the said early laws are, as he is advised, still in full 
 force as to said early settlement, and unrepealed, and that the time allotted by 
 them for pre-emptive proof, entry, and payment of said tract of land has not as 
 yet expired, and that quite a large tract of said land now claimed by the City of 
 Chicago still remains as an open common, unsold and unconveyed, with the legal 
 title still in the United States Government, and subject to the trust in favor of 
 the said Beaubien and his heirs that existed on the days that it was appropriated 
 and reserved, as aforesaid, as affiant is informed and believes; and that the heirs 
 of the said John B. Beaubien, nearly all of whom still reside in the City of Chi- 
 cago, Illinois, aforesaid, are now ready and willing and anxious, as they have been 
 at all times heretofore, to tender proof of compliance with said law by their father, 
 and to offer and pay the sum of one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre, fixed by 
 a solemn act of Congress as the price to be paid therefor, to induce the said John 
 B. Beaubien to remain on said tract of land and make large expenditures thereon 
 for buildings, while the same was unreserved and unappropriated, and which in 
 fact had that effect and operation. 
 
 Affiant further states that in addition to the aforesaid act of estoppel as against 
 the United States Government, to make good their solemn and written promise to 
 convey to the said Beaubien and his heirs the said tract of land, or any remaining 
 part thereof at the price aforesaid, before they would permit it to be sold, granted, 
 or conveyed to others, that the said United States Government, in and by the said 
 pioneer residence of the said John B. Beaubien, received a great reward and bene- 
 fit from the said John B. Beaubien in this. That he came to said locality when 
 the United States was unable or failing to maintain a suitable force in that locality 
 to cope with the then powerful tribe of Pottawatomie Indians, then inhabiting the 
 country in and about the now City of Chicago, and when the garrison of troops 
 there had all been murdered, and the white settlers had been or were compelled 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 317 
 
 It is true, Congress hinted as much as to say that the Col. 
 was somehow, of necessity, treated rather shabbily by the 
 
 to flee for their lives, and remain absent for the space of about four years. This 
 tribe of Indians at this time were wholly under the control of the British Govern- 
 ment, and during our then war with that power their fast allies, and such agents 
 and persons as the United States Government had sent in among them, to prevent 
 and break up this alliance had been unavailing, and it was necessary and desirable 
 to the United States Government for some one to go and be with them that could 
 and would materially aid in this task. The said John B. Beaubien being an 
 American citizen by birth and education, and then and at all other times truly and 
 thoroughly loyal to the United States Government, and having been born and 
 .reared in the now City of Detroit, Michigan, and surrounded with Indians from 
 the time of his birth, and fully understanding their character, and in a large meas- 
 ure enjoying their confidence, did, at this critical time, marry Jossettie Lafrom- 
 boise, then one of the said tribe of Indians necessary to be conciliated, and through 
 her and her family, who were very influential members of said tribe of Indians, 
 and then somewhat more enlightened than the generality of the other members of 
 said tribe of Indians, the said Beaubien did all in his power, without any fee or 
 reward, to bring about this reconciliation of these Indians to the United States 
 Government, and in this he was aided by his wife, the mother of the larger part 
 of the now Beaubien children and heirs, claiming title to the aforesaid tract of 
 land, the desired result was secured, and the said Indians after that war became 
 the most loyal to the United States Government, and instead of being a great 
 menance to pioneer settlement, became a strong police force to aid in their pro- 
 tection, and in the Indian war that occurred in that region, or west of there, in 
 the year 1832, these Indians rendered meritorious service in aiding the United 
 States Government to suppress it, and from and since that date it is believed by 
 affiant that they have been truly loyal, and well disponed to the United States 
 Government, and all its citizens and subjects. 
 
 Affiant further states that not desiring to rest his father's loyalty and the value 
 of his said services on the testimony of a son, he takes occasion and does refer, 
 for further proof of these qualities in affiant's father to the resolutions adopted at 
 an indignation meeting held by the citizens of Chicago, Illinois, on the — day of 
 June, 1839, on the occasion of the Government of the United States, through an 
 alleged agent of the then Secretary of War, causing the said land so promised as 
 aforesaid many years theretofore by Congress to the said John B. Beaubien by a 
 solemn law to then in repudiation of said law and promise to be subdivided as 
 aforesaid into little lots of about twenty-two feet front, and to be sold to the high- 
 est bidder, and the proceeds placed in the United States Treasury, under which, 
 with other parts of the said land of the said John B. Beaubien as the said alleged 
 agent of the then Secretary of War, had caused them to be sold away from the 
 said John B. Beaubien the very house that then in his old age he was inhabiting, 
 and in which he had resided in since Illinois was a Territory, and which house 
 had been procured at great expense to the said Beaubien, and in which a large 
 family of children had been born unto him and partly reared; and in and around 
 which house on the said land so sold and conveyed were also the graves of the 
 departed children of the said Beaubien. 
 
 Affiant states that the resolutions of said meeting, which were printed in all the 
 city papers of Chicago aforesaid at the time, and which are still in existence, did 
 not overdraw the picture as to what the said Beaubien had done for said locality 
 and the United States Government; but affiant knows as a fact that they left many 
 things in the favor of the said Beaubien unsaid which might have been said. 
 
 Affiant further states in explanation of the letters of Dr. Wolcott, written from 
 Chicago to the Department at Washington, D. C, advising a reservation to be 
 made of the aforesaid fractional quarter section of land for the uses of the Govern- 
 ment, and that a larger tract than the whole of said fractional quarter section of 
 land was then under fence and in the use of the Government, or language to that 
 
3i8 
 
 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 laws, or jurors, or inevitable fate, and therefore passed an act 
 conveying to him several lots as a douceur, being a slight 
 
 effect; that the larger part of the land thus referred to was outside of the said frac- 
 tional quarter section of land, and in section nine in the aforesaid township, and 
 that in the said Beaubien fractional quarter section there was then only about four 
 acres inclosed and in the use of the Government, or that at any time since the 
 retaking possession thereof in 1816, had been in the use of the Government, and 
 that the part of the said Beaubien fractional quarter section then in use or inclosed 
 by the Government is correctly represented by the western inclosure shown in a 
 picture of Chicago in the year 1820, which picture was shortly since shown affiant 
 by William H. Standish, Esq., of Chicago, Illinois, with the word "Childs" 
 printed on it, (this, probably, was Schoolcraft's view of Chicago in 1820, repro- 
 duced by Mr. Childs,) while the eastern enclosure shown on said picture shows 
 houses and buildings then owned by the said John B. Beaubien, and to show the 
 field above referred to in section nine of said township that had been fenced in 
 and used by the Government to raise vegetables, &c, for the soldiers at the post. 
 The said affiant has caused the following map to be drawn : 
 
 Explanations :— No. i is part and enclosure on the Beaubien tract of land. 
 The other enclosure is west of the Beaubien tract of land. 
 
 Affiant states that he was residing at the City of Chicago aforesaid when that 
 part of the reservation by occupancy aforesaid that had been made in July, 1816, 
 or thereabouts, and after survey was found to be in section nine aforesaid, was 
 vacated and ceased to be used by the soldiers at Fort Dearborn, and until after 
 the sale and disposition thereof was made and affiant states that the part of said 
 reservation in existence by occupancy, on the third day of March, 1819, situated 
 in said section nine upon becoming after that date vacated, was permitted to and 
 did relapse back into the condition of public lands that had never been appropri- 
 ated or reserved, and was sold and disposed of in the same manner as the other 
 public lands in and about Chicago aforesaid that had never been sold or appro- 
 priated prior to the grant to the State of Illinois for canal purposes, and said field 
 was not sub-divided, sold, or disposed of by the Secretary of War, notwithstand- 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 319 
 
 corner, less than the hundredth part of the identical tract of 
 land of which he supposed himself the entire and proper owner. 
 
 ing that the said lands were sold and disposed of between the years 1819 and 1857 
 by grant of public lands to the State of Illinois. 
 
 Affiant further states that at the time a subdivision of the aforesaid tract of land 
 known as Fort Dearborn Addition to Chicago, Illinois, was made, platted, and 
 filed of record, and at the time all the Fort Dearborn sale of lots out of said tract, 
 in the year 1839, was made, and at the time the City of Chicago took possession 
 of a part of said tract of land that at said sale was not sold, the said John B. Beau- 
 bien was in the actual possession of said tract of land, residing thereon with his 
 family, and the said City of Chicago, and all parties concerned, had full notice of 
 all his rights in said tract of land, and as affiant is informed and believes, that be- 
 fore said alleged sale, and while it was progressing, they were publicly notified by 
 one of the then able and noted lawyers of Chicago that said sale would be invalid 
 and convey no title to a purchaser thereat. 
 
 Affiant further states that the said John B. Beaubien was in the actual posses- 
 sion of said fractional quarter section of land on the twenty-ninth day of. May, 
 A.D. 1830, and that he cultivated a portion of said tract of land in the year 1829. 
 
 Affiant further states that the said John B. Beaubien was in the actual posses- 
 sion of said fractional quarter section of land on the nineteenth day of June, A.D. 
 1834, and that he cultivated a portion thereof in the year 1833. 
 
 Affiant further states that that part of the aforesaid fractional quarter section of 
 land now claimed by the City of Chicago, and that other part known as the rail- 
 road grounds, were neither to any extent in the occupancy and use of the United 
 States Government, on and prior to the first day of October, A.D. 1824, for any 
 purpose whatever, and as before stated as affiant is informed no part of said parts 
 of said fractional quarter section of land were, until October first, 1824, reserved 
 in any way by the Government of the United States, and further affiant saith not. 
 
 MADORE B. BEAUBIEN. 
 
 Sworn and subscribed to before me the 28th day of January, A.D. 1878. 
 
 JOSEPH B. OLIVER, 
 
 [SEAL. ] Notary Public. 
 
 Washington,-D. C, February 6, 1878. 
 I have been personally and well acquainted with Madore B. Beaubien during 
 the last past twelve years, and I regard him as a most upright, honest, and truth- 
 ful man. 
 
 THOS. RYAN, M.C., 
 
 3d Kansas. 
 
 AFFIDAVIT OF JEAN B. LETENDERE. 
 
 State of Kansas, 
 
 County oj Shawnee, 
 
 Jean B. Letendere, being first duly sworn makes oath and says that he resides 
 near the City of Silver Lake, in said county; that he is over eighty-three years of 
 age, and that from in the fall of 1815 until after the year 1835 he resided in and 
 about what is now Chicago, Illinois, and in the fall of 1815 affiant entered into the 
 employment of Colonel John B. Beaubien, of that place, and remained in his em- 
 ployment the most of the time until the year 1836; and that in the fall of 1815, 
 and for years thereafter, affiant boarded much of his time in the family of the said 
 Beaubien, who is now deceased. 
 
 Affiant states that at the time in the fall of 1815, that affiant began to work for 
 the said Beaubien and live in his family; the said Beaubien was then residing in a 
 house near the then ruins of old Fort Dearborn, and near where it was rebuilt 
 about the month of July or August, 1816, the i-aid house being then a few hun- 
 dred feet east and south of said ruins of a former fort, as it was stated, and on that 
 
320 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 We will not undertake to say how it might have affected 
 the immediate descendants of Col. Beaubien if they had 
 
 tract of land which after survey came to be known and described as the southwest 
 fractional quarter of section ten, township number thirty-nine, north range four- 
 teen, east of the third principal meridian, and in the now City of Chicago, County 
 of Cook, and in State of Illinois, and north of what is now, or was when affiant 
 lived in Chicago, known as Madison street, and east of State street and south of 
 the Chicago river. 
 
 At the time that affiant entered the employment of the said Beaubien in the 
 year 1815, and then began to board and live in the family of the said Beaubien, 
 then living and residing in a house on said land, affiant learned from the said 
 Beaubien and wife, and from the citizens generally of that neighborhood and 
 vicinity, that the said Beaubien had purchased said house from the rightful owner 
 thereof in the year 1812, or at about the time of the breaking out of the then late 
 war; and that the said Beaubien had resided therein a portion of each year since 
 that time, and had each year cultivated a patch of ground for garden, &c, in 
 and around said house, and on said tract of land, and this seemed to be a gener- 
 ally conceded fact in and about that region at that date. 
 
 As affiant learned in the same way as he learned about the facts of the purchase 
 of said house, he also learned that the same had first been built about the year 
 1 804, and occupied the most of the time from that date as a private residence, up 
 to 1812, as well as since 1812, and affiant says that in 1815 the said house bore the 
 evidence of age, and looked then as though it had been erected ten or more years 
 previously to the year 1815. 
 
 Affiant states that in the same way that he learned the before mentioned facts, 
 he also learned that Jossettie Beaubien, the second and the then wife of the said 
 John B. Beaubien, was at the time the said house had been purchased by the said 
 John B. Beaubien, then living on an adjoining fractional quarter section of land, 
 and that in said neighborhood she had been reared, and that in said neighborhood 
 her family relatives were and had been residing, and for many years thereafter 
 continued to reside, and that the said John B. Beaubien in the year 1812 purchased 
 said house for a home, and that soon after said purchase his marriage to the said 
 Jossettie Beaubien, whose name before marriage was Jossettie Lafromboise, fol- 
 lowed, when they went to living in the aforesaid house, and had made the same 
 their home. 
 
 Affiant states that from and after the time affiant in the fall of 1815, entered into 
 the employment of the said Beaubien, and began to live in the said Beaubien's 
 family, the said Beaubien did not during the time affiant was in the employ of the 
 said Beaubien up to and after the year 1836, abandon the said piece of ground as 
 his home, and that he had a house thereon, and his home thereon on the twenty- 
 ninth day of April, A.D. 18 16, and that the said Beaubien had as affiant knows 
 of his own personal knowledge, used and cultivated a part of said tract of land in 
 the year 1815, and had in that year resided on the same. 
 
 Affiant states that between the years 1815, and the years 1819, the said Beau- 
 bien spent a part of his time at Milwaukee, that is near what is now known as 
 Milwaukee, and some of his time at the head of Green Bay, and used to go to 
 Mackinaw for supplies; affiant often accompanying him, and sometimes the wife 
 of the said Beaubien accompanied him as far as Milwaukee, awaiting until the said 
 Beaubien was through with his circuit of trip, when she would return with him to 
 what is now said City of Chicago, but that said trips were not made for the pur- 
 pose of abandoning the home which the said Beaubien had established in Chicago 
 on the aforesaid land, as when absent the said Beaubien and wife always in con- 
 versation in the presence of affiant, used to speak of the place on the aforesaid land 
 as their home. 
 
 Affiant states that at the time he began to work for the said Beaubien, as afore- 
 said, in the year 1815, there was no fort or building owned by the Government 
 standing on the aforesaid land, as that term is commonly understood in a new 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 32 1 
 
 really come in possession of the large estate that sometime 
 seemed a brilliant prize almost within the grasp; yet it would 
 
 country; that the fort that was said to have been on said land from the year 1804 
 to August, or thereabouts, in the year 1812, was said to have been abandoned by 
 the Government at the latter date, and not until after being abandoned to have 
 been destroyed by the Indians of that region, and the said tract of land was then 
 totally abandoned by the Government, and on the twenty-ninth day of April, A.D. 
 1816, was said to have been then totally abandoned by the United States Govern- 
 ment for a period then of near four years, and the war with the British Govern- 
 ment had then been ended for the space of abuut two years, and that it was not 
 then known in the region or vicinity of said land that the Government intended 
 to or ever would resume possession of said land, or any portion thereof, and, as 
 affiant is informed, the said lands had relapsed into the condition of all other pub- 
 lic lands, and were then as susceptible to the attaching of pre-emptive rights there- 
 to, under ipre-emption legislation and residence on said land, as if the partial 
 appropriation thereof from the years 1804 to the month of August, 1812, by the 
 United States Government had not existed. 
 
 Affiant further states of his own knowledge that about the month of July or 
 August, 1816, and after the twenty-ninth day of April, A.D. 1816, the United 
 States Government retook possession of about four acres or less, of what after sur- 
 vey came to be known as a part of the southwest fractional quarter of the aforesaid 
 section of land, and that at said last date there were no surveys in that region, and 
 that the said Government, on retaking possession of this small portion of the 
 aforesaid tract of land, designated the portion it intended to make use of by en- 
 closing the same with a fence, and that said Government fenced off and retained 
 for their use a much larger field on the west of the buildings and small field afore- 
 said they then used, which larger field was west of what was known as State 
 street, Chicago, Illinois, at the time affiant left said city, and which larger field, 
 west of said State street, was in the fall of 1824 still enclosed by fence, and then 
 known as the Government field, and which in the fall of said last named year, 
 with said small field, was the only land at that date in use by the Government, or 
 known as the Government soldier's land. 
 
 Affiant further states that he knows of his own knowledge that in the fall of' 
 1824, and on the first day of October, of that year, the said John B. Beaubien was 
 then in the actual occupancy, and then actually residing on said tract of land, out- 
 side of the said theretofore enclosed and appropriated limits that had been in use 
 by the Government, and that on this portion of said tract of land since, on the 
 29th day of April, A.D. 1816, the said Beaubien had made for that date, and 
 region, large expenditures for improvements, and which improvements were then 
 still standing on said portion of said tract of land, and still were owned by the 
 said Beaubien, and that they were popularly known as said Beaubien's private 
 property, and that they were then, by the custom and usage of that region, as 
 much an article of sale and purchase, and the title of the settler thereto; as much 
 respected as though the same were his cow or his horse; and, as affiant is informed, 
 the settlement law in force at that date for the territory of Illinois, not only 
 authorized the sale and transfer before entry of such improvements, but also of the 
 guaranteed preferential right from the Government of the first and exclusive right 
 to purchase the land itself, which right, as affiant is informed and believes, con- 
 tained the further promise of the Government; that the right of entry and purchase 
 should not be predicated on, whether the land of the settler should ever be pro- 
 claimed for sale, and that save and except for a failure of the settler to enter his 
 land within the time fixed by the settlement law his right of entry should not, as 
 affiant is informed, be forfeited by the Government or others. 
 
 Affiant further states that he has no interest whatever in who is the owner of 
 any portion of the fractional quarter section of land, first above described, and 
 that he is not an Indian, but a Frenchman, and that he has lived at and near Sil- 
 ver Lake, Shawnee County, Kansas, for twenty-six years, last past; that he has 
 
 21 
 
322 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 be difficult, probably, to find anyone who would not claim 
 to have remarkable ability to discreetly manage much more 
 
 attentively listened to the careful reading of all of the aforesaid affidavit, and fully 
 understands its contents, and that affiant is well and extensively known in the 
 region aforesaid. 
 
 JEAN B. LATENDRE, "* 
 mark. 
 Witness: Dr. W. F. Hazelton. 
 
 Sworn and subscribed to before me, and by me read over to affiant before sign- 
 ing, this 2ist day of December, 1877. 
 
 WM. F. JOHNSTON, 
 [SEAL.] A T o!ary Public. 
 
 I do solemnly swear that I have known Jean B. Latendre (whose signature is 
 attached above), for fifteen years, and know him to be a respectable witness and 
 citizen of Shawnee County, State of Kansas. 
 
 W. F. JOHNSTON, Postmaster, 
 
 Sliver Lake, Shawnee County, Kansas. 
 
 AFFIDAVIT OF E. D. TAYLOR. 
 
 State of Illinois, 
 
 County of Cook, 
 
 Personally appeared before the undersigned, a notary public within and for said 
 county, E. D. Taylor, who, being first duly sworn, makes oath and says : That he 
 will be seventy-three years of age October 18th, 1877. 
 
 That his memory of past events is strong and clear; that he resides in the City 
 of Chicago and county aforesaid, but spends a good deal of his time at or about 
 Mendota and near LaSalle, Illinois, and that he owns real estate situated in said 
 City of Chicago. 
 
 Affiant states that he was the first receiver of the northeastern land district of 
 , Illinois, and that his headquarters as such receiver were at Chicago, Illinois, and 
 that the first public sales of any public lands located in what is now Chicago, Illi- 
 nois, and the country contiguous thereto, commenced at Chicago, Illinois, on the 
 15th day of June, 1835, and not before that date; and that said lands had not been 
 advertised to be sold before that date at public sale, and that said sales of said 
 lands were made by this affiant as the receiver of the land district aforesaid on and 
 after June 15th, 1835, at Chicago, Illinois, in connection with the register of said 
 land district. 
 
 Affiant further states that on the 5th day of February, A.D. 1813, the Congress 
 of the United States of America, passed a certain act entitled "An act giving the 
 right of pre-emption in the purchase of lands to certa-in settlers in the Illinois 
 Territory, " which act is to be found in the second volume of the United States 
 Statutes-at-Large, on pages 797-798, which act affiant is informed and believes 
 was never repealed, except as it was modified by subsequent legislation on the sub- 
 ject, and that said act is made a part of this affidavit by reference to the same as 
 jf incorporated into it verbatim. 
 
 That, on the 12th day of April, 1814, the aforesaid act, without the change of 
 a word or dot, was extended to a part of the State of Louisiana and to the Terri- 
 tory of Missouri, as will be seen by reference to the United States Statutes-at- 
 Large, volume 3, page 122. That in 1819 in matters that arose in Missouri Ter- 
 ritory, that this law was construed by the Attorney General of the United States 
 as creating in the settler from the date of his settlement (where he had settled after 
 the date of the extension of said law to Missouri) a vested right to the tract which 
 he had settled on, which made it impossible for Congress thereafter to reserve it, 
 notwithstanding that at that time no entry of the settlement right had been made 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 323 
 
 wealth than he already has in the clutches of his own hand. 
 Col. Beaubien was still living, in 1839, on the Reservation, 
 
 at the Land Office, as affiant understands said decision; the same is to be found in 
 the first volume of the Attorney General's Opinions at page 291, and to which 
 reference is made. 
 
 The time given to the settler under the aforesaid act of February 5th, 1813, in 
 which to first enter his land at the Land Office as a claimant under the aforesaid 
 law, did not expire until two weeks before the land was to be offered at public 
 sale, and that within that time for a failure to make entry or the first payment, it 
 was provided in and by said law that the settlers' rights in his land should not be 
 forfeited. The language of said law on this point being in the words following, 
 to wit : 
 
 "Provided, That all lands to be sold under this act shall be entered with the 
 register at least two weeks before the time of the public sales in the district where- 
 in the land lies, and every person having a right of preference in becoming the 
 purchaser of a tract of land who shall fail so to make his entry with the register 
 within the time prescribed, his right shall be forfeited, and the land by him claimed 
 shall be offered at public sale with the other public lands in the district to which 
 it belongs. " 
 
 Within that time that is more than two weeks before June 15th, 1835, the first 
 time appointed for the public sale of any public lands in Chicago, Illinois, or that 
 were located there, General John Baptiste Beaubien (whose name was sometimes 
 written Jean Baptiste Beaubien, and at others Jean Baptist Beaubien) came to the 
 register and receiver's office of the aforesaid land district then in Chicago, and 
 within two squares of the land hereafter described, and brought with him his 
 neighbprs and the oldest settlers then of that locality, and the said Beaubien and 
 these old neighbors and old settlers then and there offered to swear, that for 
 twenty-three years the home of the said Beaubien had been and was then on the 
 southwest fractional quarter of section 10, township, number 39, north range, 14 
 east of the third principal meridian, in the County of Cook and State of Illinois. 
 
 The said Beaubien, and the said witnesses by him produced then and there be- 
 fore the said register and receiver, also offered to swear that a house was built on 
 the aforesaid fractional quarter section of land several years before the war of 
 1812, and was occupied up to shortly before the breaking out of said war, and 
 that a piece of ground on said fractional quarter section of land in connection with 
 said house, and by the owner and occupier thereof, was cultivated during each of 
 said years, when the owner and the occupier of said house sold and conveyed the 
 same, together with said cultivated piece of ground, to the said General Beaubien, 
 and placed him in the actual possession thereof, since which time the said Gen- 
 eral Beaubien had retained said house, and actually lived on said land from year 
 to year and made it his home, and that he actually occupied it before August, 
 1812, in person, and cultivated said piece of ground, before that date; that from 
 the last date until the year 1819, or thereabouts, the said General Beaubien was a 
 fur agent and trader among the Indians, and while this business had caused him 
 to be absent at intervals between those years at Milwaukee and the region of 
 Green Bay, in the former Territory of Illinois, the wife and family of the said 
 General Beaubien had at times during such absence remained on this land to await 
 his return, and that Chicago during that period of time was the home of the said 
 General Beaubien, and that the said General Beaubien offered to swear that he 
 did not establish for himself any other home after the year 1812, and these wit- 
 nesses offered to swear that this was true, and that Chicago was where his wife's 
 relatives had been living during that period, and that it was where she had been 
 reared, and that it was the place said Beaubien became acquainted with her, as 
 was currently understood, 
 
 The said Beaubien and the said witnesses also offered to swear that after the 
 spring of 1816 said Beaubien had expended, for improvements on said lands, oyer 
 fifteen times the stipulated price the Government had previously offered to receive 
 
324 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 but, we think, removed to a farm on the'Desplaines, the year 
 following. We are informed that it was there where his wife 
 
 from him for said lands, any time after their survey, and two weeks or more prior 
 to the time that should be fixed for their sale, and this stipulated purchase price 
 that had been fixed for the sale of said lands to said Beaubien by the Government, 
 to include said expenditures by him on said land, with the necessary and usual 
 proof of compliance with the terms of said law, he then and there tendered to the 
 said register and receiver, and requested them to accept the same and to issue to 
 him the necessary and usual papers, wh ch the Government had promised him, 
 entitling him to a patent for the aforesaid fractional quarter section of land. 
 
 At the same time, by the same witness, the said Beaubien offered to prove that 
 he had complied with all of the things required by the pre-emption law of June 
 19th, 1834, and also tendered his money under that law to said register and re- 
 ceiver for said fractional quarter section of land, and requested that the necessary 
 and usual final papers from said officers be then and there issued to him for the 
 aforesaid fractional quarter section of land. The said register and this affiant then 
 consulted together, and came to the conclusion that the said General Beaubien 
 had complied fully with all of the things that had been prescribed by the said pre- 
 emption law of 1813, and also that he had "fully complied with all of the things 
 required by the said pre-emption law of 1834, but owing to the fact that the Gov- 
 ernment had some buildings on a portion of said fractional quarter section of land, 
 they deemed it prudent and cautious for them to consult with the authorities at 
 Washington, D. C, before taking any action in the premises, and we made this 
 conclusion known to General Beaubien. Soon General Beaubien, very excited 
 and indignant, came and stated to the said register and this affiant, words to this 
 effect: "See here, my land is advertised for sale; you are instructed to sell it; if 
 you take time to write to Washington you will rob me of my land. " The said 
 register and receiver then looked at their instructions and found to their satisfac- 
 tion that what General Beaubien had stated was true. The Department at Wash- 
 ington had seemingly been particular to point out to them every section of land 
 that belonged to the canal trustees, and in which Indian rights existed, and even 
 the land that abutted this piece or fractional quarter section on the west, and also 
 the tract that adjoined it on the south, and had directed all these lands not to be 
 sold, but the said fractianal quarter section of land in question it had directed to 
 be offered at public sale unless it should be pre-empted Within the time provided 
 by law for pre-emption rights to be entered. 
 
 It is affiant's opinion that at that time the pre-emptive rights of the said Beau- 
 bien in the said fractional quarter section of land, by the best judges in and about 
 Chicago, were then estimated to be worth not less than fifty thousand dollars, at 
 least they were supposed to be very valuable, and the said register and receiver 
 felt that they had no right to hazard them, and, therefore, they concluded to take 
 legal advice nearer at hand than Washington, D. C. About that time, Mr. Baker, 
 the United States District Attorney for Illinois, happened to be in Chicago at the 
 office of the said register and receiver, and they submitted the whole matter to 
 him, turning over to him everything. He made careful examination, read over 
 the law, and took time to consider the matter, when, he advised us that both the 
 law and our instructions made it our duty to let General Beaubien pre-empt this 
 land, and that it made no difference to us whether the fort and light-house were 
 on a part of said land or not; that it was our duty to follow the law, whether it 
 hurt or benefited the United States Government, and that the law made it our 
 duty to let said General Beaubien pre-empt this land. Although the said United 
 States District Attorney enjoyed the reputation of being a good lawyer, and it 
 was his duty, as we understood, to advise all United States officials in his district, 
 yet, before acting on his advice, we took that of the Hon. Sidney Breese, who is 
 now one of the Supreme Court Judges of Illinois, and even at that day enjoyed 
 the reputation of being an eminent lawyer. 
 
 At about that time he happened to be in Chicago, and at the offices of the said 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 325 
 
 Josette died, in September, 1845. We think, he was still 
 living there in 1854; he rode with us, one day, as far as the 
 
 register and receiver, and they submitted everything to him for advice pertaining 
 to the said matter the same as they had to the said United States District Attor- 
 ney, and they received from him the same advice that they had received from 
 said District Attorney. 
 
 Said affiant and said register then concluded to, and did permit, said General 
 John Baptiste Beaubien to pre-empt said fractional quarter section of land. They 
 had blanks that had been furnished them by the Department at Washington, D. C. , 
 for the taking of proof, showing a compliance with the pre-emption act of June 
 19th, 1834, and for the certificates to be issued by said register and receiver under 
 said act to the settler, and they had no blanks for use under the said act of Febru- 
 ary 5th, 1813, and they supposed that it made no difference under which of said 
 acts they should take proof; they, therefore, on the 28th day of May, A.D. 1835, 
 neglected and declined to take all proof then and there offered by the said Beau- 
 bien, showing that he had fully complied with the aforesaid act of February, A. D. 
 1813, and they took proof and issued certificates to said Beaubien for said frac- 
 tional quarter section of land under the said act of June 19th, 1834, and under 
 said act they accepted payment in full for the aforesaid fractional quarter section 
 of land from the said General Beaubien, and then and there the said fractional 
 quarter section of land was entered on the record books of the said register as sold 
 to the said Beaubien, and receipts were then and there issued and delivered by 
 the said register and receiver to the said Beaubien, of which the following, accord- 
 ing to the best of said affiant's recollection, are true copies, to wit : 
 
 [No. 6'.] Pre-emption Act, June ig, 1834. 
 
 Land Office at Chicago, Illinois, 
 
 May 28, /83s. 
 Received of John Baptist Beaubien, of Cook County, Illinois, the sum of 
 $94.61, being in full payment for the southwest fractional quarter, of section 
 number ten, in township, number thirty-nine, north of range number fourteen, 
 east of the third principal meridian, containing seventy-five acres and sixty-nine 
 hundredths of an acre, at the rate of $1.25 per acre, Bank Mich, paper. 
 
 E. D. TAYLOR, Receiver. 
 
 [No. 6.] Land Office at Chicago, Illinois, 
 
 May 28, 1835. 
 
 It is hereby certified that in pursuance of law, John Baptiste Beaubien, of Cook 
 County, State of Illinois, on this day purchased of the register of this office the lot 
 or southwest fractional quarter, of section number ten, in township number thirty- 
 nine, north of range fourteen east, containing seventy-five acres and sixty-nine 
 hundredths of an acre at the rate of $1.25 per acre, amounting to $94.61, for 
 which the said John Baptiste Beaubien has made payment in full as required by 
 law. 
 
 Now, therefore, be it known that on presentation of this certificate to the Com- 
 missioner of the General Land Office, the said John Baptiste Beaubien shall be 
 entitled to a patent for the lot above des.ribed. 
 
 JAMES WHITLOCK, Register. 
 
 Said affiant further states, that said proof offered that the said Jean Baptiste 
 Beaubien had made his home on this fractional quarter section of land since prior 
 to the war of 1812, and»had complied with all of the things required by said pre- 
 emption law of 1813, was credited by the said register and said receiver, and that 
 it showed a full and perfect compliance by the said Beaubien with the said act of 
 February 5th, 1813, and also a full compliance with the amendment to said act of 
 April 29th, 1816, and that said proof was offered within the time required by said 
 acts to have it enure back to the date of the latter act ; and that no fault or negli- 
 
326 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 Desplaines, after he had been to Washington, which was 
 early in that year. He told us of various prominent men of 
 
 gence is imputable to the said Beaubien because it was not taken, but such fault 
 or- negligence, if any, rests on the United States Government and on their duly 
 accredited agents, the said register and receiver. 
 
 Said affiant further states, that the time for proving up any pre-emption right, 
 if any had existed in any other party to pre-empt said fractional quarter section of 
 land or any portion thereof, expired under the said act of February 5th, 1813, on 
 the first day of June, 1835; that the said affiant remained as the said receiver in 
 the said Land Office until past the date last stated, and until the land sales that 
 began in said land district, at said Land Office, on the 15th day of June, 1835, 
 were completed, and affiant states that no person other than the said General 
 Beaubien, either before the said first day of June, 1835, or thereafter, made any 
 claim to the said receiver that he had any right to pre-empt the said fractional 
 quarter section of land, or any portion thereof, nor did any person other than the 
 said General Beaubien offer any proof of such a right, or receive from the said 
 receiver a receiver's certificate of pre-emption payment for said land, or any por- 
 tion thereof. 
 
 E. D. TAYLOR. 
 
 Sworn to before me and subscribed in my presence, this 13th day of September, 
 A.D. 1877. 
 [SEAL.] L. F. CUMMINGS, Notary Public. 
 
 E. D. Taylor, of Illinois, is an old and greatly esteemed citizen of that State. 
 His statements are entitled to credit. 
 
 W. N. MORRISON. 
 
 E. D. Taylor, \ 
 
 Receiver, ' 
 
 TO i 
 
 John Baptiste Beaubien. ; 
 
 Certificate No. 6, dated May 28, 1835, and recorded June 26, 1835, in book D, 
 page 1 68. —Pre-emption act, 19 June, 1834. Land office at Chicago, Illinois. 
 Acknowledges receipt of $94.61, in full payment for the southwest fractional 
 quarter of section 10, in T. 39 N., of R. 14 E., of 3d P. M., containing 75.69 
 acres. 
 
 The United States of America, 
 vs. 
 John B. Beaubien, James Whit- ( 
 lock, Edmund D. Taylor, Syd- 
 ney Breese, and James M. Strode. 
 
 In the Circuit Court of United States for the District of Illinois. In chancery. 
 Bill to set aside the receipt last shown June 13, 1840. 
 
 The bill in this cause having been taken pro confesso against the defendant 
 James Whitlock, and the other defendants having answered, and the said cause 
 having been brought on to a hearing, &c. , and it appearing to the said court that 
 the southwest fractional quarter of section 10, T. 39 N., of R. 14 E., of 3d P.M.,' 
 situated in the Chicago land district was a military reservation of the United 
 States, and not subject to enter and purchase by the said defendant John B. 
 Beaubien by pre-emption, it is therefore ordered, adjudged, and decreed by the 
 said court, that upon the receiver of the United StateslLand Office at Chicago 
 refunding or tendering to the said John B. Beaubien the sum of $94.61, being 
 the amount of the purchase money paid by the said John B. Beaubien to Ed- 
 mund D. Taylor, the then receiver of said Land Office, when the said Beaubien 
 entered the said land on May 28, 1835, as mentioned in the receiver's receipt to 
 said Beaubien, that thereupon said Beaubien deliver and surrender up to the re- 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 327 
 
 the nation whom he had seen at the seat of government, who 
 favored his application for relief by Congress, the particulars 
 
 ceiver of the Land Office at Chicago, for the purpose of being cancelled, the said 
 receiver's receipt so given by him for the purchase money of the said land; and 
 that he also deliver to the said receiver to be cancelled, the certificates given by 
 the said James Whitlock and said James M. Strode, as Register of said Land 
 Office, to the said Beaubien, of his, the said Beaubien's entry and purchase of 
 said land ; and the said court do further order, adjudge, and decree, that said 
 entry and purchase of the said tract of land by the said John B. Beaubien and 
 the receiver's receipt, and the said register's certificate be vacated, cancelled, an- 
 nulled, and held for naught, and that said John B. Beaubien and the other de- 
 fendants be restrained and perpetually enjoined from ever setting up or asserting 
 any title or claim to the said land, by virtue of the said entry and purchase, and 
 that the defendants pay the costs of this suit. 
 
 Affiant further states that the foregoing is the full text of the items, number 
 thirty-three and thirty-four as shown in said abstract, in volume sixteen of said 
 letter-press copies. 
 
 JAS. W. BROCKWAY, Recorder. 
 
 Sworn to before me and subscribed in my presence, this 8th day of December, 
 A. D. 1877. 
 
 [seal.] . HENRY L. HERTZ, Notary Public. 
 
 Receiver's Office, 
 Chicago, Illinois, December 18, 184.0. 
 
 Eli S. Prescott, Receiver of Public Money at Chicago, Illinois, has this day 
 refunded to me the sum of .$94.61, being the amount paid by me for the south- 
 west fractional section No. 10, in township No. 39 north, range No. "14 east, of 
 the third principal meridian, on the 28th day of May, A. D. 1835. 
 
 The entry of said land by myself being invalid, in consequence of its being reserved 
 for military purposes, as per letter from the Commissioner of the General Land 
 Office. JOHN B. BEAUBIEN. 
 
 " If this 1835 receipt was void from the time made, the making of it, the can- 
 cellation of it, and the return of the money left both Beaubien and the Govern- 
 ment as they would have stood if none of these things had occurred. Void con- 
 veyances leave grantor and grantee as they would have been without the void 
 conveyance, and where the void conveyance is concelled, and the consideration 
 money returned, prior rights still exist as before. " — [From the Argument. 
 
 " Washington, May 31, 1878. Senator Bayard from the Committee on Private 
 Land Claims, presented to-day Report in the Senate, upon the Jean Baptiste 
 Beaubien claim to the Fort Dearborn Reservation, " etc. ; the following are 
 extracts : 
 
 "The State of Virginia, by the act of March I, 1784, (confirmed Dec. 30, 
 1788) ceeded the territory northwest of the river Ohio, to the United States, and 
 by the ordinance of July 13, 1787, it passed under the jurisdiction and became 
 part of the dominion of the United States. By the Treaty of Greenville, pro- 
 claimed August 3, 179S, made with certain Indian tribes, a quantity of land was 
 ceeded to the United States, which embraced within its limits the land described 
 in the Senate Bill 773, as the southwest fractional quarter of section number ten, 
 township thirty-nine north, range fourteen east of the third principal meridian, in 
 the City of Chicago. In the year 1804, the United States established a military 
 post on this land, and continued to occupy the same until August 16, 1812, when 
 the troops of the United States were massacred and the. post captured by Indians. 
 In 1 81 6, it was re-occupied and some buildings erected upon it by the United 
 States Government, for the use of the Indian Department. The post was thus 
 occupied by troops of the United States until May, 1823, when it was evacuated 
 
328 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 of which we do not precisely remember. He subsequently- 
 returned to live at Chicago, and, in 1855, married (3d) Miss 
 
 by order of the Government, and the post and property left in charge of the 
 United States Indian Agent at Chicago. In August, 1828, it was again occupied 
 by troops under an order of the Secretary of War, as one of the military posts of 
 the United States, and in 1831, the troops were again withdrawn, but possession 
 was not abandoned, the post being left in charge of an agent of the Government, 
 who authorised a person by the name of John Dole to occupy it and keep in re- 
 pair, which he did. In June, 1832, the Government again placed a garrison there 
 under command of an officer of the army of the United States. From that time 
 up to the commencement of the suit of ejectment, brought by Jackson against 
 Wilcox, an officer of the United States army in possession as such, it was con- 
 tinuously occupied by the Government as a military post, and was so occupied at 
 the time of the trial of that suit. John Dean, an army contractor at the post, 
 some time between 1804 and prior to 1815, built a house upon the land, around 
 which house there was an enclosure used by Dean as a garden and field. In the 
 year 181 7, said Dean sold the house, which had been occupied by him, to John 
 B. Beaubien, or Jean Baptiste Beaubien, as he was also called, for the sum of 
 $1000. Beaubien took possession and continued in possession from the time of 
 his purchase until the year 1836, cultivating a part of the enclosure every year. 
 The land was surveyed in 1821. After it was re-occupied in 18,32, by troops of 
 the United States, and before May I, 1834, the United States built a light-house 
 on a part of the land, and also kept at least twenty acres of ground inclosed and 
 cultivated for the use of the garrison. In 1 824, the Commissioner of the General 
 Land Office, at the request of the Secretary of War, set apart this land for the 
 use of the Government, and directed the same to be withheld from sale and re- 
 served for military purposes. Afterward, in 183 1, Beaubien made a claim for the 
 pre-emption of the land in question, at the Land Office at Palestine, which claim 
 was rejected, and the Commissioner of the Land Office, in answer to a letter from 
 him in 1832, informed him that the land had been reserved for military' purposes. 
 In 1834, he again made a claim for the land at the Danville Land Office, which 
 claim was likewise rejected. In 1835, he applied to the Land Office at Chicago, 
 and succeeded in having his pre-emption claim allowed, paid the purchase-money, 
 and obtained the treasurer's receipt therefor. Wilcox continued to remain in 
 possession, acting under the orders of the Secretary of War. About the year 
 1836, Beaubien conveyed a part of this land or assigned his interest in a portion 
 of it, to Murray McConnell, and the latter brought an action of ejectment in a 
 State Court, against Col. Wilcox, then in command of the troops of the United 
 States stationed at Fort Dearborn. He obtained a judgment for the lands in 
 the Circuit Court, which judgment was affirmed by the Supreme Court of Illinois. 
 The case was then removed to the Supreme Court of the United States, and the 
 judgments of the courts below were reversed. The case is reported in 13 Peters, 
 498. Afterward, the. United States filed a bill in the Circuit Court of the United 
 States, for the District of Illinois, to set aside the Register's receipt; and the 
 Court decreed that Beaubien should deliver the receipt and certificate given him 
 by the register and receiver, to be cancelled upon the receiver of Chicago tender- 
 ing or refunding him his purchase-money; and on the 18th Dec, 1840, Beaubien 
 gave to Eli S. Prescott, receiver of public monies at Chicago, the following re- 
 ceipt: (see copy of receipt, ante, p. 422). The Supreme Court of the United 
 States, in construing the law of June 19, 1834, which was an act revising the 
 acts of May 29, 1830, granting pre-emption rights to settlers on public land, say 
 that Beaubien never had acquired any title whatsoever to the land in question; 
 that the tract was a military reservation of the United States at the time he at- 
 tempted to pre-empt it, and that it was legally and properly reserved by the 
 Secretary of War, under authority of law. [The further argument of the Senator 
 is omitted.] For these and other considerations, your Committee report adversely 
 upon the bill, and recommend that it be indefinitely postponed. " 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 329 
 
 Catharine Louise Pinney, of Chicago. In 1859, he was living 
 on Walnut Street, but in 1 861, is understood to have removed 
 to Naperville, Du Page Co., and where he built himself a 
 house. Col. Beaubien died in Naperville, 25 or 26 Jan., 1863, 
 and where, also, he was buried; yet no monument marks the 
 resting place of his dust.* 
 
 The children of Col. B., by his three marriages, we believe 
 number seventeen; namely: two by the first wife, eleven by 
 the second, and four by the third. Of these, one, seven, and 
 four are living; several were born on the "reservation;" two 
 of the sons (Henry and Philip) are twins. Alexander tells 
 us that he was born in the "Dean house," and baptised in 
 Fort Dearborn by Rev. Father Badin, of the Roman Catholic 
 Church. All the seven daughters of the Col., by second wife, 
 were married, four of whom have died. 
 
 By the Chicago Treaty of 1821, Charles and Medart Beau- 
 bien received each a half section of land, in Michigan. In 
 the Treaty of 1833, the same individuals were to receive each 
 $300 also, Josette Beaubien $500, and her children $1000. 
 Charles H. Beaubien, we believe, died in 1858, leaving family. 
 
 Various members of the family, we learn by the directory, 
 accept the dignity conferred by industrial occupation. With- 
 in the decade past, some of the sons, and perhaps grandsons, 
 have worn a glittering star upon their breasts ; not the mere 
 gilded or diamond bauble of some meaningless order, so plen- 
 tifully seen at foreign courts, but the bright symbol of a use- 
 ful and honorable employment. 
 
 Mark Beaubien, brother of Jean Baptiste, was some years 
 
 * We wish here to say that it has been a matter of regret with many of the old 
 neighbors of Col. Beaubien, as well as of other friends of the family, that the Beau- 
 bien pre-emption claim could not have been confirmed, and that a long time ago; 
 that the declining years of the old pioneer might have been cheered rather than 
 chilled by the law's stern behests. We furthermore wish to add, that it has been 
 told, with how much truth we cannot say, that there was, at one time, made out 
 a patent for Col. B. for the whole of the original claim, which only awaited the 
 President's signature, but that the suit of ejectment, commenced against an officer 
 of the Government, occasioned inquiry, delay, and opposition, resulting at length, 
 thus far, as we have seen, in the utter rejection of the Beaubien title. 
 
330 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 younger than the Colonel, and was born in the village of 
 Detroit, Mich., in the year 1800. We are not informed of 
 many incidents of note in the history of his boyhood, and 
 must suppose that he spent his early years much in the same 
 way as the greater part of the urchins of other French fami- 
 lies of his class. Close application to work or study, it is 
 understood, was not by any means demanded of him, indeed, 
 that was not the custom of the French bourgeois on the De- 
 troit River of that day. The children quite easily followed 
 the example of leisurely freedom, idle jollity, visiting, and 
 merry-making. It is presumed that Mr. Beaubien very early 
 and naturally took to practising on the violin, and if he, as 
 understood, in early manhood, won the hand of an attractive 
 maiden, known as Mademoiselle Monique Nadeau, it is quite 
 likely that the fiddle of Mark B. performed no unimportant 
 part in the courtship. Mr. Beaubien was at Detroit at the 
 time of the surrender in 181 2, and still sings a song, learned 
 in those days, ridiculing that measure. 
 
 Some years since, we received a letter from Mr. Beaubien, 
 written by his son as dictated by the father, from which we 
 copy as follows: "I arrived in Chicago in year of 1826 from 
 Detroit; came with my family by team, no road only Indian 
 trail; I had to hire an Indian to show me the road to Chica- 
 go. I camp'd out doors, and bought a log House from Jim 
 Kinzie. They was no town layed out, didn't expect no town. 
 When they layed the town, my house layed out in the Street; 
 when they layed the town, I bought two lots, where I built 
 the Old Saginash, the first frame house in Chicago." 
 
 Mr. Beaubien was not only the first regularly licensed ferry- 
 man, before there were any bridges, but also an inn-keeper 
 (he was founder and proprietor of the Sauganash tavern), and 
 by permit, at least a merchant on the record. 
 
 We present here a picture of the famed Mark Beaubien : 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 331 
 
 It is copied from a life-size oil portrait on canvas, painted 
 many years since, and which his children claim was an excel- 
 lent likeness. We ourselves observe a Marked resemblance 
 to the aged gentleman of the present day; we need not the 
 aid of a Lavater or a Spurzheim to assist us to form an opin- 
 ion that this was indeed the jolly M. B. That Mr. Beaubien 
 was overflowing with fun and frolic, we have often heard; his 
 fiddle was an ever -ready companion; a raffle or other game 
 of chance was a luxury, and a hore-race was his dear delight. 
 Not a "teetotaler," yet he was never, that we know, addicted 
 to the habit of strong drink; that he was full of boyish mis- 
 chievousness, and frequently had a "fracas," and that his pas- 
 sion for the turf often led him to neglect his public duty as 
 ferry-man, is probably true. But the late John S. Wright has 
 told us that Mark Beaubien was "a natural gentleman;" and 
 if that natural gentleman was occasionally mulcted by a fine 
 for playful violence, or for mnemonical omission to be con- 
 stant in the people's service, we think the prestige of the trait 
 named by Mr. Wright, generally brought a remission of the 
 penalty. An oft-repeated story, about Mark's stereotyped 
 phrases of profanity, lead us to believe that there is more 
 truth in the tale than elegance in the detail. Queerly and 
 unwittingly as it was, we must yet believe that Mr. Beaubien 
 
332 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 ranked and likened his own accomplishment upon the fiddle 
 to that of the evil one himself; and, also, his pursuit or call- 
 ing as inn-keeper to that of the sulphurous abode of the same 
 cloven-footed personage. ' 
 
 We are no apologists for profanity, but will add that Mr. 
 Beaubien's lineage was not of the Anglo-Saxon race, and that 
 perhaps the literal meaning of the rude words were not taken 
 into account or comprehended by him, but intended rather 
 to represent persistent and forcible effort. It is an admirable 
 feature of the language of France, that profanity finds slight 
 aid from its native vocabulary, and must seek the idioms of 
 other countries to give expression to its senseless, coarse, and 
 wicked thought. 
 
 It may seem, at this day, a ludicrous exhibition, that of 
 Mark's scheme and sly intrigue, when he set out with the pur- 
 pose to saddle Deacon Philo Carpenter with a house-lot on 
 . LaSalle Street, opposite the Court House Square, at the full 
 price of $25, in goods, to-day possibly cheap at $75,000.' But 
 he did it ; and the fact we must believe, was a delicate tribute 
 to moral worth, inasmuch as Mark felt conscious that his own 
 achievement of that lot was tainted with iniquity, for he had 
 won it in a raffle, and believed Deacon C. wouldn't buy it if 
 the trade was not made before he should be aware of the cir-. 
 cumstances. It was the same lot upon which Mr. Carpenter 
 afterward built his dwelling. 
 
 We have read a statement in Smith's History of Wisconsin 
 to the purport that Col. Wm. J. Hamilton passed through 
 Chicago in June, 1825, with a drove of some 700 head of cat- 
 tle, procured in southern Illinois, which he had contracted to 
 the Government, for the use of the post at Green Bay. A 
 brother of Col. Beaubien, it is stated, assisted in getting the 
 cattle across the Chicago River, but in rendering that service, 
 managed to drown one of them purposely; so Beaubien told 
 Hamilton some years afterward. He did it, he said, in order 
 to buy the animal, knowing that he could not purchase it any 
 other way, and he very greatly needed the beef. This "brother 
 of Col. Beaubien," we must believe, was none other than our 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 333 
 
 famed Mark. It is true, he told us that he came to Chicago 
 in 1826, but even if we must rest assured that Hamilton did 
 not err in his chronology, possibly this emigrant from Detroit 
 the jolly Mark, who hankered so determinedly after a taste of 
 one of the bullocks of southern Illinois, may yet have arrived 
 here a year earlier than he supposes; he may have mistaken 
 the year in his record. Mr. Beaubien, as might be expected, 
 from early habit, was not much of a scribe, and our memory 
 brings to us freshly the ludicrous season which we had several 
 years since, in getting him to favor us with his autograph sig- 
 nature ; we were successful however, and present here a fac- 
 simile: 
 
 As before named, Mr. Beaubien was one of the early inn- 
 keepers of the hamlet, though he was at no time, perhaps, the 
 sole boniface of the village. But we must conclude that what- 
 ever qualifications he may have lacked for some occupations, 
 he yet certainly possessed that peculiar talent which the world 
 demands of him to whom they allow the ability to "keep a 
 hotel;" the tradition in the note will sufficiently demonstrate 
 that* 
 
 The children of Mark Beaubien, by his first marriage, we 
 are informed, number sixteen, and by his second wife, whose 
 maiden name was Elizabeth Matthews, the additional number 
 of seven. 
 
 * In the early days, while Mr. B. kept a tavern, possibly the old Sauganash, 
 when emigration from the east began to pour forth the stream which has not yet 
 subsided, Mark's loft, capable of storing half a hundred men, for a night, if closely 
 packed, was often filled to repletion. The furniture equipment, however, for a 
 caravansary so well patronized, it is said, was exceedingly- scant; that circum- 
 stance, however, only served to exhibit more clearly the eminent' skill of the land- 
 lord. With the early shades of an autumn eve, the first two men arriving were 
 given a bed on the floor of the staging or loft, and, covering them with two blan- 
 kets, Mark bade them a hearty good-night. Fatigued with the day's travel, they 
 would soon be sound asleep, when two more would be placed by their side, and ( 
 
334 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 Mr. Beaubien, in 1859, held the position of Light-House 
 keeper, at Chicago, his home being on Pine Street, and we 
 have heard that he held that office for a couple of terms. In 
 1873, he was sojourning at the Kankakee, and a year or two 
 later he appeared to be living again at Chicago, on West 
 Lake Street; his door-plate, "Mark Bobien," reminding the 
 earliest residents that their old neighbor, of half a century 
 ago, was still extant ; yet we would hint to the engraver that 
 the name is not correctly written with an 0. For several 
 years, Mr. B. has lived in the town of Norwalk, DeKalb Co., 
 111., but is occasionally seen in Chicago, and has attended the 
 several annual festivals, so gracefully extended to the early 
 settlers by the members of the Calumet Club. 
 
 Medore Benjamin Beaubien, (variedly "Medare," "Medard," 
 "Medart," or Madore, as he writes it), the second and oldest 
 living son of Col. John B. Beaubien, by his first wife, Mah- 
 naw-bun-no-quah, was born on Grand River, Mich., July 15, 
 1809. His childhood and youth were mostly spent either at 
 the remote station of Chicago, where, outside of the stockade 
 of Fort Dearborn, there were few whites to be seen, or at 
 other wilderness points, where his father might be temporarily 
 staying, in the pursuit of his occupation as fur-trader. When 
 about fourteen years old, he attended the school of Rev. Mr. 
 McCoy, at Carey, near Niles, Mich., where he acquired an 
 important part of his education. Mr. Beaubien arrived at 
 early manhood just as Chicago began to attract the notice 
 and personal attention of eastern people, as well as others. 
 
 the aforesaid " two blankets " be drawn over these new comers. The first two 
 were journeying too intently in the land of dreams to notice this slight of hand 
 feat of the jolly Mark, and as travelers, in those days, usually slept in their clothes, 
 they generally passed the night without great discomfort. As others arrived, the 
 last going to bed always had the blankets; and so it was, that forty dusty, hope- 
 ful, tired, and generally uncomplaining emigrants or adventurous explorers, who 
 went up a ladder, two by two, to Mark Beaubien's sleeping loft, were all covered 
 with one pair of blankets. It is true, it was sometimes said, that in a frosty morn.- 
 ing there were frequently charges of blanket-stealing, and grumbling was heard, 
 coupled with rough words similar to those formerly used by the army in Flanders; 
 but the great heart of Mark was sufficient for the occasion, for, at such times, he 
 would only charge half-price for lodging to those who were disposed to complain. 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 335 
 
 Chicago, we may say, for the ten years that he lived here fol- 
 lowing his majority, was rather a giddy place for susceptible 
 young men, not well ballasted with prudence and forbear- 
 ance. Those were the days of rough activities, luring 
 schemes, rushing enterprises, and intoxicating gayeties; it is 
 not, perhaps, to be wondered at, that many were led so far 
 into the depths, out of which they could neither wade nor 
 swim* 
 
 Mr. Beaubien left Chicago for the Western country and his 
 friends the Pottawatomies, in the fall of 1840; he has, how- 
 ever, spent some time here since then. Hoffman, who was 
 here in Jan. '33, speaks of him as of "prepossessing appear- 
 ance." Mr. Wentworth, in a lecture, says, "He gave as a 
 reason for abandoning Chicago, where he was a merchant, 
 that he would rather be a big Indian than a little white man. 
 He has the reputation of being the handsomest man that was 
 ever in this City. I met him at Washington a few years ago, 
 and he attracted great attention for his remarkable personal 
 beauty." He has resided some years at Silver Lake, Kansas, 
 and is called a chief, as he is one of a committee, or head men, 
 to look after the business matters of the Indians. 
 
 * If Medore Beaubien was considered a young gent of decided elegance of per- 
 son, then perhaps there was encouragement for vanity, and a plausible excuse for 
 extravagance in dress and decoration. If, in those mixed and transition months, 
 he was one of the leaders here of the ton, as it is understood, then he could hardly 
 be expected to appropriate the greater share of his time to business, to the nig- 
 gardly habit of counting and husbanding the pennies. It is conceded that he was 
 a whole-souled, free-hearted, dashing buck, in whom was united the blood of the 
 proud and determined red- American, or Asiatic Tartar, with that of the gay and 
 volatile Frenchman. On one of the early ball- tickets of Chicago, headed " Grand 
 Wabano, " appears the name of Medore as one of the managers. But between 
 dances, champagne suppers, and other merry-makings, pony-rides, sleigh-rides, 
 and wolf-hunts, etc. , it is not surprising, perhaps, that the profits of the mercantile 
 establishment, in the double-log-building on the south-west corner of Dearborn 
 and South Water Sts., should fail to pay the outgoes. But the prospect of the 
 father's coming riches gave confidence to creditors, regardless of collateral securi- 
 ties. And Medore married himself a wife; she was Maria, the daughter of John 
 K. Boyer, who arrived here in the spring of 1833. We should have said before 
 that Medore girded on the armor and was ready to march to the front during the 
 Black-Hawk war excitement; he was ist-Lt. in Capt. Boardman's company. 
 
336 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 We present here a portrait of Mr. B., with his signature, 
 taken in 1877. 
 
 ^**W. -4?. *3*a*JL*i- 
 
 Mr. B. has been thrice married ; his first marriage was dis- 
 solved by divorce, we think at suit of Mrs. B. He married 
 (2d) Kees-ko-quah, an Indian woman. Married (3d) his cousin, 
 Therese (Laframboise) Watkins, daughter of Joseph Lafram- 
 boise, Chief,* and divorced wife of Thomas Watkins. The 
 mother of Joseph, the Chief, was " Shaw-we-no-qua" Often 
 children, five were living in '"]"]: one by. first wife, one by sec- 
 ond, and three by third. 
 
 The probabilities would seem that the Beaubien family 
 will not soon become extinct; whether that may be so or 
 not, the curious reader in the far distant century or two hence 
 may learn herein something, at least, of a family of no slight 
 note in the early annals of this locality. 
 
 * As we understand, he was full brother of Josette, the 2d wife of Col. Beau- 
 bien. 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 337 
 
 CHIC A GO HIS TOR Y; 
 
 ERRORS INDICATED, AND CORRECTIONS VOLUNTEERED. 
 
 For the truth of history, and not in the spirit of mere queru- 
 lousness, we will, in this fragmentary chapter, quote from vari- 
 ous authors, statements which we think wholly or in part 
 erroneous, and for which we have cited contradictions from 
 various quarters, or perhaps stated what we understand to be 
 the facts. However ungracious it may seem, to flatly deny 
 what various historians may have told, yet, where words pro- 
 fessedly uttered as truths, claiming the public trust and faith, 
 are at length impeached, and convicted as pretense and error, 
 the fault is not one to be altogether overlooked. It is not to 
 be supposed, in every case, that our authors are to be accused 
 of untruths, or as wholly accountable for mistakes ; the author- 
 ities from whence they compiled their statements may be the 
 ones at fault, and the latter, also, may possibly claim immu- 
 nity by and through their own sources of information. Not 
 printed books merely have engaged our attention; the so- 
 called ephemeral newspaper statements, when erroneous, are 
 sometimes the cause of continued error, so we have occasion- 
 ally also paid our respects to them. Typographical errors, we 
 will add, are now and then a source of confusion and annoyance 
 to the historical reader; to the carelessness of authors, some- 
 times, in not regarding them, may be laid the charge of mar- 
 ring otherwise very excellent pages. Furthermore, we shall 
 animadvert occasionally upon the choice of words as well as 
 the sentiment, a matter of taste perhaps, and hence here and 
 there we have whispered a hint of our own. We trust none 
 will get out of humor with us, or suffer their dignity to take 
 offence at our efforts, for we must claim the privilege, as to 
 any or their authorities, when we see them leaning badly, 
 to use a lever here, and a prop or shore there, to place them 
 up right as to the facts. We do not, of course, assert that we 
 are infallible, nor do we profess to rectify all the errors ; yet 
 it will certainly be in order for us to refuse to accept any 
 22 
 
338 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 draft on our credulity when we clearly perceive the claim to 
 be a fiction. 
 
 One of the most flagrant examples of the sensational which 
 we have met upon the pages of history, wherein pretended 
 details of fact are used to invest and clothe bare romance 
 and fiction, is to be seen in the Relation prepared by Father 
 Claudius Dablon, the Jesuit missionary and Superior, regard- 
 ing Father James Marquette, a translation of which is given 
 by Mr. Shea in his "Discovery and Exploration of the Missis- 
 sippi Valley." This is from a part of the Relation, by Father 
 Dablon, still in manuscript, never, as we understand, having 
 been put in book form. There were previously, of various of 
 the Jesuit fathers, forty printed volumes of the Relations, the 
 first issued in Paris, in 1632, and the last in 1673.* These 
 are very scarce books, and we believe a full set of the works 
 cannot anywhere be found in one collection. Among his- 
 torians, they have much celebrity, and are considered very 
 valuable. But at present, we have only to speak of a page or 
 two in the unpublished volume. As the missionary, Father 
 Marquette, was one of the earliest residents known to us of 
 Chicago, our desire to be informed of the truth concerning his 
 life and death must certainly be considered justifiable. Let 
 us then enquire about the matter, as to the authenticity of 
 that portion of the recital giving an account of the last few 
 days of Marquette's existence. We will copy, and present in 
 this article, several pages, a part of which we think deserves 
 no credit, and to which, therefore, we make objection. We 
 will, however, first ask, who was with Father Marquette 
 in those last days? Was Father Dablon himself there? By 
 no means. Was there a Boswell constantly at his elbow, or 
 was there any one besides the two French canoe-men? We 
 think not; there is no evidence of any. Those two servants 
 were no doubt devoted to the care of their sick master, yet it 
 
 * Mr. Shea tells us that to the French Government must be attributed the stop- 
 ping of the publication of the Jesuit Relations, which for forty years had fur- 
 nished an annual volume. 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 339 
 
 is to be presumed that they were like others of their class — 
 ignorant men — knowing how to neither read nor write. But 
 even if it can be supposed that they possessed those acquire- 
 ments, can we believe that instead of paddling the canoe, and 
 attending to other and indispensable offices in behalf of the 
 dying father, they gave attention, and made precise record 
 (yet with no particular purpose) of every indistinct utterance 
 of the departing priest? We quote, as follows, premising that 
 the first sentence — which speaks of Marquette's extreme de- 
 bility — is reasonable, and no doubt true : 
 
 (Discovery and Exploration of the Mississippi, p. jy.) — " His 
 strength, however, failed so much, that his men despaired of being 
 able to carry him alive to their journey's end; for, in fact, he became 
 so weak and exhausted that he could no longer help himself, nor 
 even stir, and he had to be handled and carried like a child." 
 
 (Ibid., p. 38.) "A week before his death, he had the precaution 
 to bless some holy water, to serve him during the rest of his illness, 
 in his agony, and at his burial, and he instructed his companions 
 how to use it. 
 
 "The eve of his death, which was Friday, he told them, all radiant 
 with joy, that it would take place on the morrow. 
 
 "During the whole day, he conversed with them about the manner 
 of his burial, the way in which he should be laid out, the place to 
 be selected for his interment; he told them how to arrange his 
 hands, feet, and face, and directed them to raise a cross over his 
 grave. He even went so far as to enjoin them, only three hours be- 
 fore he expired, to take his chapel-bell, as soon as he was dead, 
 and ring it while they carried him to the grave. Of all this he spoke 
 so calmly and collectedly, that you would have thought that he 
 spoke of the death and burial of another, and not of his own. 
 
 "Thus did he speak with them as they sailed along the lake, till, 
 perceiving the mouth of a river, with an eminence on the bank 
 which he thought suited for his burial, he told them it was the place 
 of his last repose. They wished however to pass on, as the weather 
 permitted it, and the day was not far advanced; but God raised a 
 contrary wind, which obliged them to return and enter the river 
 pointed out by Father Marquette. 
 
 "They then carried him ashore, kindled a little fire, and raised for 
 him a wretched bark cabin, where they laid him as little uncomfort- 
 ably as they could; but they were so overcome by sadness that, as 
 they afterward said, they did not know what they were doing."* 
 
 * And as they who were there "did not know what they were doing," Father 
 Dablon, w/10 was not there, essayed the supposable, and so wrote the matter up. — 
 H. 
 
340 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 "The father being thus stretched on the shore, like St. Francis 
 Xavier, as he had always so ardently desired, and left alone amid 
 those forests — for his companions were engaged in unloading — he 
 had leisure to repeat all the acts in which he had employed himself 
 during the preceding days. 
 
 "When his dear companions afterwards came up, all dejected, he 
 consoled them, and gave them hopes that God would take care of 
 them after his death in those new and unknown countries. He gave 
 his last instructions; thanked them for all the charity they had shown 
 him during the voyage ; begged their pardon for the trouble he had 
 given them; and directed them, also, to ask pardon in his name of 
 all our fathers and brothers in the Ottawa country, and then dispose 
 them to receive the sacrament of penance, which he administered to 
 them" (though for many hours already, 'he could no longer help him- 
 self, nor even stir') "for the last time. He also gave them a paper, 
 on which he had written all his faults since his last confession, to be 
 given to his superior, to oblige him to pray more earnestly for him. 
 In fine, he promised not to forget them in heaven ; and as he was 
 very kind-hearted, and knew them to be worn out with the toil of the 
 preceding days, he bade them go and take a little rest, assuring them 
 that his hour was not yet so near, but that he would wake them when 
 it was time, as in fact he did, two or three hours after, calling them 
 when he was about to enter his agony. 
 
 "When they came near, he embraced them for the last time, while 
 they melted in tears at his feet. He then asked for the holy water 
 and his reliquary, and taking off his crucifix, which he wore around 
 his neck, he placed it in the hands of one, asking him to hold it 
 constantly opposite him, raised before his eyes; then, feeling that he 
 had but a little time to live, he made a last effort, clasped his hands, 
 and with his eyes fixed sweetly on his crucifix, he pronounced aloud 
 his profession of faith, and thanked the Divine Majesty for the im- 
 mense grace he did in allowing him to die in the Society of Jesus; 
 to die in it as a missionary of Jesus Christ; and above all, to die in 
 it, as he had always asked, in a wretched cabin, amid the forests, 
 destitute of all human aid. 
 
 "On this he became silent, conversing inwardly with God; yet, 
 from time to time, words escaped him: 'Sustinuit anima mea in 
 verba ejus,' or 'Mater Dei memento mei,' which were the last words 
 he uttered before entering on his agony, which was very calm and 
 gentle. 
 
 "He had prayed his companions to remind him, when they saw 
 him about to expire, to pronounce frequently the names of Jesus 
 and Mary. When he could not do it himself, they did it for him; 
 and when they thought him about to pass, one cried aloud Jesus 
 Maria, which he several times repeated distinctly, and then, as if at 
 those sacred names something had appeared to him, he suddenly 
 raised his eyes above his crucifix, fixing them apparently on some 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 341 
 
 object which he seemed to regard with pleasure, and thus, with a 
 countenance all radiant with smiles, he expired without a struggle — 
 as gently as if he had sunk into a quiet sleep. 
 
 "His two poor companions, after shedding many tears over his 
 body, and having laid it out as he had directed, carried it devoutly 
 to the grave, ringing the bell according to his injunction, and raised 
 a large cross near it to serve as a mark for passers-by. 
 
 "When they talked of embarking, one of them, who for several 
 days had been overwhelmed with sadness, and so racked in body by 
 acute pains, that he could neither eat nor breathe without pain, 
 resolved, while his companion was preparing all for embarkation, 
 to go to the grave of his good father, and pray him to intercede for 
 him with the glorious Virgin, as he had promised, not doubting but 
 that he was already in heaven. He accordingly knelt down, said a 
 short prayer, and having respectfully taken some earth from the 
 grave, he put it on his breast, and the pain immediately ceased; his 
 sadness was changed into a joy, which continued during the rest of 
 his voyage." 
 
 A careful consideration will, we think, lead to the opinion 
 that most of the above extract from the Relation is a sublime 
 and ridiculous piece of imaginative exaggeration and pre- 
 tence. We would not offend any one's devotional ideas, nor 
 would we characterize, by such terms as we have, those relig- 
 ious ceremonies because they happened, but particularly for 
 the reason that they did not happen. The fact seems appar- 
 ent, that those minute circumstances were never written down 
 nor told by Marquette's canoe-men, those simple, kind, though 
 illiterate Canadians, but by Father Dablon, in some after 
 month or year, or if not by him, then by some other, some 
 intervening and romancing ecclesiastic. 
 
 If we seek for a purpose in that detail, we may not be able 
 to detect it, though the suggestion might be made, that by 
 so showing up the departure from earth of Father M., the 
 portrayal might help to achieve his canonization. 
 
 Yet, whatever pious fraud may have been attempted, we 
 believe Father James Marquette deserves to be called a saint 
 much more than some whose names have acquired that 
 earthly distinction. 
 
 After the above, it will be proper to speak of some other 
 writers of history, who have followed in the path of Father 
 
342 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 Dablon, and sung the song which he sang, regarding the 
 death-scene of the missionary, James Marquette. 
 
 From the English edition of Charlevoix's Journal, London, 
 1761, we copy the following: 
 
 "On the 3d (August, 1721) I entered the river of Father Marquette, 
 in order to examine whether what I had been told of it was true. 
 This is at first entering it no more than a brook; but fifteen paces 
 higher you enter a lake which is near two leagues in circuit. In or- 
 der to make way for its discharge into Lake Michigan, one would 
 imagine that, a great Hummock, which you leave on the left as you 
 enter, had been dug through; and on the right the coast is very low 
 for the space of a good musket-shot, afterward, all of a sudden, it 
 rises to a very great height. It had actually been represented to me 
 as such, and on that head, the following is the constant tradition of 
 all our travellers, and what ancient missionaries have told me. 
 
 "Father Joseph* Marquette, a native of Laon, in Picardy, where 
 his family still maintains a distinguished rank, was one of the most 
 illustrious missionaries of New-France. This person travelled over 
 almost all the countries in it, and made several important discoveries, 
 the last of which was that of the Mississippi, which he entered with 
 the Sieur Joliet, in 1673. Two years after this discovery, an account 
 of which he has published, as he was going from Chicagou, which is 
 at the bottom of Lake Michigan, to Michillimakinac, he entered on 
 the 18th day of May, 1675, the river in question, the mouth of which 
 was then at the extremity of the low ground, which, as I have already 
 taken notice, you leave on the right hand as you enter. Here he 
 erected his altar and said mass. He went afterward to a small dis- 
 tance in order to render thanks, and begged the two men that con- 
 ducted his canoe to leave him alone for half an hour. This time 
 having past, they went to seek him, and were surprised to find him 
 dead; they called to mind, however, that on entering the river he 
 had let drop an expression that he should end his days at this place. 
 
 "However, as it was too far to carry his body from thence to 
 Michillimakinac, they buried. him near the bank of the river, which, 
 from that time, has retired by degrees, as out of respect to his re- 
 mains, as far as the cape, the foot of which it now washes, and where 
 it has opened itself a new passage. The year following, one of the 
 persons who had paid the last offices to this servant of God, returned 
 to the place where they had buried him, took what remained of him 
 and carried it to Michillimakinac. I have not been able to learn, or 
 else I have forgot, the name this river formerly bore; but at this day 
 the Indians always call it the river of the black robe, for thus the 
 Indians term the Jesuits. They call the secular clergy White bands 
 as they do the recollects Grey-gowns. The French call this river 
 
 * It was James. 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 343 
 
 Father Marquette's river, and never fail to call upon him when they 
 are in any danger on Lake Michigan. Several of them have affirmed 
 that they believed themselves indebted to his intercession for having 
 escaped very great dangers." 
 
 Dr. Shea, referring to Marquette's sanctity, said, 
 
 "It led to the romantic tales which have even found their way 
 into sober history. The missionaries in the west now, hear the same 
 account as that which Charlevoix believed, and inserted." 
 
 We yet are inclined to think that it was far more reason- 
 able for Charlevoix to repeat those hearsay-reports, than for 
 the learned Dr. Shea to detail as fact, which he does in his 
 Life of Father Marquette, the particulars from the enterpris- 
 ing inventions of Father Dablon. 
 
 Even Perkins also repeated from Charlevoix the story as a 
 verity; we speak of Rev. James H. Perkins, author of the well- 
 known volume, "Annals of the West," an essayist and histo- 
 rian of more than ordinary ability; whose style of language 
 was direct, clear, and elegant, whose private character and 
 life was most lovely, yet whose death from suicide was most 
 sad. . 
 
 The pen of Perkins, however, had occasionally a collateral or 
 side office to perform, to trace the airy spray or graceful foli- 
 age, the jets and scintillations of an imaginative and poetic 
 cast of mind. In the note* we give a few stanzas from a short 
 but beautiful poem by Mr. Perkins, written on Lake Michigan, 
 
 * LINES BY JAMES H. PERKINS, LAKE MICHIGAN, 1845. 
 
 Sink to my heart, bright evening skies ! 
 Ye waves that round me roll, 
 With all your golden, crimson dyes, 
 Sink deep into my soul ! 
 
 And ye soft-footed stars, that come 
 So silently at even, 
 
 To make this world awhile your home 
 And bring us nearer Heaven. 
 
 Speak to my spirit's listening ear, 
 With your calm tones of beauty; 
 And to my darkened mind make clear 
 My errors and my duty. 
 
 Speak to my soul of those who went 
 Across this stormy lake, 
 On deeds of mercy ever bent, 
 For the poor Indian's sake. 
 
344 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 on the evening of the last day of spring, 1845, while passing 
 the river Marquette; of course, the ideal in a measure takes 
 precedence before the real. 
 
 We will add that many other writers of prominence have 
 repeated the stories of Father Dablon and Charlevoix, more 
 or less complete, with also occasionally, a few extras in the 
 detail. The truth of the matter is, that the beautiful charac- 
 ter which Marquette bore, and the fact that he died in that 
 then far-away wilderness, together with the story drawn up 
 for us by a church dignitary, have led many to accept and to 
 assist in displaying the romantic theme. 
 
 Narrative of Long's Expedition, 1823. See p. 205 of this vol. 
 We refer the reader to those extracts, to say that neither 
 Major Long nor his mouth-piece, Mr. Keating, have gained 
 much celebrity as prophets, in those words of doubt and dis- 
 paragement, which, like a wet blanket, they deemed their 
 
 Speak to my heart, ye stars, and tell 
 How, on yon distant shore, 
 The world-worn Jesuit bade farewell 
 To those that rowed him o'er; 
 
 Told them to sit and wait him there, 
 And break their daily food, 
 While he, to his accustomed prayer, 
 Retired within the wood. 
 
 And how they saw the day go round, 
 Wondering he came not yet, 
 Then sought him anxiously and found 
 Not the kind, calm Marquette, — 
 
 He silently had passed away, — 
 But on the green sward there, 
 Before the Crucifix, his clay 
 Still kneeling, as in prayer. 
 
 Nor let me as a fable deem — 
 Told by some idle knave — 
 The legend that the lonely stream, 
 By which they dug his grave, 
 
 When wintry torrents from above 
 Swept with resistless force, 
 Knew and revered the man of Love 
 And changed its rapid course, 
 
 And left the low sepulchral mound 
 Uninjured by its side; 
 And spared the consecrated ground 
 Where he had knelt and died. 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 345 
 
 duty to spread over the site of this now mighty city. We 
 wish to say a word, particularly, regarding their idea of such 
 sterility of soil, and such unfavorable climatic peculiarity, 
 amounting to an impossibility to successfully cultivate Ind- 
 ian-corn hereabout. It used to be a frequent speech of old 
 "Rough and Ready" (after he got to be President), addressed 
 to Chicago men who might call on him, — "/ understand you 
 raise plenty of com and fat hogs in your country, sir/' and we 
 have not the least doubt that our neighbor Long John him- 
 self has made forcible response in the affirmative to the old 
 General after that short but affluent harangue. Mr. Keating 
 assumes to decide the corn question, as well as that of general 
 and utter barrenness, from the story told him that the soU 
 diers could not raise anything scarcely, or not enough to live 
 on. Now, we do not generally place a high estimate upon 
 the agricultural zeal or ability of soldiers in garrison; the 
 patriotism of the private does not usually take that direction 
 when he enlists, nor afterward ; and many officers, perhaps, 
 "have less skill in the charge of a platoon of potatoes, or the 
 sabre-clad ranks of a field of corn, than of that of some 
 other body of warriors, and they had not in those days the 
 benefit and counsel of the "Prairie Farmer," nor the "West- 
 ern Rural." Yet we know that before that year of 1823, the 
 gardens attached to Fort Dearborn were of no little account 
 for their small fruits and vegetables; and it is understood 
 that when Captain Bradley arrived here, in 1816, to rebuild 
 Fort Dearborn, the Fort grounds were occupied by a thriving 
 crop of corn, which was being raised by Antoine Ouilmette 
 and Alexander Robinson. Indian-corn not grow in Chicago, 
 the motto upon whose seal was to be "Urbs in Horto!" The 
 idea seems preposterous; so much inclined is it to sprout and 
 grow, that the fact, to our personal knowledge, has been a 
 frightful one sometimes to corn dealers and warehouse men. 
 We presume Messrs. Long and Keating have both gone from 
 earth ere this, (indeed we know that Major Long died in 
 1864); but if they were living to-day, those aged men, with 
 staff in hand, might stroll over to the vegetable market-place 
 
346 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 on Randolph Street, between Halsted and Desplaines, and, 
 upon a summer day, be surprised at those formidable paral- 
 lels, those lines of batteries, loaded with cabbage and squash, 
 potatoes, beans, peas, onions, beets, tomatoes, carrots, cucum- 
 bers, celery, melons, egg-plant, turnips, and corn. The ripe 
 and pearly or golden maize! Visions of hoe-bake and john- 
 ny-cake, suppawn and hominy, and dozens of other kindred 
 preparations, appear to us while reading that corn will not 
 grow and ripen about Chicago. Why, Chicago has been 
 mushed, starched, maize-fed, and we may say corned, from its 
 youth up; that army of porkers, the forty million strong, 
 more or less, annually on the alert for Chicago, each with 
 Bridgeport in his nostrils and a tear in his eye, would no 
 doubt utter an emphatic "aye" to all we have here said. 
 
 (Lecture of 'J. N. Balestier, before the Chicago Lyceum, jfa?i. 21, 1840.) 
 
 The dearth of reliable authorities, as reference for needed 
 
 data when Mr. Balestier wrote his lecture called "The Annals j 
 
 of Chicago," was, perhaps, a reasonable excuse for various 
 
 errors which appear therein. But as a new edition of the 
 
 lecture has been printed without alteration, we will point out 
 
 a few desirable corrections : 
 
 Page 18 of reprint. — "In that year (1572), Mons. Joliet and 
 Father Marquette paddled up the Illinois river from its mouth, and 
 crossed over to Michigan." 
 
 We may say that neither of them were "paddling" at that 
 time, as the birth of both occurred long after such date. 
 Nor when they did together so paddle, say 101 years after 
 the date given, did they "cross over to Michigan," but con- 
 tinued along the west side of the lake to Green Bay. 
 
 Page ig of do. — "In 1804, the United States established here a 
 military post, which was called Fort Chicago, and about the same 
 period the American Fur Company established a trading station 
 under the guns of the Fort." 
 
 The United States forces took possession of the post, and 
 commenced building Fort Dearborn, in 1803; the American 
 Fur Co. was not organized until some years after the fort was 
 completed. 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 347 
 
 Page ig of do. — "After the capitulation at Detroit, orders were 
 sent to Captain Heald to abandon the Fort at this place." 
 
 The surrender of Detroit was on the 16th August, one day 
 after the evacuation of Fort Dearborn. 
 
 Page 21 of do. — "It was rebuilt in 181 7, and its name changed to 
 Fort Dearborn.'' 
 
 The answer to this may be seen on page 22 of this volume. 
 
 Pag* 33 of do. — "In 1834, the Chicago Democrat was started by 
 John Calhoun." 
 
 The year was 1833. 
 
 The work of the late Mrs. John H. Kinzie, known as Wau- 
 bun, the "Early Day," was, we believe, first published in 1856, 
 and numerous and flattering commendations were bestowed 
 upon the authoress of that very entertaining volume. Years 
 ago, we expressed our own gratification after reading it. 
 Still, the fact that the book is an interesting one should not 
 prevent,, even at this late day, the notice of any mistakes 
 which it may contain. 
 
 Waic-bun, p. 26. — "My husband pointed out to me, far away to 
 the northwest, a promontory, which he told me was Point St. 
 Ignace. It possessed great historic interest as one of the earliest 
 white settlements on this continent. The Jesuit missionaries had 
 established here a church and school as early as 1607." 
 
 We are not advised of the source from which the fair 
 authoress was led by her husband to the perpetration of the 
 above profound chronological error. 
 
 Do., p. 183. — Fort Dearborn buildings "had been erected in 1816, 
 under the supervision of Captain Hezekiah Bradley, and there was 
 a story current that, such was his patriotic regard for the interests of 
 the government, he obliged the soldiers to fashion wooden pins in- 
 stead of spikes and nails to fasten the timbers of the buildings, and 
 that he even called on the junior officers to aid in their construction 
 along with the soldiers, whose business it was. If this were true, 
 the Captain must have labored under the delusion (excusable in one 
 who had lived long on the frontier) that government would thank its 
 servants for any excess of economical zeal." 
 
 We are fully impressed with the idea that it was discreet, if 
 not indispensable, to "fashion wooden pins to fasten the tim- 
 
348 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 bers of the buildings," which buildings, if we are correctly in- 
 formed, were mostly of squared timber. Probably there are 
 not as many wooden pins made to-day as in 1816. Spikes 
 and nails in Chicago are somewhat plentier, and a good deal 
 cheaper now than then. Yet, we remember of a half century 
 ago how quickly and beautifully one who was accustomed to 
 it could whittle out, with a broad-axe, those pins of hickory 
 or white-oak. 
 
 The life of a soldier in garrison is often an idle one, and 
 we have no sympathy to expend on account of any pre- 
 tended hardships endured by soldiers, or even "junior offi- 
 cers," if called on to fashion wooden pins to help build their 
 own castle. 
 
 Further, we must express our dissent to the teachings in 
 the last sentence of the paragraph quoted, for from it we 
 must infer that our government does n't stoop to encourage 
 economy, but winks at lavish waste, and that it is a "delu- 
 sion" to think otherwise; and therefore it is ridiculous to be 
 careful in the expenditure of public funds. This maxim, ap- 
 parently sought to be inculcated, whose office or application, 
 though a humble one in the quotation above, — hanging on a 
 wooden pin, — might yet naturally lead to other extrava- 
 gances, to misappropriations, defalcations, perjury, and theft, 
 embracing, indeed, the whole catalogue of known or untold 
 moral and financial delinquencies among the servants of our 
 Government during the past few or many succeeding decades. 
 
 Of Captain, or rather Major Hezekiah Bradley (for he was 
 so brevetted, in 18 14, for "ten years of faithful service"), we 
 cannot say how long he had lived on the frontier; but he had 
 distinguished himself in the successful defence of Fort Bow- 
 yer, at Mobile Point, Ala., September, 1814. He died 18th 
 May, 1826. 
 
 Do., p. 185. — "On the northern bank of the river, directly facing 
 the fort, was the family mansion of my husband." 
 
 It was not strictly, perhaps, on the part of Mrs. Kinzie, an 
 
 improper term, or, at most, it was a very innocent affectation 
 
 of hers to call the old Kinzie house a "mansion"; yet gen- 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 349 
 
 erally, under that designation and title, we are apt to look 
 for something loftier than a mere ranche-hut or lodge; in 
 fact, the early Kinzie abode here was apparently the veriest 
 of cabins, having, it is true, a shallow attic or loft under a 
 roof of bark or shakes, but rejoicing in no presumptious upper 
 stories. 
 
 Do., p. 187. — "At the point on the south side (1831) stood a 
 house just completed by Mark Beaubien, sen. It was a pretentious 
 white two-story building, with bright-blue wooden shutters, the admi- 
 ration of all the little circle at Wolf Point." 
 
 We spoke to the venerable pioneer and renowned boniface, 
 Mark B., regarding the "white two-story building;" he re-' 
 sponded, "/ built de first house in Chicago;" and when we 
 rallied him about those bright-blue window shutters, he said, 
 "No! blue? no; dat's Dutch." Yet we know that Mr. B. 
 was mistaken as to the first house, and possibly, too, as to 
 the blue shutters. 
 
 Do., p. 188. — "It was denominated Lee's Place, or Hardscrable. 
 Here lived, at this time, a settler named Heacock." 
 
 From the best information found, it is believed that the 
 place was not, at that time (spring of 1831), occupied by Mr. 
 Heacock. Russell E. Heacock then, or subsequently, lived 
 not far from there, but on the opposite side of the river, at a 
 place called Heacock's Point. 
 
 Do., p. 188. — " Billy Caldwell, the Sau-ga-nash, too resided here 
 occasionally with his wife, who was a daughter of Nee-scot-nee-meg." 
 
 Medore B. Beaubien assured us that Billy Caldwell did not 
 at any time reside at Wolf Point, but his home was on the 
 north-side. 
 
 Do., p: 189. — "Gholsen Kercheval had a small trading establish- 
 ment in one of the log buildings at Wolf Point." (183 1.) 
 
 "This is an error," said Medore B. Beaubien, "he was derk 
 for Robert Kinzie." 
 
 Do., p. 223. — "The party in the boat consisted of Mrs. Kinzie 
 and her four younger children, their nurse Grutte (afterwards Mrs. 
 John B. Beaubien)," etc. 
 
 We quote the above, in which appears the name "Grutte," 
 
350 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 to say that there is evidently a mistake (probably an error of 
 
 the printer) in calling her "Grutte." She had no such name; 
 
 she was Josette Laframboise, daughter of Francis Lafram- 
 
 boise, Sen. 
 
 Do., p. 262. — "Once, upon a Sunday, we were rowed up to 'the 
 
 point' to attend a religious service, conducted by Father S , as 
 
 he was called. We saw a tall, slender man, dressed in a green frock 
 coat, from the sleeves of which dangled a pair of hands giving abun- 
 dant evidence, together with the rest of his dress, that he placed 
 small faith in the axiom — 'cleanliness is a part of holiness.' He 
 stepped briskly upon a little platform behind a table, and com- 
 menced his discourse. His subject was 'The fear of God.'" 
 
 We need not quote further from our authoress to present 
 her estimate of Father S. She could not suppress the incli- 
 nation to ridicule the preacher's person, his dress, gestures, 
 pronunciation, and, withal, his whole discourse. It is not sur- 
 prising that Mrs. K., a lady of culture, accustomed to hearing 
 from the desk none other than the sermons of an educated 
 and refined clergy, whose teachings in the church of her 
 choice were clothed in a different garb from those essayed to 
 be enforced by Father See, should naturally recoil at the un- 
 couth and rude words and manner of the speaker. We think, 
 however, Mr. See should have been forgiven, if indeed his 
 conduct was a fault, under the circumstances. The circum- 
 stances, or some of them perhaps, may be mentioned. Mr. 
 See, though sometimes called Reverend, was not, that we are 
 aware, a regularly ordained or commissioned clergyman, but 
 was properly and only, we think, an exlwrter of the Metho- 
 dist Episcopal Church. That his home had been, always 
 perhaps, on the frontier, upon the outskirts of civilization, 
 may possibly account for various words and phrases which he 
 used. Mr. See was, we think, a poor man, and he was clad as 
 necessity, not choice, prescribed. He was by trade a black- 
 smith, and this fact may account for the appearance of his 
 hands, which mere washing did not make lily-white. We 
 believe that he urged Christian morals upon his hearers, and 
 preached repentance and faith in Christ. No learned indi- 
 vidual stepped forth to speak of the gospel to the crowd of 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 35 I 
 
 rough loiterers or others gathered at Father Walker's "school- 
 house;" if there had been, we do not doubt Mr. S. would cheer- 
 fully have given place to him. As it was, he embraced his 
 opportunity, and did what he could to confer some good upon 
 those who might listen. We will add that Mr. S. had the 
 respect, generally, of his neighbors; and however unfitted by 
 want of education for the position, he yet received the ap- 
 pointment, and for a while officiated, as first Clerk of the 
 Commissioners' Court, after the organization of Cook Coun- 
 ty, in the spring of 1 831. 
 
 The chapters in Wau-bun, the "Early Day" (edition of 
 1856), headed "Massacre at Chicago," are mostly taken from 
 a pamphlet compiled by the same person — Mrs. Juliette A. 
 Kinzie. We had supposed, from the name in the copy-right 
 notice, that John H. Kinzie, the husband of the lady, was the 
 writer of the tract; but we are assured to the contrary by an 
 individual who knows. Our edition bears the imprint of Ellis 
 & Fergus, 1844, but a note in Wau-bun gives us to understand 
 that it was "published in pamphlet form in 1836;" yet, Mr. 
 Fergus says that of 1844 was its first appearance in print. 
 Various alterations, additions, and improvements withal ap- 
 pear in the Wau-bun presentation of the tract. Yet we notice 
 one statement in the pamphlet which fails to appear in the 
 "Early Day;" speaking of Mrs. Helm, it says: "In the en- 
 gagement, she received a slight wound in the ankle; and she 
 had her horse shot under her." That lady, the wife of Lieut. 
 L. T. Helm, of the army, furnished an account — as appears 
 by the work referred to — of what she witnessed of the catas- 
 trophe from her various stand-points on that occasion. 
 
 We shall not presume to deny the statements or particulars 
 given in Mrs. Helm's details of the "Massacre," still, we will 
 avail ourself of the present occasion to suggest the proba- 
 bility, or indeed the rather apparent fact, of a fetid which ex- 
 isted among the officers of Fort Dearborn at the time of the 
 abandonment of this post. How long this contention had 
 existed cannot, of course, be known; yet it is plain that sev- 
 eral of the subordinate officers were at variance with the com- 
 
352 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 mandant; that this feeling had prevailed some time before the 
 evacuation; and that the Kinzie family (which included Mrs. 
 Helm, the writer of the sketch) warmly sympathized with 
 the disaffected. How much the position of Dr. Van Voorhis, 
 in that controversy, may have inclined the prejudices of Mrs. 
 Helm, who, without intentionally portraying an erroneous 
 view of a scene in that tragic drama, may yet have exagger- 
 ated or discolored the facts, we will not attempt to indicate. 
 
 Mrs. Helnis sketch in Wau-bun, p. 225. — "While I was thus en- 
 gaged, the surgeon, Dr. Van Voorhees, came up. He was badly 
 wounded. His horse had been shot under him, and he had received 
 a ball in his leg. Every muscle of his face was quivering with the 
 agony of terror. He said to me, ' Do you think they will take our 
 lives? I am badly wounded, but I think not mortally. Perhaps we 
 might purchase our lives by promising a large reward. Do you think 
 there is any chance?" 
 
 Mrs. Helm's answer, and the further conversation between 
 them, as reported by her, we here omit; that recital certainly 
 confers no honor upon the memory of Dr. Isaac V. Van Voor- 
 his. We wish, however, to append what we think a very 
 sensible extract relating to the subject from a pamphlet by 
 Dr. James N. Hyde, entitled "Early Medical Chicago," p. 4: 
 
 "But there are several circumstances which the professional reader 
 cannot fail to consider before consigning the name and reputation of 
 Dr. Van Voorhees to historical obloquy. Without questioning the 
 veracity of the writer, it is evident that the incidents narrated rest 
 upon the recollection of a single individual, and that individual a 
 woman, surrounded by circumstances of extreme peril and excite- 
 ment. She appears as the heroine of the story, and on that account 
 due allowance should be made for partiality of statement. Dr. Van 
 Voorhees, moreover, was evidently suffering from his wounds. We 
 only know of that inflicted upon the leg. What other injuries he 
 may have sustained — whether of the brain, chest, or abdomen — we 
 cannot know. Whether, indeed, he was wounded even unto death, 
 and sank lifeless to the ground soon after, rather as the result of 
 this than from the blow of a tomahawk, cannot be determined. 
 Jurists as well as medical men learn to accept, with great reserve, 
 statements made either in articulo mortis or in the immediate peril of 
 violent death. Too many surgeons have exhibited not only a consum- 
 mate skill, but a splendid courage upon the field of battle, for their 
 professional brethren to doubt the compatibility of these virtues. 
 They will only remember, therefore, of their martyred representative 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 353 
 
 in the battle of Chicago, that he was sorely wounded in the discharge 
 of his professional duties, and that he died the death of a soldier." 
 
 In Wau-bun, p. 240, the following extract appears, with 
 quotation marks, as a part of Mrs. Helm's sketch; in the 
 "pamphlet" it previously appears, but not as a part of her 
 account : 
 
 " 'On the third day after the battle, the family of Mr. Kinzie, with 
 the clerks of the establishment, were put into a boat, under the care 
 of Francois, a half-breed interpreter, and conveyed to St. Joseph's, 
 where they remained until the following November, under the pro- 
 tection of To-pee-nee-bee's band.' " 
 
 The following in Wau-bun, p. 241, was not in the "pam- 
 phlet:" 
 
 "Mrs. Helm had accompanied her parents to St. Joseph, where 
 they resided in the family of Alexander Robinson, receiving from 
 them all possible kindness and hospitality for several months." 
 
 Sketch by Mrs. Kinzie, p. 22, No. 10 "Fergus' Historical 
 Series:" 
 
 "They were, the next day," after the fighting, "escorted by the 
 chief, Robinson, and other friends, in their boat to the St. Joseph 
 River, to the home. of Mme. Bertrand, a sister of the famous chief, 
 To-pee-nee-bee-haw, whence, after a short sojourn, they were carried 
 to Detroit and delivered as prisoners of war to the British com- 
 manding-officer, Col. McKee." 
 
 It would seem that somewhere in the above two or three 
 extracts there was carelessness in statement or compilation, 
 inasmuch as it was "on the third day after the battle" as well 
 as "next day after." 
 
 They were "under the care of Francois," as well as "es- 
 corted by Chief Robinson." At St. Joseph, they were "under 
 the protection of To-pee-nee-bee's band," as well as "in the 
 family of Alexander Robinson," and also "the home of 
 Mme. Bertrand, a sister of the famous Chief To-pee-nee- 
 bee-haw." 
 
 Leaving the reader to reconcile any diversity in the narra- 
 tive, we will only remark, that if the Kinzie family were the 
 Robinson's guests, Alex, and his wife must have left them 
 presently for a six-hundred-mile canoe-voyage to Mackinaw 
 and back, to which post they conveyed Captain and Mrs. 
 23 
 
354 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 Heald. We think the "Mme. Bertrand" as above was a mis- 
 nomer. Kaw-kee-mee, a sister of the Chief To-pay-nah-bay, 
 lived at St. Joseph, but she was the wife of Mr. Burnett. 
 Though the "prisoners" may have been delivered to Colonel 
 McKee, the Indian Agent, we do not suppose that he was 
 "commanding-officer" at Detroit. 
 
 Sec Fergus Historical Series, No. 10. — Hon. I. N. Arnold 
 read before the Historical Society, July n, 1877, a sketch of 
 Col. John H. Kinzie, written by his wife, the late Mrs. Juliette 
 A. Kinzie, and communicated by her daughter, Mrs. Nellie 
 Kinzie Gordon. 
 
 Page it, also p. 26 of do. — "In 1834, he came to Chicago with his 
 family to reside. He was the first President of the village." 
 
 The first election for Town or Village Trustees was held 
 August 10, 1833, yet Col. Kinzie was not one of the five so 
 chosen; nor does his name appear as one of the twenty-eight 
 voters upon that occasion. We think he was not here at that 
 time. In the Chicago Democrat (No. 1), Nov. 26, 1833, we 
 learn that the President of the Village (the first one no 
 doubt) was Thos. J. V. Owen, and Isaac Harmon was Secre- 
 tary or Clerk. "His name, however, appears in the year 1834 
 as President of the Board of Trustees. 
 
 Page 21 of do. — "Col. John H. Kinzie was born at Sandwich, U. 
 C, on the 7th of July, 1803." 
 
 We believe the above date is correct notwithstanding the 
 Col, in his own hand, upon the Old Settlers' Society Record 
 Book, now in the Library of the Chicago Historical Society, 
 says he was "born in Sandwich, U. C, July 7, 1804," and ar- 
 rived at Chicago "Oct., 1804." 
 
 Page 21 of do. — "While still an infant, he was carried in an Ind- 
 ian cradle, on the shoulders of a French 'engage,' to their home at 
 what is now the town of Bartram, on the St. Joseph River, in Michi- 
 gan." "His father having purchased the trading establishment of 
 Mons. Le Mai, at the mouth of the Chicago River, removed with 
 his family to the place on the following year. Some companies of 
 infantry, under the command of Maj. John Whistler, arrived at the 
 same time — 4 th of July — and commenced the construction of Fort 
 Dearborn." 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 355 
 
 We do not know of any "town of Bartram" in Michigan ; 
 probably Bertrand is the name intended. Col. K. (as above) 
 said he arrived here in October, 1804. The Whistlers came 
 in 1803 to build Fort Dearborn. (See p. 25 of this vol.) 
 John Whistler was captain in 1803, and major by brevet in 
 1812. 
 
 Page 2 J of do. — "In 18 18, Col. Kinzie was taken by his father to 
 Mackinaw, to be indentured to the American Fur Co., and placed 
 under the care of Ramsay Crooks, Esq. * * * 
 
 This engagement was for five years, during which time he was never 
 off the island, except upon one occasion, when he was taken by Mr. 
 Robert Stuart, who succeeded Mr. Crooks at the head of the Com- 
 pany, to visit the British officers at Drummond Island." 
 
 Yet, on page 24 of same sketch, it seems he drove a team 
 at hauling wood actoss the Straits to Bois Blanc* Island 
 some considerable time during a winter of his residence at 
 Mackinac. 
 
 Ex-Lieut.-Gov. Bross has issued a pamphlet edition of his 
 "History of Chicago," together with some other articles his- 
 torical, commercial, and statistical. This history is the result 
 of considerable research, and originally appeared in a Chicago 
 newspaper edited and published by the late Mr. Scripps and 
 himself. The present edition has been trimmed and spliced 
 a little, revised and corrected by the Governor, as we observe 
 by comparing it with the original, which we preserved nearly 
 twenty-five years ago, being then a subscriber to the paper in 
 which it appeared. In his Introduction to this reprint in 
 March, 1876, he says: 
 
 "The records from which I prepared the 'History of Chicago' for 
 the Democratic Press in the winter of 1854, were all burned in our 
 great fire of 1871. Though at first sight this history may not seem 
 to be of much importance, it may interest somebody 'a hundred 
 years hence' to read what was recorded by our first settlers." 
 
 In reference to the above, we agree with the Ex-Lt.-Gov., 
 that along down the stream of time, say a century from now, 
 it will indeed interest somebody to know "what was recorded 
 by our first settlers." Some of his items, procured from cer- 
 
 * Misprinted " Bois Blank " in the sketch. 
 
356 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 tain early residents now deceased, namely: Brown, Hamilton, 
 Dole, Kinzie, and Clybourn, and others being copied from 
 county or city records which were burnt, are fdrtunately pre- 
 served in the History by Governor B., and therefore to him 
 the citizens of Chicago must ever continue indebted. Yet a 
 good share of the particulars of his compilation, we believe, 
 was derived from other sources. The file of the Chicago 
 Democrat, the same we think which Gov. B. examined, is still 
 in existence; Mrs. John H. Kinzie's sketch of the "Massacre" 
 is not a scarce tract; "Balestier's Address," delivered in 1840, 
 was reprinted in 1876; "Henry Brown's History of Illi- 
 nois," published in 1844, is a common book; and "Perkins' 
 Annals," with Peck's notes of a later date, not to refer to the 
 "Historical Sketch and Description of the City," probably 
 by Long John himself, which appeared, in a previous month, 
 in the columns of the Daily Democrat, are by no means 
 extinct. 
 
 Inasmuch as Gov. Bross, in his new edition, fails to correct 
 a number of errors, we will notice them here. 
 
 Page 11. — "The first white men who ever visited this region were 
 Marquette and Joliet, two Jesuit missionaries, who explored this sec- 
 tion of the Mississippi Valley in the years 1662-3." 
 
 Louis Joliet, a native of Canada, though educated at the 
 Jesuit college, at Quebec, was not a priest nor a "missionary"; 
 he had been a bold and enterprising adventurer in the fur 
 trade in the west, and hence was chosen by the government 
 to lead the expedition to the Mississippi. 
 
 Some may contend that Chicago is not at present a section 
 of the "Mississippi Valley," but lies wholly this side the di- 
 vide, and within the basin of the St. Lawrence; at any rate, 
 the years given, "1662-3," are erroneous. 
 
 Page ij. — "The idea of a canal, connecting the waters of the 
 Lakes with those of the Mississippi, was suggested as early as 1814. 
 In Niles' Register, of August 6th, the following paragraph may be 
 found: 'By the Illinois River it is probable that Buffalo, in New 
 York, may be united with New-Orleans by inland navigation, through 
 Lakes Erie, Huron, and Michigan, and down the river to the Mis- 
 sissippi. What a route ! How stupendous the idea ! How dwindles 
 the importance of the artificial canals of Europe compared to this 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 357 
 
 water communication. If it should ever take place — and it is said 
 the opening may be easily made — the Territory (of Illinois) will be- 
 come the seat of an immense commerce, and a market for the com- 
 modities of all regions.' " 
 
 We quote the above only to say that Peter B. Porter (who 
 afterward fought the enemy so courageously on the banks of 
 the Niagara), a member of Congress from N. Y., spoke on 
 the floor of the House, in 18 10, in favor of such improve- 
 ment; but the same "idea of a canal" was thought of and 
 suggested by Louis Joliet one hundred and forty years before 
 the above appeared in Niles Register. See page 147 of this 
 volume. 
 
 Page 14. — "The list of families residing here in the autumn of 
 1829, as given by Judge Lockwood, is as follows: John Kinzie, the 
 father of our present excellent Alderman John H. Kinzie, resided 
 on the north side, a little west of McCormick's factory." 
 
 As John Kinzie had died in January, 1828, there is evi- 
 dently an error in the statement. 
 
 Page jj. — "The next day" (that is, Aug. 13, 1812,) "the Indians 
 came together to receive the presents; but their countenances be- 
 tokened anger and deep-seated revenge when only the goods of the 
 United States factory were distributed among them." "In the after- 
 noon," (on 13th,) "Capt. Wells, the brother of Mrs. Heald, arrived 
 from Fort Wayne with fifteen friendly Miami Indians, to act as a 
 guard in the retreat that was to follow." 
 
 We suggest that it was the inference merely of Lieut.-Gov. 
 Bross, without the assurance from any source, that the Ind- 
 ians' "countenances betokened anger and deep-seated re- 
 venge" when the goods were distributed. Something Mrs. 
 Kinzie said may have misled him. We may remark here, 
 that the authoress of "Waubun," we think, never met Mrs. 
 Helm, or the elder John Kinzie. But Mrs. Helm said noth- 
 ing of the threatening behavior, in the sketch quoted as from 
 her; neither did John Kinzie, Sen., in his account given Gov. 
 Cass and party. Moreover, Capt. Heald (in his letter on p. 
 177 of this vol.) said the Indians "conducted with the strictest 
 propriety till after I left the fort." Indeed, it would have 
 been altogether contrary to the ways of one important ingre- 
 dient in Indian tactics, namely that of strategy, to exhibit in 
 
358 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 the "countenances," or in other manner, any purpose, or de- 
 sign of deceit or betrayal, till the victims were within their 
 toils. 
 
 As we understand it, Capt. Wells was not a brother of Mrs. 
 Capt. Heald. By a letter from Captain Heald, dated Oct. 
 23, 1812, he says there were "about 30 Miamis" arrived with 
 Captain Wells, and that the goods were delivered to the Ind- 
 ians "on the 14th!' 
 
 Page 15. — "They held a council, and soon their chiefs, of whom 
 Black Partridge was the leader, motioned Capt. Heald to approach." 
 
 The above contains an error, inasmuch as Black Partridge 
 was not the Indian meant to be represented. Captain Heald 
 said it was Black Bird. The two Indians were different indi- 
 viduals; Black Partridge was Mucketeypokee, and Black Bird 
 was Mucketepennese, and both their names appear attached to 
 the Treaty of St. Louis in Aug., 1 8 16. John Kinzie, Sen., 
 told (see ante, p. ipi,) that Mukudapenais (Black Bird) nego- 
 tiated with Capt. Heald for the surrender. Mr. Fonda speaks 
 of Muck-ke-tay-pe-nay, a great chief, — probably the same, — 
 who lived at Peoria Lake in 1825. 
 
 Page 16. — "In the fall of 1828, the Winnebagoes," &c. 
 
 The year was 1827 instead of "1828." 
 
 Page ij. — "The blacksmith then occupying one of the buildings 
 was a Mr. McGee." 
 
 David McKee, without doubt, was the person meant. 
 
 Page 18. — "There were then" (winter of 1831-2,) "no mail routes, 
 post-roads, nor post-offices at Chicago." 
 
 There was certainly a post-office; Mr. J. N. Bailey was ap- 
 pointed postmaster in spring of 183 1. 
 
 Page 24. — The name of Dr. Maxwell is given, with several other 
 citizens, who arrived in 1832. 
 
 As we understand it, Dr. M. did not reside here until 1833, 
 
 Page 2Q. — The name of "S. D. Pierce," among others, is given as 
 appearing in the second number of Mr. Calhoun's paper — the Chi- 
 cago Democrat. 
 
 That seems to be a mistake; Mr. P.'s name does not appear 
 
 there, at least we cannot see it ; then he lived in N. Y. 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 359 
 
 Page 30.— "On Saturday, July 11, 1834, the schooner Illinois en- 
 tered the harbor, and sailed up the river amid the acclamations of 
 the citizens. She was the first large vessel that ever entered the 
 Chicago river." 
 
 The nth July, 1834, did not come on Saturday. There 
 appears another statement, to be seen on page 38, of "The 
 Calumet Club Reception to Old Settlers," which names 
 another vessel as a rival for the honors above named, to wit, 
 Judge Caton said, "On that same 14 July" (1834) "an event 
 occurred of a commercial character which should render it 
 memorable, and deserves to be recorded. On that day, the 
 first commercial vessel that ever passed the piers into the 
 Chicago harbor — the 'Areadne,' Capt. Pickering." If the 
 claims collide, we must leave the matter fof those gentlemen 
 to settle. 
 
 [Since the above was sent to the printer, we are told by 
 Mrs. Calhoun the name of the vessel was the Illinois, whose 
 master was Captain Pickering. A reference to the file of the 
 Chicago Democrat confirms the correctness of memory in the 
 statement of Mrs. C, and the eventful day was Saturday, 
 July 12, 1834; therefore the Governor and the Judge are even 
 on the mistakes, each having made two.] 
 
 Page 31. — "On the 9th of Sept., 1833." 
 The printer's mistake; should be 1835. 
 
 Page 31. — "On Thursday, May 18, 1836, the sloop Clarissa, the 
 first vessel ever built in Chicago, was launched." 
 
 May 18, 1836, was not Thursday; and the Clarissa was not 
 launched on the 18th, but on the 12th May, 1836. 
 
 Page 31. — "The Fire Department was organized on the 19th of 
 September, 1835, as appears by the following resolution passed by 
 the Board of Trustees on that day: 'Resolved, that the President 
 order two engines, for the use of the Corporation, of such descrip- 
 tion as he shall deem necessary, and also 1000 feet of hose, on the 
 credit of the Corporation.' " 
 
 There was certainly some organization in that line at an 
 earlier day, as appears by the following note, which we have 
 copied from the original: 
 
360 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 "Mr. A. V. Knickerbocker: 
 
 "Sir — You are hereby notified that C. Boardman has applied to 
 become a member of the Washington Vol. Fire Company in place 
 of H. Williams, and a meeting is called, by order of the Capt, for 
 that purpose, on Thursday, 4 o'clock p.m. 
 
 Jan'y 8th, 1833. J. J. GILLESPIE, Sec'y. 
 
 The above will also correct an error in a very interesting 
 and valuable article entitled, "Wid Der Masheen," which ap- 
 peared in the Chicago Times, several years since; the state- 
 ment was as follows: 
 
 "On the 7th day of October, A. D. 1836, a number of persons 
 assembled in Ike Cook's saloon, in the basement of Garrett's auction 
 store on Water street, and after the matter had been freely discussed, 
 it was determined to organize a hook and ladder company for the 
 protection of property against fires. This was the first Fire Com- 
 pany ever organized in this city." 
 
 To correct one further error in the above extract from the 
 " Times" we may say, there was no basement to Garrett's 
 auction store on the corner of South Water Street. Cook's 
 saloon was some sixty feet south of Garrett's store, on Dear- 
 born Street. 
 
 The valuable and interesting pamphlet, entitled "Early 
 Medical Chicago," by James Nevins Hyde, M. D., 1876, con- 
 tains a few mistakes which we will notice: 
 
 Page 2. — "Even as early as the Treaty of Greenville, O., which is 
 dated August 3, 1795, there is some reference to a fort built at the 
 junction of the lake and river. This was, however, a small stockade 
 erected for the protection of French traders at the point where the 
 north and south branches of the river unite, some remains of which 
 were still to be seen in the year 1818." 
 
 We are not aware that the exact position of the fort refer- 
 red to in the Treaty of Greenville was indicated, or that it 
 must be supposed to have been at "the point where the north 
 and south branches of the river unite," any more than at the 
 spot where Fort Dearborn was begun, in 1803; of the two, 
 we think the latter is more likely to have been the locality. 
 There were, doubtless, from time to time during the century 
 and a-half which preceded the Greenville Treaty, many trad- 
 ing-houses at various places by the river, often, perhaps, pro- 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 361 
 
 vided with a "small stockade," and it is likely that the ruins 
 "still to be seen in the year 18 18" were of one of those. But 
 it is understood that the French erected a military fortress of 
 some sort at an early day (see ante, p. 164), the same proba- 
 bly referred to, in 17 1 8, by James Logan, as appears on page 
 171 of this volume. 
 
 Page 2. — "J. H. Kinzie," which appears in the note on this 
 page, should have been J. Kinzie, as the father of J. H. K. 
 was evidently the one intended. 
 
 Page 6. — "Antoine Houlmette." 
 
 Antoine Ouilmette it is usually written. 
 
 Page 6. — "It may be mentioned here that Mr. Hubbard, at a 
 later period (1834), erected the first brick building ever reared in 
 Chicago." 
 
 This, without doubt, is an error. In 1833, Alanson Sweet 
 and William Worthingham built a brick house under contract 
 for John Noble. It was on the north side of the river, and 
 the lot upon which it was erected adjoined that of the subse- 
 quent Lake House. When they dug for the foundation of 
 that hotel, the Noble dwelling came near tumbling down. 
 We have heard that the quality of the brick was defective — 
 inclining to crumble. Yet, previously, one brick building 
 at least stood within the last Fort Dearborn. 
 
 Page 7. — "Charles Jewett" and "John H. Kinzie.'' 
 
 Should be Charles Jouett and John Kinzie. 
 
 Page 11. — "Between the gardens and the river bank was a log- 
 cabin, erected in 1817. It had been the residence of Jean Baptiste 
 Beaubien, Point au Sable, a native of San Domingo." "The cabin 
 had finally come into the possession of an Indian trader named Le- 
 Mai, from whom it had been purchased by Mr. Kinzie." 
 
 The above, by some inadvertence, seems made up of items 
 sadly mixed and demoralized. The Kinzie cabin on the 
 north side, and another log "mansion" on the south side, 
 here appear to struggle after one and the same identity. 
 
 Page ij. — Various items upon the page here named, copied 
 from "Wau-bun," we have before noticed; two others we will 
 here allude to. "Charles See" was not Charles, but William. 
 
362 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 Further, it was a mistake to say that the old home at Hard- 
 scrabble, having "interest attached to it in consequence of its 
 connection with the old Indian massacre," was "erected some 
 time before by a settler named Reuben E. Heacock." That 
 massacre at the Lee place was in the spring of 1812, but Mr. 
 Heacock did not come to Chicago until fifteen years after- 
 wards. Also, we add that "Mark Beaubien, Jr.," was not the 
 junior. 
 
 Page 21. — "In response to my inquiries (for the answers to which 
 I am greatly indebted to Assistant -Surgeon John S. Billings, U. S. 
 A., now of the Surgeon-General's office), it is made clear that there 
 is no record of any medical officer stationed at the fort prior to the 
 time of Assistant-Surgeon S. G. J. DeCamp, of New Jersey. Of Dr. 
 Van Voorhees, and Dr. J. B. Finley, no information can be obtained 
 at the War Department. Dr. DeCamp was appointed Assistant- 
 Surgeon, October 10, 1823." 
 
 Still, we learn from a note in the "Narrative of Long's Ex- 
 pedition" (v. 1, p. 90), that Dr. Thomas P. Hall was stationed 
 at Fort Dearborn in June, 1823, when Captain Long's party 
 were here, and that Dr. Hall was the author of a valuable 
 manuscript concerning the Indians, principally relating to the 
 Pottawatomies; various extracts from the medical references 
 are copied into the Narrative. In the U. S. Army Diction- 
 ary, we are told that Dr. Hall (of Md.) was a surgeon in 18 13, 
 but disbanded in 18 15; assistant -surgeon in May, 1821; and 
 died 21 Sept., 1825, at Augusta, Ga. 
 
 In the Dictionary, we also see the name of Isaac V. Van 
 Voorhis, of N. Y., as surgeon's mate, appointed 1 March, 
 1811. 
 
 Page 38. — "The name of C. H. Duck is accompanied by letters 
 which purport that the gentleman was a member of the Royal College 
 of Surgeons, London; and a card, displayed in larger type beneath, 
 advertises his gratuitous treatment of the indigent sick and lame, on 
 Mondays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays. This Duck appears to ex- 
 press himself in the inarticulateness of a quack. What a com- 
 mentary is here on the public proclamation of professional merit, 
 and that willingness to aid the needy which should be the signet and 
 seal of every true character, whether of the physician or the layman ! 
 The name of the man who appended the imposing letters to the 
 title has sunk into an obscurity, which is interesting only to the an- 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 363 
 
 tiquarian, while the modest and unpretentious youth, who entered 
 Chicago riding on an Indian pony, has added to his name a lustre 
 which no title could intensify." 
 
 Perhaps the above may be thought a little too severe on 
 the individual known as Dr. Duck. It was no misdemeanor 
 for the Doctor to advertise his calling, even though here dis- 
 paragingly termed "public proclamation;" and if he rightfully 
 appended to his name certain capital letters, showing his con- 
 nection with a reputable London institution, why, it is in no- 
 wise different from what the Rush Medical College doth 
 authorize, encourage, and practice. Nor was there anything 
 criminal in the act of Dr. Duck when he volunteered gratui- 
 tous attendance upon the sick and needy. The common 
 phrase "tricks of the trade'' has no narrow application, but 
 comprises a field as boundless as human enterprise or 
 schemes, whether good or evil. Dr. D. was an Englishman, 
 and if he at any time betrayed that national weakness called 
 "swagger" some allowance ought to be made. The fact that 
 brilliant talents and wonderful skill have made one name cel- 
 ebrated, while another who did not exhibit those gifts has 
 passed into "obscurity," gives us no just reason to bespatter 
 with bad ink the memory of the last-named personage. Dr. 
 Brainard's name is high up and shining in the temple of fame, 
 and no one could wish to lessen its true brilliancy; yet there 
 is one fact hitherto unnamed, and for which there has, appar- 
 ently, been no room. We have been assured, however, by 
 those who may reasonably claim to know, that whatever 
 noble traits were possessed by Dr. Brainard, that one which 
 exhibits a lively recollection of early favors and kindness 
 (involving, possibly, not a little of the direction and determi- 
 nation of his ultimate success), in short, the sentiment of 
 gratitude, found no place within his breast. 
 
 It will be proper here to add, that since the above was 
 written and marked for the printer, a new edition of "Medi- 
 cal Chicago" is nearly ready to be published; and we learn 
 that several of the errors named have been corrected, and 
 some sentences entirely omitted, in the new and improved 
 issue, in Fergus' Historical Series, No. 11. 
 
364 ■ CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 The Chicago Tribune, April 27, 1878, speaking of the 
 funeral of Dr. C. V. Dyer, the day previous, says: 
 
 "The officiating clergyman was Prof. Swing, who preceded the 
 pall-bearers, Judge Henry W. Blodgett, the Hon. Wm. Bross, Mah- 
 lon D. Ogden, Amos T. Hall, Hon. Isaac N. Arnold, and Z. East- 
 man, all life-long friends of the deceased, and co-workers with him 
 in the great abolition struggle." 
 
 By a gentleman, whose home was in Chicago as long ago 
 as 1832, and who was early and prominently engaged in the 
 abolition cause here, and particularly active in assisting to 
 free from slavery numerous fugitives by the under-ground 
 railroad, and therefore may claim to know something about 
 the matter referred to, we are told that the notice in the Tri- 
 bune scarcely conveys a correct idea of the facts. The names 
 given were certainly not those of the early "co-workers" with 
 the zealous Doctor D., in the anti-slavery movement in Chi- 
 cago. Some of them were not here very early, and some 
 that were did not promptly assist. We may say that the 
 Ogdens in particular, stood aloof from the unpopular^ move- 
 ment; they were not identified with the cause, and would 
 have spurned the touch of even "the hem" of the Doctor's 
 garment in the early days of anti-slavery. In after years,^ 
 when Dr. D. had attained some position financially, he was 
 recognized, acknowledged, and assisted in the benevolent en- 
 terprise. 
 
 Page 122, vol. 1, Coil's Pio. Soc, Mick. — In Mr. Winslow's 
 sketch of Berrien County, Mich., he states that the U. S. 
 Government concluded to establish at least one fort on Lake 
 Michigan; and that it was the first design of the commission- 
 ers, sent for the purpose of selecting a place, to have it 
 erected at the mouth of St. Joseph River. But the Indians 
 held a council and made determined objections to the plan, 
 and hence the commissioners went to Chicago, and the fort 
 was built at that place. "We conclude," says Mr. W., "that 
 had the fort been built at St. Joseph, there would have been 
 no Chicago." 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 365 
 
 Neither contingency however, we think, could be reckoned 
 among the possibilities. At the Treaty of Greenville, signed 
 in August, 179S, there was ceded to the United States the 
 following, to wit: "Six miles square at the mouth of Chikago 
 River, emptying into the southwest end of Lake Michigan, 
 where a fort formerly stood." Various other small tracts of 
 land were named in the Treaty, with the evident expectation 
 of being needed by the Government for military occupation, 
 or other national use. Yet the locality at the mouth of the 
 St. Joseph River of Michigan seems not to have been thought 
 of. In the summer of 1798, as by a letter of Wm. Burnett 
 (see ante, p. 66), it seems to have been a common report that 
 there was expected a garrison to be established at Chicago 
 that season. That was five years before Fort Dearborn was 
 commenced. We do not believe it was the purpose of the 
 Government, at any time, to erect that "one fort on Lake 
 Michigan," at St. Joseph River; nor, if it had been built, can 
 we see how that would have made any difference with Chica- 
 go. We are aware that where nature has placed -no obstacles 
 to prevent, very slight circumstances sometimes draw or 
 change the position or settlement of a town this way or that. 
 But with such palpable and insuperable natural advantages, 
 possessed by the "six miles square at the mouth of Chikago 
 River,'' it can scarcely be less than idle to think that a small 
 wooden tomahawk-fortress, built across the lake, in Michigan, 
 might nullify its every assurance of manifest destiny. 
 
 In Rev. Arthur Mitchell's "Historical Discourse," at the 
 
 First Presbyterian Church, Nov. 3, 1878, he said of the early 
 
 Sunday-School: 
 
 Page 6. — "Its first session was held (so I learn from Mr. Porter) 
 in a log-house at the Point, on the west side of the south branch of 
 the river." 
 
 This seems to be not quite correct. As Mr. Porter was not 
 here, he could not speak from his own knowledge. On a pre- 
 vious page, the facts are given from a statement of one who 
 helped to rear the institution. 
 
366 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 Page 7. — " — from the school of Miss Eliza Chappel — the first 
 school-teacher in Chicago." 
 
 Mrs. Porter, formerly Miss Chappel, has deserved honor for 
 distinguished services in the early schools of Chicago, and 
 to which we have referred elsewhere in these pages. Yet 
 she can scarcely be called the first school-teacher, when it is 
 known that several persons still living, one of them a lady, 
 taught here before she came to Chicago. In this connection, 
 we will speak of an interesting letter of John Watkins, in the 
 appendix of the pamphlet "Calumet Club Reception to Old 
 Settlers, May 27, 1879;" but must yet again refer the reader 
 to an article, to be found in this volume, entitled "Early 
 Schools of Qiicago," which disproves the claim of Mr. W. 
 (though he arrived here as early as the year 1832) to being 
 "the first school-teacher." 
 
 The second and enlarged edition of the work known as 
 "Chicago; Past, Present, Future, 1 ' by the late John S.Wright, 
 was published in 1870. We may refer to it as a remarkable 
 production, not merely for the mass of statistical facts therein 
 gathered, but for the elaborate presentation and discussion 
 in the text, from numerous stand-points or views, extending 
 through some 400 pages, of what may be called notable con- 
 siderations, whose immediate application, however, to show 
 something else, were yet reasons ivhy we may believe, that 
 Chicago is destined to become the greatest city on this conti- 
 nent. Whether that prominent idea of Mr. Wright's shall 
 prove true prophecy or otherwise, the future will of course 
 determine. 
 
 We wish now merely to quote from a note of Mr. Wright's 
 regarding one little item of Chicago history, of which he 
 seems not to have been correctly posted : 
 
 P. gg. "The first frame building was Robert A. Kinzie's store 
 on the west side." 
 
 This error having traveled without challenge nearly forty 
 years, with Mr. Balestier's letter of credit, in 1840, endorsed 
 by Norris' Chicago Directory, in 1843, by the Chicago Daily 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 367 
 
 Democrat's Sketch, in 1854, and by Mr. Wright, as above, in 
 1870, as well as many others, meets with discredit at length. 
 In a communication from Wm. Hickling, Esq., of Chicago, to 
 the Chicago Historical Society, published in Fergus' Histori- 
 cal Series, No. 10, concerning the Chief Billy Caldwell, he 
 says: 
 
 "In the year 1828, the Indian Department, in consideration of 
 services rendered, built for Caldwell probably the first 'frame' house 
 ever erected in the Northwest. The timbers for the frame were 
 readily furnished from trees, then abundant, not far from the spot on 
 which the house stood, viz.: near the junction of North State Street 
 and Chicago Avenue. I believe the old College of St. Mary's of the 
 Lake, destroyed by the great fire of October, 1871, stood on the 
 same ground that the unpretending frame shanty once occupied. 
 The clapboards, nails, sash, etc., and also the brick used in the con- 
 struction of the chimney were all brought from Cleveland, O. This 
 former landmark of ancient Chicago was occupied by the 'Sauga- 
 nash' until his departure from Chicago, en route westward with his 
 tribe in 1836. Afterward, this house, relic of the olden times, was 
 removed by Col. G. S. Hubbard to a lot on Indiana Street, (Lot 2, 
 B 15, Kinzie's Addition). In the great fire that swept over Chicago 
 in Oct., 187 1, this old landmark of the 'North Side' disappeared from 
 
 In the Historical Sketch prefacing Norris' Chicago Direc- 
 tory of 1844, several errors, apparently taken from Mr. Bales- 
 tier's Lecture, and the other works we have already noticed. 
 Mr. Fergus has reprinted the Sketch without alteration, in his 
 recent Chicago Directory for 1839. Mr. F. says, "The first 
 Directory of this City was carelessly canvassed for by James 
 Wellington Norris, attorney, in the latter part of 1843." Yet, 
 Mr. K. K. Jones, an early resident of Chicago, now living near 
 Quincy, 111., is a competitor for the honor of that service ; he 
 says, "I took the census for the first regular Chicago Direc- 
 tory." 
 
 In the reprint of Harriet Martineau's notice of Chicago, in Fergus' 
 Historical Series, No. 9, p. 39, appears a note, saying, "Mrs. Helm, 
 now Mrs. Geo. C. Bates, Salt Lake City." 
 
368 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 This is an error. Mrs. Helm was never Mrs. Bates, and 
 both ladies have been dead many years. 
 
 The Chicago Evening Post, in an article under date August 28, 
 1872, referring to an interview with Col. Robert A. Kinzie, says John 
 Kinzie was born in New York, and that he came to Chicago as 
 "Agent of the American Fur Company." 
 
 Both statements are incorrect. 
 
 P. 11, of Rev. Wm. A. Bartlett's Thanksgiving Sermon, Nov. 18, 
 1869, says, "It is one of the curious phenomena of modern times, 
 that in 1833 Chicago came first to the dignity of a post-office." 
 
 A mistake; that "dignity" was reached two years before. 
 
 On P. 5, of Lakeside Monthly of January, 1872, appears, l 'and 
 that same year" (1833) "a post-office was established. John S. C. 
 Hogan, who occupied a 'variety store' on Lake Street, being the 
 first postmaster." 
 
 John Stephen Coates Hogan was appointed P.M. for Chi- 
 cago in the fall of 1833; yet Mr. Bailey preceded him twenty 
 months in the same office. 
 
 The History of Ogle County, Illinois, p. 24, says that the murders 
 by the Indians at the Lee place, was 17 April, 181 2. 
 
 Mrs. Kinzie said it was on the 7th of that month. 
 
 An original letter written by Captain N. Heald, comman- 
 dant at Fort Dearborn, dated 29th April, 18 12, was presented 
 in 1857, by Samuel C. Clarke, to the Chicago Historical So- 
 ciety. This letter had probably been addressed to Maj.-Gen. 
 Wm. Hull, governor of Michigan, who was the grandfather of 
 Mr. C, and gave particulars of the late massacre at Lee's 
 farm (Hardscrabble), on the south branch. No copy of the 
 letter probably exists, and the original was without doubt 
 burned. Possibly the murder happened at an earlier date 
 than that given by Mrs. Kinzie. If the communication, as we 
 suppose, may have been at least a semi-official report to the 
 Governor, quite likely the affair would have been noticed at 
 an earlier day than three weeks after it happened. 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 369 
 
 The periodical known as the Chicago Magazine, a monthly 
 publication, was first issued in March, 1857; it was continued 
 however, to the extent of only five numbers, the fifth No. an- 
 swering for both July and August. If we are correctly in- 
 formed, the writer of the articles in this work, entitled "History 
 of Chicago," was Zebina Eastman, a former editor of this City, 
 and late U. S. Consul at Bristol, Eng. The History referred 
 to, includes matter from Mrs. Kinzie's book, with some few 
 errors, which we have previously named; but we now speak 
 of a few other items, as follows : 
 
 P. 21. "At this Indian village, Tonti afterward built a fort, and 
 the locality is now known as Rock Fort. This is a rocky elevation 
 six miles south of Ottawa, being 60 or 70 feet perpendicular on three 
 sides, and containing about 600 acres surface." 
 
 There are certainly two important errors in the above; the 
 height of Rock Fort or Fort St. Louis is about 125 feet, and 
 its surface embraces about 1 acre in extent. The writer evi- 
 dently confounded Buffalo Rock, three miles or so above and 
 on the opposite side of the river, with Rock Fort. 
 
 P. 22. "The passage of this company" (meaning that of LaSalle 
 and his men in 1682) "by this route, is the occasion of the first men- 
 tion ever made in history of Chicago by name." 
 
 If it is meant to be said, that no name previously appears, 
 as applied to this locality, we will refer to the journal of Father 
 Marquette, where he speaks of the Chicago as "Portage River." 
 
 If it is intended to be said that the name Chicago, in any of 
 its variations, cannot be met of an earlier date than the one 
 referred to; we will say, the name Chicagua, believed by 
 some to be a synonym of Chicago, and understood to have 
 been sometimes applied to the Mississippi, certainly appears 
 on Sanson's map of 1673-4. 
 
 • Yet, if it is meant that the name Chekagou, as a designation 
 for this locality only, and so appears, the statement is proba- 
 bly correct. 
 
 P. iij. Captain William Wells is referred to as "Captain 
 William Wayne Wells." 
 
 An error; the latter was a younger and different individual. 
 
 P. i2p. "In the summer of 1834, the first Tremont House was 
 24 
 
370 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 built on .the west comer of Lake and Dearborn Streets. It was 
 burned down in 1839, that being the first fire that had ever happened 
 in Chicago." 
 
 Here is certainly an error; old Fort Dearborn was burned 
 by the Indians, in August, 18 12; lightning struck the later 
 Fort and burned some of the buildings in 1827; early in Oc- 
 tober, 1 834, the prairies about Chicago were burning, arid the 
 scejie to be witnessed nightly was brilliant ; a building, how- 
 ever, recently erected by Captain Robert Hugunin, some two 
 miles out upon the prairie, was consumed. On Saturday, Oct. 
 11, 1834, a fire happened on the corner of Lake and LaSalle 
 Streets, destroying four wooden buildings; loss called $2125. 
 
 P. 204. Speaking of Col. J. B. Beaubien: "He is a Frenchman 
 by nativity." 
 
 An error; he was born this side the Atlantic. 
 
 P. 20J. "Mr. Hubbard was on the vessel in charge of the goods, 
 which arrived in 1828. On board of the vessel was Mr. Heacock, 
 another old citizen, with his family, and also the family of Mr. James 
 Galloway," etc. 
 
 We believe the year was 1827; at least, Mr. Heacock 
 arrived that year, of which fact we have satisfactory evidence. 
 
 P. 302. "North of this tavern" (meaning that of Elijah Went- 
 worth) "was an oblong building which had been erected by Father 
 Walker, a missionary of the Methodist Episcopal Church, for a place 
 of worship, and for a school-house." 
 
 It was south rather than "north," if, as Mr. Beggs says, it 
 was "situated between Randolph and Washington Streets." 
 
 P. 302. " Mr. Wentworth's tavern was the best one kept in Chi- 
 cago. ■» * # Th e distinctive name of this celebrated 
 tavern, as familiarly used by all the settlers, was 'Rat Castle,' in con- 
 trast with its rival, in distinction on the North side 'Cobweb Castle,' 
 and in commemoration of a large class of regular boarders that in- 
 fested the premises, as well as every other cabin on the river shore." 
 
 We are assured by an old settler — John Bates, Esq., who 
 was here as early as 1832, that the rat-story is "a weak inven- 
 tion of the enemy;" for, However romantic a designation rat- 
 castle may have been for the "geese-tavern," it was altogether 
 undeserved, and untruthful as a matter of history; no rat here 
 presented his sinister countenance for ten years following the 
 period named. 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 371 
 
 It will be proper to add, however, that another early settler 
 says that he confidently believes that a few of those exotics 
 were seen here in the first half of that named decade. 
 
 Speaking apparently of the year 1830: 
 
 P. 302. "A little above its mouth, on the North Branch, was a 
 log bridge, which gave access," etc. A pictorial representation also, 
 of the junction of the North and South Branches, intended, at least, 
 for a partial copy of George Davis' drawing in 1833, but labelled 
 "Wolfs Point in 1830," shows a bridge above Miller's. 
 
 There was no "log-bridge" or any other, crossing on the 
 North Branch until 1833. 
 
 [It will be proper to say here, that a hideous deformity, a 
 large sheet lithograph, or print of some sort, was offered for 
 sale about the City not long since, professing to give a view 
 of Wolf Point and a bridge, in a year when there was no bridge, 
 and picturing an island in the North Branch, where there was 
 no island] 
 
 We have spoken of a cut or view of Wolf Point; we will 
 now refer to the Kinzie House, as appears on pp. 1 1, 28 of the 
 Chicago Magazine. These cuts are different and both vary 
 from that in "Wau-bun." The one on p. 28 stands near the 
 Lake, its end straight with the shore, and its front also is par- 
 allel with the river; in so much it is like the cut in "Wau-bun." 
 The small view on p. 11, appears on a larger scale in Potters 
 Monthly, of March, 1876; this does not apparently front to- 
 ward the Fort, but nearly west, and the river there, just at the 
 corner of its door-yard fence, seems to turn at a right angle, 
 northerly. It may appear rather strange, that as early as 
 1856-7, that no one could sketch the appearance of the old 
 Kinzie cabin, that is, something approximating to it and its 
 immediate surroundings, (even though that structure had 
 probably disappeared some twenty and odd years before), 
 without vexing us with two views so dissimilar. Some, possi- 
 bly, may think the subject trivial; we must combat that idea 
 however, while we remember that many a picture only repre- 
 sents an abiding falsehood. We may recur to the subject on 
 another page. 
 
372 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 Judge Henry Brown, in Chapter 16 and note, of his History 
 of Illinois, 1844., embraces most of the substance of the pam- 
 phlet-narrative of "the massacre" by Mrs. Kinzie, of same 
 year. Judge Brown speaks of his narrative as "differing in 
 many respects from that hitherto published;" and says, "that 
 he has derived his information from witnesses now living, who 
 knew of the facts thus related. He has also been aided by 
 an interesting narrative thereof, written with great pathos, and 
 recently printed by Ellis & Fergus, of Chicago, the copy-right 
 of which is secured by John H. Kinzie, Esq." 
 
 We would have been pleased if Judge Brown had named his 
 "witnesses now living" from whom he derived his "informa- 
 tion;" for we cannot really see very much additional or change 
 in his account, from a repetition of the statements in the pam- 
 phlet aforesaid. 
 
 In Vol. II., p. 502, of the Wis. His. Soc. Colls., under the 
 heading of " Errata," an error is made by the substitution of 
 "Black Partridge" for Black Bird on a previous page. On 
 p. 358, of this volume, reference is made to the same matter. 
 
 In Vol. III., of the Wis. His. Soc. Colls., appears the Lec- 
 ture by Judge Law, of Cincinnati, O., Jan. 31, 1855, relating 
 to the Jesuit Missionaries of the Northwest. Various mis- 
 statements from the unauthorized publication of a work com- 
 piled by the late Rev. Mr. Noiseux, as well as some from 
 other sources, found their way into this Lecture, which, in due 
 time, received attention from Mr. Shea and others. Without 
 further reference to those questions, we will name one or two 
 other items of the Lecture: 
 
 "There were three routes taken by the Jesuit Fathers, * 
 
 the second, up the Chicago river, thence by a portage across into 
 the Kankiki." 
 
 "Marquette remained at the mission of the Miamis at Chicago, 
 and alternately attended this and the mission to the Pottawatomies 
 on the St. Joseph." 
 
 Both the statements in the above extracts are errors. 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 373 
 
 Rev. Stephen R. Beggs' small volume of reminiscences, pub- 
 lished 1868, we make extracts from in another article. We 
 will here quote : 
 
 P. 15S. "A few years after our Indian agency was established 
 here, Marquette and Joliet, of Quebec, with others, in 1671, deter- 
 mined to explore the land," etc. 
 
 The first part of this sentence is rather incomprehensible. 
 
 We will take the present occasion to say, that Father Beggs 
 makes various mistakes regarding early western history, 
 which we cannot here undertake to notice. His book is of 
 value only as a record of his own reminiscences, and of the 
 religious movements of his associates; and of some of those 
 statements we could wish that he had been more particular 
 as to dates, etc. 
 
 Mr. Beggs' reference to Wm. See (Calumet Club Recep- 
 tion pamphlet, 1879, p. 25) as having died in Racine, Wis., is 
 an error. 
 
 He died in Iowa County, Wis., in 1858. 
 
 An extract from a letter of Rev. Isaac Scarrit, is quoted 
 by Rev. S. R. Beggs, in his book referred to above, says: 
 
 "In 1828, 1 succeeded Rev. Jesse Walker as superintendent of the 
 Fox River Mission. * # * While here, I planned a 
 trip to Chicago, distant some 70 or 80 miles. * * * 
 
 The next evening, we entered Chicago, which, in addition to the 
 buildings constituting Fort Dearborn, contained the old Kinzie 
 House, a new house of Col. Hamilton's, with perhaps one or two 
 others," etc. 
 
 If Col. R. J. Hamilton was the one intended, there is a 
 mistake; Col. H. was not in Chicago until 183 1. 
 
 The "History of DeKalb County, Illinois," published 1868, 
 has, 
 
 P. 44. "At the outbreak of the war, however, the company of 
 troops posted at Chicago, who had received notice of the declaration 
 of hostilities, and orders to evacuate and destroy their post, were am- 
 bushed at Michigan City, while escaping to Detroit, and massacred 
 by the Indians." 
 
 The writer could scarcely have read his authorities with 
 much attention. 
 
374 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 Another error, in the succeeding page, is, the statement: 
 "But until 1814, Indiana and Illinois were under one territorial 
 
 government, whose head was at Vincennes, in Indiana." 
 
 The Territory of Illinois was organized by the secretary, 
 
 Nathaniel Pope, on the 28th April, 1809. 
 
 In the article of A. G. Ellis, on the Life of J. D. Doty, on 
 p. 370, of Vol. V., Wis. Hist. Soc. Colls., it is stated that C. 
 C. Trowbridge and John H. Kinzie had charge of one of the 
 flotilla of canoes in the Tour of Gov. Cass to the Mississippi, 
 in 1820. 
 
 It seems to be a mistake, as far as the name of Mr. Kinzie 
 is concerned ; he did not accompany that expedition. 
 
 In " The Lakeside Monthly" of Jan., 1872, in "A Glance at 
 Chicago's History," we notice several errors, typographical 
 and otherwise: 
 
 P. j. "LaSalle followed in the footsteps of Marquette, late in the 
 fall of 1670, in four canoes, he passed the mouth of the Chicago 
 River," etc. 
 
 The year was nine later — 1679. 
 
 Speaking of Capt. Heald's attempted retreat, August 15, 
 1812: 
 
 "He had proceeded less than two miles along the shore, when he 
 was ambuscaded, and only three of his party escaped massacre." 
 
 This certainly is a mistake in part. 
 
 On p. 5, it is asserted that John S. C. Hogan was our first 
 postmaster. 
 
 This oft-repeated error we have noticed before, endeavor- 
 ing to administer a little needed discipline, to some who at- 
 tempt to write history for us. 
 
 On pages 85 and 86, of Geo. H. Woodruff's pamphlet, of 
 1874, called "Forty Years Ago" being "A Contribution to 
 the Early History of Joliet, and Will County," Mr. W. says, 
 the first Foundry in Chicago and the first in the State of Illi- 
 nois, was that of Gates. Also, the first load of Illinois coal 
 hauled to Chicago, was sold to Gates, having been dug near 
 the AuSable. 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 375 
 
 Presuming P. W. Gates, Sen., was meant, that gentleman 
 was applied to ; he, however, can not remember anything 
 about the "coal," and as to the "first foundry,'' he thinks the 
 first iron-foundry in Chicago, was established by W. H. Stow. 
 
 In Potters American Monthly, of May, 1876, there is an 
 article with the heading "The Kinzie House, Chicago," to- 
 gether with a view of a building to represent that domicile, 
 by Benson J. Lossing. Mr. L. says: 
 
 " I visited Chicago in i860, and had the pleasure and profit of a 
 personal interview with the daughter-in-law of Mr. Kinzie, the wife 
 of John H. Kinzie. She was then a woman of middle age, and she 
 and her husband were the earliest living inhabitants of that City." 
 
 The last statement in the above could not truthfully apply 
 to Mrs. J. H. K., as she was first here not until 1831. Mr. L. 
 continues: 
 
 "From her lips, I received many interesting reminiscences of the 
 early days of Chicago, all of which, and vastly more, have been re- 
 corded in her charming volume of personal recollections, entitled 
 "Wau-bun." 
 
 We have before expressed our opinion of "Wau-bun," as 
 an interesting book; but, if we are half inclined to believe 
 that Mrs. K. was scarcely reliable as a historian, we yet think 
 that the same remark may apply with more force to Mr. 
 Lossing ; at least, we intimated as much thirty years since, 
 (in a half-column newspaper article now lying before us,) 
 while the early numbers of Mr. Lossing's "Pictorial History 
 of the Revolution were being issued. We copy a line or two 
 from our communication to one of the journals of an eastern 
 city, where we were at the time : 
 
 "The plan of Mr. Lossing is a delightful one, — to visit our old 
 battle-fields and fortifications, to gather facts, picture the relics, and 
 standing in the half-filled trench, or under the moss-covered wall, tell 
 us the story of the past. I am inclined to think, however, that Mr. 
 L. is hardly doing justice to his own pretty pencil sketches, and the 
 paper and ink of Messrs. Harpers. I allude to divers inaccuracies 
 in the narrative, and will name just a few and those relating to — " etc. 
 
 We are not aware that the mistakes pointed out were ever 
 
 corrected by that author, though we know the article was 
 
 shown to him. 
 
376 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 But in the Potter's American Monthly, Mr. L. says: 
 
 "The Pottawatomies * * * who called the place 
 Chikakou." 
 
 They didn't; that was not their pronunciation, as we under- 
 stand it. 
 
 Speaking of Baptiste Point AuSable, he says "he did not 
 remain long." 
 
 Yes he did: he was here in 1779, perhaps earlier, to 1796, 
 certainly. 
 
 Speaking of John Kinzie, he says : 
 
 "He established a trading-house at Chicago in 1804, where, two 
 years before, a stockade had been built and named Fort Dearborn." 
 
 It was not two years before. 
 
 "On the site of Jean Baptiste's hut Mr. Kinzie built his mansion." 
 
 The "hut" that AuSable occupied — perhaps built, LeMai 
 became possessed of after the other's departure, and that 
 "mansion" or rather hut, Mr. K. bought of LeMai. "LeMai 
 moved out and Mr. Kinzie went in," said Mrs. Whistler to Us; 
 she was here at the time. 
 
 It is not unlikely that Mr. Kinzie, at various times, during 
 the quarter of a century or so, that he claimed possession, re- 
 paired his cabin, and improved it by the addition of a veran- 
 da, etc.; yet, for a full moiety of its fame, as one of the re- 
 membered antiquities of this locality, it (the cabin) must be 
 indebted to the fact that its existence dated back to the time 
 of the Revolution. It was not one of the clapboard domiciles 
 of an approaching civilization, but a backwoods or wilderness 
 structure; its wall-timbers were of the enduring oak; it was 
 storm-defying, arrow-daring, and bullet-proof; it filled indeed 
 the plan of its architect. Its tawny builder and occupant, 
 understood to be a native of San Domingo, it is said, was 
 "much in the French interest," though probably he was more 
 particularly in AuSable's interest, that is, that of himself. 
 He was, no doubt, an adventurous fur-trader, but at length 
 withdrew when hurtful competition invaded his domain. 
 Mrs. Kinzie, in "Wau-bun," suggests that he retired in dis- 
 gust, from not being chosen a chief by the Indians hereabout, 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 377 
 
 and Hon. John Wentworth, in one of his lectures, in view of 
 a probable design which AuSable had, to plant here a colony 
 of his brother San Domingoans, supposing he had succeeded, 
 speculatingly and apostrophizingly remarks, "how different 
 would have been our condition ! " 
 
 "For a while, the garrison could get no grain, and Whistler and his 
 men subsisted on acorns." 
 
 It may have been so, yet we never heard of it before; we 
 
 must express our doubts regarding the correctness of that 
 
 acorn-story. 
 
 "During a whole winter, she" (the younger Mrs. K., so apparently 
 we are given to understand in Mr. L.'s account) "and her family 
 were compelled to use the greatest economy, for they might exhaust 
 their slender stock of flour and meal before it would be replenished 
 from 'below' — Mackinaw. At the same time, the Indians of the 
 neighborhood were famishing, — 'dying in companies,' she said, 'from 
 mere destitution'." 
 
 We doubt whether Mr. Lossing's informant intended to 
 represent her own experience in the matter; yet, if we are 
 mistaken as to that, we must then discredit the last sentence 
 of the story, altogether. 
 
 "After the battle of Tippecanoe, in the fall of 181 2," 
 
 The year 181 1 was the one intended. 
 
 We find in Mr. Lossing's sketch, a great part of what ap- 
 pears in Mrs. Kinzie's "Wau-bun," regarding the abandon- 
 ment of Fort Dearborn, etc., in 18 12, but we perceive some 
 new and perhaps contradictory statements, and some set 
 speeches, not previously to be found. 
 
 The speech of Black Partridge to Captain Heald, coming 
 
 to surrender his U. S. medal before getting on the war-path, 
 
 is reported the same as in "Wau-bun"; yet the same evening 
 
 according to Mr. L., that chief made another speech (not found 
 
 in "Wau-bun") to Mr. Griffith, the interpreter, as follows: 
 
 "Linden birds have been singing in my ears to-day; be careful on 
 the march you are going to take." 
 
 Possibly, the new mode of manufacturing history, demands 
 a greater use of quotation marks to make the thing a little 
 more dramatic or picturesque. 
 
378 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 The substance of the advice, represented in "Wau-bun", 
 
 to be given Captain Heald by the Indian who brought Gen. 
 
 Hull's orders to Captain H., is detailed by Mr. L. in a precise 
 
 speech of the counselor. Mr. Lossing says: 
 
 "Mr. Kinzie and Captain Heald's officers knew the wisdom of the 
 chiefs advice, but the commander, a strict disciplinarian, resolved to 
 follow Hull's order to the letter." 
 
 Yet, our authors, Mrs. K. and Mr. L., do not exactly agree 
 in their estimate of Captain Heald's habit of discipline. 
 "Wau-bun" tells us, "The Indians now, became daily more un- 
 ruly. Entering the fort in defiance of the sentinels, they made 
 their way without ceremony into the officers' quarters. On 
 one occasion, an Indian took up a rifle and fired it in the par- 
 lor of the commanding-officer, as an expression of defiance." 
 
 " The powder, as well as liquors, were cast into the water, on the 
 night of the 13th, after the distribution of the other property had 
 been made." 
 
 Capt. Heald said the distribution was made on the 14th. 
 
 [The sketch in "Wau-bun" entitled "Massacre at Chic- 
 ago," is understood to be in great part made up from what 
 was written or dictated by the wife of Captain Helm, step- 
 daughter of John Kinzie. But a part of the narrative, other 
 matter, relating to Fort Dearborn immediately preceding the 
 abandonment and massacre, would seem to have been gath- 
 ered from others, and all compiled by Mrs. Juliette A. Kinzie, 
 the wife of John H. Kinzie. The whole account has been 
 generally credited and widely copied, and no one ever at- 
 tempts to write about- the early history of Chicago without 
 drawing from the pages of Mrs. Kinzie's book. Mrs. Helm, 
 we believe, died i.n the autumn of 1830, and Mrs. J. H, K., 
 we think, never saw that lady; fourteen years afterward, Mrs. 
 K. made use of what she (Mrs. H.) wrote or said, and pre- 
 sented it in a pamphlet publication; and twelve years still 
 later, with a few alterations, it was embodied within the pages 
 of "Wau-bun." The elder John Kinzie died in Fort Dear- 
 born, early in 1828, and his daughter-in-law, Mrs. J. H. K., 
 never saw him; but she had seen her mother-in-law, who died 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 379 
 
 in New York City, early in 1834. The husband of Mrs. J. H. 
 K., brother, and sisters, also probably imparted information, 
 though they were too young, in 18 12, to say much about 
 matters of that date, from their own knowledge, excepting 
 what others may have told. Such, as far as we know, were 
 the sources of an important part of Mrs. Kinzie's book. 
 
 It is very evident that the representations in "Wau-bun" 
 bear pretty severely upon the prudence and good judgment 
 of Captain Heald, preceding as well as after the abandon- 
 ment of the Fort. We must remember, however, that the 
 testimony is entirely ex parte, Capt. H. having no opportu- 
 nity of any defence. We beg to express our doubts regard- 
 ing that perfect knowledge, as would appear professedly to 
 have been in possession of the complainants or malcontents 
 in the case ; we are inclined to believe that neither Mrs. Helm 
 nor Mrs. J. H. K. were as well informed as the Commandant 
 of Fort Dearborn, regarding his government dispatches, 
 counsels or councils, or speeches in private audience. 
 
 Mrs. K. said that the junior officers, Lieut. Helm and Lieut. 
 Ronan, were "very young men," the latter "somewhat over- 
 bearing." Captain Heald was not a very young man; he was 
 a lieutenant in the army in 1799. The intimation of Mrs. K., 
 of a gross lack of discipline at the Fort, we can hardly credit ; 
 it could scarcely have happened, unless by collusion of out- 
 side parties with the junior officers. 
 
 We will add, that if there was any attempt within Fort 
 Dearborn, upon Captain Heald, by that unamiable proceed- 
 ing, expressed in the coarse modern phrase bulldozing, we are 
 happy to believe that he had sufficient independence and 
 stamina to repel such efforts. 
 
 We are not impressed with the idea that Mrs. Kinzie was 
 excessively anxious, in every case, to detail facts; we do not 
 think she took so serious a view of the matter. We are com- 
 pelled to say this, from the evidence of great, carelessness in 
 compilation. That she could and would write something 
 interesting, was apparently her purpose, and if a prejudice 
 haunted her day-dreams at any time, certainly she had the 
 ability to give to it expression.] 
 
380 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 "Captain Wells, who was by the side of his niece, Mrs. Heald, 
 when the conflict began, behaved with the greatest coolness and 
 courage. He said to her, 'We have not the slightest chance for life, 
 we must part to meet no more in this world; God bless you'; and 
 then he dashed forward." 
 
 It was forty-eight years then, after the above was delivered, 
 before this speech was given to the world; it was wonderful 
 that Mr, L. should rescue it after it was forgotten so long! 
 
 Again, of Captain Wells: 
 
 "With a yell, the young braves rushed forward to make him a 
 prisoner, and reserve for torture. He resolved not to be made a 
 captive, and by the use of most provoking epithets, he tried to in- 
 duce them to kill him instantly. He called a fiery young chief a 
 squaw, when the enraged warrior killed Wells instantly with his toma- 
 hawk, jumped upon his body, cut out his heart, and ate a portion of 
 the warm morsel with savage delight." 
 
 We do not hesitate to express our disbelief in the above 
 statement; it is unreasonable, for it is unnatural, and more- 
 over is altogether different from the account in "Wau-bun", 
 by Mrs. Helm, who, though having enough to attend to, re- 
 garding herself, during the brief fight, rather than to note 
 very closely the particular occurrences relating to others; yet 
 her notice of Captain Wells' fall, contradicting the later 
 account, must receive more credit than the other. We copy 
 from the "Wau-bun" relation as follows: 
 
 "Several Indians pursued him (Captain Wells) as he galloped 
 along. He laid himself flat on the neck of his horse, loading and 
 firing in that position, as he would occasionally turn on his pursuers. 
 At length their balls took effect, killing his horse, and severely 
 wounding himself. At this moment, he was met by Winnemeg and 
 Wau-ban-see, who endeavored to save him from the savages, who had 
 now overtaken him. As they supported him along, after having dis- 
 engaged him from his horse, he received his death-blow from an- 
 other Indian, Pee-so-tum, who stabbed him in the back." 
 
 The stories are quite dissimilar. 
 
 "The celebrated Black Hawk, who was with the Indians there, 
 afterwards declared that, had the terms of the treaty been strictly 
 compiled with, the white people would not have been molested." 
 
 If it is meant that Black Hawk "was with the Indians there" 
 (that is, at Chicago, 15 Aug., '12) it is a mistake. Black 
 Hawk and his band were persuaded by the British agent, 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 38 I 
 
 Robert Dickson, in a council at Green Bay, to join that side. 
 This was after the abandonment of Fort Dearborn, the ruins 
 of which Black Hawk and some 500 Indians passed on their 
 way eastward. 
 
 We desire to notice one other item of historical interest, 
 that of the pictorial representation of the old Kinzie house, 
 which prefaces the article of Mr. Lossing, in Potter s A merican 
 Monthly aforesaid. Mr. Lossing's drawing is certainly differ- 
 ent from that in Mrs. Kinzie's "Wau-bun", the one we believe 
 that has mostly had the public eye. 
 
 There is something, it is true, quite similar in a corner of 
 page 1 1, of the old Chicago Magazine (1857), yet that is varied 
 and contradicted by another view on page 28, of the same 
 work. The particular story of these pictures is not given, no 
 dates are added to any, leading us to understand whether 
 drawn in the actual presence of the old cabin, or from memory 
 a quarter of a century after it had disappeared. Our per- 
 plexity in the matter we have referred to previously, while 
 noticing some particulars in the Chicago Magazine. But we 
 may say here, inasmuch as Mr. Lossing's interview with Mrs. 
 Kinzie, at Chicago, was in i860, and her book, "Wau-bun", 
 had been issued in 1856, we cannot understand how it hap- 
 pened that Mr. Lossing's Kinzie-house portrait is altogether 
 a different institution apparently, from that of the "Wau-bun" 
 edifice, with no explanation attached which might relieve us. 
 Any one who will take the trouble to compare the two views, 
 must perceive a great discrepancy, and like ourself may be at 
 a loss to understand which is the true and which the false. 
 
 A communication from Darius Reid to the Inter Ocean, 
 dated Marseilles, LaSalle Co., Ill, March 7, 1879, has the 
 following : 
 
 "Levi Reid was born Oct., 1827, in a log-cabin belonging to J. 
 B. Beaubien, about half a mile south of Fort Dearborn. He is now 
 living in Pekin, Tazewell Co., Illinois. All others were Indian and 
 French mixed." 
 
 The late Robert A. Kinzie, and various others not now 
 
382 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 living, as well as Mrs. Maria (Kinzie) Hunter, (wife of Gen. 
 David Hunter), still alive, were native-born Chicagoans, not 
 subject to the exception named in the above extract, and 
 before the name of Mr. Levi Reid appears on the record. 
 
 A communication by Mr. A. S. Hubbard, in the Chicago 
 
 Evening Journal of 29th April, 1 880, refers to a letter now at 
 
 the rooms of the Chicago Historical Society, addressed to the 
 
 Hon. John Wentworth, from Rev. John M. I. St. Cyr, of 
 
 Carondelet, Mo. Mr. Hubbard writes: 
 
 "Having occasion to trace the pioneer settlers of our City, I have 
 reached the conclusion that to the Rev. Stephen D. Badin belongs 
 the honor of being the first priest in Chicago, waving, of course, Mar- 
 quette and those contemporary with him." 
 
 Mr. Hubbard gets the statement from Bishop Spalding's 
 reminiscences published in 1844, of a regret for the loss of 
 Father Badin's MSS., some twelve years before, while "labor- 
 ing among the Pottawatomie Indians of the Northwest." Mr. 
 H. also learns that Father Badin, in 1846, visited Chicago, 
 and then said to Mrs. John Murphy, an early resident here, 
 "This is the fiftieth anniversary of my arrival in Chicago." 
 Therefore, Mr. H. concludes that Father St. Cyr must prop- 
 erly withdraw any pretense of being first as before mentioned. 
 
 We can scarcely agree with Mr. Hubbard in his view of the 
 matter. It is as the resident pioneer Catholic priest of the 
 modern Chicago of white men, that the Reverend John Mary 
 Ireneus Saint Cyr may claim honorable notice. The Reverend 
 Stephen Theodore Badin having, several years before Fort 
 Dearborn was built, made a tour of religious visitation to the 
 Indians (among whom were perhaps a few white fur- traders) 
 in the vicinity of Chicago, in 1796, as also at a later day, we 
 are pleased to be informed of the fact. Yet, I cannot see how 
 this in any manner conflicts with the claim of Reverend St. 
 Cyr. As well, and better, for it was earlier, might we give 
 precedence to the Rev. Fathers Pinet and Buinateau, who 
 were not mere visitors, but certainly resided for some time on 
 the waters of the Chicago, nearly a hundred years before the 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 383 
 
 advent of Father Badin. But their mission was mainly to the 
 Indians, and there were, after them, many other Catholic 
 priests, from time to time, who also sought the wandering 
 clans of the Illinois. They were pioneers, earlier than Father 
 Badin, yet the definate particulars of whose operations, like 
 those of Father B., are mostly lost beyond recovery. 
 
 Mr. Hubbard, furthermore, erroneously places the year of 
 Col. Beaubien's arrival here as 1804. 
 
 "COL. R. J. HAMILTON. 
 
 "To the Editor of the Tribune. 
 "Chicago, May 16. — The Times 'historian' is wrong again. The 
 initial letter of the middle name of the late Col. Hamilton was a J, 
 not an ' I.' Judge Caton lately settled that question, and so knocked 
 that eye out of the Times' man, it might be supposed; yet he could- 
 n't see it. If Col. Richard J. Hamilton at an early day curtailed his 
 'T's,' he thought better of it, and so did it better, afterward. M. F. 
 
 Not a few of the history-writers about Chicago, including 
 the Chicago Times historian as would seem by the above, 
 which we noticed in the Tribune several years ago, have been 
 wont to make a mistake, when speaking of that prominent 
 early settler, the late Col. Richard J. Hamilton, by the sub- 
 stitution of an I in place of a J. Indeed, an old settler once 
 told us that Col. H. was formerly well known and called Rich- 
 ard /. Hamilton, and that that was his name without ques- 
 tion. The trouble arose from the fact, that the Colonel, at 
 one time, made his J like an I. It was clearly an error how- 
 ever, for the middle name which the Colonel rejoiced in, was 
 the renowned one of Jones. 
 
 In the Chicago Tribune of Feb. 12, 1876, appears a para- 
 graph, from which we extract as follows: 
 
 "Death of the first white woman who visited Chicago. Mr. John 
 F. Stafford, of this City, yesterday received a letter announcing the 
 death of Mrs. Beard, mother of the distinguished artists, Wm. H. 
 and James H. Beard. She passed away, peacefully, while asleep, 
 and without pain, Thursday the 1 oth inst. * * .* In 
 
 the year 18 10, her husband owned and commanded a brig on the 
 Lakes. The vessel was chartered by the Government to transport 
 stores and munitions of war to the different fortifications on the 
 
384 CHICAGO' ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 Lakes. Mrs. Beard accompanied her husband on the voyage, and 
 landed in Chicago in the summer of that year. There were but 
 seventy-eight persons in the Fort at that time, and the sight of a 
 white woman was quite cheering to them. At her death she was 
 about 89 years of age. She will be buried to-day at Painesville, 
 where she has lived for over half a century." 
 
 While it can be easily seen on other of these pages, that Mrs. 
 
 Beard was not the first white woman who visited Chicago, the 
 
 other items it is well to preserve. 
 
 The Secretary of the Chicago Historical Society, Prof. 
 Albert D. Hager, at the meeting of the Society on the even- 
 ing of June 15, 1880, discussed the question, "Was Father 
 Jacques Marquette Ever in Chicago?" 
 
 The Professor does not hesitate to respond in the negative 
 
 to that inquiry; so, quoting some of the Professor's reasons 
 
 for such belief which we fail to discover the force of, we shall 
 
 add a few suggestions, ignoring the light claimed to be 
 
 shown in this new departure. 
 
 Prof. H. says: "The authority for this belief, and the source 
 from which historians derive the evidence on which they have made 
 these statements concerning Marquette, is Charlevoix's History of 
 New France." 
 
 The Professor here without doubt makes a great mistake. 
 Students in Western history who have read up the subject 
 with much attention, do not rely upon Charlevoix concerning 
 Marquette with Chicago; they have better sources of infor- 
 mation. Charlevoix was never at Chicago, and only long 
 years after the death of Marquette (near a half- century) was 
 he in the neighborhood. The best-informed historians we 
 believe are aware of Charlevoix's misstatements; and what 
 Prof. H. says of that traveler, quoting and denying some 
 things that he told, we may say, is neither decidedly im- 
 proper, nor yet of account any way, regarding Marquette's 
 acquaintance with Chicago. We will add that Charlevoix, 
 being at the mouth of St. Joseph River in September, 172 1, 
 intended to take the route by way of Chicago to the Missis- 
 sippi, but the rough weather upon lake and shore led him to 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 385 
 
 go up the St. Joseph River and across to the Kankakee, etc. 
 He did not propose to reach the Illinois and Mississippi by 
 way of Calumet Lake; indeed we cannot remember of ever 
 reading of any one who did. 
 
 Again: "In 1838, Mr. Jared Sparks examined the manuscripts 
 left by Marquette, and from them obtained material for his bio- 
 graphy. He found a manuscript map of the route taken by Mar- 
 quette on his first trip. A fac-simile of this map dated 1673, was 
 first published at that time (1838) by Mr. Sparks, and appears in his 
 Life of Marquette." 
 
 It is proper to say that the map above referred to was not 
 made by Marquette; it is the same, we believe, as appears in 
 Thevenot's publication (168 1), a copy of which is in the library 
 of Harvard College, from which Mr. Sparks probably made 
 his copy. Other particulars may be seen in Mr. Shea's "Dis- 
 covery and Exploration of the Mississippi Valley." 
 
 Further: "In 1852, John Gilmary Shea, for the first time, trans- 
 lated and published Marquette's journal. He also brought from its 
 hiding-place and for the first time produced a facsimile of another 
 map made by Marquette, evidently made at a later period than the 
 one copied by Mr. Sparks." 
 
 This map, a copy of which Mr. Shea brought from its 
 "hiding-place," at St. Mary's College, Montreal, is the map 
 of Marquette; it has been republished many times, and its 
 appearance is familiar to the public; but Prof. H. is in error, 
 when he calls, it "another map made by Marquette"; it is 
 the only one known of his as we understand it. 
 
 "In this last-named map, which was probably made in the winter 
 of 1674-5," etc. 
 
 Not -"in the winter of 1674-5" is it likely that Marquette 
 made his map. Those months he passed at Chicago, and 
 mostly a prisoner within his wigwam, from cold and weak- 
 ness; making efforts to perform his religious duties, struggling 
 with physical discomfort and disease, the dying missionary 
 was biding his time with the fortitude of a martyr. No, the 
 map was made at an earlier date than the Professor suggests; 
 probably at the Mission St. Xavier, in the autumn of 1673. 
 
 "On this map he has extended the river from the Mississippi to 
 25 
 
386 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 near the south-western corner of Lake Michigan, at a point near 
 where the Calumet River now empties." 
 
 We cannot see anything improbable that the line of a 
 
 stream, which the Professor calls the Illinois River, extended 
 
 to the corner of Lake Michigan, was meant by Marquette to 
 
 represent the route of the Chicago by which he came from 
 
 the South. He was well aware, no doubt, of the fact that 
 
 canoes passed, at times, without interruption from the lake 
 
 to the Illinois. As a general outline of the south end of 
 
 Lake Michigan, Marquette received his information from the 
 
 Indians, who had knowledge of the matter, for we must bear 
 
 in mind that he had then never been south of Chicago upon 
 
 the lake shore. 
 
 "Farther up (down?) the western shore of the lake, near where 
 Chicago now stands, he represents a river." 
 
 That river which Prof. H. would have Marquette intend 
 for the Chicago, is placed a long way from the south end of 
 the lake, — say ico mijes, — for it is about one-fourth of the 
 full length of the lake from its south shore. 
 
 "Had Marquette entered Chicago River previous to making that 
 map, it is highly probable that he would have represented it with its 
 two branches, the one from the north and the other from the south, 
 instead of placing it without a branch, and extending it nearly 
 straight out into the prairie." 
 
 We do not think so; Joliet and Marquette, on their return 
 from the Mississippi, were speeding their way toward the 
 north, and while coming down the Chicago were no doubt 
 intently looking for Lake Michigan, near at hand. Those 
 gentlemen were not taking a trigonometrical survey of lake 
 or land; it was not a part of their present design, to give 
 minute details, or to portray every tributary creek along the 
 waters of their route; the main features were all that were 
 aimed at. 
 
 Of Joliet and Marquette's voyage down the Mississippi, the 
 Professor says: 
 
 "They kept down that stream, and a dotted line on his map, cor- 
 roborated by statements in his journal, shows that he visited the 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 387 
 
 Illinois Indians near what is now the City of Joliet, and not in Iowa, 
 as has been suggested by several writers of early hisory." 
 
 This "dotted line" referred to does not appear on Mar- 
 quette's map (look at in Shea, or the old Chicago Magazine, 
 or on Blanchard's Historical Chart). That journey which 
 Marquette is represented by the Professor to have taken, 
 from the Mississippi across the country more than a hundred 
 miles to the neighborhood of Joliet City, would have been 
 most eccentric, leaving his companions in the boat meantime. 
 But the idea is more eccentric than the journey, for that 
 could not have happened within the four or five days of their 
 stop on shore. 
 
 "His map shows that he entered Lake Michigan south-east of a 
 lake about^six miles inland." 
 
 Wrong again; no such lake appears on Marquette's map. 
 We will here say that between the South Branch and Des- 
 • plaines, in early times as well as at a later day, in wet seasons 
 and high-water in the Desplaines River, the region between 
 that river and the Chicago presented varieties in appearance 
 according to the volume of water. If the whole surface was 
 not overflowed, then a succession of pond, lake, and stream ; 
 the subsidence of the waters in summer, left in places, dikes 
 and gullies, and long reaches of dry land. 
 
 Prof. Hager seems to stumble at the meaning of Mar- 
 quette's words in his last letter, when he says, "The naviga- 
 tion of the lake from one portage to the other is quite fine, 
 there being no traverse," etc. He unquestionably meant the 
 two portages on his route from Green Bay to the Illinois — 
 namely: that from Sturgeon Bay to the lake, and that 
 between the Chicago and Desplaines. 
 
 Prof. Hager's attempt to locate the sand-bars off the lake 
 shore, as they were 200 years ago, would be a much easier 
 matter if he had reliable testimony in place of surmise; but 
 that need not be looked for, and, from nearly a forty years' 
 acquaintance with the west shore of Lake Michigan, we are 
 given some idea of the many changes in the longer past. 
 
 If Prof. H. had shown us that the Calumet had long 
 
388 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 borne the name of Chicago; if he could establish a suspicion 
 that it had been a common thoroughfare of the Indians from 
 time immemorial from the lake to the Illinois; if he had 
 shown us where, among the written words of early travelers, 
 they speak of the Calumet as a route of inland navigation, as 
 Chicago has been spoken of, by, for instance, Joliet, Mar- 
 quette, LaSalle, Tonty, Allouez, Joutel, LaHontan. St. 
 Cosine, La Source, Gravier, etc., who each and all were here, 
 then we would entertain his plea, but not otherwise. 
 
 Hon. John Wentworth delivered, at McCormick Hall, two 
 lectures, the first, April II, 1875, and the other, May 7, 1876. 
 In the newspaper reports of these lectures, there were not a 
 few mistakes, at which several Quixotic individuals became 
 somewhat uproarious. Of the first lecture, one correspon- 
 dent, before pointing out various errors, says: "The lecture 
 yesterday, by the Hon. John Wentworth, which brought out 
 so large an audience and proved so entertaining, must of ne- 
 cessity take its place with that class of essays which blend the 
 grotesque suggestions of a humorous fancy with the more dig- 
 nified recital of sober history. * * While we 
 dissent from some of the positions assumed in the lecture, and 
 must deny various statements of the lecturer, we yet cordially 
 commend his words of invective, particularly those wherein 
 he lashes the stupidity of that act which blotted out the old 
 name of one of our streets, called after that worthy patriot, 
 Capt. Wells, who sacrificed his life at Chicago, fighting 
 against treachery in humanity's behalf." After calling atten- 
 tion to a number of mistakes, the same correspondent sug- 
 gests "that lecturers and editors, who intend to discourse 
 upon early Chicago history, cut out and paste in the crowns 
 of their hats, these items and facts for future reference." 
 Another complainant said, "Don't let us get our early history- 
 wrong, just for the sake of having it read like a novel." Still 
 another said, "It is inexcusable, even in a dime lecture, to 
 make so many misstatements regarding matters, upon which 
 an hour's reading in the Public Library would set him right." 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 389 
 
 Yet we are not aware that any of those discharges disturbed 
 the equanimity of our lecturer, further than to lead him to 
 change a few things, when Mr. Fergus reprinted in his Series 
 of Historical Pamphlets, the lectures referred to. But a few 
 other errors not so corrected, we will notice here; in the pam- 
 phlet edition of 1st lecture: 
 
 P. 5. "The first written account of the North- West bears the 
 date of 1654, when two French-traders left Canada," etc. 
 
 The above item was evidently taken from Mr. Eastman's 
 sketch in .the old Chicago Magazine; the statement is errone- 
 ous; see p. 8. of same lecture, where it says that Sieur Jean 
 Nicollet was at Green Bay, 1639. 
 
 P. 6. : 'It is claimed that there was a missionary station at Macki- 
 naw about 1607. The place thereof is still known as Point Ignace." 
 
 The same statement appears in "Wau-bun;" it is an error. 
 
 "It was there (Point Ignace) that the remains of Father James 
 Marquette were taken about 1720." 
 
 There is no authority that we know of to warrant the state- 
 ment. 
 
 P. 8. He (LaSalle) hastened to France and secured the good-will 
 of Louis XIV., by proposing a union of the Canadas with the Mis- 
 sissippi Valley, and a line of military posts from the lakes to the Mis- 
 sissippi; and having cajoled the king into giving him a monopoly of 
 of the fur-trade in the west, the real object of his mission, he hurried 
 back." 
 
 That great man, Robert de LaSalle, we believe is slandered 
 in the above paragraph. LaSalle was not a money-lover; 
 his tastes did not lead in that direction sufficiently to win for 
 him the title of a skilful merchant. Arrangements for trade, 
 v received comparatively little of his thoughts, his mind was 
 occupied with, greater plans; and any design of profit from 
 trade was a secondary one, and merely in aid of accomplish- 
 ing his loftier purposes. 
 
 P. 15. "His house (the Kinzie house') was the first erected in 
 Chicago, and it was standing long after Chicago became a city." 
 
 The first part of the sentence, we believe, is not true; the 
 last part, we knoiv, is not; the old Kinzie house, sometime 
 before March 4, 1837, the date of the act of Incorporation, 
 had disappeared from the face of the earth! 
 
390 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 P. ig. "But the commandant here (Captain Heald) was a cir- 
 cumlocutionist, and believed in red tape. He took from the 7th to 
 the 15th of August to march his troops out of the Fort." 
 
 Mr. W. forms his opinion, evidently, from the statements, 
 inferences, and judgments in the volume "Wau-bun," for 
 which authority we hold sentiments a little skeptical, as may- 
 be seen on previous pages. The date "7th" was the 9th, 
 according to Captain Heald. 
 
 P. ig. "And Capt. William Wayne Wells, a brother of the wife 
 of the commandant at Chicago," etc. 
 
 The "Wayne" and "brother" in the above are both errors. 
 
 P. 21. "That Gen. Hull had surrendered his army at Detroit, 
 which he did without firing a gun, on the very day of the massacre 
 at Chicago." 
 
 Not the "very day," but the day after. 
 
 P. 25. "Up to 1828, only one sail-vessel made trips to Chicago, 
 and that to bring supplies to the Fort. The American Fur Com- 
 pany had done all its business in row-boats, better known in those 
 days as Mackinaw-boats." 
 
 Not exactly. Away back in the last century, sail-vessels 
 were not strangers upon Lake Michigan, and the old North- 
 west Fur Company had sail-craft of its own; and, see pp. 
 50, 61, 67 of this volume. We know of the schooners 
 "Nancy," the "Saguenah," and the sloops "Russell," "Speed- 
 well;" etc. Of a later day, the American Fur Company used 
 sail-vessels upon the upper lakes, (see shipment to James 
 Kinzie, Chicago, 1821, ante, p. 34); there was a consignment 
 of merchandise in 1822, per schooner "General Jackson," 
 Captain Keith, to Chicago for St. Louis; we know of other 
 vessels on the upper lakes, employed by that Company, in 
 years 1821,2, 3, for instance, schrs. "Red Jacket," "Huron," 
 "Tiger," Blake, master,* and "Lady Washington." 
 
 * Probably " Commodore " Blake, as he was called, a skilful Lake-Captain, 
 of the steamers " Illinois, " the " Niagara, " and " Nile, '' well remembered by 
 lake travelers of thirty-five or forty years ago, yet whose lake experience dated 
 back as early as the war of 18 12. The death of Commodore B. occurred at Mil- 
 waukee, in the month of , 1849, and we cannot avoid copying the follow- 
 ing lines, published in the Evening Journal, at the time of his death : 
 
 " Farewell to thee ! old Veteran of the Lakes ! 
 Thine iron heart has ceased to beat: 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 391 
 
 P. 25. "In 1830, * * * and the principal settle- 
 ment here was at the forks of the Chicago River, then called 'Wolf 
 Point,' where there was a tavern, school-house, and meeting-house, 
 where Jesse Walker, a Methodist Missionary, residing at Plainfield, 
 Will Co., occasionally preached. There still stands at the north-east 
 corner of W. Lake and N. Canal Streets, a building known for many 
 years as the 'Green Tree Hotel,' erected in 1831, probably the old- 
 est building in Chicago. But there was another small tavern, on the 
 North side, near the Forks, where Gen. Scott stopped when he came 
 with the troops in 1832, kept by Elijah Wentworth, Sen. 
 
 The tavern at Wolf Point, and not on the "North-side" was 
 the one kept by Elijah Wentworth, Sen. The school-house 
 and meeting-house, so called, were one, a log-building, but was 
 not known by either of such terms in 1 830. It is somewhat 
 difficult to tell, from Rev. Mr. Beggs' rambling mode of state- 
 ment, and his indefiniteness as to dates, whether Father 
 Walker or himself first used, as a meeting-house, that log-build- 
 ing, and when. It was late in the fall of 183 1, or in January 
 1832. The title school-house, was not applied to it until after 
 Mr. Watkins commenced his school there, in 1832. 
 
 The "Green Tree Hotel" was not erected in "1831 ;" it can 
 only date back to 1833, as we understand it. 
 
 No more amid the storms wild autumn wakes, 
 
 Thy master-skill the winds shall meet, 
 
 Farewell to thee, old Blake! 
 
 " For thee, blue Erie has a moaning song; 
 A sigh sweeps o'er bright St. Clair; 
 Dark Huron bears the wailing dirge along ; 
 And Michigan repeats in wild despair, 
 Farewell to thee, old Blake ! 
 
 " But often when the tempest surges roll, 
 
 And storms howl dark along the sky, 
 Thy name shall nerve the daring sailors' soul, 
 Thy spirit guide the danger by. 
 Farewell to thee, old Blake ! 
 
 " Thy home was on the waves ! they were to thee 
 More fair than earth's rich garb of green;' 
 And thou art laid to rest beside the sea, 
 On which thy pride of life had been. 
 Farewell to thee, old Blake ! 
 
 "Farewell to thee! Be thy eternal dirge, 
 The music of the mournful wave ; 
 And plowing keels which sportive winds shall urge, 
 Shall sigh, in memory of the brave, — 
 Farewell to thee, old Blake!" 
 
392 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 Speaking of the soldiers of Scott's army who died of 
 cholera : 
 
 P. 27. "For they were thrown into a pit at the north-west corner 
 of Lake Street and Wabash Avenue." Also, in his 2d lecture, May 
 7, 1876. P. 4. "All that was known for a certainty, was the place 
 where they dug the pit into which they most unceremoniously 
 plunged the dead bodies. That was remembered because it was the 
 site of the old American Temperance House." 
 
 There seems to be an error here. Mr. Philo Carpenter, 
 who came to Chicago in the month of July of that year 
 (1832), remembers that dead-pit, or succession of pits, where 
 the cholera victims were buried. 
 
 According to Mr. C.'s account, his recollection is, that the 
 position of that grave was not far from the South-west cor- 
 ner of South Water Street and Wabash Avenue, near where 
 the turn of the road or street was, going on River Street, 
 down the stream. Mr. Carpenter says, it was not merely one 
 deep grave or hole, but after one had been filled or sufficiently 
 used and covered with earth, another pit adjoining and west- 
 ward was dug, and used; this digging new graves was re- 
 peated several times, all being near together. As to the 
 location, Mr. Carpenter's account tallies with that received 
 from Mr. Isaac N. Harmon, of this City, who has been a resi- 
 dent of Chicago for more than 46 years. Mr. H. writes: 
 "Between the years 185 1 and 1856, while foundations were 
 being dug by Alderman James Carney,* for stores on the 
 square located between State Street and Wabash Avenue, on 
 the south side of South Water Street, many skeletons were 
 disinterred, which were then said to be the remains of the 
 cholera patients of Fort Dearborn, in 1832. Whether this be 
 the fact, I cannot say, though I think it is very likely that it 
 was the place of their interment." 
 
 Another account we notice, which appears in an old num- 
 ber of a Tribune, says: "a large grave was opened near the 
 spot where Norton's new stone building now stands." This 
 building was near the river at the foot of Wabash Avenue. 
 
 * James Carney, we notice by the Directories, was a brewer, on South Water 
 Street, between State Street and Wabash Avenue, 1849 to 1854. 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 393 
 
 Referring to the trial of Stone, for murder, Mr. Wentworth 
 said: 
 
 P. 29. "I was on the jury that convicted him. An editor abused 
 me whilst upon the jury, and the Court sentenced him for contempt. 
 Wilbur F. Storey is not the first martyr. His name is Wm. Stuart, 
 and he now lives in Binghamton, N. Y. Our Judge, E. S. Williams, 
 is not the first judicial tyrant. His name was John Pearson, and he 
 now lives at Danville, 111. Charles H. Read is not the first perse- 
 cutor of the press. His name is Alonzo Huntington, and he lives in 
 Chicago now." 
 
 Judge Pearson replied to the above, dated April 20, 1875, 
 addressed to the Danville Commercial : 
 
 "My old friend, Col. Wentworth, did not, I presume, intend to 
 misreport the facts, or do me injustice, and had he remembered all 
 the facts connected with that case, he certainly would not have 
 characterized the Judge as a 'judicial tyrant.' * * * 
 
 The Colonel has left out the material facts in the case to which he 
 refers. A most bloody and diabolical murder of a woman had been 
 committed by a wretch. His conviction depended on a long and 
 closely connected chain of circumstantial evidence. Mr. Stewart 
 (Stuart) seemed to take sides as an editor, with the accused and his 
 counsel. Mr. Wentworth and Stewart were rival editors before. 
 Mr. Wentworth was selected, during the trial, as one of the jury. 
 Stewart, during the trial, published many foolish and unwarranted 
 statements of Wentworth and the trial, and one of these papers was 
 taken, or was thrown into the jury-room during the deliberation of 
 the jury. The State's-attorney complained to the Court in the usual 
 form, the facts were proved; Stewart had a fair hearing and was con- 
 victed. The Court fined him, not for constructive contempt, but for 
 trying to block the wheels of justice in a very aggravated murder 
 case. * * * If Mr. Huntington is a persecutor of the 
 press, so am I, for he only acted in a subordinate capacity." 
 
 The note of Judge Pearson contained more, but the above 
 will here suffice. 
 
 In a note referring to Wm. See, says: | 
 
 P. 45. He removed to Racine, Wis., where he died. Our James 
 Kinzie, who also died there, married a daughter of his for his first 
 wife." 
 
 Neither Mr. See nor Kinzie died in Racine. 
 
 Mr. Wentworth's second lecture: Speaking of Schooner 
 
 "Tracy's" arrival in 1803: 
 
 P. 8. "This, probably, was the first sail-vessel that ever came to 
 Chicago." 
 
394 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 The probabilities are against such a conclusion. See ante, 
 page 50. 
 
 Mr. Wentworth quotes Judge Breese as saying: 
 
 P. 12. "I know of no authorized recognition of Chicago, as a 
 place on this globe, anterior to Wayne's Treaty." 
 
 We are, perhaps, ignorant of what the Judge would have 
 required, as a legal or judicial status competent to an "author- 
 ized recognition;" but if the reader, after he shall examine 
 from page 147 to 175, and also, from p. 250 to 268 inclusive, 
 of this volume, shall fail to form his ozvn opinion as to a rea- 
 sonably "authorized recognition," we cannot then aid him. 
 
 P. 1 J. "Billy Caldwell, the Sauganash, the nephew of Tecumseh, 
 voted the Jackson ticket;" 
 
 Mr. Hickling convinces us (in number 10 of the Fergus 
 Historical pamphlets) that the "Sauganash" was not the 
 nephew of Tecumseh. 
 
 We should, before, have referred to the article in Mr. Went- 
 worth's paper, the Daily Democrat, of date Feb. 11, 1854, 
 headed "Historical Sketch and Description of the City," 
 probably by the editor; and will say that the "Sketch" con- 
 tains a number of errors, evidently taken from Mr. Balestier's 
 lecture of 1840; we need not repeat them. 
 
 A communication, from Mr. Wentworth, in the Evening 
 
 Journal, Feb. 13, 1880, closes, by saying of Augustine Deo- 
 
 dat Taylor: 
 
 "There are not a dozen men living who came to Chicago before 
 Mr. Taylor did, and there are none older in years who came before 
 the city was organized." 
 
 The first statement in the sentence is possibly true, the last 
 one we think is not. Lemuel Brown lived in Chicago in 1833, 
 and is here to-day; he is some years older than Mr. Taylor, 
 we believe. 
 
 In the old Chicago Magazine — 1857, upon page 344, is the 
 beginning of an article with the heading, "Churches and 
 Church Choirs in Chicago." Whether Mr. Eastman, the 
 editor of the Magazine, was the writer of the sketch which 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 395 
 
 embraces some seven or eight pages (but never completed, as 
 the Magazine came to an end), we cannot say, and we only- 
 notice the paper now to correct a very ridiculous story, upon 
 the verity of which the writer must have rested his faith, 
 while his credulous ear drank in the fictitious narrative: 
 
 "The bigoted prayer of one feeble church, for the downfall of an- 
 other, as prayed in the year 1834, might probably have savored 
 somewhat more of fervancy had a 'prophet's ken' been granted to 
 him, who, at an early day, wrestling' in the spirit, feared the power of 
 Rome. Allusion is made to that stern and solemn sense of duty, 
 which impelled Rev. Jeremiah Porter, of the Presbyterian Church, 
 to kneel in prayer, at dead , of night, outside the door of the small 
 building on the east end of Lake Street, near the corner of State 
 Street, then used as a Roman Catholic Chapel, praying that the in- 
 fant church, then existing in our midst, might never know prosperity." 
 
 The above extract was in the last number of the Magazine, 
 but whether it was the reacting poison of that detail which 
 occasioned the sudden death of the periodical, we cannot tell. 
 We are authorized to say, however, by the worthy clergyman, 
 with whose name such improper liberties were taken, that the 
 idle, ridiculous, and absurd story was entirely untrue, and 
 altogether without foundation. It was more than . twenty 
 years after the date which the Magazine gave to the occur- 
 rence, when it proposed to enlighten its readers with the 
 choice bit of tattle. But if Mr. Porter possessed too much 
 mind and dignity of character to be annoyed by such silly 
 stories, he was, at least, somewhat amused at their recital. 
 He still remembers being told, as long ago as in 1832, by 
 Mrs. Robert Stuart, of Mackinaw, who gave him the informa- 
 tion, with much laughter, of a communication which she had 
 met in some newspaper from one of its correspondents, refer- 
 ring to Mr. Porter, a line or two of which were as follows: 
 
 "Here we see the grinning teeth and bristling mane of this Presby- 
 terian wolf 'as he bristles up his predestinating ears!" 
 
 The occasion of the angry shafts, it is supposed, was a let- 
 ter of Mr. P. giving some account of the organization of his 
 church, etc., at Sault Ste. Marie. 
 
 Though of near akin, it was not, perhaps, with quite as 
 much bitterness as the above from the newspaper, that the 
 
396 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 pasquinade of which the following is a copy, was written and 
 posted, in the night, on the pastor's study door: 
 
 "Notice is hereby given, that a distracted prayer-meeting will be 
 held at the Chicago Nunnery to-morrow evening, at early candle 
 light, for the conversion of the young men of this place, all of whom 
 are invited to attend. By order of the Lady Abbess, Chicago, Jan. 
 16, 1834. 
 
 "Jeremiah Porter, Cor. Secretary.'' 
 
 [What was meant by the "Nunnery," is believed to have 
 been the residence of the young ladies', the teachers, Miss 
 Beach, Miss Barrows, and Miss Chappel. The house was 
 owned by a Mr. McCorreston, a soldier, then at Chicago, and 
 stood on the west side of LaSalle Street, near the dwelling of 
 Philo Carpenter, between Randolph and Washington Sts.] 
 
 In reference to the aforesaid article, "Churches and Church 
 Choirs," we might speak further, of other extravagances of 
 statement concerning the church and pastor first above 
 named ; indeed, we may characterize the entire chapter as 
 made up of fact, exaggeration, and untruth. 
 
 Here is a clipping from the Cincinnati Atlas, of a past year, 
 but unfortunately we have not the date: 
 
 "Great as is' the growth of Chicago, of Buffalo, of Milwaukee, etc., 
 none of them will ever be among the primary cities of the West. 
 They will grow till they can fully accommodate the rapidly growing 
 commerce of the Lakes, and then comparatively cease. The reason 
 is, that none of them have that rich, warm, inexhaustible soil behind 
 them, which is necessary to sustain, like the spinal nerve, the vitality 
 of great inland cities. Such cities are only found in those regions 
 where the Indian corn receives its full and most powerful develop- 
 ment. We except, of course, such cities as New York, which exist 
 and grow by monopoly of foreign commerce, of which every coun- 
 try must have some." 
 
 Without questioning the soundness of the above reasoning, 
 or if not based on a misconception of the facts, we would 
 merely quote, as an answer to the above, the census of Chi- 
 cago for the four decades past. 
 
 1840, 4.479 i860, 109,260 
 
 1850, 28,269 1870, 298,977 
 
 1880 503,501 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 397 
 
 Michigan Pioneer Soc'y Coll. VI. Page 264. In sketch of 
 Menominee, a French Canadian, named Chappee, is spoken 
 of as an agent of the American Fur Company, and who 
 established a post there in 1796. A story is also told of 
 Chappee, in connection with a keg of powder which he, on 
 one occasion, used to intimidate the Indians. 
 
 It is a mistake regarding the Am. Fur Co., that institution 
 was not in existence in 1796. The story also of the keg of 
 powder is similar to one we have heard told in connection 
 with the name of William Farnsworth, of Menominee; possi- 
 bly, there may be something mixed regarding the actor in the 
 desperate expedient. 
 
 Calumet Club Reception Pamphlet, p. 15. Mr. Towner tells: 
 
 "How elated we were, when, on a, certain Fourth of July, the 
 pioneer shovelful was thrown — and I am glad to see the vigorous 
 arm that threw it still left among you (I refer to the Hon. Gurdon S. 
 Hubbard) — that was to open the water-way. across the prairies, and 
 enable old Father Michigan to reach over and join hands with Miss 
 Sippi." 
 
 Yet we have heard it said, that it was not Col. Hubbard but 
 Judge Theophilus W. Smith who threw out that "pioneer 
 shovelful." 
 
 Gov. Reynolds' History of Illinois, entitled "My Own 
 Times," p. 121, new edition, i8yg, Fergus Printing Company. 
 Speaking of Rev. Jesse Walker: 
 
 "He erected a small log-house near the forks of the Chicago River, 
 and preached in it for many years. After a long period of hard ser- 
 vice, and filled with age and honor, he breathed his last in Chicago, 
 and was buried there." 
 
 Not many years did Father W. preach in the log "school- 
 house;" nor did he die at Chicago, nor was buried here. 
 
 Discovery and Conquests of the North-west, with the History 
 of Chicago, by RUFUS Blanchard, Wheaton, 111., 1880: 
 Four numbers of Mr. Blanchard's elaborate and interesting 
 
 work have been issued, and as we have not time to wait for 
 
398 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 the balance of its pages, we will call attention to some things 
 already printed, to be considered errors, as we think. This 
 work of Mr. B., the latest upon the subject, and therefore 
 should be the best, we trust, may receive the corrections 
 named, in his future editions. We will here say, while notic- 
 ing Mr. Blanchard's publication, that his work seems to indi- 
 cate an amiable and compliant disposition in the author; we 
 allude to the fact that he, apparently, takes for granted, and 
 as reliable, without question, whatever he finds told by some 
 historians, regardless of probabilities. Whether that is so or 
 not, we can yet believe that it is a fault in a historian to be 
 excessively agreeable in that direction. 
 
 P. XJ. Pierre is given "Perre." 
 
 Do. There is no authority for saying that Marquette's 
 companions "built a log-cabin for him on the south branch of 
 Chicago River." 
 
 Do. The name of the historian, Parkman, is erroneously 
 given "Packman." 
 
 P. 18. On this page appears considerable of the detail, by 
 
 Father Dablon, as referred to by us, see ante, p. 338. 
 
 " From Chicago he had determined his route to Canada by the 
 Eastern shore of Lake Illinois, as Lake Michigan was then called. 
 The same two companions were with him who had conducted him 
 from Green Bay to the Illinois villages. The love between these 
 young men and their spiritual father was tender and sincere on both 
 sides, and as they plied their oars along the still shores of the lake 
 with unremitting strokes, the father instructed them how to bury him 
 when death came, for he now felt certain that he could not live to 
 reach Canada. Arriving at a place a little below Sleeping Bear 
 Point, the father felt a strong desire to land, but his companions, 
 wishing to make all possible haste on the way, tried to persuade him 
 to keep on their course. At that moment, a storm began to make 
 a commotion in the waters, and they landed and built a hut of bark 
 for their dying master, and carried him in their arms from the boat 
 to it. While his strength yet held out, he took the precaution to 
 write down his own sins, or what he called such, since his last con- 
 fession to his superior, for propitiation. Next, he promised to re- 
 member his two attendants in heaven; and, then, after asking their 
 pardon for the trouble he had caused them, he begged them to 
 lay down to rest by his side, promising to awaken them when the 
 last agony came. In about two hours, he called them to his side, 
 and soon died in transports of joy. 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 399 
 
 "Perre and Jacques buried him on the bank of the lake, and 
 erected a large wooden cross over his grave, and, with deep dejec- 
 tion, left the spot where their beloved father had laid down to take 
 his last rest, where twenty years of toiling through the wilderness 
 had brought him." 
 
 P. 22. "The old chapel at St. Ignace stood guard over the remains 
 of Marquette till 1 706, when it was burned by the Jesuits on their 
 departure from this historic spot, and until the autumn of 1877 no 
 steps were taken either to memorize the grave of the missionary ex- 
 plorer or to recover his bones, at which time in the month of May, 
 Pierre Grondau discovered the foundation walls of a small building, 
 the stones bearing the marks of fire. The location accorded with the 
 description of the spot marked in LaHontan's map, originally pub- 
 lished in France in 1703, and republished in London in 1772, as the 
 site of the house of the Jesuits. 
 
 "By direction of Father Jacker, village priest, further excavations 
 were made the same year, and conclusive proofs of the identity of 
 the spot as the grave of Marquette were obtained. The spot where 
 the altar of the Virgin had stood was found, and buried in front of it 
 were wrought-iron nails, a hinge, and charred wood. These relics, 
 and a large piece of birch bark, in a good state of preservation, were 
 within the walls of a vault, which walls were of cedar, still partially 
 preserved. The bones were nearly all turned to dust, two only being 
 found. 
 
 "The foregoing facts were obtained from a paper read before the 
 Chicago Historical Society, Oct. 16th, 1877, by Mr. Cecil Barnes, a 
 resident of Chicago, who was an eye-witness, having assisted in the 
 excavation." * 
 
 * Possibly it may be well here to extract from a communication which the Com- 
 piler of this book addressed the Chicago Tribune, in Aug., 1879: 
 
 " It was certainly commendable in Father Jacker to wish to find the grave of the 
 worthy missionary, and I will not presume to quarrel with his private theory and 
 opinion. Yet, when an egregious error, regarding one of the most important 
 characters in Western history, is persisted in and widely circulated, it is right to 
 notice and combat it. Perhaps it is because of the poverty of the English lan- 
 guage that, in this case, as far as the public are concerned, fraud seems the only 
 available word to be used; though it is due to Father Jacker, as well as myself, to 
 say that I think he honestly holds to the delusion. 
 
 " In 1878, after the delivery of the oration at Mackinac, a large part of the audi- 
 ence, as we were told by a correspondent of one of our leading dailies, collected 
 at Point St. Ignace, and walked in solemn procession to the prescribed grave of 
 the missionary; and, as the finale of this grand march, the correspondent adds: 
 ' Here the excursionists gathered, and peered mysteriously into the pit. ' And just 
 here, too, we are tempted to tell a short story, which we read many years since, 
 and which, some may think, seems pat to the purpose. We repeat from memory 
 — not the same words, but the substance of the incident : 
 
 " A student at a venerable old-country university was required, on some occa- 
 sion, to write an essay. The paper was written, and not only filled the usual re- 
 quirement, but, more than that, it revealed to the college authorities the fact that 
 
400 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 From our paper read before the Chicago Historical Society, 
 October, 1878, we extract the following: 
 
 " It is claimed that the fragments of a mocock of Indian manufac- 
 ture, supposed to have inclosed the bones of Father Marquette, have 
 
 their ancient pile of buildings covered a concealed and extended subterranean 
 passage, probably of great antiquity, running far back to the stormy days of king- 
 ly strife and national convulsion. The student was besought to make known the 
 locality, and a time was set for an examination of the labyrinth, — many being on 
 the tiptoe of curiosity and expectation. An evening-hour having arrived, a pro- 
 cession was formed, at the head of whioh was the principal chaplain, monk, or 
 rector of the institution, and guided by the student discoverer. Flaming torches 
 lighted the way, and mattock, pick, and bar, were not forgotten. On, then, 
 passed the cortege, along the corridors, through the halls, descending stairways, 
 and away down to the crypt beneath, and at an angle in the wall the procession 
 came to a halt. 'There!' uttered the student, with the self-satisfied air of one 
 who thinks he has achieved a brilliant act. 'Where?' said the priest, glancing 
 along the wall, expecting, doubtless, to see the rocks fall aside at their approach, 
 disc o ng a chamber into which they might march. 'There! my father,' quickly 
 rejoined the student, pointing to a small orifice on the floor in the corner of the 
 flagging. Throwing up his hands in sudden astonishment, — for he, too,- like 
 some of our friends at St. Ignace, saw the point, though the half-profane words 
 were involuntary no doubt, — the curious, confiding, but now enlightened eccle- 
 siastic exclaimed, 'May the Divil admire me, but it's a rat-hole!' 
 
 " But, really, what is there unsound in this claim to the discovery of Marquette's 
 grave? Wherein is it &/raud to stick to this idea, and display it before the pub- 
 lic from year to year. 
 
 " It is a fraud to hold out that Marquette built or caused to be erected, while 
 he was at the Straits, any building — foundation or superstructure — capable of 200 
 years' preservation. 
 
 [ " There is a possibility that Father Marquette set out from what is now 
 known as Point St. Ignace, on his voyage to the Mississippi, in the spring of 1673. 
 The map drawn by his own hand — to-day in St. Mary's College, Montreal (fac- 
 similes of which are probably familiar to the reader) — was no doubt drawn while 
 he remained at the mission of St. Xavier, near Green Bay, from the autumn of 
 1673 to that of 1674. On that map, the mission of St. Ignace is located on the 
 Island of Mackinaw. Marquette never in life returned to the Straits after the 
 month of May, 1673. ] 
 
 " It is a fraud to inculcate the idea that the mission of St. Ignatius was at what 
 is now called^Point St. Ignace, and nowhere else. It was certainly at three dif- 
 ferent localities at various but indefinite periods. The honorable and learned J. 
 G. Shea, who has made a study of the doings of early Western explorers, wrote 
 me that he was unable to identify the various localities. Such is the indistinct- 
 ness of the historic record. The suggestion that the flock connected with the St. 
 Ignatius mission deserted the cleanly-washed bones, incased in the bark mocock, 
 when they removed the mission from one place to another, we will not call a fraud, 
 but we will rather believe that they carried with them the precious relics. We 
 are told that such was their devoted attachment, so deep, so sincere, that often on 
 the water, in storm and in peril, they invoked the aid of the name of Pere Mar- 
 quette for rescue. Possibly, as Doctor Duffield said in his oration, his bones were 
 scattered far and wide by Indian superstition. But, if his bones were scattered, 
 where then is his grave? 
 
 " Again, it is a fraud to take any grave, or what appears to have been a grave, 
 without minute directions, without inscription, without a skeleton, without any- 
 thing but the supposed remains of birch bark, and then, with the assurance and 
 assumed authority of an oracle, give to it the name of a cherished though fancied 
 occupant. 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 401 
 
 been found within the ruins of an old church, at Point St. Ignace, 
 though then, unfortunately,. that grave neither presented an inscrip- 
 tion nor contained a bone. But it must be conceded that the re- 
 mains of many devout Roman Catholics may have been buried in 
 bark mococks, and within the walls of churches, during the twenty 
 decades which have passed since the remains of the missionary 
 
 " It is a fraud, and rather an awkward one, in Father J. to bring LaHontan to 
 the witness-stand. We are aware that he is his principal witness, but he is one 
 whose character for truth is constantly impeached. Every close student in West- 
 ery history knows that. The following extract, referring to LaHontan's work, is 
 from Johnson's Cyclopedia, and briefly states the facts : 'These volumes are widely 
 circulated, but are entirely untrustworthy for details of fact, — the geography and 
 ethnography of the Upper Mississippi being entirely fictitious, though long relied 
 upon by compilers.' It is a fraud upon the public and common sense to urge 
 that they shall swallow the suggestion of a possible grave as a palpable and estab- 
 lished fact, to result in a shrine worthy a pilgrimage and adoration. 
 
 " Nor is it very important that we should find the abiding-place of his dust. 
 The ashes of the renowned Wickliffe, hundreds of years ago and long after his 
 death, were thrown into a tributary of the Avon; yet it did not lessen his celebrity. 
 
 'The Avon to the Severn runs, 
 
 The Severn to the sea; 
 Wherever ocean-water comes, 
 Wickliffe's fame shall be. ' 
 
 " True worth is what has bespoken the monument to Father Marquette. He 
 had sufficient genuineness of character without the aid of a fiction to assist in rear- 
 ing that structure. There needs no occasion for the shaft to win the doubtful 
 appellation of Blarney- Stone of the Straits. " 
 
 It will be in order here, perhaps, to give in addition, a copy of a letter from 
 Hon. J. G. Shea. Knowing that gentleman to be as well informed upon the sub- 
 ject as any in our land, we addressed him a note, which called out the following 
 
 reply : 
 
 "Elizabeth, N. J., April 15, 1877. 
 "Dear Sir: 
 
 " Though it is more than twenty years since I first wrote, I have never yet been 
 able to identify the various positions which the Mission of St. Ignatius assumed 
 at Mackinaw. The vagueness and uncertainty continue. 
 
 1672 Map in Relation shows it on N. Shore. 
 
 1673 Marquette's map shows it on the Island. 
 
 1688 LaHontan's map shows M's'n on Mainland N. 
 
 1692 LeClereq's map shows M's'n on Mainland N. 
 
 1703 DeLisle's map shows M's'n on Mainland N. 
 
 i7l8DeLisle's map shows partly on Isl'd and part on Mainland N. 
 
 1744 Charlevoix's map shows it on S. Shore. 
 
 1760 Jeffrey's map shows old Mission on N. Shore, St. Ignace on S. Shore. 
 
 1761 Parkman's map in Pontiac shows M. on S. Shore. 
 
 "The original mission seems to have been on the northern shore, map in Rel 
 1672; or perhaps on island, Marquette's map. Transferred to Northern shore be- 
 tween 1673 and 1688; on N. shore till 1700. Restored on S. shore by Louvig- 
 ney 1712. The mission on the island seems to have been casual. The mission 
 began N. of lake, but after the restoration of post was begun in 1712 S. of strait. 
 
 "Yours Truly, 
 
 "J. G. SHEA." 
 
 26 
 
402 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 arrived at the Straits. I will allow that, under the circumstances, old 
 stone walls were very suggestive; local pride, also, naturally, for hon- 
 orable distinction avails itself of the possibilities ; and a fertile imag- 
 nation, sometimes, by constructing plausible theories, lends specious 
 aid to him that delves for the hidden. From all the facts of which 
 we are as yet cognizant, I must believe that the dust of Father Mar- 
 quette still lies enshrouded in the depths of a grave whose position 
 is one of doubt and uncertainty." 
 
 Near forty years since, the eminent historian, George Ban- 
 croft, after eloquent details, relating to Marquette, added the 
 prophetic words : " The people of the west will build his monn- 
 ment."- We are pleased to present here a copy of a note, 
 addressed to ourself, in the latter part of 1878, from that dis- 
 tinguished author, as follows : 
 
 "Washington, D. C, 27 Nov. 
 
 "My Dear Sir: — This morning your paper on Marquette, sent 
 for me to New York, has been forwarded to me and received from 
 that City. I have read it with interest and instruction, and agree 
 with you that his grave is undiscovered and will so remain. 
 
 "Truly Your Obliged, 
 
 "H. H. Hurlbut, Esq. 
 
 /^u^uyfh 
 
 P. 23. "Beyond these designs was another less practical one, 
 which contemplated a raid on the Spanish province of Mexico, at 
 the head of ten thousand Indians, for the purpose of reducing it to 
 a French province. This latter madcap scheme of LaSalle's must 
 have had its origin in the inspirations of a forest life, which have 
 often turned the brain of otherwise able-minded men into Utopian 
 channels." 
 
 If Mr. Blanchard had given his authority for the above it 
 would have appeared better on his page, and, moreover, have 
 left us to credit or disbelieve the evidence as we might choose. 
 We think there is no reasonable ground for the charge against 
 LaSalle, whatever Spanish authors may have supposed. It 
 had never before been brought to our notice, neither can we 
 discover any reason or philosophy in the suggestion, that La 
 Salle's or others' travels or sojourn in the wilderness, must, of 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 403 
 
 necessity, have occasioned madness or addle-pated impotence. 
 
 P. if. "It is no marvel that these men should prefer the ease 
 and immunity from care, which the. amenities of savage life offered 
 them, rather than the service of the austere and exacting LaSalle, 
 with, to them, but a barren hope of pay, especially as they did not 
 share his hopeful ambition. That LaSalle did not make proper 
 allowance for such contingencies, was one of the weak points that 
 undermined his best-laid plans, and robbed him of that success which 
 his broad-gauge intellect and zeal deserved. These first desertions 
 were but a foretaste of that bitter cup, which his overweening dash at 
 the impracticable was preparing for him." 
 
 We fail to see it as Mr. Blanchard does. Did those "first 
 desertions" prevent his accomplishing his purpose? By no 
 means; could human prescience foresee every contingency 
 which might arise? Certainly not; did desertions, or the loss 
 of his lake vessel, the Griffon,* and cargo, though they de- 
 layed, defeat his passage down the Mississippi? No, indeed. 
 If he had first to make a thousand-mile trip on foot, in early 
 spring, from the Illinois River to the outlet of Lake Ontario, 
 he was yet bound to succeed. We emphatically deny that it 
 was LaSalle's "overweening dash at the impracticable" which 
 occasioned his ultimate failure. It was not his fault that the 
 fleet which conveyed his colony, passed to the westward with- 
 out discovering the outlets of the Mississippi. That wonder- 
 ful man fell by the hand of the assassin; his death, we are 
 assured, alone prevented his carrying out to a successful issue, 
 his great and not "impracticable" plans. We cannot see the 
 propriety of speaking of LaSalle, after the following fashion, 
 as Mr. B. does: 
 
 P. 2.7. "We have such men among us now, and perhaps one in a 
 thousand of them, by some eccentric turn of the wheel of fortune, 
 achieves success, which example, like a contagion, seizes upon a 
 thousand more to lastly be victimized." 
 
 * We have here, as well as before, been governed in the orthography of the 
 name of this vessel, by what we have learned from the able and interesting sketch 
 by Hon. O. H. Marshall, concerning " the building and voyage " of that early lake 
 craft. "She was named 'Le Griffon'," says Mr. Marshall, "in compliment to 
 Count Frontenac, on whose escutcheon two winged griffins were emblazoned as 
 supporters. " 
 
404 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 It ought not to be the province of history to belittle great 
 men. LaSalle was not such an adventurer as Mr. B. would 
 seem to indicate; he did not idly sit for the drawing of a 
 lottery; he was no gambler at the "wheel of fortune," waiting 
 for some " eccentric turn " that would " achieve success." 
 What LaSalle accomplished he did not wait for, but worked 
 for; he demanded no toil of his associates in which he did 
 not himself join; weaker minds, or men with less energy, 
 would have sunk under his frequent discouragements; yet, 
 therein, we see some of the elements of his greatness. 
 
 P. jj. "The Germans, along the Hudson River (referring to 
 about the year 1700, or the period early in the 18th century), were 
 not unlike this same thrifty people of our day." 
 
 The Hollanders, not the "Germans," were seen "along the 
 Hudson;" New York was colonized by the Dutch; it was 
 they who occupied the rich lands bordering the North River 
 and some of its tributaries. 
 
 In a note used by Mr. B., apparently quoted, but from 
 whom does. not appear, there are two errors; namely: 
 
 P. 212. "Little Turtle died in the spring of 181 2, at his residence, 
 but a short time before the declaration of war against England by 
 the United States." 
 
 He didn't die "in the spring," but July 14, 1812; nor "a 
 short time before the declaration of war," but after that; war 
 was declared against Great Britain, June 18, 1812. 
 
 P. 216. "The same summer (1796), a colored man, from St. 
 Domingo, named Jean Baptiste Pont* AuSable, in his forest wan- 
 derings, was attracted to the old portage of Chicago. Here he built 
 a hut on the north bank of the main branch of the Chicago River," 
 etc. 
 
 Mr. B., for some months before he wrote the foregoing, had 
 the early pages of this our book, long enough to have mas- 
 tered all its facts; even in our Introduction, he might have 
 learned that AuSable was at Chicago seventeen years before 
 the period named by him. 
 
 Also, we object to Mr. Blanchard's calling Chicago (along- 
 
 * The " Pont " in the above should have been Point. 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 405 
 
 side the main river) by the name "Portage." It is true Mar- 
 quette called our river "Portage River," which was right 
 enough, as it led to the portage; but the portage was not the 
 river channel, but that part of the route, not navigable, ex- 
 tending from the navigable waters of the south branch of 
 Chicago River, to the navigable waters of the Desplaines; 
 canoe navigation is what was meant, of course, by the word 
 "navigable." 
 
 P. 220. "The mouth of the St. Joseph River, on the east bank 
 of Lake Michigan, was first selected, and preparations made to build 
 the fort, when the Indians of the country withheld their consent," etc. 
 
 Agents may have visited St. Joseph, looking over the 
 ground generally, and the Indians may have made some 
 demonstrations of opposition, but beyond that, Mr. B. will not 
 persuade us to believe. No "preparations" could have been 
 undertaken to build without orders from Washington. See 
 ante, p. 364. 
 
 P. 221. "A company of United States soldiers was stationed at 
 the former place (Detroit), under command of Capt. John Whistler, 
 an officer of the Revolution." 
 
 It was our statement and perhaps a mistake, see ante, p. 2j, 
 
 to call Capt. John Whistler, as we had been told, an officer in 
 
 the army of the Revolution. We learn from the Dictionary 
 
 of the army, that he was "a British soldier, and made prisoner 
 
 with Burgoyne, at Saratoga." How soon he joined the 
 
 American Army, after that, does not appear; possibly before 
 
 the war closed.* 
 
 P. 222. "Attached to the fort was a two-story log-building, sided 
 with clap-boards, riven from logs like barrel staves. This was called 
 the United States factory, which meant a place to store goods be- 
 longing to the government designed for gratuitous distribution among 
 the Indians. It stood outside of the palisade to the west, and was 
 
 * We copy further as follows from the Dictionary, concerning John Whistler : 
 "Sergeant; and Sergeant Major of Infantry; Adjutant of Gaither's Battalion, 
 Darke's regiment 'levies of 1791' and wounded in battle under Maj.-Gen. St. 
 Clair with Indians on the Miami 4 Nov. '91; Ensign 1st Infy 11 Apr. '92; Lieut. 
 1st sub-legion, rank Nov. '92; Battalion Adjutant and Quartermaster '94; — in 1st 
 infy Nov. '96; Capt. July '97; retained Apr. '02 in 1st infy; brevet Major 10 
 July 12; disbanded June '15; Military storekeeper St. Louis '18; died in '27 at 
 Belle Fontaine M'ri. " 
 
406 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 under the charge of an agent who was sutler to the fort, and was sub- 
 ject to the orders of its commander." 
 
 We believe Mr. B. had an erroneous impression regarding 
 the above-named building. If we are correctly informed, it 
 was built and occupied for the Indian Agency. Mr. Jouett 
 was Indian Agent here before, as well as after, the war with 
 Britain; his first appointment was in 1805, but we are quite 
 sure he was not, at any time, sutler to the 'fort, nor the indi- 
 vidual called the factor. The factory, as we understand the 
 matter, was a different institution, and we think not estab- 
 lished until about 1810. The structure referred to may have 
 been occupied by the factor after the withdrawal of Mr. 
 Jouett, in 181 1. 
 
 Mr. Blanchard, on the same page, after naming the force 
 occupying Fort Dearborn, refers in a note to "American State 
 Papers, Vol. 1, pp. 175, 176," but, after a search, we did not 
 find what is referred to; certainly it is not where we are 
 directed. 
 
 P. 223. "Mr. Kinzie afterwards removed to St. Josephs, where 
 he married Mrs. McKillip, the widow of a British officer." 
 
 The probabilities are that it was not at the wilderness sta- 
 tion of St. Joseph where Mrs, McK. was married; if she lived 
 at Detroit or that vicinity, it was there, it is to be presumed, 
 and not on the opposite side of the peninsula, where she was 
 married. 
 
 Mrs. Kinzie, in her book, tells us nothing of the earlier 
 marriage of Mr. K., nor speaks of his children older than her 
 husband. While, we must say, the recognition of that mar- 
 riage would not have soiled the leaves of "Wau-bun," its dis- 
 solution, accomplished on the page of Mr. Blanchard, so easily, 
 pleasantly, and creditably to all parties, we do not confidently 
 swallow, and should not approve, if we did. 
 
 It is true Mr. Wentworth, in the appendix to his 2d lecture 
 (in Fergus' Historical Series), calls James Kinzie the "natural 
 son of John Kinzie," by which he leaves us to infer that there 
 was no marriage; possibly, there was not a formal ceremony 
 of marriage, yet they lived for years together in the marriage 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 407 
 
 relation, and were the parents of at least three children, and 
 
 the annulment of that union would seem to be disreputable 
 
 to one of them if not both. We, as well as Mr. Blanchard, 
 
 however, are ignorant of some of the facts. 
 
 P. 226. "James Kinzie came to Chicago about 1824, and was 
 well received by his father, who assisted him in his first efforts to 
 establish himself in the place." 
 
 If Mr. B. had given half an eye to the early leaves of our 
 book (which leaves he had), he would have seen that Mr. 
 Kinzie was at Chicago three years, at least, before that; but 
 James Kinzie was an Indian trader, along the west shore of 
 Lake Michigan, still earlier. , 
 
 We will further respond that it was not a remarkable cir- 
 cumstance that a father should assist a son, but we may add 
 that intelligent, active energy, and other traits of personal 
 merit, were then, probably, quite as much as to-day, the key 
 to success. 
 
 Do. "This (the Kinzie house) was the first private dwelling ever 
 built in Chicago as an American city." 
 
 What the writer means by "American City," we do not, 
 perhaps, understand; Chicago was never a city other than 
 "American," and never a city until 1837, which was after the 
 Kinzie house disappeared. 
 
 It is, though, rather a rash saying possibly, of Mr. B. to 
 call this the first private dwelling. If it was built by Au- 
 Sable in 1779, or earlier, as it is believed to have been, would 
 he class it American? If not, then it would not enter the 
 competing list. But there were, doubtless, numerous other 
 cabins before, without being the first by any means. 
 
 P. 22J. "Capt. Whistler's wife, then a bride of but sixteen years, 
 is still, in 1879, living." 
 
 A mistake, she died in February, 1878. 
 
 Do. "Henry W. Hurlbut, Esq., a present citizen of Chicago, 
 visited her in 1875, an< ^ i ^ ms describes the interview," etc. 
 
 Alas for fame! When ones very name meets transmogri- 
 fication ! 
 
 Here is what Mr. B. says that we began to say: 
 
408 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 Do. "It was a coveted privilege in which we sought," etc. 
 
 We said: 
 
 "It was a coveted pilgrimage which we sought," etc. 
 
 Quite a difference; one has a meaning with what follows 
 it, the other has none. We must protest; we are willing to 
 take the responsibility of our own nonsense wherever found, 
 but must object to have laid to our charge, the authorship of 
 any body else's foolishness. 
 
 Do. Other mistakes follow, such as "her" for hers; "La 
 Duke" for LaDake, etc. 
 
 P. 228. Is it a typographical accident, or eccentricity, the 
 new name for Mrs. Kinzie's book, called on this and other 
 pages, "Wabun"? once we observe it "Wauburn". 
 
 P. 261. "Afterwards, Captain William Wayne Wells," etc. 
 
 Where does Mr. B. get the "Wayne" ? Captain Wm. Wells, 
 killed at Chicago, had no Wayne in his name. 
 
 P. 2j6. "Mrs. Helm, who, after the return of the Kinzie family 
 to Chicago, became the intimate friend of Mrs. John H. Kinzie, has 
 drawn a vivid picture of the Chicago Massacre, seldom equalled by 
 a historic pen. In Wabun, it has been reproduced, in Mrs. Kinzie's 
 lucid style, whose freshness can never be equalled by any future his- 
 torian, since the hand of time has spread its mantle of oblivion over 
 the incidents of that day.'' 
 
 The "vivid picture," "lucid style," and "freshness," we are 
 well assured of, and have complimented before ; and we will 
 here add, that the details of a good share of Chapter 17, in 
 Mr. Blanchard's work, have previously attracted our attention 
 in the original work of Mrs. Kinzie, as may be seen in our 
 pages, 35 1 — 4 and 379, to which we call the reader's attention. 
 
 P. 317. "With this end in view, President Madison, in his mes- 
 sage at the opening of Congress, in 1814, recommended its attention 
 to the importance of a ship canal, connecting the waters of Lake 
 Michigan, at Chicago, with the Illinois. This was the first official 
 mention of such a scheme, however much it might have been talked 
 of among geographers of the country." 
 
 Whether it might be termed "official" or not, the subject 
 had attention on the floor of Congress in 1810; {see ante, p. 
 356) 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 409 
 
 Do. "Captain Hezekiah Bradley, who had entered the United 
 States Service, April 19, 1814," 
 
 Error; Capt. B. was in the U. S. Army as early as Dec, 
 
 1808, he was brevetted Major, 19 April, 18 14. 
 
 Do. "As chance would have it, he (Capt. Bradley) arrived on 
 the ground, with his men (two companies), on the 4th of July, just 
 thirteen years after his predecessor, Captain Whistler, had landed 
 with his men, to build the first fort." 
 
 A mistake; Capt. Whistler didn't land with "his men;" 
 they came over land, while he came on a vessel to St. Joseph 
 River, and from there in a small boat. 
 
 Do. "The bones of the victims of the massacre of 1812, still laid 
 scattered over the sand-drifts, amongst the sparse growth of bunch- 
 grass and stunted shrubbery that grew there, and thus remained 
 until 1822." 
 
 That is a mistake; after Capt. Bradley's arrival, in 18 16, 
 
 the remains were collected and buried by his order. 
 
 P. 324. "The English company, engaged in it (the fur trade), 
 was chartered in 1670, under the name of The Hudson Bay Com- 
 pany. It had no rival, until one sprung into existence, in 1805, 
 called The North-West Company." 
 
 The Hudson Bay Company, we believe, was chartered in 
 1660. "It had, indeed, a somewhat powerful rival in the 
 North- West Company, after about 1790." (Johnson's Cyclope- 
 dia^) "During the winter of 1783-4, the merchants of Canada, 
 engaged in this trade, formed a juncture of interest, under the 
 name of the North -West Company," (Alex. Mackenzie). 
 Other strength was united, or a reorganization had under the 
 same name, in 1787. 
 
 P. 327. "In the year 18.17, the enterprising house of Conant and 
 Mack, whose headquarters were at Detroit, had established a branch 
 fur-trading station at Lee's place, on the south branch of the Chicago 
 River, under the superintendence of Mr. John Crafts." 
 
 There is, possibly, some doubt about Messrs. C. and M. 
 being owners of the establishment for which Mr. Crafts was 
 the agent, at Hardscrabble. We have heard it suggested 
 that Abram Edwards, of Detroit, was the proprietor of that 
 store; Mr. E. had, in 1818, a trading establishment here, so 
 we understand ; (see ante, p. 186.) 
 
4IO CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 P. 329. "His (John Kinzie's) family consisted of John H., who 
 has ever since (18 18) lived at Chicago, till his death, in 1865;" etc. 
 
 A mistake; that same year of 18 18, his father placed him 
 at Mackinaw, for a five years' apprenticeship with the Am. 
 Fur Co. Subsequently, he resided at Prairie du Chien and 
 Fort Winnebago; and, after living abroad some sixteen years, 
 he returned to Chicago in the latter part of 1833, or early in 
 
 i834- 
 
 P. 332. "This (the Indian Agency) was established in 181 7, 
 shortly after the completion of the fort, and Charles Jowett, of Ken- 
 tucky, appointed to its charge," etc. 
 
 Mr. B. adds in a note : 
 
 "His name is spelled Jowett in the State Papers, but in the his- 
 tories of the day incorrectly spelled Jewett." 
 
 Neither Jewett nor "Jowett" as Mr. B. has it, is' the true 
 name; nor can we see that the State Papers presents it 
 "Jowett," as he tells us. 
 
 It is scarcely proper, perhaps, to say that the Indian 
 Agency was "established" at Chicago in 18 17, when Mr. Jouett 
 had held the same office here a dozen years before. 
 
 P- 333- I n the year 18 16, Alexander Wolcott, of Connecticut, 
 succeeded Mr. Jewett as Indian agent. Miss Eleanor Kinzie was 
 then a blooming miss of twelve. She certainly had no rival charmers 
 to alienate the affections of her suitor, Mr. Wolcott; or if she had, it 
 is fair to assume that she would have eclipsed them, for the happy 
 couple were married, Mr. John Hamlin, a justice of the peace from 
 Fulton County, Illinois, officiating on the occasion, the two lovers, 
 with commendable serenity, 'waiting many days for him to be sent for 
 for that purpose. This may be set down as the first wedding ever 
 celebrated in Chicago, according to the improved style of modern 
 days. Its date was 1820." 
 
 Dr. Alex. Wolcott did lit succeed Mr. Jewett, "in 1816"; it 
 was tit "Jewett" either; Miss Kinzie's name was tit "Elea- 
 nor"; the year zvasrit "1820" when they were married. 
 
 P. 346. " The annual payment of the Pottawattomie Indians 
 occurred in September of the year 1828." 
 
 Rather a loose way of putting it; for evidently 1827 was 
 the year intended. 
 
 P- 355- "Billy Caldwell, the Sauganash, the nephew of Tecum- 
 seh, voted the Jackson ticket." 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 41 1 
 
 Caldwell, we think, was not a nephew of Tecumseh. 
 
 Do. "The Agency House was on the North Side, and was the 
 second house built in Chicago, Mr. Kinzie's being the first." 
 
 There was an Agency House, indeed two, on the North 
 Side, one of them Mr. B. appearing to have no knowledge of; 
 and he ignores the earlier one on fhe South Side. Indeed, 
 with our slim knowledge of Chicago, and of such as may have 
 dwelt here during the hundred years preceding 1779, when, 
 as we are informed, Monsieur Baptiste AuSable was the prin- 
 cipal citizen of the place, it is an idle and presumptious state- 
 ment to call this or that log structure, occupied at one time 
 by some still living, as the "first" or the "second" of its kind. 
 It is allowable, in our ignorance, to stippose so and so, but to 
 assert as fact, what we merely guess at, is not within the 
 province of wisdom, nor the office of history. 
 P. 358. "and David McKee who came in 1822." 
 Mr. McKee told us the same, that he arrived at Chicago 
 May 31, 1822. Yet we have since heard that he came from 
 Fort Wayne, in company with the last exploring expedition 
 of Major S. H. Long, in 1823 (Long's earlier tour to the Rocky 
 Mountains was in 1819-20). Mr. Wentworth also repeats the 
 story in one of his lectures, that Mr. McK. came with Long; 
 if so, Mr. McK. has mistaken the year of his arrival. 
 
 P. 374. " The news that an Indian war had broken out on the 
 north-western frontier rapidly spread through every hamlet in the 
 middle and eastern States. * * * The press of the 
 
 country teemed with speculations. * * Abundant food 
 
 for romance was economized out of the situation, and a volume of 
 hasty poetry was published, entitled Black Hawk and Scenes in the 
 West, which met with a ready sale. Under this pressure measures 
 were promptly taken by the administration at Washington to meet 
 the crisis." 
 
 A false impression is given in the above as far as the liter- 
 ary production named is concerned. That choice volume of 
 doggerel, written by a half-witted egotist, and which we think 
 had an extended and burlesque review in Putnam's Magazine, 
 made its appearance long after the Indian disturbances of the 
 year 1832. 
 
412 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 After the name of Major Wm. Whistler, a gentleman who 
 was in Chicago in 1803 and 1832, Mr. Blanchard refers to a 
 note at the bottom of the page, to which he has appended 
 the name of Gurdon S. Hubbard; 
 
 P. 376. "Joseph Biella, a native of Quebec, descended from Au- 
 bert, an explorer of the St. Lawrence, married the daughter of Mons. 
 Lafevre, a Frenchman, whose wife was an Ottawa girl, and settled in 
 Porter Co., Ind. She was an estimable woman, who adorned his 
 household with those graces so highly prized by the most refined 
 circles of civilization. The children of this worthy pair, per force of 
 their superior training and education, found their true station in the 
 best ranks of society. Four of them were girls, one of whom mar- 
 ried Edward Biddle, of Philadelphia (brother to Nicholas, the Presi- 
 dent of the United States Bank). Another married Wm. Whistler, 
 spoken of above. Another married Joel Wicker, where she and her 
 husband still live at the old family mansion in Baillietown ; and an- 
 other became Lady Superior in the Convent at Terre Haute, where 
 she remained till her death, two or three years ago. There was but 
 one son. He settled in Prairie du Chien, where he spent his days 
 as one of the prominent citizens of the place." 
 
 Whatever information Mr. Blanchard may have received 
 from Col. Hubbard, it seems evident that he (Col. H.) never 
 wrote the note as it is, There may be therein several items 
 of fact, which would have been useful to us in our notice on 
 page 94 of this volume, of Baies, Bailly, or " Biella," evidently 
 the same individual. Yet, with the knowledge of one gross 
 error in the note, we cannot feel assured of accuracy in the 
 remainder. Certainly the wife of Wm. Whistler was never 
 Miss Biella, Bailly, or Baies. 
 
 Referring to the interment of the dead soldiers from cholera: 
 
 P- 377- "The burying-ground was at the foot of Madison Street, 
 on the lake shore." 
 
 No, it wasn't, if we are correctly informed. 
 
 P. 391. "There are now (1880) two men living in Chicago who 
 were residents of the place before the Black-Hawk War." 
 
 These were Gurdon S. Hubbard and Philo Carpenter; but 
 in a note, Mr. B. names another, Mr. F. D. Park. 
 
 Yet are there not still others ? The names of Willis Scott, 
 Alex. Beaubien, and John Bates occur to us. 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 413 
 
 See page jpj. Another instance of our author's versatility 
 appears at the foot of this page; still hammering around a 
 fellow's name like a cooper at a barrel. 
 
 P. 394. "Immediately south of this (corner of Water and Lake 
 St.) stood a log tavern, kept by Mark Beaubien. This was some- 
 times called the Sauganash, but it was not the famous hotel known 
 by that name, subsequently erected about at the present corner of 
 Franklin and Lake Streets." 
 
 We had supposed the "Sauganash" tavern, the one that 
 was "famous," was the "log-tavern" and its successors, "im- 
 mediately south," as referred to. 
 
 P. jpj". "and Mr. Williams, at the suggestion of his wife, drove 
 across the river, on a floating log bridge, to a tavern kept by Abner 
 Taylor." 
 
 A mistake; Abner Taylor kept no tavern, in Chicago, at 
 that time. 
 
 P. 3g8. "At Toland, (meaning Tolland,) Connecticut, in his 
 (Mr. E. B. Williams) father's house, John Buel Fitch planned and 
 built the first steam engine ever made." 
 
 Without doubt, John Fitch there "planned and built"; but 
 
 as to the "first engine" we must beg to differ, and will refer 
 
 Mr. B. to any general encyclopaedia. Steam engines, not a 
 
 few, were invented and built, and some of them successful in 
 
 propelling boats, many years before Mr. Fitch studied the 
 
 subject. 
 
 P. 40J. " Her father, J. B. Laframboise, was a man of educa- 
 tion. His wife, an Ottawa girl, the mother of Josette, soon learned 
 to read and write, and taught an Indian school at Chicago." 
 
 Her father was not "J. B." but Francis Laframboise, Sen., 
 as we understand. 
 
 Mr. B. quotes "Schoolcraft's Thirty Years," as authority 
 for the last above-quoted sentence, and did it appear in that 
 work, we would have noticed the item in the " Early Schools 
 of Chicago", but there seems to be no such statement in the 
 book. 
 
 P. 408. "Helen M." (Kinzie.) 
 
 Another variety of the Ellen. 
 
414 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 P. 409. "The Chicago Democrat, edited and published by John 
 Calhoun, corner of LaSalle and South Water Streets." 
 
 A mistake ; the office was on the corner of South Water and 
 Clark Streets, and the first paper so states it. 
 
 P. 412. For Wolf Point, Mr. B. writes "Wolf's Point", and for 
 Laughton, he writes "Lawton". 
 
 Do. "On the west bank of the river, at the immediate junction 
 of the two branches, was a tavern kept by Elijah Wentworth, in 
 1833-" 
 
 An error; we understand Mr. W. left Chicago some time 
 
 before. 
 
 Do. "It (the Green Tree Tavern) was built by John H. Kinzie"; 
 and on p. 420, the same statement also appears from Prof. Colbert. 
 
 Mr. B. says it "is the oldest building in the city at the 
 present day. 
 
 It was James, not "John H.," as we understand, that built 
 the G. T. Tavern. 
 
 The Green Tree Tavern has been supposed to be the oldest 
 building now remaining, and, by ourself, so intimated before, 
 yet, according to a note on a later page of Mr. Blanchard's 
 book, it would seem that one of the Fort Dearborn houses, 
 or the timber which composed its walls, is still standing. 
 Here is the note from Mr. Hinkling: 
 
 P. 43Q. "At this present time there is standing, fronting on State, 
 near the N.-E. corner of 33d street, what appears to be a two-story 
 frame house; the body of this edifice is made of hewn timber which 
 formerly formed a part of the officers' quarters of Fort Dearborn 
 (erected in 181 6). Many years ago, the late Judge Henry Fuller 
 removed this building from its old site, on the Fort reservation, to 
 its present locality; then modernized it by covering with siding and 
 a new shingle roof. In another building, erected by Judge Fuller, 
 No. 872 Michigan Avenue, may be found an oaken window-frame, 
 inserted in the kitchen part of said building; this venerable relic was 
 also removed from the 'officers' quarters' of the old Fort, after hav- 
 ing done duty there for some thirty years. It seems that the Judge 
 had a great liking for these old Fort Dearborn buildings; for he re- 
 moved a portion of another log building belonging to the old Fort, 
 converting the same into a stable on the rear of his property, No. 872 
 Michigan Avenue. This old relic of the Fort he afterward sold, and 
 I understand the purchaser broke up the old timbers for firewood." 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 41 5 
 
 Do. "Mr. Robinson's father was a Canadian voyageur, of Scot- 
 tish descent, in the employ of a fur company;" 
 
 Perhaps so; but Mr. B. has no personal knowledge of the 
 matter beyond that of many others, and we have heard vari- 
 ous statements, and also that it is "a wise child that knows 
 his own father." Mr. Robinson used to tell a story which re- 
 flected somewhat severely on his paternal at least. It was, 
 that his father was a missionary from over the sea, and his 
 mother was a white domestic in the family, and Alec, at 
 birth, to avoid scandal, was placed in a wigwam with an 
 Indian family, by whom he was raised. We add, however, 
 that neither do we give any credit to this story. 
 
 P. 414. "He (Robinson) took Mr. and Mrs. Helm under his 
 charge, and rowed them in his canoe around the extremity of Lake 
 Michigan, and along its eastern shore to Mackinaw." 
 
 Not so; Mr. and Mrs. Helm did n't go to Mackinaw. 
 
 P. 414. "He (Robinson) died the next year, April 19, 1872." 
 
 It is a mistake; he died on the 22d. 
 
 P. 422. "And on the 18th May, 1836, the sloop Clarissa slid 
 from her stocks into the river." 
 
 That is a mistake; she didn't. 
 
 Do. The beginning of the canal was celebrated July 4th, 1836, 
 by nearly the whole village of Chicago going up to Bridgeport on the 
 small steamer George W. Dole, towing two schooners. 
 
 Another writer said of that occasion, referring, probably, to 
 the same steamer, "There was a little, wheezy, clattering boat 
 named Chicago, which, when the weather promised fair, used 
 to run to St. Joe. This boat was employed for the excur- 
 sion." Another individual, in a newspaper article, says: 
 "There was a small steamboat in the City called the Chicago. 
 ■ It was about the size of the common river tug-boats of the 
 present time, and, if I am not mistaken, was the only steam- 
 boat that had been in Chicago River; eastern steamboats 
 always, in those days, anchored in the lake. The steamboat 
 was to take a load of passengers up the river." 
 P. 423. "Granting to Rev. Wm. Lee the right to keep the ferry." 
 Mr. B. might readily See it was n't Mr. "Lee" 
 
416 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 In the list of early settlers, on p. 424, and several succeed- 
 ing pages, we discover many mistakes, but will not here re- 
 view them; we merely instance one or two names: 
 
 "Dr. Peter D. Hugunin," "1833," "County Judge Wisconsin." 
 "Daniel Hugunin," "Pilot for Commodore Perry on Lake Erie." 
 
 Peter D. Hugunin was never a doctor; never officiated as 
 "Judge" in Wisconsin, but was a member of the Wis. Territorial 
 Council; was never a resident of Chicago, but was on a visit 
 to his son, Henry M. Hugunin, living on West Lake Street, 
 Chicago, where he died, April 22, 1865, in his 83d year. 
 
 Daniel Hugunin, though he distinguished himself at the 
 battle of Queenston, was never a pilot for Com. Perry. 
 
 We cannot undertake to correct all the errors in Mr. 
 Blanchard's book. But others may think with us, inasmuch 
 as the work is intended to be permanently valuable, that the 
 author ought to reconstruct, with care, the entire edifice; he 
 should take out, and cast aside, all the rotten timber, and 
 substitute in its place the genuine and sound. 
 
 The Chicago Times, in a recent notice of Mr. Page's paint- 
 ing, "Chicago Massacre", said: 
 
 "Of another interesting group, Mr. .John Kinzie is the central 
 figure. * * * The picture of Mr. Kinzie, by the way, 
 
 is a portrait, and is pronounced a good likeness by Gurdon S. Hub- 
 bard, who knew him well in those old days." 
 
 Having known of no likeness of Mr. K., and as it has been 
 over fifty years since that gentleman died, we had some 
 curiosity to learn more of the accuracy of the statement, and 
 asked Mr. Hubbard if it was so. He replied, "Not exactly; 
 the late Major Robert A. Kinzie, U. S. Paymaster, was the 
 son of John Kinzie; in build, he resembled his father, and 
 looked much like him in features. The painting-likeness 
 gives probably as good an idea of the person intended as 
 could well be given." 
 
 In an early number of a small paper, called "The Record," 
 a printer's publication, some half dozen years ago, it was 
 stated : 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 417 
 
 "Some of our oldest residents have indistinct recollection of small 
 fonts of type and a simple old style press having been brought to 
 Chicago as early as 1830, but the undertaking w,as of so feeble a 
 character, and so destitute of results, that even the name of the rash 
 adventurer is forgotten." 
 
 We have made diligent inquiry of many "oldest residents," 
 but have never been able to get trace of any warrant for such 
 a report; and as no names or references are given, we must 
 believe the story has no reliable foundation. 
 
 A contributor to Whittaker's Milwaukee Magazine, in the 
 latter part of 1872, referring to a recent visit to Geneva 
 Lake, says: 
 
 "Stopping at the St. Denis Hotel, was Captain Leonard C. 
 Hugunin, of Chicago, whose name must henceforth appear in con- 
 nection with the history of that City. His modesty has prevented 
 his giving his narrative for publication before, but as he is now 
 an old man 68 years of age, he gave it to me about as follows: 
 
 'I am an old lake captain, and sailed the first vessel, a yacht, 
 •named the Westward Ho, that ever entered the port of Chicago. 
 It was in August, 1833. I, with two brothers, Judge Peter D. 
 Hugunin and Captain Hiram Hugunin, sailed from Oswego, N.Y., 
 having the unlimited credit of two banks, — which was something 
 unheard of before — the Bank of Oswego and Bank of Cuyahoga, in 
 the form of bank accepted drafts, for our use as we saw fit, none of 
 which, however, we used. We were nearly three months on the 
 trip, leaving Oswego in June, making various stops on the way, and 
 arriving the latter part of August. We had to go ashore and hire 
 eight yoke of cattle to draw this yacht over the bar, at the mouth of 
 the river. There were then, including the garrison of Fort Dearborn, 
 but 350 inhabitants, as stated by Judge Caton, of the United States 
 Supreme Court, in a speech made during the last year. Hon. Alvin 
 Bronson was .the President of the Oswego Bank, and is still living 
 in Oswego, and his brother Edward was President of the Cuyahoga 
 Bank. One reason for taking the unlimited credit of the two banks 
 was, that Chicago was so remote from Oswego, that we were afraid 
 that the Bank there might not be known, and its money not 
 accepted, and, as a provision against such an emergency, the credit 
 of the Bank of Cuyahoga was obtained, being much nearer Chicago.' 
 
 It has hitherto been unknown to the public who made the first 
 voyage to Chicago." 
 
 Nearly all the six brothers Hugunin, had practical knowl- 
 edge of lake navigation, and we remember the sailing of the 
 Westward Ho, at Oswego, in 1833. The services of the little 
 27 
 
41 8 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 craft were afterward in demand on Lake Michigan, and we 
 notice by the newspaper departures and arrivals at Chicago, 
 in 1834, "Sloop Westzvard Ho, Freeman, master," for St. 
 Joe and elsewhere. Captain "Len," who was really a plea- 
 sant companionable gentleman, a lover of adventure, fond of 
 gunning, and who, after that voyage of the Westward Ho, 
 had the misfortune to lose his right arm on a duck excur- 
 sion to Sodus Bay, made one error, at least, in the above 
 statement; the Captain's memory must have been somewhat 
 mystified. The "'unlimited credit" is certainly a mistake, as 
 far as the Oswego Bank or its President was concerned 
 officially; no such indiscreet act was perpetrated; the .com- 
 piler of this book was connected with the Bank at that time 
 and for ten years succeeding, and knows of what he speaks. 
 [Hon. Alvin Bronson, the President, was a prominent mer- 
 chant, a gentleman distinguished for more than ordinary 
 talent, and we think is still, 1880, living, at the age of near 
 100 years.] Judge Peter D. Hugunin was a gentleman of 
 some pecuniary ability, and, if there may have been extended 
 to the party of that voyage a limited and definite amount of 
 certified checks, it was from funds of the Judge on deposit, 
 or from the avails of discounted paper negotiated by him, 
 and mainly on his responsibility. 
 
 We have the impression that Judge Caton was Chief- 
 Justice of the Supreme Court of Illinois, and not of the 
 United States Court. 
 
 The statement that "it has hitherto been unknown to the 
 public who made the first voyage to Chicago," and also, that 
 the Westward Ho was the first vessel "that ever entered the 
 port of Chicago," seems to require a remark or two. Hon. 
 John Wentworth, in his lecture, May 7th, 1876, says: 
 
 "Gen. John McNeil, one of the heroes in the battle of Lundy's 
 Lane, commanded the Fort when Mr. McKee came to Chicago. 
 Soon after his arrival, a sailing vessel, called the Heartless, under- 
 took to enter the mouth of the river, ran ashore, and was beached 
 in the sand. They tried to cut her out, but she went to pieces. 
 About a year thereafter, the first vessel entered the harbor, and 
 anchored opposite the Fort. It was the United States revenue- 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 419 
 
 cutter Fairplay. When we speak of the first vessel coming to 
 Chicago, there is always a confusion between the vessels that 
 anchored outside and the vessels that actually came up into the 
 river. It is claimed that this United States revenue-cutter Fairplay 
 was the first one to enter the river." "Mr. E. Buel, now residing in 
 Clinton County, Iowa, near Lyons, aged 75, claims that he was 
 pilot and navigator on the schooner Aurora, Captain Titus, that 
 came to Chicago in 1820 or 1821; but he leaves the question 
 unsettled, as to whether or not he came up into the river."* 
 
 So then if the Fairplay report is true, why then it will 
 be but fair play to the record of that vessel to allow it to 
 hold the belt. Yet we desire to say that sail vessels were 
 on all the great lakes more than a hundred years ago ; there 
 was one on Lake Superior in 1775; but what vessel made 
 "the first voyage to Chicago," it would be difficult to prove. 
 Whether or no, any one of the small vessels in use on the 
 lakes in the long past, may have entered our river before the 
 Westward Ho and Fairplay, it would also be a perplexing 
 question to decide. In any event, it is quite improbable that 
 they could, like Captain Hugunin, go ashore and order up a 
 "horned breeze"-f- to enable them to sail into the river. 
 
 The statement in the published account of the "old folks" 
 pic-nic, at Ogden's Grove, September 9th, 1 880, appended to 
 the name of Capt. L. C. Hugunin, who is a native of the 
 Town of Oswego, N.Y., that he was the "first white inhabi- 
 tant born there," is, upon any reasonable supposition, to be 
 considered a mistake. The name Oswego, applied to the 
 locality, ante-dates any of the written histories of the region.j 
 
 * In a letter we received several years ago from Captain Buel, he said, " All 
 the goods were landed in Mackinaw boats and yawl ; no water on the bar to 
 admit the vessel even when light. " 
 
 t Captain Rodgers applied the phrase to a somewhat parallel case. The Walk- 
 in-the- Water, built at Black Rock, making her first trip in summer of l8j8, 
 was the first steamboat of the lakes above Niagara ; the Ontario of Lake Ontario 
 was earlier, having commenced runningin sprihg of 1817; yet Lake Champlain 
 had a steamboat earlier still. But; of the Walk-in-the- Water we were going to 
 say, that her engine was not powerful enough to take her from the wharf at 
 Black Rock, up the rapids to the lake ; so a dozen yokes or so of oxen "were 
 employed to assist ; this aid, Captain Rodgers, according to Schoolcraft, who took 
 passage on the boat, called "the horned breeze." 
 
 t The French via Canada were early within its borders ; Champlain passed 
 
420 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 No great part of the 150 years at least, past, has Oswego 
 been without the presence, temporarily or otherwise, of white 
 men arid their families. Captain Hugunin's father, though a 
 settler there early in the present century,, was not, by any 
 means, the first. It is not to be suggested as possible, that 
 the generous "tar" Captain L. C. H., now a citizen here, 
 whose mother we knew at Oswego near fifty years ago, was 
 the first white inhabitant born there. We are willing to 
 claim for a Chicago man almost anything else, but this we 
 can not. 
 
 In Tribune, of August 5th, 1863, Col. J. B. Beaubien is 
 referred to as then living in Naperville; but he had died in 
 the month of January previous. 
 
 into the basin drained by the Oswego, in 1615. Subsequently a colony of French 
 from the St. Lawrence, and a Spanish expedition from the Mississippi, met and 
 sat down within the same basin, by the side of Onondaga Lake. The plan of 
 the French colonists was, to civilize and Christianize the natives; that of the 
 Spaniards was, to discover precious metals, having heard of a white deposit — the 
 salt upon the marshes of that lake, which they supposed might be silver. But 
 the savages at length, in 1669, attacked both parties, the French as well as the 
 Spaniards, and all were utterly destroyed. At a later day, in 1696, de Frontenac 
 landed an army at Oswego, marching up along that river to the castles and 
 cornfields of the Onondagas, which nation, with others, he went to punish. 
 Oswego was an important point in the early days of the fur-trade, and always, as 
 far as we know, a noticeable place of interest. Governor Burnet, of New York, 
 erected a stone trading-house there in 1727, but which directly became a military 
 post of importance, and a matter of protest and annoyance to the government of 
 New France. We can not here give details ; but other British forts were built 
 there by the colony of New York, though subsequently, in 1756, the place was 
 captured by the French, under Montcalm, who destroyed the works. The 
 capture of all Canada by the British, however, in a few years thereafter, can- 
 celled all claims here of French dominion. British possession, we may say, 
 continued, notwithstanding (the Treaty of Paris of September, 1 783, to hold 
 Oswego, with other border posts, till 1 796. During the years of the Revolution, 
 it was a place of refuge of tories of the State, and the great rallying point, 
 whence sallied, not only the large force for conquest, but the numerous smaller 
 parties of whites and Indians, who sought, in the country of the Mohawk and 
 elsewhere, revenge, blood, and scalps. 
 
 The history of Oswego should be written ; at least we have as yet seen nothing 
 worthy of the name. 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 42 1 
 
 In the lecture by Hon. Wm. Bross, January 23rd, 1876, 
 he says : 
 
 ''Philo Carpenter (still among us) and Captain Johnson, estab- 
 lished the first Sunday-School here, July 30th, 1832." 
 
 The date August 19th, 1832, we had from one who was 
 present at that "first Sunday-School," as appears on p. 113 
 of this volume. Moreover, July 30th was not Sunday. 
 
 In Mr. J. A. Marshall's lecture, delivered before the Cen- 
 tennial Library Association, March 21st, 1876, as printed in 
 the Fergus' Historical Series, No. p, he says of his arrival in 
 Chicago: 
 
 "Upon the register of the hotel where we remained for a few 
 hours, my entry ran something like this, 'April 20th, 1832, James 
 A. Marshall, Ogdensburg, New York,' etc. I found the place too 
 small for me to hope to make anything by my profession (physician), 
 the garrison being supplied with one of the best in the country, 
 in the person of Dr. Philip Maxwell, so we shipped at once for 
 Navarino, Green Bay, Wis." 
 
 Fearing those lines may mislead the future historian of 
 Chicago, we take the occasion to say, that we believe the 
 year given should be 1833 instead of 1832. In the spring of 
 1832, Chicago was somewhat excited with the news of the 
 Indian raid inaugurated by Black Hawk, and I do not think 
 the hotel registers were spread open at that time. Moreover, 
 Dr. Maxwell was not here in 1832 (though Mr. A. S. Hub- 
 bard's list of early residents in Mr. Blanchard's History so 
 gives it), for he was connected with the army as Assistant- 
 Surgeon, when he came early in 1833, his appointment 
 bearing date July 13th, 1832. 
 
 Speaking of Fort Dearborn, Mr. M. says, p. 21, "the two- 
 story buildings at the east of the hollow square, are the 
 quarters of the commandant and officers;" it should be west 
 instead of east; the error is probably typographical. 
 
 In Col. Gurdon S. Hubbard's narrative, printed in No. 10, 
 of the Fergus' Historical Series, detailing some particulars in 
 the year of the so-called "Winnebago War" of 1827, and in 
 that connection, it is stated: 
 
422 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 "The annual payment of the Pottawatomie Indians occurred in 
 September of the year 1828." 
 
 If, as appears, the reference was intended to have a place 
 there, the year, of course, should have been 1827, and the 
 month earlier than September. 
 
 In the 5th vol. of the Collections of the State Historical 
 Society of Wisconsin, appear the reminiscences of John H. 
 Fonda, (referred to on p. 213 of this vol.) Mr. Fonda said 
 he carried dispatches from Fort Howard to Fort Dearborn, 
 delivering the same to Capt. Morgan, in command there, in 
 January, 1828. Mr. Draper, the Secretary of the Society 
 above named, in a note, suggests that Captain Willoughby 
 Morgan, who subsequently rose to the rank of Colonel, was 
 this Captain Morgan; but he was Major in 18 13. We think, _ 
 however, that the Captain M. intended, was not Willoughby 
 Morgan. Fort Dearborn, it is understood, was not occupied 
 by a United States force during the five years from October, 
 1823, to October, 1828. But, in the summer of 1827, during 
 an alarm occasioned by the behavior of the Winnebago 
 Indians, there was a company of volunteers raised at and 
 near Danville, Illinois, which chose to its command a Mr. 
 Morgan, whom Gurdon S. Hubbard calls an "old frontier 
 fighter." These forces marched directly for Fort Dearborn, 
 which they occupied for a short period, until news came of 
 the treaty with thelndians, held by Governor Cass and Col. 
 McKenney, at Butte des Morts, in August, 1827, when the 
 volunteers returned to their homes. We suppose the des- 
 patches or mail, referred to by Mr. Fonda, if delivered in the 
 month named, was received by some one at the Fort, who 
 probably represented the Captain Morgan of several months 
 before; 
 
 In the October number, 1880, of Harper's Magazine, in an 
 article concerning Chicago, by A. A. Hayes, Jr., it is said of 
 the Kinzie house, that it was the 
 
 "First family residence in Chicago;" that of Chicago, "the name 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 423 
 
 is of Indian origin, Cheecaqua, meaning stony f and of John H. 
 Kinzie, an "eminent pioneer and citizen of Chicago, celebrated the 
 first anniversary of his birthday on its site, his father having arrived 
 three days before, in company with Major Whistler and his com- 
 mand." 
 
 Regarding the "first family residence," we would again 
 refer to a previous page, 41 1. 
 
 That "Cheecaqua," meaning "strong," was so written and 
 used, might, by very competent witnesses, be difficult to 
 prove. 
 
 Neither John H. Kinzie nor his father arrived here "in 
 company with Major Whistler and his command." 
 
 A writer in the Inter Ocean newspape^ of November, 1 880, 
 who places the name "E. H. Cummings" at the foot of his 
 communication, may claim the merit of originality, at least. 
 He says: 
 
 "I have read many articles published in the Chicago papers from 
 various writers, trying to prove that Chicago was named after a 
 skunk, none of which did I place any confidence in, for I could at 
 one time speak the Indian language as well or better than I could 
 the English." 
 
 He finally concludes "that Chicago was more Spanish than 
 skunk," urging that the names Chicago and Chickasaw or 
 "Chicazo," as he gives it, were identical. 
 
 We will only remark, that the writer, having been at one 
 time more familiar with the Indian tongue than with his own, 
 we must conclude, seems to have made very poor use philo- 
 logically of his advantages. 
 
 Still another meaning of "Chicago." 
 
 From Potta-'s American Monthly. — "Forty-five years ago, the 
 place was called 'Tuck Chicago.' Tuck, in the Indian dialect, 
 means wood or timber, and Chicago, gone, absent, or without. 
 The words Tuck Chicago signified, therefore, the waste prairie, 
 or, literally translated, 'wood gone.' Mr. John Jenkins, an old 
 resident of Momence, 111., says that when he was a boy he was as 
 familiar with the Indian tongue as with his own language, and that 
 the above may be relied upon as correct. They were surrounded 
 by Indians at that time, and his father was the first white man who 
 
424 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 raised a crop of corn in Class County, Michigan, which was in the 
 year 1825. The usual definition given to the word Chicago is 
 entirely erroneous." 
 
 It is rather queer though, that nobody else ever heard 
 of it, and that it does not appear in any of the Indian 
 vocabularies. 
 
 We met accidentally, not long since, a lithograph, intended, 
 as we have since heard, as a prominent illustration of some 
 German History of Chicago, soon to be issued. The picture 
 is intended as a copy of a pencil drawing taken from the 
 north side of the river, probably about 1850; and although 
 some of the items in said drawing are incorrect, its general 
 appearance is truthful. The lithograph, however, presents 
 beneath the picture, two lines as follows : 
 
 "Fort Dearborn (Chicago,) 1804. 
 mit dem 1830 errichteten Leuchtthurm.'' 
 
 Now, it is a pity to have the universal German nation 
 of Chicago, or its colony in the old world, (by which we mean 
 the German States of Europe,) thus misled. Fort Dearborn 
 of 1804 and that of 1850, were two different institutions; 
 neither were that light-house, light-house keeper's dwelling, 
 nor old Noah Scranton's ferry-boat to be seen in 1830. 
 
 C. Fenno Hoffman, in a note in his Winter in the West, 
 said: 
 
 "It was soon after the infamous surrender of General Hull, at 
 Detroit, in pursuance of the terms entered into with the enemy by 
 that officer, who was commandant-in-chief upon the North-West 
 frontier, Captain Heald, the commandant at Chicago, prepared to 
 surrender his post to the British. The Pottawattomies, and other 
 hostile Indians in the vicinity, were on the watch for the movement; 
 and, on the morning when the garrison evacuated the place, they 
 had so completely succeeded in duping Captain Wells, the credulous 
 and unfortunate Indian Agent, that the fatal march of the 15th 
 October, 1812, was precipitated by his advice." 
 
 There were several errors in the foregoing extract. It was 
 not the purpose of Captain Heald to surrender his post to the 
 British. Captain Wells did not, that we are aware, deserve 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 425 
 
 the term "credulous;" indeed, Mrs. Helm said that he black- 
 ened his face, showing his lack of faith and incredulousness. 
 Though unfortunate, Captain W. was not duped; the fatal 
 march was not precipitated by him, which march was begun 
 in August, not in "October." 
 
 Mr. Hubbard {see ante p. 31) would seem to be mistaken in 
 the year in which John Crafts died. It could not probably 
 have been in "1823," as his name appears in the Tax-List of 
 July, 1825. (See supplement to lecture of Hon. John Went- 
 worth, April, 1875, in Fergus' Historical Series). 
 
 Referring to the "Memorial" Chart of S. S. Hurlbut, we 
 may say that we are responsible for its statements, and in 
 giving the date of the arrival of Willis Scott as "1823" it 
 was a mistake of ours; it should have been 1826. 
 
 In the same memorial above named, in speaking of the 
 Village Government, it is stated that Hiram Hugunin was 
 the last President of the Board of Trustees. This would 
 seem to be a mistake by the following, which we copy from 
 Hon. John Wentworth's lecture, of April, 1875: 
 
 "It was on Monday evening, the 23rd of January, 1837, that a 
 meeting was called in the Saloon Building, south-east corner of 
 Lake and Clark Streets, for consultation upon a City Charter. It 
 wa6 called by the order of the last Board of Trustees of the Town 
 of Chicago, of which body, Eli B. Williams, now of this City, was 
 President." 
 
 In same memorial, we said we believed, the old Kinzie 
 house was "taken down in 1835." An early resident informs 
 us that it had gradually disappeared before that date. 
 
 We will take this occasion to say, that in the paper read 
 
 by ourself before the Chicago Historical Society, in October, 
 
 1878, appeared words as follows: 
 
 "But I do not believe that Marquette was ever, either in life 
 or death, at what is now called Point St. Ignace. However, be 
 that as it may," etc. 
 
 It is due to candor to admit that we now think that so far 
 
 28 
 
426 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 we were mistaken. We shall not urge it as any excuse for 
 us, that Mr. Shea even seemed considerably in doubt as to 
 dates, or when and where were the various missions of St. 
 Ignatius; we acknowledge too, that sometimes we have 
 looked for old Mackinaw on the south side of the Straits, 
 when really the older one north, was what we wanted. 
 
 We will here speak of several communications (four in 
 number) which appeared last year (1879) in the Chicago 
 Times, signed "Pointe St. Ignace." While we can not allow 
 that the writer's argument is powerful enough to persuade us 
 to concede the claim, that the grave of Father Marquette, • 
 whose remains were re-interred two centuries ago, in some 
 church at Point St. Ignace, has in any manner been identi- 
 fied, — we yet esteem those letters as of no slight depth of 
 research, and of much value; we would be pleased to see 
 them printed in pamphlet form. 
 
 It has been hinted to us, that our brief words above 
 quoted, occasioned the production of the articles named 
 in the Times; yet, we can scarce flatter ourself to believe 
 that such a slight expression or casual intimation of a doubt 
 on our part, had sufficient magnetic power, as to draw out 
 such are elaborate essay as that in the Times. 
 
 It was, we believe, a mistake of ours, on p. 2£ of this vol., 
 to give the maiden name of Mrs. Whistler, "Ferson;'' we 
 understand that it should have been Fearson. John Fearson 
 her father, was, we think, a resident of Detroit, in 1806. 
 
 See do. p. 2J. — Capt. John Whistler did not, in 1803, belong 
 to the Artillery branch of the service, but to the 1st Regiment 
 of Infantry. 
 
 See do. p. jp. — In referring to the marriage of Miss Kinzie 
 to Dr. Wolcott, we said : 
 "It was, we believe, in 182 1.'' 
 The true date was July 20, 1823. 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 427 
 
 Do. p. 4.0. — We said, 
 
 "In the spring and summer of 1828, Mr. Heacock and family- 
 were living inside Fort Dearborn." 
 
 This, no doubt, was an error; in summer of the year 1827 
 Mr. Heacock lived there, having arrived here that season. 
 But in March, 1828, he was residing near where Bridgeport 
 is now. 
 
 Do. p. 4.5. — Perhaps the Indian Execution referred to, was 
 in the year 1835, instead of 1832; at least, we see in Mr. 
 Calhoun's paper of the summer of that year, a notice of such 
 an event; possibly it was another however. 
 
 Page 106. — Perhaps, after all, we may have done the 
 Menomonie Chief, White Elk, injustice, on A 106, for we see 
 by the Treaty of 18 17, at the foot of the rapids on the 
 Maumee, a Pottawatomie Indian's name " Wabinsheway' or 
 " White- Elk." 
 
 Page 277, do. — At a much later day than the bear spoken 
 of on the above-named page, it seems there was one told of 
 by Mr. B. F. Taylor, in his Old Stories. Dates and many 
 particulars are not given, but bruin came along the lake 
 shore from Wisconsin, was overtaken, he says, and captured 
 at Cottage Grove, which was followed by a dinner at the 
 Tremont, and the extraordinary movements of a-quarter of 
 that bear meat. 
 
 In an interesting communication by John L. Wilson, in the 
 Chicago Tribune of December nth, 1880, and one also a 
 few days later from Charles Cleaver, in same paper, bruin 
 comes in for some notice; one named by Mr. W. was, appar- 
 ently, the one killed by Mr. Sweeney. We copy as follows: 
 
 "I can remember but two bears that were caught here previous to 
 those of the Board of Trade. The one was discovered coming 
 into the South Branch timber, and the whole available force of the 
 settlement, including a detachment from the garrison, turned out to 
 destroy him. All the dogs, as an accompaniment, turned out also. 
 Bruin ran up a tree to see what was the matter, and was shot for 
 
428 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 her curiosity; it was a female. The remains were barbecued at the 
 Tremont, and a quantity of corn-juice followed them to their 
 resting-places." 
 
 Mr. Wilson and Mr. Cleaver also refer to another bear 
 captured many years ago in the lake, opposite Waukegan, 
 some distance off shore, (Mr. Cleaver says five miles, at 
 least); he was taken alive to the deck of the steamer, but in 
 cold blood, was soon ignominiously butchered. 
 
 Page 37$, do. — The impression received by Mr. Gates, as 
 named, that Mr. W. H. Stow established the first iron- 
 foundry, we are assured by Mr. Geo. Chacksfield, is a mistake, 
 and that the firm of Jones, King & Co., established it. Mr. 
 Stow, he says, was an employe' merely. This foundry was 
 located, it is said, on what was afterward Polk Street, near 
 the river. It is claimed in the Evening Journal (1875) that 
 Mr. Stow built the first frame building on the West Side; 
 this would seem to be an error. 
 
 Page J7 "/, do. — Our remarks about the "starvation," were 
 made, supposing the reference was to this neighborhood and 
 the garrison of Chicago, not otherwise. 
 
 Page 3J8, do. — The source of our information regarding 
 the death of Mrs. Helm, seems to have been defective; she 
 did not die, as we were told, in 1830; she married a Dr. 
 Abbott some years afterward. 
 
 On p. 4.02 of this vol., the authority for a statement of Mr. 
 Blanchard is a subject of remark. A paper appears in the 
 1st volume of French's Historical Collections of Louisiana, 
 entitled 
 
 "Memoir of Robert Cavelier De LaSalle, on the necessity of 
 Fitting out an Expedition to take possession of Louisiana." 
 
 It is quite likely that was where Mr. B. derived his infor- 
 mation ; though it is without date, and we are not informed 
 where the original is. We are not quite sure of its identity, 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 429 
 
 though probably the reasonable inference may be, that 
 LaSalle was the author. 
 
 We found, not long ago, in a street book-stall, a volume 
 which, apparently, from its smoked-marked leaves, had 
 passed through the great fire. The book was published here, 
 in 1868, and is entitled "Chicago and her Churches, by Geo. 
 S. Phillips, (January Searles)." The book, we think, is writ- 
 ten with a good deal of ability, though we can not, in many 
 particulars, endorse its accuracy. Several chapters, giving 
 something of early facts relating to this locality, preface the 
 account of the modern religious organizations. Numerous 
 suggestions and fanciful pictures are given in the details 
 which we do not credit ; but there are yet many statements, 
 palpably incorrect, some of which we have previously 
 noticed in this chapter in speaking of other authors. We 
 will quote here a few mistakes : 
 
 Page 12. — "LaSalle, who resided in Fort Frontenac, and though a 
 Jesuit, and a man of adventure, subsequently undertook to explore 
 the source of the Mississippi, which he did as far as the Falls of St. 
 Anthony, which received their name from him." 
 
 LaSalle didn't explore the source of the Mississippi; the 
 Falls of St. Anthony didn't receive their name from him. 
 
 Page 15. — "Of such Marquette seems to have been; and his self- 
 sacrificing life, in preaching about Chicago and the lakes, for years 
 after he had discovered the Mississippi, shows that he was a long 
 way in the truth." • 
 
 The statement has been made by others also, that "Mar- 
 quette for years preached about Chicago," but improperly. 
 Father M. passed Chicago in the fall of 1673, to the Mission 
 Station, at Green Bay, where he remained in ill-health for a 
 year. He then left for the Illinois River, but was detained 
 at Chicago, within his wigwam, by sickness, through the 
 winter. Yet in the spring he was barely able to proceed on 
 his journey and make a brief visit to the Indians on the 
 Illinois. He then returned to Chicago and made an effort to 
 get to Mackinaw, via the east shore of the lake, but died on 
 his way, in May, 1675. 
 
430 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 Page jy. — "Here at last was the great watercourse (the Missis- 
 sippi) which was to carry the French commerce to Asia, which was 
 to plant the tricolor in China, and Christianize, through the Roman 
 propaganda, that strange, calm, impassible people, and stamp the 
 impress of the modern culture upon their ancient and mysterious 
 cultivation. Already along the line of their explorations, they had 
 given Chinese names to the cities which they had planted." 
 
 The French, of the reign of Louis XIV., did not intend to 
 plant the "tricolor' in China, for that was a standard of the 
 revolution, a hundred years later; nor are we aware of any 
 cities with Chinese names which they planted "along the 
 line of their explorations." 
 
 Page ip. — "For a long season, the Ohio, which was called by the 
 French the river of the Iroquois, was left unexplored through dread 
 of these splendid savages." 
 
 We were not aware of it, indeed without further reference, 
 we shall continue to doubt the statement. 
 
 Page 24. — "On his (Marquette's) return, and whilst engaged in 
 that preaching business with the Miamis round Chicago, he made 
 a rude map of his late explorations, and the geography of the lake 
 region, and deposited the same in St. Mary's College, at Montreal, 
 — one of the most precious of all the historic documents of the 
 West, which ought to be in the collection of the Chicago Historical 
 Society." 
 
 Marquette probably made that map, not at Chicago or its 
 neighborhood, but during the year of his sojourn and sick- 
 ness at St. Xavier, Green Bay. He did not deposit it in St. 
 Mary's College, but it was sent to his Superior, and was a 
 long time in the Jesuit College, at Quebec. Canada fell to 
 Britain, and the Jesuit Institution was proscribed and new 
 members forbidden. Father Cazot, the last survivor of the 
 Jesuits, Shea tells us, deposited various papers, Marquette's 
 map included, in the Hotel Dieu, or hospital, at Quebec, 
 where they remained from about 1800 to 1842. Since that 
 time, after being copied by Dr. Shea, they appear to have 
 been at St. Mary's College, Montreal. We would be pleased 
 to see the original map of Marquette in possession of the 
 Chicago Historical Society. But, suppose, as Mr. Phillips 
 suggested, "it ought" to have been in the keeping of that 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 43 1 
 
 Society; without the copy of Dr. Shea, the West would 
 never have been the wiser. Unfortunately, the Chicago 
 Historical Society never copied or published any of their 
 priceless manuscript treasures; "accumulate" was the motto. 
 The fire! tells the rest. 
 
 Page 30. — "Here, then, we have before us, in visible form of 
 primitive architecture, the old Fort Dearborn of 1804. Up to the 
 time of its erection, no white man had built his house on Chicago 
 ground." 
 
 The natural effect of parading just such nonsense as the 
 above, before the people, as we often see, is to demean 
 Chicago, and to degrade its history. Wm. Burnett, a white 
 man, (see /. 66 of this vol.) wrote that he had a house here 
 in 1798, and how much longer before that we can not say. 
 It is true, however, that white men, Frenchmen, had lived 
 here still earlier, a hundred years and more, and we may 
 reasonably suppose they had houses. 
 
 Page 35. — "A company of United States troops (1812) occupied 
 the Fort; John H. Kinzie kept a trading station there." 
 
 The last part of the sentence, scarcely; John H. Kinzie 
 was aged nine years. 
 
 Page 43. — "Then the officers remonstrated with him (Captain 
 Heald), and there was insubordination even among the soldiers; 
 but all was of no avail. This proud military man, with his ideal 
 of duty, believed that, rather than disobey his superior officer, he 
 had a right to run the risk of involving his command and the whole 
 settlers— men, women, and children, including the sick, the old, and 
 the halt — in one indiscriminate slaughter." And rrlore of the same 
 sort. 
 
 The above we consider the merest twaddle. It had its 
 
 origin in a relation by Mrs. Helm or Mrs. Kinzie, or both, 
 
 (for we are unable to separate the responsibility of the 
 
 authorship,) and, we believe, has little foundation beyond an 
 
 evident grudge of one or more prejudiced women. John 
 
 Kinzie, Sen., as far. as we can learn, never authorized those 
 
 statements. 
 
 Page 49. — "But after whispering in her ear that he was Black 
 Partridge, and her father's friend, (the leader of the massacre,) 
 he," etc. 
 
432 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 That he whispered "in her ear" is something new; no one 
 
 else says so. Nor was Black Partridge "the leader of the 
 
 massacre." 
 
 Page 62. — "The Fort was occupied by the same troops from July 
 4th, 1816, to May, 1823, when they left it for good." 
 
 The same troops did not occupy from 18 16 to 1823; nor 
 was the post evacuated until October, 1823. 
 
 Page jo. — "Opposite the Kinzie house (1831) stood the far-famed 
 "Cobweb Castle" once the Agency house, and now the chief hostel 
 in the 'City,' kept "by Elijah Wentworth, — 'Old Geese,' as his 
 neighbors, for some facetious reason, loved to call him." 
 
 "Miller's house was called 'Rat Castle,' and stood on the opposite 
 side of the river." 
 
 "Near Miller's house lived Mr. Lee, — the Rev. Mr. Lee." 
 
 Cobweb Castle was not the "chief hostel," indeed,- it was 
 never a hostel that we heard of before, nor did Elijah Went- 
 worth live in it. Neither was Miller's house called Rat 
 Castle; nor was there a Rev. Mr. Lee who lived near there. 
 
 Page 73. — "Then Black Hawk fell on the settlements. Strange 
 to say, two Indian chiefs, Sha-bo-nee, our old friend of Chicago, 
 and Billy Caldwell, saved by their warnings, advice, and inter- 
 position, another massacre of the settlers." 
 
 Our author evidently mixed up the troubles of 1827, with 
 those of 1832. 
 
 Various other erroneous and absurd statements may be 
 found in the above named volume, but we omit further notice. 
 
 In the Chicago Tribune, November 12th, 1875, there was 
 
 an article with the heading, "An Old Settler. Mr. Willis 
 
 Scott's Reminiscences of Young Chicago." As a few of the 
 
 statements given seem to be denied, we copy from the 
 
 Tribune, as follows: 
 
 "When the Scott family arrived in Chicago (1826), they found 
 only one house, that occupied by Kinzie on the north side of the 
 river, besides the Fort and block-house. In the latter, lived Col. 
 Beaubien, who was agent for the American Fur Company. Kinzie's 
 house stood near the river, and three or four poplar trees adorned 
 the front yard, the only shrubbery in the neighborhood, as the 
 woods on that side of the river began about where Washington 
 Square and Collyer's Church are now." 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 433 
 
 "It has been stated heretofore, -by different parties, that there 
 were some woods on the south side in early times. Mr. Scott says 
 on the contrary, that there was not a tree in sight anywhere west or 
 south, with the exception of a small clump on the bank of the river, 
 about where it is crossed by Monroe Street. The country was all 
 prairie, as far as the eye could reach." 
 
 Looking at Schoolcraft's view of Chicago, in 1820, (see 
 copy opposite p. 189 of this vol.,) as well also as Mrs. 
 Kinzie's sketch in Wau-bun, made eleven years after, there 
 would probably seem to have been more than one house here 
 in 1826. 
 
 That there was "not a tree in sight," appears to be con- 
 tradicted, for we were assured by an early settler, that there 
 was in 1834, a very tall cottonwood ■ tree on the south side of 
 Randolph Street, near that street and near the river, which 
 served as a guide for land travelers from the west, as well as 
 to the sailors upon the lake. We were also told by Mr. E. 
 H. Hadduck, that when he arrived at Chicago, in 1833, there 
 was quite a body of heavy timber lying along the river, on 
 the east side of the south branch. 
 
 Mr. John Noble also said to us, that as far north as 
 Randolph Street near Market Street, there were large cotton- 
 wood trees all about; the timber on the south side he said, 
 was principally basswood, cottonwood, and elm; the south 
 side, said he, was not prairie, but a timber swamp. 
 
 In the Chicago Tribune, August 12th, 1877, appeared a 
 communication over the initials "J. M. H," relating to early 
 Chicago; we extract the following, which also seems to show 
 that Mr. Scott was mistaken : 
 
 "At that time (1836), there was a dense body of timber on the 
 east bank of the south branch, beginning at Washington and 
 extending as far as Twelfth Street. At VanBuren Street, this 
 timber extended as far east as Clark Street, curving from there each 
 way toward the river. From Twelfth Street, there was open prairie, 
 till timber was again reached, which was on both sides of the river, 
 about at Eighteenth Street. That on the west side extended along 
 the river, as far as the canal lock, and about half-a-mile wide from 
 the river at the widest point. On the east side of the river, or 
 rather the south side, the timber followed the east fork for a mile 
 or'two." 
 
434 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 Tn closing this chapter, we will add, if we have not 
 hesitated to point out the errors of others, we must yet 
 invite the correction of our own as well. It is in no aid of 
 truth, to bespeak the mercy of the critics. If truth is the 
 purpose of history, then let the mistakes be pointed out, let 
 the facts be established. We would rather submit to the 
 knife of the surgeon, than anticipate the gentle offices of 
 the undertaker. We would deprecate fraud of every kind; 
 may no historical quack, with his inviting nostrums, whether 
 compounded of legendary empyricism, or the artful inven- 
 tions of plausible adulteration, persuade us to swallow his 
 doses, to the confusion of our annals and the health of 
 valued memorials. 
 
 NAMES, FORMERLY APPLIED TO SOME OF 
 THE WESTERN LAKES AND RIVERS, ETC. 
 
 Ca?iada and the Northwest. — "Nova Francia — New France — 
 appears to be the name," says Mr. C. C. Baldwin, "given to the 
 country drained by the St. Lawrence, until it came under the 
 dominion of the English; although Charlevoix, in history, says it 
 was first bestowed by Samuel de Champlain, in 1609. Mr.* Shea, in 
 his valuable edition and translation of Charlevoix, says, the name is 
 first known upon the Copper Globe of Ulpius, in 1542; and appears 
 next in Carder, in 1545, who speaks of Hochelaga and Canada, 
 otherwise called by us New France, showing the name to have been 
 somewhat common. Mr. Parkman says the name was first used 
 after the return, in 1524, of Verrezano to France." 
 
 Lake Ontario. — Champlain called it "Lac St. Louis" 
 Count de Frontenac, in 1674, called it "Ontario;" on San- 
 son's map, 1679, it appears "Ontario ou Lac de St. Louis;" 
 it had also the name "Frontenac ;" Hennepin called it "On- 
 tario or Frontenac ;" Tonti and Father Membre call it "Lake 
 Frontetiac" on De L'Isle's maps, 1700, 1703, it appears 
 "Lac Ontario" the English on claiming dominion called it 
 " Kataraqui or Ontario;" Mitchell's map gives it "Ontario or 
 Cataraktii." 
 
 Lake Erie. — This name, says Mr. Baldwin, was derived 
 from the tribe of Eries, on the south shore; the same tribe 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 435 
 
 was also called the Cat nation, "whence the lake had some- 
 times the alias 'The Cat', 'Felis,' 'Du Chat.' Senex, in 17 19, 
 called it also 'Cadaraqua' the name sometimes given to 
 Ontario; Washington's Journal, Mitchell, and Pownal, called 
 it 'Okszvego!" Hennepin called it "Eric" and also " Conty;" 
 and Sanson's map, 1679, gives it "Erie Lac;" somewhere we 
 have seen it "Lac Teiocka-rontiong, dit commune'ment Lac 
 Erie;" Membre called it "de Conty;" De L'Isle's maps give 
 it "Lac Erie'.' 
 
 Lake Huron. — This lake was named "des Hurons'' from 
 the tribe of Indians of that name; somewhere it appears 
 "Lac Huron, ou Mer Douce des Hurons;" Champlain called 
 it "Mer Douce;" Father Membre, as well as Hennepin, called 
 it "Lake Orleans; De L'Isle's maps, 1703, 171 8, give it "Lac 
 Huron ou Michigane" on his map of 1700, it appears "L. des 
 Hurons;" Coxe, in 1721, called it "Huron or Karegnondi" 
 or the deep lake; Washington's Journal, in 1754, has "Qua- 
 toghi or Hurons'.' ■ 
 
 Lake Superior.— Champlain applied "Grand Lac" to what 
 is supposed to be this lake; Marquette's map gives it "Lac 
 Superieur ou de Tracy;" Hennepin called it "Lake Conde;" 
 on De L'Isle's maps it is "Lac Superieur ;" on Senex's map, 
 1719, and Coxe's, of 172 1, appears "Nadouessians." 
 
 Lake Michigan. — Father Marquette, Dablon, LaSalle, and 
 others, called it the lake of the "Lllinois;" Claude Allouez, 
 journeying in 1676, reached this lake on the eve of St. Joseph, 
 and said "we gave it the name of that great Saint, and shall 
 henceforth call it 'Lake St. Joseph;'" but Shea says that 
 Allouez was the first to give it the name of "Lake Machihi- 
 ganing" somewhere we have seen it given "Lac Mitchigan- 
 ong ou des Illinois;" LaSalle and Father Membre called it 
 "Lake Dauphin;" St. Cosme called it "Miesitgan" and also 
 "Missigan;" Marest (says Shea) was one of the first to call 
 Lake Michigan by that name; Coxe called it "Lake of the 
 Illinouecks." 
 
 ' Lake St. Clair. — Somewhere we have seen it termed 
 "Tziketo, ou Lac de la Chaudiere;" Hennepin wrote it "St. 
 
436 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 Clare" (as by the translation); on the map of De L'Isle of 
 1700, it is "L. de Ste. Claire" on his maps of 1703 and 1718, 
 it appears "Lac Ganatchio ou Ste. Claire. Shea says, "the 
 name is commonly written St. Clair, but this in incorrect; we 
 should either retain the French form Claire, or take the 
 English Clare. It received its name in honor of the founder 
 of the Franciscan nuns, from the fact that LaSalle reached it 
 on the day consecrated to her." 
 
 Mississippi River. — One or more of the outlets of this river 
 was discovered in the year 15 19, by the Spanish officer Don 
 Alonzo Alvarez Pineda, in the service of de Garay, Governor 
 of Jamaica, and who surveyed a great part of the northern 
 coast of the Gulf of Mexico; he named the river "Rio Del 
 Espiritu Santo" or the River of the Holy Ghost. It was 
 known to De Soto by that name, being inscribed on the maps 
 and charts of the day. De Soto named it "El Rio Grande 
 del Florida" which name was long used in Spanish histories. 
 Marquette gave it the name "de la Conception" and which 
 appears on his map; he also used the name Missipi. The 
 Indian name it is said was " Meechacebe;" LaSalle, Membre, 
 Hennepin, and Donay, called it the "Colbert;" Joutel said 
 the Indians called it " Meechassippi ;" but he called it the 
 "Colbert or Mississippi;" on De L'Isle's map it is "Missis- 
 sippi" and "S. Louis;" the name " Chucagua" is a name that 
 has also been sometimes applied to it, also those of " Sassa- 
 goula" and " Malabanchia ;" Allouez first speaks of it as 
 "Messipi" and again as the " Messi-sipi ;" St. Cosme calls it 
 "Micissipi." Henry de Tonty made a map of the Missis- 
 sippi, and to some extent the region of the country along 
 its banks; but we are not aware that it has ever been 
 published, or if the original or a copy is in existence. 
 
 Missouri River. — Marquette called it the " Pekitanoui" 
 meaning muddy water; the Recollets called it "the River of 
 Ozages" Membre called it the "Osage;" on De L'Isle's 
 maps, 1703, 1718, it is "le Missouri ou de R. Pekitanoni;" 
 Coxe called it " Yellow River" or "River of the Massorites." 
 
 Arkansas River. — Marquette first called it "Akansea;" St. 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 437 
 
 Cosme and Montigny call it " Akanseas ;" on De L'Isle's map 
 of 1718, it is "Riv des Arkansas ou Tonti." 
 
 Red River of La. — It is called by LaSalle "the Sabloniere;" 
 on De L'Isle's map, of 1718, it is called "Riv. Rouge ou 
 Sablonier." 
 
 Ohio River. — Marquette called the lower Ohio "Ouabous- 
 kigou;'' Joutel called it "Douo or Abacha;" from the mouth 
 of the Ohio to the Wabash and up that stream, was generally 
 known as the "Ouabache," so it was called by Membre, St. 
 Cosme, LaHontan, and others; above the mouth of the 
 Wabash, the Ohio was more particularly known as "Ohio ou 
 Belle Riviere" so the river is called on De L'Isle's map, 1703, 
 on that of if 18, appears "Riv. d. Ouabache on de S. Jerome;" 
 on some old maps it appears " Ohio or Fair River!' '"The 
 English (says Mr. Baldwin) were more inclined to extend the 
 name 'Alleghany,' down that river." Evans, in 1755, calls it 
 "Ohio or Alleghany or La Belle;" the Shawnees called the 
 Ohio "Palaw The'piki;" Mitchell called the river the "Ohio 
 or Splawcipiki ;" in 1790, Mr. Burnett called it the "Oahiya." 
 
 Illinois River. — Marquette speaks of it, but gave it no 
 name; on Franquelin's map it appears "Riviere des Ilinois ou 
 Macopins" LaSalle called it the "Seignlai;" Fathers Hen- 
 nepin and Membre the " Seignelay ;" Dablon not only applied 
 to one of the upper branches of the Illinois (the Desplaines) 
 the name "St. Louis" but to the continuation, the Illinois 
 itself; Coxe called it the "Chicagou;" De L'Isle's map, of 
 1718, and others, give it "Riv. des Ilinois!' 
 
 Lake Peoria. — Marquette calls it "Pewarea;" on Franque- 
 lin's map it is "L. de Pimiteau" on one or more of De L'Isle's 
 maps it is "Lac Pimitoui." 
 
 Des Plaines River. — It is generally written "Desplaines" 
 though some insist that "Aux Plaines" is the more correct 
 term. It is understood to receiye its name from a variety of 
 maple, which the Canadians call Plaine. Sometimes the 
 name appears "Des Planes" and "Plein," as well as "Aux 
 Pleins." Prof. Keating said the Pottawatomies termed it the 
 " Sheshikmaoshike Sepe!' LaSalle, in 1680, called the Des- 
 
438 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 plaines the "Divine River;" Membre and Charleviox did the 
 same. LaSalle afterward, however, called it the "Checagou!' 
 Dablon called it "St. Louis River," including, perhaps, the 
 continuation, the Illinois; Franquelin's map, 1684, gives it 
 " Peangkichia." The river was formerly, and not unfrequently, 
 called the "Chicagou;" see De L' Isle's map, 1718, and 
 D'Anville's, 1755. 
 
 Chicago Portage. — This, generally so-called, was an insti- 
 tution of the past, an overland path between the waters of 
 the Chicago River and those of the Desplaines. We see 
 upon the old maps, that it appears frequently "Portage des 
 Chenes" probably so-called from the scrub-oaks along the 
 route. On the map of Moll, 1726, it is marked "Land 
 Carriage of Chekakou;" on Popple's map, 1733, there is 
 placed "Portage" without the name, and the same also on 
 Mitchell's, of 1755. Medore Beaubien told us that he 
 remembered seeing them haul, with oxen, over the portage, 
 not only freight passing over the route, but the boats also. 
 The length of this portage, of course, varied according to the 
 condition of the water in the neighboring streams. The 
 usual distance traveled by land, it is said, was from four to 
 nine miles; in very dry seasons, however, the portage ex- 
 tended much farther. 
 
 Mud Lake. — Such is the name by which is has for some 
 time been known and goes at the present day; formerly it 
 was known as "Portage Lake" or by the name given it by 
 Frenchmen, who called it "Le Petit Lac." We have seen it 
 written "Marais Lac," or Szvamp Lake. This slough, with- 
 out doubt, represented one of the channels by which the 
 waters of Lake Michigan used to seek the Illinois and 
 Mississippi. In wet seasons or high water, there was often 
 free navigation between the Chicago and Desplaines. In 
 dry seasons, indeed, there was much swamp and wet prairie 
 (since recovered by drains) in its immediate vicinity. A 
 beaver dam is said to have formerly divided the pond into 
 two parts. In this connection we give the name of a neigh- 
 boring morass, the " Sa-gua-nash" or "Saginaska Swamp," 
 and called "the Sag" for short. 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 439 
 
 Chicago, and River. — Marquette called it " Portage River ;" 
 LaSalle applies the name "Checago" to this locality, but his 
 Checago River was generally the Desplaines ; Franquelin's 
 map, 1684, gives to this locality or river, the name " Chea- 
 goumeinan" and to another stream "R. Chekagou;" deTonty, 
 in 1685, says that he arrived at the "Fort of Checagou." 
 Joutel, as we see by the translation, gives "Chicago;?," but, 
 probably, it is a typographical error. St. Cosme, as by Mr. 
 Shea, calls it " Chikagou" "Chicagu," " Chicaqw" and also 
 "Chicag8." LaHonton, 1703, has it " Chegakou." The name, 
 in former times, was often applied to the Desplaines River; 
 the name "Divine River," generally given to the Desplaines, 
 was sometimes applied indiscriminately to both the Chicago 
 and the Desplaines. Mr. Barry once referred to a map of 
 Reineckes, published at -Weimar, 1704, in which "Fort 
 Chicagou" is named. Senex, 1710, gives it "Checagou;" De 
 L'Isle's maps have it both "Checagou" as well as "Chicagou ;'' 
 Moll, 1720, presents it "Chekakoii;" Charleviox, "Chicagou'.' 
 It is called " Chicagoux" in an early French memoir. Col. 
 De Peyster speaks of it as " Eschecagou," and again as " Es- 
 chicagou, a river and Fort at the head of Lake Michigan." 
 Popple's atlas, 1733, has it "Fort Miamis ou Ouamis;" 
 Mitchell, 1755, "R. and Port Chicagou," and Sayer & Ben- 
 nett's map, 1797, says "Point Chicago River!' Prof. Keating, 
 in Long's Expedition, 1823, speaks of the north branch as 
 "Gary River;" Gurdon S. Hubbard told us that it (the north 
 branch) used to be known as " Guarie River,'' from a trader 
 of that name, who, somewhat more than a hundred years 
 ago, lived on the west bank of the north branch, his buildings 
 being located about where Indiana street is now. 
 
 Calumet River. — On some old maps it appears " Kennome- 
 kon;'' at a later day it was often written " Calamick ;" and 
 also " Calamink." The Big Calumet was called by the 
 Indians, says Prof. Keating "Kenomokouk." 
 
 Kankakee River. — Charlevoix wrote it " Theakiki" and 
 said the Indians incorrectly pronounced it "Kiakiki'.' De 
 L'Isle's map, 1718, gives " Huakiki" and same stream lower 
 
440 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 down, "R. de Macopin." Gov. Ninian Edwards called it 
 " Quin-que-qtie!' 
 
 St. Joseph River, Mich. — Tonty called it "Miamis River;" 
 Membre the "Myamis." 
 
 Maumee River. — It has frequently been called the ''Miami 
 of the Lake." Mr. Burnett, in 1790, called it the "Aumies," 
 sometimes the "Mies." 
 
 Muskingum River. — Mr. Howe says it is a Delaware word, 
 meaning a town on the river side. Sometimes it was called 
 "Elk" and so appears on some of the old maps. Mr. Harris, 
 in 1805, said the Indian word means "the Elk's Eye;" Mr. 
 Baldwin says that Mitchell gives this last name to one of its 
 branches. 
 
 Sandusky Bay. — The name Sandusky, though some years 
 since claimed as originating from a Polish trader in Ohio, 
 named Sodousky, who once lived at or near the locality, and 
 some of whose descendants wrote their name "Sandusky," 
 was yet of Indian origin. The Indian name was " San-doos- 
 tee" or, as sometimes given " Sa-un-dus-tee" meaning at the 
 cold water, or water within water-pools. On De L'Isle's map, 
 1718, it appears "Lac San-dou-ske;" Mr. Burnett, in 1787, 
 called it "St. Tuskey." » 
 
 Saginaw Bay. — On De L'Isle's map, 1703, 1718, it appears 
 "Baye de Saguina," and "Baye Saguinam ;" Coxe called it 
 the " Sakinam.'' 
 
 Pattersons Point. — A rocky point of land on the north 
 shore of Lake Michigan, some sixty miles from Mackinaw, 
 is or was formerly so-called, from the fact, that Mr. Charles 
 Patterson, one of the principal members of the Northwest 
 Fur Company, with all his crew, was there drowned about 
 the year 1788. [Mr. P. was the same gentleman addressed 
 by Mr. Burnett, on p. 55 of this volume.] 
 
 Marquette River. — On De L'Isles map, 1703, it is "R. 
 Marquet;" as per Charlevoix, it was "River Marquette," or 
 "River of the Black Robe." 
 
 Isle Royal, Lake Superior. — De L'Isle's maps, 1700, 1703, 
 it appears "/ Monong;" Coxe calls it "Minong." 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 441 
 
 Michillimackinac. — Marquette called it "Michilimakinang;" 
 Hennepin and Membre speak of it as " Missilimakinak /" 
 Joutel called it " Micilimaquinay ;" on De L'Isle's map, of 
 1703, appears "Isle et Habitation de Missilimakinac." Mr. 
 Shea informs us that he learned from a Rev. Mr. Pierz, that 
 the Indian name of Mackinaw was " Mitchikan," meaning 
 a fence. 
 
 Green Bay. — Marquette called it "Bay of the Fetid" Hen- 
 nepin and Membre did the same. Marquette says the 
 Indians called it "Salt Bay;" St. Cosme called it "Bay of 
 Puants;" on De L'Isle's maps, 1700, 1718, it appears "Baye 
 dcs Puans ;" sometimes it was called " Le Grand Bale •;" Mr. 
 Burnett, in 1798, called it " Le bay!' 
 
 Milwaukee River. — Membre calls it " Melleoki" St. Cosme 
 termed it " Melwarik ;" on De L'Isle's map, of 1718, it 
 appears "Melleki." 
 
 Root River, Racine. — St. Cosme called " Kipikwi" and 
 " Kipikuskwi ;" it has also been called " Chippccotton',' or 
 " Schipicoten," as Mr. Storrow termed it in 1817, the signifi- 
 cation of which we have heard was " Maskalongc ;" we have 
 seen it called in print, "Masqnedon." 
 
 Fox River of Illinois. — Joutel, on his map, gives it " Pctcs- 
 couy;" St. Cosme calls it "Pistrui;" Charlevoix calls it 
 "Pisticoui;" it was sometimes called "Pistaka" and " Bes- 
 tikwi." 
 
 Dn Page River. — Prof. Keating said the Indians called it 
 " Otokakenog," which means uncovered breast. The voy- 
 ageurs, he said, called it "De Page River, from a Frenchman 
 of that name, who died, and was buried on the banks of this 
 stream.'' 
 
 St. Croix River. — Hennepin called it "Tomb River!' 
 
 Lake Pipin. — Hennepin called it "the Lake of Tears'.' 
 
 Black River. — Hennepin says it was called by the Indians 
 "Cliabadeba" or "C/iabaaudeba." 
 
 Wisconsin River. — Father Marquette called it the " Mcs- 
 consin%;" Hennepin quotes the Indians as calling it the 
 "Ousconsin" or " Misconsin." Membre called it the Miscon- 
 29 
 
442 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 cing; St. Cosme, the Wesconsin. We think Gov. Doty, one 
 of the Territorial governors, used to insist on the name 
 being written " Wiskonsan ;" but the mode was unpopular, 
 and if we remember rightly, the Legislature irrevocably 
 established the form of its orthography as " Wisconsin" 
 
 Fever River. — Le Sueur called it "Riviere a la Mine? 
 
 Rock River. — It was called by the French "Riviere a 
 Roche'.' 
 
 Iowa River. — Hennepin called it " Otontenta." 
 
 We have given above, only a brief notice of a few of the 
 main features as proposed. A work upon the subject, how- 
 ever, to be done properly, comprehensive enough to take in 
 our whole country, would require years of travel and thorough 
 research among the early publications and other documents; 
 such a work would fill a large volume. 
 
 CHICAGO WITH VARIATIONS. 
 
 * 
 
 The following is a variety list, said to have been made up 
 from letters received, some years since, at the Post-Office, 
 here, intended for this locality. Whether this catalogue 
 equals the one spoken of to the Hon. John Wentworth, by 
 the former President, John Quincy Adams, we can not say; 
 but the latter gentleman- said that during his administration, 
 no two government officers, writing from Chicago, ever 
 spelled it the same way: 
 
 "Chicago, Chigego, Chikilgo, Sheskawgin, Shiggoggo, Sigogo, 
 Cicago, Chigako, Chikago, Sikago, Schikago, Chigago, Shigaco, 
 Chigaco, Shigogo, Chickagoe, Chikaio, Chookago, Chago, Chicgago, 
 Cikago, Chicoaga, Sikicaco, Schigacho, Cicaco, Schikako, Cillikogo, 
 Chicvago, Cigago, Chacgo, Chicopo, Chicowgo, Shegargo, Secago, 
 SchecargOj Cheekoge, Chigo, Chiciego, Chichago, Chictgoo, Ciago, 
 Cakorego, Chicggo, Chicaugo, Chuago, Schekoga, Chioga, Chicugo, 
 Chicgo, Chicagow, Sckicago, Checago, Sigago, Chechaugor, Chihago, 
 Chichaigoe, Chigagoue, Shilgogu, Schickaukoy, Chilhago, Schicaco, 
 Schukgago." 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 443 
 
 SOMETHING ABOUT THE CHIEF WABANSA, 
 AND HIS STATUE. 
 
 Not very much are we able to tell concerning the Potta- 
 watomie Indian Wabdnsa, though he was much at Chicago, 
 and his home mostlv was not far distant. His band and 
 village in 1818, is understood to have been at the mouth of 
 the Mazon Creek, in the present town of Wauponsee, Grundy 
 Co, Illinois; but some years afterward, they were located on 
 Fox River. Yet he was here so much, that he may properly, 
 perhaps, be called a Chicago Indian. He is understood to 
 have been a- man of middle age in 1812, when he was at 
 the battle of Chicago, taking part with the enemy against the 
 American forces, though with a few others of his tribe, he 
 endeavored to save the life of Captain Wells, and also, to 
 protect the Kinzie family from harm, as we learn in the pages 
 of Wau-bun. 
 
 In a published account of the late Indian chief Shabonee, . 
 by Mr. Wm. Hickling, it is said: 
 
 '' The last attempt made to embroil the Pottawatomies and Otta- 
 was in a war with the pale faces was that made by Black Hawk and 
 the Prophet, in 1832. These two chiefs representing the Sauk and 
 Fox nations, met the Pottawatomies and Ottawas in council at Ind- 
 iantown, in February of that year, and eloquently pointed out to the 
 large number of Indians assembled there, the necessity of co-opera- 
 tion, in order to save their nations from the further encroachments 
 of the white men upon their hunting-grounds; for at the time emi- 
 gration was fast spreading over the rich prairies of Northern Illinois 
 and Eastern Iowa. In that large assemblage, the voice of but one 
 Pottawatomie chief was raised in favor of war and union with Black 
 Hawk, and that was given by old Wau-pan-seh." 
 
 Medore Beaubien told us that Wabansa was a brother of 
 "Black Partridge." At the treaty of St. Louis, in 1816, 
 "Wapunsy,'' probably the same, was a party; "Waubonsa" 
 was at the treaty of 1826, at the mouth of the Mississinowa, 
 on the Wabash; "Wa-ban-see's" name appears in the treaty 
 of 1828, on St. Joseph River, Michigan; "Wau-pon-eh-see" 
 appears in the treaty of 1829, at Prairie du Chein; at the 
 treaty of Camp Tippecanoe, in 1832, on the Wabash, "Wah- 
 
444 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 pon-seh" was granted a reservation of five sections of land, 
 and at the treaty of Chicago, in 1833, " Wah-pon-seh " was 
 a signer. 
 
 Yet we are sorry to have to place here an item concerning 
 this chief, which would seem to show a most irritable, incon- 
 siderate, and brutal temper; yet the tendency of indulgence 
 in an angry temper, naturally leads to brutality, and passion 
 and cruelty are much cultivated as accomplishments among 
 savages. Whatever talent or bravery Wabansa may have 
 exhibited in war against enemies, this deed at his home has 
 left a blot upon his name, worthy of a coward and a fiend. 
 The following appears on page 668 of Schoolcraft's "Thirty 
 Years'' : 
 
 "October 2d, (1839), Mr. J. H. Kinzie, of Chicago, mentioned to 
 me, in a former interview, a striking trait of the barbarity of the 
 Pottawatomies in the treatment of their women. Two female slaves, 
 or wives, of Wabunsee, had a quarrel. One of them went, in her 
 excited state of feeling, to the chief and told him that the other had 
 ill-treated his children. He ordered the accused to come before 
 him. He told her to lie down on her back on the ground. He 
 then directed the other (her accuser) to take a tomahawk and dis- 
 patch her. She split open her skull and killed her immediately.'' 
 
 The triangular piece of land in Chicago, lying between 
 Kinzie street, Jefferson street, and the north branch of the 
 river, laid out in lots many years ago and known as Wabon- 
 sia, was named from this Indian; possibly it was there where 
 the chief had his camping-ground; we believe that Jas. Kinzie 
 was proprietor of the tract. This chief led one of the parties 
 of his tribe which left for the West in fall of 1835. It was at 
 Booneville, Missouri, in 1846, that Medore Beaubien saw 
 Wabansa, (as he informed us), with several others of a party 
 that were returning home from a visit to Washington. The 
 season was unfavorable for traveling, being late in fall or early 
 in winter, and the stage-coach or conveyance in which they 
 arrived, had upset, and several of them were hurt, Wabansa, 
 as also some others. At any rate, that chief was laid up 
 there from an injury or sickness, and very soon died. Medore 
 assured us that when it was known that a chief of some note 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 445 
 
 had deceased, and, as it was told, that he belonged to a sort 
 of secret society among the Indians, the Free-Masons took 
 the matter of the funeral into their own hands, and conducted 
 the affair with no little display, at their sole expense. Beau- 
 bien said that Wabansa had evidently been much cut up in 
 battle, for his person showed numerous scars from old-time 
 wounds. His age was believed to be near eighty years. We 
 will remark here that Mr. Page tells us, that in presenting 
 Wabansa, in his late painting of the massacre at Chicago, 
 he has reproduced the features of that Indian, as represented 
 in McKenney and Hall's Indian Tribes of North America, 
 the portraits of which last-named work, are copied from orig- 
 inal paintings, as we understand, in the Indian Gallery at the 
 War Department. 
 
 On the lawn at the residence of Hon. I. N. Arnold, on Pine 
 street, in this City, is a rock to which attaches a story of some 
 interest in connection with the personage whose name is given 
 in the heading of this chapter. The bowlder we may say is 
 of a red granite, whose early home we are assured by Prof. 
 Hager, was at the far North, and which had a free ride upon 
 a cake of ice to Chicago, in the days probably when the prai- 
 ries were formed. The stone is about eight feet in length or 
 rather in height, for it sits in the ground upon one end to the 
 depth of some three feet, and rises five feet above it; its 
 greatest girth probably is around its middle, and its weight 
 must exceed a couple of tons. These proportions we get 
 from the information of others, for, excepting its crown and 
 upper front, not much is seen in its present position. Its pre- 
 historic record, of course, is not very clear to us, yet of a later 
 period we know rather more. This much we must suppose 
 tradition bids us to confidently believe: Many years ago, 
 after the construction of the first Fort Dearborn, when sol- 
 diers of the post not immediately on duty, often lounging 
 around the rock, where it stood outside the Fort partly in the 
 ground, their gossip with the Indians elicited the information, 
 that long ago, even before the French came two centuries 
 since, the rock was used for sacrifice, a place of execution, 
 
446 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 upon which doomed captives or convicted felons were put to 
 death. Subsequent to the period last named, however, the 
 stone had a more peaceful mission, the concave surface on its 
 upper end being used as a corn-mill or mortar, in which the 
 natives ground their maize. It was in after days, however, 
 since the rebuilding of the Fort in 1816, that the rock was 
 hauled from its long-time position, to within the stockade; 
 how this was accomplished in the absence of horses or cattle 
 we cannot say, yet we might suggest that ten scores of red 
 Indians, harnessed in thongs of elm bark, were a power suffi- 
 cient for the purpose. Within the Fort, the stone seemed 
 larger than before; occasionally the half-recovered invalid sol- 
 diers from the hospital would get upon it, and sit in the sun- 
 shine of spring, while their thoughts turned from this remote 
 and wilderness post, to their far-away Eastern homes. But 
 the rock to some was a terror, for it was where such had to 
 expiate the misdemeanors and devilments often breaking 
 loose among soldiers in field or fortress; and however harsh 
 such restraints and examples may be deemed by irrepressibly 
 kind-hearted people, yet the despotism and tyranny which 
 often attend military control, have much to excuse their se- 
 verity. Whether the "buck and gag" mode, or the milder 
 "barrel surtout," or else some other ingenious style of tor- 
 ture and discipline came into requisition here, we cannot par- 
 ticularly say, yet the rock was where the incorrigible were 
 placed in pillory. It is not, then, surprising, that in the 
 gossip among the rank and file, it was a playful caution and 
 a common mode of expression, that if they should do so and 
 so, they would "go to the rock!' Among the soldiers of the 
 fort, however, there appeared an incipient Praxifcles or 
 Michael Angelo, but from a neglect which has often attended 
 the fame of other men, his name has passed into oblivion. 
 But the nameless soldier cherished a design, and this pur- 
 pose was to mould a likeness upon the rock above named, of 
 some notable individual; the scheme found a hero in Wa- 
 bansa. This chief was a Chicago Indian, and the sculptor, it 
 may be supposed, had won by gifts of various plugs of tobacco 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 447 
 
 the complacent and available repose of the features of the : 
 chief from which . to copy. Whether, that portion of the 
 American army to which our soldier belonged, was ordered 
 to another post, or that some other obstacle intervened, it is 
 understood that the statue was never completed; the face 
 only was chiselled, a medallion sort of head. We may say 
 that the portrait pleased the Indians, the liege friends of the 
 chief greatly, for a party of them admitted within the stock- 
 ade to see it, whooped and leaped as if they had achieved a 
 victory, and with many uncouth gestures, they danced in a 
 triumphant circle around the rock. The reasonable tradition 
 is, that the statue is a fair representation of the face of the 
 chief. At the present time, one feature, that is the nose, we 
 are informed, has been somewhat shorn of its original vol- 
 ume; this occurred either from the strange freak of a relic- 
 hunter, or else from some traditional grudge of a revengeful 
 individual, which enmity was handed down from the circum- 
 stance, that a relative of his, some generations ago, had his 
 scalp lifted by an Indian. 
 
 In the year 1837, the distinguished Senator from Massa- 
 chusetts, Daniel Webster, paid a visit to the West, and took 
 Chicago in his route. The arrangements for that part of his 
 ride from the Illinois River to Chicago, were conducted by 
 Mr. H. S. Kinney, a canal contractor, who, if tradition does 
 not belie him, had an axe to grind, and it was ground, we 
 have heard, at a tremendous cost to some one. The convey- 
 ance was a barouche with four elegant creams attached ; Mr. 
 Webster was accompanied by his daughter and son. Every 
 wheel- vehicle, every horse and mule in town, it is said, was in 
 requisition that day, and the Senator was met some miles out 
 by a numerous delegation from this the nezv city, who joined 
 in the procession. We have the impression that it was the 
 4th of July; the column came over Randolph street bridge, 
 .and thence to the parade ground within the Fort. There 
 were guns at the Fort, which were eloquent of course, though 
 we think the soldiers had left some weeks before. We now 
 wish to say that the foundation of all this outcry about Mr. 
 
448 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 Webster, the base and platform upon which that gentleman 
 stood when he made the speech within the Fort, was the rock, 
 the same Wabansa stone of which we have been telling. If 
 any reader of this may have been present on that occasion, 
 he will no doubt remember how vigorously the late eminent 
 lawyer, Justin Butterfield, (who stood directly in front of the 
 Senator), swung, his hat and cheered the speaker. Coming 
 down to later years, we will say, precisely, when the late Mr. 
 Henry Fuller became the owner of some of the grounds of 
 the Fort Dearborn Reservation, we cannot state, but we think 
 it was at his suggestion that the statue made its appearance 
 at the Great Northwestern Sanitary Fair, held on the grounds 
 of Dearborn Park, in the year 1865, where it was not only 
 esteemed a curious relic of early Chicago, but having been 
 drilled and tunnelled for the water-pipes, it occupied a repre- 
 sentative position as the almoner of the bounty and beauty 
 of Lake Michigan. Mr. Arnold came in possession of the 
 statue in 1866, having purchased it of Judge Fuller, and re- 
 moved it to the North Division, where it officiated as part of 
 a fountain in front of his house on Erie street. There it 
 stood on that day of October, '71, when, on marched the 
 flames like a devastating army, unfeeling, and unsparing ; the 
 gleams of flying fire above, and the murky clouds of smoke 
 were reflected in the pool of the shallow basin at the foun- 
 tain. But the great wheels and levers at the Water- Works 
 were soon stilled, and the North Division, even as the South, 
 went down before the fatal simoon; what fortunes passed 
 away with the flames, what health and comfort and hopes 
 and lives were crushed in that storm of fire, will never be 
 fully told. 
 
 After the great conflagration, which destroyed nearly 
 everything in the North Division, excepting the statue, one 
 isolated mansion, and a few fragmentary rocks the remains of 
 lofty and beautiful structures, the Wabansa stone was placed 
 in its present position, surrounded by numerous deferential 
 carvings of a more modern date, remains which survived the 
 fire. It is the central shaft or column, the head of which 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 449 
 
 is the pinnacle or dome of a most tasteful and classic style, 
 externally, of a rather diminutive wigwam. This Wabansa, 
 we must suppose to be looking out from the mural folds of 
 his tent, if not to guard against the surprise of an enemy, 
 yet possibly with the instinct of an Indian-hunter, seeking in 
 the distance some Ursa-Major, for the statue faces the North; 
 we remark that a peculiarity of the mouth would appear to 
 show a preparation for a grand yell or whoop, for victory no 
 doubt. If the question shall be asked, whether or no Wa- 
 bansa really sat for the portrait, it may be answered that such 
 is understood to be the fact; yet whether he sat or stood for 
 the statue or not, the statue sat and still sits or stands for 
 him, and is, as far as we know, the sole and only piece of 
 sculpture of a Chicago Indian wrought in stone; indeed, the 
 oldest piece of art in that line which Chicago may claim as 
 its own production. Above the head appears what may seem 
 in the picture to be a cross, but was not intended for such 
 insignia; Wabansa was not only a war chief, but he was a 
 great medicine man, he was a pagan. 
 
 As before mentioned, the crown of the rock was pierced 
 30 
 
4SO CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 for a fountain of running waters; they now often flow in jets 
 and spray, in gurgling curves or cascades; these streams 
 would seem to be trying to wash out the old-time blood- 
 stains, and where were sighs and groans also, as our fancy 
 might invest the stone, and as by the tradition, we are told 
 of a sanguinary age. Calling the attention of the readers to 
 the view above, of the rock and fountain, from a photograph 
 copy which the politeness of Mr. Arnold allowed us to have 
 taken, we will add that Erin has its blarney-stone, New-En- 
 gland its Forefather s Rock, New York its Cleopatrds Needle, 
 Utica its Oneida Stone, and Chicago its Wabansa Stone; the 
 latter may properly claim the dignity of as great age as all 
 of the others. 
 
 ALEXANDER ROBINSON. 
 
 Alexander Robinson, "Indian Robinson," Chee-chee-pin- 
 quay, Chee-chee-biug-way, or Tshee-tshee-beeng-gnay, his Indian 
 name, meaning blinking eyes, from a peculiarity attending the 
 appearance of his visual organs, it is believed was born at 
 Mackinaw, or that immediate vicinity. His mother is under- 
 stood to have been wholly or in part of the Indian race. In 
 a newspaper article, some years ago, it was stated that 
 
 "His maternal grandfather was a Frenchman, and his father was 
 a British officer in the Garrison, at Mackinaw, where he passed his 
 boyhood. He is believed to have been about 104 years old at 
 the time of his death." 
 
 His gravestone tells that he "died, aged 1 10, April 22nd, 
 1872." 
 
 Mr. Blanchard's History credits the statement, that he was 
 1 10 years old, quoting Robert Kinzie, who believed he was 
 older than his (Kinzie's) father. 
 
 The following communication, however, appeared in the 
 Chicago Times in September, 1880: 
 
 AN APOCHRYPHAL METHUSELER. 
 
 To the Editor, — Your ancient historian — or writer of ancient 
 litstory — tells us that the monument at the grave of Alexander 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 451 
 
 Robinson, "chief of the Pottawatomies," etc., has recorded the 
 years of that patriarch as one and one-tenth of a century. "Chief" 
 Robinson died April 22, 1872. If he was no years old at the 
 time of his death, he must have been born in 1762. Your historian 
 says his father was a captain in the British army, stationed at 
 Macinac, and his mother a half-breed woman, whom the amorous 
 captain found there. Unfortunately for the verity of this romantic 
 tale, there were no British officers or soldiers at Mackinac in 1762. 
 The conquest of Canada by the British expedition, under Gen. 
 James Wolfe, occurred in 1760. In 1762, a military expedition 
 penetrated as far as Detroit. In 1763, Macinac was first taken by 
 a British force, commanded by George Etherington, who moved 
 thence to Green Bay. The French commandant at Macinac, when 
 Etherington arrived there, was M. Langlade, who received from 
 Etherington permission to live at "La Bayes" (now Green Bay); 
 but he does not appear to have retired to that place immediately, 
 and seems, after Etherington's departure from the Island, to have 
 still been addressed as commandant. The first record of a British 
 garrison oh the island of Macinac appears to have been in 1775, 
 when 'A. De Peyster was commandant. These historic facts are 
 hardly compatible with the assumed birth of "Chief" Robinson at 
 Macinac in 1762. 
 
 The writer hereof heard "Chief" Robinson testify on the witness- 
 stand, in the famous "sand-bar case" (Bates v. the 111. C. R. R. Co.) 
 in 1858, when he was questioned by the attornies (among them 
 Abraham Lincoln) concerning his age. He had no idea how old 
 he was; did not know the date or place of his birth, and could give 
 no data from which either could be fixed or inferred. He was a 
 very old man, that was apparent ; yet his memory of events, localities, 
 etc., in his earlier days was fairly clear. According to the inscrip- 
 tion on his tomb stone, he must have been at that time 98 years 
 old. No one who saw or heard him could have believed he was 
 nearer than twenty or thirty years of that age. The fact is, Mr. 
 Editor, these cases of modern Methuselahs will not bear investiga- 
 tion. Examination will too often show that, as in the case of 
 Robinson, the Methuselah had no knowledge of his own age. 
 
 SKEPTIC. 
 
 It would be a difficult matter to establish the age and the 
 line of ancestry on the paternal side of Alec Robinson. This 
 condition of mystery and doubt, which broods over his 
 birth-record, led Alec, sometimes, to burlesque his own 
 genealogy; {see ante p. 4.15). Yet, after an interview had 
 with him in 1866, by Mr. Draper, Secretary of Wisconsin 
 State Historical Society, Mr. D. says: "His father was a 
 Scotch trader, and his mother an Ottawa woman; and 
 
452 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 Robinson, the son of this union, was born at Mackinaw, in 
 1789." There seems a variety of opinion* regarding the 
 number of years that Alec Robinson had lived upon the 
 earth; we ourself are impressed with the belief that the 
 Chief, at his death, in 1872, had not passed his 85th birthday, 
 or was 25 years younger than the age 1 10, sometimes claimed 
 for him. Mr. Draper called his age 83 at death. 
 
 We have heard that sometime, possibly early in the 
 present century, Robinson was an associate, in some man- 
 ner, of Joseph Bailly, at the place which is now called Ber- 
 trand, Mich. In the year 1809, Robinson is said to have 
 come to Chicago and bought about a hundred bushels of 
 Indian corn, whether shelled or on the cob, we are not 
 advised, and which he shipped by boat or canoe (getting 
 over the bar at the mouth of the river with some difficulty) 
 across the lake. This, it has been suggested, was the first 
 shipment of grain, as far as known, from this port; yet, as 
 we see by a letter of Mr. Burnett (ante, p. 50) shipments of 
 corn from St. Joseph River are spoken of as early as in 1786, 
 it is not unlikely that Chicago also sent out, quite as early, 
 from cabin or cache, its initiative consignments, from this now 
 greatest of cereal centres. If Alec Robinson was not here 
 at the time of the evacuation and battle of 18 12, it is yet 
 told that he came here immediately afterward, having left 
 his canoe at the Big Calumet, "and came stealthily to 
 Antoine Ouilmette's cabin, which was near Mr. Kinzie's, on 
 the north side of the river." Secreted there, it is said that 
 he plainly heard the screams of the victims of the massacre 
 following the capture. It is understood, however, that he 
 accompanied the Kinzie family to St. Joseph, and soon after- 
 ward rowed Captain and Mrs. Heald to Mackinaw, where he 
 (Capt. H.) surrendered to the commandant there. We are 
 further told, that after a year spent at Mackinaw, he (Robin- 
 son) returned to Chicago in 18 14, finding here then, only one 
 white man, Antoine Ouilmette. The year following (18 15), 
 it is stated that these two were the only white men here, and 
 the grounds of the late Fort, both that year and in 1816, 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 453 
 
 were planted by them with Indian corn. When Major 
 Bradley arrived, in 18 16, to construct the new Fort, he paid 
 Messrs. O. and R. for their field of corn. At that time it is 
 stated that Alec and his Indian wife lived on the north side 
 of the river, near the intersection of the present Dearborn 
 and Kinzie Streets. Several of the foregoing items are 
 given upon the authority of an article in the Chicago Tribune 
 of May 14th, 1872. 
 
 Mr. Blanchard, in his History (p. 412), tells us that the 
 "old Miller house on the north side," near the junction of 
 the north branch with the main river, was built by Robinson, 
 in 1820. Mrs. Kinzie, in Wau-bun, (speaking of the year 
 1831,) says it was built by "a former resident of the name 
 of Miller; * * * This house, which stood near the forks 
 of the river, was at this time vacant." 
 
 From the year above-named (1814), we conclude that the 
 home of Mr. Robinson, might, for many years succeeding, be 
 said to be at Chicago, though we believe he was generally 
 ready for any reputable outside expedition, which promised a 
 fair compensation. Possibly it was he that piloted Mr. 
 Jouett, the Indian agent, and his bride, from the Ohio to 
 Chicago, in 1809. That he assisted and served in various 
 ways of business through several decades, the elder Kinzie, 
 Gurdon S. Hubbard, John Crafts, J. B. Beaubien, and others, 
 we are assured. He often officiated as Interpreter for the 
 Government, and in 1823, he seems to have been employed in 
 in that capacity by Dr. Wolcott, the Indian agent. When 
 Major S. H. Long's expedition, on its way to the upper 
 waters of the Mississippi, in the summer of 1823, passed 
 Chicago, Robinson was interviewed by Prof. Keating, who 
 tells that he furnished "much information concerning the 
 Indians of this vicinity."* 
 
 * Prof. K. speaks of Robinson as " a half-breed Chippewa, " and that " he 
 informed us that the Indians, who frequent this part of the country, are very 
 much intermixed, belonging principally to the Potawatomis, Ottawas, and 
 Chippewas, from which circumstance a great admixture of the three languages 
 prevails here. The vicinity of the Miamis has also, in his opinion, tended to 
 
454 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 We have heard that a Father Badin, a Roman Catholic 
 priest, on one of his visits to Chicago, administered the rite 
 of baptism to Mr. R., but of the date of the occurrence we 
 are not advised. Mr. R. was a voter here in 1825 and 1826. 
 
 On Thursday, September 28th, 1826, Mr. Robinson was 
 again married (John Kinzie, J. P., officiating), to Catharine 
 Chevalier. His former marriage with an Indian woman, 
 seems to have been annulled, or rather duplicated, for she 
 still retained a place in the household, though we have 
 heard that her position was an inferior one, the new-comer 
 being the lady or leader of the domestic arrangements of the 
 
 adulterate the language of the Potawatomis in the neighborhood of Fort Wayne; 
 and it is believed that this language is spoken in the greatest purity, only along 
 the banks of the St. Joseph, of Lake Michigan. Robinson did not suppose the 
 Potawatomis to exceed two thousand five hundred souls ; but it is probable that 
 their numbers must be greater, especially as they are united with the Kickapoos, 
 whose population amounts to six hundred in the State of Illinois. According 
 to his observations, the Potawatomis believe that they came from the vicinity of 
 the Sault de St. Marie, where they presume that they were created. A singular 
 belief, which they entertain, is, that the souls of the departed have, on their 
 way to the great prairie, to cross a large stream, over which a log is placed as 
 a bridge; but that this is in such constant agitation, that none but spirits of 
 good men can pass over it in safety, while those of the bad slip from the log 
 into the water, and are never after heard of. This information they pretend 
 to have had revealed to them by one of their ancestors, who, being dead, 
 traveled to the edge of the stream, but not liking to venture' on the log, deter- 
 mined to return to the land of the living, which purpose he effected, having 
 been seen once more among his friends, two days after his reputed death. He 
 informed them of what he had observed, and further told them, that while on 
 the verge of the stream, he had heard the sounds of the drum, to the beat of 
 which Jhe blessed were dancing, on the opposite prairie. This story they 
 firmly believe. 
 
 "With a view to collect as much information as possible on the subject of 
 Indian antiquities, we inquired of Robinson whether any traditions on this 
 subject were current among the Indians. He observed, that their ancient 
 fortifications were a frequent subject of conversation; and especially those in the 
 nature of excavations made in the ground. He had heard of one, made by the 
 Kickapoos and Fox Indians, on the Sangamo River, a stream running into the 
 Illinois. This fortification is distinguished by the name Etnatack. It is known 
 to have served as an intrenchment to the Kickapoos and Foxes, who were met 
 there, and defeated by the Potawatomis, the Ottawas, and the Chippewas. No 
 date was assigned to this transaction. We understand that the Etnatack was 
 near the Kickapoo village on the Sangamo. '' 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 455 
 
 wigwam. Such it seems was a custom of social life at 
 Chicago, and elsewhere, in the wilderness of the West, at 
 that day. We may say here, that the home of the parents 
 of the new bride was at the Calumet, and where they died; 
 yet Catharine, their daughter, (Mrs. Robinson), was born 
 within our present City limits, at Bridgeport, near where was 
 afterward the canal pump-works; so she had been often told, 
 but whether born in tent or cabin we can not say. About 
 the period above named, 1825 or 1826, Robinson lived in a 
 log-cabin on the west side, at what was subsequently called 
 Wolf Point; near him also, on the river bank, lived a French- 
 man, or half-breed, named Muller, a brother-in-law of Robin- 
 son, as Medore Beaubien informed us. [Muller's widow was 
 probably the same half-sister of Robinson, their mother 
 being the same, of whom we were told. Mrs. Muller, or at 
 least a half-sister of Alec, made her home at his house 
 some sixteen years, and died December 29th, 1876.] 
 
 In 1 83 1, Robinson received from the Commissioners of 
 Cook County, a license to keep a tavern, and in same year 
 also, one to sell merchandize; we never heard that he, at any 
 time, availed himself of the business privileges so conferred. 
 
 At the Treaty of Prairie du Chien, in July, 1829, and that 
 of Chicago, of September, 1833, Mr. Robinson was a signer; 
 in the first named, he was granted a reservation of two 
 sections of land on the "Riviere Aux Pleins," and by the 
 Treaty of Camp Tippecanoe, October 20th, 1832, he was 
 to receive an annuity of $200 during life, and a further 
 annuity of $300, was given him in the Treaty of Chicago 
 above named. He was not, however, as Mr. Blanchard's His- 
 tory tells us, "principal chief." 
 
 In vol. 7, Wis. His. Soc. Coll., appears a chapter by Hon. 
 John T. Kingston, entitled "Early Western Days," from 
 which we make an extract in the note.* We are a little 
 
 * From Mr. Kingston, we copy as follows: "The Pottawattamie Indians 
 remained at peace with the whites during the war. Those west of Lake 
 Michigan were collected mostly at Ottawa and Chicago, and were fed by the 
 Government during the summer. Near the close of the war, they took open 
 
4$6 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 inclined to doubt the accuracy of the report of Chief Robin- 
 son's address to his warriors; we will not say that the 
 account is manufactured, yet the story seems a little osten- 
 tatious. 
 
 It is believed that Robinson conducted one branch of his 
 people, the Indians, in their removal beyond the Mississippi; 
 but he returned and located permanently on his reservation 
 on the west side of the Desplaines. We are informed that 
 Mr. R. was rather below the average stature of men ; the 
 photograph, of which the above cut is a good copy, was 
 taken about two years before his death, and is called a good 
 likeness; it was the only one ever taken. He never had the 
 benefit of much, if any, schooling, and he did not write his 
 name. We have noticed, on p. lop, the circumstance of his 
 joining the first Temperance Society of Chicago. Blanch- 
 ard, in his History, says that Alec witnessed the great fire 
 from Lake Street bridge, and as he beheld its desolation, "he 
 
 ground against the Sauks. At the commencement of the war, however, the 
 great majority of the young men of that tribe manifested a strong disposition to 
 take up the tomahawk against the whites, and were only prevented doing so by 
 Robinson, their war-chief, a half-breed. " 
 
 "The following account was narrated by Robinson himself soon after the war, 
 and is, no doubt, true. The old men were for peace, but being largely in the 
 minority, their opposition in council to the young men amounted to but little; 
 war was, therefore, resolved upon, and they even went so far as to lay plans 
 for the taking of Fort Dearborn by surprise, in which they would probably 
 have been successful had it been attempted. [Gurdon S. Hubbard responded 
 to this, from which we extract as follows : " Your informant is mistaken in his 
 statement, that the young warriors of the Pottawattamies designed attempting to 
 capture Fort Dearborn, in 1832. No such design was ever contemplated; had 
 there been, I certainly should have known it. * * * Mr. Kingston is, no 
 doubt, mistaken, his statement applying to the Winnebago War, of 1827, not to 
 the troubles of 1832."] The officer, in command of the Fort, had no suspicion 
 of any hostile intention on their part, and had, for some time, allowed them to 
 come into the Fort every morning to draw their rations for the ensuing day. In 
 this way they intended to get possession of the Fort, and massacre the inmates. 
 At this time, Robinson, and Half Day, the orator of the tribe, wishing to make 
 a last effort to dissuade them from their purpose, called a council of the warriors. 
 The council lasted two or three days, and they used all the eloquence and 
 influence they possessed, to induce the young men to change their purpose, but 
 without effect. The final vote was taken, and declared, by a large majority, for 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 457 
 
 gave a lusty whoop, and exclaimed that he once more saw 
 the open prairie there, as in the old days of his own prime." 
 
 war. Upon this decision being made, Robinson arose, walked to the door of 
 the council-house, then turned and faced his warriors. . Returning their fiery and 
 defiant glances with equal defiance, he said: 'You see me before you. I led 
 the old men to battle when they were young. They have told you of my deeds 
 in war, of the scalps I have taken. I am brave and you know it. I have never 
 turned my back to an enemy; that you also know. I fought the white men as 
 long as there was any hope of success; but when I saw our warriors become 
 few and weak, and the white men become many and strong, I knew that all 
 hope of success was gone. I then said to the whites, 'let us live at peace. I 
 will be your friend, I don't speak with two tongues (don't lie).' You intend 
 to take up the tomakawk against the whites; but first cut me in two, throw 
 one-half to my white brother, keep the other for my Indian brother, then fight. 
 I will not hear the war-whoop.' After standing silent for a few moments he 
 continued: 'If you must go to war, why not fight your old enemies, the Sauks? 
 I will lead you on the war-path. Will you follow me? Decide now.' 
 Instantly the war-whoop was given by more than a hundred warriors. " 
 
 We will append to this note furthermore, an extract from Gov. Bross' His- 
 tory of Chicago, as follows; the stories are not very much alike: "Information 
 was again received through Billy Caldwell, by Col. Owen, that the hostile chiefs 
 were tampering with the Ottawa, Pottawatomie, and Chippewa Indians, belong- " 
 ing to his agency, and that, in consequence of the success in the fight at 
 Kishwaukie, many of the young men were strongly inclined to join them. It 
 was with difficulty the chiefs could restrain them. A consultation was had 
 with Messrs. Robinson and Caldwell, both influential chiefs among the Indians, 
 who advised an immediate council with the principal chiefs, together with some of 
 their young men, at which Col. Owen was to address them, and let them know 
 distinctly, that if they formed any alliance or connection with Black Hawk, or 
 furnished them men, or aid of any kind, the Government would hold them to 
 a strict accountability for it, and would punish them severely. The council was 
 held at or near the place where Rev. Mr. Richardson's Church now stands, in 
 the North Division of the City. (This church was at corner of Wolcott Street, 
 now North State and Illinois Streets). There were present a number of the 
 chiefs of the United Nations, including Caldwell and Robinson, and Col. Owen 
 and Col. R. J. Hamilton on the part of the Government. The council was 
 opened by a few remarks from Caldwell to the chiefs. Blackfoot, a chief of 
 considerable influence and power, then addressed the council. He recounted 
 many of their grievances, and charged the Government with gross injustice 
 towards them, and concluded by remarking that now was a good time to redress 
 them. His speech was evidently well received by the young men. Col. Owen 
 followed him, and his boldness, energy, and the scathing rebuke he administered 
 to Blackfoot, changed the whole current of feeling against the chief. The 
 Indians retired for a few minutes, and then returned, presenting their hands to 
 Col. Owen, declaring their friendship to the Government; and offering to furnish 
 a hundred braves to march against Black Hawk if desired. " 
 
458 
 
 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 Mr. Robinson, we understand, was the father of fourteen 
 children, all I think by his second marriage, two only of 
 whom (Mrs. Ragor and Mrs. Cooney) survive. We copy in 
 note* the inscriptions upon the monuments in the graveyard 
 at Mr. Robinson's late home. Yet, unless there was some 
 irregularity in the record which does not appear (such as 
 living with his wife "Cateche" some years before marriage) 
 then one error is plain enough carved on her tombstone; it 
 says, "she lived with her husband 42 years." 
 
 * Inscriptions from the Robinson graveyard: 
 
 "Margaret, wife of John E. Ross, and daughter of Alex, and Cateche Robin- 
 son, died Jan. 14, 1841, aged 17 years." 
 
 "John, son of Alex, and Cateche Robinson, died Feb. 24, 1843, a g e ^ '" 
 years, 6 months. " 
 
 "Catharine, wife of Alex. Robinson, (Chief of the Pottawatomies, Chippewas, 
 and Ottawas) and daughter of Francois and Mary Ann Chevalier, died August 7, 
 1S60, aged 60 years; she lived with her husband 42 years." 
 
 " Alexander Robinson, Chief of the Pottawatomies, Chippewas, and Ottawas, 
 died, aged no years, April 22, 1872." 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 459 
 
 She died i860 
 She married 1826 — 34 
 
 Several other mistakes occur; namely, upon the monuments 
 of Mrs. Ross, and John Robinson. 
 
 In a trial, in the spring of 1873, regarding the title to a 
 part of what was called "Robinson's Reservation," the 
 reporter of the case in the Chicago Tribune, used the follow- 
 ing words, which we copy: "As Robinson had been very 
 infirm for several months preceding his death, and a part of 
 the time laboring under insanity, there were grave doubts as 
 to the validity of the conveyance," etc. The Court (Judge 
 Farwell) said, "that Alexander Robinson was not of mind 
 and memory sufficiently sound, to qualify him to transact 
 business of that description." 
 
 Mr. Robinson died at his home on the Desplaines, April 
 22nd, 1872, after, as we were told, but three days' illness; his 
 disease was meningitis, the result, perhaps, of a condition of 
 mind named above. 
 
 BILLY CALDWELL AND SHABONEE. 
 
 On calling the attention of the reader by the names of two 
 prominent natives of the northwest, given at the head of this 
 article, we are led to say, that the sketches of those Indian 
 Chiefs, prepared by Mr. Wm. Hickling, for the Chicago His- 
 torical Society, and printed in No. 10, of Fergus' Historical 
 Series, though but brief, yet contain many authentic and re- 
 liable particulars not before given to the public. We shall 
 merely in this notice refer to a few items in the lives of each. 
 
 Billy Caldwell was born in Canada, but at what place we 
 are not informed, about the year 1780. His father is said to 
 have been an Irish officer in the British army, and his mother 
 an Indian woman of the Pottawatomie tribe. Educated in 
 Roman Catholic schools, he acquired a facility of writing 
 " both the English and French languages, and was master of 
 several Indian dialects." Growing up under British rule and 
 
460 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 patronage, it is not surprising that the interests of Caldwell 
 were apparently identified with that side of the line, even 
 though a large portion of his own and kindred tribes were 
 at home on American soil. But the persuasions of the tal- 
 ented and active Tecumseh in aid, not merely of the British 
 king, but to dispossess or drive away white men, who were 
 rapidly occupying the broad hunting-grounds of Indian 
 domain, helped for the time to fasten the cords more firmly 
 which held Caldwell to British fealty. 
 
 From the year 1807, down to the battle of the Thames, in 
 October, 181 3, Caldwell was intimately connected with that 
 Chief, indeed he was often called "the Secretary of Tecum- 
 seh." What battles, or forays, or scalping expeditions Cald- 
 well may have had a hand in, we are not advised; that he 
 was one who took part in the Indian attack on the troops 
 at Chicago we have never heard intimated, yet it is not al- 
 together impossible that he was with those savages; cer- 
 tainly he was in the neighborhood. We have the impres- 
 sion, however, that Billy Caldwell, " the Sauganash," had 
 little taste for blood and carnage, indeed, that he was averse 
 to all that sort of pastime. We copy here a few sentences 
 from Mr. Hickling's sketch: 
 
 " But little is known of Caldwell's individual history as a warrior, 
 or of his connection with the hostile tribes, who, after the declara- 
 tion of war between the United States and Great Britain, in 181 2, 
 made their savage forays upon the forts and frontier settlements of 
 the West. When questioned about his participation in some of these 
 affairs, he was unusually reticent; but we have unquestioned author- 
 ity to state, that he, with Tecumseh and Shabonee, used all their 
 influence, and did all that lay in their power to mitigate the horrors 
 of savage -warfare, in restraining the fury and ferocity of the Indians 
 toward the unfortunate captives who fell into their hands." 
 
 The authoress of "Wau-bun" gave details of a thrilling 
 incident of apparent danger of assassination to the Kinzie 
 family, following the battle here of 18 12, but happily relieved 
 by the opportune arrival and judgment and tact of Billy 
 Caldwell. 
 
 In 1 8 16, Caldwell and Shabonee were at Amherstburg, 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 461 
 
 (Fort Maiden), on the Detroit River, in Canada, as will be 
 seen by the following, which is a copy of a document now 
 in the library of the Chicago Historical Society; it was long 
 carried by Shabonee, or "Chamblee," as he was frequently 
 called, who gave it to Mr. Wm. Hickling, in 1858, and by him 
 presented to the Historical Society: 
 
 " This is to certify, that the Bearer of this name Chamblee, was a 
 faithful companion to me, During the Late war with the United States. 
 The Bearer Joined the Late celebrated warrior Tecumthe of the 
 Shawnee Nation, — in the year 1807, — on the Wabash River, & re- 
 mained with the above warrior from the commencement of the Hos- 
 tilities with the U. S., untill our Defeat at Moravian Town, on the 
 Thams, 5th October 1813 — I also have been witness To his intre- 
 pidity & courageous warrior on many occasion & show'd a great deal 
 of Humanity to those unfortunate Sons of Mars— who fell into his 
 Hands — 
 
 Amherstburg 1st Augst 18 16 
 
 At the treaty at L'Arbre Croche, and Michilimackinac, July, 
 1820, there appears the name "Shaganash, or Englishman," 
 a Chippewa Chief, and also at the Treaty of Maumee, Feb., 
 1833, "Saw-ga-nosh," possibly the same, was present as a 
 signer; but we must not suppose he was our "Sau-ga-nash" 
 or Billy Caldwell. 
 
 Mr. Hickling says, "It is probable that Caldwell fixed his 
 residence in Chicago about the year 1820." A few years 
 later, in spring of 1826, he held here the office of Justice of 
 the Peace, while Chicago was in Peoria County. During the 
 Winnebago Indian excitement, in 1827, the services of Cald- 
 well, as well as Shabonee, were of great use to the whites of 
 this region, directed as they were to the prevention of his 
 tribe, particularly of the band of the Chief Big-Foot, from 
 joining the Winnebagoes in any demonstration of hostility. 
 We quote again from Hickling's Sketch : 
 
462 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 "In the year 1828, the Indian Department, in consideration of 
 services rendered, built for Caldwell, probably the first 'frame' house 
 ever erected in the Northwest. The timbers for the frame were 
 readily furnished from trees, then abundant, not far from the spot on 
 which the house stood, viz., near the junction of North State and 
 Chicago Avenue."* 
 
 At the treaty of Prairie du Chien, in July, 1829, there was 
 reserved and granted to Billy Caldwell, lands, to wit: "two 
 and a-half sections on the Chicago River, above and adjoin- 
 ing the line of the purchase of 18 16." 
 
 In 1826, at the election here, Caldwell was one of the 
 voters; also at the election of July, 1830, he was a voter and 
 one of the clerks on the occasion, Medore Beaubien being the 
 other. Mark Beaubien's noted tavern, "the Sauganash," was 
 named for Caldwell. 
 
 At the treaty of Camp Tippecanoe, in Indiana, October, 
 1832, a life-annuity of $600, was guaranteed by the Govern- 
 ment to Billy Caldwell; he was the head chief of the Potta- 
 watomies. He continued to reside, while he remained here, 
 at his house on the north side, built for him by the Govern- 
 ment. He is well remembered by some of our early settlers, 
 who all speak worthily of him ; one tells of the steeds of the 
 Sauganash; these consisted of a pair of red -roan Indian 
 ponies, which, with bells on their necks, often ran in the 
 woods upon the north side. Another resident of near a-half 
 century, informs us, that Caldwell once requested him to get 
 for him a copy of the Scriptures for use at his home. The 
 gentleman referred to, accordingly procured, in New York, a 
 large, fine copy of the Bible, which the Chief ever after, 
 during his residence here, kept in sight at his cabin. 
 
 The wife of Billy Caldwell, Mrs. Kinzie said, "was a 
 
 * We learn also from Mr. H. that the material, excepting the hewed timbers, 
 such as clapboards, sash, nails, brick for chimney, etc. , were brought from 
 Cleveland, O. Another gentleman tells us that the house was of one story, with 
 a low garret above, in length perhaps fifty feet, with a door in the centre, and a 
 window on each side of the door, and also windows in the rear, but none in the 
 ends, excepting small ones in each end of the attic. The house was afterward 
 removed to a lot on Indiana Street, where it remained until the great fire. 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 463 
 
 daughter of Nee-scot-nee-meg* one of the most famous chiefs 
 of the nation." Mr. Z. Eastman in his History of Chicago 
 in the Chicago Magazine, says, "she was the wild daughter 
 of an Indian chief, and her presence did not always hallow 
 his wigwam with the sanctity of peace." Mr. Hickling says, 
 "Caldwell, I believe, had but one wife, a sister of the Potta- 
 watomie Chief 'Yellow Head.'" Their only child, a son, he 
 thinks, died in his youth. 
 
 Caldwell was a tall, fine looking man, and the Indians, it 
 is said, sometimes called him the "Straight Tree." He was 
 blessed with good common sense, and was a firm friend of 
 the whites, yet felt deeply for his kindred, the red men. 
 Such was his interest in the weaker and fading race, that he 
 felt called to pass and abide with them beyond the Missis- 
 sippi; Medore Beaubien, in 1877, told us that Caldwell finally 
 left Chicago in 1836; that he spent the first winter at what 
 was called the Platte Purchase, opposite Fort Leavenworth, 
 and the following season moved up the river, to what was 
 called Kanesville, at or near Council Bluffs, Iowa, where he 
 afterward lived and died. 
 
 Hon. John Wentworth, in a communication to the Evening 
 Journal, a year or two since, says of Billy Caldwell, "He was 
 Captain in the Indian Department of Great Britain in 1816, 
 and never renounced his British allegiance. He was Justice 
 of the Peace in Chicago in 1826, and he was an Indian Chief 
 all the time, and died a British -American -Indian subject. 
 
 * * * I find the following in one of my old papers, 
 dated October 22, 1841, which will be conclusive as to the 
 time of his death : 
 
 'DEATH OF BILLY CALDWELL. 
 
 'Died. — At the Council Bluffs, on the 28th of September last, 
 (1841) Sau-ga-nash, (Billy Caldwell) the principal Chief of the 
 united nation of Uttawa, Pottawatomie, and Chippewa Indians, in 
 the 60th year of his age. He was well and favorably known to the 
 old residents of Chicago, and the northern frontier of Illinois, as an 
 
 * Samuel A. Storrow, who visited Chicago and Fort Dearborn in 181 7, said, 
 "Traces yet remain of the devastation and massacre committed by the savages, 
 in 1812. I saw one of the principal perpetrators, Nes cot no meg. " 
 
464 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 old and efficient friend during the Sac and Fox troubles of 1832. 
 By his powerful influence and efficient management, he prevented 
 the Ottawas, Pottawatomies, and Chippewas from uniting with the 
 enemy on that occasion. 
 
 'Among those of the whites that were interested and knew him 
 well, he was esteemed an honorable, high-minded, intelligent gentle- 
 man, generous to a fault, "but attentively devoted to the interests 
 and welfare of his people, who had continuously called him to the 
 Chieftainship of their nation.'" 
 
 Shabonee, the Ottawa Chief, or, as he is sometimes called, 
 Shaubena or Chamblee, was born (as he told Mr. Hickling) 
 near the Maumee River, about the year 1775. Mr. N. Mat- 
 son, who has written "Memoirs of Shaubena,"* says he was 
 born in the year 1775 or 1776, at' an Indian village on the 
 Kankakee River, now in Will County. The father of Sha- 
 bonee was an Ottawa, who fought under Pontiac in the wars 
 which that chieftain carried on, but came with him to the 
 Illinois in 1764. Shabonee, we are told, "married, in early 
 manhood, the daughter of a Pottawatomie chief, whose 
 village was on the Illinois River bottom, a few miles above 
 the present City of Ottawa." The name of that chief was 
 Spotka; his death soon happened, and Shabonee succeeded 
 to the chieftaincy of the band. They all soon removed, how- 
 ever, to what was since called Shabonee's Grove, in the 
 southern part of DeKalb County; here, we are informed, 
 Shabonee and his band had their village and council-house, 
 and he resided there until the fall of 1837. 
 
 The continued perseverance of the British authorities ill 
 meddling with the Indians on the American side of our 
 northern line, to the great prejudice and harm of our people, 
 was a habit long in vogue with the officers and agents of 
 Johnny Bull, this side of the Atlantic. It was a mode of 
 
 * Mr. Matson's book, besides telling a good deal about Shabonee, takes in 
 details of many other kindred matters in Western history. We will mention, 
 however, one error which we notice. The Chief Wabansa died in his bed at 
 Boonville, Mo., late in the year 1846, as Medore Beaubien, who was there at 
 the time, told us. Therefore, he was not killed a short time after he went West, 
 by a party of Sacs and Foxes; his scalp was not taken off, nor his body mutilated 
 and left on the prairie to be devoured by wolves. 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 465 
 
 statesmanship, inaugurated early in the revolution, though 
 
 inveighed against by great men in the British Parliament 
 
 more than a hundred years ago. Our British enemies, with 
 
 plausible argument in the name of right, urged the savages 
 
 to regain their fair woods, and fields, and streams; yet there 
 
 was implied in this advice, the knowledge and expectation of 
 
 resulting cruelty, blood, and murder. The allies thus sought 
 
 to be secured, found payment in British finery, in presents and 
 
 pensions. Fort Maiden was a Mecca, a shrine to which the 
 
 tawny pilgrims flocked from the American border; there was 
 
 little thought of existing treaties with Uncle Sam. 
 
 James M. Bucklin, Chief Engineer of the Illinois and 
 
 Michigan Canal, who came here in 1830, to initiate surveys 
 
 for that work, says : 
 
 "From Billy Caldwell, a half-breed, with some education and 
 great intelligence, who had explored the country in every direction, 
 I often procured valuable information during my explorations. It 
 was he who first suggested making a feeder of the Calamic River. 
 To Chaubene, a Menomone Indian Chief, I often felt indebted for 
 useful information. He lived at Paw Paw Grove on the Fox River." 
 
 We are indebted to Hon. John Wentworth for a copy of 
 a letter of Shabonee and Billy Caldwell, to which he called 
 our attention. It will be proper to reprint and present the 
 communication here. The memorable political campaign of 
 1840, like every other, as we know, brought out many false- 
 hoods upon either side. Some squib, it would seem, which 
 they here combat, met the eye of Caldwell, who doubtless 
 read the papers, and as may be supposed, aroused his indig- 
 nation, as well as that of his brother warrior, Chamblee. 
 Knowing better, they did not, after having with so much 
 effort, pains, and hardship, fancy the reputation, of having 
 fought a coward. 
 
 (From Chicago Daily American, gth June, 1840.) 
 
 "Council Bluffs, 23d March, 1840. 
 "To General Harrison's Friends: 
 
 "The other day, several newspapers were brought to us; and, 
 peeping over them, to our astonishment, we found the hero of the 
 late war called a coward. This would have surprised the tall Braves, 
 Tecumseh, of the Shawnees, and Round Head and Walk-in-the- 
 
 31 
 
466 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 Water, of the Wyandotts. If the departed could rise again, they 
 would say to the white men that Gen. Harrison was the terror of the 
 late tomahawkers. The first time we got acquainted with Gen. 
 Harrison, it was at the Council Fire of the late old Tempest, Gen. 
 Wayne, on the head waters of the Wabash, at Greenville, 1796, from 
 that time until 181 1, we had many friendly smokes with him; but 
 from 181 2 we changed our tobacco smoke into powder smoke. 
 Then we found Gen. Harrison was a brave warrior, and humane to 
 his prisoners, as reported to us by two of Tecumseh's young men 
 who were taken in the fleet with Capt. Barclay on the 10th Septem- 
 ber, 1813, and on the Thames, where he routed both the red men 
 and the British; and where he showed his courage, and his humanity 
 to his prisoners, both white and red. [Probably the word "Read" 
 or "See" omitted here]. Report of Adam Brown and family, taken 
 on the morning of the battle, 5th Oct., 18 13. We are the only two 
 surviving of that day in this country. We hope the good white 
 men will protect the name of Gen. Harrison. 
 
 "We remain your friends forever, 
 
 "CHAMBLEE, Aid to Tecumseh. 
 
 "B. CALDWELL, Captain." 
 
 The efforts of Shabonee, to avert the evils consequent 
 upon Indian war to the white settlers (as well as to th e peo- 
 ple of his own race), of the Illinois and Lake Michigan 
 country, not only at the time of the Winnebago excitement, 
 in 1827, but five years later also, when Black Hawk set about 
 abating his grievances, will not be forgotten by the few 
 remaining settlers of that day, nor by the student of history, 
 who chooses to inform himself of the facts incident to those 
 occasions. We need not go into particulars ; they are detailed 
 elsewhere. 
 
 [The opposite portrait of Shabonee, has its origin from a 
 photograph taken, we think, but a short time before his 
 death; it is rather unlike his portrait on canvas at the Chicago 
 Historical Society Library, as well as the pictures in Mr. 
 Matson's book, and in the History of DeKalb County, 111. J 
 
 The testimonial given Shabonee by Billy Caldwell, regard, 
 ing the courage as well as the humanity of this Chief, is 
 copied above; the paper bears date 1st August, 1816. The 
 24th of that same month, Shabonee ("Chamblee") was pre- 
 sent as a signer to the treaty of St. Louis. 
 
 At the treaty of Prairie du Chien, in August, 1825, "Cha- 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 467 
 
 
 boner or Chambly" was a signer; also at the Chicago treaty 
 of 1853, "Shab-eh-nah" appears, and in a supplement to the 
 same "Shab-e-nai" was signed. 
 
 At the treaty of Prairie du Chien, in Jul}', 1829, "Shab- 
 ehnay" had reserved and granted to him "two sections at 
 his village near Paw Paw Grove." Yet it seems, that by some 
 inadvertence, possibly by Shabonee himself, the small reser- 
 vation, once set apart for him — a slight consideration for his 
 great services to the white men of the western prairies, was 
 stript away by an action of our Government, which ought to 
 have been his protector. The details are related in Mr. 
 Hickling's Sketch, and additional items appear in Mr. Mat- 
 son's volume. Our sympathies, even after the old man has 
 been laid in his grave for more than twenty years, are 
 strongly moved at the account of the undeserved cruelty of 
 the treatment which he received. 
 
 It is gratifying to know, that a few white friends of the 
 Chief, seeing what ill-treatment he had received, joined and 
 procured him a few acres of land near Morris, 111., and built 
 him a house, which were given him. There Shabonee died 
 
468 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 on the 17th (Mr. Hickling says 27th) of July, 1859; he was 
 buried with much display, in Morris cemetery. 
 
 The first wife of Shabonee, spoken of above, and her two 
 children, died within a few years, and he married a second, 
 and third, and there were children by each. 
 
 His oldest son was killed in Kansas, and another died in 
 Iowa, and there were a number of daughters. The second 
 wife of Shabonee, a very large woman, weighing about 400 
 pounds, was, together with her grandchild, drowned near 
 Morris in the spring'of 1864. 
 
 THE KINZIE FAMILY. 
 
 The history of Chicago never omits the name of Kinzie 
 from its pages; it would not be a history otherwise. We 
 purpose here to say something of the Kinzies, and incident- 
 ally of various names of relatives by marriage or otherwise, 
 more or less identified with the settlement at this point. 
 
 The father of John Kinzie, our early pioneer, we are told, 
 was a Scotchman; his name was John Mackenzie; and he 
 lived in Quebec, and lastly in Detroit, where he died. The 
 wife of that gentleman, we are told in Wau-bun, was a Mrs. 
 Haliburton, whose daughter by her previous marriage, was 
 mother, it is said, of the late Gen. Fleming and Nicholas 
 Low, of New York. Mr. Kinzie, at his death, left a widow 
 and a son — John Kinzie. The widow married (3d) William 
 Forsyth. [William Forsyth, originally Scotch, came from 
 Blackwater, Ireland, to New York, about 1750. He was a 
 soldier under Wolf at the capture of Quebec, and was twice 
 wounded; he was subsequently stationed at Detroit, and 
 where, after the expiration of his term of service, as we are 
 told in a note by Mr. Draper, Sec'y of the Wisconsin State 
 Historical Society, he settled, and married, as stated above. 
 He kept a tavern, without doubt, some years in Detroit, and 
 was also engaged in the fur-trade; he died in Detroit about 
 1790. There were also five younger half-brothers of John 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 469 
 
 Kinzie with name Forsyth.] John Kinzie, son of the above 
 John Mackenzie, is said to have been born in Quebec, in the 
 year 1763, but lost his father in infancy; that his stepfather 
 and mother removed to New York, but who at length got 
 around to Detroit. There is some discrepency or incom- 
 pleteness of detail concerning the movements of the family 
 at that time, as given in Wau-bun, and the adventure of 
 Johnny Kinzie, as told therein, when he ran away from Long 
 Island, more than a hundred years ago, with his conversation 
 with various persons, and his spending several years learning 
 a trade at Quebec, before his mother again knew anything of 
 him, seems a little extraordinary. Yet, whatever the real 
 circumstances were, John Kinzie, without doubt, acquired 
 something of a knowledge of the business of a silversmith, 
 and which occupation he followed, in connection with his 
 trade with the Indians. It is stated in Wau-bun, that "he 
 early entered into the Indian trade, and had establishments 
 at Sandusky, Maumee, and afterwards pushed further west, 
 about the year 1800, to St. Josephs," This was probably so; 
 on a previous page (p. 68), Mr. Burnett refers to "Kinzie," 
 evidently of that vicinity, previous to March 27th, 1801. By 
 what we learn from a search in the County Records at 
 Detroit, John Kinzie seems to have been doing business in 
 Detroit in the years 1795, '97, and '98. In May, 1795, some 
 portion of the Ottawa tribe of Indians, conveyed lands on 
 the Maumee to John Kinzie and Thomas Forsyth, of Detroit. 
 In November, 1797, the Ottawa Indians conveyed land to 
 John Kinzie, silversmith, of Detroit; also, in same year, to 
 John Kinzie, merchant, of Detroit. It appears also from 
 same records, that in September, 18 10, that John Kinzie and 
 John Whistler, Jr., were lately copartners in trade at Fort 
 Dearborn, and same year John Kinzie and Thomas Forsyth 
 were merchants in Chicago. [We were told by Robert A. 
 Kinzie, that his father was sutler for Fort Dearborn, when 
 he came to Chicago, in 1804; possibly Mr. Whistler, Jr.,* was 
 
 * John Whistler, Jr., entered the army in 19th Regiment Infantry, as Ensign, 
 in Spring of 1812; was wounded at battle of Maguago; became first Lieutenant, 
 but died December, 1813. 
 
470 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 his partner in that enterprise.] In October, 1815, John 
 Kinzie and Thomas Forsyth were copartners in trade, "in the 
 District of Detroit, Territory of Michigan"; Chicago was 
 ttien considered to be in that District, though their trade may 
 not that year, have extended to this point. In March, 18 16, 
 appear on the records, the names of John Kinzie, silversmith, 
 and Elenor, his wife, of Detroit. June 24th, 18 16, John 
 Kinzie and wife, Elenor, convey a lot, and he says, "where I 
 now live, and have built and made improvement." Also in 
 1816, John Kinzie conveys a lot, which he says is the lot 
 donated to him, because he was a sufferer by the fire in 1805. 
 It appears also that- in 181 1, he bought United States Gov- 
 ernment lands. By these items, it seems, though Mr. Kinzie 
 took up his residence in Chicago in 1804, (the first entry here 
 upon his books, bore date May 12th, 1804) that he left here 
 after the battle of August, 18 12, but returned in 18 16, yet he 
 was still identified with Detroit; certainly until the summer 
 of 1 8 16.* We notice that he was a witness at the treaty of 
 Spring Wells, near Detroit, in September, 18 15; he was one 
 of the interpreters. 
 
 When, and whether at Detroit, or some other-point or out- 
 
 * Whether or not either of the lots referred to above, conveyed by Mr. Kinzie, 
 was the one where stood the old Kinzie dwelling on the northeast corner of 
 Jefferson Avenue and Wayne Street, Detroit, we can not say; but we will 
 describe here the old house from the best information obtained. We are told 
 that the building disappeared from sight many years ago. It was of wood, one' 
 story and a-half high, and full fifty feet long, fronting the long side or eaves to 
 the street, (Jefferson Avenue). It had in front, two doors, one large, and one 
 rather small, with four, or possibly more, windows in lower front, and as many 
 dormer-windows in the roof. The ground descended toward the river, and while 
 in front, the first floor was but two steps above the street, a basement or lower- 
 room floor in the rear, was about level with the ground. In the back or rear 
 paijt of the building was a portail or veranda, full length of the building, on a 
 level with the floor in front, with steps down to the ground or basement-room 
 beneath. The roof in the rear extended sufficiently to cover the veranda. Mrs. 
 Kinzie, in Wan-bun, says that Gen. Harrison, on his arrival at Detroit, tarried 
 at Mrs. Kinzie's. Possibly, long before the Kinzie family left the premises, the 
 house, as we have heard, was occupied as a tavern ; certainly after that family 
 had finally left it, it was so used, and was called "the Saginaw House;" subse- 
 quently, it was a tenement-house, occupied by one or more families. 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 471 
 
 post of the Indian trade, he formed a marriage connection 
 with Margaret Mackenzie, we are not informed ; but we are 
 told in the supplement to one of Col. Wentworth's Lectures, 
 that Margaret Mackenzie and her sister Elizabeth, who lived 
 near Pearisburgh, Va., were captured by the Indians, "about 
 the time of the American Revolution;" they were "aged 
 about eight and ten years. Their relatives were all mur- 
 dered, except their father, who had heard nothing of his 
 daughters until near twenty-five years afterward, when they 
 were found at or near Detroit." There seems, however, to 
 have been a separation between John Kinzie and his wife 
 Margaret, even after the union had given them two sons and 
 a daughter, namely, William, James, and Elizabeth Kinzie, 
 and she went back, after the long absence, to Virginia. How 
 it came about, what crookedness there may have been, or to 
 whose charge it may be laid, we do not know, for we are not 
 told in Wau-bun. Mrs. Margaret Kinzie did not see Mr. K. 
 again, for she never returned to the north. Mr. Kinzie mar- 
 ried (2d) Mrs. Eleanor (Lytle) McKillip, the widow, as the 
 authoress of Wau-bun informs us, of a British officer. The 
 former Mrs. K. also married (2d) Benjamin Hall, of Giles 
 County, Va.;* she continued there until her death, but the 
 date of which we are not informed. 
 
 After the military post of Fort Dearborn was established, 
 Mr. Kinzie came with his family; he was, as we understand, 
 sutler for the newly formed garrison. Whether he performed 
 the labor incumbent upon the office, or else had a partner or 
 clerk, who acted in that capacity, we can not say. It is quite 
 
 * It will be proper here to allude to a parallel case, for it was allied to the 
 same family. Elizabeth Mackenzie, says Wentworth, "married a Scotchman by 
 the name of Clarke." The same mystery attends. the dissolution of that mar- 
 riage, regardless of the fact that there were a son and daughter, to remind them 
 of their obligations; but she married (2d) Jonas Clybourn, also of Giles County, 
 Va. We may add that many of those Virginians, and their immediate relatives, 
 found a home in Chicago; indeed, Col. Wentworth was inclined to call the 
 settlement here a Colony of Virginia; (see supplement to his lecture, April nth, 
 1875.) B "t it is not surprising that they were attracted to this locality; sixty 
 years since, Schoolcraft told us "the country around Chicago is the most fertile 
 and beautiful that can be imagined. " 
 
472 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 likely that Mr. Kinzie had often been at Chicago before then, 
 on business in the line of his frequent occupation as fur- 
 trader. We may say that he had then only passed his 
 fortieth birthday, and was just in his prime, and we have 
 evidence that he was a man of intelligence and industrious 
 habits of activity. He had the acquaintance and respect of 
 many prominent men, and it has occurred to us, that, possi- 
 bly, his advice and influence may have had no little effect to 
 locate the post of Fort Dearborn at this point. 
 
 We will now, in the spring of the year 1804, consider Mr. 
 Kinzie and his family, as ensconced within the walls of the 
 cabin lately occupied by LeMai. This LeMai was a French- 
 man, and, probably, a trader; previous to his possession, it 
 was owned by a gentleman of color, who, it is understood, 
 rejoiced in the rather rare name of Baptiste Point de Sable, 
 said to have been a native of the Island of San Domingo, 
 and was a personage of considerable importance in these 
 parts. De Sable is referred to by De Peyster, a British 
 officer, in command at Mackinaw, also by Augustus Grignon. 
 (See ante, p. 174-). It is possible that De Sable erected the 
 original structure, or, if by an earlier builder, then the years 
 have spread a veil which tradition has not removed, over the 
 name of the worthy who felled, hewed, and laid the first log. 
 Mr. Kinzie, it is understood, repaired and, perhaps, enlarged 
 the old cabin occasionally, and so it appeared at length, quite 
 a habitable and comfortable-appearing nest, though far out- 
 side the borders of civilization. The old cabin has frequently 
 been called the first dwelling ever erected in Chicago; but 
 that story is a mere guess, of course, and is one which we do 
 not believe, yet the old wigwam had enough to make it 
 notable without that. That old house might have claimed 
 to be famous, from the truthful associations which still cling 
 to its memory; the black, red, and white races were involved 
 in its story. 
 
 On a former page of this volume, we have remarked upon 
 the diversity of appearance, in the several views representing 
 the external appearance of the Kinzie house, and something 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 473 
 
 of its surroundings, leaving us in doubt as to which" is nearest 
 like the original. We suppose they were drawn from mem- 
 ory, or the indefinite information of others, possibly a mixture 
 of each, and by different individuals. The first of these, 
 ;from which our reduced copy is made, as appears on the next 
 page, is from Wau-bun, published in 1856; the original plate 
 is marked "Mrs. J. A. Kinzie, Del." The other is copied 
 from a cut in Potter s American Monthly of May, 1876, yet 
 nearly the same, though a smaller view, may be seen in the 
 old Chicago Magazine of March, 1857, but by whom, or when, 
 this, as well as the first named, were drawn, does not appear. 
 We will here add that the locality of the Kinzie house, as we 
 were told by Mr. Alex Wolcott, the surveyor, was a hundred 
 feet east of Pine Street, near Michigan Street. Mr. J. H. 
 Kinzie said, in i860, "the Chicago River bent and ran south 
 from our house. After running south as far as Madison 
 Street, it emptied into Lake Michigan, opposite the end of 
 Madison Street. There was a piazza running the whole front 
 of our house, looking south. Sitting there on this piazza, we 
 could see the Indian canoes going down and into the lake, 
 opposite where Madison Street now is." 
 
 We would here allude to the fact, not ^o be forgotten, at 
 this day, when Chicago has risen to such a preeminence as a 
 manufacturing town, that at the old Kinzie cabin, so often 
 referred to as one of our former antiquities, was, as far as we 
 know, the first manufactory of the incipient city. We are 
 aware that, from time immemorial, there were domestic 
 manufactures of the Indians within and without the wigwam ; 
 garments and moccasins were fashioned and decorated, mats 
 were woven, baskets braided, robes and furs were dressed, 
 the bows and arrows were shaped, and canoes of bark or logs 
 constructed. But to speak of white men as manufacturers, 
 we may say, that in the cabin of Mr. Kinzie lived the first 
 artisan of the pale race, that followed his calling in this 
 locality. Truthfully might John Kinzie have inscribed over 
 the main entrance of his domicile, 
 
474 
 
 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 KINZIE HOUSE.— From Potters American Monthly Magazine, May, iSyb. 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 475 
 
 ; 'A Number One; 
 Silversmith's Shop." 
 
 His opening circular, too, might have told of silver 
 brooches, rings, bands, clasps, crosses, ear-wheels, gorgets, 
 and the numerous other and nameless trinkets of Indian 
 adornment. It was a necessity of their language, when the 
 Indians gave to Mr. Kinzie the name "Shaw-nee-aw-kee," 
 meaning the silver man. Mr. K. was not unpopular with the 
 natives, and they appreciated the pure white metal in which 
 he wrought and dealt. So Shaw-nee-aw-kee, when not at 
 the Fort, worked in the cabin, and much of his evenings and 
 other odd hours were spent at the work-bench. 
 
 The first known white child of Chicago, was born and 
 raised in that cabin; and those were merry and joyous days 
 with the children, when they had grown large enough to 
 dance to the music of their father's violin, for he played that 
 instrument. Possibly it would be strictly proper to call the 
 Kinzie cabin the first school-house; we extract from Mr. Wells' 
 Sketch, in 1858, on page 283 of this volume: "The first 
 regular tuition given in Chicago, was in the winter of 1810-1 1, 
 by Robert A. Forsyth, late Paymaster in the United States 
 Army; and the first pupil was our present respected citizen, 
 John H. Kinzie, Esq. The teacher was thirteen years of 
 age, and the pupil six." But the undisturbed peace of the 
 hamlet, at length met with a change. Mrs. Kinzie, in Wau- 
 bun, tells of a thrilling incident there, following the battle 
 and massacre of 1812. After the departure of the owner of 
 the old cabin and his family, in that year, at Chicago, of 
 treachery, blood, and the torch, the building was allowed to 
 stand; there was no feeling of hate and revenge on the part 
 of the savages, to lead them to play spoiler towards the 
 cabin of Shaw-nee-aw-kee. We have heard that a Monsieur 
 Du Pin took possession of the cabin, and occupied the same 
 until the return of the Kinzies to their old home, in 18 16. 
 
 [We will refer the reader to the work entitled Wau-bun, 
 wherein is detailed an account of Mr. Kinzie's treatment by 
 the British authorities, after his parole, repeatedly arrested 
 and finally sent to Quebec, etc.] 
 
476 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 We do not know that the, old house can be called the first 
 inn, or house of entertainment, in Chicago, for the authoress 
 of Wau-bun apparently scouts at the idea of such a suppo- 
 sition. Yet, we do not think that it was disreputable, or at 
 all unlikely, that John Kinzie, the silversmith, who made 
 jewelry for the natives, and who was also a fur-trader, seeking 
 good bargains among the savages, while abiding here in the 
 wilderness, should deem it perfectly proper to turn an honest 
 penny now and then, by giving shelter and refreshment to 
 respectable-appearing travelers who might be passing, receiv- 
 ing therefor, not merely thanks for an affectation of a generous 
 and patriarchal hospitality, but a just and proper money 
 consideration, a reasonable quid pro q?40. Indeed, Willis 
 Scott, who came in 1826, assures us that from his own knowl- 
 edge, as well as from information of others, the Kinzie cabin 
 often extended to the traveler its comforts, upon the express 
 or implied understanding that payment was expected. 
 
 At the treaty with the Indians at St. Mary's, Ohio, Sept. 
 17th, 18 1 8, we notice that "John Kinzie, Sub-Agent" was 
 present as one of the interpreters, as well also as "C. Jouett, 
 Indian Agent;" also as a witness at same treaty, "Alexander 
 Wolcott, Jr., Indian Agent, Detroit! 1 "John Kinzie, Sub- 
 Agent," appears as a witness to the treaty of Chicago, in 
 August,* 1 821; he took part also on that occasion in the 
 discussion of one point, referred to. 
 
 In Mr. Eastman's History of Chicago, in the old Chicago 
 Magazine, we are told that John Crafts, while in the employ 
 of the American Fur Company, occupied the Kinzie house, 
 and a small building just east of it as a store. The date is 
 not given, but it is intimated that it was before he (Crafts) 
 located at "Hardscrabble,' : (a locality a few miles up the 
 south branch) and while erecting or repairing buildings there. 
 
 * That treaty was held near the Kinzie cabin, according to H. R. Schoolcraft, 
 who was Secretary to the Commission; he said, "The northern bank of the river, 
 immediately opposite the Fort, was the spot selected for the council, within 
 range of its guns, perhaps as a measure of caution. In the centre of the grounds 
 an open bower was erected, with rustic seats for the chiefs. " 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 477 
 
 [This statement conflicts with Mr. Hubbard's account some- 
 what. See ante, p. 31.] Mr. Hubbard said he believed 
 Crafts died in 1823; but as his name appears on the Assess- 
 ment Roll for 1825, it was probably later. 
 
 We learn from Mr. Hubbard that Mr. Kinzie had no con- 
 nection with the American Fur Company until after the 
 death of Mr. Crafts, when he acted as their agent. Mr. 
 Wentworth, as by a note to one of his Lectures, says that 
 Crafts died at the Kinzie house. From the same source we 
 notice that a military election was ordered to be held at Mr. 
 Kinzie' s, in September, 1823, for officers of the 17th Regiment 
 Illinois State Militia. 
 
 We should, however, have previously stated that Mr. Kin- 
 zie's daughter, Ellen Marion, was married at the Kinzie 
 cabin, to Dr. Alexander Wolcott, on Sunday, July 20, 1823; 
 John Hamlin, J. P., of Fulton County, tied the knot. It has 
 been suggested that this may have been the first marriage of 
 those of the white race at Chicago. 
 
 [Mr. N. Matson's book "Memories of Shaubena," tells how 
 the lives of John Kinzie and his boat's crew we're saved by 
 that chief, in the summer of 1824. Kinzie was returning 
 from St. Louis with a boat-load of goods, having with him 
 Edward G. Ament and Theodore Beaubien. A gang, a dozen 
 or so. of outlaws, mostly Indians, having with them a half- 
 breed named George Forqua, and a white ruffian named 
 Mason, the leader of the banditti, had seen the boat, and 
 through Forqua, had learned about its contents. The plan 
 of the pirates was to murder all on board, and rob the boat 
 of the goods. Forqua was willing to join in a robbery, but 
 opposed the murdering of the men; and as he was over- 
 mastered regarding the plot, he undertook to defeat the pro- 
 ject altogether. The boat tied up at night near Buffalo Rock, 
 on Illinois River, and as Shaubena and his band were not far 
 away, Forqua hastily communicated the design to the chief, 
 and the conspirators were foiled.] 
 
 Whatever may have been done under the earlier or French 
 regime, we do not know; yet the first judicial proceedings, 
 
478 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 the first "bench" ever mounted here by "His Honor," under 
 American laws, we confidently believe, was at the old Kinzie 
 house, when John Kinzie had been invested with the title 
 and dignity of Justice of the Peace. His commission bore 
 date December 2d, 1823. Hence we may conclude that the 
 old Kinzie cabin was our first Court House. [The Amherst 
 C. Ransom, referred to by Mr. Wentworth in the supplement 
 to one of his Lectures, we can not learn as ever officiated 
 here as a J. P.] 
 
 The last distinguished guest from abroad, whom the Kin- 
 zies entertained at the old house, we think, was Governor 
 Cass, who was returning, in summer of 1827, from his hasty 
 tour from Green Bay via the Wisconsin and Mississippi, to 
 Jefferson Barracks, and returning via the Illinois, Desplaines, 
 etc. This was during the Winnebago Indian excitement. 
 [Referring to Gov. Cass' arrival, Gurdon S. Hubbard says, 
 "While at breakfast at Mr. Kinzie's house, we heard singing, 
 faintly at first, but gradually growing louder as the singers 
 approached. Mr. Kinzie recognized the leading voice as that 
 of Bob Forsyth, and left the table for the piazza of the 
 house, where we all followed. About where Wells Street 
 crosses, in plain sight from where we stood, was a light birch- 
 bark canoe, manned with thirteen men, rapidly approaching, 
 the men keeping time with their paddles to one of the 
 Canadian boat songs; it proved to be Governor Cass and 
 his Secretary, Robert Forsyth, and they landed and soon 
 joined us."] 
 
 The Kinzie family, we believe, found more comfortable 
 quarters than the old house, in the latter months of 1827; the 
 structure, in various parts, was getting dilapidated ; the shift- 
 ing sands thereabout at that day, and more particularly 
 afterward, were blown against the ancient tenement, leaving 
 piles and drifts high up against its sides. Dr. Wolcott had 
 rooms in the brick building inside the Fort, there being no 
 troops stationed here at the time; but Mr. Kinzie, as his son 
 Robert told us, was living at Col. Beaubien's, though on a 
 visit to his daughter, Mrs. Wolcott, at the time of his death. 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 479 
 
 Mr. Rufus Blanchard was informed by Mr. Gurdon S. Hub- 
 bard, that Mr. Kinzie was apparently in vigorous health, to 
 within a few months of his death, when he had a slight attack 
 of apoplexy. After that his health declined until his second 
 attack, which was within the Fort, and from which he never 
 rallied. Mr. Hubbard, who was soon called in, said he found 
 Mr. Kinzie in convulsions, lying upon the floor, his head sup- 
 ported by his daughter. Mr. H. raised him up to a sitting 
 position, and supported him until he breathed his last, which 
 was but a brief space, may be fifteen minutes. His death 
 occurred on Monday, Jan. 6, 1828. The funeral services were 
 conducted within the Fort, and at which were present nearly 
 every inhabitant of the small settlement, to pay their tribute 
 of respect to the departed pioneer. His remains were first 
 buried on the lake shore, near the Fort, but subsequently 
 removed to the north side of the river, and interred just west 
 of the present site of the water works ; again they were re- 
 moved to the cemetery where Lincoln Park is now, near 
 North Ave. and Clark Street; and finally to Graceland. 
 
 Anson H. Taylor told us, some years ago, that he brought 
 goods with him when he came, in 1829, to Chicago, and 
 opened them at the old Kinzie house. 
 
 We do not certainly know that the Kinzie house could be 
 properly called the first post -office, though we suppose it 
 possible that the first regular mail may have been opened 
 there. The first postmaster, Mr. Bailey, certainly was living 
 there the last of March, 1831, when he was appointed to the 
 office. 
 
 Later in the last-named year, say in August, Mark Noble, 
 Sr., and family, arrived at Chicago, and occupied a part of 
 the above-mentioned cabin, and lived in it until the spring 
 of 1832. We will add, that it is believed the earliest prayer- 
 meetings in Chicago, were held in the old house, while that 
 earnest christian, Mark Noble, lived there. 
 
 But there were many, besides those above named, who, 
 notwithstanding the indifferent accommodations which it 
 afforded, temporarily lived in the old cabin a few days, 
 
480 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 weeks, or months. Indeed, we were told that Chicago, in 
 the early days, had few families, who had not, at some time, 
 been sheltered beneath its roof. 
 
 After much inquiry, we have been unable to learn, with 
 any accuracy, the date when the old house passed out of 
 sight; it may have been some time in 1834. But as an early 
 settler suggested to us, we will here repeat, "It finally wasted 
 away by the hands of Indians, emigrants landing on the 
 beach, and wagoners, for the purpose of building fires." 
 Thus, even as it emerged from the dim and indistinct past, 
 so did it fade away as a shadow, none of to-day knoweth 
 when. 
 
 "William Kinzie, the oldest child of John and Margaret 
 (Mackenzie) Kinzie," says Hon. John Wentworth, "married 
 in Giles County, Va., and moved to Elkhart, Ind.;" he died 
 there, leaving descendants, yet, of the date of his death we 
 are not informed. 
 
 James Kinzie, full brother of William, was born at Detroit, 
 Mich., April 2d, 1793, as we learn from a son of Mr. K. It 
 is believed, that he, with his brother William and sister 
 Elizabeth, accompanied their mother to Virginia, on the 
 separation of their parents, and remained their some years, 
 but precisely how long we do not know. How much earlier 
 we can not say, but we know Mr. Kinzie was selling goods to 
 the Indians at Milwaukee, in 1821, as we learn. by the follow- 
 ing extract of a letter from Major Matthew Irwin, United 
 States Factor, at Green Bay, to Col. Thos. L. McKenny, 
 Superintendent of the Indian trade, as appears in the Wis- 
 consin Historical Society's Collections, vol. 7. 
 
 "Green Bay, Oct. 6, 182 1. Mr. Kinzie, son to the Indian Sub- 
 Agent, at Chicago, and agent for the American Fur Company, has 
 been detected in selling large quantities of whisky to the Indians, at 
 and near Milwalky, of Lake Michigan; in consequence of which, 
 the Indian Agent, at Chicago, directed him to close his concerns at 
 Milwalky in sixty days, and then leave the place." 
 
 On the 13th of the previous month, as we see on p. 34. of 
 this volume, there was a consignment of goods shipped from 
 Michilimackinac, for James Kinzie, to Chicago, from the 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 48 1 
 
 American Fur Company, on joint account, "for trade of Mil- 
 liwaki and its dependencies." 
 
 SI fisz<rtsi^7 /Cm^^X, 
 
 We believe Root River, where Racine is now, was one of 
 Mr. Kinzie's outposts; standing on the Court-House Square 
 of that town, thirty-five years ago, with the compiler of this 
 book, he said that he had seen a thousand red Indians just 
 where we were. Mr. K. was then living in Racine, where he 
 had a mill, and was also engaged in farming; ten years 
 before, or as early as 1835, he had taken a stock of goods to 
 Root River, but then more for white than for Indian trade. 
 Mr. Kinzie's home, however, had long been in Chicago, living 
 mostly on the west side, at Wolf Point. The "Point," in the 
 early day, was the settlement, and where most of the business 
 was^done. In 1830, there were three elections, (two special 
 for Justice of the Peace) held at the house of Mr. Kinzie. 
 [Robert H. Kinzie, of Avoca, Wis., son of James, has the 
 original Poll- Book of the one of August 2d, 1830, referred to 
 by Mr. Wentworth in his Lecture, of May, 1876. The 
 doubtful or indistinct name of the voter, noticed by Mr. W. 
 is plainly "Alexander McDonald" on the Poll-Book.] 
 
 Mr. Kinzie was here in those first days of a seeming move- 
 ment of things, which presaged the building up of a town at 
 this locality. Mark Beaubien said he "bought a log-house 
 from Jim Kinzie," but when they laid out the town, that 
 house stood in the public highway; we may remark also, 
 that the deed of the lot on LaSalle Street, sold by Mark B. 
 to Deacon Carpenter, came from Mr. Kinzie. We think Mr. 
 K. was the owner of the Addition to Chicago, called "Wa- 
 bonsia"; in 1833, he built what was afterwards called' the 
 "Green-Tree Tavern." In that booming year of land traffic, 
 1836, Lot 7, B. 22, Original Town of Chicago, owned by Mr. 
 K., was occupied by his dwelling, store, and the "Chicago 
 Hotel"; the last named was the same "Green Tree Tavern." 
 32 
 
482 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 Yet the vicissitudes which followed the speculative era of 
 1836, we understand, involved Mr. K. as one of the many- 
 victims. 
 
 [We should before have said, that Mrs. Eleanor Kinzie, the 
 widow of John Kinzie, died of cancer, in the city of New 
 York, early in the year 1834.*] 
 
 Mr. Kinzie was one of the Trustees of the School-Section, 
 in December, 1829; he was, we think, our first Auctioneer, as 
 well as first Sheriff, of Cook County; not the first Sheriff 
 elected by the people, for Mr. Forbes was so chosen, but, we 
 think Mr. K. held the first appointment from the Governor; 
 in November, 1835, ne was one °f the Town Trustees or 
 Village Aldermen. 
 
 We had supposed Mr. Kinzie removed to Wisconsin before 
 the year 1839, but his name appears in Mr. Fergus' late 
 Chicago Directory of that year; his first wife certainly died 
 at Root River, now Racine, Wis., June 22d, 1835. Mr. Kinzie 
 married (1st) Leah See, daughter of William See,-}- married 
 
 * Margaret McKillip, the daughter of Mrs. John Kinzie, by a previous mar- 
 riage, became (at Detroit, in 1808, as by Col. John Wentworth ), the wife of 
 Lieut. Linai T. Helm, of U.S. Army. He was Ensign in 1st Infantry, Dec, 
 1807; 2d Lieutenant, (made prisoner, as also Mrs. Helm, 15th August, 1812); 
 1st Lieutenant January 13th, 1813, and Captain in April, 1814, but resigned in 
 September, 1814. The date or place of the death of Captain Helm we have not 
 learned; he was at Chicago in 1825; we think he left a son, who is not now 
 living. Mrs. Helm was much at Chicago; Mr. Hubbard says she was here in 
 1818, when he first came, and he speaks of-her as here in 1827. The statement 
 as we were told by a younger member of the Kinzie family, that Mrs. Helm died 
 in 1830, was an error. She was a woman of much energy, often exhibiting a 
 benevolence which followed the impulses of a kind heart. From the remin- 
 iscences of Rev. Jeremiah Porter, we extract the following: "Mrs. Helm, sister 
 of Mr. John H. Kinzie, daily walked from her brother's house, on the North- 
 Side, a-half mile, to minister food and a change of garments to a sick and poor 
 family of strangers, who, but for such kindness, would, may be, have followed 
 their deceased mother." This was in 1833 or '34. She was one of the first 
 members of St. James Episcopal Church. As we have already intimated, we do 
 not know in what year Mrs. Helm became a widow; but that lady married (2d) 
 in Chicago, a Dr. Abbott. We have learned no further particulars, excepting 
 that it is told that Mrs. Abbott died at Grand Rapids, Mich., 1845. 
 
 + Mr. See, sometimes called Reverend, for he was a preacher or exhorter of the 
 Methodist Episcopal Church, was, we believe, born in Virginia. In June, 1830, 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 483 
 
 (2d) Virginia Hale, who was still living in 1880. Mr. Kinzie, 
 many years ago, left the lake shore for the interior, and died 
 in Clyde, Iowa County, Wis., January 13th, 1866. There 
 were, by his first marriage, three children, of whom one was 
 living in 1879; and by the second marriage, nine children, 
 seven of whom were living in the latter part of 1879. 
 
 Elizabeth Kinzie, sister of William and James, also came 
 from Virginia to Chicago, the precise date of which we are 
 not advised. The first important event in her Chicago life, 
 of which we are informed, was her marriage to Samuel Miller, 
 at which her father officiated in tying the knot.* The date 
 
 we presume he was living at the Calumet, for the Commissioners Court of Peoria 
 County, passed an order giving him authority to keep a ferry at that stream; but 
 as his name appears in the list of voters in Chicago, of August of that year, it is 
 presumed he had removed here. At the organization of the Commissioners 
 Court of Cook County, in March, 1831, Mr. See was appointed its Clerk, which 
 office he held until his resignation, and the appointment of Col. R. J. Hamilton, 
 in the spring of 1832. Mr. See was, by trade, a blacksmith, and his educational 
 advantages had been but slight, which rather exposed him to ridicule occasionally, 
 yet he seems to have been held in the esteem of his neighbors as an honest man, 
 and no moral obliquity clings to his memory. He removed to the Rapids on 
 Root River in 1835, where he resided several years, but subsequently went to 
 Iowa County, Wis., where he remained until his death, at Pulaski, Wis., about 
 the 20th of August, 1858. 
 
 * We desire to say in this note, that we are half-inclined to find fault with 
 Hon. John Wentworth, when he calls the childr-en of the first marriage of John 
 Kinzie, "natural" sons and daughter of that gentleman. The term is scarcely 
 complimentary, as it is understood to be a synonyme of illegitimate. We may 
 remark that the laws and their application, by no means always harmonize with 
 the evenly-balanced scales of justice. There is a moral illegitimacy which parents 
 sometimes confer upon their offspring, howsoever the State laws may treat the 
 matter. We would not presume to intimate that, possibly, a strict rendering 
 might place the offensive epithet to the account of the children of either the first 
 marriage or those of the second ; we are not to adjudicate in the case. The con- 
 dition of things, however, was not one of cordiality with all the relatives ; there 
 were jealousies, envies, slights, and contempt. The. daughter that married 
 Samuel Miller, it is said, was not free from heart-burnings and griefs, incident to 
 the situation. The book known as Wau-bun, mentions not the name of James 
 Kinzie, nor his brother William, nor sister Elizabeth. In studiously avoiding the 
 name of her husband's brother, James, and his brother-in-law, Samuel Miller, 
 who were residents of Chicago at the time, the authoress of Wau-bun was led to 
 make a mistake; she said of Chicago in 1831: "I think this enumeration com- 
 prises all the white inhabitants of Chicago." It is true she speaks of "a former 
 
484 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 was July 29th, 1826. In the spring of 1832, during the 
 Indian excitement, the family of Mr. Miller, with many 
 others, were living within Fort Dearborn. It was while 
 within the Fort that Mrs. M. was very sick, and she either 
 died in the Fort, or else very soon after moving out. 
 
 John Harris Kinzie, son of John and Eleanor, was born on 
 the Detroit River, in Sandwich, Canada, on the 7th day of 
 July, 1803. [It was an error, we believe, when Mr. Kinzie 
 entered on the record-book of the Old Settler's Society, 
 "July 7, 1804," as the date of his birth.] In 1804, it is 
 understood, the family were at Chicago, but whether Mrs. 
 Kinzie and the children came in the spring of that year (as 
 we were led to infer by what Mrs. Whistler said to us), or in 
 some later month, we can not say; there have been various 
 statements. But his early years, until the abandonment of 
 Fort Dearborn, and the departure of the family, in 1812, 
 were spent here. It is said that he was the first and sole 
 pupil in the first class or private school, known at Chicago, 
 which enterprise was brought about by finding a stray spel- 
 ling-book with some goods received from Detroit. The 
 school comprised one pupil, six years of age, and the teacher 
 thirteen. Returning with the family to Chicago, in 1816, he 
 remained until the spring of 18 18, when he was taken by his 
 father to Mackinaw, to be apprenticed to the agent there of 
 the American Fur Company. Gurdon S. Hubbard on his 
 way hither, in July, of that year, saw young Kinzie at Mack- 
 inaw, and from whom he received a letter of introduction 
 to his parents here. 
 
 resident of the name of Miller, but he had removed." Yet Samuel Miller had 
 not removed, but was a present resident in 183 1; he was here the year before, 
 voting in July, and also in November. Samuel Miller was one of the Commis- 
 sioners of the County, and was present at a special term, April 13th, 183 1.. At 
 that meeting he was licensed as one of the inn-keepers of the Town, aud lie 
 kept a tavern on the north-side at that time. He was also one of the first 
 licensed merchants. He it was that offered the lowest bid to construct the first 
 public building of the County — an Estray Pen. It is, however, a recorded joke 
 at Samuel Miller's expense, that when the structure was completed, only $12 was 
 allowed him instead of $20, the contract price, it not being built according to 
 agreement. This, we understand, was the first outlay for improvement upon the 
 Court-House Square. 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 485 
 
 From Hon. I. N. Arnold's Address before the Historical 
 
 Society, November 19th, 1868, which appears in No, 10 of 
 
 the Fergus' Historical Publications, we copy some things 
 
 relating to Col. Kinzie, though elsewhere in this volume, 
 
 we have taken the liberty to correct a few statements, which 
 
 are made therein, and which were, in part, derived, as we 
 
 understand, from Mrs. Kinzie's sketch of her husband, printed 
 
 in same pamphlet : 
 
 "No one has been more identified with Chicago, from its first 
 settlement to the day of his death, than he. * * * * At the 
 time of the Fort Dearborn massacre, which took place in 1812-, an 
 event which has been so well described by the graphic pen of the 
 widow of Mr. Kinzie, he was nine years old. * * * * The 
 family went to Detroit, remained there until its capture by General 
 Harrison, and until 18 16, when they returned to their desolate home 
 at Chicago. * * * * It was at Mackinaw, during the long 
 isolation of the winter months, that he learned to play the violin, his 
 instructress being a half-breed Indian woman. The early settlers 
 of Chicago should ever hold in grateful remembrance this Indian 
 woman, for none of them will ever forget the music with which Col. 
 Kinzie enlivened so many of our social gatherings. In 1824, he was 
 transferred from Mackinaw to Prairie du Chien, and he there learned 
 the language of the Winnebagoes, and compiled, in part, a grammar* 
 of their tongue.* * * * * Some time before 1826, he received 
 an invitation from Gen. Lewis Cass, then Governor of the Territory 
 of Michigan, to become his Private Secretary. While associated 
 with Gen. Cass, who was ex officio Superintendent of the Northern 
 Tribes, he was engaged in many treaties and negotiations with the 
 red men. * * * * While in the service of Gen. Cass, he was 
 sent to Northern Ohio to study the language of the Wyandotte 
 Indians. Such was his familiarity with the Indian dialects, that he 
 rapidly learned their language, and compiled a grammar of it also. 
 In 1829, he was appointed Indian Agent, and fixed his residence at 
 Fort Winnebago." 
 
 [Yet at the treaties of Prairie du Chien, in July and Aug., 
 of 1829, as well as that of December 5th, 1832, at Fort 
 Armstrong, he signed his name as a witness with the append- 
 age, "Sub-Agent Indian Affairs." We observe that he was 
 also a subscribing witness at the treaty of Butte des Morts^ 
 in August, 1827, and at that of Green Bay, in August, 1828; 
 
 * This manuscript, upon which we notice written thereon by Mr. K., "Prairie 
 des Chiens, Jan. I, 1826," is now in the possession of the Historical Society of 
 Chicago. 
 
486 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 at the first of these (1827) he wrote his name, "John Kinzie, 
 Jr.," at the other, "John H. Kinzie." Robert Forsyth was 
 secretary for Gov. Cass in 1827, says Gurdon S. Hubbard.] 
 Mr. Kinzie, after the death of his father, fell heir to the name 
 Shaw-nee-au-kee, and by which he was well known among the 
 Indians. 
 
 Col. Kinzie married in Middletown, Conn., August 9th, 
 1830, Miss Juliette A. Magill, daughter of Arthur Magill, of 
 that place, but afterward of Ottawa, 111. A part of their 
 honeymoon was spent in New-York City, stopping at the 
 Atlantic Hotel, No. 5 Broadway; so wrote Mrs. K. many 
 years afterward. They were, however, soon on their way 
 westward, and at Detroit, in the month of September, they 
 went on board the steamboat "Henry Clay," for Green Bay. 
 Their passage and arrival at Green Bay, and. onward to 
 Fort Winnebago, is pleasantly described by Mrs. K. in the 
 pages of Wau-bun. Their journey on horseback from that 
 post to Chicago, in March of I831, was by no means so 
 pleasant an excursion. It was not, we think, until 1834, that 
 Col. Kinzie's family made Chicago their residence, though he 
 visited the place the year previous, with Capt. Hunter, his 
 brother-in-law, for the purpose of laying out Kinzie's Addi- 
 tion to Chicago. In number three of the Chicago Democrat, 
 (Dec. 10, 1833), we notice the advertisement of John H. 
 Kinzie, as a Forwarder and Commission Merchant; and in 
 first Directory, (1839), see P- J 5 °f ^ s v °I-> tne ^ rm °f Kinzie 
 
 ^t#^*%^Z> 
 
 & Hunter appear in same business. In 1841, he was ap- 
 pointed Registrar of Public Lands by President Harrison, but 
 was removed by Mr. Tyler, On completion of the Illinois 
 Canal, in 1848, he received the appointment of Canal Col- 
 lector at Chicago, which position he held, we believe, until 
 his appointment, by Mr. Lincoln, as paymaster in the army, 
 in 1 861 or '62; this last-named office he filled at the time of 
 his death. It has been sard of Col. Kinzie, that he was 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 487 
 
 "liberal, energetic, intelligent, and his name will stand identi- 
 fied with the most important features of the early growth of 
 this section." He was one of the founders of St. James 
 Episcopal Church, and was an active and valuable member of 
 the Chicago Historical Society, which he helped to organize. 
 The compiler of this article might certify to the fact that 
 Col. Kinzie was a most entertaining and agreeable stage- 
 coach companion.^ Something over thirty years ago, he 
 remembers coming from Detroit to Chicago in company with 
 that gentleman; he was apparently running over with a 
 pleasant,; humorous sort of gossip. He asked if we knew his 
 half-brother, who lived near us in Wisconsin; inquired about 
 a small sail-craft yonder, called "Memee," (or the pigeon), 
 which we think he had owned. There was a Chinaman on 
 the car, rather a tall man, who attracted some attention, as 
 representatives from the flowery kingdom were not as plenty 
 then as now-a-days. He (the Chinaman) left the car at some 
 town, and "Now," said Kinzie, "he will go and get a dish of 
 tea; but see how he walks; what a splendid gait he has, he 
 steps like a Winnebago." The railroad was then built only 
 part way across the peninsula; at the end of the rails ove'r a 
 portion of the road to St. Joe, we had a stage-coach. Kinzie 
 had with him a box of furs, a very tall sort of band-box, and 
 as the coach was not crowded, he placed the box upright in 
 the corner by his side on the back seat. After awhile he 
 placed his overcoat around the box, and with his cap on top, 
 as though pulled down over the eyes, it looked very much 
 like a drowsy passenger. The Colonel called* it his "mufti," 
 and it was somewhat amusing at various stations where we 
 drew up, to see the agents count the passengers, including 
 the "mufti," and compare with. the way-bill. There was a 
 disagreement, of course, and the "mufti" was, of necessity, 
 convicted every time of false pretence, but the laugh was on 
 the agents.* 
 
 * Miss Harriet Martineau, who visited Chicago, in 1836, wrote: "We dined 
 one day with a gentleman (Mr. J. H. Kinzie) who had been Indian Agent among 
 the Winnebagoes for some years. He and his lady s:em to have had the art of 
 
488 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 Hon. I. N. Arnold, in his Address before the Chicago His- 
 torical Society, in 1868, speaking of Col. Kinzie, said; "A 
 kinder and more benevolent heart never beat. Chicago may- 
 have lost citizens of higher positions, but no one more 
 beloved and cherished, by all who knew him, than John H. 
 Kinzie." 
 
 The dwelling of Colonel Kinzie was of brick, and stood on 
 the north-east corner of Cass and Michigan Streets; we have 
 abundant evidence that there was the home of genuine 
 hospitality. It will not be improper here to add, that the 
 spacious arm-chair, in which the Colonel usually sat for 
 many years, was the gift of a friend in New York, Mr. P. 
 L. Mills. 
 
 In poor health, accompanied by his wife and son, he was 
 on his way to Pennsylvania, hoping the jaunt might help 
 him. He died on the cars, just before reaching Pittsburg, 
 Wednesday afternoon, June 21st, 1865. 
 
 A widow, one son, and two daughters, were left by Colonel 
 Kinzie; his eldest son was killed during an engagement with 
 the enemy on White River, in summer of 1862, and a 
 daughter had died previously. 
 
 Juliette A. (Magill) Kinzie, the wife of John H. Kinzie, 
 was born in Middletown, Conn., September nth, 1806. The 
 
 making themselves as absolutely Indian, in their sympathies and manners, as the 
 welfare of the savages, among whom they lived, required. They were the only 
 persons I met with, who, really knowing the Indians, had any regard for them. 
 The testimony was universal to the good faith, and other virtues of savage life of 
 the unsophisticated Indians^ but they were spoken of in a tone of dislike, as well 
 as pity, by all but this family, and they certainly had studied their Indian neigh- 
 bors very thoroughly. * * * * We had the fearful pleasure of seeing the 
 various savage dances performed by the Indian Agent and his brother, with the 
 accompaniments of complete ^costume, barbaric music, and whooping. The most 
 intelligible was the Discovery Dance, a highly descriptive pantomime. We saw 
 the Indian go out armed for war. We saw him reconnoitre, make signs to his 
 comrades, sleep, warm himself, load his rifle, sharpen his scalping-knife, steal 
 through the grass within rifle-shot of his foes, fire, scalp one of them, and dance, 
 whooping and triumphing. There was a dreadful truth about the whole, and it 
 made our blood run cold. " [We will take this place to remark, that we have 
 made effort to get copies of photographs of the late Mr. and' Mrs. John H. 
 Kinzie, from which to get engraved portraits, but did not succeed.] 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 489 
 
 date of her marriage we have given above. This scion from 
 another roof-tree, brought to the house of Kinzie no little 
 part of the fame which clings to it. Mrs. Kinzie gained the 
 reputation of a graceful and interesting writer, which the 
 volume entitled "Wau-bun, the Early Day in the North- 
 West," clearly proves. No one can read the book without an 
 acknowledgment of her ability in the narrative; we yet 
 believe, that the claim of Mrs. Kinzie's excellence in author- 
 ship should rest upon her skill in decorative invention. She 
 had the natural gift for romance, and sober history was 
 scarcely her forte ; she would not be hedged in by homely, 
 precise and unyielding facts of detail. We have intimated 
 this in a previous chapter; it was, however, in a historical 
 sense only, and the demands in that direction, that we were 
 led to the criticisms referred to. Mrs. Kinzie passed from 
 time and earthly scenes more than ten years since, yet the 
 memory of her many virtues still lives fresh and green, with 
 many that were acquainted with her; it is the testimony of 
 all, that she was an accomplished, worthy woman. 
 
 gr ^</ . /%kj&oc~" 
 
 It is still, by some, well remembered how active and 
 efficient Mrs. Kinzie was, in the early days of the Episcopal 
 Church here. Such was her great prominence and usefulness 
 in that church, she was frequently called "The Female Bishop 
 of Illinois." 
 
 We have no positive information as to where the years 
 were passed of the maiden life of Mrs. K. We have the 
 impression, however, from some memoranda which have come 
 within our notice, that she had spent much time in the city 
 of New York; and whether from her own observation or 
 from that of others, she had, apparently, extensive knowledge 
 of matters regarding that class known by the term "higher 
 circles" of social life in that city; names, alliances, notable 
 qualities, and fateful events, comprise the jottings referred to. 
 
490 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 It will remain to the credit of both Mrs. and Mr. Kinzie, 
 that they always continued the steadfast friends of the In- 
 dians. They recognized in them, though cheated, wronged, 
 and degraded as they were, by the acts of selfish and corrupt 
 men of the white race, not merely a few virtues, generally un- 
 accorded to them, but that they were a branch of the human 
 family, who had some claim of a right to earthly enjoyment, 
 and not to be altogether debarred the hope of a possibility 
 of a happy hereafter. 
 
 The death of Mrs. Kinzie was sudden and sad. She was 
 spending the season at Amagansett, L.I. Sending to a 
 druggist for some quinine, he carelessly and unfortunately 
 sent her morphine instead; this resulted in her death, which 
 occurred September 15th, 1870. 
 
 We have referred to the birth of Ellen M., the daughter of 
 John and Eleanor, (see p. jS of this vol), and suppose it to 
 have occurred in December, 1804. Her first husband was 
 Dr. Alexander Wolcott, Indian Agent, stationed at Chicago; 
 the marriage was, as before named, at the Kinzie house, 
 July 20th, 1823. Dr. Wolcott died here in 1830. She mar- 
 ried (2d) in Detroit, Mich., 1836, Hon. George C. Bates. 
 Mrs. Bates died in Detroit, at the residence of Bishop Mc- 
 Coskey, August 1st, i860, leaving a husband and a son, 
 Kinzie Bates, of the Army. Mr. Bates, Sr., resides (1881) in 
 Colorado. 
 
 Of Maria Kinzie, daughter of John and Eleanor, we have 
 few particulars. She was born in 1807, and married Lieut. 
 David Hunter, of the army. From the Calumet Club Recep- 
 tion Pamphlet we are pleased to make the following extract 
 from a letter of Gen. Hunter, of date May 24th, 1879: 
 
 "More than half a century since, I first came to Chicago on 
 horseback, from Saint Louis, stopping on the way at the log-cabins 
 of the early settlers, and passing the last house at the mouth of 
 Fox River. I was married in Chicago, having to send a soldier 
 one hundred and sixty miles, on foot, to Peoria, for a license. The 
 northern counties in the State had not then been organized, and 
 were all attached to Peoria County. My dear wife is still alive, and 
 in good health; and I can certify, a hundred times over, that Chicago 
 is a first-rate place from which to get a good wife." 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. '491 
 
 I may say of General Hunter, that he was a cadet as early 
 as 1818, entered the army as 2d Lieutenant, in 1822, and has 
 done much and creditable service; he has been brevetted 
 Major-General. General and Mrs. Hunter reside in Washing- 
 ton, D.C. 
 
 Robert Allen Kinzie, son of John and Eleanor, was born in 
 Chicago, Feb. 8, 18 10. He was an urchin but two and a-half 
 years old, but he could remember, as he told in 1872, sixty 
 years after the battle of Chicago, of the family returning to 
 their old home again, and also the circumstance of his father 
 cutting a ball from the arm of Mrs. Heald. After a four 
 years absence, the family were again at their home in 
 Chicago. When about nine years old he accompanied his 
 father to St. Louis and back. Afterward, he was sent to 
 "Detroit to attend school, going by way of the lakes, but 
 returned over land on horseback. Of that homeward-bound 
 trip, according to The Post reporter, in 1 872, Mr. Kinzie said : 
 
 "Ten days was the distance, and, in company with a couple of 
 half-breeds, I started, supplied with rations for the whole journey. 
 We were five days out, and our provisions were out also. We ate 
 faster than we traveled. Whenever we came to a stream of any 
 ambition, we had to construct a raft in order to cross it. Hungry 
 and tired we reached Cold water, Mich., then known as Nagg's 
 trading post. Nagg was out of everything but cake-sugar, and so 
 we stayed our stomachs on cake-sugar, and would doubtless have 
 died of a surfeit of sweetness, but for the fact that one of the Indian 
 boys shot 23 pigeons. We ate them all at one meal, and reached 
 Chicago, heaven knows how!" 
 
 Mr. K. also said he went to Prairie du Chien in 1825, then 
 a frontier settlement of French Canadians, journeying with 
 Rolette, the French trader. At that place, he took a position 
 under his brother John, who was chief clerk. Dousman, son 
 of the Mackinaw trader, was the agent at the post. John 
 succeeded to the place, and Robert stepped into his shoes. 
 In 1827, he returned to Chicago; in 1828, went to Detroit. 
 Returning he was employed as clerk by Captain Leonard, 
 
492 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 sutler at Fort Winnebago, where he remained some six 
 months, but was recalled to Chicago by the death of a sister. 
 [We are not fully assured that there was no error of the 
 reporter or printer as to dates given above, and we have, in 
 -vain, sought the name and particulars of the death of the 
 "sister" spoken of] From 1829 to 1840, he remained mostly 
 here, including several years in trade at Wolf Point.* It is 
 generally believed that Mr. Kinzie built the first frame build- 
 ing in Chicago ; this, after the government structure, (see p. 
 367 of this vol), built for Billy Caldwell, was most likely true. 
 The store was erected early in 1832, and Mr. Kinzie told us 
 (July nth, 1873), that he sent to Du Pah-zh (Du -Page) for 
 
 * We refer to an incident here which is told in Wau-bun. In the year 1831, 
 of five bachelors of Chicago, who, on the occasion of a ball at Hickory Creek, 
 were invited, three accepted the invitation; these were Gholson Kercheval, 
 Medore Beaubien, and Robert Kinzie. They clad themselves in their best 
 garments, and if they lacked saddle-horses of their own, they borrowed the best 
 they could find for the excursion. At the Creek, they were received politely,* 
 their horses fed, and a bountiful supper provided, after which they were shown 
 up to the dancing-hall, and introduced to the ladies there assembled. The 
 Chicago beaux made great efforts to be agreeable to the ladies, and it would 
 seem they outshone the country lads, and, upon the whole, rather monopolized 
 the attention of the choicest dancers and best looking girls in the company. The 
 effect, as may be supposed, was anything but flattering to the young gentlemen of 
 Hickory Creek; and some penalty, by way of compensation to their injured 
 feelings, was determined on. The sweet revenge hit upon, was, to shear the 
 horses of their Chicago visitors, that is, to clip their manes and tails, so close and 
 bare, the like whereof was, probably, scarce ever seen before. The following we 
 extract from- Mrs. Kinzie's book : 
 
 " The revelry lasted until daylight, and it was now time to think of returning. 
 There was no one ready with obliging politeness to bring them their horses from 
 the stable. * * * They groped their way to the stable and went in. There 
 were some animals standing at the manger, but evidently not their horses. What 
 could they be? Had the rogues been trying to cheat them, by putting these 
 strange nondescripts into their place? They led them forth into the gray of the 
 morning, and then such a trio as met their gaze ! There were the original bodies, 
 it is true, but where were their manes and tails? * * * Gholson sat down on 
 a log and cried outright. Medard took the matter more philosophically — the 
 horse was none of his — it was Lieut. Foster's. Robert characteristically looked 
 around to see whom he could knock down on the occasion, but there was no one 
 visible on whom to wreak their vengeance. * * * * The unlucky gallants 
 mounted their steeds, and set their faces homeward. Never was there a more 
 crest-fallen and sorry-looking cavalcade. " 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 493 
 
 carpenters to build it; "Two old deacons," he said, came to 
 do the work. Mr. John S. Wright, in his "Chicago," says, 
 speaking of Mr. P. F. W. Peck, "In February or March, 1833, 
 I aided to raise the frame of his store. The first frame 
 building was Mr. Robert A. Kinzie's store, on the West-Side; 
 Mr. George W. Dole's store, south-east corner of Dearborn 
 and South Water Streets, was second; and Mr. Peck's third. 
 Previous buildings were of logs." Mr. Wright, evidently, was 
 not aware of the Caldwell "mansion," or its story. Quoting 
 further from The Post, we add, that in 1834, Mr. Kinzie fell 
 in love with an elegant and accomplished daughter of an 
 army officer and an early pioneer, who saw placed, or laid, 
 the earliest pallisades and timbers of Fort Dearborn. That 
 lady, in due time, became the wife of Mr. Kinzie. [We 
 will add here that the mother of Mrs. K., whose portrait 
 appears on p. 2j of this vol., died in Newport, Kentucky, 
 Tuesday, 12th February, 1878.] In 1835 Mr. Kinzie became 
 a member of the firm of Kinzie, Davis & Hyde, hardware 
 dealers; in 1840, he moved on to a farm at Walnut Grove, 
 Illinois, where he remained three years. In 1845, he was at 
 
 //v/t^Ll^ 7 
 
494 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 Des Moines, and thence beyond the Missouri River, in Kan- 
 sas, in trade with the Indians. In May, 1861, he was ap- 
 pointed paymaster in the army, with the rank of Major, and 
 remained in the service to the time of his death. From 1861 
 to 1864, he was in Washington, D.C.; from 1864 to 1868, in 
 New Mexico, and afterward in Chicago. 
 
 In person, Maj. Kinzie was a very powerful, as well as active 
 man. His death was from heart disease, and very sudden. 
 He seemed quite as well as usual in the morning, but later 
 in the day he suddenly became ill, and died in a few moments, 
 at his residence on 35th Street, Chicago, on Saturday after- 
 noon, December 13th 1873. The funeral services were con- 
 ducted by Father Riordan, at St. James' Roman Catholic 
 Church; the interment was in Graceland Cemetery. 
 
 It has been written of Robert A. Kinzie, "He was a man 
 of sterling character and honesty. While his life presented 
 no brilliant succession of great deeds, he was a man who 
 would be remembered as 'Good Major Kinzie.'" 
 
 CONTRABAND BEEF. 
 
 Mr. B. (the father of Judge B.) was an emigrant from 
 New England fifty years ago (1831). Some years after- 
 ward he was engaged in farming at or near Downer's Grove, 
 DuPage Co. Mr. B. had very decided convictions regarding 
 the rights of man, being an active and practical abolitionist, 
 and used to assist in bringing off the negroes, that is, over 
 some of the sections or part of the route freedom-ward. The 
 individual who gives us the information told us that Mr. B. 
 one day drove up to his place in a lumber-wagon, and, after 
 calling him out, addressed to him the inquiry: "Do you want 
 a quarter of beef this morning?" Throwing aside a blanket 
 or two, the "beef" proved to be three live, full-grown, runa- 
 way negroes lying in the wagon. These, like many others 
 before and afterward, were spirited away, on steamboats and 
 other vessels, across the line to Canada. 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 495 
 
 EARLY INNS OF THE SETTLEMENT. 
 
 It is believed that in the primitive days, before the setting 
 up of any professional and legalized taverns in the hamlet, 
 that it was the custom with the proprietor of the old Kinzie 
 house, it being the most commodious cabin in the settlement, 
 to accommodate an occasional traveler with fire-side, meals, 
 and lodging. The volume Wan-bun, however, countenances 
 no suggestion which might hint that compensation for such 
 favors was ever received; yet we have pretty good reason to 
 believe that the practice was prevalent, and that through a 
 period of years, payment was generally expected and re- 
 ceived. Whether or not there had been any other professed 
 house of public entertainment, yet the first license for a tavern 
 at Chicago, would seem to have been granted to Archibald 
 Caldwell,* by the County Commissioners' Court, of Peoria 
 County, December 8th, 1S29. 
 
 [We present above a copy of a photograph, taken in 1 880, 
 of our first tavern-keeper, Mr. Archibald Caldwell] 
 
 * Archibald Caldwell was born in Pearisburgb, Giles County, Western Virginia, 
 April 30, 1806. His parents were William and Polly (Clybourn) Caldwell. He 
 came across the country via Fort Wayne, and arrived at Chicago on horseback, 
 in July, 1827. Probably it was in 1829, that Caldwell, in company with James 
 
496 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 The tax was to be eight dollars, a bond for one hundred 
 dollars was to be given, and the prices for meals, drinks, 
 lodgings, horse-feed, etc., were fixed at certain rates. The 
 tavern-house, we are told, was built by Caldwell and James 
 Kinzie, and that, 
 
 "It was a double log-house, on the west side of the north branch, 
 a few rods up from the main branch. He (Caldwell) had a sign, 
 with a wolf painted upon it, but it had no name." 
 
 The above quotation is from Hon. John Wentworth's Lec- 
 ture, in April, 1875; the river-banks at the junction, or forks, 
 looked differently, in 1829, from what they do to-day; then 
 there were projecting points, and bars, and bogs. We will 
 add here that we had understood that the sign with the wolf, 
 was an institution of a later year, after Mr. Caldwell had left 
 the caravansary; we had heard that Lieut. Jamison, at the 
 Fort, painted that wolf on the sign, though Mr. Gurdon S. 
 Hubbard says it was Lieut. Allen. Here follows an extract 
 from a note to Rufus Blanchard, by Mr. Hubbard,' as appears 
 in Mr. Blanchard's History: 
 
 "My impression is that Elijah Wentworth opened his tavern on 
 the West Side, near the present West- Kinzie Street, in 1830, at what 
 was then called the Forks. About this date, Samuel Miller bought 
 
 Kinzie, built the log-tavern at Wolf Point, for he received a tavern-license, 
 granted in December, of that year. It is understood that he sold his interest in 
 the tavern to James Kinzie, in 1 830, and in the year following went north, to the 
 vicinity of Green Bay. There is an indication that Mr. Caldwell sometimes 
 worked at blacksmithing, for he received, as we notice from the public officials, 
 the sum of $5-50 for ironing a scraper. The wife of Mr. Caldwell was a sister 
 of Benjamin Hall, now, or lately, of Wheaton, DuPage Co., but whether she 
 deserted him or he left her, there was a separation, and it is understood that Mr. 
 C. retired to the wilderness of the north, and, for a while at least, employed 
 his time in hunting and trapping. His wife married (2d) Cole Weeks, a dis- 
 charged soldier. Mr. Caldwell also married (2d) an Indian woman of the Wis- 
 consin woods. We learn in a supplementary note to one of Mr. Wentworth's 
 Lectures, that, in 1834, Mr. C. piloted the schooner Jefferson from Green Bay to 
 Chicago, that he tarried here till the following year, and then returned to Green 
 Bay. From Mr. Caldwell's second marriage, we are informed that there are 
 "five big boys, and a girl," who represent both the white and copper-colored 
 races, for the children are half-breeds, and " all live in Indian style. " Mr. Cald- 
 well said he had a brother who lived in Chicago, but who died many years ago. 
 Archibald Caldwell now (1880) lives at Black Creek, Wisconsin. 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 497 
 
 a small log-cabin on the opposite side of the river from Wentworth's, 
 and south of the present Kinzie-Street bridge, to which he added a 
 two-story log-building, finishing the outside with split clapboards. 
 These two public-houses were the first Chicago could boast of. 
 Miller, by his influence and enterprise, erected a bridge, built wholly 
 of logs, across the north branch, just north of his tavern. He and 
 Wentworth being competitors for public favor, the Forks house get- 
 ing the most patronage, James and Robert Kinzie built stores there, 
 and here resorted some of the officers of the Fort daily for social 
 intercourse and '■drinks' at Wentworth's bar. Wolves were, in those 
 days, quite numerous; one had the audacity to enter, in the day- 
 time, Wentworth's meat-house, and was, by him, killed. His house 
 had for a sign, a tall sapling topped off just above a prominent 
 branch; it extended some distance above the top of the roof, and 
 was a conspicuous notice, to be seen from the prairie and surround- 
 ings, that 'there was food for man and beast'; it lacked, however, 
 something to hang to the branch projection to give it character; 
 how to obtain a proper emblem, puzzled the good landlord, as there 
 was no carpenter or paint-shop, or citizen artist; a happy thought 
 struck him, that Lieut. Allen might condescend to supply the 
 deficiency, improperly approached; this was effected through a 
 mutual friend. The boards of a dry-goods box were obtained, from 
 which was put in shape, under the superintendence of Lieut. James 
 Allen, a well-proportioned sign, the Indian-Agency Blacksmith put- 
 ting to it hinges, when Lieut. Allen took it in hand again, producing 
 and presenting to Wentworth, the picture of the stealthy wolf, which 
 was to serve not only as an attractive painting, but a memorial of 
 the landlord's valor in the killing, alone and unaided, of a ferocious 
 wolf. Officers and citizens received invitations to be present at the 
 hanging of the sign; the day and hour arriving, found assembled a 
 majority of the people; the sign was brought forth, duly veiled with 
 a blanket, was attached to the branch of the pole, the veil removed, 
 and it swung gracefully, and was greeted with hurrahs from those 
 present; in turn something else greeted the hoarse throats of friends. 
 Thus was produced and baptized the name of Wolf Point." 
 
 Mr. Hubbard's impression that Elijah Wentworth opened 
 his tavern on the West Side in 1830 is no doubt correct, 
 though that house could scarcely be said to have been "near 
 the present West-Kinzie Street." The information received 
 from Mrs. Taylor leads us to believe that the house stood a 
 short distance north of, and on the block joining, Lake Street 
 33 
 
498 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 (B. 22) near the upper or triangular point of ground embraced 
 within the three streets, W. Lake, Canal, and W. Water Streets. 
 But if Elijah Wentworth gave up the tavern at the Forks in 
 183 1, as we suppose, or possibly early in 1832, could Lt. Allen 
 have painted the sign for him, being that the Lieutenant had 
 not, as we understand, arrived at Chicago at as early a period ? 
 Or was he here with Capt. Fowle before 1831 ? Or is it pos- 
 sible that Mr. Wentworth returned to keeping the inn at a 
 later day? 
 
 Mr. Hubbard, as per the account in the quotation 
 above, seems at least to have demolished two plausible 
 theories or, may be, two cherished legepds. One is, that 
 Wolf Point had its name given it by some inmate of Fort 
 Dearborn, who thought it appropriate, inasmuch as the wolves 
 formerly are said to have gathered from all parts, of the 
 West-Side, and there, nightly, held high carnival of barks, 
 yells, and howls. The other exploded legend referred to, is, 
 that tradition or conceit, recorded by the ingenious authoress 
 of Wau-bun, who told that the name was so given, from it 
 having been the residence of an Indian named "Moaway," 
 or the wolf. 
 
 We extract from one of the series, entitled "By-Gone 
 Days," published in the Chicago Times a few years since: 
 
 " The hostelry was known by name of Geese Tavern; there was a 
 goose, a sign that swung in front of it, painted by one of the officers 
 at the Fort, and the proprietor was generally known by the cog- 
 nomen of 'Old Geese.' At first it was a log-house, one story in 
 height. Next it was weather-boarded ; and to give it a pretentious 
 appearance, the front was run up two-stories high, and a sort of 
 balcony was prefixed to it, which was mounted on the outside. 
 This tavern, it is believed, dates from 1829." 
 
 We must protest against one of the utterances above; the 
 writer was not "sound on the goose," for there was no goose 
 painted on that sign; he evidently confounds a goose with 
 the wolf* 
 
 * Wolf Point and the first Wolf- Point Tavern! In the coming and far-distant 
 future, when Chicago antiquities shall be studied as a classic, when the future 
 poets of this mighty metropolis shall sing of marked achievements, who knows 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 499 
 
 It will be proper, also, to contradict another absurd story, 
 relating to the origin of the sobriquet "geese," as applied to 
 Elijah Wentworth. A newspaper communication, over the 
 name of "Benjamin T. Lee," accounts for the term aforesaid, 
 by representing, that Mr. W. committed a fraud in the sale of 
 some feathers, and hence the use of the phrase. That is 
 altogether a mistake, for it arose from a song and a term used 
 by Mr. Wentworth himself. Mrs. Kinzie said: 
 
 "Facing down the river from the west, was, first a small tavern 
 kept by Mr. Wentworth, familiarly known as ' Old Geese,' not from 
 any want of shrewdness on his part, but in compliment to one of 
 his own cant expressions." 
 
 From Mr. Eastman's History in the old Chicago Magazine, 
 
 we quote: 
 
 "But the centre of attraction was at Wolf Point, opposite the 
 Miller house. Here too, was another tavern, the public-house par 
 excellence, of Chicago. * * * This building was partly log and 
 partly frame, and was situated on the ground north of Lake-Street 
 bridge, now (,1857) occupied as a lumber-yard. * * * Mr. Went- 
 worth's* tavern was the best one kept in Chicago. It was the place 
 
 but the story of Romulus and Remus, the founders of old Rome, whose renown 
 is so much indebted to a much motherly wolf, may not be eclipsed by the side of 
 a parallel at Wolf Point. If it shall be asked, what were the qualities or prop- 
 erties of the pap furnished to the fathers of a later city than Rome, who gathered 
 in the bar-room of the log-tavern, under the shadow of that sign of the wolf, we 
 may quote, "Whiskey, % pint, 12^ cts., Gin, i8^c, Rum and Brandy, 20c." 
 Such was the fashion and the law of the day. So, if the founders of Rome were 
 traditionally wolf-suckled, still more likely is it, that the loungers at the Wolf 
 Tavern were there cosseted, and coddled, possibly, sometimes, profoundly fuddled. 
 
 But whether or not, Rev. Father Walker's cabin, whose site was near by, had 
 yet been reared, it held some time earlier, or later, the first temperance meeting 
 of the village. All were not converts, however, to that faith, as we judge from 
 the following advertisement, which we notice in one of the early months of the 
 first Chicago newspaper : 
 
 "Hoosiers, Wolverenes, and Suckers, Behold!!!! The subscribers respectfully 
 tender to their above-named friends, and to his liberal patrons, the Pottawatomies, 
 their sincere thanks for past favors, and inform them that they have on hand at 
 their Man Trap, one door north of Mr. R. A. Kinzie's store, a constant supply of 
 fresh Bread, Cakes, Pastry, etc., also Liquors of every description, which they 
 will sell at reduced prices, and his friends can come and get tired for nothing. 
 
 v "JOHN WELLMAKER & CO. 
 
 "Chicago, Dec. 10, 1833." 
 
 * Elijah Wentworth, as we learn from one of Hon. John Wentworth's Lec- 
 tures, removed with his family from the State of Maine to Kentucky. In 1823 
 
500 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 where men of character who visited the town always stopped. It 
 was the headquarters of Gen. Scott, when he came to Chicago with 
 the troops for the Black-Hawk war, in 1832. The distinctive name 
 of the celebrated tavern, as familiarly used by all the settlers, was 
 Rat Castle." 
 
 That house was built of logs. Moreover, John Bates, who 
 came to Chicago in 1832, says there was not a rat in the 
 town in those days. 
 
 We must also contradict the story that Gen. Scott put up 
 with Mr. Wentworth at the Forks or Wolf Point, when he 
 arrived at Chicago in summer of 1832. Mr. Wentworth was 
 not keeping the house at the time, he had given it up some 
 time previous. Mr. and Mrs. Charles Taylor went into the 
 house in the month of June or July, and continued to keep it 
 nearly a year.-f 
 
 and ,'24, he was living somewhere in Fulton County, Illinois, but subsequently 
 went to Dodgeville, Wisconsin, and in 1830, came to Chicago. We notice in 
 4th number of the Chicago Democrat, (Dec. 17, 1833), that E. Wentworth adver- 
 tises to keep a tavern "at Flag Creek, 18 miles south of Chicago," but this, it is 
 understood, was the advertisement of Elijah Wentworth, Jr.; we believe Mr. 
 Wentworth, Sr. , soon located on the Sand Ridge, where is now the village of 
 Jefferson, and where he kept the somewhat noted " Wentworth Tavern. " Mr. 
 W. sold his farm at Jefferson, to Mr. D. L. Roberts, and died, it is belived, some- 
 where south of Chicago, the date not learned. 
 
 + Mr. and Mrs. Charles Taylor, in the summer of 1832, were on their way in 
 their own conveyance from Detroit to Chicago, but had heard of no Indian 
 excitement here until they reached the Calumet. Hastening on, they reached 
 Chicago and stopped at the house of J. Baptiste Beaubien. This, it is believed, 
 was on or about the 7th of June. The same night, however, or the one succeed- 
 ing, there was an Indian alarm, and all, including the families of John B. and 
 Mark Beaubien, went into the Fort for safety. There was a crowd of refugees 
 within the stockade, with great confusion and discomfort, but the Taylors found 
 relief the day after by an invitation from Col. Owen, the Indian agent, to accept 
 of other and more agreeable quarters. Then James Kinzie, the owner of the 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 501 
 
 The late George Davis, of Chicago, who arrived in October, 
 1833, is understood to have sketched, perhaps in that same 
 fall of his arrival, a view at the junction of the two branches 
 of the River. There appears in the Chicago Magazine (1857) 
 what is supposed to be intended to be understood as a copy 
 of that sketch. It shows the Wolf Tavern, Father Walker's 
 Cabin, and the Miller House, bridge, etc. But the sign with 
 the wolf at that West-Side tavern, does not appear, though 
 the sign post is there. That original wood-cut is a coarse 
 specimen of the art, but what we wish more particularly to 
 complain of, is the title given to the picture, which is this : 
 
 "Wolf's Point in 1830; View on die West Side, at the Junction of 
 the North and South branches." 
 
 That view of Wolf's Point (more correctly Wolf Point), 
 was from the South Side, but could not so have appeared in 
 1830; there was no bridge over the north branch, in that 
 year, nor had George Davis yet, by three years, come to the 
 village. In 1832, we understand, there was a log foot-bridge 
 over the north-branch. 
 
 Major Robert A. Kinzie, on the nth of July, 1873, told us 
 that there was no bridge over the north-branch in 1830; some 
 logs or stringers, he said, were laid across in 1832, but the 
 bridge was not finished until 1833. We have similar infor- 
 
 premises known as the Wolf Tavern at the Point, it is understood, was living in 
 the house, having something of a stock of goods there, and it seemed to him de- 
 sirable to get some one to take the premises, and, by boarding himself and family, 
 cast off one great load and grievance, that of house-keeping then in Chicago. Mr. 
 and Mrs. T. were applied to and arranged to accept the position; and so it was, 
 within ten days after their arrival, they became hotel-keepers, without design or 
 anything intentional on their part. There was a crowd of refugees from the 
 country and we have heard that from the pressure of those hungry visitors, who 
 now beset the Wolf Tavern, Mrs. T. immediately provided supper for the number 
 of some half-a-hundred. 
 
 Gen. Scott took his first Chicago bowl of soup at the Taylor's Wolf Tavern, 
 and we are told by a resident here of that year who had a room there in compan y 
 with the late Geo. W. Snow, that the neat and orderly appearance of that tavern 
 was worthy of commendation. 
 
 Mr. Taylor died in Indianola, Texas (where he was collector of the port), Sept- 
 20, 1867. Mrs, Taylor resides in Chicago, 1881. 
 
502 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 mation from Mrs. Charles Taylor, who says there was a foot- 
 way of logs over the north-branch in July of 1832, but not 
 then available for teams. 
 
 In 1867, there was published by Rufus Blanchard, a colored 
 lithograph, 15 by 18 inches, of same sketch evidently, though 
 scarcely correct, we think, and the River appears too narrow, 
 even allowing for the untrimmed shores of the lagoon. This 
 last-named picture (the lithograph) is highly decorated with 
 the grass and gay flowers supposed to border the stream; 
 such adornment is allowable, but we would like to kno*w more 
 respecting the truthfulness of other parts of the picture; it is 
 certainly different from the picture in the Magazine referred 
 to; and supposing that view gives mostly a fair representation 
 in the fall of 1833, tne lithograph is erroneous. We give on 
 the opposite page, reduced copies Of those two views.* 
 
 One of the pictures has a swinging sign, with a wolf painted 
 thereon, the other gives the sign-post, without such painting 
 on the sign. The house on the north side, is different in these 
 pictures; in one the main building is partly boarded upright, 
 which does not appear in the other; and other variations. 
 
 * We will here speak of the old log-cabin of Rev. Jesse Walker, in which 
 he lived awhile and preached, and which appears, as will be seen in the sketches. 
 It was sometimes called the "school-house,'' and for the purpose of making 
 plain the fact of its position, (see ante, pp. 370, 391), we copy a few words from 
 that early paper, the Chicago Democrat, announcing that James Kinzie, Auc- 
 tioneer, would sell, on the 13th December, 1833, 
 
 "Lot 7, Block 8, and house, formerly occupied as a meeting-house, opposite 
 the bridge on the north branch of the Chicago River. " 
 
 Lot 7, of B. 8, Original T., is at south-west corner of Kinzie and Canal 
 Streets; the railroad bridge, which is opposite this lot, is perhaps at the same 
 spot as the bridge of 1833. 
 
 Rev. S. R. Beggs in his book, page 95, says: "Jesse Walker was my successor 
 in 1832. He moved his family up to Chicago as soon as possible and set to work. 
 I attended his first quarterly meeting; it was held in an old log school-house, 
 which served for a parsonage, parlor, kitchen, and audience-room. The furniture 
 consisted of an old box stove, with one griddle, upon which we cooked. We 
 boiled our tea-kettle, cooked what few vegetables we could get, and fried our 
 meat, each in its turn. Our table was an old wooden chest; and when dinner 
 was served up, we surrounded the board and ate with a good appetite, asking no 
 questions for conscience sake. " Mr. Beggs said the house stood some 30 yards 
 west of the river. 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 503 
 
 
 
 'Si3£&'?*2jlij; 
 
 M£t 
 
 -. jtfyi^ 
 
 Reduced copy of a cut in Chicago Magazine, of 1857, erro- 
 neously entitled "Wolf's Point in 1830." 
 
 Reduced copy of a Lithograph published in 1867, marked 
 "Wolf's Point in 1833." 
 
 Since we wrote the above, we have received from the artist, 
 Samuel M. Brookes, of San Francisco, Cal, a former resident 
 of Chicago, who came in the fall of 1833, a communication in 
 which he remarks upon the above cut, copied from the Chica- 
 go Magazine, which we sent him, as follows: 
 
504 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 "I must say that I do not see how the view of the Forks of the 
 river ever could be taken for such. The river was wide enough for 
 a large steamer to turn at the fork; they would head up the south- 
 branch and back up the north-branch, — and this view looks like a 
 small creek; the house on the right is wider than the river; the bank 
 on the west side did not slope like this. The only likeness that I 
 can see is, that there was a house on that point." 
 
 The successor of Mr. Taylor, as landlord of the Wolf Tavern, 
 according to the recollection of Deacon Carpenter, was Wm. 
 W. Wattles, sometime in 1833. As per the first number of 
 the Chicago Democrat (Nov., 1833), Chester Ingersoll adver- 
 tises the "Traveler's Home," lately occupied by Mr. Wattles; 
 we have also the statement, in a newspaper communication, 
 by Hon. John Wentworth, that the tavern that Mr. Taylor 
 kept was afterward kept by Mr. Ingersoll. [The first job of 
 printing done in Chicago, we are informed by Mrs. Calhoun, 
 was after the arrival of her husband, Mr. John Calhoun, in 
 autumn of 1833. He was the first printer of Chicago, and the 
 work referred to was some hotel-cards for Chester Ingersoll] 
 So the log Wolf Tavern became the Traveler's Home. We 
 observe also in the Democrat, in speaking of the "first" arrival 
 in the river of the schooner Illinois, July 12, 1834, it says: 
 "The draw-bridge was soon raised and she came to, at In- 
 gersoll's wharf, in front of the Western Stage House? Had 
 the tavern then become the "Western Stage House?" It 
 would seem so. (See note on page 525.) 
 In Fergus' new Directory, for 1839, is given: 
 "Murphy & Titus, proprietors of 'Rat's-Castle Hotel.'" 
 But what Murphy or what Titus does not appear.* The 
 position at "corner of W. Water and N. Canal Streets" we 
 believe was the true one, if indeed the Wolf Tavern was yet 
 standing. 
 
 We may, no doubt, say of the old West- Side pioneer 
 tavern, that it underwent some changes in its external ap- 
 pearance at various dates, but of the times when, we have not 
 been enlightened; the engraved portraits which we have, and 
 
 * P. Murphy and J. W. Titus, Mr. Fergus adds, were the names. 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 505 
 
 the description, do not altogether agree. We are unable 
 further, to tell when the old cabin was torn down. 
 
 The tavern on the North-Side, known as the Miller house, 
 Mr. Rufus Blanchard tells was built- by Alexander Robinson, 
 in 1820, though Mr. Eastman's History says: 
 
 "It was a log structure, partly sided, and was erected by Mr. 
 Samuel Miller. This house was used as the occasion required, as a 
 tavern, for, as few as were the inhabitants of Chicago at that time, 
 one of their principal avocations seems to have been that of keeping 
 tavern." 
 
 [The quotation on a previous page, from Mr. Hubbard's 
 note, tells of the addition of the front or two-story part of 
 that house of Mr. Miller.] That building, perhaps, was in 
 part used by Samuel Miller and Archibald Clybourn, for a 
 store as early as 1829, for they were in partnership selling 
 goods, and that year owned, or were authorized to keep, a 
 ferry across the Chicago River "at the lower forks." 
 
 Whether Mr. Fonda's account (see ante, page 213) is alto- 
 gether reliable, as to the date, we do not know, but he says, 
 on his arrival at Fort Dearborn, in Jan., 1828: 
 
 "Getting a pass, I went outside the palisades to a house built on 
 the half-breed system, partly of logs and partly of boards. This 
 house was kept by a Mr. Miller, who lived in it with his family. 
 Here Boiseley and I put up during the time we were in the settle- 
 ment." 
 
 Mr. Miller received a license as a tavern-keeper, in April, '31. 
 
 How long he pursued the calling, we can not precisely say, 
 but Mrs. Miller died in the spring of 1832, and we think he 
 left Chicago that year. The old house was made available, 
 (as we learn from Gov. Bross' History), by Mr. P. F. W. Peck, 
 as a store, in 1832, after the Indian troubles of that year had 
 subsided. Some of the Harmon family occupied it also at 
 one time. 
 
 We should have said before that the Chief, Alex. Robinson, 
 received, in 183 1, a license from Cook County Commissioners 
 
506 
 
 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 to keep a tavern in Chicago; but we never heard of but one 
 man who put up at Alex's hotel, and he slept on the floor, 
 rolled up in his blanket. 
 
 When it was that the house of Mark Beaubien, on the 
 South-Side, at south-east corner of Lake and Market Streets, 
 was first used as a tavern, we can not precisely say; possibly 
 it should take precedence to the Miller house before spoken 
 of. Mr. Beaubien was certainly keeping a house of public 
 
 entertainment there in 1831, and, may be, that year he gave 
 it that appellation of "The Sauganash," in honor of Billy 
 Caldwell. That christening was a success; the fame of the 
 Sauganash tavern will go down to the far-distant future. 
 The first or old log-house there, stood near, or directly on the 
 corner, Mrs. Murphy tells us, and the addition or frame part 
 adjoining, was built at the south side of the cabin. We are 
 a little in doubt as to when that "frame part" was added; it 
 was certainly not before Robert Kinzie built his frame store, 
 which was in 1832. Yet, the volume Wan-bun tells as follows: 
 
 "At the point, on the South Side, stood a house just completed by 
 Mark Beaubien, Sr. It was a pretentious white two-story building, 
 with bright-blue wooden shutters, the admiration of all the little 
 circle at Wolf Point." 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 507 
 
 It is possible that the writer of Wau-bun, in 1856, toward 
 the end of a-quarter of a century, after she first saw the im- 
 proved Sauganash tavern, may have forgotten the precise 
 year when that house was "just completed," and that it was 
 in 1833, may be, instead of 183 1. 
 
 If we have been much confused in trying to give chrono- 
 logical distinctness to the history of the Wolf tavern and the 
 Miller house, the muddle extends to the career of "the Sau- 
 ganash" with nearly as great despair; so it will be seen, 
 though we are enabled to get at a few facts. 
 
 The traveler Latrobe (see ante, page 21J), who was here in 
 
 1833, hints of "five or six hotel-keepers," though he gives us 
 no names; he evidently, however, was a guest at the "Sauga- 
 nash," and if he speaks in no very complimentary terms of 
 that house of entertainment, there must be taken into account 
 the circumstances of the time; he was, besides, it has been 
 said, one of those Englishmen rather inclined to grumble; but 
 he had not then journeyed much in the Western settlements. 
 
 Mr. Beaubien* was still keeping the Sauganash early in 
 
 1834. The following is from Hoffman's "Winter in the 
 West," whose author stopped there : 
 
 "Jan. 10, 1834. * * * and the thermometer having ranged 
 as low as 28 below zero, during several days it has been impossible, 
 notwithstanding the large fires kept up by an attentive landlord, to 
 prevent ink from freezing while using it. * * * This room, 
 which is an old log-cabin aside of the main house, is one of the 
 most comfortable places in town.'' 
 
 * From Mr. Wright's "Chicago;. Past, Present, Future," we copy: "My first 
 winter in Chicago, 1 832-3, I boarded with that whole-souled friend and natural 
 gentleman, Mark Beaubien. The ' hoosiers' drove in a lot of hogs of the breed 
 more famous for the time they could make, than for the lard they could yield. 
 The bipeds staid a week or two to kill and pack the quadrupeds, and it was my 
 privilege to have the former for fellow-boarders. They were never too busy with 
 killing, and never wasted time with washing, to keep them behind at meal-times. 
 Mrs. Beaubien — a noble woman was she, and devoted Christian mother, who 
 corrected many of my New England anti-Catholic notions, tried her best to get 
 some of the 'slap-jacks' to me, but the hog-killers were so on the alert, that two 
 weeks' fighting for my living, impressed upon my memory pretty effectually the 
 early days of Chicago pork-packing. " The above portrait of Mr. Beaubien is a 
 copy of a photo taken a few years ago; it is a likeness of a much later period 
 
508 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 We suppose Mr. Beaubien may have left the Sauganash in 
 
 that year of 1834; Mrs. Murphy thinks the house was vacant 
 
 some time after their arrival that summer previous to the 
 
 succeeding January, probably, when a Mr. Davis took it, 
 
 returning to it its old name. The following editorial in the 
 
 Chicago Democrat of January 10th, 1835, says: 
 
 "We have a number of good houses in this City — that is to be. 
 The 'Sau-ga-nash' has been recently fitted up, and furnished with 
 neatness and taste, and so far as it goes, will, we have no doubt, be 
 found just the thing, and there are others whose qualities are well 
 known." 
 
 The Sauganash was kept in August of 1835, by Mr. Davis; 
 
 but Joseph N. Balestier, in his Lecture, in Jan., 1840, said as 
 
 follows : 
 
 "In 1835, the taverns were miserable. The Sauganash was 
 esteemed the best; but the crowd of strangers and the scarcity of 
 provisions, rendered every tavern in the place an abode of misery. 
 The luxury of a single bed was almost unknown, and the table had 
 no charms for the epicure." 
 
 But the landlords were scarcely responsible for "the crowd 
 of strangers and scarcity of provisions." In the same Lec- 
 ture, however, he said: 
 
 "The celebrated tavern of Mr. Mark Beaubien, known as the 
 
 than the one on page 331. We regret to have to add here, while we were pen- 
 ning the foregoing, the early settler, Mark Beaubien, has passed away. He died 
 at Kankakee, 111., on the evening of April nth, 1881. 
 
 It will be proper to add here that at the Old Settlers' Gathering, at the Calu- 
 met Club, on the evening of May 19, 1881, Hon. John Wentworth, in his speech, 
 said he had " another duty to perform. There is one man missing. " He then 
 turned to the table and took up the late Mr. Beaubien's violin, and continued : 
 " On his death-bed he willed this old violin to me, and as this Club did more for 
 him in his last days than anyone else, I deemed it my duty to bring it down and 
 present it to the Club. " 
 
 Whether it was in Rome, or Florence, or in Paganini's native City of Genoa, 
 we do not precisely remember, but somewhere we have seen it stated that the 
 violin of the great maestro is carefully preserved in a glass vase. It is quite proper 
 that the instrument of that extraordinary man should be embalmed, for the gaze, 
 and to aid the memories of his countrymen. 
 
 Yet the violin of Mark Beaubien, that for more than a half-century has caroled 
 forth its festive tones, familiar, we may say, from early manhood to gray hairs and 
 old age of not a few of our pioneers, warbling gaily the airs of encouragement, 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 509 
 
 'Eagle,! stood on the site of the Sauganash. I grieve to say that no 
 trace of this model of Chicago Inns can now be found, so unspar- 
 ing is time." 
 
 But if that was so, were there two "Eagles"? We notice 
 the "Eagle Hotel" advertised in the Democrat, January 7th, 
 1834, by A. Steele, Landlord, and April 15th, of same year, 
 
 hope and gladness, should also be preserved, as one of the veritable antiquities of 
 a greater city than Genoa, or Florence, or Rome. 
 
 By the politeness of Mr. F. B. Tuttle, the Secretary of the Club, which now 
 possesses the instrument, we have been allowed to make a copy of the violin and 
 bow of the late Mark Beaubien, which we here present. Appropriately it will 
 be seen the violin is pictured as borne up by the Calumet. 
 
5IO CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 the same house is advertised by P. I. Carli. We do not sup- 
 pose it was "on the site of the Sauganash."* 
 
 And yet a daughter of Mark Beaubien has lately said that 
 she once " lived in the first frame building erected in Chicago, 
 called the ''Eagle Exchange,' on Market Street, near the cor- 
 ner of Lake Street." 
 
 From the Democrat's sketch of Chicago, written in 1854: 
 
 "A log-building, at the corner of Dearborn and South Water Sts., 
 the once celebrated Tavern of Mark Beaubien." 
 
 Here is what T. S. Eels said, in a newspaper communica- 
 tion a few years since : 
 
 "When the Sac and Fox war was over, Chicago was a mud vil- 
 lage; at that time I boarded with Mark Beaubien, who kept a log- 
 tavern where the Exchange Hotel now stands." 
 
 Mr. Blanchard, in his History, says : 
 
 "Immediately south of this, on Market Street, stood a log-tavern 
 kept by Mark Beaubien. This was sometimes called the Sauganash, 
 but it was not the famous hotel known by that name subsequently 
 erected at about at the present corner of Franklin and Lake Streets." 
 
 There are mysteries in the above items, as we have hinted 
 before, which we are unable to clear up, as well as the follow- 
 ing from Old Stories, by B. F. Taylor : 
 
 "It gives me some such queer sort of satisfaction, to think these 
 eyes of mine have beheld a log-tavern in the heart of Chicago, as" 
 etc. * * * "Yet in an alley, just off Wells Street, where it had 
 been ignobly thrust, stood the old log-tavern. To be sure, a cow 
 looked out at the door, and chewed her cud of grass and medita- 
 tation, and a pig was chafing his left shoulder against the angle of a 
 projecting log." * 
 
 We had supposed the "Sauganash Tavern," the one that 
 was "famous," stood on that south-east corner of Lake and 
 
 * We have heard of still anpther " Eagle, " (not to refer to Isaac Cook's saloon 
 on Dearborn St. ), though it must be classed as rather a select house of entertain- 
 ment, as will appear by the following, told by an early resident. A large, pom- 
 pous appearing individual, whose name was Allen, generally called " Col. Allen, " 
 was arrested here for counterfeiting; it was while he was on his way to the Court- 
 room, for examination or trial, that an acquaintance addressed him with, " How 
 do you do, Colonel, where are you stopping now? " " Oh, " answered the Colonel, 
 "just over here at the Blue Eagle." He meant the County Jail, on the N.-W. 
 corner of the Court House Square, presided over by the sheriff, Isaac R. Gavin. 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 5 1 1 
 
 Market Streets, and at no other place. Mr. Robert Fergus is 
 strongly impressed with the idea, that when he came to Chi- 
 cago, July i, 1839, the Sauganash Tavern stood on Market 
 Street, on the corner of the alley south of Lake Street, and 
 fronting to the west. Mrs. Harriet A. Murphy, whose late 
 husband, John Murphy, kept that house three several times, 
 says that she does not remember that Mark Beaubien kept a 
 house called Sauganash at any other point than at above- 
 named corner of Lake and Market Streets. Mr. and Mrs. 
 Murphy,* who arrived at Chicago, in June, 1834, were several 
 months in a private house, and in August, of that year 
 opened and kept a new house, just completed, owned by 
 Mark Beaubien, situated on the north-west corner of Wells 
 and Lake Streets. They gave to that house the name of 
 Exchange Coffee House; there were at that time, says Mrs. 
 Murphy, certainly not over a dozen buildings on Lake Street. 
 They kept the Exchange Coffee House about a year and a- 
 half, and then went into the Sauganash, in 1836. We may 
 
 * John Murphy, the son of Edward Murphy, was born in Clermoy, County of 
 Cork, Ireland, in the year 1803, and emigrated at an early age to this country. 
 . With a tolerable English education, and much native intelligence and energy, 
 America for him was the field, as it had been to his countrymen for some gener- 
 ations, where he might find a soil and climate, natural, political and social, 
 favorable to his enterprise. Bred a Roman Catholic, it would have been rather 
 an anomalous circumstance at some earlier day, that one of that religious faith 
 should gain an alliance with a. daughter of the strict and protesting Puritans. 
 Such, however, was the fact, and Miss Harriet Austin, the daughter of Capt. 
 Thomas Austin and Mrs. Pamelia (Loomis) Austin, of Suffield, Conn., became 
 the wife of John Murphy. [Thomas Austin, we may say, was a direct descendant 
 of Captain Anthony Austin, of Rowley, Mass., 1669, but who, in 1682, was one 
 of the first settlers of SufHeld, Conn., at the organization of that town.] The 
 match, it is conceded, was a happy one, and somewhere we have noticed, it was 
 said by Hon. John Wentworth, in substance as follows : Mr. Murphy being a 
 strong Roman Catholic, had the children baptized by the priest, which made 
 good Roman Catholics of them, and Mrs. Murphy, being a strict Baptist, had all 
 the qhildren immersed, and so made good Baptists of them, and, of course, every- 
 thing religiously, was harmonious. 
 
 Mr. Murphy, as we notice, held the office of Alderman, at least twice; in 1839, 
 he was elected Alderman of the 4th Ward, and in 1844, of the 2d. 
 
 Mr. Murphy died of cholera at his residence at the U. S. Hotel, August 14th, 
 1850. 
 
512 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 here say that after Mr. Murphy left the Coffee House, it was 
 called the Illinois Exchange. When he opened the Saugan- 
 ash, in 1836, he called it the "United States Hotel," as a 
 temporary expedient; he was then building, or intending to 
 build, a house to bear that name, and he wished to secure the 
 designation for his future West-Side inn. 
 
 Hon. John Wentworth, on the 25th of October, 1836, took 
 his first meal in Chicago, with the Murphys, at their United- 
 States- Sauganash Hotel. It was called the best kept house 
 on the South-Side. Mr. Wentworth says: 
 
 "The portion of the building where the bar and office were kept, 
 was of logs; but the dining-room and sleeping-rooms were in a large 
 frame addition. I was told, that log part was once a hotel by itself, 
 and named 'Sauganash,' after Billy Caldwell. 1 knew Caldwell well. 
 I never heard of. any other Sauganash Hotel." 
 
 The old log part of the Sauganash tavern, it is understood, 
 was located very near, if not directly on the cor. of Lake and 
 Market Streets; it was torn down after Mr. Murphy took 
 possession. 
 
 We may also add that an additional wing for a kitchen was 
 appended on the east side, and, at a later period, the main 
 building was extended north to Lake Street. 
 
 Mr. Murphy first left the Sauganash, it is believed, early 
 in the year 1837, when he opened his new United States 
 Hotel, over the River. The Sauganash, after Mr. M. left it, 
 was next used as a theatre, the first in Chicago, but how long 
 so appropriated we are not informed. In the fall of 1839, 
 and, may be, some time previously, it was kept as a hotel by 
 Jesse Seymour. Mr. Seymour, however, soon sold out to Mr. 
 Murphy, who had rented his West-Side hotel to a Mr. Smith, 
 and in the spring of 1840, was again the keeper of the Sau- 
 ganash. Whether it was a year and a-half, more or less, that 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 513 
 
 Mr. Murphy continued there, he sold out to a Mr. Davis (not 
 the same Mr. Davis who kept it before) and went back to the 
 U. S. Hotel, Mr. Smith having surrendered his lease. [We 
 present below a copy of a sketch taken in 1839, by the 
 
 late George Davis, of Chicago. The view was from the cor- 
 ner of Canal and Washington Streets, looking north-east. 
 The tall building, as seen in the picture, was the United States 
 Hotel, on West Water and Randolph Streets, fronting toward 
 the River; it stood there until 1848 or '49, when its front was 
 changed, being moved to N.-E. cor. of W. Randolph and Canal 
 Streets. There appears some little defect perhaps in the per- 
 spective of the sketch : the bridge crossed at Randolph Street.] 
 Mr. Davis (not George) continued in the Sauganash but six 
 months, but managed to fail however within the period. The 
 owner of the premises, Mr. Augustus Garrett, persuaded Mr. 
 Murphy to go into the Sauganash once more, where he con- 
 tinued many months, but precisely how long we can not say.* 
 
 * We should, no doubt, here speak of the esthetic tastes and display which 
 were apparent in those early days on Market Street; we allude to that adjunct of 
 the Sauganash, a flower-garden lying just east of the house during the time that 
 Mrs. Murphy presided there. Not only the ladies of the house, including the 
 late Mrs. Augustus Garrett and others, but also various of the gentlemen who 
 were boarders there (Mr. John Wentworth was one of them), each having their 
 flower-bed, where each held control and where they marked and shaped, planted 
 
 34 
 
514 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 Mr. Murphy returned to his own house, the U. S. Hotel, on 
 the West- Side, and afterward rented the premises to John 
 Cook for several years; this lease had not expired at the time 
 of Mr. Murphy's death; but Mr. Cook surrendered his lease, 
 and the house was rented to Mr. David L. Roberts, who occu- 
 pied it till it was burnt. 
 
 After Mr. Murphy had finally left the Sauganash, it was 
 opened by a Mr. Brown, from the City Hotel, we have heard 
 (possibly Mr. Jeduthan Brown, of the new City Hotel, corner 
 of State and Lake Streets), who kept it awhile, but after per- 
 haps a year or so, returned to the City Hotel, where he died. 
 The "Sauganash Hotel" in 1844 was kept by L. M. Oster- 
 houdt. 1 
 
 We are informed by Mrs.. Murphy, there was- a house known 
 as the "Vermont House," on the same block of the Sauga- 
 nash, just south across the alley; it was kept by a Mr. Joshua 
 Bell. Mr. Bell's name appears on the Directories, as of the 
 Vermont House, from 1849 to 1864. 
 
 There is not in existence, that we know, any picture or view 
 of the Sauganash tavern; but in 1865, after the last of the 
 buildings at the S.-E. corner of Lake and Market Streets had 
 1 
 
 and cared for, the various figures which their little farms assumed. We do not 
 know if there were any clumps of those old-fashioned beauties, the gorgeous and 
 crimson peonys, or if there stood, as sentinels here and there, the stately sun- 
 flowers; but there were pinks and dahlias, tulips and violets, etc., and beauty and 
 fragrance were there truly supposed to abound. 
 
 There was one circumstance to which we wish particularly to refer, and that is, 
 that upon the section appropriated by Long John, for his own cultivation, he 
 placed with the flowers a tiny cabbage plant. It was a plain, quakerish-looking 
 affair, diffident, and modestly shrinking from the sunlight; but it grew from a pair 
 of limsy leaves to become a huge vegetable, pretentious and obese. We are 
 inclined to believe that Mr. W. slighted his pinks, holly-hocks, and daisies, and 
 petted the growing vegetable. He has never, that we know, explained how or by 
 what system he secured such immensity in that cabbage. Certainly, it " beat the 
 Dutch;'' no German in our City or suburbs, whether he came from the Valley of 
 the Weser or the Rhine, has ever been able, it is supposed, to grow so large a 
 one. All persons then at the Sauganash, now living, must remember that cab- 
 bage; many citizens from curiosity went to see it. Yet, alas, most of the eyes 
 that gazed upon it are now dim with the mists of years, or else are closed forever 
 in the sleep beneath the flowers. 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 515 
 
 passed away by fire, whether or not there were others there 
 not named above, it is well remembered that the structure 
 called "the Wigwam," occupied that site, noted not only as the 
 place of the "Sauganash" but also as the somewhat famous 
 spot where President Lincoln was first nominated. Here is a 
 view of the "Wigwam," from a photograph by Mr. Hesler; that 
 structure, we may say, remained until the fire of 187 1. 
 
 In the year 1833, there was built, by James Kinzie, on the 
 N.-E. corner of N. Canal and W. Lake Streets, a house, con- 
 structed for a tavern, and which, from a scrub— though-ver- 
 dant oak of the prairie, in its immediate neighborhood, the 
 house gained the name of the Green Tree Tavern* The 
 
 * It has been confidently told of Mr. S. B. Cobb, a gentleman well known in 
 the City, that when he arrived on the 29th day of May, 1833, when his entrance 
 within the portals here, of an active life-journey, became a demonstration at Wolf 
 Point, he had not a dollar left in his pocket after paying his fare to the captain of 
 the schooner Atlanta, upon which vessel he came up the Lakes. With the deter- 
 mination, however, of a live Yankee, not to give it up so, which trait confers 
 honor (not only upon the memory of Henry Cobb, the first of the Cobbs in New 
 England, and who was in Plymouth Colony as early as 1629, but upon that of 
 Ebenezer Cobb, who died in 1801, at the age of 107^ years, said to have been 
 the oldest man who was born and lived upon the soil of Massachusetts), he took 
 
5 i6 
 
 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 house, it is believed, was made tenantable that same year 
 
 of 1833, and we have heard that a man named Lawton first 
 
 kept the tavern. It was the Stage-House in 1835 ; a traveler 
 
 who arrived here from St. Louis that year says: 
 
 "The scanty accommodations of the town were over-filled by a 
 horde of land-speculators, who had come to attend the public sale 
 to take place in June, and the landlord in reply to our application 
 said he had not a space on the floor but which was engaged three 
 deep!" See note on page 525. 
 
 A Mr. Cox (David Cox it is believed, who was living in the 
 4th Ward and one of the judges of election in 1837) was the 
 landlord in 1835, and we think so continued until 1839. The 
 house in 1836 was called the " Chicago Hotel!' Mr. John Gray, 
 afterward sheriff of Cook County, we think took the house in 
 1839. H e kept it for about two years. In 1844, the "Chi- 
 cago Hotel" was kept by George W. Rogers. How long Mr. 
 
 a job as boss carpenter or jour, in the construction of the coming Green-Tree 
 tavern, though he knew nothing particularly of that sort of occupation. Mr. C. 
 could easy enough have built you a saddle or a harness, but building a house was 
 a different affair; there was little in common between bridle-bits and beams, blin- 
 ders and braces, tugs and tenons, reins and rafters, sills and surcingles, hames and 
 hall-stairs. But we are told that Mr. Cobb was then eminently successful, and 
 though he could scarcely afford to avoid Wolf Point in 1833, we have yet heard 
 that the point is generally conceded, that he has at length (in 1881) achieved 
 nearly money enough " to keep the wolf from the door. " 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 517 
 
 Rogers conducted the house we can not say, nor what others 
 kept it afterward ; we have heard though, that at some time 
 later it was called the "Lake-Street House." [E. H. Aiken 
 kept the "Lake-Street House" in 1849, an d several succeed- 
 ing years.] Above is a view of the Green-Tree-Tavern house, 
 taken about 1876, though not then a tavern. The lower front 
 was a saloon and the remaining part let as tenements. In 
 1880, the building was removed to Milwaukee Avenue, where 
 it appears in Nos. 33, 35, 37; its uses, much as last before 
 named, a saloon at the front. 
 
 The " Eagle House," so called, as we learn by a notice in 
 the Evening Journal, of several years ago, stood on the S.-W. 
 corner of Canal and Madison Streets, and was built for a Mr. 
 West, by Mr. John C. Rue, a carpenter, still fi88i) living in 
 Chicago. We copy from the Journal: 
 
 "The house was afterward moved half a block south, to the cor- 
 ner of the alley, another story was added, and it stands there now 
 (1875) and is known as the Eagle House. Mr. Rue gives an interest- 
 ing account of his experience on that job. His employer, Mr. West, 
 went East, leaving him to work alone. There he was, out on the 
 prairie by himself, no house but the "Green Tree" in sight; the view 
 of the settlement being cut off by the thick, heavy timber that lined 
 the east bank of the River, extending all the way from the River to 
 what is now Clark Street. While he was at work, the Indians, in 
 great numbers, braves, squaws, and pappooses, used to come around 
 daily from their encampments on the prairie and watch the progress 
 of his work. His tools interested them greatly. They would look 
 at them curiously, touch 1hem, breathe on them, and jabber among 
 themselves. Mr. Rue wasn't acquainted with aboriginal jargon, and 
 it was a question that made him a little uneasy, whether they were 
 not discussing the propriety of taking his scalp with one of his own 
 tools. But they proved inoffensive." 
 
 Whether the "Eagle House" was kept as a tavern and bore 
 that name immediately after it was built, as we were led to 
 suppose, we do not know, nor, if so, who was the landlord. We 
 think, however, John C. Hugunin had a store on that corner 
 of Canal and Madison in 1836. [Mr. Hugunin lived in the 
 4th ward in 1837, and was one of the judges of election, and 
 candidate for alderman; he died in Milwaukee, July 4, 1865.] 
 
 Dexter Graves, in July, 1833, kept a log-tavern on Lake 
 
5 18 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 Street; a recently-departed old settler said to us that he put 
 up there, and that S. B. Cobb, E. H. Hadduck, Hiram Pear- 
 sons, and J. D. Caton were fellow-boarders. Judge Caton 
 has said : 
 
 "The first night I slept in Chicago was in a log-tavern, the name 
 they mostly went by then, west of the junction of the rivers, kept 
 by W. W. Wattles. The next day, I learned that the best entertain- 
 ment was to be had at the crack boarding-house of the place, kept 
 by Dexter Graves, at $5 per week. It was a log-house, near the 
 middle of the square just north of the present Tremont House. If 
 it was a log-house, I assure you we had good fare and a right merry 
 time to." 
 
 We think this log-house was the same or the predecessor of 
 the one which was subsequently called the "Mansion House;" 
 for Mr. Edward H. Hadduck, who became the son-in-law of 
 Mr. Graves, we think, bought out the interest of the latter in 
 the hotel, and was keeping the "Mansion House," we have 
 
 heard, in August, 1834. Since writing the above, that worthy 
 gentleman, E. H. Hadduck, has passed away; he died May 
 30, 1881. 
 
 In 1835, Mr. Abram A. Markle was keeping the Mansion 
 House, continuing in it about a year; the house was situated 
 on the north side of Lake Street, about opposite the east end 
 of the present Tremont House. Jason Gurley is said to have 
 kept the "old Mansion House" in 1837. In 1839, the Man- 
 sion House, No. 86 Lake Street, was kept by Asher Rossiter. 
 [We have seen a printed statement that the Mansion House 
 was located on the S.-W. corner of Lake and Dearborn Sts.; 
 that from there it was moved, about the year 1841, to Ran- 
 dolph Street, near Michigan Avenue, where it became the 
 "Dearborn House;" and, in 1864, was moved to State Street, 
 near Polk Street, where it stood "an old rookery" until the 
 fire of 1 87 1.] If there is any truth in this, there is at least 
 some error; the Mansion House was not on the S.-W. corner 
 of Lake and Dearborn Streets, and didiit go from there to 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 5 ig 
 
 Randolph Street about 1841.] In 1844, Messrs. Chas. Skinner 
 and J. T. Smith kept the Mansion House, at No. 86 Lake 
 Street* 
 
 The old or first Tremont House in Chicago, which was sit- 
 uated on the N.-W. corner of Lake and Dearborn Streets, was 
 a wood building, possibly commenced in the year 1833, and 
 was occupied the year following, it is understood, by Mr. Starr 
 Foot. It has been stated by a writer in the Chicago Times that 
 
 "The Couches" (by whom we suppose the brothers Ira and James 
 Couch were meant) "occupied a little six-by-nine tailor-shop along 
 side of it" (the Tremont), "and by dint of close application to hon- 
 orable toil, in a few years, had accumulated sufficient to make their 
 neighbor's hotel their own." 
 
 In 1836, James Couch kept the Tremont House, but was 
 soon, it is said, joined by his brother Ira. 
 
 A newspaper writer has said of the Tremont House, that 
 
 in 1836, it was capable of accommodating 50 or 60 guestsi 
 "by putting 4 to 8 in a room." In the "Business Directory" 
 of 1839 ( see previous page 13), Ira Couch is called "hotel- 
 
 < 
 
 keeper, corner of Lake and Dearborn Streets." In Fergus' 
 
 * We are informed by Mr. Robert Fergus, that the facts concerning the migra- 
 tion of the Mansion House are as follows : " The building was removed in two 
 farts, 'probably in the year 1850; Jacob R. Bates had previously been the proprie- 
 tor. The greater half was moved to the N.-W. corner of Michigan Avenue and 
 Lake Street, and was fitted up as the 'Dearborn House;' in 1859, it was occu- 
 pied by B. E. Tucker. Afterward, it was moved to State Street, south of Harri- 
 son. The small portion of the Mansion House was moved to the east side of 
 State Street, 60 feet south of Madison Street. " 
 
S20 
 
 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 later compilation for that year, James Couch is called "Super- 
 intendent, Tremont House." On Sunday morning, October 
 27, 1839, a nre caught on Lake Street, west of the Tremont 
 House, in the same block, burning both ways, but halting 
 when it reached the brick store owned by Mr. B. W. Ray- 
 mond, at 122 Lake Street upon one side, and the drug-store 
 of Dr. Sydney Sawyer, on Dearborn Street, on the north. 
 
 
 
 
 [We present above a reduced cut, copied from a view, by 
 the late George Davis, taken after the fire. Mr. Davis was 
 County Clerk at the time, and his office was just across the 
 street, opposite the fire.] 
 
 The Tremont House was rebuilt of wood in 1840, and 
 ready to occupy, we think, in May of that year, but on the 
 diagonal or south-east corner; the lot had been vacant, proba- 
 bly, since 1836, when the greater part of that block was un- 
 occupied. Not far from the Tremont House in those days, 
 between Dearborn and State Streets, we believe, stood a very 
 tall, large, and fine tree, which every old settler of that day, 
 now living, will doubtless remember; it came to its death, as 
 supposed, from emigrants and wagoners building their camp- 
 fires near it, killing its roots; its loss was much regretted. 
 
 Jason Gurley, in the spring of 1846, bought an interest in 
 this house, but, after a year and a-half, sold out to Ira Couch. 
 The last-named Tremont House was burned July 21, 1849, but 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 52 1 
 
 rebuilt, with brick, in 1850; and afterward, by the aid of many 
 hundred jack-screws, it was raised bodily up to accommodate 
 itself to the established grade, but was burned in the great 
 fire of 1 87 1, and since rebuilt in stone, with much elegance. 
 
 We have already referred to the "Eagle Hotel," (located 
 probably on Lake Street), kept early in January, 1834, by 
 Ashbel Steele, as by an advertisement in the Democrat, of 
 that time; but in April succeeding, the same house is adver- 
 tised as having been taken by P. I. Carli. Perhaps Mr. Steele 
 had kept the Eagle the year before, and may be he took an- 
 other tavern when he left the Eagle. Mr. Carli, in December, 
 1835, was living six miles up the north-branch. 
 
 The New-York Hoy.se, it is said, was a two-story wood 
 building, with eaves to the street, "in the style of country 
 taverns of those days." In its rear stood its large barn, an 
 indispensable attachment at that time. This house was open 
 for custom in 1835, or possibly the year before, and stood 
 where was afterward number 180, on north side of Lake Street. 
 It seems to have been kept by Johnson and Stevens, as a dis- 
 solution of partnership in keeping that hotel is advertised in 
 the Democrat, dated Dec. 20, 1835, with names attached, "S. 
 Johnson," "G. Stevens;" Mr. Johnson was to continue the 
 landlord. We have supposed that possibly there was an error 
 of the printer, and that the name "S. Johnson" should have 
 been L. Johnson. Mr. Lathrop Johnson* informs us that he 
 kept the New- York House five years, but within what dates 
 he did not add. In the fall of 1839, this house was kept by 
 L. M. Osterhoudt. 
 
 * In Fergus' late Directory for 1839, the name is erroneously given "Johnston. " 
 Lathrop Johnson, son of Ebenezer and Deborah (Lathrop) Johnson, formerly of 
 Connecticut, was born in Cazenovia, N. Y., 26 July, 1802. The family removed 
 to the State of New York and thence to Michigan. Lathrop claims that he was 
 somewhat patriotic during the Sac war, for his horse carried important military 
 despatches during that excited season between Michigan and Chicago. Mr. John- 
 son came here in September, 1834; he says, besides keeping a hotel he was pro- 
 prietor of the first livery-stable in Chicago, and also ran the first stage to Milwau- 
 kee. He removed to Lake Superior in 1846, and resided, April, 1880, in Onto- 
 nagon, Mich. 
 
522 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 A house called the "Steamboat Hotel," situated on North 
 Water, near Kinzie Street, was kept in the year 1835, by Mr. 
 John Davis, The same hotel, as per advertisement, Nov. 9, 
 1835, had been recently taken by J. Dorsey. In the Demo- 
 crat of June 15, 1836, it is called the "American Hotel," (late 
 the "Steamboat Hotel"), and appears to have been kept by 
 W. McConeston. In Fergus' late Directory for 1839, Win. 
 McCorrister,* appears as of the "American Hotel." 
 
 To speak again of the "Illinois Exchange," at N.-W. cor- 
 ner of Wells and Lake Streets, we may remark, that Mr. A 
 A. Markle then late of the "Mansion House," had the man- 
 agement of that hotel in 1836. In 1838, Jason Gurley kept 
 it; in 1839, its landlord was Charles W. Cook, (it was then 
 No. 192 Lake Street), and in 1844, it was kept by Mr. F. A. 
 Munson. We notice that this hotel was sometimes called the 
 " New York Exchange." 
 
 The "Lake House," on the north side of the River, at cor- 
 ners of Rush, Michigan, and Kinzie Streets, had its origin in 
 the association of a number of gentlemen, whose plan was 
 formed probably in the winter of 1834-5. [We remark that 
 the "Kinzie" Street there, we understand, was afterward 
 changed to the name of North- Water Street, from some sup- 
 posed advantage to be gained in the operation of a certain 
 act or law, by the property-owners in that vicinity.] 
 
 In an editorial in the Democrat, of Jan. 20, 1835, it was 
 
 remarked that there was "a new house building in Kinzie's 
 
 Addition, to be named the Lake House!' An article in the 
 
 Chicago Tribune, several years ago, said : 
 
 "The Lake House enterprise was inaugurated in the palmy days 
 of the North-Side. It was a great day for the North- Side, when 
 ground was broken in 1835, f° r the beginning of the Lake House, at 
 a convenient distance from the river-bank, confronting the neatly-kept 
 
 * Elsewhere in this volume, we give the name "McCorreston"; possibly neither 
 of the three modes of orthography are correct. 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 523 
 
 and brilliantly white-washed buildings and stockade of Fort Dearborn. 
 Gurdon S. Hubbard, John H. Kinzie, Capt. David Hunter, and Maj. 
 James B. Campbell were the Associates in the undertaking, which 
 called for over ninety thousand dollars. It was built of brick, in 
 exceeding good style for the time. When it was erected, there was 
 nothing between it and the shore of Lake Michigan, distant only a 
 few hundred feet, excepting the great cotton-wood trees that had 
 sheltered the pioneer Kinzie house. From three sides, the Lake 
 House looked out on the blue expanse, North, East, and South. * 
 * * The Lake House was finished early in the fall of 
 
 1836. The main entrance was on Michigan Street, and nearly the 
 whole of the first floor on the left was given to the reception -parlor. 
 The great dining-room and bar-room, 60 feet in length, on the west 
 side, was a marvel in its day. The Lake-House opening was a 
 festive event of no small moment. It was in the flush times pre- 
 ceding the crash of 1837. Money was plenty, and fortunes were 
 made in a day. Jacob Russell came on from Middleton, Conn., to 
 take charge of the house, and he performed the duties on no mean 
 scale. Speculators, peddlers of town sites, politicians, adventurers, 
 of all grades, made the Lake House their chosen resort. Officers of 
 the garrison, judges of the wide circuits of that day, the dashing 
 canal contractors, spendthrifts, lake captains, sporting men of that 
 epoch, all know of the. Lake House." [Hon. John Wentworth, who 
 walked into town unshod in that year of 1836, somewhere tells us 
 that he felt that he couldn't become one of the patrons of the Lake 
 House; he couldn't reach the figures there, tall as he was.] "Jacob 
 Russell afterward went over to take charge of the City Hotel, and 
 the Lake House then came into the hands of Mr. Shelley (Geo. E. 
 Shelley), from Baltimore, soon succeeded by Mr. Daniel S. Griswold, 
 of the same city, with his 22 children, who took the house the fol- 
 lowing year." [We had the impression that three brothers, whose 
 names we have forgotten, unless it was Cox, kept the Lake House 
 after Mr. Russell left it; perhaps we are mistaken.] "Then Thomas 
 Dyer bought the whole establishment for $10,000, and Wm. Rick- 
 cords* in charge, with a prestige fresh from the old 'American,' at 
 Buffalo, N.Y. 
 
 "But nothing coirld save the Lake House; it was out of the way, 
 
 * Mr. Rickcords came up the Lakes on board the steamboat "Illinois," Capt. 
 Blake, in August, 1844, and opened the Lake House in the month succeeding; 
 Mr. R. continued in the Lake House several years, but left it and took the Sher- 
 man House, which he conducted some time; Capt. Squire, formerly from trie 
 Hudson River, was at one time a partner. Mr. R. was afterward engaged in the 
 bank of George Smith, but subsequently removed to McLeanboro, 111., where he 
 was living a few years since. 
 
4 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 almost inaccessable, and was sure death to a landlord, and grew 
 worse year by year. * * * * The last essay to 
 bring the Lake House into prominence was when George E. Board- 
 man took possession in 1853. Refitted and furnished in capital style, 
 just about the time of the great Rock Island excursion, the Lake 
 House was made happy a few days, at least, by that event, but the 
 thing soon collapsed." 
 
 Various improvements, we may say, were at times made to 
 the Lake House, including the addition of one or two stories 
 higher. 
 
 In the winter of 1837-8, R. B. Marcy, U. S. A., made a 
 pleasure excursion, with a party of ladies and gentlemen, from 
 Northern Wisconsin to Chicago. He says {Harpers' Mag., 
 September, 1 869) : 
 
 "Entering the City, we drove directly to the Lake House, which 
 had just been completed, and was regarded by our rural party as 
 about the most magnificent hotel in the universe. Sumptuous apart- 
 ments were assigned to us, and everything was done by the obliging 
 proprietor to make us comfortable ; and here we ate of the first fresh 
 oysters that were ever introduced into that City. Canned oysters 
 were then unknown, and these were brought in sleighs all the way 
 from New Haven, Connecticut, and were, of course, sold at fabulous 
 prices. This was probably the first time printed bills of fare and 
 napkins had appeared at a Western hotel table, and the comments 
 they elicited from some of the 'Hoosiers' and 'Suckers' were droll 
 in the extreme. For instance, one verdant individual, from the 
 Wabash, after seating himself at the dinner-table, and not having 
 been furnished with those indispensable adjuncts to a modern table, 
 called to the waiter in a loud voice, saying : ' Look a-yere, Mister, I 
 don't mind if I hev one o' them thar catalogues an' towels.' " 
 
 The "City Hotel" was built on the N.-W. corner of Clark 
 and Randolph Streets, in 1836 and 7; it was a brick three- 
 story building, and we believe it was opened and kept a short 
 time by its owner, Mr. Francis C. Sherman. 
 
 But Mr. Jacob Russell, then late of the Lake House, soon 
 went into it, perhaps the same year of its completion, 1837, 
 and continued its landlord for some years. Sometime after 
 1844, Mr. Sherman remodeled the building and carrying it up 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 525 
 
 to five stories, and gave to it the name of the "Sherman 
 House." Messrs. Squires & Williamson, we are told, suc- 
 ceeded Mr. Russell, about the year 1846. 
 
 The "American Temperance House," on N.-W. corner of 
 Wabash Avenue and Lake Street, we are unable to say when 
 first opened; Jason Gurley had an interest in the house, we 
 think, before 1846; in 1844, it was kept by Charles W. Cook 
 and Duane Surdam. 
 
 George N. Powell kept a tavern on Milwaukee Avenue, in 
 1839, name given it was "Powell's Tavern." 
 
 In same year (1839) there was the "Columbian House," on 
 Wells Street, corner of South Water ; the "Shakespeare Hotel," 
 kept by Edmund Gill, corner of Kinzie and Rush Streets; the 
 "Southern Hotel," at corner of State and 12th Streets; the 
 -'Buffalo Hotel," on South Water Street; Myrick's Tavern, on 
 Cottage Grove Avenue, between 29th and 30th Streets, near 
 the race-course; there was also the "Lake- Street Coffee 
 House," kept by J. W. Bancroft & Co., at 135 Lake Street, 
 (or 141, both numbers given in Fergus' Directory). 
 
 There was also, in 1839, the "Chicago Temperance House," 
 on LaSalle Street, north of Lake; in 1844, this house was 
 kept by D. L. Roberts. 
 
 The new "City Hotel," S.-E. cor! of State and Lake Streets, 
 was opened at a not very early day, and was kept at one time 
 by Jeduthan Brown. There was also the "Ohio House," on 
 LaSalle Street; the "Garden City House," kept by Ed. H. 
 Aiken, i852-'3-'4 (where Marshall Field & Co.'s wholesale 
 store is) on the corner of Randolph and Market Sts.; W. H. 
 Stow kept, about 1840, the "Western Hotel," S.-E. cor. of W. 
 Randolph and Canal Streets, and Edward M. Gregory kept 
 the same house, in 1843. 
 
 [From information received since the foregoing was in type, 
 we append this note. In a statement by David M. Ford, for 
 the Chicago Historical Society, he says, he arrived at Chicago 
 in September, 1834, with his father, who put up at the Green 
 Tree Tavern, kept by Chester Ingersoll. Mr. D. M. F. was 
 then but about a year old (born '33), and, of course, had his 
 
526 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 information from another. We have thought it possible, the 
 Green Tree House was erroneously spoken of by him instead 
 of some other. At any rate, however proper it may be to 
 quote this new information, it serves to confuse rather than 
 clear up our ideas concerning the occupants of the early 
 West- Side taverns.] 
 
 We will close this chapter by claiming that it is an imper- 
 fect sketch, indeed, a history of the early Chicago inns can, 
 at this time, scarcely be written. 
 
 EARLY POSTAL MATTERS AT CHICAGO. 
 
 In the public address by Postmaster James, of New- York 
 City, (now Postmaster-General), it was said, "The first post- 
 office on this side of the Atlantic, was established by Gov. 
 Lovelace, at New York, in 1672." Elsewhere it is stated, 
 "The post-office existed in America from its earliest settle- 
 ment;" but this is further described as "Originally, it was 
 merely a receptacle in the coffee-house, where letters arriving 
 from abroad were deposited, and taken by those to whom 
 they were addressed, or carried to them by their neighbors." 
 
 Watsons A nnals of Philadelphia, says that : 
 
 "In the month of July, 1683, William Penn issued an order for 
 the establishment of a post-office at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and 
 granted to Henry Waldy, of Tekonay, authority to hold one." 
 
 From a communication in the A merican Pioneer, it is stated: 
 
 "Col. John Hamilton, of New Jersey, son of Gov. Andrew Ham- 
 ilton, first devised the post-office scheme for British America, for 
 which he obtained a patent, and the profit which accrued." 
 
 But Col. H. soon sold his patent to the British Govern- 
 ment; Elisha Whittlesy, of the Post-office Department, at 
 Washington, in 1842, said: 
 
 "From the fact, that the British Government, in 17 10, purchased 
 the letters-patent of Col. Hamilton, and from the fact of immediate 
 action by the British Government, by which all former acts were 
 abolished, * * * it is evident to my mind that the British Gov- 
 ernment and subjects are indebted to a native American for the 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 527 
 
 scheme of their post-office establishment, which is their pride and 
 boast." 
 
 We quote from the Pioneer: 
 
 "The first stage between New York and Philadelphia, commenced 
 running in 1756, and occupied three days." 
 
 "The first stage between Boston and New York, commenced the 
 24th June, 1772, to run once a fortnight, as a useful], new, and 
 expensive undertaking." 
 
 • The editor of the Pioneer, in quoting from the London 
 Chronicle, giving the names of post-offices, and mail accom- 
 modations in England, in the year 1775, said: 
 
 "Did we not see. it with our own eyes, we could scarcely credit 
 the fact that the post-office facilities in England, at that late day, 
 were, perhaps, behind what they were then in America." 
 
 In that early day, when the trading-posts here in the 
 wilderness were at widely intervening distances, communica- 
 tion by written messages of necessity, availed itself of the 
 chance voyageur, or else by despatch per an Indian courier, 
 or other speedy footman. Mr. Burnett, at St. Joseph River, 
 in the winter of 1 798, ( see ante, p. 65,) informs his correspond- 
 ents at Montreal, that he has 
 
 "Hired a trusty hand, and will send off with the letters as far as 
 Milwaukie. I have directed them to the care of Mr. Francis La- 
 fromboise, to whom I have written to send them off as soon as pos- 
 sible. I expect that in eight days the letters will be at Le bay." 
 
 At a later period, after the establishment of the military 
 stations of Fort Dearborn at Chicago, Fort Howard at Green 
 Bay, and other western posts, there was possibly some 
 regularity in the transmission of letters, or whatever mail- 
 matter there was, to go or come, whether for the soldiers 
 within the stockade, or the few sojourning citizens outside. 
 Sometimes there was provided a closely-covered canister, or 
 tin box, to hold letters sent over the trail, to exclude the 
 water which might otherwise occasionally dampen the de- 
 spatches. Previous to the year 1832, no steamboat had 
 visited this end of Lake Michigan, though the annual arrival 
 of a sail-vessel had long been usual, bringing supplies for the 
 garrison at Fort Dearborn;, the occasional arrival of small 
 
528 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 sail-craft also, several times in a season perhaps, was not un- 
 common, in the service of the American Fur Company, or 
 yet earlier, in that of the old "North-west," or of other firms 
 of traders engaged in traffic with the Indians. But a few 
 scores of years has somewhat revolutionized, not only the 
 mail carriers and the ways of postal despatch, but the modes 
 of ordinary travel and the routes and common thorough- 
 fares. The moccasin and snow-shoes have been laid aside, 
 and in place of a jaunt on foot, or astride of an Indian pony, 
 or paddling the "bark" or dug-out, we have the spacious and 
 luxurious cabin of the steamer, and the palatial accommoda- 
 tions of the railway coach. 
 
 The first mail-route crossing the Alleghany mountains, was 
 opened from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh, in 1788; in the year 
 1789, there were only seventy-five post-offices in the whole 
 country. 
 
 In 1794, a route was extended, semi-monthly, to Louisville, 
 and to Vincennes, in 1800. In 18 10, a route was established 
 from Vincennes to Cape Girardeau. There was a direct 
 route, in 1824, from Vandalia to Springfield; but Northern 
 Illinois had as yet scarcely begun to be settled, and the late 
 David McKee, in the year 1826, on account of the Govern- 
 ment, and mainly for the convenience of that part of the 
 army stationed at Fort Dearborn, engaged to carry despatches 
 and letters, once a month, between Chicago and Fort Wayne; 
 it took two weeks on horseback for the round trip. But 
 Chicago used to send to Fort Wayne for its mail, some years 
 before. Here is a copy of a note called out by an inquiry 
 of our own, some years ago, and sent to us from Fort Wayne 
 post-office. It was rather an indefinite reply to our question, 
 yet tells us something about our neighbors: 
 
 "Fort Wayne, Ind., Sept. 23, 1876. 
 
 "J. J. Kamm, Esq., P.M. — Dear Sir: You refer to me for answer 
 to the inquiry from Chicago, as to the time of establishing a post- 
 office at Fort Wayne. Probably the exact date can be ascertained 
 only at the Post-office Department. 
 
 "When Col. John Johnson, afterward a well-known citizen of 
 Piqua, Ohio, was appointed Indian agent at Fort Wayne, by Jeffer- 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 529 
 
 son, in the year 1800, his nearest post-office, as he wrote in 1859, 
 was Cincinnati. 
 
 "I have heard Judge Hanna in his life-time say, that while he was 
 postmaster at Fort Wayne, the army officers at the Fort, where 
 Chicago now stands, sent to his office for their letters. I presume 
 that was about the year 1820. The post-office must, therefore, have 
 been established between the years 1800 and 1820. 
 
 "When I came here, in June, 1832, Henry Rudisill was post- 
 master. In 1828, Allen Hamilton filled the same office, as I have 
 learned from his correspondence of that period. 
 
 ''Yours truly, 
 
 "J. L. Williams." 
 
 But a few years later, White Pigeon was the objective 
 point instead of Fort Wayne. James M. Bucklin, Chief-En- 
 gineer of Illinois and Michigan Canal, said : 
 
 "It should be borne in mind, that at this period (1830) the only 
 communication held by a denizen of Chicago, with the outside 
 world, was through the post-office at White Pigeon, to which place a 
 courier was despatched, by Major Fowle, once a month." 
 
 Of White Pigeon post-office, Mr. T. E. Clapp, the post- 
 master, says: 
 
 "The records of this office furnish no date of appointment of 1st 
 P.M., except to say, 1828, an office was opened on the west end of 
 the Prairie, with Jno. Winchell as P.M. In 1830, the name of the 
 office Was changed to White Pigeon in the village, and Albert Allen 
 was appointed P.M." 
 
 The Hon. John Wentworth, in one of his lectures, tells us 
 that Elijah Wentworth, jr., carried the mail from Chicago to 
 Niles, once a month, but whether that was in 1830 or '31 we 
 are not informed. 
 
 [We will here remark, that it was an error of the types, in 
 Vol. 7, of Wis. Hist. Coll., where, in a communication from 
 Col. Gurdon S. Hubbard, they give " Robert Kinzie, United 
 States postmaster"; paymaster was the word written by Col. 
 H.] 
 
 Andrew Jackson, on March 4, 1829, succeeded as Chief 
 Magistrate, John Q. Adams, who, excepting his father, was 
 the only president that had filled the office but a single term. 
 
 It was during the first term of President Jackson's admin- 
 istration, that William T. Barry, Postmaster-General, gave to 
 35 
 
S30 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 Chicago its first postmaster, by the appointment of Jonathan 
 N. Bailey,* March 31, 1831. 
 
 [The information given in Lieut. -Gov. Bross' History of 
 Chicago, was, at least, not altogether accurate, when referring 
 to the winter of 1831-32, it is said: 
 
 "The winter was long and intensely cold, and the population of 
 the surrounding country so sparse, that no traveler could be found 
 sufficiently reckless to traverse it. There were then no mail-routes, 
 post-roads, nor post-offices at Chicago, and the only means its inhabi- 
 
 * We have been able to learn very little of our first Postmaster, Mr. Jonathan 
 N. Bailey. Who were his parents, or when or where he was born, we have not 
 gained the knowledge. We have heard it suggested that, possibly, he was a Ca- 
 nadian; yet that seems not likely, for it is well known that the Government or 
 State appointees in office here were mostly from a southern direction. Mr. Bailey 
 was never disposed to say much about his early history, nor of his relatives. 
 Whatever rumors we have heard that Mr. Bailey was at one time sutler or con- 
 nected with trade inside the Fort, we have no information sufficient for a positive 
 statement. The earliest fact that we can, with confidence, assert concerning Mr. 
 Bailey at Chicago is, that he seems to have occupied the old cabin of the Kinzies 
 at the time of the survey, namely, February 24th, 1830; [see map opposite page 
 283 of this volume.] So we conclude that he was here before the winter of 1829 
 '30. Mrs. J. A. Kinzie, in Wau-bun, says he occupied the Kinzie House when she 
 first came to Chicago, in March, 1831. He lived there at the time of his appoint- 
 ment as Postmaster. We think, however, if the honors pertaining to the office of 
 postmaster of Chicago, in those days, were of no huge dimensions, the pecuniary 
 emoluments were still less. It is not, therefore, surprising that Mr. Bailey, though 
 lie retained his position as postmaster something over a year and a half, yet left 
 the duties mostly to be performed and the profits to be gathered by another, while 
 some (now unknown) occasion or impulse called him to sojourn at Gros Point, a 
 few miles north, upon the lake shore. We have been told by a gentleman who 
 arrived here in 183 1, that Mr. Bailey, in that year, had something of a garden 
 down yonder, whether for pastime or profit; and he used occasionally to bring up 
 to the settlement a few vegetables, either for sale or gratuitous distribution, it is 
 not known which. Mr. Bailey left here for St. Louis in May or June, 1832; it is 
 understood that the Indian disturbance in that year occasioned so great nervous- 
 ness with his family, that he removed from this locality. A daughter of Mr. 
 Bailey subsequently married Mr. J. S. C. Hogan, and returned to Chicago. *Mr. 
 Bailey, we believe, died in Missouri, but where or when, we are not advised. An 
 only son, it is understood, died during the past year (1880), in Saline Co., Mo. 
 Two daughters, one in St. Louis and another in San Francisco, it is believed, 
 still survive. 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. S3 1 
 
 tants had of knowing anything of the world, was by sending a half- 
 breed Indian once in two weeks to Niles, in Michigan, to procure all 
 the papers, both old and new, that could be had. 'Great caution,' 
 says Col. Hamilton, 'was exercised in reading the old first, that we 
 might be properly advised of events in the world as they occurred.' 
 The trip was made on foot, and usually occupied a week."] 
 
 It is true the business of a post-office in the absence of 
 established mail-routes and regular mails, would, of necessity, 
 be light, but the existence here and presence of such a per- 
 sonage as a postmaster can not be doubted. Perhaps busi- 
 ness may have required the attendance of Mr. Bailey, mostly 
 elsewhere, yet Mr. Bailey's residence, at the time of his ap- 
 pointment, was at the Kinzie cabin, and we have suggested 
 the possibility that "the first regular mail may have been 
 opened there." 
 
 But the soldiers in Fort Dearborn, the principal patrons 
 of the mail-pouch, irregular and capricious as its movements 
 were, left Chicago in the month of May, 1831, and quiet, 
 most profound, reigned upon the banks of the Chicago. It 
 was the lull, however, which preceded the convulsions, the 
 storm of terror, commotion and disease, which followed in the 
 year 1832. We allude to the Indian excitement, when Black 
 Hawk was on his raid of blood; to the arrival of the U.S. 
 soldiers, and their attack by the cholera. Alarm and death 
 were breathed in, with the atmosphere. 
 
 Yet we must, no doubt, date the new departure for Chicago, 
 in that year of 1832; it was the year when Scott's Army of 
 observation traversed the prairies, and scattered broadcast 
 through the East, its bulletins, its reports of the country; so 
 it was really the year, when the town began its march of life 
 and progress. It is true, but little was yet said of the "baby," 
 which a few years afterward, was displayed upon the City 
 Seal, that baby which Mr. Wentworth speaks of so eloquently 
 sometimes; its birth and destiny had scarcely yet been dis- 
 cussed, its wonderful horoscope had not yet been cast. 
 
 It was the year 183 1, that Mr. John S. C. Hogan, who was 
 a partner of Messrs. Brewster, fur-traders, of Detroit, under 
 the firm of "Brewster, Hogan & Co.," at Chicago, built the 
 
532 
 
 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 log-cabin at N.-E. corner of Lake and 'South Water Streets- 
 There too, in that year, Mr. H. took upon himself the care of 
 the post-office, though the business, as yet, was not irksome, 
 and the advantages were but slightly apparent. It was a 
 mistake, however, of Col. Adolphus S. Hubbard, where, in 
 Mr. Rufus Blanchard's History, he says Thomas Watkins 
 was "first Post-Office clerk." Mr. Hogan* was no doubt 
 entitled to that designation, and continued to act as such 
 
 * John Stephen Coats Hogan was born in the City of New York, February 6. 
 1805 or '6. His father was from Ireland, which country he left in 1798, and was 
 a Professor of Languages in New York. The wife of the elder Hogan was a 
 French Canadian lady, and at his death, she was left with five children, all of them 
 young, and all now deceased. The names of the children were, Joseph, John S. 
 C. , Charles, Alice, and Caroline. John S. C. was adopted by a friend of his 
 mother, a Mrs. Coats, of Detroit, Mich., when he was about seven years old, 
 being named after her only child, a son who had died. He remained with Mrs. 
 Coats until he was old enough to go into business for himself. It is believed that 
 Mr. Hogan lived some time in Mackinaw before coming here; but he came to 
 Chicago certainly as early as 1830, for he was elected Justice of the Peace here in 
 July of that year. We have heard that he superintended the sutler store at one 
 time at Fort Dearborn ; some one also has said that he was employed by Oliver 
 Newberry; we can not tell precisely how that was, but Mr. H. was a partner of 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 533 
 
 clerk and deputy, until his own appointment as Postmaster, 
 Nov. 2, 1832. Andrew Jackson was President, and Wm. T. 
 Barry Postmaster General. 
 
 We have previously (on p. 143) referred to some of the 
 "equipments" of the P6st-Office of that year, and that para- 
 graph may be considered a part of this sketch. 
 
 In 1832, there was a mail-route established from Tecumseh, 
 Mich., by way of Niles to Chicago; from Chicago to Dan- 
 ville, also from Chicago to Green Bay; these last named, we 
 understand, were weekly mails on horseback. 
 
 It was, we believe, in the forepart of the year 1833, that 
 Mr. John Bates, jr., who came to Chicago in the month of 
 May, of the year preceding, arranged to take charge of the 
 Post- Office, for the P. M., Mr. Hogan. We will add, that 
 
 Messrs. Brewster, of Detroit, in 1831. Mr. Wentworth, in one of his lectures, says 
 that Mr. Hogan "built the first frame house on the south side," "near the north- 
 west corner of Lake and Franklin Streets. " During the Black- Hawk excitement, 
 Mr. H. was chosen a lieutenant of a volunteer company, organized in Chicago. 
 Almost unavoidably, though not strictly in the line of his business, he became a 
 dealer in land-claims and titles, such as they then were; here is a copy of an 
 advertisement which we notice : 
 
 "THE EARTH FOR SALE." 
 "There is not in this wide world a valley so sweet, 
 As that neat little vale on the banks of Salt Creek. " 
 "A Pre-Emption Right, for sale by trje subscriber very cheap, — it is only 13 
 miles from Chicago. 
 
 "J. S. C. HOGAN. 
 "March 24, 1834." 
 
 Mr. Hogan married (we think in St. Louis, but the year not ascertained) Anna 
 Maria, the eldest daughter of Jonathan N. Bailey, the former postmaster of Chi- 
 cago. This lady, we have been told, died in Chicago in 1837, leaving one son, 
 John C. Hogan, now (1880) living near Compton, Los Angelos Co., Cal. 
 
 At the first election under the City Charter, in May, 1837, Mr. Hogan was 
 chosen Alderman of 2d Ward. He was popular and successful as a trader; yet 
 with an over-burthen of attractive and valuable, though still encumbered, real 
 estate, and the stringency which followed the flush times of 1836, Mr. Hogan, one 
 of a numerous crowd of enterprising and adventurous men, rather succumbed to 
 the storm, and when he left Chicago, we have been told, was not nearly as rich a 
 man as at one time supposed. We believe Mr. H. was rather easy or indulgent 
 with many of his customers. [We have in our possession some of the remnants of 
 Mr. Hogan's personal estate. These consist of various notes of hand, given for 
 goods, by Indians and half-breeds, formerly the customers of the Chicago trader, 
 
534 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 the office continued to be kept in the building before spoken 
 of, and which we will more particularly describe as a log- 
 structure, at or near the rather sharp angle of the streets 
 Lake and South Water, and in size about 45 or 50 feet in 
 length,' by some 18 or 20 feet in breadth, and might be called 
 a story and a-half in height. Its length was east and west, 
 or parallel with Lake Street, the eaves pitching north and 
 south. Mr. Bates took the care of the P.-O. under an agree- 
 ment, and a partition divided the aforesaid building into two 
 parts, Brewster, Hogan & Co. occupying the west end, and 
 Mr. Bates and the Post- Office the east part; there was a 
 south door to each of the two apartments. There is one mis- 
 take of a writer in the Inter Ocean newspaper, when he said, 
 " The first edifice in Chicago, ever used for a ' post-office, was a 
 
 and which have never been paid. If any autograph-hunter of the present era 
 wishes to invest anything in such sort of stock, applications will be in order to 
 to purchase at a discount some of the veritable and rare signatures and obligations 
 of a departed race.] 
 
 If Mr. Hogan left Chicage soon after the revulsions of 1837, as we had sup- 
 posed, he yet returned, and was living here afterward (perhaps temporarily), for 
 his name appears in the Directory as late as 1844. Mr. Bates had the impres- 
 sion that Mr. Hogan never returned to Chicago after his marriage, yet that was 
 not so. Mr. Hogan subsequently went to Boonville, Mo., where, March 20,'l848, 
 he married (2d) Mary S., the widow of John Ainslie, Advocate, late of Edin- 
 burgh, Scotland. Soon after the discovery of gold in California, Mr. Hogan 
 crossed the plains with the purpose of bettering his fortunes, where he remained 
 something over a year, near Sacramento; but life there did not prove congenial to 
 him, and he returned in 1850. He subsequently lived in St. Louis, and also in 
 Memphis, Tenn. ; at the last-named place, we believe, he was editor of a news- 
 paper; but he returned in the summer of 1868 to Boonville, Mo. 
 
 Mr. Bates assures us that Mr. Hogan was a man of superior attainments, indeed, 
 as he used the phrase, "the best educated man in Chicago;" by this we presume 
 he meant to indicate his accomplishments in the line of general information. He 
 bore the name of an upright citizen, and it is said, " was universally beloved for 
 his kind, cheerful, and gentlemanly disposition." He was a favorite with the 
 Indians; when on his way to California, in '49, he passed through the encamp- 
 ment or village of the Pottawatomies, who received' him with many demonstra- 
 tions of love and esteem. The portrait from which the likeness of Mr. H. was 
 copied, was taken about i860. 
 
 Mr. Hogan died rather suddenly at Boonville, Mo., Dec. 2, 1868'. By his 
 second marriage, Mr. H. left a widow and one child, Mary Caroline, now the 
 wife of Prof. T. S. Noble, of the School of Design, in Cincinnati, O. 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 535 
 
 small one-and-a-half story house, occupied as a grocery and dry goods 
 store, in front of which an ungainly, home-made, swinging sign- 
 board, informed the passers-by, that John Hogan was the sole 
 monarch of the little place, and postmaster of the City." 
 
 If part of the above extract" may be true, Mr. Bates as- 
 sures us that the statement about the " swinging sign-board," 
 is not to be so classed. 
 
 6mU/l*fcfb 
 
 It is perhaps worthy of remark, that while Mr. B. con- 
 ducted the Post-Office, he instituted one practice, which we 
 are quite well persuaded, did not survive his own deputy- 
 ship. At Fort Dearborn, when it was occupied by troops, it 
 was the custom to fire a gun every evening at sunset, when 
 the stars and stripes were lowered from the flag-staff. Mr. 
 Bates and his immediate neighbors who were gathered around 
 that then remote locality known as "the Forks" had no fault 
 to find with that; indeed, there appeared much that was 
 social and human in it, for it seemed to say, "Good night, 
 and you'll hear from us again on the morrow." But Mr. B., 
 on his own part, and in behalf of all the sojourners at the 
 Forks, thought it would be no more than politeness if he 
 should respond to that sunset salutation of their "Uncle," by 
 firing a gun at 9 o'clock every evening. It was the hour of 
 the old curfew bell, instituted by that enterprising yet con- 
 scienceless filibuster, William of Normandy, the meaning of 
 which was, that the people who were overridden beneath his 
 iron heel, must cover their fires and retire to their beds 
 instanter. This here, however, was no curfew bell, nor cur- 
 few gun of a tyrant, but was merely to suggest the time 
 <? night, and to say that all was peaceable, hopeful, and lovely 
 at the Forks of the Chicago. There was a north door to the 
 log-store or that part occupied by Mr. Bates,* and just out- 
 
 * Mr. John Bates, Jr., whose parents were John and Catharine (McBride) Bates, 
 was born in Fishkill, Dutchess Co. , N. Y. , 28 Dec. , 1 803. From 1 8 1 7 to 1 832, he lived 
 in New-York City, and from there, in the last-named year, he came to Chicago 
 
536 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 side of it was where that evening gun was fired ; the mode, 
 Mr. B. informs us, was continued more than a year. 
 
 The weekly horseback mail of 1832, had grown in 1833 to 
 be carried in a "one-horse wagon," and the same year, a 
 two-horse wagon was established. 
 
 We have remarked before, that an important part of the 
 business of the Chicago Post-Office was from Fort Dearborn; 
 but in the 4th number of Mr. Calhoun's paper, the Chicago 
 Democrat of Dec. 17, 1833, the editor notices the discontinu- 
 ance of the mail-route from Chicago to Green Bay, and says: 
 " that part of the 5th Regiment, stationed at Chicago, is as it 
 were, completely cut off from its head-quarters." The editor 
 thought, however, upon a proper representation of the matter, 
 the P. M. General would speedily restore their weekly Green 
 Bay mail. There were also, no doubt, other matters of com- 
 plaint, for in the forepart of the ensuing month (January, 
 
 arriving here in the month of May, 1832. Mr. J. S. C. Hogan had the keeping 
 of the Post-Office at that time, though Mr. Bailey was the Postmaster. Mr. 
 Hogan, it is understood, was a partner of Messrs. Brewster, of Detroit, and was 
 selling goods. Subsequently, in 1833, Mr. Bates arranged to occupy half the 
 building, and for rent of the same, he was to take charge and conduct the busi- 
 ness of the Post-Office. Mr. Bates informs us that he kept a few goods, yet the 
 greater part of his business was buying hides. Both Mr. Hogan and Mr. Bates 
 were then bachelors, and they slept together in the loft of the store; but that 
 sleeping partnership, it seems, was brought to a sudden termination, in the month 
 of November, 1833, for we notice in the first number of the first Chicago news- 
 paper, the following announcement of marriage, as having occurred on the 13th 
 of that month, R. J. Hamilton, Esq. , officiating : "Mr. John Bates, Jr. , of New 
 York, to Miss Harriet E. Brown, of Springfield, Mass. " 
 
 Mr. Bates, in those years we notice, used to supply the occasional demand for 
 the services of an Auctioneer, a position in which to-day, after near a half-century, 
 he still officiates. 
 
 The following advertisement we copy from the Chicago Democrat: 
 "AUCTION STORE. 
 
 "The Auction Store, on the street leading from the draw-bridge to the oak- 
 woods and Blue Island, is in readiness to receive goods to be disposed of at private 
 sale or public auction. "J. BATES, Jr., 
 
 "Chicago, July 15, 1834. "Auctioneer." 
 
 Mr. B. informs us that the "Auction Store " was near South Water Street, on 
 Dearborn; but though the last-mentioned street had been named, it was little 
 known by its name, and so would be easier recognized by using " draw-bridge, " 
 " oak woods, " and " Blue Island. " 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 537 
 
 1834), Edward W. Casey was chosen by the citizens, to draw 
 up a petition to the Government, for better mail facilities. 
 
 Here we will take the occasion to say, that the first printed 
 list of "Advertised Letters," from the Chicago Post-Office, 
 appeared in the Chicago Democrat of January 7, 1834; the 
 list comprised in all one letter, which was addressed "Erastus 
 Bowen." 
 
 In the Chicago Democrat of Dec. 3, 1833, (the 2d number 
 of that pnper), the recent return of Dr. John T. Temple from 
 Washington, is spoken of, in connection with a regular mail 
 route to be established from Chicago to St. Louis. 
 
 From Dr. J. N. Hyde's "Early Medical Chicago," we copy: 
 
 "Dr. Temple soon after (1833) secured a contract from the Post- 
 master General, Amos Kendall,* for carrying the mail between Chi- 
 cago and Ottawa. He obtained an elegant, thorough-brace post- 
 carriage from Detroit, which was shipped to this port via the Lakes, 
 and on the first of January, 1834, drove the first mail-coach with his 
 own hand, from this City to the end of the route, for which he had 
 received a contract. On this first trip, he was accompanied by the 
 Hon. John D. Caton, to whom I am greatly indebted for many of 
 these details. The demand for this accommodation could not then 
 have been very great, as there was no mail matter for transportation 
 in the bag carried on this first trip." 
 
 In Mr. Woodruff's lecture, at Joliet, it is said: 
 
 "A stage-route was established as early as January, 1834, between 
 
 Chicago and Ottawa, running by Plainfield or Walker's Grove. 
 
 Judge Caton said he piloted the company which first went through 
 
 and established the station, and that the party suffered greatly from- 
 
 cold." 
 
 But we have seen it somewhere stated, that' Francis C. 
 Sherman, who came to Chicago in 1834, in the absence of 
 stage-coach facilities, started on the road a double wagon, 
 and carried passengers from Chicago to Joliet, Ottawa," etc- 
 It was also said, that "in 1834 a four-horse stage-line semi- 
 weekly was established, and tri-weekly in 1835;" this, we 
 think, referred to the receipt and despatch of the Eastern mail. 
 
 Mr. John L. Wilson, who came to Chicago in month of 
 May, 1834, in a newspaper communication, says: 
 
 * We think Dr. Hyde was mistaken in the name of the P.-M. General. Mr. 
 Kendall did not reach that position until May 1, 1835. 
 
538 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 "Arriving at the Post-Office, on the triangular block at the foot of 
 Market Street, we found that the Postmaster, John S. C. Hogan, to 
 whom we were accredited, was up stairs at breakfast; but his urbane 
 First-Assistant, John Bates, y.et with us at the age of 77, was in, and 
 to him we gave our letter of introduction, being the first person with 
 whom I became acquainted. I afterward became, during the sum- 
 mer, while building a store, Second-Assistant, and was sworn not to 
 steal, etc. 
 
 dl^wu/ sab, l/uvCo<n*s 
 
 There was nothing to embezzle, as only a dozen letters came tri- 
 weekly on horseback from Detroit, certainly nothing but news— and 
 not as many newspapers for the entire Northwest at that time. A 
 stove-pipe hat would have contained the contents of each mail. The 
 leisure time of the First-Assistant and myself was occupied in 
 answering letters from the East, about the country, asking questions 
 from one to two dozen in number, and generally asking 'if the 
 Indians and wolves were dangerous.' We fear we retarded the set- 
 tling of the country in several instances, by our answers." 
 
 We believe it was a mistake of the writer of that one of 
 the series entitled "By-Gone-Days" to be found in the Chi- 
 cago Times of Nov. 14, 1875, when he said: 
 
 "The first decision of any note comes down to date from 1835. 
 The Post-Office was then located upon the corner that runs to a 
 sharp snout, into the junction of South Water and Lake Streets. 
 * * * Over the old Post Office was one of those primitive 
 justice shops, etc." 
 
 We are not informed when it was precisely, that Mr. Hogan 
 removed the Post-Office from the corner of Lake and South 
 Water Streets, to the corner or near the corner of Franklin 
 and South Water Streets ; possibly we are mistaken, but we 
 are inclined to believe that it was in the month of July, 1834,* 
 Mr. Bates, as we have seen, in that month, had lately estab- 
 lished himself on Dearborn Street, and we notice also, that 
 Mr. Hogan advertised in the Democrat, July 30, 1834, mer- 
 chandise at his store "in South Water Street, one door below 
 the Post-Office." We were informed by one individual, that 
 the P.-O., in 1836, was a little west of Franklin Street, and a 
 
 * In August, 1841, J. D. Merritt occupied, with groceries, the old store, on 
 Lake Street, of J. S. C. Hogan, " nearly opposite the Sauganash Hotel. " 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 539 
 
 convenient way of reaching it from the south on Franklin St., 
 was to cross the rear of the vacant corner lot, and go in at the 
 back door. Hon. John Wentworth in his lecture of May. 
 1876, said of (1836) the year of his arrival at Chicago: 
 
 " One of our most reliable places of entertainment was the Post- 
 Office, while the mail was being opened. The Post-Office was on 
 the west side of Franklin Street, cornering on South Water Street. 
 The mail-coach was irregular in the time of its arrival, but the horn 
 of the driver announced its approach. Then the people would large- 
 ly assemble at the Post-Office, and wait for the opening of the mails, 
 which at times were very heavy. The Postmaster would throw out a 
 New-York paper, and some gentleman with a good pair of lungs and 
 a jocose temperament, would mount a dry-goods box and commence 
 reading. Occasionally, I occupied that position myself." 
 
 We ought, perhaps, to have mentioned before, that Mr 
 Thomas Watkins* was Mr. Hogan's clerk in the Post-Office, 
 near Franklin Street. 
 
 We here give a copy of the post-mark 
 or stamp, which appears on a latter 
 dated Chicago, March 20th, 1836, ad- 
 dressed to the Compiler of this book, 
 then living in the State of New York. 
 It was a single letter-sheet, and the post- 
 age twenty-five cents. 
 
 * Thomas Watkins' place of nativity we are unable to give, but we have heard 
 him spoken of as an agreeable gentleman, who seems to have given satisfaction as 
 a Post-Office clerk, for he continued in the Office not only till Mr. Hogan retired, 
 but several years after Mr. Abell received the appointment. Mr. W. was some- 
 what noted as an amateur musician, for he was an accomplished player on the 
 guitar. Mr. Watkins was familiar with the French language, and quite likely 
 also with the Indian dialect, common hereabout in those days, for he won the 
 hand of the daughter of the Pottawatomie Chief, Joseph Laframboise, and she 
 became Mrs. Watkins. It is understood, though, that the match was not a happy 
 one, for it came to be dissolved. Whither and when went Thomas Watkins, we 
 can not tell; yet the late wife of that gentleman, and daughter of Chief Joseph, 
 went to Kansas, it is understood, where she is living as third- wife of the Chief 
 Medore B. Beaubien. 
 
540 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 It is to be presumed that by the month of May, 1836, that 
 the increased business of the Chicago Post-Office, attracted 
 the attention of various persons, whose patriotism was exer- 
 cised to the extent of an unfaltering confidence and belief, 
 that if the Government could only see its best interests, the 
 office of P. M. here would be placed in their individual keep- 
 ing immediately. We are led to say this, from noticing an 
 editorial in the Chicago Democrat of 4th of May, 1836, in 
 which considerable dissatisfaction is expressed at the behavior 
 of the American newspaper, which is charged with giving an 
 "incorrect account of a meeting lately held by the Democratic 
 party at this place;" it also refers to the "slang" of the 
 American, which termed a certain class of Democrats as of 
 the "patent" stamp; indeed, the writer in the Democrat 
 seemed disgusted at the result of the meeting referred to, for, 
 though the call, as alleged, was "confined to Democratic 
 citizens," the meeting, it is stated, was overrun by outsiders 
 of some other stripe. We extract the following from the 
 Democrat's article: 
 
 "It is well known, that much dissatisfaction has prevailed in the 
 community, arising out of the manner in which the Post-Office has 
 been managed, as well as out of its present location in the town; 
 and it is as well known that there has been several applications for 
 the appointment, in anticipation of the removal of the present Post- 
 master." 
 
 In the same number of the Democrat, the proceedings of a 
 public meeting are given, of the citizens of the Town of Chi- 
 cago, held pursuant to public notice, at the Presbyterian 
 Church, on Saturday at 6 o'clock P.M., April 30; Col. G. S. 
 Hubbard was called to the Chair, and John Bates, Jr. ap- 
 pointed secretary. The object of the meeting having been 
 stated by Col. R. J. Hamilton and Grant Goodrich, Esq., a 
 committee of nine, namely, Grant Goodrich, Col. R. J. Hamil- 
 ton, F. A. Harding, B. S. Morris, Thomas Wright, F. Peyton, 
 James Kinzie, Wm. Stuart, and E. Bowen were chosen to 
 draft resolutions; the following among, others, were offered 
 and adopted. 
 
 "Resolved, That this meeting view all attempts of a few men to 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 541 
 
 dictate to the people, or impose upon them officers of the General 
 Government without their knowledge or consent, as anti-republican, 
 and as unauthorized by right or justice. 
 
 Resolved, That it is inexpedient, inasmuch as the present Post- 
 master is absent from Town, and no specific charges have been pre- 
 ferred against him, to recommend any person for that office." 
 
 In an article in the Inter Ocean some years since, it stated, 
 "that in the year 1836, the editor of the Democrat became 
 furiously enraged at the mail-carrier, who, after a week's 
 absence, returned to Chicago with the very mail he had taken 
 away!" 
 
 Mr. Hogan retained the office of Postmaster till March of 
 the following year. 
 
 Direct mail-routes from Chicago to Galena and Springfield 
 were opened in 1836. 
 
 It was the last day of the second term of Andrew Jackson, 
 President (namely, Mar. 3, 1837) when Amos Kendall, Post- 
 master General, appointed Sidney Abell Postmaster at Chi- 
 cago, in place of Mr. Hogan. 
 
 In the Chicago American, of June 3, 1837, it is stated: 
 
 "The Post-Office has been removed to Clark Street, direcrly op- 
 posite this office. This change will be satisfactory to a large number 
 of our citizens." 
 
 This location was in Bigelow's Building, on the east side of 
 Clark Street, between Lake and South- Water Streets, north 
 of the alley, at where is now number 9. 
 
 In 1837, we are to ld, there was a daily Eastern mail. 
 
 We should mention here the name of John Frink, who 
 bought out and succeeded Dr. Temple's interest in the trans- 
 portation of the mails. 
 
 The name of John Frink, as well as that of Frink & Bing- 
 ham, Frink, Bingham & Co., and Frink & Walker, have been 
 
S4 2 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 famous throughout the West, as mail-carriers and stage-coach 
 men. We understand that Mr. Samuel G. Trowbridge, mail- 
 contractor, was an early associate here with Mr. Frink. Mr. 
 Charles K. Bingham's name, as well as that of Martin O. 
 Walker, appear in connection with that of John Frink, in 
 
 Fergus' neiv Directory for 1839. In our reprint, on page 13, 
 of the first "Business Directory," appears, "Frink & Bringham, 
 Stage-Office, 123 Lake Street," a typographical excess of one 
 letter in the name of Bingham, no doubt. It is believed that 
 Mr. Walker joined Mr. Frink in that year, 1839. The old 
 Stage-office, for a long time, was at 123 Lake Street, and 
 afterward at S.-W. corner of Dearborn and Lake Streets. 
 
 After a sojourn at the Building above named, for a period, 
 the length of which we are not advised, the Post-Office was 
 taken to what was known as the "Saloon Building," (S.-E. 
 corner of Lake Street) at 37 Clark Street, when that street, 
 a few years afterward, came to be numbered. 
 
 A writer in the Chicago Tribune, some years ago, said: 
 
 Capt. J. B. F. Russell had just (1836) finished the 'Saloon Build- 
 ing' on the South-east corner of Lake and Clark Streets, the first 
 large enterprise on the South Side. Many will remember that Block 
 which accommodated the U. S. Courts as late as 1859. The whole 
 was subsequently remodelled* into a very handsome office building 
 by J. Y. Scammon." 
 
 Mr. Wentworth, in his lecture of April, '75, said: 
 
 "The word saloon, in those days, had a different meaning from 
 what it does now. It would seem strange now to announce that a 
 court or meeting would be held, or a lecture delivered, in a saloon 
 building. When first opened, it was the largest and most beautiful 
 hall this side of Buffalo. It was there that Stephen A. Douglas made 
 his first speech in Chicago. It was there that the first joint political 
 discussion was ever had in Northern Illinois, that between him, in 
 1838, and his competitor for Congress, John T. Stuart, now living at 
 Springfield in this State." 
 
 We give here a view of the old Saloon Building, from a 
 photo taken just before it was demolished. 
 
 * It was entirely rebuilt, as we understand, by Mr. S. 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 543 
 
 Mr. Ralph M. P. Abell, brother of the Postmaster, it is 
 understood, was clerk in the P.-O. during his brother's term, 
 but Charles R. Starkweather was the principal Assistant- 
 Postmaster at that time, and continued also with the Office 
 until the year i860. Thomas Watkins also, it seems, main- 
 tained his position in the Office, and was there in 1839, as we 
 see by Fergus' New Directory, for that year. 
 
 The death of President Harrison, on April 4, 1841, placed 
 the Vice-President, John Tyler, at the head of the Govern- 
 ment. 
 
 Wm. Stuart succeeded Mr. Abell in the Chicago Post- 
 Office, having been appointed by Francis Granger the P. M. 
 General, July 10, 1841. Mr. Stuart removed the Post-Office 
 
 from the Saloon Building on the east side of Clark Street, to 
 the west side of the same Street, at No. 50, corner of the 
 
544 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 Alley on its south side, north of the Sherman House. The 
 building was of brick, said to have been owned by Silas W. 
 Sherman. Here, in not exceedingly commodious quarters, 
 the institution remained some ten years, more or less, under 
 the guardianship, it would seem, of four successive P. M's. 
 Many who called at that office something less than forty 
 years ago, will remember the well -patronized delivery win- 
 dow, guarded by an iron railing, turning the file of eager pil- 
 grims in at the right, and which urged compliance with the 
 rule "first come, first served." There were then no letter- 
 carriers for free delivery, no postal orders, no registered letters, 
 no postal cards, no postage stamps, no envelopes; wafers 
 were the ordinary clasps which fastened the missives, but wax 
 was required by those who wished to affect the genteel. 
 
 We will not be very positive, yet we believe the first 
 material relief in letter postage, which was a reduction to five 
 cents on single letters carried not over 300 miles, was during 
 Mr. Tyler's Administration, which closed March 3, 1845. 
 Previous for many years, or rather indeed always since the 
 establishment of the Government, the rates of postage had 
 been oppressively high. Those rates, if we remember cor- 
 rectly (the compiler was a Post-Office clerk in the City of 
 Troy, N.Y., as early as 1826), were, for letters of a single 
 sheet, 6]/^ cts. for not exceeding 30 miles, 10 cts. for over 30 
 miles and under 80, 12^ cts, for between 80 and 150 miles, 
 18^ cts. between 150 and 400 miles, and 25 cts. for over 400 
 miles. Pre-payment of letter postage, was not then as now, 
 a feature of the laws regulating the department; therefore a 
 large percentage of mailed letters found their way to the dead 
 letter office. It would seem, that the rates of postage, had 
 apparently been made particularly to accommodate the foreign 
 coin then in circulation ; in -those days, a great part of the 
 small change or fractional silver was from the Spanish realm; 
 the sixteenths, the eighths, and the pistareens (18^ cts. called) 
 besides quarters and halves. - 
 
 The rates of postage, established in 1 792, were not perhaps 
 materially different at an average from those of a later date, 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 545 
 
 excepting that they were vexatious from their variety, to cor- 
 respondents as well as post-office employes.* 
 
 In 1842, during the term of Mr. Stuart as Postmaster, the 
 late Mr. Wm. Henry Adams took a position in the Post-Office, 
 and where he continued, not only to the end of Mr. Stuart's 
 term, but through that of his successor, Gen. H. L. Stewart, 
 until 1849. We will add that Thomas Page was also a clerk 
 in the office in 1844. 
 
 In 1844, it was claimed, with an air bordering somewhat 
 upon the boastful, that, "there are now received, and made up 
 at this office, 48 mails weekly." 
 
 The term of President Tyler was followed by that of Presi- 
 dent Polk, who, on 25th of April, 1845, nominated Hart L. 
 Stewart to be Postmaster at Chicago; the Senate confirmed the 
 nomination, Feb. 3, 1846. Gen. Stewart was the'first Presiden- 
 
 ^Ma*4r 
 
 tial appointee to the Chicago Post-Office. Gen. S., upon his 
 appointment, found the office located on the west side of 
 Clark Street; it was then the distributing office for the North- 
 west. 
 
 Gen. Stewart was succeeded by Richard L. Wilson, whose 
 appointment by President Taylor (not confirmed by the Sen- 
 ate), bore date April 23, 1849. By the death of President 
 
 '&£*&'' Jfy 
 
 * In the year 1792, the rates of postage, we understand, were established as 
 given below; how long these rates continued without alteration, we are not 
 advised : 
 
 30 miles and under, 
 
 6 
 
 cents 
 
 250 miles and under, 
 
 17 cents 
 
 60 11 
 
 11 11 
 
 8 
 
 11 
 
 3So > 
 
 20 11 
 
 100 11 
 
 11 11 
 
 10 
 
 1. 
 
 400 n it 11 
 
 22 n 
 
 150 ,1 
 
 11 11 
 
 12 
 
 11 
 
 45° ' 
 
 25 „ 
 
 200 11 
 
 n 11 
 
 15 
 
 11 
 
 
 
 36 
 
546 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 Taylor, July 9, 1850, the Vice-President, Mr. Fillmore became 
 President, and the appointment of Geo. W. Dole, to the Post- 
 Office here, was made 25 Sept., 1850. Mr. Dole, it is under- 
 stood, removed the Office to the opposite or east side of Clark 
 Street, at Nos. 49 and 51, date not learned. Isaac Cook was 
 the next incumbent, and who received the office from Presi- 
 dent Pierce, Mar. 22, 1853. 
 
 In Dec, 1854, we notice in one of the public journals, some 
 remarks concerning the Office, from which we extract : 
 
 " We are told that the Office affords only a-third of the space suf- 
 ficient for the work to be done, and that there are only half clerks 
 enough to do it. Of course, men so overworked can not exercise 
 the care demanded in a post-office, and the public must suffer. To 
 whom the fault belongs of this insufficient supply of labor, we do 
 not know." 
 
 Mr. H. A. Wynkoop was Assistant-Postmaster in 1854, con- 
 tinuing until 1859. 
 
 Mr. Cook informs us that he removed the Office from Clark 
 Street to Dearborn Street, near Washington Street; this was 
 to the brick building, Nos. 84 and 86 Dearborn Street; where 
 it occupied the ground floor; subsequently, more space was 
 required, including No. 88 adjoining. 
 
 The date of the removal from Clark Street we have not 
 exactly learned; it was after January 1, 1855. One gentle- 
 man is confident it was during that winter, while another is 
 equally sure it was in the spring succeeding, or still later. 
 
 William Price received the office of Postmaster early in 
 
 President Buchanan's administration, having been nominated 
 
 ■& 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 547 
 
 March 18, 1857, but not, we believe, confirmed by the Senate. 
 The Office continued in the same place until Mr. Cook's re- 
 appointment, also by Mr. Buchanan, March 9, 1858. 
 
 We will take the occasion here to speak of several individ- 
 uals who have earned the laurels of faithful service in the 
 Department for many years. We name the following, yet 
 there may be others also not known to us : 
 
 Mr. Mac Slosser took a place in the Office in 1854, but left 
 
 a& $/&/)<<><£? 
 
 in 1856; went in again in 1864, continuing to the present time. 
 Mr. Patrick M. Clowry went in to the Post-Office early in 
 
 1858, and has continued with the Department ever since. 
 Mr. Joshua F. Oram engaged with the Post-Office in May, 
 
 1859, an< i still (October, 1881) continues in the active duties 
 of his position. 
 
 Mr. Isaac Cook was P. M. at the time of the removal of 
 the Office from Dearborn Street, north of Washington, to the 
 new Government Building on N.-W. corner of Dearborn and 
 Monroe Streets. 
 
 There were two mistakes of the writer of the Inter Oceans 
 Post-Office article, in the paper of August 7, 1873, when he 
 said : 
 
 "In Dec, i860, the Post-Office was removed to the new and 
 commodious edifice. The Hon. John L. Scripps had succeeded 
 Isaac Cook, and was the head of the Chicago Post-Office at the 
 time of his removal." 
 
548 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 The removal was in November, i860, and Mr. Scripps was 
 not appointed until March 28, 1861, receiving the office from 
 Mr. Lincoln. We will add also, that the article noticed above 
 in the Inter Ocean, further states, that " Mr. Scripps retained 
 the office until his death in 1865." That is an error; Mr. S. 
 died in Minneapolis, Sept. 21, 1866, a year and a-half after 
 he left the Post-Office. 
 
 Mr. Cook informs us that he assisted in getting the appro- 
 priation to buy the lots for that location, aiding also in 
 getting plans, and the increased appropriation for the struc- 
 ture; yet he was accused by some, for mercenary ends, of 
 taking the Government Offices to an inconvenient and dis- 
 tant point "out on the prairie." He says that he retains 
 still much pride for his own part had in the matter. 
 
 The following is from an editorial in the Chicago Tribune 
 of Thursday, Nov. 22, i860. 
 
 "Throughout Saturday, the splendid new Government Building 
 on Monroe Street was open and visited by thousands of our citizens, 
 who were allowed to visit every portion of the same, previous to the 
 occupancy of the several departments, which dates from today. The 
 Post-Office will be opened there tomorrow morning. Our citizens 
 are loud in its praise, and justly,Jsince probably it has no superior in 
 the United States, and must, ever remain a prominent object of pride 
 and interest, both to residents and strangers.'' 
 
 This building was begun in the spring of 1855. Its walls 
 were firmly constructed, and for thoroughness and durability, 
 it is believed to have excelled any other building in the City, 
 certainly any other public building. While we are compiling 
 this chapter (August, 1881), the remains of the old walls are 
 being taken away, to make place for the new building of the 
 First National Bank; we may say that every block or parcel 
 of material removed, proclaim honest material and Jionest labor 
 which were used in building the structure. As stated recently 
 in the Chicago Times: 
 
 " It was erected before the era of public robbery set in, and con- 
 sequently it was substantial to a degree unknown in this age and 
 generation of public works. * * * Had it not been for the fact 
 that the iron shutters on the west side of the building had been taken 
 off to give more light in the lower stories, it would have withstood 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 549 
 
 the fury of the flames on that fearful October day. As it was, the 
 fire got into the building from the basement, and burned its way 
 through to the roof, gutting it completely." 
 
 Mr. Scripps continued Postmaster until the spring of 1865, 
 when Mr. Samuel Hoard was nominated to succeed him by- 
 Mr. Lincoln, on the 9th March, 1865. 
 
 t ^Lvgva A 
 
 Andrew Johnson, the Vice-President, became President on 
 the death of Mr. Lincoln, in April, 1865. Mr. Johnson nomi- 
 nated Thomas O. Osborn to succeed Mr. Hoard, July 23, 
 1866. 
 
 Robert A Gillmore followed Mr. Osborn as Postmaster; 
 he was appointed also by Pres. Johnson, his commission 
 bearing date, 16 Nov., 1866. 
 
 Mr. Gillmore's death, Augt. 9, 1867, by drowning, was fol- 
 lowed by the appointment, by Pres. Johnson, of Francis T. 
 Sherman, as Postmaster, 27 August, 1867. 
 
 Gen. Grant succeeded Mr. Johnson in the Presidency, and 
 he nominated Francis A. Eastman, to be Postmaster here, 
 April 5, 1869. 
 
 It was during Mr. Eastman's term of Office, that occurred 
 the great fire of October 9, 1871. "Burlington Hall," at the 
 N.-W. corner of State and Sixteenth Streets, then received 
 the fugitive Institution, Oct. 9, 1871. 
 
 The Chicago Tribune of 21st Nov., 1871, discourses as fol- 
 lows: 
 
 "The use of churches for postal purposes, is not new in the his- 
 tory of our Government. The most notable instance of this charac- 
 ter, is in New York, where the old Dutch Church on Nassau Street, 
 has served as a Post-Office for nearly twenty-five years. * * * 
 
 The postal business of Chicago is second only to that of New 
 York. Even in the old structure on Dearborn Street, it was consid- 
 erably hampered by limited quarters. In 'Burlington Hall' whither 
 the Post-Office was moved after the fire, to the disagreeables of con- 
 tracted space and inconvenient appointments, was added the disad- 
 vantage of remoteness from the centres of trade and population. 
 Another removal, and a change which will be decidedly for the 
 
5 SO CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 better, is not far in the future. 'Our readers have already been 
 informed that the new Post-Office is to be the Methodist Church, at 
 the corner of Harrison Street and Wabash Avenue. The building 
 will not be open to the public for two weeks. A further change is 
 not likely to occur before the year 1876, as the new Government 
 building can not possibly be completed until that year.'' 
 
 There were, however, besides the one referred to in the 
 above extract, several changes, previous to, as well as after, '76, 
 before the Post-Office reached the new Government Building 
 filling the Block between Clark and Dearborn and Adams 
 and Jackson Streets; two further fires, after the great one, 
 were the suggestive occasions of as many retreats, beside 
 some others. 
 
 December 24, 1871, the Post-Office went into the Methodist 
 Ep. Church Building, N.-W. corner of Harrison Street and 
 Wabash Avenue. 
 
 Gen. John McArthur received the office of Postmaster Dec. 
 20, 1872. The fire of July 14th, 1874, burned the premises 
 occupied by the Office, which now took flight and sought the 
 hospitality of the West Division, where, at the quarters of the 
 branch office, on the N.-W. corner of Washington and Hal- 
 sted Streets, it temporarily sojourned. 
 
 Aug. 23, 1874, the Office was taken to the "Honore Build- 
 ing," west side of Dearborn Street, between Monroe and 
 Adams Streets. 
 
 Frank W. Palmer, our present P. M., was appointed to the 
 Office, Feb. 2, 1877. There too, at the "Honore Building," 
 fire seriously disturbed the order and comfort of the postal 
 arrangements, and an obvious necessity counselled a hasty 
 departure, on the 4th of January, 1879. 
 
 At the " Singer Building," N.E. corner of State and Wash- 
 ington Streets, the Post-Office found a temporary abode, 
 until April 12, 1879, when, at length, after many vicissitudes, 
 it found, it is supposed, a permanent resting-place in the new 
 building of the Government. 
 
 We have made this chapter much longer than intended, 
 as we purposed at the outset, to notice only a few facts of 
 the early Office; we will, however, venture to extend it still 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 SSI 
 
 farther, by giving a 
 
 list of our 
 
 presided : 
 
 BY WHOM 
 
 
 NAME. APPOINTED 
 
 DATE. 
 
 Jonathan N. Bailey, 
 
 P.M.G., 
 
 Mar. 31, 1831, 
 
 John S. C. Hogan, 
 
 it 
 
 Nov. 2, 1832, 
 
 Sidney Abell, 
 
 " 
 
 Mar. 3, 1837,- 
 
 William Stuart, 
 
 M 
 
 July 10, 1841, 
 
 Hart L. Stewart, 
 
 P..&S., 
 
 April 25, 1845, 
 
 Richard L. Wilson, 
 
 P., 
 
 April 23, 1849, 
 
 George W. Dole, 
 
 P..&S., 
 
 Sept. 25, 1850, 
 
 Isaac Cook, 
 
 If 
 
 Mar. 22, 1853. 
 
 William Price, 
 
 P., 
 
 Mar. 18, 1857, 
 
 Isaac Cook, 
 
 P..&S., 
 
 Mar.- 9, 1858, 
 
 John L. Scripps, 
 
 M 
 
 Mar. 28, 1861, 
 
 Samuel Hoard, 
 
 
 Mar. 9, 1865, 
 
 Thomas 0. Osborn, 
 
 
 July 23, 1866, 
 
 Robert A. Gillmore, 
 
 
 Nov. 16, 1866, 
 
 Francis T. Sherman 
 
 , P..&S., 
 
 Aug. 27, 1867, 
 
 Francis A. Eastman 
 
 , 11 
 
 April s, 1869, 
 
 John McArthur, 
 
 tl 
 
 Dec 20, 1872, 
 
 Frank W. Palmer, 
 
 If 
 
 Feb. 2, 1877, 
 
 list of our Post Masters, and where they 
 
 LOCATION OF POST OFFICE. 
 
 Log Bldg, n.-e. cor. Lake & S. Water Sts. 
 Do. & s.-w. cor. Franklin & S. Water Sts. 
 ( "Bigelow's Bldg."e. side Clark, bet. Lake & S. 
 ■J Water Sts. "Saloon Bldg," e. side Clark, bet. 
 (Lake & Randolph Sts. 
 W. side Clark, cor. of alley, n. of Sherman House. 
 
 Do. 
 
 Do. 
 Do. and e. side Clark, at Nos. 49 & 51. 
 Do. & w. side Dearborn St., at Nos. 84, 86, 88. 
 
 Do. 
 Do., & Gov't Bldg, n.-w. cor. Monroe & Dearb'n. 
 
 Do. 
 
 Do. 
 
 Do. 
 
 Do. 
 
 Do. 
 
 {Do., and "Burlington Hall," n.-w. cor. State and 
 16th Streets, and Methodist Church, n.-w. cor. 
 Wabash Ave. and Harrison Street. 
 (Do., and n.-w. cor. Halsted and W.Washington 
 < Sts., and "Honore Building." w. side Dearborn, 
 (bet. Monroe and Adams Streets. 
 
 {Do., and "Singer Bldg," n.-e. cor. Washington 
 and State Sts., and Gov't Bldg, bet. Clark, Dear- 
 born, Adams, and Jackson Streets. 
 
 ON THE WAY TO CHICAGO. 
 
 A subject of interest, sometimes, is the recital, by our early 
 settlers, of their experiences in the pilgrimage hither. The 
 paths or modes of approach to this goal or field of promise 
 were numerous; some came by land, others by water; some 
 were bare-footed, perhaps, or, if shodden, yet sore-footed, 
 maybe; some came on horseback, some by prairie-schooners, 
 some by schooners of the lake. The names of three of our 
 present millionaires occur to us while writing, for we remem- 
 ber that one of them first rode into the village upon an ox 
 cart; one pushed his way into the settlement by the mere aid 
 of the propellers which nature gave him, with no leathers nor 
 "clogs" intervening between his pedal extremities and the 
 loose sands of the lake-shore; the other,' being "short," had a 
 serious time, as one story has it, settling for his passage with 
 
552 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 the lake captain, for which he was to pay, it is told, in work 
 after he should arrive. 
 
 We give below a few extracts from the private journal of 
 an early resident, the late George Davis* of this City, who 
 came in the year 1833. Mr. D. was from London, Eng., and 
 accompanied the late Samuel Brookes and family from there 
 to Chicago. The quotation which we give commences at 
 Michigan City, Oct. 14, 1833: 
 
 * George Davis was born in London, Eng., January 1, 1809, (or possibly, as 
 we are informed, a few minutes earlier, which would change the day, month, and 
 year, to Dec. 31, 1808; the fogs of London, which continually envelope all with- 
 in that City, it must be supposed, has obscured the record). His father, whose 
 name was William Gregory Davis, was a clerk in the Admiralty Office. His 
 mother's maiden name was Gwynne. There were, in all, ten children, two of 
 whom were daughters; two sons were physicians, and one (Oliver) succeeded to 
 his father's position, when the old gentleman was retired and pensioned. At the 
 age of fourteen, George was placed under the care of a teacher in Essex, a little 
 way from London, for a period of three years; the written agreement, which we 
 have seen, bore date March 19, 1823, and was "between Win. Gregory Davis, of 
 Belgrave Place, in the Parish of St. George, Hanover Square, County of Middle- 
 sex (meaning London), and William Haselwood, of Stratford, County of Essex." 
 The consideration or compensation was to be forty-two pounds for the full term; 
 Mr. H. was to take George into his family, and provide for him (excepting cloth- 
 ing), and instruct him " in the knowledge or the science of the classics, mathemat- 
 ics, " and " other useful and ornamental parts of education. " We are inclined to 
 a good opinion of Mr. Haselwood and his assistants, in the school at " Rokeby 
 House, " Stratford. We ^hink George continued there to the end of the term, as 
 named, and among the " ornamental parts of education, " as stipulated in the agree- 
 ment, we must believe that music and sketching comprised prominent branches. 
 We have seen numerous specimens of Mr. Davis' early exercises in the line of 
 pencil drawing; he seems to have been imbued with the taste and something of 
 the talent of a Bewick; we may suppose that he placed many of the antiquities 
 and picturesque views of Essex, Kent, and Surrey, under contribution for his 
 portfolio. Beneath a sketch of West Drayton Church, Mr. Davis wrote, (which 
 tells of England and his boyhood) " I have caught sparrows in the ivy, aud hawks 
 in the belfry. " 
 
 Mr. Davis, it is understood, engaged to come to America as an assistant on the 
 journey to the gentleman and family before named, expecting to return directly 
 after their arrival here. This last-named purpose, that of going back, met, how- 
 ever, with pleasing hindrances, indeed, so it was, the longer he tarried, the closer 
 he seemed bound to America, her institutions, and her people. Mr. Davis seems, 
 with one exception, to have embodied all the republicanism of his father's family; 
 one brother of George, it is understood, come over and joined the army, and died 
 during the Rebellion. 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 553 
 
 "Thro' the woods, and thro' the woods, to Michigan City, a puny 
 place, with half-a-dozen houses on the edge of the Lake, with a creek 
 running through the town. We met a man on horseback, before 
 arriving at the town, of whom we asked some questions relative to 
 Chicago, and he favored us with the following luminous reply ; he 
 said 'it was a rising place, but the land about it pretty much poor, 
 wet, and unhealthy, and powerful frosty ; they were going ahead with 
 the buildings.' About three miles from the city we encountered 
 heavy rain, steep sand-hills, and deep mud holes, so bad, that had it 
 not been for the casual and gratuitous assistance of eight oxen, we 
 might have slept in some of them. Put up at Hughes' and dried our 
 miserable wet bodies, and filled our miserable empty stomachs. 
 Hughes settled in this part on the 20th of June, and is doing well as 
 a tavern-keeper. The price of lots of land in this city, in its present 
 infant state, is as high as $3000, owing to the superior shipping 
 advantage it will possess, when the harbor is formed. 15th. Rested 
 all day at Hughes'; it rained heavily; washed our clothes, and laid 
 in a little 'grub' to last us over the beach, 40 miles to the next 
 tavern. 16th. Our operations commenced before daylight, such as 
 eating, dressing, grooming, loading; then started over the beach, 
 which was not quite so hard as anticipated, and by sunset we had 
 not traveled more than six miles; then camped for the night under 
 the lee of a sand-hill. We had scarcely completed our preparations 
 for the nightly slumbers, which were to be in the wagons, when dark- 
 ness enveloped us, and a heavy storm broke over us; rain, wind, 
 thunder and lightning, which lasted nearly all night. I expected, 
 from the violence of the storm and wind, to have both the vehicles 
 blown over, but morning came, and no mischief done, except two 
 hats blown away. 17th. A roughish, queerish, wettish kind of a 
 day, with a cold wind blowing in our faces; the surge rolled so high 
 up the beach, that we were compelled to travel on the soft sand, in 
 some places six or eight inches deep, and our cattle so jaded, that 
 we left the heaviest wagon on the beach, and put the three horses 
 on to the other. Traveled till 5 o'clock, then stopped under shelter 
 of our friends, the sand-hills ; managed to stow the tender part of our 
 company (women and children) in the' wagon, packed side by side, 
 like a dozen of bottles; we hardy sons of the soil, slept under the 
 canopy of heaven, which was at times cloudy and weeping, and at 
 other times shining with diamonds ; but we" slept. * * * Our 
 journey was protracted so long beyond our ideas of what it would 
 be, that we had not provided; again, we had left our flour and honey, 
 coffee and tea, in the wagon behind, to lighten the load, or we might 
 had plenty. 18th. This morning a second edition of yesterday, 
 but moderated about 12 o'clock, and about same time 'poor Bob' 
 (the dying horse) came to the determination of locating himself on 
 the beach; we could afford to lose no time, so turned him loose and 
 gave him his liberty, which I doubt much if he enjoyed many hours. 
 
554 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 At 2 o'clock a yoke of oxen met us, and conveyed us to Mann's 
 Tavern, on the mouth of the Calamick, at 8 o'clock, in a queerish 
 kind of a condition; here we ate, drank, and slept with Frenchmen 
 and squaws. Mann was a French trader, who married a squaw, 
 consequently he has plenty of Indian relations. 19th, 20th, 21st, 
 2 2d occupied in fetching the other wagon from the lake shore. The 
 Calamick proved a calamitous stream, and finished the career of 
 another of the animals, which was unfortunately drowned in attempt- 
 ing to swim over, to follow the wagon of another party, mistaking 
 them for us. 23d. Completed to-day the remaining 13 miles of 
 our journey, and entered the long-looked-for town of Chicago at 
 night-fall, and, after much trouble in seeking for an asylum, put up, 
 
 by the recommendation of Mr. W , at Brown's boarding-house. 
 
 Thus terminated our wanderings, and here we found a resting-place, 
 here we lit upon the spot we could call 'home.' * * * Fire- 
 wood sells in the town at two and a-half dollars per cord, beef is 4 
 cts. per pound, honey $1.00, gallon (from the Wabash}, lumber $50 
 per M." 
 
 George Davis married, in Detroit, Mich., 1836, Miss Myra 
 D. Wilcox, daughter of Charles and Almira (Rood) Wilcox, 
 of that City. 
 
 Mr. Davis long held here the office of County Clerk, and his 
 popularity was emphasized in various other ways. Of his 
 attractive qualities and worthy traits, they have been frequently 
 referred to by others, elsewhere. Chicagoans of but a short 
 generation ago remember the prominence of Mr. Davis in the 
 circles of melody. 
 
 "Mr. Davis was, in the strongest meaning of the term, a friend; 
 and as far as my recollection serves, never had an enemy — save such 
 as might have grown up from his fervant espousal of the case of the 
 Rev. Wm. F. Walker, in the then celebrated church trial, and of 
 which it may be said, en passant, was bitter in the extreme — long 
 continued — argued with great eloquence, but which left a baleful 
 shadow over the congregation for a long time."' 
 
 We have copied the above extract from the brief sketch of 
 Mr. Davis, to be found in No. 5 of "Fergus' Historical Series," 
 and have merely to add, that not any one who may have 
 known of the peculiar and ever-remembered obligations, felt 
 by Mr. Davis toward Mr. Walker, could be surprised at his 
 course upon that occasion. It was during a severe and dan- 
 gerous illness of Mr. Davis, which required the careful and 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 555 
 
 unremitting attention of a friend, that the Rev. Mr. W. paid 
 and extended to him, such offices, through many critical days 
 and nights ; this, with Mr. Davis, was not forgotten. 
 
 Mr. Davis, in 185 1, removed with his family to Detroit, 
 Mich., but after a residence there of some five years, returned 
 to Chicago. 
 
 George Davis died at his home in Chicago, at corner of Van 
 Buren and Peoria Streets, on 4th of January, 1858. His 
 widow, two sons, and three daughters still survive him. 
 
 EARLY BRIDGES OVER THE CHICAGO. 
 
 A gentleman who came here on business in 1830, and who 
 put up at the log-tavern at Wolf Point, says: "On the morn- 
 ing after our arrival, we stepped into a canoe, which was very 
 convenient to the frontdoor, and crossed the Chicago River 
 to the east side, by means of a grape vine stretched across it." 
 It was the year afterward, in 1831, when Mark Beaubien was 
 licensed to keep a ferry, and for some occasion of neglect on 
 his part, he was ordered to run his ferry "from daylight in 
 the morning until dark, without stopping'.' But. ferries were 
 not bridges. 
 
 Like some other matters of Chicago history, precise and 
 well -authenticated dates, etc., regarding our early bridges, 
 seem, at this time, difficult to arrive at. We have been 
 assured, however, by Mrs. Charles Taylor, who lived at the 
 forks of the river in 1832, that there was some sort of a log- 
 structure, in that summer, over the North Branch, which 
 enabled persons on foot at least to cross over; this was built, 
 it is understood, by Samuel Miller, and as the one over the 
 South Branch had not yet been erected, it would seem to lay 
 claim to being the first. A writer has said of this bridge as 
 "at Kinzie Street, built by Samuel Miller." The location 
 was near Kinzie Street, as appears in the note on p. 502. 
 
 The bridge over the South Branch, however, built in 1832, 
 has been usually called the first one; it was built of wood, 
 
556 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 and was without doubt a more pretentious and available 
 structure. Its location was between Lake and Randolph 
 Streets, rather nearer Randolph than Lake, and soldiers from 
 the Fort helped to place the timbers. 
 
 [Some years before the great Chicago fire, Gen. James G. 
 Wilson presented to the Chicago Historical Society, a paper 
 relating to this bridge; it was in part the substance of infor- 
 mation procured, we think, of Mr. Charles Taylor, while Gen. 
 W. was in Texas. The original subscription paper for the 
 building of that bridge, it was stated, amounted to $486.20, 
 some $200 of which was contributed by the Pottawatomie 
 Indians, then living at and near Chicago. The paper of Gen. 
 Wilson, above named, gave interesting sketches of various 
 subscribers to the fund for building the bridge.] We have 
 been told that this bridge, just now spoken of, was built by 
 Anson H. Taylor, assisted by his brother Charles. 
 
 r a4f^^ 
 
 The bridge on the South Branch stood until the year 1840. 
 
 We learn from Mr. Blanchard's History that Mr. E. B. 
 Williams, who with Mrs. W. arrived in Chicago in April, 1833, 
 that— 
 
 "Leaving the Fort at their right, they bent their course across the 
 open prairie towards the fork of the river. * * * At the sug- 
 gestion of his wife drove across the river on a floating log-bridge," 
 etc. 
 
 A writer in the Chicago Tribune, says of the year 1835 : 
 
 "We crossed the river, then a clear, bright stream, by a rope-ferry," 
 etc. , 
 
 In one of the "By -Gone -Days" articles of the Chicago 
 Times, it was said : 
 
 "A number of the settlers doing business on the South Side, about 
 1835, boarded at the Green- Tree House on the West Side, the 
 Sauganash's most pretentious rival. The only method in crossing 
 the stream in those days, was by way of a float, composed of logs 
 held together by short chains. Now and then, when a high wind 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 557 
 
 swept down from the north, or up from the south, one or the other 
 end would break loose from one shore, and swing along side of the 
 other shore, and then the people had to bide their time, until the 
 raft was swung back, as they do nowadays, when the draw is open." 
 
 The three last extracts above, about the "floating log- 
 bridge" in April, 1833, the "rope-ferry" in 1835, and "afloat 
 composed of logs" about 1835, all on the South Branch, would 
 seem a little unaccountable, inasmuch as our stationary South- 
 Branch bridge, built in 1832, somewhere between Lake and 
 Randolph Streets, stood until 1840. Yet possibly the follow- 
 ing may afford some explanation. 
 
 An ordinance of the trustees of the Town of Chicago, of 
 date Dec. 4, 1833, appointed G. W. Dole, Medore B. Beau- 
 bien, Edmund S. Kimberly, and John Miller, a Committee 
 to contract for repairing the bridges on North and South 
 Branches. 
 
 Also the following from Gov. Bross's History: 
 
 "On the 13 Feb., 1836, notice was given, that the 'Trustees of 
 the Town of Chicago, will not hold themselves accountable for any 
 damages which may arise to any person by reason of crossing the 
 bridges over the Chicago River, or over the North and South 
 Branches thereof, the said bridges being considered dangerous, and 
 the said Trustees not having funds out of which to repair the said 
 bridges.'" 
 
 Mr. Balestier, in his lecture of January, 1840, says: 
 
 "In 1834, a bridge was built across the river, at Dearborn Street, 
 which proved a great public convenience. It was repaired in 1837, 
 at an enormous expense, and in 1839 was demolished, and a miser- 
 able ferry at Clark Street substituted." 
 
 From an article not long since in the Chicago Times, this 
 bridge is spoken of as follows : 
 
 "It was of the 'gallows-frame' pattern, and for five years, the two 
 'gallows frames.' one at either side of the river, frightened timid 
 people at night. The structure was about 300 feet long, and the 
 opening for the passage of craft, was about sixty feet. The draw 
 worked by chain cables, and opened with cranks." 
 
 The following letter from Mr. Norton, the builder of the 
 Dearborn -Street bridge, we copy from the supplement to 
 Hon. John Wentworth's lecture of April .11, 1875, in "Fergus' 
 
558 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 Historical Series;" though a statement in "By-Gone-Days," 
 of Chicago Times, says, "The contractor was D. Harper." 
 
 "I came to Chicago Nov. 16, 1833. Soon after I arrived, I com- 
 menced cutting the lumber for a drawbridge, on the land adjoining 
 Michigan Avenue, afterward owned by Hiram Pearsons. In March, 
 1834, I commenced building it, and I think it was completed by the 
 first of June. The first Steam-Boat that passed through it was the 
 old Michigan, with a double engine, commanded by Capt. C. Blake, 
 and owned by Oliver Newberry, of Detroit. 
 
 "Credit me with building the first vessel at Chicago. I built the 
 sloop "Clarissa," in the spring of 1835. This was the.first sail vessel 
 launched on the west side of Lake Michigan, if not the first on the 
 Lake. [The "Clarissa" was launched May 12, 1836.] 
 
 "The first freight taken down the Lakes was in 1834, being a lot 
 of hides, from cattle that had been slaughtered for the U.S. troops. 
 
 "I was born at Hampton, Washington Co., N.Y., on Nov. 8, 1808. 
 
 "The bridge had an opening of 60 feet, with a double draw. I 
 think the length was 300 feet. This is the best of my recollection. 
 The width was 16 feet. It was located at Dearborn Street. I can 
 not state the cost of the bridge. 
 
 "I removed from Chicago in the spring of 1839. The militia of 
 Cook County was organized in 1834, by the election of John B. Beau- 
 bien as Colonel,- at the tavern owned by Barney H. Lawton, near 
 Lyons, on the DesPlaines River [now Riverside; then kept by Stephen 
 J. Scott]. Respectfully yours, Nelson R. Norton." 
 
 John Sweeney (who killed that bear), still living in Chicago, 
 and a somewhat noted bridge-builder, worked on that bridge. 
 
 The weekly village newspaper then of Chicago, recorded 
 the arrival inside the harbor, on Saturday, July 12, 1834, the 
 Schooner "Illinois," Capt. Pickering; she came "through the 
 drawbridge" and passed to the "upper end of the town," at 
 the Fqrks or Wolf Point. 
 
 We copy from the Tribune of Oct. 25, 1852: 
 
 "The water in the Lake has been gradually receding from the high 
 water-mark of June; * * * we also noticed that Wells- 
 Street bridge could only be partially closed on account of the low 
 water." 
 
 From some source which has escaped our recollection we 
 
 give the following: 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 559 
 
 "The first bridge across the main river was at Dearborn Street, 
 but so bitter was the feeling between the North and South Divisions, 
 that during the five years that it remained there, it was the cause of 
 much wrangling between the people of the two Sections. The City- 
 Council at length ordered it removed; and as an incident of the time 
 worthy of record, it is said that, afraid that the City Fathers would 
 change their minds, a number of men were on the river before day- 
 light next morning, working as for dear life, and in a few hours it 
 was chopped to pieces. "* 
 
 We notice it is stated that "Eber Hubbard cut down the 
 north wing of Dearborn Street bridge." 
 
 * From an article in the Chicago Times, we extract the following : 
 "The story of how, only forty years ago, each division of the City fought to 
 prevent the other two from getting bridges, shows, however, how rapidly the 
 bridge difficulties have grown. From fighting against the building of bridges, to 
 fighting against the bridges being opened, is an important change of base. In 
 1840, the North Side wanted a bridge at Clark Street; the West Side opposed 
 it, for fear that it would lose some of its trade. The South Side also opposed the 
 building of any bridge. It was in favor of leaving the North Side without any. 
 Every night there came up out of the south a great fleet of 'prairie schooners' 
 that anchored on the Reservation. It often numbered five hundred, and came 
 laden with wheat and corn and all sorts of produce. All the warehouses were, in 
 that day, built on the north bank of the river. The South Side opposed the Clark 
 Street bridge, in order that their 'prairie schooners' might not reach those ware- 
 houses, and thus be compelled to trade on the south bank. * * * The 
 old Dearborn Street bridge, the first drawbridge ever built in the City, had been 
 demolished in 1839, and a scow-ferry substituted. At Clark, there was another 
 ferry ; these were not of the most approved pattern. They were simply scows 
 hauled to and fro by ropes. The North-Side warehouses were in sore distress. 
 They needed a connection with the other two towns. The Council was evenly 
 divided. At the time when the question was at its height, Messrs. Newberry and 
 Ogden presented to the Catholic Ecclesiastical authorities, the two blocks now 
 occupied by their cathedral. It was said at the time, that the present was to 
 influence votes on the bridge question. It undoubtedly was. The North Side 
 won her bridge. Mayor Raymond cast the deciding vote. " 
 
 [Possibly other votes may have been gained by that gift, but the "deciding 
 vote " of Mayor Raymond, as referred to, it can not be supposed, was won by 
 that named gratuity. ] 
 
 The article continued, "A float -bridge was thereupon built at Clark Street, 
 and the North-Side siege was raised. That was the end of the bridge question of 
 1840." 
 We will quote as follows from an article in the old Chicago Magazine: 
 " So strong was this utterance of the vox populi, that the matter was decided in 
 that common council (we quote the words as printed in the Mag. ), by the casting 
 vote of the Mayor, and a bridge obtained on Clark Street, on condition that the 
 Noith-siders should subscribe $3000 of City Bonds to put it over. " 
 
$60 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 Mr. Balestier, in the "Annals of Chicago," Jan., 1840, said: 
 
 "The stock for the new bridge at Clark Street, has lately been 
 subscribed, and it is to be hoped that the community will not be 
 compelled to cross the river in mud-scows." 
 
 In the Daily American, it was told that the bridge at Clark 
 Street had that day, April 18, 1840, been commenced by- 
 driving piles. 
 
 The "float-bridge" referred to in the note is spoken of in a 
 
 sketch of Wm. B. Ogden, to be found in the old Chicago 
 
 Magazine, as follows: 
 
 "The first floating swing-bridge over the Chicago River, was built 
 by him for the City (before he saw one elsewhere), on Clark Street, 
 and answered well its designed purpose. 
 
 [We are not informed what sort of one, nor where the 
 bridge was in Chicago, which we have heard of, that was 
 "removed to Clark Street, where it was washed away in 1836 
 or '7, and the stupendous sum of $150, was appropriated by 
 the Common Council to replace." 
 
 Wells -Street bridge, it was said, was built soon after, by 
 private subscription, Walter S. Newberry contributing the 
 greater portion.] 
 
 The float-bridges "became" says the Times author pre- 
 viously quoted from, "afterward very popular in Chicago.* 
 In 1848, there were float-bridges at Clark, Wells, Randolph, 
 and Kinzie Streets. In 1849, a ^ these were swept away by 
 the flood." 
 
 On next page, we give a view of that flood and ice-jam, 
 April 28, 1849. It is reduced from a wood-cut, copied from 
 a Daguerrotype by P. von Schneideau, taken at the time. 
 
 * Says Ex-Gov. Bross: "The bridges over the Chicago River in 1848, when I 
 came here, were a curiosity. One end was fixed on a pivot in the wooden abut- 
 ment, and the other was placed upon a large square box or boat. When it was 
 necessary to open the bridge for the passage of vessels, a chain, fastened on or 
 near the shore on the side of the pier at some distance from it, was wound up by 
 a capstan, on the float-end of the bridge, thus opening it. It was closed in the 
 same manner, by a chain on the opposite side of it. 
 
 Our present (1876) excellent pivot - bridges were, if I mistake not, introduced, 
 and I think invented, by our City Superintendant Harper, about 1850, or soon 
 after that year. '* 
 
Ml 
 
 mMm 
 
 "9&4 
 
 ■■ i if., s r 'Tff 
 
 mSJmmMMM 
 
 37 
 
562 
 
 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS. 
 
 Father Marquette s Remains. — At page 399, and several 
 
 succeeding pages, appears something about the grave of 
 
 Father Marquette. We have since noticed the following, at 
 
 p. 205, in Mr. Schoolraft's "Summary Narrative," published 
 
 1855. Mr. S. resided some years in Mackinaw. 
 
 "It is known that the mission of Michilimackinac fell on the down- 
 fall of the Jesuits. When the post of Michilimackinac was removed 
 from the peninsula to the island, about 1780, the bones of the mis- 
 sionary were transferred to the old Catholic burial-ground, in the vil- 
 lage on the island. There they remained till a land or property 
 question arose to agitate the Church, and, when the crisis happened, 
 the whole graveyard was disturbed, and his bones, with others, were 
 transferred to the Indian village of LaCrosse, which is in the vicinity . 
 of L'Arbre Croche, Michigan." 
 
 Tecumseh, Little Turtle, and Me-te-a. — We have lately 
 come in possession of a few wood-cuts, representing the 
 heads of three Indians, all prominent chiefs, and two of them 
 certainly may be considered famous; these are Tecumseh, 
 Mc-che-cun-na-qua or Little Turtle, and Me-te-a. The pict- 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 563 
 
 ures of the two first named, appear to be copied from those 
 given in Mr. Brice's "History of Fort Wayne"; from whence 
 
 LITTLE TURTLE. 
 
 ME-TE-A. 
 
564 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 Mr. B. received them, we do not know, but it is presumed 
 from a reliable source. The portrait of Metea seems very 
 much like that in Volume I, of "Major Long's Expedition," 
 drawn by Mr. Seymour, of the Expedition, from Metea him- 
 self, and is no doubt an authentic likeness. 
 
 Tecumseh, as we have seen, was the associate of Little 
 Turtle, Shabonee, and Billy Caldwell; but he was killed at 
 the battle of the Thames in October, 1813. The question 
 "Who killed Tecumseh?" has been discussed not a little; the 
 preponderance of testimony, however, seems to suggest that 
 it was a bullet from Col. Johnson's pistol which brought 
 down the chief. 
 
 Little Turtle we have spoken of on page 97, and of Metea 
 at page 200. 
 
 "Confute Indians!' — In the letter of Walter Jordan, which 
 appears on pp. 178, 179, of this volume, we believe that some 
 of the statements, or the form in which they are rendered as 
 by Niles Register, can not fully be relied on. The name 
 "Confute" in that letter, we think must have been a mistake 
 for some other; nowhere else does this name appear, that we 
 are aware of. Mr. Jordan's letter says: "there were a hun- 
 dred friendly Indians left Fort Wayne" with Capt. Wells and 
 himself, and that the head of those friendly Indians, whom 
 he calls the "Confute Chief," was the leader in the brutal 
 indignities done to the body of Captain Wells. This account 
 does not agree with that of Captain Heald or any other that 
 we know of. 
 
 But one Death in Four Years. — From Mrs. Callis, a daugh- 
 ter of Judge Jouett, to whom there is reference on previous 
 pages of this volume, we learn that her mother said, that dur- 
 ing her four years residence at Chicago (previous to 1820), 
 there was but one death here. 
 
 Schoolcraft 's View of Chicago in 1820. — Facing page 189 
 of this volume, appears a copy made from that in the work 
 referred to below; here is what Mr. Schoolcraft says of it: 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 565 
 
 "I took the sketch which is reproduced in the fourth volume of 
 my Ethnological Researches, Plate xxvii, from a stand-point on the 
 flat of sand which stretched in* front of the place. The view 
 embraces every house in the village, with the fort; and if the repro- 
 duction of the artist in volume IV. may be subjected to any criticism, 
 it is perhaps that the stockade bears too great a proportion to the 
 scene, while the precipice, observed in the shore line of sand, is 
 wholly wanting in the original." 
 
 , Benjamin K. Pierce of U. S. Army, was the one who mar- 
 ried the daughter of Mrs. Laframboise, instead of Lt. John S. 
 Pierce, as named on page 33. This information was commun- 
 icated to Hon. John Wentworth, by Mrs. Baird of Green Bay. 
 Perhaps Mr. Wentworth's suggestion that Francis Lafram- 
 boise, Sen., was no very near relative of the husband of 
 Madaline of Mackinaw, may be a mistake. Mr. Burnett (see 
 ante p. 63, also referred to by us before) speaks of Francis 
 Laframboise at Milwaukee, in 1798, who was, it is supposed, 
 our Francis, Sen., and one of those spoken of by Mr. August- 
 ine Grignon in his "Recollections" in volume 3, of the Wis. 
 Hist. Soc. Coll. He said: 
 
 "The first I knew anything of, was Alexander Laframboise, from 
 Mackinaw; he was located at Milwaukee — say 1785. At first he 
 went there himself, and after a while he returned to Mackinaw, and 
 sent a brother to manage the business for him, who remained there 
 several years and raised- a family. By mismanagement of this 
 brother, Alexander Laframboise failed, and his trading -post was 
 closed, I should think about the year 1800, or not very long there- 
 after." 
 
 Reminiscences by Chief - Engineer Bucklin. — On pages 282, 
 3, of this volume, appears a copy of a letter from the General 
 Land -Office, also the sketch or Diagram referred to in the 
 letter, showing the proposed manner of improving the mouth 
 of Chicago River. The extracts given below, which appeared 
 in Pomeroys Democrat, June 10, 1876, are from James M. 
 Bucklin, who was appointed in 1830, Chief Engineer of the 
 Illinois and Michigan Canal ; and as the two great projects, 
 the Harbor and the Canal, bore intimate relation to each 
 other, we have referred to the papers first above named, and 
 what appears below in this connection. 
 
$66 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 Possibly the following quotation from the Chief , Engineer 
 may be an unfamiliar leaf in the history of the Canal: 
 
 "Sometime in the summer of 1830, while in the service of the 
 Louisville and Portland Canal Company, I was called upon in Louis- 
 ville, Ky., by Col. Charles Dunn, of Golconda, Pope County, 111., 
 who was then acting Canal Commissioner of the Illinois and Michi- 
 gan Canal, on the part of the State of Illinois, who offered me the 
 appointment of Chief Engineer. All the objections on the ground of 
 my youth and inexperience were overruled by Col. Dunn, who in- 
 formed me that one of the understood conditions of the grant of land 
 by Congress to the State of Illinois, to aid in the construction of the 
 proposed Illinois and Michigan Canal, was that the Secretary of War 
 should locate the canal ; that by his order, Dr. Howard, of the Topo- 
 graphical Corps, had been for several years engaged in the perform- 
 ance of this duty, and that not only the location had been made, but 
 all the plans and specifications were prepared and ready to lay out 
 the work, and put it under contract, in accordance with a resolution 
 passed by the Legislature of Illinois. 
 
 "Accordingly, I accepted the appointment, and accompanied Col. 
 Dunn to Golconda. There we found Capt. Pope, surveyor of the 
 'Board of Canal Commissioners,' who, by order of the Board, had 
 previously laid out the 'Town of Chicago,' on the Canal lands, and 
 all the lots therein, were to be offered at public sale on the first day 
 of the ensuing September. 
 
 "Packing up all our books, papers, and instruments, we took our 
 departure without delay for Chicago. On the route, we were joined 
 at Carlisle by the Hon. Sidney Breese, who, I think, accompanied 
 us all the way to our destination. With- us, also, were Dr. Jayne 
 and Mr. Pugh, Canal Commissioners, and Mr. Porter, the Secretary, 
 whom we met at Springfield, their place of residence. 
 
 " From that place to Chicago, the settlements were few and far be- 
 tween, and were invariably at the points of timber, some 30 or 40 
 miles apart. Intervening prairies were so much infested by green- 
 head flies, that we generally traveled by night. Sickness among the 
 settlers was very prevalent, which was attributed to the general 
 breaking up of so much new ground, and the consequent decompo- 
 sition of vegetable matter. At Ottawa, 85 miles from Chicago, on 
 the route of the proposed canal, we were joined by Major Campbell, 
 the Treasurer, and Mr. George Walker, now a resident of Chicago. 
 Both of these gentlemen accompanied the party to Chicago, where 
 we put up at the only house of entertainment in the place. It was 
 a log-building, owned by Mr. James Kinzie,* a half-brother of Mr. 
 John H. Kinzie, and situated at 'Wolf Point,' on the West Side, at the 
 junction of the north and south forks of the Chicago River. 
 
 * * * * , * 
 
 * Kept by Mr. Archibald Caldwell. 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 567 
 
 "The water was deep, clear, and apparently pure. The banks were 
 fringed with wild rice, and it looked like a canal, meandering through 
 a level, green meadow. There were no trees, but we noticed a few 
 scattering log-houses on the banks, some Indian lodges, and Fort 
 Dearborn on the bank of the lake in the distance, which was some- 
 what elevated above the surface in the rear. The fort was a stock- 
 ade, 300 feet square, with block-houses protecting it. Inside were 
 quarters for the' officers and barracks for the garrison. * * * 
 Being informed by Mr. James Kinzie that there was a corps of U.S. 
 Engineers at the Fort, the Canal Commissioners at once proceeded 
 to the quarters of Major Fo'wle, the Commandant. We were politely 
 received by him, and introduced to all the officers of the Fort, 
 including Capt. Scott, the famous hunter and marksman, Lieut. 
 Engle, Lieut. Foster, and Dr. Finley, the surgeon of the post, by all 
 of whom we were entertained in the most hospitable manner. All 
 the means within their power, required to accomplish our objects, 
 were placed by them at our disposal. They then introduced us to 
 Mr. Harrison and Mr. Guion, officers of the Topographical Corps, 
 who were preparing to make instrumental explorations on the sup- 
 posed route of the canal. But on account of the continued illness 
 of Mr. Harrison, nothing had been done, and nothing could be 
 done. Dr. Howard was absent, and had only made a short recon- 
 noissance, when he was at the post the previous year. Consequent- 
 ly, no instrumental examinations whatever had been made. No 
 location and no data or information was furnished, by which the 
 Land (Canal?) Commissioners could be governed, or upon which a 
 definite location or plan of construction could be predicated. Here 
 was a dilemma, but the Canal Commissioners were fully equal to it. 
 As they could not carry out the exact views of the Legislature, they 
 resolved to be governed by the spirit of their instructions, and at- 
 tempt to do what the Secretary of War, through unforeseen and un- 
 expected difficulties, had failed to accomplish. Accordingly, I 
 organized a corps of engineers, procured supplies from Major Fowle 
 (my only resource), and they were promptly furnished, from time to 
 time, during the whole of my explorations, which were not completed 
 until Dec, 1831. At that time, the definite location of the canal, 
 and the preliminary surveys were reported upon, but they gave rise 
 to endless disputes, which were only settled by an appeal of the 
 Canal Commissioners to the Chief Canal Engineer of the State of 
 New York, Mr. White, who, by personal examination, tested and 
 substantiated my gauges of the Desplaines and Calamic Rivers, and 
 the depth of the rock excavation, which had been disputed. 
 
 "Our excellent surveyor, Capt. Pope, by order of the Board, en- 
 larged the boundaries of the town, extending them to the mouth of 
 the Chicago River (Madison Street), previous to the sale of lots ; and, 
 after the sale, he assisted me in determining the exact point for the 
 departure of the canal from the south fork, and continued to assist 
 
568 ( CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 me in all my subsequent explorations of the route of the Illinois and 
 Michigan Canal. At the sale of lots, which took place on Sept. i, 
 1830, all the resident citizens of the town, Mr. James Kinzie, Robert 
 Kinzie, John Kinzie, and Major Hartzell, all Indian traders, bought 
 in the property they lived on and claimed, at their own valuation, no 
 one bidding against them. Col. Beaubien, Dr. Wolcott, Indian 
 agent, and the Bailey family, made purchases in like manner. The 
 same may be said of Billy Caldwell and Robinson, both Pottawato- 
 mie chiefs, and also of Les Frombois and Le Bourbone. The pre- 
 ceding names, with one or two others, perhaps, comprise the total 
 resident population of Chicago in 1830. It is possible that Gurdon 
 Hubbard lived in Chicago in 1830, but my recollection is that I first 
 saw him there in 1831, at one of the Indian payments which had been 
 annually held at Fort Dearborn for many years. * * 
 
 "Either previous to, or about the time Capt. Pope first laid out the 
 'Town of Chicago,' for the Canal Commissioners, two civil engineers 
 of St. Louis, Mr. Reno Paul and Mr. Justus Post, were employed 
 to make a survey of the Illinois and Michigan Canal. They reported 
 that the highest cost of the canal, drawing its supply of water from 
 Lake Michigan, could not exceed $1,000,000 or 1,500,000. It was 
 this report that induced legislative action, and produced an impres- 
 sion upon the public mind, that it was one of the most economical 
 and feasible of all public works that had ever been projected." 
 
 Portraits of Col. and Mrs. J. H. Kinzie. — We had hoped 
 to get copies of the portraits of the late Col. and Mrs. John 
 H. Kinzie, in time for the printer to place upon the pages 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 569 
 
 485 to 490 of this volume, but we failed. Yet, as they have 
 since come to hand, we take the opportunity to give copies 
 here. The pictures were sent us by the kindness of Mr. 
 Arthur M. Kinzie, son of Col. K.; the one of his father, he 
 calls an excellent likeness and our memory confirms the state- 
 ment; that of his mother, which is a photograph from an oil 
 
 painting, he can not speak so well of; indeed, he says it is "a 
 miserable failure as a likeness." Furthermore, we desire to 
 say, we do not think the engraver has succeeded very well, in 
 copying either of these pictures. 
 
 We will take the occasion here to remark, what escaped us 
 to say before, that we had a lithographed copy made of the 
 view of "Chicago in 1812," as drawn by Mrs. Kinzie, which 
 appears in her pamphlet "Narrative of the Massacre at Chi- 
 cago, August 15, 1812," published 1844. Our copy faces page 
 if] of this volume. 
 
 Recollections by Mr. Charles Cleaver. — Mr. Cleaver, who 
 came to Chicago in the fall of 1833, has communicated to the 
 
57° CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 daily press several articles of interest, regarding that early- 
 day in Chicago. We extract a few paragraphs as follows: 
 
 "Shooting, in those early times, was done not only for sport, but 
 to supply the table. Common fowl were not to be had for love or 
 money; but prairie chickens, in the fall, were very numerous on the 
 West Side, and when living on the corner of Washington and Jeffer- 
 son Streets, I could, in a few minutes walk to the ridge beyond Car- 
 penter's Addition, shoot all I wanted before breakfast. * * * 
 Deer were not numerous enough around Chicago, to induce many to 
 follow them; it required too much labor. I remember one grand 
 hunt that was organized in the fall of 1834, when a party of a hun- 
 dred or more went eight or ten miles out, and, scattering from the 
 North Branch to the lake, made a line and drove all before them to 
 the village. Some five or six deer and a few wolves, scared by the 
 noise behind them, swam the river about LaSalle Street, ran through 
 the village, and escaped to the timber on the South Branch. A few 
 were shot in trying to break through the lines, but the hunt was not 
 considered a success, and was never tried again. 
 
 "Some of the young folks would like to know what other amuse- 
 ments there were and how we spent our evenings. The storekeepers 
 played checkers while waiting for customers, and, after closing, 
 played cards. Those religiously inclined went to prayer-meeting at 
 least once a week. Then when boarders and travelers were satisfied 
 as to the inner man in the old Sauganash Hotel, Mark Beaubien 
 would bring out his fiddle and play for those who wished to trip the 
 light fantastic toe. To be sure, there were no theatres, no concert- 
 halls, or reading-rooms. New York papers were twenty to thirty 
 days old when we got them, and there were but few books in the 
 place. A man came into our house one day, and, seeing some 
 shelves full of old books, asked if we kept a bookstore. The fact is, 
 that in the winter of 1833-34 amusements of any kind were few and 
 far between, although we made the most of what there were. One 
 fine moonlight night, when the ice was good, the whole of Chicago 
 turned out for a skate and a frolic, and we had it. There must have 
 been at least a hundred persons on the river between Wells Street 
 and the forks. Then we had good sleighing for a short time, and 
 you would have laughed to have seen the splendid turnouts impro- 
 vised from crockery crates and sugar hogsheads. There were only 
 two cutters in town, but it did not take many tools or much time to 
 make something that would glide over the frozen snow. A good 
 handy fellow with an ax, drawing-knife, and augur would go into the 
 woods, cut down two straight young saplings, shave off a little where 
 they bent up for the thills, bore six or eight holes, in which they 
 drove the standards a foot high, put cross-pieces on which they laid 
 the crate, filled that with hay, and the sleigh was ready for use in 
 less than half a day. The same plan was pursued with the sugar 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 571 
 
 hogshead, only that was cut half way down in front and a seat put 
 across it in the back, and you had a sleigh which, covered with robes, 
 was as warm and as comfortable as the. best of cutters. I once got 
 caught in a snow-storm myself between here and Milwaukee, and, 
 not being able to make much progress with a wagon, stopped half 
 way up and made a sleigh which I used all that winter. Then the 
 young bloods of the town — we used to have such even in those days 
 — got up a splendid sleighing party, I think it was on the 1st of 
 January, when they came out with the Government yawl boat on 
 runners, drawn by four good horses, and covered with robes, with as 
 many bells jingling on the harness as they could find in the village, 
 and thus equipped they made the streets ring again with their merri- 
 ment and laughter. Unfortunately for them, they got treated so well 
 wherever they called, that by evening they began to feel the effects 
 of it, and determined to have a grand spree, which ended in smash- 
 ing up the best saloon in town, for which they paid next morning, it 
 was said, without a murmur, the sum of $800. * * * 
 
 •'There was very little visiting done among the ladies, as they had 
 all they could attend to at home, servant girls being very scarce; in 
 fact, the houses of those days were not well calculated for company, 
 most of them being about 16x20, a story and a half, with a lean-to. 
 The house we lived in that winter, on the corner of Kinzie and Rush 
 Streets, was about as large as any in town; but unfortunately it was 
 not completed, being neither lathed nor plastered, not even sheathed, 
 and we had nothing to protect us from the weather, when the ther- 
 mometer marked 20 degrees below zero, but rough siding nailed on 
 the studs. Fortunately we had warm clothing, and would almost 
 roast in front of a huge wood-fire in the large chimney, common in 
 those days, while our backs were covered with thick cloaks to keep 
 from freezing. I actually had my cup freeze to the saucer while sit- 
 ting at the table at breakfast. Stoves were not to be had, and cook- 
 ing was done under great disadvantages. Pots were boiled hanging 
 from a hook over the fire, and bread baked in a baking pot, with 
 hot wood ashes above and below it. I wonder what ladies would 
 think of such conveniences now, when girls turn up their noses 
 unless they have hot and cold water at hand and stationary tubs to 
 wash in. Then the water was brought from the river in pails. The 
 most fashionable boarding-house was kept in a log-building about 
 16 by 24 feet; there forty persons daily took their meals, — how 
 many slept there I could not say. I know they took in our whole 
 party of sixteen the first night in Chicago, and set the table for 
 breakfast until about dinner-time, and dinner till supper-time. 
 
 "Chicago in those early days- was but a small village on the very 
 outskirts of civilized life, with very few of the conveniences, and, I 
 may say now, of the comforts of life. The furniture in the houses 
 was of the most primitive kind, — common wooden chairs and a deal 
 table; some even had to put up with forms to sit on. Before spring, 
 
572 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 flour became so scarce that $28 a barrel was given for it, and it was 
 a favor to get it at that. It was the same with other commodities 
 that we now think absolutely necessary for our tables. Potatoes 
 were not to be had; butter the same; and we were at last reduced 
 to beef, pork, and corn-meal. I think the molasses did hold out, 
 but corn-meal cakes were generally eaten with pork fat. I don't 
 know what we should have done had not navigation opened early 
 that year and permitted the good ship Westward Ho, a small craft 
 about eighteen or twenty feet long, the only vessel that wintered in 
 the river, to make regular trips to St. Jo and bring back a cargo of 
 ten or twelve barrels of flour each time. During the winter, if a stray 
 Hoosier wagon or prairie-schooner, as we used to call them, hap- 
 pened to find its way so far north, as they sometimes did, with a few 
 crocks of butter, dried apples, smoked bacon, hams, etc., the whole 
 village would be after the wagon to get hold of the precious com- 
 modities. This scarcity lasted till spring, when, on the 7 th of May, 
 we were gladdened by the sight of a schooner in the offing, laden 
 with flour and provisions from Detroit. She had to lay half a mile 
 from shore, while the three or four Mackinaw boats used for that 
 purpose made trips to unload her." 
 
 One of the old Log-Cabins. — Of the date of the newspaper 
 
 in which the following appeared, we are not informed ; but it 
 
 was probably sometime early in the fifties: 
 
 "In making room for the fine block of stores now going up on the 
 east side of LaSalle Street, between Lake and Water, it became nec- 
 essary to remove one of the old landmarks of Chicago in its infancy, 
 a log-house. A gentleman tells us that he well remembers when 
 that house was on the outside of town, and used for a fashionable 
 boarding- place, by the gentlemen of the then village.* Being re- 
 moved from business and the Lake, it was thought more healthy than 
 a site by the water side. At that time, not twenty years ago, a store 
 stood on the alley running through the block, bounded by Clark, 
 Dearborn, Lake, and Randolph Streets, and because it was far from 
 the Garrison, then at Fort Dearborn, the centre of trade and the 
 principal point of attraction, it was called the Prairie Store. The 
 proprietor found himself, after a short experience, obliged to move 
 his stock into a cabin at the foot of State Street, his old location 
 being too far from his neighbors to secure even a small share of the 
 limited business. * * The log-house of which we 
 
 spoke in the paragraph above, held its own manfully against the airs 
 and pretensions of its yearly increasing neighbors, with their new- 
 fangled architectural and city notions. Like a genuine squatter, 
 
 * It was probably where Rufus Brown lived in the early day; he kept a board- 
 ing-house. 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 573 
 
 gradually surrounded by well-to-do and cultivated new-comers, the 
 old cabin clung to its youthful rusticity with a pertinacity that 
 admitted the possibility of no change. To the day of its destruction, 
 it stood as it was built, unsightly and unpromising as a tenement, but 
 valuable as a memento of olden time, and the unparalled growth of 
 the Garden City." 
 
 Chicago Lyceum. — This association was established in 1834. 
 The late Judge Henry Brown addressed the Lyceum in 1837; 
 this was at the old Presbyterian Church, on Clark Street, be- 
 fore its removal to south of Washington Street. He also lec- 
 tured before the same, we think, in 1842, as well also as on the 
 20th of January, 1846. The subject of these various addresses 
 was, we believe, " The Present and Future Prospects of Chi- 
 cago"; the last named (in 1846) was delivered in the old Court 
 House; we extract from it a few lines here, as follows: 
 
 "On the 16th of June, 1831, twenty-four lots in the City of Chicago, 
 given by the United States, among other lands, to the State of Illi- 
 nois, for the use of the Illinois and Michigan Canal, were granted by 
 letters patent, bearing date on that day, and executed by the Gover- 
 nor to the County of Cook, to aid said County in the erection of 
 public buildings, and to the use and for the purposes before men- 
 tioned. Six of those lots were on Lake Street and five on S. Water 
 Street; these and five others were sold, and the eight remaining com- 
 prise the Court House Square. * * * In 1842, Chicago 
 was exceedingly depressed; never more so. Our public credit was 
 exhausted, and labor in our public works had nearly or wholly 
 ceased." * * * 
 
 The Debt of the City of Chicago : 
 
 i was $16,337.01 
 1843 "~ ^ 2,655.40 
 
 1846 11 n't over 15,000.00 
 
 In 1838 was $7,996.54 
 
 In 
 
 11 1839 11 7,182.25 
 
 II 
 
 11 1840 11 6,559.63 
 
 
 11 1841 11 12,387.67 
 
 
 Map of i8j<f., an i Lots then Built on. — The early settler and 
 old resident, John L. Wilson, as we have been pleased to see, 
 has not unfrequently favored the public, through the news- 
 papers, with interesting reminiscences of early Chicago, and 
 it is understood that he intends, some time in the near future, 
 to have printed a volume of his recollections, for the informa- 
 tion and gratification of our citizens. In a communication 
 
574 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 by Mr. W., in the Chicago Evening Journal, bearing date 
 
 May 30, 1874, he said: 
 
 " In a former article, I mentioned that I had a map of Chicago, 
 drawn by John S. Wright, in 1834, on which myself and brother 
 Richard marked all of the lots then built on in Chicago at that time. 
 Mr. Chesbrough has taken a copy from the old one, so it can be 
 stretched and photo-lithographed, as the original is too tender for 
 the process." 
 
 Again, in a Chicago Tribune communication, dated July 26, 
 
 1880, he said, referring to his arrival here: 
 
 "We pulled for the Post-Office along Water Street. There was 
 none other on the South Side then built upon, and only nineteen 
 lots occupied on the entire West Side. I have a map upon which I 
 marked, in 1834, every lot that was then built on in Chicago. It is 
 the only one in existence. There was no building then south of 
 Lake Street." 
 
 Once more, in an article sent the Tribune (though misdated, 
 for the anniversary week of his arrival at Chicago, "April" 
 instead of May), he says: 
 
 "I have a map, made by the late John S. Wright, of the City in 
 1834, and on it, in that year, I marked every lot that was built upon, 
 and sent it to my father, in Albany, New York. On his death, I 
 found it among his papers, and had it framed. It now hangs in the 
 office of Gurdon S. Hubbard, 74 Washington Street, and is quite a 
 curiosity. There were but nineteen lots built upon on the West Side, 
 and not a building south of Lake Street, on the South Side. A bet- 
 ter idea can be formed by looking at the map." 
 
 So we looked at the map, agreeable to these frequent adver- 
 tisements and invitations; it occurred to us, indeed, that 
 nothing would be more appropriate for our volume of Anti- 
 quities than a beautiful lithographed copy of it for this book. 
 Asking leave of Mr. Wilson, to follow that suggestion of ours, 
 he flatly refused, which accounts for the absence of the map 
 in this place. The map, we believe, has no value over many 
 other maps of Chicago, excepting in certain marks or features 
 of antiquity, now passed out of sight. Those peculiarities, 
 Mr. W. may claim as his own, and should, of course, have all 
 right to their value and disposition. We think, however, that 
 Mr. Wilson miscounted when he gave the number of lots built 
 upon on the West Side as "nineteen" the number, apparently, 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 575 
 
 was more than that. Moreover, there seems an error in the 
 statement that "There was no building then south of Lake 
 Street;" indeed, if we read Mr. Wilson's marks correctly, there 
 were seemingly two lots on Randolph Street built upon, and 
 quite a number fronting north on Lake Street. Still further, 
 we would hint, that both bridges, as marked on North and 
 South branches, are misplaced. 
 
 VJas it the First? — In a book provided by the Chicago 
 Historical Society, containing memoranda and reminiscences 
 of various residents of early Chicago, it is written of Captain 
 Peter F. Flood, who was born in Kildare County, Ireland, 
 Sept. 16, 1 8 16, among other things, that he left Ireland when 
 quite young, landing at Quebec, located at Utica, N.Y., but 
 sailed from Oswego on the small schooner "Llewellyn," in 
 April, 1835, arriving in Chicago in month of June ensuing. 
 He was master of a vessel at the age of 21 years, and has 
 sailed on the Lakes 38 years. He says the first vessel built 
 here was constructed that year (1835), and was named the 
 "Mary." The next one, he says, was a North Champlain 
 canal boat, called the "Phillips," rebuilt at Fox Point, and 
 named the "Sea Serpent," owned by Esquire Howe. 
 
 [If the "Mary" was built as stated above, then the sloop 
 "Clarissa," referred to on page jfp and elsewhere in this 
 volume might as well lower her colors. Where is or was "Fox 
 Point" spoken of by Capt. Flood, we are not advised.] 
 
 Early County-House. — The building erected by Cook Co., 
 occupied as a Poor-House, and referred to by Judge Caton in 
 Dr. Hyde's "Early Medical Chicago," in a case of a canal 
 laborer, whose limb was amputated, in 1838, at the hip-joint, 
 by Dr. Brainard, stood at the S.-W. corner of the Court- 
 House Square. A gentleman, who lived across LaSalle St., 
 at the time, has told us that he remembers of the operation 
 and the man's death; he had taken some interest in the poor 
 fellow, visiting and taking to him various things which might 
 serve as some slight comfort in his great misfortune. 
 
57 6 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 The building referred to, it is understood, was sold at 
 auction, June 8, 1840; and was removed to the N.-E. corner 
 of Madison and Wells Street; it was fitted up and occupied 
 as a dwelling, for several years. 
 
 The Wisconsin Marine and Fire Insurance Company. — 
 Upon page 8, we incidentally spoke of the chartering of this 
 Institution, and we have since made effort to procure one of 
 its circulating notes (or certificates of deposit, for such was 
 the form they were given), on purpose to make a facsimile 
 copy, but did not succeed. They had been redeemed and 
 destroyed. The signatures of the President and Secretary of 
 that Institution, will be here recognized by many who were 
 
 / 
 
 familiar with the appearance of the certificates. The field or 
 breadth of country occupied by the currency of that bank was 
 immense; no other private institution, before nor since, has 
 so covered the ground, nor kept afloat so great an amount of 
 its circulating medium. The times were favorable for the 
 enterprise ; and however presumptious the scheme may have 
 been, the putting out as money, unsecured paper promises, in 
 
 exchange for something of undoubted worth and value, the 
 Institution yet earned a credit, which for years increased as 
 time advanced. The people needed the currency, and if no 
 one could really be holden for its redemption, it was no pur- 
 pose of the managers to repudiate; nothing could have more 
 of profit in it, than to redeem promptly all issues when pre- 
 sented. This was done; and so it followed, that this medium 
 here in the West, ' was considered the best in circulation. 
 How great the amount of the currency of that Insurance Co. 
 bank in the pockets of the people might average, whether fif- 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 577 
 
 teen hundred thousand, or as more likely twice that sum, we 
 can not say; yet after twelve or fifteen years or so, of that 
 sort of traffic, the owners, it is supposed, were quite prepared 
 to retire from ' the field, with a snug Jittle fortune of several 
 millions.* With a stupendous loan, virtually from the people, 
 without a pledge of security and without payment of interest, 
 such a result could not be surprising. We may add, it was 
 not to be wondered at, that in 1849, ten years after the 
 Charter was obtained from the Wisconsin Territorial Legis- 
 lature, the people were rather less dependent upon Mr. Smith's 
 sort of money, and were getting inquisitive, and inclined to 
 make their inquiries emphatic, wishing to know how long the 
 laws were to be overridden, for the Charter incorporating the 
 Insurance Company, positively prohibited banking privileges. 
 No coaxing however, no threatful mutterings, induced Mr. 
 Smith or the proprietors of the Institution to pass in arty 
 securities for the illegal issues of the Scottish Badger Com- 
 pany, nor of that of its illegitimate' descendant the Bank of 
 America, at Washington or Atlanta (the notes of which were 
 made payable at Milwaukee), also owned by Mr. Smith and 
 his associates. We should, however, here make note of an 
 exception not to be omitted; Messrs. Smith and Company 
 did organize a "Bank of America" under the general Banking 
 Law of Illinois, with, however, a capital of small amount; yet 
 its circulating notes, mostly ones, twos, and threes, were coun- 
 tersigned and registered in the Auditor's Office, being secured 
 by f Public Stocks deposited with the Treasurer of the State. 
 The notes of the unsecured "Bank of America," before referred 
 to, it will be pertinent to remark, were very similar in appear- 
 ance to those legally issued under the same name, and both 
 sorts were signed by George Smith, President. We may, no 
 doubt, with great propriety assert, that the scheme was 
 intended as "a delusion and a snare;" the circulation of the 
 
 * Soon after Mr. Smith arrived in 1833, it was currently reported, that he came 
 with a cash capital in hand to the amount of twenty-five thousand dollars ; this 
 here at the time was considered something magnificent ; it is understood that he 
 operated successfully in real estate, etc., for a while, but it was a half-dozen years 
 after his arrival that he struck the Insurance Co. bonanza. 
 38 
 
578 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 secured notes of the Bank of America, in 1853, was $50,000, 
 while that of the unsecured, it was confidently and reasonably- 
 believed, reached the amount of $500,000. This was in addi- 
 tion to the Insurance Company certificates. 
 
 It is within the memory of the compiler when, more than 
 half a century since, the public were often victimized by irre- 
 sponsible banks of issue — Jacob Barker's banks "Washington 
 and Warren'' and "Niagara," and numerous others since. 
 Mr. George Smith has received no little commendation for 
 not following in the track of that too common a swindle. 
 Yet we believe Mr. S. deserves no encomiums on that score; 
 the reward he labored for, was the money, and he got it. It 
 is reasonably supposed that no man deserves panegyric for 
 not being a rascal. 
 
 Varied. — On p. 522, we named, as in the Democrat, "W. 
 McConeston," referred to before as "Mr. McCorreston," but 
 spelled by Mr. Fergus "Wm. McCorrister." We have since 
 noticed in the American, 1840, "Wm. McCorristen," attached 
 to an affidavit. 
 
 Was it really true? — Mr. Blanchard, in his History, p. jpy, 
 says, that Ezekiel Morrison told that a steamboat came into 
 the river in spring of 1834. 
 
 Furthermore, was it so, as we have somewhere seen stated; 
 that in 1836, the schooner "Hudson," of Buffalo, Capt. John 
 Caldwell, took from Chicago a cargo of wheat? P. J. Par- 
 shall (late of Sauk Co., Wis.), it was said, assisted in loading 
 the wheat, in September, 1836. 
 
 The Cortier-Stone of iSji. — We made inquiry, on page 21 
 of this volume, about the box and contents placed under the 
 corner-stone of the Court-House, Sept. n, 185 1. We refer- 
 red to it as containing a list of Chicago residents in "1833"; 
 we were misinformed ; according to the printed statement, at 
 the time, it was a "List of inhabitants of Chicago, in 1832, 
 when the old log-jail was built"; (see note). 
 
 The box, nor whatever was in it, has never, that we have 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 579 
 
 heard, come to the light; evidently, there was a good deal of 
 bulk to the collection, indeed, altogether a library of some 
 extent.* The capture of that deposit, and its secretion from 
 the public, must be characterized as an outrage, — partaking 
 of that system which "rings" millions from the treasury and 
 would steal coppers from the eyes of the dead. 
 
 * The following is a list of articles deposited in a sealed box under the corner- 
 stone : 
 
 List of Inhabitants of Chicago in 1832, when the old log-Jail was built; fur- 
 nished by J. S. Wright, Esq. 
 
 Revised Statutes of Illinois — 1845. 
 
 Charter and Ordinances of the City of Chicago. 
 
 Seals of all the Courts of Cook County. 
 
 Copy of each Newspaper published in Chicago. 
 
 Copy of each Journal published in Chicago. 
 
 Names of Grand Jurors of Cook County. 
 
 Names of County Supervisors, Officers, and Building Committee. 
 
 Constitution of first Medical Society of Cook County. 
 
 Danenhower's City Directory, 1850-51. 
 
 Holy Bible. 
 
 Fugutive Slave Law. 
 
 Ball-and- Chain Ordinance. 
 
 Coins of the United States. 
 
 Communications from Union Lodge, St. Charles; George Davis, of Detroit; 
 Paul R. King, of Galena; and Communication and Medal from Mr. and Mrs. 
 William H. Davis. 
 
 Constitution and By-Laws of Engine Co.'s Nos. 1, 3, and 6, and of Philadel- 
 phia Hose Company, and Hook-and-Ladder Company, No. I. 
 
 Names of Chief Engineer and Assistant, Chicago Fire Department. 
 
 Constitution of the Robert Blum Lodge. 
 
 List of Officers and Members of Vinerius Lodge, Wheeling. 
 
 Records of the Lodges and Names of Officers of the Independent Order of 
 Odd Fellows in the City of Chicago. 
 
 Constitution of Radiant Temple of Honor. 
 
 Constitution and By-Laws of Chicago Building Association. 
 
 Constitution of Chicago Orphan Asylum. 
 
 Constitution and Directory of Chicago Relief Society. 
 
 Circular of Young Ladies' High School. 
 
 Documents from Rev. M. Richardson. 
 
 Constitution and Articles of Faith and Practice of the First Baptist Church in 
 Chicago. 
 
 Articles of Faith and Covenant of First Presbyterian Church in Chicago. 
 
 Minutes of the Christian Anti-Slavery Convention. 
 
 Catalogue of Knox College, Galesburg, 111. 
 
 Map of Cuba. 
 
S80 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 Jocularity and the Legal Profession. — From a speech before 
 the Chicago "Bar Association," some seven years ago, we 
 extract a few sentences from a humorous stand-point, as 
 sketched by Hon. Thomas Hoyne. Mr. H. said: 
 
 "I presume I owe the call made upon me to what may seem my 
 patriarchal relations to the old Chicago Bar. Though not the oldest, 
 yet I am, perhaps, now the oldest resident lawyer of Chicago, who 
 still remains in the active duties of professional life. 
 
 "When I came here, in 1837, the City had a population of 3000, 
 one drawbridge, an old ferry, two old dock -landings, a blacksmith- 
 shop, and two large or principal taverns — the Lake House on the 
 North Side and City Hotel on the South. There were then about 
 twenty-one lawyers and four students, among whom Judge Williams, 
 Wm. S. Brown, the late Judge Manierre, and myself were to be in- 
 cluded. There were two or three originals of that day in our pro- 
 fession, whose names have not been mentioned to-night. And first 
 there was our tall Kentucky friend, the somewhat historical Col. 
 Strode, of Black Hawk-War memory. It was often said of him that 
 he never crossed the prairie without fearing those gentlemen 'without 
 hats,' whom he regarded as no friends of his, after Stillman's Run. 
 It is said that upon one occasion, the celebrated Indian chief, Black 
 Hawk, made a capture of his saddle-bags, containing his ruffled shirts 
 and two volumes of Chitty's Pleadings.' Mr. Butterfield used to say, 
 when Strode met with any mishap in pleading properly, on account 
 of the loss of his 'Chitty,' that he had seen Black Hawk wearing 
 his ruffles upon his buskins, and going around to find Strode, with 
 a volume of his 'Chitty' under each arm, but Strode kept out of his 
 way. 
 
 " It is not sufficiently understood that we then had a historian in 
 the profession. The late Judge Brown wrote and published a His- 
 tory of this State. He was a man of simple habits, pure life, and of 
 great learning. As a lawyer and justice-of-the-peace, he was such as 
 you might conceive Scott's Dominie Sampson would have been, had 
 he studied law in black-letter times. 
 
 "But, Sir,- this history, of seven hundred pages, was a remarkable 
 work. It, perhaps, contained more general information upon all 
 other subjects than the subject of the work, than any history ever 
 written. Butterfield's caustic wit once characterized it as being like 
 a work once commenced by a Roman author. But that author never 
 got on further than a title-page to his book. This contained a Latin 
 inscription of the most comprehensive promise, — De omnibus rebus 
 et quibusdam aliis — concerning all things and some others. Butter- 
 field said that Brown did much better than this author, because 
 Brown finished his work. It begins with the discovery of the Ameri- 
 can Continent by Columbus. It contains a complete narrative of 
 the conquest of South America by Cortez and Pizarro; the French 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 581 
 
 settlements, and French and English wars upon this continent; the 
 English revolution of 1688; the American revolution; the war of 
 181 2; the life of the Mormon prophet, Joe Smith, and the history of 
 the Illinois and Michigan Canal. 
 
 "Another original, named Phelps, tried his justice's cases and 
 others always in the newspapers, and kept no office. On rainy, wet 
 mornings, Butterfield always sought Phelps to know why he did not 
 keep his office clean? If he had a case in court, Butterfield wished 
 to know which of the two journals, then published, was next to try 
 his case, and where he should file brief." 
 
 Joseph Bailly and the Bailly Homestead. — One of our neigh- 
 bors received a note from a granddaughter of the late Joseph 
 Bailly, mailed Jan. 30, '8i, from which we quote: 
 
 "My Grandfather's name was Joseph Bailly de Messein. Bailly 
 is the proper and only way to spell it; pronounced according to 
 French rules, Baa-ye. To say Bye is a bad mispronounciation. 
 Years ago, we were obliged to go to Chesterton for our mail; now 
 there are two P.-O's within a mile, Porter and Hageman. 
 Neither Chesterton, Porter, or Hageman are located on my Grand- 
 father's property. Baillytown is a name applied to a settlement of 
 Swedes, around the homestead. Farms vary from fifty to a hundred 
 acres, so there is nothing of the tcnvn save the name. J. H. Whistler 
 "was married at Mr. Beaubien's. Aunt Esther died nearly forty years 
 ago; her children are in Kansas." 
 
 To Whom it may Concern. — Whomsoever may be charged 
 with the carelessness, there is certainly rather more of error, 
 than seems to be needed, for any one page of the valuable 
 papers, known as "Fergus' Historical Series"; we refer to 
 items in the brief sketch in No. 14. of the pamphlets referred 
 to, occasioned by the death of the late David McKee,' as we 
 will quote : 
 
 P. ijo. "His son Stephen was the first white child born to a 
 citizen of Chicago." 
 
 Is that so? Where then must we place Ellen M. and 
 Maria, and Robert A., children of John Kinzie, and all born 
 in Chicago? The first named, was born as early, lacking 
 four or five years, as Stephen McKee's father. But there 
 were other names that take precedence to that of David 
 McKee's son Stephen. 
 
582 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 "The first bridge built across the river was at the foot of Dearborn 
 Street." 
 
 Scarcely; as bridges spanned both the north and south 
 branches, before the one at Dearborn Street was built. 
 
 "The first frame house, in contradistinction to a log-cabin, was 
 built on the South Side." 
 
 So far from this being so, there was a frame building 
 
 erected, on both the N.orth and West Sides, before there was 
 
 any on the South. 
 
 "Mr. McKee called to mind his recollections of seeing the bones 
 of the victims of the massacre of Fort Dearborn, of 1812. The 
 massacre occurred near the pine clump, in the neighborhood of the 
 University Building, and there the bones lay for twenty years. In 
 1832, Capt. Bradley, then commanding at Fort Dearborn, ordered 
 the bones to be gathered up and interred, as they were, in the wood 
 close by." 
 
 It would perhaps be difficult, to get more untruth into one 
 short paragraph, than appears in this last. We will add, that 
 the massacre didn't happen "near the pine clump in the 
 neighborhood of the University Building," nor did the bones 
 lay there for "twenty years." Neither did Capt. Bradley "in 
 1832" have command at Fort Dearborn, for he had died a 
 half-dozen years before, in 1826. Furthermore, as Captain 
 Bradley really had those bones buried in 18 16, a-half-dozen 
 years at least before Mr. McKee came to Chicago, the proba- 
 bilities are, that he did not see them. 
 
 " The Pioneer and First of all Steamboats!' — This remark, 
 on/. 81 of this volume, was no doubt a mistake, when applied 
 to the "Perseverance of Fitch, on the Delaware." Without 
 reference to far earlier claims still, to actual success in experi- 
 ments- of steam navigation in the old world, it seems to be 
 asserted, without contradiction, that "About 1763, William 
 Henry, of Pennsylvania, built a small model steamboat, which 
 he tried with flattering success, on the Conestoga River; this 
 experiment is specially notable, as having furnished the hint 
 to the successful efforts, made forty years later, by Robert 
 Fulton." 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 583 
 
 Several Indian Names. — "Five Medals," or Onoxa, an 
 Indian whose name appears somewhere in these pages, was a 
 Pottawatomie. He is somewhere called Wannangsea, the 
 same name differently rendered in English, no doubt; he had 
 a son, who signed for him at the Treaty of Fort Wayne, in 
 1809; he also had ,a brother named Osmeet at same Treaty. 
 At the Treaty of Spring Wells, in 1815, the name of "Five 
 Medals" is given " Noungeesai." 
 
 "Miere" or "Walk-in-the- Water" was a Wyandot. 
 
 "Chekagua" or he that stands by the tree, appears a signer at 
 the Treaty of the Sacs of Missouri, at Portage des Sioux, in 
 September, 18 15. 
 
 "Choukeka" or DeKare, the spoon, was a Winnebago, and a 
 signer at the Treaty of St. Louis, 18 16. 
 
 '' Chi-cag was a Pottawatomie, and a signer at the Treaty of 
 Camp Tippecanoe, in 1833. 
 
 The Earliest Thanksgiving Proclamation, of the State of 
 Illinois, as might be expected, originated in Chicago, where 
 countless other enterprising, enlightened, and humane projects 
 (not to speak of some of a different class), have first taken 
 form. That paper, as we learn from Mr. Blanchard's History, 
 and from Mr. Thomas Hoyne himself, was first suggested 
 
 by Alderman Julius Wadsworth, who proposed to Mr. Hoyne, 
 then City Clerk, that if he "would draft a resolution, and then 
 draw a proclamation in due form, so that it should go out 
 signed by the Mayor and Clerk as authoritative, fixing a 
 special day at the usual time in this City as a day for thanks- 
 giving, requesting the churches to observe, and the people of 
 the city to close their places of business, — the people of this 
 
586 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 assembly. Some, who could not attend, sent messages of 
 approval and encouragement, such as Benton, Wright, Web- 
 ster, Clay, Van Buren ; Gov. Cass, wrote an unfortunately 
 brief letter; those men have long since passed from earthly 
 scenes. 
 
 That Convention was not merely memorable for Chicago, 
 but the whole country was honored in its deliberations, and 
 benefited in their results. In the small space which we can 
 only here appropriate, we could scarcely give a hint of the 
 details; we would, however, suggest to Messrs. Fergus the 
 propriety of issuing a nicely printed pamphlet edition, em- 
 bracing all the proceedings of that notable gathering. 
 
 We do not know that Hon. John Wentworth was the 
 pioneer in that movement for the Chicago Convention, but if 
 it was another's first suggestion, he was certainly at once ready 
 to "put his shoulder to the wheel." The Committee, ap- 
 pointed at a meeting of the citizens of Chicago, to draw up 
 an address to the people of various States, giving reasons for 
 the calling of a Convention, as well as what was intended to 
 be accomplished, were George Manierre, J. Young Scammon, 
 I. N. Arnold, Grant Goodrich, and John Wentworth. Mr. 
 Wentworth was chosen to write the Address, which we give 
 below : 
 
 "ADDRESS OF THE CHICAGO COMMITTEE. 
 
 "The high prices of freight, taken in connection with the loss of 
 life and property upon the Western waters last season, caused several 
 public meetings to be held in various sections of the country, for the 
 purpose of devising the best means of remedying those and other 
 evils of which the great mass of the people interested in commerce 
 were complaining. At all these meetings, the propriety of holding a 
 convention at some convenient point was discussed and universally 
 concurred in. 
 
 " In consequence of Chicago having been generally named as the 
 proper point, its citizens called a meeting, named the fifth of July as 
 the appropriate time, and chose the undersigned a committee to 
 draft an address, setting forth the objects of the Convention. 
 
 "The movers in this matter have been, from the first, like the 
 undersigned, of entirely different politics, and, so far from there 
 being, even in the remotest degree, any political design in the con- 
 templated Convention, one of the chief objects of it is to call together 
 for a common object the men of all parties, and to convince the 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 5^7 
 
 people every where that the improvements desired are not now, 
 never have been, and never should be, connected with ' party politics,' 
 in the ordinary use of that term. Such a connection would, in the 
 minds of all interested, have a very deleterious tendency. It can 
 not be denied that there is a predisposition among all politicians to 
 support the measures of a chief magistrate of their own party, and 
 hence we have seen Western representatives, originally supporting 
 harbor and river improvements, and elected upon express pledges to 
 do so, finally vote to support a veto of bills providing for that pur- 
 pose, and assigning as a reason therefor that it was their duty to sus- 
 tain an executive of their own selection, even though it be in express 
 opposition to the wishes and interests of their constituents. , Repeated 
 instances of this kind must eventually give this question somewhat 
 of a political cast, which the undersigned and all who cooperate with 
 them would seriously regret. 
 
 "The construction of harbors upon our Northern Lakes, as well as 
 upon the Atlantic, with the improvement of our great rivers, where 
 commerce is of a national character, necessarily involves no questions 
 of party difference. They are matters that must interest all parties, 
 as they do all classes, alike, and harbor and river bills have been 
 supported by the ablest men of both the great political parties which 
 divide this country. This subject has never entered into any presi- 
 dential canvass, since each party has always taken it for granted that 
 the candidate of the other was above suspicion upon a matter of such 
 preeminent importance. The first Congress that ever assembled 
 under the present Constitution, many of whose members helped to 
 frame it, passed a law defraying all expenses which should accrue 
 after the 15th of August, 1789, in the necessary support, mainten- 
 ance, and repairs of all light-houses, beacons, buoys, and public piers, 
 erected, placed, or sunk, before the passage of this act, at the 
 entrance of, or within any bay, inlet, harbor, or ports of the United 
 States, for rendering the navigation thereof easy and safe. General 
 Washington signed this bill; and bills for the continuance of such 
 works were also successively signed by Presidents the elder Adams, 
 Jefferson, and Madison. The first Lake Harbor Bill was signed by 
 Mr. Monroe. He never raised the constitutional question, nor do 
 the Congressional debates of those days show that any members of 
 either branch of Congress made any distinction between salt and 
 fresh water improvements, or between foreign and domestic com- 
 merce. All at that time were acknowledged alike deserving the 
 fostering care of the General Government, as they also were during 
 the administrations of the younger Adams, General Jackson, and Mr. 
 Van Buren. Though remarkably scrupulous as to the extent to 
 which the power to construct works of internal improvement should 
 be exercised, General Jackson and Mr. Van Buren signed bills for 
 the improvement of rivers and construction of harbors to the amount 
 of $7,800,000, and the two bills signed by General Jackson in 1836, 
 contained no less than eighty-nine items, and the bill of 1837, no less 
 
588 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 than fifty-nine. After the General' Government has expended upward 
 of seventeen millions of dollars for works of internal improvement, 
 and mostly in the old States, by the consent and support of the very 
 framers of the Constitution and their cotemporaries, and by men, 
 too, of all political parties, there can now be but little consideration 
 due the cry that 'it is unconstitutional,' or the plan of a single politi- 
 cal party to extend the advantages of such works to the new States, 
 and to such portions of the old States as have thus far been neglected. 
 
 "Thus disposing of the constitutional and the political question, 
 the friends of harbor and river improvements arrive at the only one 
 which can rightfully be raised, and that is merely the question of 
 necessity. Is it necessary to protect our domestic as well as our 
 foreign commerce? Shall we protect the lesser and neglect the 
 greater? For the past three years, petitions have been presented to 
 Congress in vain: senators and representatives in Congress have 
 spoken in vain. The present Secretary of War, in his official 
 reports, has recommended in vain; and the whole topographical 
 corps has estimated in vain. Our bills have invariably been vetoed, 
 and we have been unable to secure two-thirds of the popular branch. 
 Confident that there is wanting a knowledge of the necessity of these 
 improvements among the people or their representatives, since all 
 efforts at success have failed, it has been thought that a general con- 
 vention and consultation, with personal observation, might do much 
 for us. There is not a State in the Confederacy but that touches the 
 lakes, the ocean, or the great rivers of the West. The lakes line 
 almost our entire northern frontier, and separate us from a foreign 
 country; and the rivers, like arteries, run through the whole coun- 
 try, constituting an extent of navigation sufficient to reach round the 
 globe. 
 
 "These great waters, for whose safe navigation this Convention is 
 called, are soon to be united by the completion of the Illinois and 
 Michigan Canal. The commerce of Boston, of Philadelphia, of Balti- 
 more, of New York, of New Orleans, Cincinnati, St. Louis, and, 
 indeed, of the whole country, thence becomes in a great measure 
 connected. It has a common interest, and no injury could, and the 
 greatest advantages might rise from a common consultation. It is a 
 notorious fact that statements, during the pendency of harbor and 
 river bills before Congress, are made on the highest personal author- 
 ity, which never would be made if the authors had any personal 
 observation of the great inland waters of this country, or could real- 
 ize the necessity of the millions whose lives and property are jeo- 
 parded by them. Delegates in attendance will not only have the 
 advantages of their own observation to take back with them, but 
 they can profit others meeting them here by a consultation as to the 
 best means of redressing existing wrongs. Having done this, they 
 can impart the proper feelings to their neighbors, and thus aid in 
 arousing the people to take this matter into their own hands, and see 
 that their chief interests are no longer neglected. It is confidently 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 589 
 
 loped that a more intimate acquaintance with the claims of these 
 preat waters, formed by men congregated for this special purpose 
 rom all parts of the Union, will result in sufficiently convicting and 
 iwakening the public mind to secure the constitutional majority, 
 ihould a harbor bill ever again be vetoed. This Convention is 
 lesigned to be one of free discussion, and it is hoped that the oppo- 
 nents as well as the friends of lake and river improvements will attend, 
 md more especially since it is generally believed that they have only 
 :o see for themselves in order to be convinced that these demands, 
 :oming from all our great waters, are founded in justice. 
 
 "Although the construction of harbors and the improvement of 
 ■ivers will be the prominent subject before the Convention, yet, 
 whatever matters appertain to the prosperity of the West, and to the 
 ievelopment of its resources, will come properly before it, and all 
 plans and suggestions will be freely entertained. The committee 
 nvite a general attendance from all sections of the Union, and ten- 
 der, in behalf of their fellow-citizens, the hospitalities of the City of 
 Chicago to such as, impelled by a common interest, see fit to honor 
 :hem by their presence on the occasion. 
 
 "John Wentworth, 
 
 George Manierre, 
 
 J. Young Scammon, [ Committee." 
 
 I. N. Arnold, 
 
 Grant Goodrich, 
 
 The following extract, from the letter of Mr. Benton, we 
 jive, more particularly on account of the reference to his early 
 :ommunications, in behalf of a Canal between the Illinois 
 River and Lake Michigan : 
 
 "The Lake and River navigation of the great West, to promote 
 ivhich the Convention is called, yery early had a share of my atten- 
 :ion, and I never had a doubt of the constitutionality or expediency 
 jf bringing that navigation within the circle of internal improvement, 
 jy the Federal Government, when the object to be improved should 
 ae one of general and national importance. 
 
 "The junction of the two great systems of waters which occupy 
 >o much of our Country, the Northern Lakes on one hand, and the 
 Mississippi and tributaries on the other, appeared to me to be an 
 abject of that character, and Chicago the proper point for effecting 
 :he union; and near 29 years ago, I wrote and published articles in 
 1 St. Louis paper in favor of that object, indicated, and almost ac- 
 :omplished by Nature herself, and wanting but a helping hand from 
 nan to complete it. Articles in the St. Louis Enquirer, of 1819, 
 express the opinions which I then entertained, and the a report" of 
 :hat period, published in the same paper, to the Secretary of War, 
 ay Messrs. Graham and Phillips, in favor of that canal (and which 
 "report" I wrote), was probably the first formal communication upon 
 
S90 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 authentic data, in favor of the Chicago canal. These gentlemen, 
 with Mr. John C. Sullivan, of Mo., had been appointed by the Sec- 
 retary of War to run a line from the south end of Lake Michigan to 
 the Mississippi. I proposed to them to examine the ground between 
 Chicago and the Illinois River, with a view to the construction of a 
 canal by the Federal Government. They did so, and, on their re- 
 turn to St. Louis, submitted all their observations to me; and hence 
 the publications in the newspapers, and the report to the Secretary 
 of War. I mention this to show that my opinions on this subject 
 are of long standing; and that the nationality of the Chicago Canal 
 and, of course, of the harbor at its mouth, are by no means new con- 
 ceptions with me. But I confess that I did not foresee then what I 
 have since seen, the Falls of Niagara surmounted by a ship canal, 
 and a schooner clearing from Chicago for Liverpool ! " 
 Here is an extract from the letter of Mr. Webster: 
 
 "Of the power of the Government to make appropriations for 
 creating harbors and clearing rivers, I never entertained a particle of 
 doubt. This power, in m'y judgment, is not partial, limited, obscure, 
 applicable to some uses, and not applicable to others, to some States, 
 and not to others, to some rivers, and not to others, as seems to 
 have been the opinion of gentlemen connected with the Memphis 
 Convention. For one, I reject all such far-fetched and unnatural 
 distinctions. In my opinion, the authority of the Government in 
 this respect rests directly on the grant of the commercial power to 
 Congress, and this has been so understood from the beginning by 
 the wisest and best men, who have been concerned in the adminis- 
 tration of the Government; and is, consequently, general, and lim- 
 ited only by the importance of each particular subject, and the dis- 
 cretion of Congress. 
 
 "I hope the Convention may do much good, by enforcing the 
 necessity of exercising these just powers of the Government. There 
 are no new inventions, nor new constructions, or qualifications of 
 constitutional power to be resorted to; there is no new political path 
 to be struck out. It is simply for the people to say whether preju- 
 dices, party prepossessions, and party opposition shall at length give 
 way to fair reasoning, to precedent and experience, to the judgment 
 of the great men who have gone before us, and to those momentous 
 considerations of public interest which now so imperatively call on 
 Congress to do its duty." 
 
 Adding a few lines more: 
 
 "Mr. Gardiner" (a delegate from Troy, N. Y. ) "dwelt very ably and eloquently 
 upon the true definition of the term nationality. He stated that the aggregate 
 amount of the commerce of the Lakes was now between $600,000, 000 and $700,- 
 000,000, while our foreign trade, both exports and imports, amounts to only $230,- 
 000,000. He asked if an interest so vast as this was not a national interest. * 
 * * He spoke of the time when future generations, the sons of those before 
 him, should dwell on the shores of the far Pacific. Would they not then wish for 
 some line of intercommunication, stretching from one shore to another?" 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 59 1 
 
 EARLY MISSIONARIES & EARLY CHURCHES. 
 
 The missionaries of the Roman Catholic Church bore the 
 irliest message of the cross to the Indians of the Northwest, 
 ome of them were distinguished as explorers and discoverers, 
 nd there were those who were men of great bravery, zeal, 
 nd self-sacrifice. Some, we know from their labors and ex- 
 osure, died of sickness in the wilderness, others were killed 
 y savages. 
 
 On previous pages of this volume, we have referred to some 
 f the French missionaries who were here, however briefly 
 tiey may have tarried. To quote our own words, on another 
 ccasion: "It was the lofty aim of Marquette to be of endur- 
 ig service to his fellow men ; it was his integrity, his unsel- 
 shness, his untiring zeal, his gentle and uncomplaining dis- 
 losition, and his early self-sacrifice near akin to martyrdom, 
 hat command our sympathies, and these are what made him 
 ruly great." We know that the earnest, gentle, but coura- 
 ;eous Marquette spent a rigoruos winter here, in sickness 
 nd desolation ; yet a faith which lightened up the winter 
 lours within that comfortless wigwam, was also a gleam of 
 irightness, leading to a glorious hereafter. 
 
 After the death of Father Marquette, Claude Allouez suc- 
 eeded to the Illinois Mission; some notice of him appears 
 m pp. 152 and 153. He came again in 1684, when Durant- 
 ye arrived. 
 
 Father Claudius Dablon, a missionary of considerable note, 
 lamed on page 14.6, was early upon Lake Superior, Green 
 Jay, etc., but we are not aware that he came to Chicago. He 
 lecame Superior General of the Jesuits of Canada, and to 
 yhom Marquette, and other missionaries of that order, made 
 
592 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 their reports. He was, we think, a man of a good deal of 
 management, tact, and intellectual ability, whatever his moral 
 status may have been. 
 
 If Father Hennepin made a stop at the Chicago, on his 
 way to the St. Joseph, in 1679, we are not advised of it; but 
 there were various others of the missionaries, of whom we 
 have heard, who did, whatever may have been their religious 
 and pastoral exercises here, or how long they were continued 
 at this point; we may name Fathers de la Ribourde, Membre, 
 Gravier, La Source, de Montigny, Davion, St. Cosme, etc. 
 In 1685, it is understood, de la Durantaye, an officer of the 
 government of New France, erected a fort here. How large 
 a structure that fort was, or how great a force was stationed 
 within it, we can not say; yet it served, no doubt, not only as 
 a safe depot or store-house for furs, awaiting transportation 
 northward, but probably with some show of military power, 
 may have helped to keep the natives somewhat in awe. There 
 may have, therefore, gathered around this early fortress, some- 
 what of a village or settlement of French, and which possibly 
 invited or claimed the constant presence of the village priest ; 
 but this is the suggestion of a surmise. It is known, however, 
 that when de Montigny and St. Cosme came here, in the year 
 1699, they put up at the "house of the Jesuit Fathers." St. 
 Cosme says: 
 
 " We found there Rev. Father Pinet and Rev. Father Buinateau, 
 who had recently come in from the Illinois, and were slightly sick. 
 I can not explain to you, Monseigneur, with what cordiality and 
 marks of esteem these reverend Jesuit Fathers received and caressed 
 us, during the time that we had the consolation of staying with them. 
 Their house is built on the banks of the small lake, having the lake 
 on one side and a fine large prairie on the other.* The Indian vil- 
 
 * On page i6y, we have said that " the house of the missionaries referred to by 
 St. Cosme, we suppose, may have been at the junction of the north and south 
 branches of Chicago River, where the meeting of the three channels formed the 
 natural basin or small lake spoken of; or, possibly, it was at Mud Lake, unless, 
 indeed, Mr. Adams may send us to the Calumet to look for it. " See note, p. 16S. 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 593 
 
 age is c-f over 150 cabins, and, one league on the river, there is another 
 tillage almost as large. They are both of the Miamis. Rev. Father 
 Pinet makes it his ordinary residence, except in winter, when the 
 Indians all go hunting, and which he goes and spends at the Illi- 
 nois. We saw no Indians there; they had already started for their 
 hunt." 
 
 After those occupants of that "house of the Jesuit Fathers," 
 at Chicago, on the eve of the 18th century, we are unable to 
 tell anything definitely, for a long succeeding period, about 
 the Roman Catholic clergy who may have sojourned here. 
 
 We may here say, that the recital or an outline sketch of 
 the Roman Catholic Missions, of the various Orders, of Cana- 
 da, which missions included those of the Illinois, can not be 
 given in a dozen lines. But we may quote from a prefatory 
 note of Dr. Shea as follows: 
 
 "The English carried off both the Recollects and Jesuits,* whom 
 they had invited to aid them ; but as the restoration of Canada was 
 expected, both prepared for a speedy return. For some reason, how- 
 ever, the French Government determined to send out another mis- 
 sionary body, and offered Canada to the Capuchins, like the Recol- 
 lects, a branch of the great Franciscan Order. The Capuchins, how- 
 ever, declined, and recommended the Jesuits, who were accordingly 
 sent, and the Recollects excluded. * * * The Recollects 
 were soon relieved from their false position by the settlement of the 
 disputes, and, without attempting new Indian missions, labored for 
 the good of the colony with a zeal beyond all praise. Chosen al- 
 most always as chaplains to the troops and forts, they were to be 
 found at every French post, and thus became the earliest pastors of 
 some of our western towns. Like the Jesuits, they were a second 
 time excluded from Canada, by the English, on their conquest in the 
 last century, and the last survivor has long since descended to the 
 grave." 
 
 James Logan, of Pennsylvania, in 1718, referred to the 
 French fort here, which he calls "Fort Miami, situated at the 
 mouth of the River Chicagou. This fort is not regularly 
 garrisoned." De Siette, who succeeded De Bpisbriante as 
 military commander in the Illinois, whether stationed here or 
 not, yet in 1726, referred to some proposed "interview" at 
 Chicagoux. 
 
 However broad and magnificent the plan of French coloni- 
 
 * Referring to the surrender of Quebec, by Champlain, in 1629. 
 
 39 
 
594 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 zation, embracing the entire Mississippi Valley and basin of 
 the great lakes, yet something more than all of the eighteenth 
 century, was too early for such settlement, excepting to a 
 small extent. The French people, however, were not to 
 accomplish a tithe of the great design; indeed, neither the 
 French nor any Latin nation were fitted to accomplish so 
 important an achievement. 
 
 Rev. Stephen T. Badin, a priest of the Roman Catholic 
 Church, told a lady, still living here, that he visited Chicago 
 in his clerical capacity in the year 1796; he was also" here 
 some years afterward, when he administered baptism to some 
 of the children of Col. Beaubien. 
 
 The first Protestant sermon at Chicago seems to have been 
 preached by Rev. Isaac McCoy, a Baptist minister, who estab- 
 lished and conducted the mission school at Carey, near Niles, 
 Mich. In his history he says : 
 
 "In the forepart of October, I attended, at Chicago, the payment 
 of an annuity by Dr. Wolcott, United States Indian Agent, and, 
 through his politeness, addressed the Indians on the subject of our 
 Mission. On the 9th of October, 1825, I preached in English, 
 which, as I was informed, was the first sermon ever delivered at or 
 near that place." 
 
 Methodist Episcopal Church. — At page 231 of Rev. Stephen 
 R. Beggs' Book, entitled " Pages from the Early History of the 
 West arid North-west" he refers to a letter of Rev. Isaac 
 Scarritt, of the Methodist Church, extracts from which he 
 gives, and from which we quote as follows: 
 
 "In 1828, I succeeded Rev. Jesse Walker as superintendent of 
 the Fox River Mission. At that time, James Walker was living 
 where Ottawa now stands; Pierce Hawley, Edmund Weed, and J. 
 Beresford, lived at what was afterward called Holderman's Grove. 
 These, with my own family at the mission, constituted the whole of 
 the American population on the north-west side of the Illinois River, 
 and between that and Chicago. The whole region, except a strip 
 along the river, was Indian country. While here, I planned a trip 
 to Chicago, distant some seventy or eighty miles, and about mid- 
 summer, with George Furkee, a half-breed Indian who resided at the 
 mission, for my guide, I set out on my adventure. 
 
 "The first night, we lodged at an Indian village, near where Plain- 
 field now stands. The next evening we entered Chicago, which, in 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 595 
 
 addition to" the buildings constituting Fort Dearborn, contained the 
 the old Kinzie House, a new house of Col. Hamilton's (?), with, per- 
 haps, one or two others in that quarter, and those of J. Kinzie and 
 J. Miller up at the point. The latter two gentlemen seemed to be 
 upon a strife with each other, which should excel in honor or popu- 
 larity, whereby to promote their individual interests. I took up my 
 residence at Miller's, who, with laudable generosity, undertook to 
 administer to my comfort and further my views. The next day was 
 
 the Sabbath, and I sent word to Lieut. that, if it were his wish, 
 
 the superintendent of the Indian mission would preach to the sol- 
 diers and others, at such place and hour as he might appoint. An- 
 swer was returned, that he should not forbid the preaching, but that 
 he should neither authorize nor make any arrangements for it. Not 
 to be outdone by the honorable lieutenant on the point of independ- 
 ence, I declined going to the garrison under such circumstances, and 
 made an appointment for preaching at Miller's at night. Most of 
 the citizens and some of the soldiers were present, and gave respect- 
 ful attention ; but in the matter of congregation, we received rather 
 more than we bargained for. During religious service, a gang of 
 boatmen, with their vociferous "yo-hes," commenced landing and roll- 
 ing up barrels, etc., near to the door. This was a trick of Kinzie's, 
 so Miller said, out of spite to him for having the honor of entertain- 
 ing the missionary, and for the agency he took in promoting the re- 
 ligion of the place." * * * "I can not say that this was 
 the first sermon, or even the first Methodist sermon, that was ever 
 preached in Chicago, but I may say that there were neither intima- 
 tions or indications of its ever having been preceded; the whole 
 movement, from first to last, bore the appearance of a new measure 
 in that place." 
 
 Rev. Mr. Beggs remarks, after the above, by Mr. Scarritt: 
 
 "Rev. Jesse Walker, and also Mrs. John Hamline, of Peoria, told 
 me that in the spring of 1826, Father Walker went up on his boat 
 from Peoria to Chicago. He had all the hands on board cease work 
 till they could attend prayers, and all joined in singing, and then a 
 fervent prayer was offered up in their behalf, asking the merciful pro- 
 tection of a Divine Providence throughout the day. I have no recol- 
 lection that either of them told me that he preached during his stay 
 in Chicago ; but if he did not, I presume it was the first time he ever 
 went to a strange place, remaining as long as he did at Chicago, 
 without preaching; and as that was his errand up there, I have little 
 doubt that he improved the opportunity he sought." 
 
 The first prayer-meetings, it is believed, were instituted by 
 Mark Noble, Sen., who, with his family, arrived here in 
 August, 1 83 1, and occupied the old, cabin of the Kinzie's, on 
 the north side of the River. 
 
596 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 Rev. S. R. Beggs, in his book, writes so rather incoherent- 
 ly, that it is with difficulty, sometimes, that one gets at his 
 exact meaning; we quote as follows: 
 
 (Page 86.) "This year'' (meaning probably 1831) "I received my 
 appointment to Chicago mission station. In July, of the previous 
 summer" (meaning, we suppose, July, 1831), "I had attended two 
 camp-meetings, one at Cedar Point and the other at Plainfield. They 
 were both successful, the one at Plainfield especially so. From this 
 latter place, Father Walker and myself started for Chicago,* about 
 forty miles distant. When we arrived, brother Walker gave out an 
 appointment for me to preach in the garrison, in old Dr. Harmon's 
 room.t After the sermon was over, he gave it out that I was to 
 preach again next morning at nine o'clock; and this was the begin- 
 ning of a happy time here. I opened the door for the reception of 
 members, and I think ten joined the church. | 
 
 Among the number were brother Lee (See) and wife, and Elijah 
 Wentworth,§ with his mother and two sisters. We formed a class of 
 those few members, and it was this class, the first ever formed in 
 Chicago, that now awaited me at my new appointment." 
 
 Mr. Beggs just here, evidently, refers to his second arrival 
 at Chicago, late in the fall of 183 1, probably, though he omits 
 reference to the date. Mr. Beggs continues : 
 
 MI commenced my work here alone, and the prospect seemed 
 gloomy enough. The garrison consisted of two or three frame houses 
 and some huts, occupied by the French and Indians. * * * 
 Some changes had taken place since the preceding summer, and, on 
 
 * Mr. Beggs had apparently forgotten the month, for in a letter to the compiler 
 of this, dated August 20, 1873, he says: 
 
 "As near as I can remember (when I first visited Chicago), say, the 15th of 
 June, 1 83 1. After riding 40 miles on horseback, I preached to some 25 persons 
 in old Dr. Harmond's room, in the old garrison in the evening, and at 9 o'clock 
 next morning preached in a log-school-house, and formed the first class of the 
 M. E. Church in Chicago, and rode back 40 miles, the same day, to Plainfield. " 
 
 + The soldiers occupying Fort Dearborn had been ordered away the spring 
 before. 
 
 J Could this be called the organization of a church? If so, was it not the first? 
 § Junior, no doubt. 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 597 
 
 my arrival, I felt somewhat encouraged. Several families had moved 
 in; father Noble, with a wife and two daughters, Col. Richard Hamil- 
 ton and wife, and Dr. Harmon ; Irwin, a son of the above-mentioned, 
 with his wife. There were six more members added to my class. I 
 remained here preaching nearly seven weeks before I could obtain any 
 accommodations for my family, and then went back to my father-in- 
 law's after Mrs. Beggs. It was the middle of January, 1832." * * 
 
 At page 94., Mr. Beggs goes back and speaks of the prelimi- 
 nary incidents attending his last above-named journey to 
 Chicago : 
 
 "Jesse Walker was superintendent of the mission work from Peoria 
 to Chicago, and also had a nominal appointment at Chicago. His 
 labors, however, were so extensive that he preached here but a few 
 times during the year. Brother Walker was not able to attend Con- 
 ference, held in Indianapolis, in 1831.' After consulting me to know, 
 if I was willing to take charge of the mission at Chicago, to which 
 I consented, if Conference should so decide, he wrote to Bishop 
 Roberts, to appoint me to that work. So this was my home for the 
 coming year, and I hastened to take charge of the little class I had 
 formed a few months previous. I found them all standing fast in 
 the liberty of the Gospel. • 
 
 "Our meetings were generally held in the Fort, and they increased 
 in interest till our first quarterly-meeting, which was held in January, 
 1832. I had been helping brother Walker hold some meetings at 
 Plainfield, and we left there on one of the coldest days of that win- 
 ter for my quarterly-meeting at Chicago. It was thirty miles to the 
 first house. Brother T. B. Clark started with us with an ox-team, 
 for the purpose of carrying provisions to help sustain the people in 
 Chicago during the meeting. Provisions were very scarce here at 
 that time. Late in the evening, we became alarmed lest he had per- 
 ished in the cold, and went out on a fruitless hunt after him. He 
 arrived at eleven o'clock that night at our stopping-place. The next 
 day saw us all safely in Chicago, where we met with a warm recep- 
 tion from brother Lee (See) and family. 
 
 "Here, to-day, amid the presence of this great and prosperous city, 
 let us reconsider our humble beginning. Thirty-six years ago, a load 
 of provisions was brought by an ox-team from the village of Plain- 
 field to sustain the friends that met here for a quarterly-meeting ! 
 The meeting commenced with power, and increased in interest till 
 Sunday morning. My first sermon was preached on Sabbath morn- 
 ing, at ten o'clock, after which brother Walker invited the people 
 around the sacramental board. It was a season long to be remem- 
 bered. Every one seemed to be baptized and consecrated anew 
 to the great work to be accomplished in the village that was destined 
 to become a mighty city. 
 
598 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 "Jesse Walker was my successor in 1832.* He moved his family 
 up to Chicago as soon as possible, and set to work. I attended his 
 first quarterly-meeting, it was held in an old log-school-house, which 
 served for a parsonage, parlor, kitchen, and audience-room. The 
 furniture consisted of ah old box-stove, with one griddle, upon which 
 we cooked. We boiled our tea-kettle, cooked what few vegetables 
 we could get, and fried our meat, each in its turn. Our table was 
 an old wooden chest; and when dinner was served up, we surrounded 
 the board and ate with good appetites, asking no questions for con- 
 science sake. Dyspepsia, that more modern refinement, had not 
 found its way to our settlements. We were too earnest and active to 
 indulge in such a luxury. Indeed, our long rides and arduous labors 
 were no friends to such a visitant. This palatial residence, which 
 served us as the Chicago parsonage, was then situated between Ran- 
 dolph and Washington Streets, the first block west of the River.t 
 
 We should here say, that Rev. Henry Whitehead, of the 
 
 Methodist Church, who came in September, 1833, occupied 
 the pulpit soon after his arrival, occasionally, as we are 
 informed, at the building erected by Dr. Temple, of the Baptist 
 Church, corner of Franklin and South -Water Streets, but 
 which edifice was used jointly by the Baptists, Methodists, 
 and Presbyterians. 
 
 The Chicago Tribune of Dec. 19, 1877, in speaking of the 
 late Methodist Council, said, "The Hon. Grant Goodrich fol- 
 
 lowed with a paper of Reminiscences of Early Methodism in 
 Chicago. Judge Goodrich said when Cook' County was 
 organized in 1831, there were but twelve families in the City. 
 He had heard Peter Cartright say he had preached on the 
 lake shore in Chicago in 183 1. Rev. Jesse Walker built the 
 
 * It was a mistake in Rev. Arthur Mitchell's pamphlet where it says, " In April, 
 1 833, Father "Walker, an aged Methodist minister, came to Chicago to reside. '' 
 
 t This named locality, for Father Walker's cabin, is wrongly placed, as we 
 understand; see note, p. J02. 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 599 
 
 first church in Chicago.* It was located on the north-east 
 corner of North-Water and Clark Streets; Judge Goodrich 
 heard him preach before the structure was completed, the car- 
 penter's bench being used as a pulpit. In 1834, John T. 
 Mitchell was sent to Chicago by the Illinois Conference as a 
 missionary. In the winter of 1834 and '5, evening services 
 were held, and there were a number of conversions and acces- 
 sions to the church. In 1835, it became evident that the 
 South Side was to be the centre of business and population, 
 and the desirability of procuring a lot in that part of the City 
 was considered. That now occupied by the First Church was 
 secured for $3800; subsequently David Carver donated one 
 on Wabash Avenue near Adams Street, for a parsonage. In 
 1836, the church was struck from the list of Missions, by the 
 Illinois Conference, and the Rev. O. T. Curtis became the 
 preacher. He was succeeded by Peter R. Borein, who proved 
 an angel of blessing and deliverance. Under his ministration, 
 one in ten of the population professed Christianity. In the 
 summer of 1838, the building was moved (from the north side 
 of the river) on scows, and placed on the new lot, the one now 
 occupied by the First Church, and enlarged to double its 
 length. In 1845, a brick building 66 by 90 feet was erected 
 at a cost of $12,000." [In some other statements, the Tribune 
 reporter or type-setter, mangled the Judge's remarks consid- 
 erably. Judge G. referred to Wm. See, the "Government 
 blacksmith," but the types gave the name as "Wm. C. Cart- 
 right," also this sentence "the Rev. Jesse Walker was un- 
 doubtedly the first Protestant minister, who held religious 
 services in Chicago," is undoubtedly a mistake, nor was he 
 here "as early, as 1802."] 
 
 "Philo Carpenter and Grant Goodrich," said Hon. John 
 Wentworth in one of his lectures, "were upon the Executive 
 Committee of our first Bible Society, formed in 1835." 
 
 [We do not know that we shall place the notices of the 
 various churches in their deserved order, nor is it perhaps of 
 
 * Dates are not given, and there is some doubt about the matter. Judge 
 Goodrich arrived in Chicago in May, 1834. 
 
600 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 much account; we endeavor to give facts, and that is really 
 all that is needed. If we give the Roman Catholics prece- 
 dence here to the Presbyterians, it is because Rev. St. Cyr 
 arrived before Mr. Porter, and services with each, we suppose, 
 commenced directly, and the R. C. pastor occupied his church 
 building in the fall of '33.J 
 
 Roman Catholic Church. — Several years ago, the Rev. Mr. 
 St. Cyr, in a letter to the compiler, said : 
 
 Carondelet, South St. Louis, Mo., Feb. 8, 1875. 
 
 Dear Sir: — I have not read the statement alluded to in your 
 kind letter, but this I can certify : 
 
 1 st. That I was the first Catholic Priest resident in Chicago, then 
 a mere village, is perfectly correct and true. 
 
 2d. That I arrived at Chicago the first of May, 1833, is equally 
 correct and true. 
 
 3d. That I built the first Catholic church, and the Priest's resi- 
 dence joining the said Church St. Mary, is no less correct and true. 
 
 4th. That I organized the first Catholic congregation, with its 
 regular religious services for every Sunday, that is Mass in the morn- 
 ing, Service and Vespers for the evening service, is correct and true. 
 
 5th. That I had alone the charge of the said organized Catholic 
 congregation from 1833 — 37, toward the latter part of March, when 
 I was called back to St. Louis, Mo., by Bishop Rosati, the first 
 Bishop of St. Louis, who had ordained me on the sixth of April, 
 1833, is also correct and true. * * * I had for Assis- 
 
 tant Priest, from the latter part of October, 1836 to 1837, toward the 
 latter part of March, Rev. B. Shaffer; he attended the German 
 Catholics, then very numerous; he was a most worthy priest, born 
 in Strasbourg, France. I was succeeded for the English-speaking 
 congregation, by an Irish clergyman from Mobile, Rev. Father 
 O'Meara, and proved to be a notorious scoundrel. May God pre- 
 serve Chicago from such a Priest. 
 
 I was born Nov., 1803, and educated in France. 
 
 I am, dear Sir, 
 
 
 A subsequent letter received from Rev. St. Cyr, of date 
 Feb. 20, 1875, informs us: 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 6ol 
 
 "I commenced to build the church in the beginning of September, 
 1833, and the last week of October of the same year, I said the first 
 Mass in it for the Catholic Indians, 300 in number, who had come 
 to Chicago for their annuities, from South Bend. They cleared and 
 swept the church, for the carpenter, Deodat Taylor, had just finished 
 his work the day before. But the church was not plastered, it was 
 only in March, 1834, that the plastering was done and the pews 
 made, and from first of April of the same year, we had regular 
 religious service, morning and evening." 
 
 In this last letter Mr. St. Cyr signs his name "John Mary 
 Ireneus Saint Cyr." We will add that a third letter from this 
 gentleman, of date "December 3d, 1876," containing but a 
 few lines was received, written however by another hand, and 
 signed by himself in pencil; we were sorry to learn by this, 
 that Mr. St. Cyr had become "entirely blind." 
 
 We have noticed in the Chicago Evening Journal, a later 
 communication from Mr. St. Cyr to Hon. John Wentworth, 
 bearing date "Carondelet, Mo., Jan. 30, 1880." We append 
 in the note a few extracts.* 
 
 * Rev. Mr. St. Cyr, after reference to a previous letter, makes an apology on 
 account of his loss of sight, saying, " therefore I can neither write nor read for 
 myself. " He says : 
 
 "Now in your kind letter, which came to hand on the 27th instant, you ask 
 me where was the first church of Chicago located, what was its dimensions, and 
 why and how was it removed to Madison Street. 
 
 "At first the church was to be located on a lot promised to me for the nominal 
 sum of $200, by Colonel [Jean Baptiste] Beaubien, which was on the second 
 street, that is south of Water Street, with which it runs parallel toward the lake. 
 I cannot recollect the name [Lake.] To explain it more clearly, it was on the 
 street starting from Colonel [Mark] B.'s hotel towards the lake until it reached 
 the Military Reservation. But, being unable to obtain this nominal sum of $200 
 from my friends abroad, I had to look for another location. 
 
 "Colonel [Jean Baptiste] B. sold that lot a year after to Dr. [William B.] Egan, 
 for the sum of $300, who again sold the same lot, in 1 836, to speculators from 
 the East, for the fabulous sum of $60,000. 
 
 " According to the advice of Colonel [Jean Baptiste] B. and Colonel [Thomas 
 J. V.] Owen, I then concluded to build the church on a canal lot, which was next 
 to the Military Reservation on the same street, with the privilege that no one 
 should bid on the lot on which the church was, above the valuation of the lot 
 made by the Canal Commissioners. But the valuation was too high for the 
 Catholics to buy it. Mr. [Dexter] Graves therefore, who had. put up his house 
 on the same lot with the same privilege, resolved to take it at the Commissioners' 
 valuation for $10,000, and in consequence thereof the Catholics had to remove 
 
602 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 Rev. Mr. O'Meara was succeeded by Reverend (afterward 
 Bishop) de Palais. This gentleman, whom Bishop Dwenger, 
 in his funeral sermon, called " James Mary Maurice D'Hassac 
 dc St. Palais," was born in France in November, 1811. We 
 have heard that he remained at Chicago some six years ; his 
 death occurred at St. Mary's, near Terre Haute, June 28, 1877. 
 
 their church from that lot. Meanwhile, Rev. Father O'Meara had bought a lot 
 for his own use on Madison Street, to which place he removed the church. As 
 to more particulars, apply to Augustine Deodat Taylor, who built the church 
 himself, being a carpenter, and Anson, his brother, who hauled the timber with 
 his team. 
 
 "The dimension of the church was 35x25 feet. But Very Rev. Maurice de St. 
 Palais, late Bishop of Vincennes, enlarged it considerably, and thus the church 
 remained until Bishop Duggan had it demolished to build on the same spot the 
 Convent of the Sisters of Mercy. " [Rev. St. Cyr was misinformed; the church 
 was not demolished, but stood until the fire of 1871. St. Xavier Academy, at 
 131 Wabash Avenue, under the charge of the Sisters of Mercy, stood on the lot 
 adjoining, south of the Church.] 
 
 In the Evening Journal, Mr. Wentworth said : 
 
 " This letter was read to Augustine Deodat Taylor, referred to by Father St. 
 Cyr. He was found serving upon a jury, aged 84 years, as well preserved as 
 ordinary men at 60, and having a splendid memory. He was one of the trustees 
 of the old town of Chicago, and also Alderman under the administration of Mayor 
 
 Levi D. Boone. He has been one of the leading house-carpenters of the city, 
 having done the wood-work of six Catholic churches, commencing with Father 
 St. Cyr's. The site originally designed for the church was the site of the present 
 Tremont House, corner of Lake and Dearborn Streets, and which was sold by 
 Dr. Wm. B. Egan, in 1836, to Tertius Wadsworth, of Hartford, Conn. The first 
 Catholic Church was erected upon canal land at the foot of Lake Street, on the 
 south side of it, being what is now the south-west corner of Lake and State 
 Streets. But State Street was not then laid out. There was a fence there then 
 inclosing all the land to the lake, which was then cultivated. The church was 
 upon the lot next to the Military Reservation. But the price was so high, and 
 the Canal Commissioners having no power to reduce it, the church was removed 
 to the corner of Madison Street and Wabash Avenue, and the old lot was bought 
 by Dexter Graves, father-in-law of E. H. Hadduck. After an extension of this 
 church by Father St. Palais, he built St. Mary's brick church, Mr. Taylor doing 
 the wood-work and Peter Page the brick-work. After the great fire, the remains 
 of two dead bodies were found under the ruins, supposed to be those of Father 
 B. Shaffer and Bishop Quarter (the first Bishop of Yhe diocese created in 1844), 
 who died April 10, 1848. 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 603 
 
 First Presbyterian Church. — [In 1858, Rev. Jeremiah Porter, 
 founder (and pastor, actually, if not technically) of this Church, 
 delivered at Metropolitan Hall, in this City, a lecture, giving 
 his reminiscences of the early Town, including a sketch of 
 the Church, etc. The manuscript, by request, was given to 
 the Chicago Historical Society, but was no doubt destroyed 
 in the great, fire.* In the preparation and presentation of the 
 following sketch, the material facts conveyed in the lecture 
 above referred to, concerning the Church, are believed to be 
 embraced, the said facts having been communicated in a 
 number of letters by Rev. Mr. Porter, U. S. Chaplain, then at 
 Fort Sill, Indian Territory, to the compiler of this volume. 
 A few additional items have been found in Rev. Arthur 
 Mitchell's sermon at Chicago, Nov. 3, 1878, as well also, some 
 from other sources.] , 
 
 "Mr. Taylor saw Bishop Rosetti in St. Louis, in 1832. His brother, Anson H. 
 who died the 9th of May, 1878, at Lakeside, in this county, went to St. Louis, 
 and brought Father St. Cyr here. He boarded at Mark Beaubien's old Sauga- 
 nash Hotel, corner of Lake and Market Streets, and the first mass that Mr. Tay- 
 lor attended in Chicago was in a log-building, about twelve feet square, on the 
 west side of Market Street, opposite the Sauganash, occupied by one of Mark 
 Beaubien's laborers. Mr. Taylor remembers hearing the Indians sing devotional 
 songs which Father St. Cyr had taught them. He did not think the first church 
 cost over $400. He built it as cheap as he could, only expecting to make his 
 expenses. When he went for his pay, Mark Beaubien pulled a half bushel out 
 from under his bed and paid him in new silver half-dollars, such as the Govern- 
 ment had used in paying the Indian annuities. At this time, Rev. Jeremiah Por- 
 ter, Presbyterian and Congregationalist, was preaching in the garrison. The 
 wife of his late brother, Charles H. Taylor, now living in this City, attended his 
 meeting. Mr. Porter wrote to the Connecticut Observer, at Hartford, Conn. , that 
 he had arrived in Chicago just in time to counteract the influence of the Roman 
 priests. But, notwithstanding, one of his strongest supporters, Deacon John 
 Wright, helped handle the .timbers when the first Catholic Church was raised. 
 It was finished in the Autumn of 1833. " [As we understand, it was not "Wabash, " 
 but Michigan Avenue to which "the church was removed." The "Charles H. 
 Taylor " was Charles without the middle initial " H. "1 
 
 * A copy however of the same or a similar address, it seems, was read before 
 the Historical Society the year afterward (1859), and has been printed in the 
 "Fergus' Historical Series," while we are preparing this article for the types. 
 We take, however, the liberty here to express our objection to the title given that 
 address in "Fergus' Series;" "The Earliest Religious History of Chicago" is 
 scarcely a proper term for that paper, inasmuch as there was "religious history, "made 
 and written, a century before the present generation came upon the stage of being. 
 
604 • CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 The first Sunday-School in Chicago, referred to on page 
 H2, we may reasonably mention, as one of the primary inci- 
 dents leading to the formation of this church; yet that was 
 some three-fourths of a year before the coming first pastor 
 landed from the storm-tossed vessel, to commence here upon 
 his new field of labor. 
 
 Citing information received from Rev. Mr. Porter regarding 
 the occasion when his attention was first called to the fact of 
 the existence of such a place as Chicago, — we will say that it 
 was while on his way to Sault St. Mary, to commence his 
 ministry in 183 1, that he met upon a schooner, bound for 
 Chicago, a man who told him that the Government was about 
 making improvements at this place, such as building a light- 
 house, etc., and his informant even venturously risked the 
 prophecy that Chicago "would become a place of business!' 
 Mr. Porter says: 
 
 "In the spring of 1833, the troops at Fort Brady were removed; 
 with them I had labored a year and a half, and had organized a 
 church. Mr. Henry R. Schoolcraft, Indian Agent (one of our church 
 members and chief supporters), was transferred to Mackinaw, and 
 the troops ordered to Fort Dearborn, invited me to accompany 
 them, As there was a Baptist mission, meeting the wants of the 
 people of Saut Ste Marie, and my church were most of them going 
 away, I was glad to go with Major Fowle and his family and troops 
 to Chicago." [Mr. Mitchell says Mr. Porter also, "had been 
 requested by the Home Missionary Society, to explore the shores of 
 Lake Michigan, * and see if there were any settle- 
 
 ments to be found there, which needed and would receive the 
 preaching of the Gospel."] Mr. Porter continues: "It was on Sun- 
 day, May 12, 1833, that we arrived off the light-house, and lay there, 
 the Lake being so rough, until Monday, 13th." Mr. Mitchell in his 
 sermon, says: "We happen to know from one who was here at the 
 time, that there were four christian men, whose impatience was 
 mingled with a measure of anxiety. We shall understand this better, 
 when we know what it was feared the vessel might bring, and what 
 it was known she would carry away. It was known that an officer* 
 then in the Fort, was to leave by this schooner; and as this officer 
 was a warm-hearted, devout man, the little circle of Christians here 
 were much cast down by his departure. 
 
 "In those days, every praying man on the frontier was counted. 
 It took some courage to bear such a name. They felt that they 
 
 * Capt. Seth Johnson. 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 605 
 
 could not spare their comrade. The four had prayed together some- 
 what despondingly on that Sabbath, while the schooner lay out in the 
 lake, regretting sadly their loss, and fearing that the vessel would 
 bring only irreligious men. On Monday, however, when the sea 
 calmed down, and the vessel came into the River,* they were made 
 glad by finding that she had brought them another christian officer, 
 Major Wilcox, with a number of christian soldiers in his company ; 
 a most excellent christian lady, Mrs. Fowle, wife of Major Fowle, 
 who was coming to take command at the Fort, and, in addition to 
 these, a christian minister, Rev. Jeremiah Porter. * * * As 
 for the minister, a warmer greeting no pastor ever met. John Wright, 
 one of those four praying men who had been watching the schooner 
 the day before, took his hand and exclaimed, 'I have written and 
 written in vain for a minister; this is like the bursting out of the sun 
 from the darkest clouds.' " 
 
 Mr. Porter says : 
 
 I found the beginning of a town,t but no place of worship, except 
 a log-school-house, which was on the west side of the River. * * 
 
 * An error. Xo vessel entered the River that year, we think, excepting a small 
 craft, called the " Westward Ho," and she passed the bar only with aid of oxen. 
 
 t Mr. Porter said his first dinner in Chicago was at Mr. Wattle's log-tavern, on 
 the West Side. Subsequently, he boarded at Mrs. Rufus Brown's, while his 
 sleeping-room and study was over Mr. P. F. W. Peck's store, on S. Water St. 
 
 We will remark here that Mr. Peck's store long stood one of the landmarks of 
 the early day. In 1855, Mr. Hesler took a photograph of the old building, with 
 its surroundings, and which is reproduced in part here. The Peck store will be 
 recognized as the small wood-building at the right, having two windows seen in 
 the hither end. 
 
606 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 On the following Sabbath (May 19, 1833), I first preached in Chica- 
 go; in the morning, in Fort Dearborn, in the carpenter's shop, ex- 
 temporized for a place of worship by Major Fowle; in the afternoon, 
 in the school-house at the Point." 
 
 Rev. Mr. Mitchell tells us that morning sermon, the first 
 one by Mr. Porter in Chicago, was from the text John, ijch., 
 'Sv. 
 
 In the month following that of his arrival, namely, on the 
 
 Ex. -Lieut. Gov. Bross said, in his History, in 1854: 
 
 "During the fall of 1832, and while occupying the building before mentioned," 
 (referring to the Miller building, on North Side, at the forks), " Mr. P. caused to 
 be raised the frame of the building- now owned by him, and situated on the south- 
 east corner of South- Water and LaSalle Streets, which was finished and occupied 
 by him as early as May, A. D. 1833, as appears by vouchers for its payment, 
 which he has exhibited to us. It is built of black- walnut and oak lumber. The 
 lumber was hauled from Walker's Mills, now Plainfield, forty miles south-west 
 from Chicago." 
 
 The lumber was hauled by Reuben Flagg, says Mr. Geo. H. Woodruff. 
 
 Mr. John S. Wright, in his " Chicago, " said : 
 
 "In February or March, 1833, I aided to raise the frame of his (Mr. Peck's) 
 store. The first frame building was Mr. Robert A. Kinzie's store, on the West 
 Side; Mr. George W. Dole's store, south-east corner of Dearborn and South- 
 Water Streets, was second; and Mr. Peck's third. * * * Rev. Jere- 
 miah Porter had organized the first Presbyterian Church, * * * on the 
 26th of June, 1833, with 25 members, i6'of them belonging to the Fort, where 
 services were held until Mr. Peck's loft was habitable; when, without plastering, 
 the front part was used as our church, and the rear, separated by a curtain, was 
 the sleeping-apartment of Messrs. Peck and Porter, and the latter's study, until 
 he erected his study on Lake Street, about 150. There, too, we gathered the little 
 urchins, mostly French and half-breeds, in the Sunday School. Newcomers 
 ought to look with reverence on that oldest building of the City, still standing on 
 the south-east corner of South- Water and LaSalle Streets, a humble monument 
 to the early endeavors to plant religious institutions, where they now so abound 
 in this City of a quarter of a million. " 
 
 We will take the occasion here to quote again from Gov. Bross' History, some 
 part of which, at least, will be relevant : 
 
 "On the south side of the River, there were two sloughs between the garrison 
 and 'the point.' The first emptied into the River at the foot of State Street. It 
 ran a little north of the Sherman House, crossing Clark Street near the Post- 
 Ofnce, thence crossing Lake Street, nearly in front of the Tremont House. The 
 'old Tremont House' was on the north-west corner of Lake and Dearborn Sts., 
 and as late as 1834, sportsmen would sit in the door of the 'Tremont' and shoot 
 ducks in the slough. The other slough entered the River at the foot of LaSalle 
 Street. The store built in 1831, '2 (1832, '3), by P. F. W. Peck, Esq., at the 
 south-east corner of LaSalle and Water Streets, was situated on a ' high point of 
 land,' formed by a bend in this slough. " 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 607 
 
 26th of June, 1833, Mr. Porter organized the "First Presby- 
 terian Church of Chicago," comprising the number of twenty- 
 five persons; seventeen were members of his late Fort-Bracly 
 Church, and eight were citizens of the village.* John Wright, 
 Philo Carpenter, citizens, and Major Lafayette Wilcox, U.S.A., 
 were chosen and ordained elders of the church. 
 
 [Below we present likenesses of Rev. Jeremiah Porter and 
 Deacon Philo Carpenter; they were copied from portraits, 
 taken, not in the early days of this church, but. not long since. 
 
 .' ■'1% 
 
 Rev. Mr. Porter, who is Chaplain in the army, may be said 
 to belong to the church militant; and Deacon Carpenter, it 
 must be allowed, was a very efficient first lieutenant of the 
 First Church.] 
 
 * The names of these 25 first members, we have been unable completely to 
 learn; it has elsewhere been stated that nine of the members were from the Foil. 
 
6oS 
 
 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 The services of this church at first, it is understood, were 
 held in the log-school-house at the Point; the first commu- 
 nion service, it is said, was supplied by Major Wilcox, of the 
 Fort, from his own table-silver. A Mr. Osborn was a leader 
 for the choir, before the church building was erected. The 
 Sunday-School was also held at Father Walker's cabin, at the 
 Point, when John S. Wright had charge of its few old books, 
 and which he carried in his handkerchief from the South to 
 the West Side.* 
 
 *A few superannuated or ca st - off books had been brought here from some 
 Eastern Sunday-School, for it was probably supposed they would be useful to the 
 heathen "out West." Yet we desire to here notice what has been often referred 
 to, not only as a most magnanimous instance of benevolence, but what was called 
 really the first donation or gift here for a public library. This was, as we under- 
 stand, some 200 new, but cheap, volumes, costing altogether $50. Such, it is 
 said, was the outcome of a visit from two New-York City gentlemen to the village, 
 whose names were Charles Butler and Arthur Bronson. Their errand here, it 
 was reported, was specially to look up some choice bargains among the sands and 
 sloughs of Chicago real-estate. The last-named gentleman was a wealthy money- 
 lender, whose autograph we copy here from a letter long in our possession. That 
 gentleman, we may add from our personal knowledge more than forty years since, 
 
/ 
 
 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 609 
 
 The organization of this church was speedily followed by 
 the agitation of the question as to when and where their house 
 of worship should be reared. This inquiry was, in part, an- 
 swered by the fact, when the Society had made choice of the 
 (perhaps) hitherto unbought, and certainly, as yet, unoccupied 
 Lot, known as Number 1, Block 34, Original Town, S.-W 
 corner Lake and Clark Streets. We have made some inquiry 
 but which has not elicited the information as to what price 
 was paid for this Lot, whether the commissioners allowed the 
 church to enter it as a purchaser at a reduced price, or on 
 extra favorable terms of payment, as we have heard suggested. 
 Whatever the existing conditions may have been, and as the 
 records perhaps might show, measures were soon taken to 
 erect a church edifice on the lot above named, though we 
 have heard it described as a "lonely spot, almost inaccessible, 
 on account of surrounding sloughs and bogs."* The house 
 
 had a keen eye and an iron grip for the dollar. In a desperate case of pecuniary 
 life or death, if your security was made unquestionable by collateral mortgages, 
 
 having but a few years to run, he would cash it for you, after deducting one-third 
 the amount of principal! Was this extortionate? By no means; there was no 
 obligation on your part, and it only enabled an " accommodating, " generous man 
 to donate occasionally an immense $25 to some needy Sunday - School on the 
 border. 
 
 * As a part of the early history of this church, it will be proper to give the 
 following brief episode: 
 
 Before this society erected their temple of worship, though making preparations 
 to do so, its members and others were somewhat surprised one morning to find 
 the frame of a small building already put up, on the Lake Street front, of the 
 above-named lot. The building had been raised during the preceding night, and 
 work during the following day was industriously continued. The proprietors of 
 this structure, it is supposed, reasoned in this wise: "This front is well adapted 
 to accommodate trade, and what need have these church-folks for so large a piece 
 of ground? they can build on the rear and have plenty of room then. " And with 
 this specious and plausible, though not disinterested argument, they, the new store- 
 builders, considered themselves happy in their device, and secure, perhaps, in their 
 pre-emptive claim, or some other, to purchase a part or the whole of said lot 
 
 40 
 
6lO CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 was built on the south-east corner of the lot, on the alley, 
 fronting east. Its size, as by one account, was 26 feet by 40 
 (though another writer has called it 25 by 35 feet, and still 
 another, 40 by 60), and was built by Mr. Joseph Meeker, Mr. 
 John K. Boyer furnishing the timber. The cost of the struc- 
 ture could hardly have been called extravagant, as the whole 
 outlay, it is said, was only $600. "The timbers were at length 
 hewed and squared, and were set up on the prairie; * * * 
 each one, according as he was able, gave his mite to aid in 
 the construction ; one worked at the turner's lathe to prepare 
 the columns that adorned the pulpit ; some worked in the 
 morter-bed, and all labored who could, for a common desire 
 actuated the members, which was, not only to have a house 
 exclusively set apart for worship, but, when done, to be free 
 from that crushing incubus, — debt!' 
 
 No. I, by this squatter right of occupation. Inheriting, however, the blindness 
 incident to the condition here of other mortals, they knew not what a day or a 
 night might bring forth. Now it came to pass in those days, that husbandmen 
 from Hoosier land were wont to visit Chicago, to get various supplies of merchan- 
 dise, coming singly, that is, with one wagon, or, perchance, with a caravan, num- 
 bering half a score. Those wagons, as the reader must know, were the " prairie 
 schooners " of the West, and were generally drawn by five to ten yokes of cattle, 
 and were capacious, covered, and clumsy. They brought hither grain, flour, meat, 
 and occasionally a load of dry whitewood lumber, all of which, at that day, 
 found here a good market. It was, we may say, an easy matter for a member of 
 this church to suggest to several of those Hoosier patriarchs, then in town, whose 
 acquaintance he had made, that after the dusky shades of early night had fallen, 
 they should marshal their teams (not the wagons) in business array, opposite the 
 aforesaid S.-W. corner of Lake and Clark Streets; furthermore, that they should 
 quietly, firmly, and expeditiously fasten their heavy chains to the sills of the build- 
 ing, and connect the said fastenings by other chains, from yoke to yoke. It will 
 be sufficient to add that the suggestions named were not only made, but tradition 
 saith, were carried out to the letter. No sound of alarm disturbed the evening 
 air, unless it was the ringing lash and explosive crack of the huge Hoosier whip; 
 and then away down Lake Street marched the trespassing store, and where, in 
 the middle of that principal business street of later years, it was left standing, a 
 monument of thwarted plans and dashed hopes. Following this departure, and 
 immediately succeeding, was the erection, by the Society, of a new board fence 
 around their recovered premises, the Lot I, Block 34, aforesaid. 
 
 We have noticed on the books of a merchant here at that day, under date of 
 August 26, 1833, a charge of an expenditure for the church, for "Hauling and 
 stacking lumber, shingles, etc. '" 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 6ll 
 
 We give in the note* the proceedings at the dedication of 
 this Church, January 4, 1834. 
 
 (From the Chicago Democrat, January 21, 1834.) 
 DEDICATION OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 
 
 It will be gratifying to those who are looking for the prosperity of the West, 
 to learn that in this early history of Chicago, through the benevolence of its citi- 
 zens, and some aid from friends abroad, we have been able to finish a commodi- 
 ous house of worship for the Presbyterian Church. 
 
 On Saturday, January 4, notwithstanding the extreme severity of the weather, 
 a respectable audience assembled to dedicate this house to the service of Almighty 
 God. 
 
 The order of exercises was as follows : 
 
 1. Introductory Prayer. 
 
 2. Reading of the Scriptures. The portion selected was the prayer of Solo- 
 mon at the dedication of the Temple. — 2 Chronicles, 6 Chap. 
 
 3. Hymn. The following piece, written for the occasion by Mr. G. T. Sproat, 
 of this place, was sung : 
 
 Dedication Hymn. 
 
 God of the glorious worlds above! 
 
 Before Thy gracious throne we bow; 
 O ! send the Spirit of Thy love, 
 
 And smile upon Thy children now. 
 
 We dedicate this house to Thee! 
 
 To Thee these hallowed walls we raise — 
 O ! deign to send Thy Spirit down, 
 
 And fill these earthly courts with praise. 
 
 Within these walls let sacred peace, 
 
 And love, and hope, and union dwell; 
 Here give the troubled conscience ease — 
 
 The lost restore — the wounded heal. 
 
 And O ! may here the gospel sound, 
 
 Sent by the Spirit of Thy grace, 
 Awaken many sinners round, 
 
 To come and fill this sacred place. 
 
 Lord! we are weak — but Thou art strong; 
 
 Lord! we are few — but Thou art near; — 
 O ! make this house Thy dwelling-place — 
 
 Come down and reign forever here. 
 
 4. Prayer of Consecration, by the Rev. A. B. Freeman, of the Baptist Church 
 of this place. This prayer was listened to, and united in, with peculiar pleasure 
 by all present, as it expressed so happily the real wishes of those who desired to 
 make an unreserved offering of themselves and that house to God, and who ardent- 
 ly prayed that it might be to many the very gate of heaven. 
 
6l2 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 It was said by Mr. Porter: 
 
 "It was the first Church ever built in Chicago, though the Bap- 
 
 5. Sermon, by Rev. J. Porter, Pastor of said Church. Text, Jeremiah 26; 1-6. 
 
 In commencing, Mr. Porter descanted very ably on the importance of houses 
 for public worship, in which the principles of spiritual liberty are to be enforced, 
 and the sacred demands of the law proclaimed, to the political and commercial 
 prosperity of any people. "Attempts," said, he, "have been made to establish a 
 social system for the regulation of the conduct of men, to the entire exclusion of 
 the bible and the doctrines derived from it, except so far as they agree with what is 
 termed natural religion. And they who have made these attempts, have promised 
 to exhibit to the world a degree of harmony and happiness such as the religion of 
 Jesus has never produced. But these efforts have always proved so abortive, and 
 these boastings so vain, that they have only drawn forth the contempt of rational 
 men, and the pity of those who have known the consolations of a true piety of 
 heart. From such scenes of delusion and folly, the wise have turned with exulta- 
 tion to the influence of sober Christianity, upon those who have adopted its benign 
 precepts. This they perceive is salutory as the gentle rain of Spring, as 'showers 
 that water the earth.' Blessed, say they, 'is that people whose God is the Lord,' 
 who are 'kept as the apple of the eye,' and 'defended by the shadow of his 
 wings.'" He then proceeded, with great clearness and beauty, to contrast the 
 present and past conditions of this rapidly-rising village. "But recently," said 
 he, "these fields and floods, fair as the first finished work of nature, were claimed 
 as the rightful inheritance of the roving savage. As he beheld the prairies blos- 
 soming in the luxuriance of Eden, the lake spreading its expanded mirror, calm as 
 sleeping infancy, or rolling its troubled waves in the majesty of resistless power 
 the crystal streams running like silver lines midst groves and flowers, he could 
 exclaim with pleasing self-gratification, 
 
 ' I am monarch of all I survey, 
 
 My right there is none to dispute; 
 Free from river to lake I may rove — 
 
 I am lord of the fowl and the brute.' 
 Here then were witnessed but heathen rites and heathen sports. The Indian 
 drum and rifle were heard on the day that christians love to remember as a day 
 holy to the Lord. No Sabbath then was known, no day of sacred rest." He 
 then referred to the war of 1832. "Then the imagination was filled with frightful 
 pictures of blood and murder; your dreams were full of war-whoops and savage 
 yells, of bloodthirsty arrows and gleaming tomahawks. Then the fearful rumors 
 of approaching carnage murdered sleep. 
 
 "Then there was hurrying to and fro, 
 
 And gathering tears, and tremblings of distress; 
 And cheeks all pale, which but an hour ago, 
 Blushed at the praise of their own lovliness. 
 Then darkness brooded over the prospects of the place, and all was sad; fair hopes 
 were blighted, and sighs and unavailing tears were poured from aching hearts and 
 sympathizing eyes. 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 613 
 
 tists had a school-house built, in which we had preached for a time 
 — for a few months, on alternate Sabbaths." 
 
 "But now, how changed! The untutored native, an enemy in war, a friend in 
 peace, has yielded all his claims to his more powerful friends. He has retired 
 before the tide of emigration. A town has risen like magic on the soil where 
 recently he danced, the only occupant. These fields that echoed the war-whoop 
 and yell now hear the voice of prayer and praise to the living God. Instead of 
 rites offered to unknown gods and devils, now the Sabbath, as it returns weekly, 
 sees a solemn assembly gathered to hear what God the Lord shall speak. The 
 substantial dwelling and the delightful family altar have taken the place of the 
 comfortless lodge, from which issued the voice of drunken mirth and senseless 
 revelry. 
 
 "And thanks to the Merciful, in the midst of temporal prosperity, the Giver of 
 every good gift has not been forgotten; but, blessed like David, some have thought 
 like him of building houses for His worship. Here, according to the dictates of 
 our conscience, we are suffered to praise the God of our fathers; we sit under our 
 own vine and fig-tree, with none to molest or make us afraid. " 
 
 But in the midst of our rejoicings, he entreated us to remember that temporal 
 prosperity, without the graces of the spirit, will only serve to render a people more 
 guilty before God, and to draw upon them the curse mentioned in the text. He 
 also proceeded to show how the building of houses of worship may prove a per- 
 manent blessing and not a curse. 
 
 1. They who are set upon the walls of Zion must not fail to declare the whole 
 counsel of God. 
 
 2. The existence of a house of worship will prove an unspeakable blessing 
 to the people, if they give heed to the word of God, which is there faithfully, 
 preached. " 
 
 After enumerating, with great strength and beauty, the blessings resulting from 
 social and religious worship, he concluded with the following very appropriate 
 remarks : 
 
 " Would you then, dear friends, enjoy temporal prosperity; would you see this 
 place holding its rank among American cities, like a diamond among pearls; would 
 you have the names of its earliest inhabitants repeated with the list of generous 
 benefactors from age to age; would you have this place remain in untarnished 
 beauty to remotest time; listen ever with a willing ear and an understanding heart 
 to what God the Lord shall speak to you, by the mouth of his servants, whom he 
 will place on this post of observation. Ever fill your place in the sanctuary, feel- 
 ing that there ' the Lord commandeth the blessing, even life forever more. ' Re- 
 ceive the truth with the docility of children, knowing that ' the law of the Lord is 
 perfect, converting the soul.' Come with a praying, humble spirit; for the 'testi- 
 mony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.' Come with the sentiment 
 engraven on the heart, and ready to start from the lips ; ' Holiness becometh Thy 
 house, O Lord, forever. * Come to receive the precepts into honest hearts, and to 
 practise them in holy lives. Then shall the place be ' beautiful as Tirzah, comely 
 as Jerusalem,' in the days when the Lord delighted in her, permanent as the rising 
 sun and rolling waves. Then shall it be said of her as of ancient Zion, 'This and 
 
614 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 [If Dr. J. T. Temple, as we understand, built that house, 
 corner of Franklin and South -Water Streets, purposely for 
 Church or religious services on the main-floor, though for a 
 school above, previous to the erection of the Clark-Street edi- 
 fice, we should think its priority as a church, though not 
 owned by the Society, could scarcely be questioned.] 
 
 Some one said of this Church on Clark Street: 
 
 "It was an unpretending structure, and to the stranger, it might 
 appear to be either a meeting-house or a school-house. It was used 
 as a school-house, where the Second District-School in Chicago was 
 taught; public meetings, lyceums, and concerts, were once also held 
 there; indeed, being the largest room in the village, it was not only 
 used as a church, but as a sort of a Town Hall. [Feb. 15, 1836, 
 the Clerk of Cook County paid the Church $21, for the use of said 
 meeting-house, during the sitting of the May Term of Circuit Court 
 1835.] The first amateur concert in Chicago, was given there in 
 Dec, 1835 — the house filled with tickets at 50 cts. It was in this 
 house also, that the first Episcopal service was held in Chicago." 
 
 A writer in the Democratic Press, a quarter of a century or 
 more ago, quotes from somewhere as follows: 
 
 "The first Presbyterian Church of Chicago, once stood on the lot 
 north of the Post-Office;" 
 
 And adds: 
 
 "Mr. Editor; it was so. Whoever penned that sentence, wrote 
 the truth, and a fine large tree gave umbrage to the south window. 
 
 that man was born in her, and the Highest himself shall establish her. The Lord 
 shall count, when he writeth up his people, that this man was born there.' 
 
 " How glorious is the prospect of this town, if the people will hear and obey 
 the commandments of the Lord. It shall stand beautiful for situation a joy and 
 rejoicing, while the sun and the moon shall endure. But if they refuse and rebel, 
 and covet the luxuries and crimes of the cities whose names only stand on the 
 page of history, it shall fall like Babylon. But O! let not this generation be the 
 means of hastening its fall. Let this be the generation of them that seek the 
 Lord, who shall 'ascend into the hill of the Lord, and stand in His holy place,' 
 who have 'clean hands and a pure heart,' who shall exultingly say, 'How amiable 
 are Thy Tabernacles, O Lord of hosts! My soul longeth, yea, even panteth for 
 the courts of the Lord. Blessed are they that dwell in Thy house, they will be 
 still praising Thee. ' 
 
 " 'Arise,' then, 'O Lord, enter into Thy rest.' 'Lift up your heads, O ye gates, 
 and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors, and the King of glory shall come in. Who 
 is the King of glory? The Lord, strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle; 
 the Lord of hosts, he is the King of Glory. ' " 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 615 
 
 Until that house was built, the Methodists, Bap- 
 tists, and Presbyterians, drew their religious consolations from the 
 'stated preaching,' in a small frame-building, situated on the corner 
 of South-Water and Wells (Franklin) Streets, built by one Dr. John 
 T. Temple. In it, the Messrs. Porter, Freeman, and Whitehead, 
 preached and .helped each other, so each participated in three ser- 
 vices a-day. * Those were the days of brotherly 
 love. * Nearly all the inhabitants aided in the con- 
 struction of that building (on Clark Street), and the undertaking was 
 so stupendous, that every shoulder was needed to the wheel. A dif- 
 ference in creed in those days was no barrier to giving 'material aid' 
 for the building of churches, or the extension of friendly relatiqns ; 
 those who had no cash gave their labor. * The 
 approaches to the building, for some months after its completion, 
 were rather miry, nor was there any bridge over the river in those 
 early days.* * * * Those pious worshippers, who came 
 over from the Northern Liberties braved the angry flood in a canoe. 
 That famous ferry which was ordered by the united wisdom of the 
 County-Commissioners' Court, to be kept running 'from daylight to 
 dark without stopping,' was located too far up the stream, to be 
 available. After escaping the perils of the deep, and clambering up 
 the muddy bank, they renewed their courage for the passage of 
 'Dole's Corner' on a round stick of timber, over a pool of very 
 ambiguous depth, to the fence of a certain yellow house, then known 
 as Dr. Goodhue's office, after which, by skilfully meandering fences, 
 a certain bridge, made by spare seats, was reached, and thence the 
 door of the sanctuary. * * Some of the 'upper-ten' in 
 those days owned a horse and cart, and in the democratic convey- 
 ance, seated on buffalo robes, they were duly backed up, and dumped 
 on the door-step, dry shod. ' * In the new church, 
 the singing was led by Sergeant Burtiss, from the Garrison, and 
 prayer-meetings were led by the Major, known as good, old Major 
 Wilcox. * * The luxury of velvet-cushioned seats was 
 unknown; from the Major in command of the stockade Fort to the 
 household servant, all shared alike in such comforts as the house 
 afforded. * * * Since those days, this building has traveled, 
 and lost its identity in accumulations to its bulk. The carpenter's 
 saw and hammer, have of late years, been the only music therein, 
 where Burtiss used to lead." 
 
 Mr. Porter says: "During the year after the consecration 
 of the Church, we enjoyed a precious revival of religion, and 
 fifty-two persons were gathered into the Church." 
 
 We should have named before, that Aaron Russell, in 1834, 
 was added to the number of elders before mentioned. 
 
 * The bridge at Dearborn Street was built that same year, 1834. 
 
616 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 Copied from Mr. Mitchell's pamphlet is the following: 
 
 "One year after the new house of worship was finished, the church 
 became self-supporting. It was in December, 1834, they passed the 
 following resolution : 
 
 'Feeling under great obligations to the American Home-Mission- 
 ary Society, for its aid in sustaining the Rev. Jeremiah Porter as 
 Pastor of the church, in our infancy, we now gladly assume his sup- 
 port from the first of June of last year.' They 
 reached back eighteen months in their resolution, and refunded all 
 which they had received." 
 
 Mem. — Collections at communion season, Nov. 8, 1835, 
 were $13.56. 
 
 Mr. Porter* accepted a call to the Main-Street Church, in 
 Peoria, in the autumn of 1835, leaving here a church of no 
 members. 
 
 [There will be, we believe, no impropriety here, in speaking 
 of an article, appearing in the old "Chicago Magazine," writ- 
 ten however, more than twenty years after the time to which 
 it refers. We quote as follows: 
 
 "An evil hour arrived, when a speculative mania seized the ruling 
 elders; and as the value of lots expanded, so seemed their views to 
 change, of the eligibility of him who had in charge their spiritual 
 affairs. * * One said he was 'too small of stature,' and 
 
 another who had just pocketed a very large advance on unproductive 
 real estate, said 'they wanted a man who would not go all over crea- 
 tion to make a prayer.' * The unchristian course 
 pursued in the uncermonious dismissal of this first Presbyterian min- 
 ister, is somewhat lengthily discussed, and may to many who read, 
 seem too much so, particularly to the general reader; but to any of 
 the 'old folks,' whose eye this article meets, the remarks will com- 
 mend themselves." 
 
 We have interviewed one of the "old folks'' of that day and 
 
 a church member, who must have been familiar with the cir- 
 
 * Mr. Porter had been chosen by the Presbytery, its first delegate to the 
 General Assembly, which was to be held at Pittsburg in the spring of 1835. We' 
 will add, that after the adjournment of the Assembly, Mr. Porter made a visit to 
 his parents in Massachusetts, after an absence of some 4^ years. A very impor- 
 tant part of this note, however, is that Mr. Porter, on his way to New England, 
 stopped at Rochester, N.Y., and took Mrs. Jeremiah Porter with him upon his 
 journey, though no lady had hitherto borne that designation; it is needless to 
 indicate that Miss Eliza Chappel, then late of Chicago, was the individual who 
 received the new title. 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 617 
 
 cumstances. By this individual, we are assured that the lan- 
 guage of the writer in the "Magazine" is overdrawn and 
 extravagant. There was no "uncermonious dismissal," and 
 if one or two individuals seemed whimsically captious, if 
 Hiram Pearsons expressed a desire for a more showy man, 
 one a little more of the pompous or splurge order, or if Deacon 
 John Wright, also, had rather an itching for a man of more 
 celebrity, those were not the sentiments of the Church and 
 people generally; the Rev. Mr. Porter, we were assured, 
 always had the kind regards and sincere respect of his church 
 and neighbors. However sensitive Mr. Porter may have been, 
 upon hearing of certain words that had been said, and how- 
 ever much his movements were governed thereby, his deport- 
 ment, it is conceded by all, was christian-like, modest, and 
 manly. After Mr. Porter decided to leave, he made effort in 
 various directions, to supply the approaching vacancy; he has 
 said that he "felt as if Chicago should have the best minister 
 in the land." 
 
 We believe it was Deacon Wright who applied to Dr. Joel 
 Hawes, of Connecticut, to accept the vacant pulpit. It was 
 something of a joke, which however had not the least of flat- 
 tery in it, that Dr. Hawes didn't know where Chicago was; 
 indeed, he had never heard of it before; he respectfully 
 declined to accept the invitation. 
 
 Possibly it will not be saying too much, to remark here, 
 that it is not, as we believe, an uncommon circumstance in 
 many churches, that individuals of arrogant proclivities, at- 
 tempt leadership, more (unwittingly sometimes perhaps) to 
 gratify their personal predilections and vanities, than to 
 further the cause of the Divine Master. 
 
 Mr. Mitchell says, after Mr. Porter left, "Mr. Hinton be- 
 came virtually pastor of the Presbyterian as well as the Bap- 
 tist Church; both Congregations were his auditors." 
 
 Mem. Jan., 1836. The Ladies' Sewing Society, of the 
 Presbyterian Church, received a donation of $44 from one of 
 the officers of the Church. 
 
618 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 Rev. John Blatchford* was installed pastor of the Presby- 
 
 terian Church, July, 1837. During the pastorate of Mr. B., 
 the church-building was removed south of Washington Street. 
 The conditions or tenure by which the Church held the 
 various parcels of real estate which it occupied from time to 
 time, we are not advised of, and so that part of the church's 
 history, as well as numerous other items and statistics, are left 
 for others to recite.-f- Mr. Blatchford remained something 
 
 * The Rev. John Blatchford was born at Newfield, now Bridgeport, Conn., 
 May 24, 1 799. He was the tenth child of a family of eleven sons and six daugh- 
 ters. His parents were Samuel (son of Henry and Mary Heath Blatchford) and 
 Alicia (Windeatt) Blatchford. Rev. Samuel Blatchford, who had been educated 
 at the Dissenting College, at Homerton, near London, and some eight years a 
 preacher in England, sailed for America in June, 1795, and arrived in August, 
 the same year. We may merely say that Dr. Samuel Blatchford (for that degree 
 was conferred upon him by Williams College, in 1808) was long (24 years) a pas- 
 tor at Lansingburgh, N. Y. , where he died, March 17, 1828. 
 
 Rev. John Blatchford was a graduate of Union College, in 1820, and his theo- 
 logical studies were pursued at Princeton, N. J. He was licensed to preach in 
 1823, and he settled at Pittstown, N. Y. , in that year. In 1825, he accepted a 
 call to Stillwater, N. Y., where he continued until 1836, when he removed West, 
 r>nd spent the winter in Jacksonville, 111. In 1837, he was called to the First 
 Presbyterian Church in Chicago, where he was installed pastor in July of that 
 year, and continued until August, 1839. From 1841 to 1844, he was connected 
 with Marion College, Mo., first as Professor and afterward as President. Impaired 
 health, however, occasioned the removal of Dr. Blatchford to Quincy, 111., and 
 where he continued afterward to reside. His death occurred while on a visit to - 
 St. Louis, Mo., at the house of his son-in-law, Mr. Morris Collins. 
 
 + Not many, it is likely, in the Church today, have any knowledge of a name, 
 which we are here going to write, and though it was long years ago, there are at 
 least a few that speak of him in terms of respect and affectionate regard. Elisha 
 Clark was here as early as 1835; of him, an early resident says: "He was a cabi- 
 net-maker, and he made me a rocking-chair, yet a pretty good one, and still in 
 use, a veritable Chicago Antiquity. He was a prominent member of our Church 
 (1st Presbyterian), and one of the best men I ever knew. I was with Mr. Clark 
 in his dying hours. I remember one night, I awoke sometime after midnight, and 
 the moon came streaming into my apartment, turning night almost into day; it 
 was during the last sickness of Mr. C, and it occurred to me, to get up and visit 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 619 
 
 over two years, and resigned in August, 1839. Rev - Flavel 
 Bascom* succeeded Mr. Blatchford, commencing his labors 
 here in Dec, 1839, an <J installed pastor, Nov., 1840. 
 
 At the forty-sixth anniversary of the First Presbyterian 
 Church, Mr. Bascom was present, and made a brief address, 
 from the newspaper report of which we make a few extracts : 
 
 j "When Mr. Bascom first arrived at Chicago, July 10, 1833, the 
 village was believed to contain some 300 inhabitants, and Indians 
 were encamped all along the south branch of the river. He took 
 his meals in one place, and lodged in Mr. Porter's study in the attic 
 of another building on South-Water Street. He had been met by 
 Mr. Philo Carpenter and asked to preach, which he did, in Fort 
 Dearborn, on the following Sunday, and the people were called out 
 to hear him at the tap of the drum. Their choir were accompanied 
 in their singing by the shrill notes of a fife; that was the first sermon 
 he preached in Illinois. * He came to Illinois as a 
 
 Congregational licentiate, but he found no Congregational organiza- 
 tion in the State, and had to be ordained as a Presbyterian minister 
 before he could become a pastor. He went to Springfield to receive 
 the orders of the church, and had to wait two days for a quorum, 
 when only three ministers were required to perform the service. 
 Mr. Carpenter showed him the place which had been selected for a 
 church site. He thought it an unwise selection, as it would bring 
 
 him at that still hour. I accordingly rose and dressed myself, and went to his 
 house, the door to his room being ajar. Quietly approaching his bedside, I 
 addressed him with ' Watchman, what of the night?' His answer, if in words not 
 now precisely recalled, was in the language of hopeful, confiding trust, and he 
 characterized the prospect of his early departure and blissful hereafter, as bright 
 and glorious. He died, I think, in a small house on Fulton Street, between 
 Halsted and Green Streets. " 
 
 * Mr. Bascom was born in Lebanon, Conn., June 8, 1804. His parents were 
 Abiel and Sibyl (Roberts) Bascom. His early years were spent on a farm, and 
 attending public school. Under private tuition, he fitted for College, and gradu- 
 ated at Yale in 1828. After teaching a year, Mr. B. took a theological course at 
 New Haven, and was licensed to preach in 1831; he spent two years as tutor in 
 Yale College, and in 1833, in behalf of the American Home-Missionary Society, 
 came to Illinois, where he spent five years as a Home Missionary in Tazewell 
 County and vicinity, and one year as Agent of that Society in Northern Illinois. 
 In fall of 1839, he was called to the First Presbyterian Church, Chicago, where he 
 continued for ten years. In Dec, 1849, he accepted a call to the First Church in 
 Galesburg. In 1880, he is residing at Hinsdale, 111. 
 
620 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 the church out on the prairie. The location was on Clark Street, 
 just north of the Sherman House. The building was constructed, 
 and was 25x35 feet in size. The people worshipped in it for ten 
 years, and then erected a brick building at the corner of Clark and 
 Washington Streets. He dedicated that building, and for his text, 
 chose the passage: 'The glory of this latter house, shall be greater 
 than the glory of the former house.' In a few years, the building 
 was converted into a billiard hall, and he concluded that his 
 prophecies were not reliable." 
 
 [The brick house referred to, fronted north on Washington 
 Street. The former old, wood edifice, stood on the rear of 
 the lot, fronting east, on Clark Street; it was doubled in 
 length 'after being removed from the block north of the Court- 
 House, and in the summer of 1840, was doubled in width. 
 Mr. Bascom informs us that the brick building (corner Clark 
 and Washington Streets) was so far built, that in fall of 1848, 
 the congregation removed to the basement, and held worship 
 there till October of 1849, when the new house was completed 
 and dedicated. As for the old, wood building, we can tell no 
 more of its later history than that long afterward, it stood 
 somewhere on an alley in same block; but a newspaper 
 writer had previously (in 1857) said "it may yet be found on 
 Dearborn Street, converted to other vises."] 
 
 Rev. Harvey Curtiss was installed pastor of this Church, 
 Oct. 13, 1850, and who continued eight years. 
 
 Rev. Zephaniah M. Humphrey* succeeded Mr. Curtiss, and 
 
 <= ynvt 
 
 * Rev. Zephaniah M. Humphrey, D. D., is a son of the late Rev. Dr. Heman 
 Humphrey, who was long the President of Amherst College. He was born in 
 Amherst, Mass., in 1824; graduated at Amherst College, in 1845, an( ^ studied 
 theology at Andover, Mass. He came West, and, during the winter of 1849, '50, 
 he supplied the pulpit of Plymouth Church congregation at Milwaukee. In Oct. , 
 1853, he was ordained pastor of the Presbyterian Church at Racine, Wis., where 
 he remained until the spring of 1856. He was then called to Milwaukee, where 
 he was installed pastor of Plymouth Church, and remained until spring of 1859, 
 when he accepted a call to the First Presbyterian Church at Chicago, beginning 
 his ministry as pastor-elect, May 15, 1859, and was installed June 7th, of that 
 year. Dr. Humphrey removed to Philadelphia in 1868, where he was some years 
 pastor of Calvary Presbyterian Church, but subsequently accepted a Professorship 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 62 1 
 
 remained nine years, from 15th of May, 1859, leaving in 1868. 
 Rev. Arthur Mitchell was installed Nov. 10, 1868. 
 
 Our purpose was merely to refer to the earlier years of the 
 
 Church, so we have said little of it any farther; we close this 
 
 notice, however, by quoting a paragraph from a letter written 
 
 by Rev. Mr. Porter, some years since, to the compiler of this 
 
 book : 
 
 "And now, after forty years from our first labors in the church and 
 school in your infant City, wife and I look back from our Military 
 post in Indian Territory (Fort Sill) to admire your rebuilt City, with 
 its one and half- hundred churches,' and its 450,000 people, and 
 rejoice at what God by man has done." 
 
 First Baptist Church. — The statement in Mr. Blanchard's 
 History that "the first known Protestant preacher in Chicago 
 was a Methodist," seems to have been a mistake, as we have 
 previously shown in this chapter that he was a Baptist. But 
 that was on the occasion of Mr. McCoy's casual visit here in 
 1825; (see p. ig8) Mr. McCoy was the founder of the school 
 at Carey. Chicago had not then arrived at the proportions 
 and condition of a village. 
 
 Dr. John T. Temple,* we believe, can be properly called 
 the pioneer Baptist of Chicago. We will attempt to show this 
 
 of Church Polity and Ecclesiastical History in Lane Seminary, Cincinnati, O. 
 
 Since the above was sent to the printer, Dr. Humphrey has died, after a brief 
 illness, at Cincinnati, O., Nov. 13, 1881. His funeral was in Chicago, Nov. 17, 
 and his remains were buried in Graceland Cemetery. 
 
 * Dr. J. T. Temple, a prominent man in Chicago, for some years, was a 
 graduate of Middlebury College, and the Medical School at Castleton, Vt. He 
 arrived in Chicago in July, 1833, and was directly concerned in one or more mail 
 contracts, and was proprietor of the first stage-coach out of Chicago. This how- 
 ever was not to the exclusion of his regular practice as a physician, and it is 
 named in Dr. Hyde's "Early Medical Chicago," that "so far as known, he should 
 be credited with the performance of the first autopsy made in the City.'' Dr. T. 
 sold his stage interest to the late John Frink, of Chicago. He left Chicago, we 
 think, about the year 1852, and for many years lived in St. Louis, Mo. He was 
 the founder of the Homeopathic College of Missouri. He died at St. Louis, Mo., 
 Feb. 24, 1877, aged 77. 
 
622 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 by quoting from Rev.' Mr. Porter's lecture, published in 
 the "Fergus Historical Series." 
 
 "In the first week of July, 1833, Dr. John T. Temple, and wife, 
 and four children, arrived from Washington, D. C, with a contract 
 from the Government to transport the mail from Chicago to Fort 
 Howard, Green Bay. He was an intelligent physician, and a mem- 
 
 ber of the Baptist Church. His wife was the daughter of Rev. Dr. 
 Stoughton, of Philadelphia, a distinguished minister of that church. 
 They were happily disappointed to find regular religious services at 
 Chicago, as they had heard there were none of any denomination.. 
 Dr. Temple, supposing there was no minister at Chicago, had applied 
 to the Baptist Missionary Society for one, and the week after his 
 arrival, Dr. Temple informed me that a missionary had been com- 
 missioned for Chicago. Until his arrival, Dr. Temple and family 
 attended our services in Fort Dearborn. Thinking it best that we 
 should at once start out as separate churches, Dr. Temple started a 
 subscription for a building, having the double purpose of school- 
 house and place of worship. He started the subscription with one 
 hundred dollars. In a few weeks, it was built on the corner lot on 
 Franklin Street, near South-Water Street. * * * The 
 
 building was two stories, the upper for a school, and the lower for 
 meetings." 
 
 Dr. Temple's agency in the matter seems clear enough, and 
 that house, the lower part of which was purposely designed 
 for religious "meetings," would rather show it to be the first 
 church edifice. It was used by the three denominations, 
 Methodists and Presbyterians as well as Baptists, at least for 
 a while.* Dr. T. also pledged himself for the amount of $200 
 towards the support of a missionary whom the Board might 
 send. 
 
 The Rev. Allen B. Freeman, the missionary referred to 
 above, arrived with his bride (as by a letter of Mrs. Freeman 
 
 * A newspaper writer referred to above, said : 
 
 "To speak of the church singing, of this particular denomination, would be 
 only to repeat what has been heretofore said of the choir performances of the 
 Presbyterians; for the same choir did duty for all three creeds. * * * 
 
 This state of things continued as long as the 'Temple Building' (so called) was 
 the only meeting-house. " 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 623 
 
 to her sister), on the 16th August, 1833. The same Ietter 
 
 also states that there were then "between twenty and thirty 
 Baptists in Chicago." 
 
 Mr. Freeman, on Saturday, Oct. 19, 1833, formed the first 
 Baptist Church, consisting of eighteen members, fourteen of 
 whom were present, and whose names were as follows : Rev. 
 A. B. Freeman, Hannah C. Freeman, wife of the pastor, S. 
 T. Jackson, Martin D. Harmon, Peter Moore, Nat. Carpenter, 
 John K. Sargents, Peter Warden, Willard Jones, Betsey 
 Crane, Susannah Rice, Eben Crane, Samanthe Harmon, Lu- 
 anda Jackson. 
 
 Mr. Freeman labored earnestly and effectively, not only 
 here, but in the neighboring country settlements; he organ- 
 ized at least four other churches, in various districts, besides 
 the one at Chicago, during his residence here. Says a news- 
 paper correspondent: "One of his best sermons was preached 
 on Nov. 17, 1833, from Luke, ch. 16, v. 2, Give an account of 
 thy stewardship. Mr. Freeman's sojourn at Chicago, however, 
 was not a lengthy one; he died here Dec. 15, 1834. Rev. 
 Jeremiah Porter says, in his lecture of 1859: 
 
 "By request of Mrs. Freeman, and the Church, I preached (Dec. 
 21st) his funeral sermon in our church, as it was twice as large as 
 his, and all wished to honor the faithful pastor, who had so early 
 finished his work. So large an audience for Christian worship had 
 never been gathered in Chicago before. Four ministers took part 
 in the services— Rev. I. W. Hallam of the Episcopal Church, Rev. 
 John Mitchell of the Methodist, and Rev. Mr. Ambrose of the Bap- 
 tist, who was laboring with one of the churches that Brother Free- 
 man had formed in the country." 
 
 We will add that Rev. Allen B. Freeman was a graduate 
 of Hamilton Theological Seminary; his father and brothers 
 were Baptist ministers. His remains, it was said, were 
 interred in the "old cemetery"; but a later statement tells 
 that their "resting-place no one can point out." A communi- 
 cation in quite a recent number of the Chicago Tribune speaks 
 of, 
 
624 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 " — a little burial-ground near the North Branch on the West 
 Side; * * That little burial-ground, as I remember, 
 
 was about where Indiana Street crosses the river. The little inclos- 
 ure was a prominent object, on the otherwise unoccupied and open 
 prairie, up to 1840, if not later. An inscription on one head-stone, 
 or rather head-board, I well remember. It was that of the Rev. A. 
 B. Freeman, who was the first Baptist minister of Chicago." 
 
 The widow of Mr. Freeman subsequently married Rev. 
 Alvin Bailey. Her maiden name was Hannah Clarke; she 
 died in Jacksonville, 111., July 18, 1847, aged 44 years, and 
 was buried July 21, in Carrollton; her remains rest by the 
 side of those of. "little Allen Brown Freeman," her only child 
 by her first husband. She left a son, Alvin Freeman Bailey, 
 now (1881) a clergyman in Barre, Mass. 
 
 We extract from the volume entitled "Chicago and Her 
 
 Churches": 
 
 "It was soon found necessary to enlarge their boundaries, owing 
 to the great increase of members and attendants; and they were 
 fortunate enough to secure a donation from the State, under the 
 provision of the dedication law, by which they were put in posses- 
 sion of a lot at the corner of Washington and LaSalle Streets, 
 measuring 80 by 180 feet. This was in the year 1835, when the 
 Rev. I. T. Hinton* was inaugurated the second pastor, and soon 
 
 * From a newspaper article of many years ago, we copy the following : 
 " Elder Freeman having gone to his rest, their spiritual state was looked after 
 by the Rev. Isaac T. Hinton, a gentleman by birth an Englishman, a pious man 
 and a ripe scholar. He was a most valued and accomplished teacher in religious 
 things, free from all. false austerity, genial in spirit, and warm in soul ; he made 
 his way easily to the hearts and firesides, whether of Baptists or Romanists. He 
 not only taught, but practised what he taught; he not only pointed the road to 
 heaven, but travelled it. The salary which his people paid him, was inadequate 
 to his support; the more so, from the fact, that he had but few sheep over which 
 he exercised a pastoral care, and was blessed, like all poor parsons, with a numer- 
 ous family. He therefore, for the purpose of a better maintenance, combined 
 teaching the young with preaching to the old, and kept a school. His great forte 
 was, visiting his people, and preaching on prophecy. His happy disposition and 
 jovial turn of temper rendered his visits very acceptable, and drawing his people 
 near to him as he drew them out in converse, he was better able to pour the balm 
 of consolation into wounded hearts, which were so frankly laid open to him. He 
 preached on Sunday evenings, in the year 1836, a series of sermons on prophecy, 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 625 
 
 afterward sent East to obtain subscriptions for the erection of a suit- 
 able place of worship. He met with but poor encouragement, 
 returning with a subscription list of only $846.48. They seemed to 
 think a good deal of it, however, and it stirred them up to active 
 work among themselves. ( They laid the foundations of the new 
 temple, and prepared a good deal of the wood-work; but the crisis 
 of i836-'7 so completely demolished the enterprise, that they finally 
 equipped a frame building which had been erected as a temporary 
 workshop, and converted it into a church, where, with additions and 
 
 in the Presbyterian Church, to houses crowded to suffocation; his theory set 
 forth, that the end of the present order of things would take place in 1873. He 
 often indulged in startling denunciation or florid allegory. At last, to the great 
 and irreparable loss of the Baptists in particular, and Chicago in general, he dis- 
 covered that preaching and teaching combined, did not promise to secure a protec- 
 tion against incompetent provision for the wants of his family, as a loud call from, 
 the City of St. Louis promised. He set his face southward. * * * We 
 must not omit to mention the choir performances which accompanied these even- 
 ing lectures. Quartette choirs in churches, as we before remarked, were not 
 known in those days; but. the hymns and set-pieces, were delivered with a sten- 
 torian and voluminous energy. * * * Old "Denmark" was usually the 
 opening piece, and " St John " was ever the favorite tune whenever common metre 
 was selected. Prescott's voice on the tenor, is yet fresh in the memory of those 
 who went to hear 'Hinton on prophecy.'" 
 
 [We will add to this note, the following, from Hon. John Wentworth's lecture 
 of May, 1876, in "Fergus' Historical Series" :] 
 
 "Our early settlers were distinguished for their liberal patronage of all religious 
 denominations, and we had one clergyman, who created as much sensation as any 
 we have had since his day. Like all really influential sensational preachers, he 
 was an original. He dealt freely in pathos and in ridicule. If we cried once, 
 we were sure to laugh once, in every sermon. Unlike clergymen now called sen- 
 sational, he never quoted poetry, nor told anecdotes, nor used slang phrases, for 
 the purpose of creating a laugh. There was nothing second-handed about him. 
 I allude to Rev. Isaac T. Hinton, a Baptist clergyman, who was the only settled 
 minister onthe South Side when I came here in 1836. His residence was near 
 the corner of Van Buren Street and Fifth Avenue, then in the outskirts of the 
 City, and was shaded by native oaks. He was a man who never seemed so happy 
 as when he was immersing converted sinners in our frozen river or lake. It is 
 said of his converts, that no one of them was ever known to be a backslider. If 
 you could see the cakes of ice that were raked out to make room for the baptis- 
 mal purposes, you would make up your mind that no man would join a church 
 under such circumstances unless he joined to stay. Immersion, was no uncommon 
 thing in those days. One cold day about the first part of February, 1839, there 
 were seventeen immersed in the river at the foot of State Street. A hole about 
 20 feet square was cut through the ice, and a platform was sunk, with one end' 
 resting on the shore. Among the seventeen was our well-known architect, John 
 M. VanOsdell, alderman elect, said to be now the only survivor." 
 
 41 
 
626 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 improvements, they worshipped God until the year 1844, handing 
 over one of these additions to the colored brethren of the Methodist 
 Church on Jackson Street. 
 
 Rev. Mr. Hinton preached his farewell sermon in the Pres- 
 byterian House, Sept. 26, 1 841, and he removed to St. Louis.. 
 
 Following Rev. Mr. Hinton in the pastorate of this church,, 
 were successively, Rev. C. B. Smith, Rev. E. H. Hamlin, Rev. 
 Miles Sanford, and Rev. Elisha Tucker, D.D., and others. 
 
 The Society, in 1844, had resolved to build a new building, 
 and $5000 were raised, and a brick building was erected, 55> 
 by 80 feet, where the congregation continued to worship, until 
 the building was destroyed by fire in 1852. 
 
 We learn from Dr. L. D. Boone, that he is "the oldest male 
 member of the First Baptist Church, living, who was a mem- 
 ber in June, 1836," when he joined. 
 
 Protestant Episcopal Church. — Rev. Jeremiah Porter in his 
 lecture of 1859, says: 
 
 "About the 10th of October, 1834, the Rev. Mr. Dyer, of the 
 Episcopal Church, arrived in this town. Having passed a pleasant 
 evening with him, and his Episcopal friends, I invited him to occupy 
 my pulpit on the following Sabbath. He consented to do so, and 
 on the 1 2 th, so far as my knowledge goes, the first sermon preached 
 in connection with the Episcopal services, was delivered in my 
 church, near Lake Street. Mrs. J. H. Kinzie, Mrs. Helm, her 
 sister-in-law, and Miss E. Chappel, distributed the prayer-books to 
 the congregation. The sermon was excellent — in the morning from 
 the words, (Matt, xviii: 3), "Except ye be converted, and become 
 as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven"; 
 another in the afternoon, from Isaiah xl: 8, "The grass withereth, 
 the flower fadeth, but the word of our God shall stand forever." 
 After the second service, Mr. Dyer administered the sacrament, the 
 congregation remaining to witness the feast. Myself and many of 
 my church partook of the emblems, with our Episcopal friends. 
 Only four of that church communed on that occasion — three ladies, 
 of Mr. Kinzie's family, and one gentleman only. Including my 
 church, about thirty received the sacrament from the hands of Rev. 
 Mr. Dyer." * * * 
 
 "The Rev. Isaac W. Hallam and wife, in company with E. K. 
 Hubbard and wife, now Mrs. Thomas Dyer, were on their way from 
 Connecticut to Chicago. The following Sabbath, Mr. Hallam com- 
 menced his ministry in Chicago, preaching in the Baptist house of 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 627 
 
 worship, Mr. Freeman being absent in the country, as usual, once a 
 month. It was October 19, 1834. St. James', the first Episcopal 
 Church, was then building near the dwelling of Mr. J. H. Kinzie, 
 on the North Side. * * * St. James' Church was soon after 
 consecrated, and Mr. Hallam had gathered a pleasant and increasing 
 
 ^Jj^JJ^ 
 
 congregation and church, when I left Chicago, about a year after his 
 coming." 
 
 We are told, however, by a resident here at the time, 
 that Bishop Chase preached and administered the sacrament, 
 in the Presbyterian house, before the arrival of Rev. Mr. Hal- 
 lam. As late as the summer of 1836, the last-named clergy- 
 man occasionally held service in the Presbyterian edifice, as a 
 gentleman from abroad said, though he called that house "a 
 little, low, frame shanty of e building." 
 
 We copy the following letter, said to be from the first Epis- 
 copal missionary, to this locality, bearing date Dec. 7, 1835; 
 the writer we presume was Mr. Hallam. 
 
 "During the last quarter, my labors have been confined to Chi- 
 cago. I have buried six individuals, and married two couples. Four 
 persons have been added to the number of communicants. By the 
 blessing of God, I may again report that my congregation continues 
 to increase. On Sunday last there was a more numerous attendance 
 on our services than ever before. Of several places where mission- 
 aries of our Church might be immediately stationed, and where I 
 know that now is the time to put in the sickle, I select Milwalky. 
 It is situated in the Ouisconsin Territory, on the shore of Lake 
 Michigan, and distant about eighty miles from Chicago. In the 
 opinion of many judicious persons, it will be very little inferior to the 
 last-named place. Twenty-five miles this side of Milwalky is Root 
 River. The two might be united for the present in one station. I 
 have been frequently requested by intelligent and influential men of 
 both places to call the attention of the Committee to this subject, 
 and to assure them of a readiness on the part of the people generally 
 to support a missionary ofthe Episcopal Church. They always add, 
 what you missionaries so often write, 'now is the time.' It is not so 
 much what these places now are, as what they will be in a short time, 
 that makes it so important that they should be immediately occu- 
 pied. Both Milwalky and Root River will have harbors ; and, where 
 such is the case, the increase of population is astonishingly great." 
 
 The following is an extract from a page of, the volume 
 called "Chicago and Her Churches": 
 
628 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 "The oldest Episcopal Church in the City is that of St. James. 
 It was organized in 1834, with the following as its first members: 
 Peter Johnson, Mrs. P. Johnson, Mrs. Juliette A. Kinzie, Mrs. 
 Frances W. Magill, Mrs. Nancy Hallam, Mrs. Margaret Helm ; and 
 from this beginning, have grown the various magnificent churches, 
 belonging to the Episcopalians proper, which grace and adorn the 
 City." 
 
 The First Unitarian Church. — From one of the dailies we 
 extract the following sketch, presumed to be authentic, of 
 this church : 
 
 "The first Unitarian preaching in Chicago was by Dr. Follen, in 
 June, 1836.* The services were held in the old Lake House, on 
 the corner of Michigan and Rush Streets. A society was organized 
 June 29, 1836, under the laws of Illinois, with the title of 'The First 
 Unitarian Society of Chicago,' and $800 were subscribed at once for 
 the purchase of a lot. For several years after the organization, there 
 was no settled pastor, and the Society was dependent upon such 
 occasional preaching as they could obtain: The Rev. Mr. Huntoon 
 preached for sometime in 1837. In June, 1838, the Rev. James 
 Thompson, of Salem, Mass., preached three Sundays with much 
 benefit to the Society. In the early part of 1839, the Rev. Crawford 
 Nightingale preached for some months. Rev. George W. Hosmer, 
 of Buffalo, preached here four Sundays. Services were held at this 
 period, in the 'Saloon Building,' so called, situated on the south-east 
 corner of Clark and Lake Streets. In the same year, the Rev. Mr. 
 Barrett preached two Sundays with great acceptation. In October, 
 1839, the Rev. Joseph Harrington arrived and took charge of the 
 Society as their pastor. The first Sunday he held services in the 
 'Saloon Building' with an audience often persons. Mr. Harrington 
 preached in the same place during the winter to a constantly increas- 
 ing audience, so that in the spring of 1840, he determined to go 
 East and ask for help in building a church. He was successful in 
 his mission, and a lot was purchased on Washington Street, between 
 Clark and Dearborn, 80 by 180 feet. A building was contracted for 
 with Alexander Loyd, in October, 1840, and it was dedicated by the 
 pastor, the Rev. Joseph Harrington, in May, 1841. The cost of the 
 church was $3758.45; cost of the land $500; making a total of 
 
 * The authoress, Miss Martineau, who visited Chicago in 1836, refers to that 
 occasion as follows : " We were unexpectedly detained over the Sunday at Chi- 
 cago, and Dr. F. was requested to preach. Though only two hours' notice was 
 given, a respectable congregation was assembled in the large room of the Lake 
 House, a new hotel then building. Our seats were a few chairs, and benches, 
 and planks laid on trestles. The preacher stood behind a rough pine table, on 
 which a large Bible was placed. I was never present at a more interesting ser- 
 vice, and I know that there were others who felt with me." 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 629 
 
 $4258.45. Of this there was collected at the East, chiefly through 
 the exertions of Mr. Harrington, $2888.46; collected in Chicago, 
 $1369.99; cost of steeple, built afterward, $461. The Rev. Mr. 
 Harrington closed his pastorate in the fall of 1 844, after which this 
 church had the services of the Rev. William Lord, the Rev. Henry 
 Giles, the Rev. William Adam, the Rev. William P. Huntington, and 
 the Rev's. Messrs. Ripley and A. H. Conant, at various times," 
 
 We will add here that the church edifice on Washington Street, 
 was twice enlarged, before it was burned, on May 22, 1863. It was 
 this building, as we have said on a previous page, which bore up the 
 first church bell in Chicago. The Society subsequently sold their 
 lot on Washington Street for $15,000 and rebuilt on Wabash Avenue. 
 
 CHIC A GO MUNICIPA L T Y: VILLA GE A ND CIT Y. 
 
 . The County of Cook was incorporated by Act of the Leg- 
 islature, approved Jan. 15, 1831. 
 
 The Commissioner's-Court.of Cook County seems to have 
 first convened on the 8th of March, 1831. 
 
 In the month of July, 1833, a meeting of the citizens was 
 called to determine the expediency of organizing or "incor- 
 porating" the Village or "Town" of Chicago, agreeable to 
 the Statute for that'purpose. The result of this meeting was 
 twelve votes for incorporation and one against it. 
 
 The first election for Trustees of the Town was held at the 
 house of Mark Beaubien, on the 10th of August, 1833; twen- 
 ty-eight votes were polled, and five Trustees elected; their 
 names were Thomas J. V. Owen, George W. Dole, Medore 
 Beaubien, John Miller, and Edmund S. Kimberly. 
 
 The first President of the Village or Board of Trustees was 
 Col. T. J. V. Owen, and Isaac Harmon was Secretary. 
 
 4rt>Z^Csir1{J? 
 
630 
 
 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 Between the summer of 1833 and the spring of 1837, when 
 the City Government was organized, there seems to have 
 been four incumbents of the position of President of the Vil- 
 lage; namely, Col. Owen, as above, also, Col. John H. Kinzie, 
 Hiram Hugunin, and Eli B. Williams. 
 
 fZ 
 
 £{-^( t 
 
 /?%i 
 
 7 
 
 s, 
 
 /& 
 
 
 The City of Chicago was created by Act of Legislature, 
 March 4, 1837. The first election for City Officers was held 
 May 2, 1837, when Wm. B. Ogden was chosen Mayor. 
 
 Following this first election under the Charter, was a dis- 
 cussion of the subject of a City Seal. Prominent in this mat- 
 ter of the Seal, and the getting up the model for it, was Dr. 
 Josiah C. Goodhue, who had been elected one of the Alder- 
 men of the First Ward. 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 Euckner S. Morris was chosen Mayor in 1838, 
 
 631 
 
 Sl 
 
 f <?r?&? 
 
 Benjamin W. Raymond, in 1839, 
 
 Alexander Loyd, in 1840, 
 
 Otn 
 
 Francis C. Sherman, in 1841, 
 
 Benjamin W. Raymond, in 1842, 
 
 Augustus Garrett, in 1843, 
 
 [At the first election of 1844, it was supposed that Augus- 
 tus Garrett had been reelected Mayor; but the matter was 
 contested and declared illegal, and a new election ordered to 
 be held April 2, 1844, at which A. S. Sherman was chosen 
 Mayor.] 
 
 Alanson S. Sherman, in 1844. 
 
 t&UU 
 
 Augustus Garrett, in 1845, 
 John P. Chapin, in 1846, 
 
 James Curtiss, in 1847, 
 
 /^th^^^Y^z^z*^ 
 
632 
 
 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 James H. Wood worth, in 1848, also in 1849, 
 James Curtiss, in 1850, 
 Walter S. Gurnee, 185 1 and in 1852, 
 Charles M. Gray, 1853, 
 
 Isaac L. Milliken, in 1854, 
 Levi D. Boone, in 1855, 
 
 Thomas Dyer, in 1856, 
 
 John Wentworth, in 1857, 
 
 John C. Haines, in 1858, and in 1859, 
 
 John Wentworth, in i860, 
 Julien S. Rumsey, in 1861, 
 
 / 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 633 
 
 Francis C. Sherman, in 1862 and 1863, [Early in 1863 
 an amendment to the City Charter, made the term of Mayor 
 two years, in place of one, as hitherto.] 
 
 John B. Rice, was elected in 1865 and 1867, 
 
 [By Act of the General Assembly, passed March 10, 1869, 
 the time for the City election was changed from April to 
 November; those in office were continued therein until the 
 first Monday in December, 1869.] 
 
 Roswell B. Mason, was elected in Nov., 1869, 
 
 Joseph Medill, was elected in Nov., 1871, 
 
 Harvey D. Colvin, was elected in Nov., 1873, 
 Thomas Hoyne, in May, 1876, 
 
 "The City of Chicago was (newly) organized under the 'General 
 Incorporation Act,' in April, 1875, an d, consequently, no election 
 
636 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 The first newspaper of which we have heard, as started in 
 the State or Territory of Illinois, was the Illhiois Herald, 
 begun at Kaskaskia in or before the year 18 14, by Matthew 
 Duncan, a brother of a former Governor of Kentucky. That 
 paper, however, soon took the name of the Illinois Intelligen- 
 cer; but besides it and the Illinois Gazette, which it is believed 
 had already been commenced at Shawneetown, we are not 
 aware that any other newspaper had existence in Illinois in 
 18 1 8, at the time it became a State. The schoolmaster, it is 
 supposed, had not as yet been much abroad, and Northern 
 Illinois was still a wilderness. 
 
 It was while Andrew Jackson was Executive Chief of the 
 Nation, in the first year of his second term, when John Rey- 
 nolds was Governor of Illinois, and Thomas J. V. Owen was 
 President of the newly-incorporated Town of Chicago, that 
 the first printing-press was set at work here, and the first Chi- 
 cago newspaper made its appearance. 
 
 To the name of John Calhoun* belongs the credit of having 
 
 * John Calhoun was the fourth child of a family of five sons and three daugh- 
 ters, and was born (not in " Waterloo, " as Mr. Eastman's article says) in Water- 
 town, Jefferson County, N. Y., April 14, 1808. His parents were Chauncey and 
 Sarah Edwards (Paddock) Calhoun, who were natives of Connecticut, and early 
 settlers at Watertown. Mr. Calhoun's educational advantages were mostly those 
 fforded at the common school, and which he was only able to attend during the 
 winter months. From some autobiographic memoranda, by Mr. Calhoun, we 
 learn that his mind seemed to take "more of a practical and mechanical" cast than 
 otherwise, and he was famous among his playmates as an expert in building sleds, 
 wooding skate- irons, and divers other appliances of boyhood locomotion and 
 amusement. This aptness in the use of tools is, in part, explained by the fact 
 that his father- was a carpenter and builder, and John's mechanical proclivities 
 were seconded by the free use of the implements of his trade. 
 
 At the age of sixteen, his father proposed that he should select some respecta- 
 ble trade for his future occupation in life. It is proper here to say that among 
 John's associates were two young lads, who were apprentices to the printing busi- 
 ness, and his intimacy with them had led him somewhat into the mysteries of the 
 art; indeed, he had acquired already something of the rudiments of type-setting. 
 So his father consenting, John arranged terms with Mr. Walter Woodward, and 
 set to work in the capacity of "devil" of the establishment. We understand that 
 such was Mr. Calhoun's faithful application to his duties in the office, that he won 
 the fullest confidence of Mr. Woodward, and who, after a while, to a great extent 
 left the business to his care and management. At the age of twenty, agreeable 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 637 
 
 been the pioneer-printer, editor, and publisher in this part of 
 the State of Illinois. 
 
 to the articles of the apprenticeship, Mr. Calhoun's term of service expired; and 
 after making a visit to friends in Rochester and Utica, returned and worked for 
 Mr. Woodward as a. journeyman in the office. [We may as well remark here, as 
 anywhere, that Mr. Calhoun did not learn to print in the office of the " Waterloo" 
 Freeman, nor did he emigrate from Waterloo for Chicago, as Mr. Eastman tells 
 us; whether or not Mr. Calhoun arrived at Chicago, Oct. 16, 1833, as Mr. E. 
 further states, we can not say, for we are not aware that Mr. Calhoun himself 
 tells us. Furthermore, we must deny that Mr. Calhoun came from New Hamp- 
 shire, as Mr. Gershom Martin suggests, or that "he learned his trade in Isaac 
 Hill's old Nezo- Hampshire- Patriot office, at Concord." So far from this, we may 
 state that until his visit to Rochester, in 1828, he had never before been outside 
 the bounds of Jefferson County, X. Y., the place of his nativity.] The year fol- 
 lowing, Mr. Calhoun went East, and worked in Starr & Little's type-foundry, at 
 Albany, and a short time in Troy, on a City Directory. Returning to Water- 
 town, he again worked for Mr. Woodward for about a year, thence he went to 
 Oswego, where he was engaged in the printing-office of Richard Oliphant, where 
 he continued about six months. Again going home, he entertained the project of 
 taking a trip to New Orleans, but to this his father made objections, and proposed 
 to him that if he would start a job office of his own, he would assist him to equip 
 it with type, press, etc. This offer was accepted, and in the summer of 1831, he 
 made purchase of a press and material at Albany. 
 
 In fitting up, at Watertown, his first printing-office, his mechanical genius came 
 into play again, his use of carpenter's tools "enabling him to make all the furni- 
 ture necessary for the office, including cases, stands, etc., and which articles many 
 carpenters are unable to put together in a proper manner. " 
 
 After he had procured his type, press, etc. , Mr. Woodward made a proposal to 
 take him into partnership, limited to the term of one year. Mr. Calhoun con- 
 cluded to accept the offer, and "again returned to his old office." Mr. Calhoun, 
 in the memoranda spoken of, refers to "one of those splits in the Democratic 
 party of New York, which have attracted so much of the attention of politicians, 
 and recites the story of its effect upon himself. " The Watertown Freeman, we 
 understand, was the name of Mr. Woodward's newspaper, and with which Mr. 
 Calhoun had now become connected; but its seems Mr. Woodward, within the 
 period named, took upon himself the responsibility of selling out (he concern to 
 the other wing, "in order to heal tlie division," and so left Mr. C. out in the 
 cold. Mr. C, however, procured additional material, and established the Water- 
 town Eagle, a rival Democratic paper. After continuing this sheet for a year, he 
 closed up the institution, and not long afterward looked toward the West. 
 
 We should here say that during his partnership with Mr. Woodward, Mr. Cal- 
 houn was married at Watertown, or rather across the river, in the immediate 
 vicinity, May 31, 1832, to Miss Pamelia C. Hathaway, daughter of James and 
 Lucinda (Read) Hathaway. 
 
 Mr. Calhoun having shipped his press, etc., for Chicago, and leaving Mrs. C. 
 at Watertown, he " set out to seek a home and his fortune in the West. He took 
 
638 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 It was about the middle of the month of September, 1833, 
 that Mr. Calhoun shipped at Sacket's Harbor for Chicago, 
 his printing-press, type, and other material, including a small 
 quantity of paper, all in charge of his two apprentices. [It 
 will be quite proper to say a word or two further of those 
 assistants, the "two apprentices"; somebody in the far-away 
 future may wish to know more about two of our earliest 
 printers, who came as a body-guard, escorting Chicago's first 
 printing-press a thousand miles or so over the fresh-water 
 
 seas. Their names were Oscar Pratt and Beckford. 
 
 They were young men, and had the confidence of their 
 employer, yet their sojourn at Chicago, we think, was not of 
 
 what he supposed would be the most expeditious route; he went by steamer up- 
 Lake Ontario; at Buffalo, took steamboat "New York," for Cleveland, but from, 
 headwinds was delayed; took steamboat "Pennsylvania," for Detroit, but encoun- 
 tered a fearful gale, driven back twice, " the water on her decks knee-deep " occa- 
 sionally, headed for Black River, she struck on the bar; after waiting there a day„ 
 Mr. C. , with some thirty others, proceeded on foot for Huron, twenty miles dis- 
 tant. Waiting there two days, they chartered a. schooner and reached Detroit. 
 Stages to Chicago were then but tri-weekly, and two days passed before he got a 
 passage. There were various delays on the route, but he was at length set dowb 
 at the " Mansion House, " in Chicago, kept by Dexter Graves, on Lake Street. 
 The press, etc., had arrived some days before. Mr. Calhoun worked diligently 
 with his hands in getting his office ready to be occupied ; he speaks, however, of 
 the straightened circumstances in which he found himself after his arrival at Chi- 
 cago ; the freight upon his goods, besides various other demands, bore down with 
 a serious weight upon his sensitive nerves and empty purse. Mr. Calhoun, how- 
 ever, has paid a grateful tribute to the memory of Col. Thos. J. V. Owen, who 
 came to his relief by advancing the necessary funds to bring him out from imme- 
 diate difficulties; nor was his kindness limited by this single occasion. 
 
 In the spring of 1834, Mr. Calhoun was joined by his wife, whom he had left 
 at Watertown, as before stated. It was during this separation that they were 
 called to mourn the loss of their first-born child. 
 
 " Having procured a residence which had been built by Mr. David Carver, upon. 
 Lake Street, near Clark, Mr. C. resided there during that summer, and, in the 
 Fall, removed to a house which he had built upon a canal lot, adjoining the " Sher- 
 man House, " which he had selected and fenced during the spring, where he re- 
 sided until the fall of 1836. " 
 
 During the month of May, 1836, Mr. and Mrs. Calhoun were made happy by- 
 the birth of a son. 
 
 Mr. Calhoun, who had hitherto enjoyed good health, was prostrated in the falL 
 of 1836, with bilious or malarial fever, and was brought, he has said, "to the 
 verge of the grave.'' During this fall, he made disposal of his newspaper, the 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 639 
 
 many months. Pratt, we understand, soon went South, and 
 afterward became a captain of a steamer on the Mississippi, 
 but died many years ago. Mr. Beckford might be called a 
 singular individual in his appearance, in his movements or 
 manners, as well as in his speech and intellectual characteris- 
 tics. He was not a large man and moreover was somewhat 
 deformed ; whether he was of any very near kin to the wealthy 
 Beckford, the author of "Vathek," we have our doubts.; but 
 we think he returned to Her Majesty's Dominions in Canada, 
 from whence he came.] A three weeks' voyage, had, one day 
 in the first half of the month of October, 1833, landed them 
 in Chicago, on the dock of George W. Dole, at Dearborn 
 
 Democrat, and also of his lot on Randolph Street. Purchasing n lot on State 
 Street, Mr. Calhoun erected the dwelling where he had resided nearly twenty- 
 three years at the time of his death. [The location of Mr. Calhoun's house was 
 west side of State Street, south corner of " Calhoun Place, " where Messrs. Pard- 
 ridges' store is.] "At that time (1836) there were but very few buildings south of 
 this house, while the number of persons passing on State Street would not average 
 three a-day. " 
 
 On the 15th of April, 1837, they met the great affliction of the loss of their son 
 and only child. 
 
 In the Spring of 1837, Mr. Calhoun was appointed, by the Commissioners,. 
 Treasurer of Cook County. Connected with this office, was also that of making 
 the assessment for the entire County, which office he held for two years. Subse- 
 quently, he was appointed Collector for the County, three years in succession; in 
 1841 and 2, he was elected Alderman of the Second Ward. The next two or 
 three years, Mr. C. tells us were those of leisure, much of which time, he says, 
 was passed in gunning. Later years were passed as a clerk in the hardware store 
 of Ira B. Eddy; then a partner with Joseph Mattison, for several years in same 
 business; afterward in the employ of Illinois Central Railroad; and in 1854-5, 
 was engaged with others in attempts to rid the public of the Wild Cat-banks or 
 their currency. 
 
 For the last few years of his life, his health was so poor as to prevent his en- 
 gaging in any business. He has said that he " never had a great ambition to be 
 rich, and thus far, all his aspirations have been realized. " 
 
 He died at his residence on State Street, on Sunday, February 20th, 1859, in 
 his 51st year. His widow still survives and resides in Chicago. 
 
 We will close this rather-extended sketch, which we thought due, (not only to 
 the memory of our pioneer-printer, but to the use of the coming historian), with 
 the following few words, written by Mr. Calhoun, which we esteem as a better 
 certificate of nobility than any ever issued at the Herald's College. 
 
 " Of late years, I have felt the want of riches, more for the good that I could do 
 with them, than for any benefit to be derived to myself from their possession." 
 
640 
 
 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 Street. Mr. Calhoun, who had been an equal length of time 
 
 on the way, though taking as he supposed a shorter route, 
 
 found his apprentices boarding at the old log Wolf Tavern, 
 
 or as then called the "Traveler's Home" of C. Ingersoll, on 
 
 the West Side. His first business was to procure an office. 
 
 He has said : 
 
 "After some considerable search, I was able to procure the second 
 story of a building which was being erected on the south-west corner 
 of South-Water and Clark Streets. By taking hold and lathing, and 
 holding a candle, while Mr. Ashbel Steele plastered during evenings, 
 the room was soon ready to be occupied." 
 
 After arranging his office, Mr. C. found it necessary to 
 determine "whether he should issue a neutral or political 
 paper. Being an ardent admirer of the then Chief Magistrate 
 of the United States, and leader of the Democratic party, 
 Andrew Jackson, he was impelled to publish a Democratic 
 paper." The first printing done here by Mr. Calhoun, was a 
 job of hotel cards for Chester Ingersoll, who kept the "Travel- 
 er's Home." 
 
 ^Jj%t^ @a/A. 
 
 t^l+^U. 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 641 
 
 The first number of Mr. Calhoun's newspaper, the Chicago 
 Democrat, bore date November 26, 1833. It was a six-column, 
 four-page sheet, and we may say that the measurement of the 
 printed matter on the page within its outside edges was, 
 width 14 inches, height i8j^ inches; we are not describing 
 the paper as a printer would, but we will present here a 
 reduced facsimile of the heading of that first Chicago news- 
 paper. 
 
 "WhereLihgrtydwells.thgrciamy Conntw.'-'-JSwiJKni. 
 
 "The Democrat is published every Tuesday in the Village of Chi- 
 cago, Cook Co., 111., in the building on the corner of South-Water 
 and Clark Streets. Terms, two dollars and fifty cents in advance ; 
 any procuring six subscribers will be entitled to one gratis." 
 
 Mr. Calhoun, in his inaugural, announces that: 
 "The political complexion of the Democrat can not be mistaken, 
 for it will be in fact what its name implies. As the advocate of 
 popular rights, and the adherent of the People's Government, the 
 Democrat will sustain to its utmost ability the Democracy of the State 
 and of the Union; believing, as we do, that the prominent and 
 leading measures of the present administration are well calculated in 
 their results to promote the welfare of the Nation, and to secure to 
 our Republican Government permanency and stability," etc. 
 
 The editor disclaimed being "so selfish as to exclude from 
 the Democrat such articles as may be temperately written 
 upon any subject that the editor may deem suitable for news- 
 paper discussion." A stranger to the leading citizens, he 
 says he is free from those " personal predelictions which most 
 editors are apt to entertain for their political favorites ; con- 
 sequently, his support of, or opposition to, the politicians of 
 Illinois, must be entirely governed by measures and not regu- 
 lated by men." He referred to "the rapidly increasing im- 
 portance of Chicago, in a commercial point of view," and of 
 the desired " speedy commencement and completion of the 
 long-contemplated Canal or Rail Road, which is to connect 
 the waters of Lake Michigan with those of the Illinois River;" 
 and he asks for communications on the subject; and says, 
 that "a large portion of the paper will be devoted to the cor- 
 42 
 
642 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 rect development of the great natural resources of the State ;" 
 etc. 
 
 In Mr. Calhoun's first paper, he says: 
 
 " More than 800 souls may now be found within the limits that, 
 within a few short months since, included less than one-tenth of that 
 number." Also: "Even with the present limited facilities of naviga- 
 tion which it possesses, goods have been transported from New York 
 by way of the lakes to St. Louis, in the short space of twenty-three 
 days, at the rate of $1,63 per 100." 
 
 We copy from Mr. Calhoun's memoranda: 
 
 "The people of Chicago, anxious for the establishment of a paper, 
 extended to it a very liberal support, for the influence it would not 
 and did not fail to exert upon the growth of the City. Numbers of 
 persons subscribed for two, three, four, and five copies of the paper, 
 directing them to be sent to their relations and friends in the different 
 sections of the country, from whence they had emigrated." 
 
 "Mr. Calhoun, though not having the advantage of a liberal edu- 
 cation, was the ostensible Editor of the Democrat, but was assisted 
 by able writers, and published a large number of well-written articles, 
 descriptive of the advantages of Chicago and the surrounding country, 
 which exerted & great influence upon its future growth." 
 
 "The nearest points at which newspapers were published, at this 
 time, were Galena, Springfield, and Detroit; and a supply of paper 
 was procured from St. Louis by stage, after a suspension of Mr. Cal- 
 houn's paper for two weeks." 
 
 The following from the Democrat of Dec. 17, '33, embraced 
 the ideas of Mr. Calhoun: 
 
 "When we reflect upon the commercial advantages of Chicago, 
 and take intb consideration the inviting country that surrounds it, 
 we are not astonished that the attention of different parts of the 
 country has become so much awakened by the stories related by 
 travelers of the superior advantages of the northern parts of Illinois. 
 Here is a town that affords an advantageous market for a country 
 hundreds of miles in extent; here are the fields of nature, inviting the 
 attention of the agriculturist, and promising, with but little labor, the 
 most abundant crops and manufacturing advantages, surpassed by 
 those of no country." 
 
 President Jackson's message was not received by mail, to 
 enable it to be published until Dec. 31st. 
 
 In the' 10th number of the Democrat, January 28th, 1834,* 
 appears an editorial, from which we extract the following: 
 * Mr. K. K. Jones says the Democrat, in 1834, was located on the upper floor of a 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 643 
 
 "At that time (spring of 1833), Chicago did not contain more 
 than five or six regular stores, and now may be counted from twenty 
 to twenty-five; then it did not contain over one-hundred-and-fifty 
 inhabitants, whereas now there are from eight to ten hundred; then 
 it did not contain over thirty buildings, now may be seen over one- 
 hundred -and -eighty. During the past summer, over eighty vessels 
 have arrived, bringing goods and property to a vast amount; yet, 
 notwithstanding the immense importation of merchandise during the 
 past season, hardly three good assortments could now be made out 
 in this place. * * * Much inconvenience has been 
 experienced, during the past season, for the want of all kinds of 
 mechanics; and their labor has commanded very high prices. The 
 harbor which is now in progress at this place, it is confidently hoped, 
 will be so far advanced in the early part of next season, as to admit 
 vessels into the river; when the danger that has heretofore existed to 
 vessels laying in the offing to discharge and receive their cargoes, 
 will be remedied. Then our advancement will receive a decided 
 impulse.'" 
 
 "The Democrat took strong grounds in favor of the construction 
 by the State of the Canal; and to its strong articles upon this subject 
 (to which the late James H. Collins was among the ablest contribu- 
 
 tors), we are indebted for its early commencement. As the northern 
 part of the State, which then embraced the counties of Rock Island, 
 Peoria, LaSalle, Cook, and Jo Daviess, was entitled to only one 
 representative in the Legislature, the effect of these articles will be 
 more fully appreciated." 
 
 "This year (1834), the message of President Jackson was received, 
 so as to be published in the Democrat the 23d of December." 
 
 "Owing to the contractors failing to ship a supply of paper, in 
 season to reach Chicago before the close of navigation, Mr. Calhoun 
 was compelled to discontinue its publication, from 1st January (1835) 
 until spring." 
 
 three-story frame-building on South-Water Street, between Dearborn and Clark 
 Streets, occupied below by the firm of Jones & King, dealers in "hardware, iron, 
 and stoves. " 
 
 The Democrat of Wednesday, August 16th, 1837, says, "Published at Demo- 
 cratic Hall, two doors from the post-office, on Clark Street." The P.-O. was on 
 east side of Clark Street, between Lake and South- Water Streets, north of the 
 alley, and the Democrat office was north of it. 
 
 In 1839, and several years thereafter, the Democrat was published at 107 Lake 
 Street. 
 
644 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 "By a census taken in the fall of this year (1835), tne number of 
 inhabitants in Chicago was found to be 3279, and the number in the 
 County 9773." 
 
 "Mr. Calhoun, having procured the assistance and services of Jas. 
 Curtiss, Esq., the editorial management of the Democrat was under 
 
 his charge during the year 1835. Local politics ran high, and the 
 Democrat took a leading part in them. The increased patronage of 
 the paper kept pace with the growth of Chicago." 
 
 We continue to quote from Mr. Calhoun's autobiographical 
 memoranda: 
 
 "Not having been formed by nature with a temperament suitable 
 to the printing business, and wishing to be on friendly terms with all 
 mankind, which the publisher of a political paper finds to be impos- 
 sible, Mr. Calhoun determined upon disposing of his paper, and 
 retiring from the printing business. 
 
 He had, at the commencement of the third year of the publication 
 of the Democrat, in May, 1836, offered one-half of his printing estab- 
 lishment for sale. Messrs. J. D. Caton, E. Peck, H. Hugunin, Dr. 
 J. C. Goodhue and some others, leading Democrats, in order to have 
 a controlling influence in its publication, proposed to make the pur- 
 chase, and furnished the credit by which an additional press and 
 materials were purchased; and on the 17th of August, of this year, 
 the Democrat was enlarged to seven columns in width, making it a 
 fair-sized weekly paper." 
 
 It was during a severe sickness of Mr. Calhoun, in the fall 
 of 1836, that Dr. Daniel Brainard consented to take charge, 
 
 && 
 
 temporarily as we understand, of the Chicago Democrat; in 
 this position, we think, he continued until Mr. Wentworth 
 took charge. 
 
 The sale before referred to, not having been perfected, Mr. 
 Calhoun looked elsewhere for a purchaser. Mr. Horatio 
 Hill, of Concord, New Hampshire, who was then making a 
 tour in the West, entered into negotiation with Mr. Calhoun, 
 and, as by articles of agreement, dated Nov. 14, 1836, Mr. 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 645 
 
 Calhoun made conveyance to that gentleman. By the memo- 
 randa before spoken of, we learn that Mr. Hill was to assume 
 to pay certain debts owing by Mr. Calhoun, and the balance 
 of the purchase in a draft on New- York City, at ninety days. 
 The valedictory of Mr. Calhoun appeared in the paper of 
 Nov. 16, 1836; that day: 
 
 "Mr. Hill took possession of the Democrat, and after placing the 
 Hon. John Wentworth in charge of the same, until his return, left 
 for the East, but never returned to Chicago. It was not until the 
 draft was returned from New York protested, that Mr. Calhoun 
 found he had not made a sale of his printing-office. 
 
 " Mr. Wentworth being in possession, and anxious to purchase, 
 and agreeing to assume all the payments that Hill had agreed to 
 make, became the purchaser; and in the course of the next four 
 years, liquidated the debts owing to Mr. Calhoun." 
 
 Mr. K. K. Jones says, of the Democrat office: 
 
 " I was then a boy of 10, and that printing-office had great attrac- 
 tions for me. I used to hang about there, all the rules allowed, arid 
 more too. * * * In 1836, Mr. Calhoun sold out, and 
 without consulting me; so that one day when I rushed into the office 
 without any ceremony, as usual, a tall, lank chap stood before me, 
 that I would have made oath was fifteen feet high; for I was fright- 
 ened, and ceased my investigations into the 'art preservative.' It 
 was John Wentworth, and he immediately began to make the Chi- 
 cago Democrat a red-hot political power." 
 
 Mr. Wentworth took the editor's chair of the Democrat, and 
 
 made his de'but in the paper on 23d of November, 1836. This 
 arrangement was followed, in the July succeeding, by the 
 purchase by Mr. W. of the establishment on his own account.* 
 
 * From the article of Gershom Martin, referred to previously in a note : 
 "As has been remarked, the Chicago Democrat was the first paper ever published 
 here; and at that time, there were more soldiers than citizens, and more 'Injuns' 
 than anybody else. Besides, it was more than twenty miles to the next neighbors 
 anywhere. The 'suburbs of Chicago, then, were Ottawa, Boyd's Grove, Dixon's 
 Ferry, Galena, Peoria, and Green Bay. So you can imagine what the art of 
 printing was then in Chicago. But the town rapidly grew to be quite a city in '36-7, 
 
646 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 Whether or no it was a demonstration of a growing appe- 
 tite for that sort of ink in these parts, it was yet a plain 
 exhibit of poverty in the supplies of this market, when our 
 proprietor of the Democrat, in the autumn of 1838, just on 
 the eve of an election, had to send a boy to Michigan City to 
 beg, borrow, or buy a bucket of printer's black ink. But, 
 seven years later, in his paper of Dec. 27, 1845, he announced 
 the arrival of his Adams Steam-Power Press, being the first 
 Power Press west of Buffalo. 
 
 There is no occasion for any remarks from us regarding the 
 well-known and notable career of Col. Wentworth, in connec- 
 tion with the Chicago Democrat. It will be sufficient to say, 
 that journal continued under his leadership for the space of 
 nearly a quarter of a century. 
 
 Col. Wentworth says: 
 
 "My first number was 23 Nov., 1836; my last 27 July, 1861. 
 *• * # My wife was sick, and I was calculating to go to Europe. 
 I would not sell, and reserved the right to issue another paper, any 
 time after 1st March, 1864. My wife's health grew worse, and I did 
 not go abroad. The Tribune supplied all who had paid in advance, 
 and I kept my own material and debts. I never gave up my name 
 of Chicago Democrat, nor good- will ; I wanted to start again if I saw 
 fit." 
 
 and when another paper was started, times became more lively. 'Long John's' 
 length of legs gained him considerable notoriety, and as the Democrat had no 
 opposition in its own party, north of Vandalia, it and its new editor became ex- 
 tensively known. But those were glorious times. Money was plenty, and every- 
 body had some. Big wages were paid, and the 'jours' of those days were glori- 
 ous fellows, with plenty of 'rocks' in their pockets. Everybody was rich. The 
 'Lake House,' which now (1852) looks like some old deserted castle, had just 
 been built. It was without rival, the 'crack' hotel of the West, and it is asserted 
 as a positive fact, that no one was allowed to board there who was not worth one 
 hundred thousand dollars. * * * Some time in 1839 or '40, 'Long 
 John's' legs procured him the appointment of aid-de-camp to Gov. Carlin, with 
 the rank of ' Colonel. ' Upon receipt of his commission, the Democrat came out 
 with an ' inaugural address' of four or five columns in length, headed with a mon- 
 strous big cut of 'Colonel John Wentworth,' mounted on the most diminutive 
 jackass, in his regimentals, his feet dragging on the ground, while an immense 
 crowd were represented as gathered on the sidewalk, while ladies waved their 
 handkerchiefs from the windows. His enemies had intended to ridicule his ap- 
 pointment, but he stole a march on them, and he was immediately dubbed ' Col. ' 
 far and wide, from Maine to Missouri. " 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 647 
 
 "history of fort dearborn and its 
 occupants:' 
 
 To the Paper which we prepared to be read before the 
 Chicago Historical Society, in December, 1880, relating to 
 Fort Dearborn and its Occupants (printed in the Chicago 
 Times of Dec. 25, 1880, yet with a few mistakes of the types), 
 we have received the addition of new matter, not shown 
 therein, nor in Hon. John Wentworth's Address and Appen- 
 dix of May 21, 1 88 1, which comprise Number 16 of the 
 "Fergus' Historical Series." There is more material also to 
 be gathered. We purpose, at no very distant day, to offer to 
 the public a thin volume with the above-named title. 
 
 The name of Hon. John Wentworth carries with it a pres- 
 tige, a power and value, which he turns to good account, as a 
 collector of facts of history; this is shown in his valuable Fort- 
 Dearborn Address, referred to above; may it be long before 
 he shall abate his force in these historical inquiries. 
 
 We have availed ourselves frequently of items and state- 
 ments drawn from the previous Addresses, etc., of Mr. Went- 
 worth, and we are pleased to see that he has done the same 
 toward the early pages of the "Antiquities" and historical 
 notes of ours elsewhere. 
 
648 CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 JUSTICE TO THE MEMORY OF A PATH LOT. 
 
 As the fitting close to this volume, on the last page of a 
 book which assists to link the past to the present and future, 
 we beg to append here a few lines, in behalf of what seems 
 an obvious propriety. We speak of the suggestion that what 
 is now called "5th Avenue," should be restored to its former 
 name, Wells Street. 
 
 It was, we think, quite a mistake when the City Council, on 
 the 17th of October, 1870, rubbed out the name hitherto borne 
 by one of our important thoroughfares, a name given it many 
 years ago, as a memorial of one of Chicago's historic charac- 
 ters. It is true there had been some provocation for the 
 Council's action; yet, if numerous bad characters made a so- 
 journ upon Wells Street, which gave it, for a time, a reputa- 
 tion somewhat odious, the conflagration of 1871 was a purifier; 
 if it did not annihilate the class to which we refer, at least it 
 sent them to other localities. May not State and Clark Sts. 
 today be complained of for quite as much an offence? Yet 
 shall we blot out the name of Clark Street, given in honor of 
 George Rogers Clark, another of the heroes of the West? 
 That change from street to avenue was scarcely a considerate 
 one, though we will not believe it was clone to ape Manhattan's 
 pride for its boastful and pretentious "5th Avenue"; we have 
 heard of "Biler Avenue", and in the early days of our Town, 
 one of the important routes of egress and ingress, was legally 
 established with the name "Hoosier Avenue ', but as no one 
 was thought to be honored by the term, it was changed to 
 Blue Island Avenue. 
 
 Captain Wm. Wells, whose name is frequently referred to 
 in the foregoing pages, often visited Chicago, many years 
 before his death. [Interesting particulars relating to Captain 
 Wells, may be seen in Hon. John Wentworth's Fort-Dearborn 
 Address, in "Fergus' Historical Series."] When Capt. Wells 
 was informed of the intended evacuation of Fort Dearborn, 
 he straightway volunteered to come -here on an errand of 
 
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES. 649 
 
 mercy, to aid and protect his friends and the retreating sol- 
 diers. That his mission was not successful and resulted so 
 disastrously to himself, he was mourned by his comrades, and 
 should be. honored by us. All that humanity could do, he 
 did for Chicago; he gave his life for its succor. Capt. Wells 
 was slain, and the yelling demons cut out his heart, and while 
 the bleeding organ was still warm, they parcelled it around 
 and ate of it, alleging that it gave them power, as "he was 
 a brave man." 
 
 The street once named in memory of Capt. Wells was his 
 only monument. May we not hope that before the 15th day 
 of August, 1882, which will be the 70th anniversary of Capt. 
 Wells' death, that Chicago will not only pay proper respect 
 to the memory of that gentleman, but shall also honor itself, 
 by giving back to the street the name by which it was for- 
 merly known? 
 
E R R A TA. 
 
 Page 8, 2d line from foot, in place of " was " put she. 
 Page 21, 4th line from foot, " 1833" should be 1832. 
 
 Page 22, 14th line from foot, the "a" before " which" should come after it. 
 Page 22, 9th line from foot, after " us " put is. 
 
 Page 33, 17th line from foot, in place of "John S." read Benjamin K. 
 Page 39, 4th line from top, "1821 " should be 1823. 
 Page 47, bottom line, " two-wheeled " should be four-wheeled. 
 Page 77, 10th line from foot, put be between " to " and " seen. " 
 Page 79, the name " Chandonia " should be Chandonai. 
 Page 83, 9th line from top, " caravols " should be caravels. 
 Page 103, top line, needs a comma after "daring." 
 Page 128, 4th line from top, "43" should be 21. 
 
 Page 129, ;2th line from top, " antideluvians " should be antediluvians. 
 Page 134, 5th line from foot, "anthered" should be antlered. 
 Page 146, 2d line from top of note, " 1745 " should be 1645. 
 Page 175, 12th line from top, " Lansman's ". should be Lanman's. 
 Page 240, 5th line from foot, "began" should be edited. 
 Page 264, 6th line from top, " 1618 " should be 1J18. 
 Page 302, 1 2th line from foot, "respectfully" should be respectively. 
 Page 304, 5th line from foot, "Augustus" should be Augustin. 
 Page 329, 8th line from top, "seventeen" should be nineteen, and "eleven" 
 should be thirteen. 
 
 Page 332, nth line from foot, "J" in this Col. Hamilton's name should be S. 
 
 Page 349, 8th line from foot, " Gholsen " should be Gholson. 
 
 Page 368, 17th line from top, " 1833 " should be 1832. 
 
 Page 368, 5th line from foot, "earlier " should be later. 
 
 Page 396, 7th line from top, " 1834" should be 1835. 
 
 Page 410, 16th line from top, "presents" should be present. 
 
 Page 414, 18th line from foot, "Hinkling" should be Hickling. 
 
 Page 423, in top line, "stony" should be strong. 
 
 Page 435, wherever " Illinois " appears it should have but one /. 
 
 Page 436, 1 7th line from foot, " Donay " should be Douay. 
 
 Page 439, 4th line from foot, " Kenomokouk " should be Kenomokonk. 
 
 Page 441, 6th line from foot, "Pipin" should be Pepin. 
 
 Page 444, 9th line from foot, " Booneville " should be Boonville. 
 
 Page 456, 10th line from top, "above cut" should be cut below. 
 
 Page 459, 15th line from foot, " On " should be In. 
 
 Page 464, 13th line from top, "Memoirs" should be Memories. 
 
 Page 467, 2d line from top, "1853 " should be 1833. 
 
 Page 472, 19th line from foot, "Augustus" should be Augustin. 
 
 Page 480, 12th line from foot, "McKenny " should be McKenney. 
 
 Page 511, in upper line of note, "Edward" should be Edmund. 
 
 Page 514, 20th line from top, " 1865 " should be i860. 
 
 Page 528, 5th line from top, " has " should be have. 
 
 Page 560, 12 lines from foot, "April 28" should be March 12. 
 
 Page 565, 19 lines from top, " Augustine " should be Augustin. 
 
INDEX 
 
 Abbott, J. 56, 70, 71. 
 
 Abbott, Dr. Lucius, 428, 452. 
 
 Abell, Sidney, 541. 
 
 Abell, Ralph M. P. 543. 
 
 Accident to an Early Building, 609. 
 
 Adam, Rev. William, 629. 
 
 Adams, Hon. Charles F. 266. 
 
 Adams, Edward F. 168, 170. 
 
 Adams, Hon. John Q. 442, 529. 
 
 Adams, William Henry, 545. 
 
 Advantages, Poorly improved, 423. 
 
 Agency House, 104, 411. 
 
 Aiken, E. H. 517. 
 
 Ainslie, John, 534. 
 
 Aitken, William A. 35. 
 
 Alexander the Great, 133. 
 
 Allen, Albert, 529. 
 
 Allen, "Col." 510. 
 
 Allen, Edward H. 525. 
 
 Allen, Lieut. James, 497, 498. 
 
 Allen, Miss Susan R. 104. 
 
 Allouez, Father Claude, 152, 435, 591. 
 
 Ament, Edward G. 477. 
 
 American Fur Company, 28, 31, 32, 
 
 35, 306, 307, 308, 346, 397, 410, 
 
 432, 528. 
 American Hotel, 522. 
 American, Newspaper, 540, 560. 
 American Pioneer, 526, 527. 
 American State Papers, 406. 
 American Temperance House, 525. 
 Amiability sometimes a fault, 398. 
 Amusements in winter of '33-4, 57°- 
 Ancient Ship, 82. 
 Ancient Subterranean Passage, 399. 
 "Areadne," vessel, 359. 
 Arndt, Judge, 210. 
 Arnold, Hon. I. N. 297, 364, 445, 
 
 448, 485, 586. 
 
 Arkansas, 436, 439. 
 
 Arundel, Mr. 55. 
 
 A Suggestion, 44. 
 
 Astor, John Jacob, 28, 32, 201, .202, 
 
 203. 
 As well lower her colors, if, 575. 
 "Atlanta," schooner, 515. 
 Aumies, The, 56, 59. 
 Aux Pleins, 455. 
 Austin, Capt. Thomas, 511. 
 Austin,- Pamelia (Loomis), 511. 
 Baby, of the City Seal, 531. 
 Badin, Rev. Stephen D. 329, 382, 454, 
 
 594- 
 Bailey, C. S. 296. 
 
 Bailey, Jonathan N. 358, 479, 530, 531. 
 Bailey, Miss Anna Maria, 533. 
 Bailey, Rev. Alvin, 624. 
 Bailey, Rev. Alvin Freeman, 624. 
 Bailly, Joseph, 35, 94, 95, 304, 412, 
 
 452, 581. 
 Baird, Mrs. of Green Bay, 565. 
 Baker, Major Daniel, 182. 
 Baker, Hiram, 296. 
 Baldwin, C. C. 262, 264, 265, 266, 434, 
 
 437- 
 Balestier, J. N. 557, 560. 
 Ball at Hickory Creek, 492. 
 Bancroft, Hon. George, 402. 
 Barker, Jacob, 578. 
 Barnerd, James, 196. 
 Barnes, Cecil, 399. 
 Barron, the Guide, 201. 
 Barrows, Miss, 396. 
 Barry, Rev. William, 121. 
 Barry, William T. 529. 
 Barthe, Mr. 57, 58. 
 Bartlett, Rev. William A. 368. 
 Bascom, Rev. Flavel, 619. 
 
652 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Bates, Aurilla (Booth), 286. 
 
 Bates, Capt. 211. 
 
 Bates, Hon. George C. 39, 490. 
 
 Bates, Jacob R. 519. 
 
 Bates, John Jr. 370, 412, 500, 533, 
 
 534, 535, 536, 540. 
 Bates, Noble, 286. 
 Bates vs. Illinois C. R. R. 451. 
 Battles, Joe, 104. 
 Battle of Oriskany, 51. 
 Battle of the Thames, 460. 
 Battle of Tippecanoe, 70, 377. 
 Beach, Miss Lucy, 391, 396. 
 Beard, James and W. H. 383. 
 Bear Stories, 427. 
 Beaubien, Alexander, 37, 288, 412. 
 Beaubien, Antoine, 304. 
 Beaubien, Charles H. 194, 284, 305, 
 
 329- 
 
 Beaubien, Genevive, 304. 
 
 Beaubieniana, 302. 
 
 Beaubien, Henry, 288, 329. 
 
 Beau Bien, Jn, 304. 
 
 Beaubien, Jean Marie, 304. 
 
 Beaubien, John Baptiste, 28, 31, 35, 
 45, 196, 201, 210, 285, 288, 302, 304, 
 306, 309-320, 323, 324, 325, 327, 
 328, 332, 349, 370, 420, 432, 478, 
 558, 601. 
 
 Beaubien, Joseph, 304. 
 
 Beaubien, Mrs. Josette, 305, 320, 329. 
 
 Beaubien, Mrs. Keez-ko-quah, 336. 
 
 Beaubien, Lambert, 304, 306, 308. 
 
 Beaubien, Mrs. Mah naw bun no quah, 
 
 3°5- 
 Beaubien, Marien, 304. 
 Beaubien, Mrs. Mark, 507. 
 Beaubien, Mark, 113, 288, 329, 331, 
 
 332, 333, 334, 349, 462, 481, 5°°, 
 
 507, 508, 510, 557, 629. 
 Beaubien, Medore B. 194, 198, 305, 
 
 306, 313, 314, 315, 316, 329, 334, 
 
 335, 336, 349, 43 8 , 443, 444, 464- 
 
 492, 629. 
 Beaubien, Philip, 288, 329. 
 Beaubien, Theodore, 477. 
 Beckford, Mt. 638. 
 
 Beckwith, Hiram W. 199. 
 
 Beggs, Rev. Stephen R. 373, 391, 502, 
 
 594, 596- 
 
 Bellerive, de St. Ange, 174. 
 
 Bellin, N. 265. 
 
 Bennett, Samuel C. 296, 297. 
 
 Benton, Thomas H. 589. 
 
 Beresford, J. 594- 
 
 Berrien, Rev. Mr. 195. 
 
 Bertrand, Joseph, 34. 
 
 Bertrand, Joseph, jr. Brother and Sis- 
 ter, 194. 
 
 Bertrand, Madeline, 194. 
 
 Bertrand, Mme. 353, 354. 
 
 Bertrand, Mich. 49. 
 
 Bible for the Sauganash, 462. 
 
 Biddle, Edward, 35, 412. 
 
 Biddle, James W. 181. 
 
 Big Buffalo Hoofs, 269. 
 
 "Bigfoot," Chief, 199. 
 
 "Bigoted Prayer," a myth, 395. 
 
 "Big Swan, "54. 
 
 Big WabisTcokie, 84, 91. 
 
 Bigelow's Building, 541- 
 
 Billings, Dr. -John S. 362. 
 
 Binette, Buisson, and Bibeau, 35. 
 
 Bingham, Charles K. 542. 
 
 Birchard, Solicitor of Treasury, 312. 
 
 "Blackbird," 191, 211, 358. 
 
 "Blackfoot," 457. 
 
 "Black Hawk," 180, 181, 380. 
 
 "Black Hawk," a Poem, 411. 
 
 Black- Hawk War, 112. 
 
 "Black- Hawk" and Chitty, 580. 
 
 Black Jim, 45. 
 
 "Blackmeat," 107. 
 
 Black River, 441. 
 
 "Black Partridge," 358, 377, 432. 
 
 Blake, "Commodore" C. 390, 558. 
 
 Blanchard, Rufus 120, 397, 402, 403, 
 414, 416, 428, 455, 456, 479, 502, 
 505, 556. 
 
 Blanchard's Discovery and Conquest of 
 North-West, 397, 416. 
 
 Blanchard's Historical Chart, 387. 
 
 Blatchford, Rev. John, 618. 
 
 Blatchford, Rev. Samuel, 618. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 653 
 
 Blodgett, Henry W. 364. 
 
 Blome's Britannia, 260. 
 
 "Blue Eagle," 510. 
 
 Boardman, George E. 524. 
 
 Bois Blanc Island, 355. 
 
 Boiseley, Mr. 213, 505. 
 
 Bolles, N. H. 295, 296, 297. 
 
 Boone, Levi D. 626, 632. 
 
 Borin, Rev. Peter R. 599. 
 
 Boniteau and Pinet, Revs. 382. 
 
 Boonville, Mo. 444. 
 
 Bordering on the Boastful, 545. 
 
 Bowen, Erastus, 537, 54°- 
 
 Bowen's General Atlas, 266. 
 
 Bowen, Joseph 179. 
 
 Bowie's Atlas, 266. 
 
 Box and Contents under the Corner, 
 
 21, 579- 
 Bradley, Capt.Hezekiah, 190, 204, 347, 
 
 409. 453. 58 2 - 
 Brainard, Dr. Daniel, 363, 475, 644. 
 Breese, Hon. Sidney, 120, 324, 566. 
 Brice's History of Ft. Wayne, 563. 
 Bridges, Mr. art early gunsmith, 106. 
 Bridge at Dearborn Street, 559. 
 Bridges misplaced on map, 575. 
 Brewster, Hogan & Co. 531, 534. 
 Brig "John Kinzie, " 132. 
 Bristol, Capt. Robert C. 132. 
 Brockway, J. W. 327. 
 Brookes, Samuel, 552. 
 Brookes, Samuel M. 503. 
 Branson, Hon, Alvin, 417, 418. 
 Bronson, Arthur, 607, 608. 
 Bross, Hon. Wm. 35, 121, 280, 355, 
 
 364, 421, 560, 606. 
 Bross' History of Chicago, 355, 505, 
 
 53°- 
 Brown, Adam, 466. 
 Brown, Miss Harriet E. 536. 
 Brown, Hon. Henry, 573, 580. 
 Brown's History of Illinois, 372. 
 Brown, Jeduthan, 514, 525. 
 Brown, John, 294, 295. 
 Brown, Lemuel, 394. 
 , Brown, Rufus, 113, 554, 572. 
 Brown, Wm. H. 296, 297, 300. 
 
 43 
 
 Brown, Wm. S. 580. 
 
 Buchanan, Pres. James, 546. 
 
 Bucklin, James M. chief engineer, 529. 
 
 Buel, Capt. E. 419. 
 
 Buffalo Hotel, 525. 
 
 Buffalo Rock, 477. 
 
 Builder of Fort Dearborn, 27. 
 
 Burial of John Kinzie, 479. 
 
 Burial of Shabonee, 468. 
 
 Burial of Wabansa, 445. 
 
 Burlesque Review, 411. 
 
 Burnam, Ambrose, 131. 
 
 Burnet, Gov. Wm. of N. Y. 420. 
 
 Burnett, Abraham, 192, 195. 
 
 Burnett, Wm. 49-78, 178, 452, 469, 527. 
 
 " Burlington Hall, " 549. 
 
 Burns House, 105. 
 
 Butler, Charles, 607. 
 
 Burtiss, Sergt. 615. 
 
 Butterfield, Hon. Justin, 448, 580. 
 
 "By-Gone Days," 108, 498, 538. 
 
 Cabin of Father Jesse Walker, 607. 
 
 Cadellac de la Motte, m. 
 
 Cadotte, Michael, sen. 35. 
 
 Caldwell, Archibald, 495, 496, 566. 
 
 Caldwell and Shabonee, 459. 
 
 Caldwell, Billy, 288, 349, 367, 394, 
 
 410, 432,457,462,463,465, 512, 568. 
 Caldwell, Capt. John, 578. 
 Calendar, Robert, 274. 
 Calhoun, John, 280, 309, 347, 414, 536, 
 
 636-645. 
 Calhoun, Chauncey, 636. 
 Calhoun, Mrs. John, 359. 
 Calhoun, Hon. John C. 187, 312. 
 Callis, Mrs. S. M. 98, 105. 
 Callis, Wm. O. 108. 
 Caltos, Mr. 61. 
 Calumet Club, 287, 359, 508. 
 Calumet Lake Route, 385. 
 Calumet Club Reception, 397. 
 Calumet River, 184, 439. 
 Campbell, Mr. 55. 
 Campbell, Major James B. 523, 566. 
 Campbell, John, 274. 
 Canada and North-West, 434. 
 Canal, 111. and Michigan, 356, 357. 
 
654 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Canal Commissioner's Map of Chicago, 
 46. 
 
 Canal Commissioners and U. S. En- 
 gineers, 567. 
 
 Cannon from Fort Dearborn, 21, 128. 
 
 Cane Presentation, 124. 
 
 Capuchins, Recollects, and Jesuits, 593. 
 
 Carney, James, 392. 
 
 Carli, P. I. 510, 521.. 
 
 Carpenter, Deacon Philo, 47, 109, 1 13, 
 127, 288, 289, 332, 392, 396, 412, 
 421, 481, 504, 599, 607, 619. 
 
 Carpenter, Sergt. at Ft Dearborn, 127. 
 
 Carey's General Atlas, 268. 
 
 Carver, David, 599. 
 
 Casey, Edward W. 537. 
 
 Casity, John, 55. 
 
 Cass, Gov. Lewis, 187, 195, 196, 198, 
 203, 306, 374, 422, 478. 
 
 Castles, George, 275. 
 
 Caton, Hon. John D., 249, 418, 518, 
 537, 575, °44- 
 
 Caune, Pierre, 35. 
 
 Census of Chicago, 396, 644. 
 
 Chabollier, Augustin, 63. 
 
 Chabollier and Young, 62. 
 
 Cbachagwessiou, 117. 
 
 Chacagouche, 267. 
 
 Chacksfield, George, 310, 428. 
 
 Chadwick, G. W. 296. 
 
 Chair of Integrity, 48. 
 
 Champlain, Samuel de, 434, 435. 
 
 Chamberlin's " Chicago and Suburbs, " 
 120, 121. 
 
 Chandler, Theresa, 33, 194. 
 
 Chandonai, Jean B. 79, 194. 
 
 Chapin, John P. 298, 300. 
 
 Chappel, Miss Eliza, 289, 292, 396, 626. 
 
 Chappee, M. 397. 
 
 Charlevoix, Father, 171, 265, 434. 
 
 Charlevoix's Journal, 342. 
 
 Charlevoix's "New France," 265. 
 
 Chase, Bishop, 627. 
 
 Chebass, 192, 197. 
 
 Chesbrough, Mr. 574. 
 
 Cheshaugan, 192. 
 
 Chevalier, Catharine, 454. 
 
 Chevalier, Francois, 458. 
 Chevalier, Mary Ann, 458. 
 Chicago an Accident, 364. 
 Chicago and Early Maps, 250. 
 Chicago a Trail Centre, 206. 
 
 11 Business Directory 1839, 12. 
 
 11 City Register 1839, n. 
 
 11 Churches 1839, 19. 
 
 11 Churches and Church Choirs, 
 
 394- 
 11 Colony in the Old World, 424. 
 „ Democrat, 347, 356, 358, 414, 
 500, 502, 508, 509, 510, 521, 522, 
 537, 54°, 641-646. 
 
 Early Notices of, 145. 
 
 Evening Journal, 390, 394, 428. 
 
 Evening Post, 368. 
 
 Fort, 177, 178. 
 
 "Fort Miami," 593. 
 
 Game in 1823, 208. 
 
 Garrison, a Rumor in 1 798, 66. 
 
 History and Mistakes, 337. 
 
 Historical Society, 33, 34, 44, 
 384, 399, 4°o, 425, 430. 
 
 Hotel, 516. 
 
 in Olden Time, 42. 
 
 in 1812, 177, 569. 
 
 in 1825, 212. 
 
 in 1833, 215, 643. 
 
 Laws and Ordinances in 1839, 7. 
 
 Lyceum, 573. 
 
 Massacre, 177, 378, 582. 
 
 "Magazine," 369, 381/394, 395, 
 463, 473, 559, 616. 
 
 Municipality, 629. 
 
 Origin of Name, 117-124, 182, 
 189, 423. 
 
 of Maj. Long's Expedit'n, 204-9. 
 
 " Past, Present, Future, " 366. 
 
 Portage, 438. 
 
 Port and River, 439. 
 
 Residents in 1832, 579. 
 
 River in 1830, 566, 567. 
 
 "Temperance House, " 525. 
 
 "Times," 383, 416, 426, 519. 
 
 Treaty of 1821, 193. 
 
 Treaty of 1833, 221. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 655 
 
 Chicago Tribune, 119, 123, 420, 432, 
 433. 453, 522. 
 
 11 Virginians, 471. 
 
 11 with Variations, 442. 
 Childs; Ebenezer, Reminiscences, 209, 
 
 3°7- 
 Childs, Luther, 113. 
 Chouteau, Auguste, 239. 
 Ctarrches made Post-Offices, 549. 
 Cicot, Jean B. 194. 
 Cincinnati Prophecy, 396. 
 City Hotel, 514, 523, 324. 
 Clairemont, Jeremie, 34. 
 Claims by Father St. Cyr, 600. 
 Clapp, T. E. 529. 
 "Clarissa," vessel, 359. 
 Clark, George Rogers, 648. 
 Clark, Gov. William, 202, 239. 
 Clark, Jonas, 133. 
 Clark, Mr. 471. 
 Clark, T. B. 597. 
 Classic Style of Wigwam, 449. 
 Cleaver, Charles, 427, 569, 570. 
 Clowry, Patrick M. 547. 
 Clybourn Archibald, 124, 126, 144. 
 Clybourn, Jonas, 471. 
 "Cobweb Castle," 432. 
 Cobb, Ebenezer, 515. 
 Cobb, Henry, 515. 
 Cobb, Silas B. 515, 516, 518. 
 Collections, Mich. Pioneer Soc'y, 364. 
 Collins, George C. 295, 296, 297. 
 Collins, James H. 643. 
 Collins, Morris, 618. 
 Columbian House, 525- 
 Comrrunication betw. Lake and River, 
 
 207. 
 Conant, Rev. A. H. 629. 
 Conant and Mack, 409. 
 "Confute" Indians, 564. 
 Connor, Henry, 196. 
 Contraband Beef, 494. 
 Cooney, Mrs. Cynthia, 458. 
 Cook, Charles W. 522, 525. 
 Cook, Hon. Isaac, 546, 547, 548. 
 Cook, Josiah P. 277. 
 Cook, Mr. 514. 
 
 Corbin, James, 179. 
 
 Corbin, Jean Baptiste, 33. 
 
 Corbin, Mrs. 105. 
 
 Corbin, Mrs. Phelim, 180. 
 
 Corbin, Phelim, 179. 
 
 Corner Stone of 18^1, 578. 
 
 Cote, P. Gabriel, 65. 
 
 Couch, Ira, 519, 520. 
 
 Couch, James, 519, 520. 
 
 Coursolle, Mr. 66, 72. 
 
 Courtney, Bailey, 278. 
 
 Cox, David, 516. 
 
 Cox, Jack, 136. 
 
 Cox, William L. 284. 
 
 Crafts, John, 28, 31, 305, 409, 425, 
 
 453. 476, 477- 
 Crane, Betsey, 623. 
 Crane, Eben. 623. 
 Crooks, Ramsay, 30, 32, 203, 355. 
 "Crows, Blackbirds, and Insects," 205. 
 "Guillerier," 303. 
 Cummings, E. H. 423. 
 Cummings, L. F. 326. 
 Curtiss, Hon. James, 585. 
 Curtiss, Rev. Harvey, 620. 
 Curtiss, Rev. O. T. 599. 
 Cusick, David; Hist, of Six Nations, 
 
 271. 
 Cut off from Head-Quarters, 536. 
 Dablon, Father Claudius, 146, 338, 
 
 341, 344. 435, 591- 
 Daily Democrat, 394. 
 Daily Eastern Mail, 541. 
 D'Anville's Map, 266. 
 Darby, William, Tour of, 184. 
 D'Artaguette, Gov. 173. 
 Davis, George, 513, 520, 552, 554. 
 Davis, John, 522. 
 Davis, John Henry, 34. 
 Davis, William Gregory, 552. 
 Davis, Mr. 508, 513. 
 Daze, Joseph, 194. 
 Dead-pit of Cholera Victims, 392. 
 Dean, Mr. a Trader, 106. 
 Dean House, 306. 
 Dean, John, 313, 328. 
 Death Block, 445. 
 
6$6 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Death on the Prairie, 247. 
 
 11 of Father Allouez, 153. 
 
 11 Mrs. George C. Bates, 490. 
 
 11 Col. J. B. Beaubien, 329. 
 
 n Mark Beaubien, 508. 
 
 11 Capt. C. Blake, 390. 
 
 11 William Burnett, 77. 
 
 11 John Calhoun, 639. 
 
 11 Billy Caldwell, 463. 
 
 11 Chandonai, 79. 
 
 n Archibald' Clybourn, 126. 
 
 11 George Davis, 555. 
 
 n Stephen Forbes, 287. 
 
 11 Lieut. John G. Furman, 85. 
 
 n a French Chicagoan, 59. 
 
 11 Father James Gravier, 170. 
 
 11 Edward H. Hadduck, 518. 
 
 11 Pres. W. H. Harrison, 543. 
 
 11 Russell E. Heacock, 42. 
 
 11 Rev. A. W. Henderson, 301. 
 
 n Rev. Dr. Z. M. Humphrey, 621. 
 
 11 Judge P. D. Hugunin, 416. 
 
 11 Judge Charles Jouett, 108. 
 
 11 Kewagoushkum's Family, 200. 
 
 11 Mrs. Eleanor Kinzie, 482. 
 
 11 John Kinzie, 479. 
 
 11 James Kinzie, 483. 
 
 n Mrs. J. A. Kinzie, 490. 
 
 11 John H. Kinzie, 488. 
 
 ti Robert A. Kinzie, 494. 
 
 n Sister of Robt. A. Kinzie, 492. 
 
 .1 David and B. H. Laughton,288. 
 
 ,1 "Little Turtle," 98. 
 
 M Major S. H. Long, 345. 
 
 11 Father Marquette, 149. 
 
 11 Father Zenobe Membre, 163. 
 
 11 John Murphy, 511. 
 
 11 Nonnoga, 106. 
 
 .1 Charles Patterson, 440. 
 
 11 Rev. James H. Perkins, 343. 
 
 n Alex Robinson, 458. 
 
 .1 Mrs. Alex Robinson, 458. 
 
 11 William See, 483. 
 
 11 Shabonee, 468. 
 
 11 Wife of Shabonee, 468. 
 
 11 Charles Taylor, 501. 
 
 11 John T. Temple, 621. 
 
 Death of Wabansa, 444. 
 
 11 Wife of Wabansa, 444. 
 
 „ Capt. William Wells, 380. 
 
 11 Major John Whistler, 27. 
 
 11 Col. William Whistler, 27. 
 
 11 Dr. Alex. Wolcott, 39. 
 "Dearborn House," 518. 
 DeBoisbriante, 172, 593. 
 DeCamp, Dr. S. G. J. 362. 
 Dechereau, Joseph C. 35. 
 Dedication of 1st Presb. Church, 611. 
 Definitive Treaty, France and Great 
 
 Britain, 173. 
 Definitive Treaty, Gt. Britain and U. 
 
 S. 175. 
 DeFrontenac, Count, 147. 
 DeGaray, Gov. 436. 
 DeLangbade, Charles, 35, 270. 
 DeLigney, 172, 270. 
 De La Rebourde, Father Gabriel, 163. 
 DeL'Isle's Maps, 263, 264. 
 Democratic Press, 37, 355, 614. 
 DePeyster, Col. Arent, 174, 472. 
 DeSable, Bap. Point, 174, 376, 404, 
 
 472. 
 Del Spiritu Santo, 261. 
 DeSiette, 172, 593. 
 Deschamps, Antoine, 34, 35. 
 Desplaines River, 210. 
 Detroit Surrender, 330, 347. 
 DeWolf, Calvin, 295. 
 Dickson, Col. Robert, 180, 380, 381. 
 Didn't Preach in the Fort, 595. 
 Dingley, Daniel, 35. 
 "Dis'y and Conq't of Northwest," 397, 
 Dis'y and Exp. of Miss. River, 339. 
 Divine River, 183. 
 Dodomead, Miss Eliza, 104. 
 Dole, George \V. 288, 546, 557, 606,- 
 
 629, 639. 
 Dole, John (?), 328. 
 Doty, Hon. James D. 188, 374. 
 Douglas, Capt. D. B. 188. 
 Douglas, Stephen A. 542. 
 Draper, Lyman C. 174, 422, 451, 468. 
 " Drawbridge, Oakwoods, and Blue Is- 
 land," 536. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 657 
 
 Drinking Customs, m, 140, 141. 
 
 Drummond Island, 355. 
 
 DuBuisson of Detroit, 117. 
 
 Ducharme, Mr. 50, 52. 
 
 Duck, Dr. C. H. 362. 
 
 Dunbar, A. C. 297. 
 
 Duncan, Gov. Joseph, 584. 
 
 Duncan, Matthew, 636. 
 
 Dunn, Col. Charles, 566. 
 
 DuPin, M. 475. 
 
 Durantaye, M. 25, 164, 592. 
 
 Durocher, Mr. 62. 
 
 Dwellers in Chicago 1839, 20. 
 
 Dyer, Dyson, 179. 
 
 Dyer, Dr. C. V. 364. 
 
 Dyer, Hon. Thomas, 523. 
 
 Dyer, Rev. Mr. 626. 
 
 "Eagle Exchange," 510. 
 
 "Eagle Tavern," 509, 521. 
 
 "Eagle House," 517. 
 
 Earliest Chicago Poem, 91. 
 
 ti Thanksgiving Proclamation, 583, 
 584. 
 Early Bridges, 555. 
 
 11 Chicago Confidence Man, 197. 
 
 11 County House, 575. 
 
 •1 Custom at the "Forks," 535. 
 
 11 Days of Chicago Pork Packing, 
 507. 
 
 11 Debt of Chicago, 573. 
 
 11 Indian Deed, 272. 
 
 11 Inns of the Settlement, 495. 
 
 11 Mail Routes, 528, 533. 
 
 11 Maps and Chicago, 250. 
 
 h "Medical Chicago," 352, 360, 
 
 537. 575- 
 11 Missionaries and Early Churches, 
 
 591. 
 ,. Post-Office, 532. 
 11 Post-Mark, 539. 
 11 Postal Matters, 526. 
 n Printing- Press; a mistake, 417. 
 11 Schools of Chicago, 283. 
 11 Shipments of Grain, 50, 132, 452. 
 11 Show, 78. 
 Eastman, Francis A. 549. 
 11 Zebina, 364, 463. 
 
 Eastman's Hist'ry of Chicago, 369, 476, 
 
 499- 
 Eddy, Ira B. 639. 
 
 11 Deacon Seth, 301. 
 Eels, T. S. 510. 
 Edson, Nathan, 179. 
 Edwards, Col. Abraham, 186, 409. 
 
 n Gov. Ninian, 239. 
 Egan, Dr. Wm. B. 311, 601. 
 Elliott and McDonald, 53. 
 
 n George, 99. 
 Ellis, A. G. 374. 
 Engle, Lieut. 567. 
 
 Errors of Mr. Parkman, 255, 256, 257. 
 Eschikagou, 175. 
 Etherington, Capt. George, 451. 
 Evacuation of Fort Dearborn, 177. 
 Evans, Rev. James, 122. 
 
 n Lewis, 437. 
 Evening journal, 517. 
 "Exchange Coffee House," 511. 
 Fac-Sim. Sig'ture of Sidney Abell, 541. 
 
 11 Claude Allouez, 591. 
 
 11 Geo. Bancroft, 402. 
 
 11 Jona. N. Bailey, 530, 
 
 11 Mrs. E. M. Bates, 39. 
 
 n John Bates, jr. 535- 
 
 11 Flavel Bascom, 619. 
 
 11 John B. Beaubien, 3 10. 
 
 11 Mark 11 336. 
 
 11 Medore B. « 336. 
 
 n Stephen R. Beggs, 596. 
 
 „ Rev.J.Blatchford,6l8. 
 
 11 Hon. L. D. Boone, 632. 
 
 11 Dr. D. Brainard, 644. 
 
 ,1 Wm. Burnett, 70. 
 
 11 Arthur Bronson, 609. 
 
 „ Hilly Caldwell, 461. 
 
 11 Mrs. A. E. Carpenter, 
 291. 
 
 1, Dea. Philo ,1 608. 
 
 11 John Calhoun, 641. 
 
 11 Miss E. Chappel, 289. 
 
 11 Hon. J. P. Chapin, 631. 
 
 1, P. M. Clowry, 547. 
 
 „ Chas. Cleaver, 569. 
 
 11 Hon. Isaac Cook, 546. 
 
658 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Fac-Sim. Sig.of Hon. H. D.Colvin,633, 
 
 .1 n Jas. H. Collins, 643. 
 
 11 11 Hon. Jas. Curtiss, 631, 
 
 644. 
 
 11 11 James Couch, 519. 
 
 11 n Ira Couch, 519. 
 
 11 11 Claudius Dablon, 592. 
 
 11 11 George Davis, 293. 
 
 n 1, Geo. W. Dole, 545. 
 
 11 11 Hon. Thos. Dyer, 632. 
 
 Ti 11 Stephen Forbes, 286. 
 
 11 11 Mrs. S. Forbes, 285. 
 
 11 11 Rev. A. B. Freeman, 
 
 623. 
 
 11 11 John Frink, 541. 
 
 n 11 Grant Goodrich, 598. 
 
 11 C. M. Gray, 632. 
 
 11 11 R. J. Hamilton, 286. 
 
 11 11 Hon. J. C. Haines, 632. 
 
 11 n Isaac Harmon, 629. 
 
 „ E. H. Hadduck, 518. 
 
 „ Rev.I.W. Hallam,627. 
 
 11 11 Hon. Carter H. Harri- 
 
 son, 634. 
 
 i, ,1 Hon. M. Heath, 634. 
 
 11 11 R. E. Heacock, 40. 
 
 11 11 Rev. I. T. Hinton, 624. 
 
 11 11 Col. G. S. Hubbard, 
 
 29. 
 
 11 11 Mrs. M. Hunter, 491. 
 
 11 11 Samuel Hoard, 549. 
 
 n J. S. C. Hogan, 532. 
 
 .1 Hon. T. Hoyne, 583. 
 
 11 11 Rev. Z. M. Humphrey, 
 
 620. 
 
 11 11 Hiram Hugunin, 630. 9 
 
 11 11 Judge C. Jouett, 102. 
 
 11 11 Lathrop Johnson, 522. 
 
 11 11 James Kinzie, 481. 
 
 11 11 Col. J. H. Kinzie, 630. 
 
 11 11 Mrs. J. A. Kinzie, 489. 
 
 11 n Maj. R. A. Kinzie, 493. 
 
 11 11 Hon. Alex Loyd, 631. 
 
 11 n Father Marquette, 591. 
 
 ,1 11 Hon. R. B. Mason, 633. 
 
 n 11 Hon. A. Mitchell, 576. 
 
 11 11 Hon. Jos. Medill, .633. 
 
 Fac-Sim. Sig.of Rev. A. Mitchell, 621. 
 Hon. Isaac L. Milli- 
 
 ken, 632. 
 Hon. Buckner S. Mor- 
 ris, 631. 
 Capt. Ira Miltimore, 
 
 300. 
 Samuel Miller, 505. 
 Edward Murphy, 296. 
 John Murphy, 512. 
 Mrs. H. A. Murphy, 
 
 512. 
 Hon. Wm. B. Ogden, 
 
 630. 
 Joshua F. Oram, 547. 
 Col. Thos. J. V. Owen, 
 
 629. 
 Rev. J. Porter, 607. 
 Wm. Price, 546. 
 Hon. B. W. Raymond, 
 
 631. 
 Hon. J. S. Rumsey, 
 
 °33- 
 Wm. Rickcords, 523. 
 Hon. J. Young Scam- 
 
 mon, 297. 
 George Smith, 576. 
 Hon. A. S. Sherman, 
 
 631. 
 Hon. F. C. Sherman, 
 
 631. 
 Mac Slosser, 547. 
 Hart L. Stewart, 545. 
 William Stuart, 543. 
 Rev. J. M. I. St. Cyr, 
 
 600. 
 A. D. Sturtvant, 300. 
 Col. J. S. Swearingen, 
 
 28. 
 John Sweeney, 538. 
 A. D. Taylor, 602. 
 Anson H. Taylor, 536. 
 Charles Taylor, 500. 
 Mrs. Mary A. Taylor, 
 
 500. 
 Dr. J. T. Temple, 622. 
 M. O. Walker, 542. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 659 
 
 Fac-Sim. Sig. of Thos. Watkins, 539. 
 •1 Win. H. Wells, 283. 
 11 E. Wentworth, 497. 
 11 Hon. J. Wentworth, 
 
 632. 
 „ E. B. Williams, 630. 
 n John L. Wilson, 538. 
 „ C0I..W. Whistler, 26. 
 „ Rev. H. Whitehead, 
 
 598. 
 11 John S. Wright, 293. 
 11 Thomas Wright, 293. 
 11 H. A. Wynkoop, 546. 
 Factory and Factor at Chicago, 31, 
 
 405, 406, 480. 
 "Fairplay," U.S. Revenue Vessel, 419. 
 Family of Judge Jouett, 108. 
 Farnham, Russell, 34. 
 Farnsworth, William 397. 
 Farewell Sermon of Rev. I. T. Hinton, 
 
 626. 
 Father Marquette's Remains, 562. 
 11 Pinet, and Boniteau, 592. 
 11 Riorden, 494. 
 n Walker's Cabin, 499. 
 Fearson, John, 25, 426. 
 Fergus' Directory for 1839, 20, 504. 
 Fergus' Historical Series, 353, 354, 
 
 389, 421, 425, 485, 554, 558. 
 Fergus, Robert, 511, 519. 
 Fever River, 442. 
 Finley, Dr. C. A. 84. 
 Finley, Dr. J. B. 362. 
 Fire, not the first, 370. 
 First Auctioneer at Chicago, 46. 
 
 •1 Baptist Church Building, 612, 
 
 614, 621. 
 „ "Baloon" Building, 48. 
 „ Bridge, 555. 
 
 ., Cargo Wheat fr. Lake Mich. 132. 
 11 Chicago Newspaper, 635. 
 „ Church Bell, 48. 
 ,, Coroner's Inquest, 45. 
 11 Court House, 478. 
 ,1 Debating Society, 46. 
 Dray-cart, 47. 
 Druggist, 47. 
 
 First Earth from Canal, 47. 
 
 11 Engraver on Wood or Metal, 48. 
 
 11 Fair in Chicago, 47. 
 
 11 Ferryman, 47. 
 
 m Foundry, 374, 428. 
 
 11 Four-wheeled Carriage, 47. 
 
 11 Framed House, 389. 
 
 ,1 "Frame" on West Side, 492. 
 
 11 Inn, 476. 
 
 11 Illinois Newspaper, 636. 
 
 11 Indian Agent, 102. 
 
 11 Indian Agency Building, 104. 
 
 11 Livery Stable, 521. 
 
 ,1 Mail-Coach, 537. 
 
 11 Manufactory, 473. 
 
 11 N. E. Chaise, 47. 
 
 11 Organization of Methodist Epis- 
 copal Church, 596. 
 
 11 Pier Ballast, 47. 
 
 11 Postmaster, 479. 
 
 n Post-Office, 479. 
 
 11 P. O. Clerk, 532. 
 
 11 Power-Press, 646. 
 
 11 Printed Book, 48. 
 
 11 Printed Letter List, 47, 537. 
 
 11 Protestant Sermon in Chicago, 
 
 198, 594- 
 
 11 Prayer Meeting, 595. 
 
 11 Presbyterian Church, 603. 
 
 1) Public Edifice in Cook Co. 48, 
 
 484. 
 
 11 Pupil in School, 484. 
 
 11 Resident Menagerie, 134. 
 
 11 School-House, 475. 
 
 11 Stage to Milwaukee, 521. 
 
 11 Steamboat Fuel, 47. 
 
 11 Steam-Enginq, 48, 
 
 ,1 Sunday- School, 112, 421, 604. 
 
 11 Tannery, 46. 
 
 11 Temperance Society, 108. 
 
 11 Trip of the Mail-Coach, 537. 
 11 Unitarian Church, 628. 
 ,1 Vessel in River, 418, 419. 
 
 11 Vessel Launched, 48. 
 „ White Child, 36. 
 11 White Man Hanged, 45. 
 Field, A. P. 584. 
 
66o 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Fitch, John B. 413. 
 
 Five Medals, lor, 583. 
 
 Flag Creek, 500. 
 
 Fleming, Gen. 468. 
 
 Flood, Peter F. 575. 
 
 Fonda, John H. Reminiscences of, 211, 
 
 308, 358, 422. 
 Foot-bridge over North Branch, 502. 
 Follen, Dr. 628. 
 Foot, Mr. a teacher, 285. 
 Foot, Starr, 519. 
 Forbes, Stephen, 284, 285, 286. 
 Forbes, Mrs. Elvira, 285. 
 Ford, David M. 525. 
 Former Sports of the Prairie, 84. 
 Forqua, George, 477. 
 Forsyth, Robert A. 79, 188, 189, 283, 
 
 475, 478- 
 Forsythe, John, 269, 272. 
 Forsyth, Thomas, 469. 
 Forsyth, William, 468. 
 Fort Buade, III. 
 
 n Chartres, 174, 267. 
 
 11 Dearborn, 22, 27, 85, 86, 88, 
 
 92, 175, 176, 177, 179, 183 
 187, 204, 212, 213, 215, 284. 
 312. 346, 347, 37o, 373, 421 
 422, 424, 432, 4S 2 , 453, 47i 
 484, 527, 529, 531, 536, 569. 
 Dearborn; its Builders, 27. 
 Dearborn ; When Christened, 22' 
 Gage, 270. 
 Howard, 527. 
 Maiden, 465. 
 Wayne, 69, 176, 178. 
 Foster, Lieut. A. B. 89, 567. 
 Fowle, Maj. John, 285, 498, 529, 567, 
 
 605. 
 Francis, Simeon, 214. 
 Franks, Mr. 65. 
 
 Franks, Moses, Jacob, and David, 274. 
 Franquelin, 257. 
 Fraudulent Histories, 155. 
 Freeman, Rev. Allen B. 291, 611, 622. 
 Freeman, Mrs. Hannah C. 623. 
 Freeman, " Little Allen Brown, " 623. 
 French Fort at Chicago, 164, 361. 
 
 Frenchman Killed at Chicago, 59. 
 
 French Money of account, 58. 
 
 French's Historical Collection, La. 428. 
 
 French, time of Louis 14th, 430. 
 
 Frink, John, 541. 
 
 Frink and Bingham, 541. 
 
 Frink and Walker, 541. 
 
 Frozen on the Prairie, 247. 
 
 Fuller, Judge Henry,' 414, 448. 
 
 Funeral of R. A. Kinzie, 494. 
 
 Funeral of Chief Waubansa, 445. 
 
 Furman, Lieut. John G. 85. 
 
 Gage, John, 296. 
 
 Galinee, 250, 257. 
 
 Gang of Pirates, 477. 
 
 Garrett, Augustus, 300, 513. 
 
 Garrett, Mrs. Augustus, 513. 
 
 Gary (or Guarie) River, 208, 439. 
 
 Gardiner, Daniel, 590. 
 
 Gates, P. W. 374. 
 
 Gauthier, Josette, 33. 
 
 Geese Tavern, 498. 
 
 George, Samuel C. 277, 278. 
 
 Gifford, Louisa, 294. 
 
 Gilbert, N. 298. 
 
 Gill, Edmund, 525. 
 
 Gillmore, Robert A. 549. 
 
 Giles, Rev. Henry, 629. 
 
 Gillespie, J. J. 360. 
 
 Globe of Ulpius, 434. 
 
 Godfroy, G. Indian Agt. 196, 202. 
 
 Goodhue, Dr. J. C. 109, 644. 
 
 Goods for Indian Trade, 36. 
 
 Goodrich, Hon. Grant, 540, 586, 598, 
 
 599- 
 
 Gordon, Nellie Kinzie, 354. 
 
 Graham, Mr.55, 56, 57. 
 
 Graham, George, 283. 
 
 Granger, Francis, 543. 
 
 Grant, Gen. U. S. 549. 
 
 Graiter, Mr. 59. 
 
 Grandau, Pierre, 399. 
 
 Grand Portage, 66. 
 
 Grand or Ottawa River, 58, 61, 64, 
 
 66, 68. 
 Grand River of Mich. 61, 94, 302. 
 Grant, Hon. James, 84. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 66 1 
 
 Gratz, Bernard, 274. 
 Gratz, Michael, 274. 
 Graves, Dexter, 290, 517, 518, 601, 
 
 602. 
 Graveyard at Mackinaw, 562. 
 Gravier, Father James, 1 70, 388. 
 Gray, John, 297, 300, 516. 
 Great Western Sanitary Fair, 448. 
 Green Bay, 181, 441. 
 Green Bay Road, 46. 
 Green Tree Tavern, 391, 414, 515, 525, 
 
 526. 
 Greenwood, Theophilus, 295. 
 Gregory, E. M. 525. 
 Gregory, John & Co. 63. 
 Griffith, Interpreter, 377. 
 "Griffon," LaSalle's vessel, 255, 403. 
 Grignon, Augustin, 35, 106, 174, 304, 
 
 472, 565. 
 Grignon, Louis, 35. 
 Grignon, Pierre, 35. 
 Grummow, Paul, 179. 
 " Grutte, " an error, 349. 
 Guerette, Joseph, 35. 
 Guilleroi, 84. 
 Gurnee, Walter S. 632. 
 Gunning in 1834, 570. 
 Gurley, Jason, 518, 520, 522, 525. 
 
 Hadduck, Edward H. 277, 518. 
 Hagar, Prof. A. D. 121, 384, 385, 386, 
 
 387, 445- 
 Haines, Hon. E. M. 268. 
 Hale, Virginia, 483. 
 Hallam, Rev. Isaac W. 623, 626, 627. 
 Haliburton, Mrs. 468. 
 Hall, Amos T. 364. 
 Hall, Benj. 471. 
 Hall, Dr. Thomas P. 362. 
 Hamilton, Andrew, 274. 
 
 11 Gov. Andrew, 526. 
 
 11 Miss Ellen, 37. 
 
 11 Lieut.-Gov. 51. 
 
 11 Col. John, 526. 
 
 „ Col. R. J. 37, 109, 286, 287, 288, 
 290, 296, 373, 383, 457, 531, 
 536, 54°. 597- 
 
 Hamilton, Col. Wm. S. 210, 332. 
 
 11 Wm. 274. 
 Hamlin, John, 39, 477. 
 
 11 Mrs. John, 595. 
 
 " Rev. E. H. 626. 
 Hands, Wm. 52, 53, 54, 56, 57, 59, 60. 
 Handy, H. S. 290. 
 Hanna, Judge, 529. 
 Harbor Convention 1847, 585. 
 " Hardscrabble, " 309, 349, 362, 476. 
 Harding, F. A. 540. 
 Harmer's Defeat, 59. 
 Harmon Family, 505. 
 
 11 Isaac N. 288, 392. 
 
 11 M. D. 109, 623. 
 
 11 Mrs. Joseph, 292. 
 
 11 Samantha, 623. 
 Harrington, Rev. Joseph, 628. 
 Harrison and Guion, of Topographical 
 
 Corps, 567. 
 Harrison, Gov. Wm. H. 70, 465, 470. 
 Harper, D. 558. 
 
 11 "Magazine, " 422, 524. 
 
 11 City Supt. 560. 
 Hathaway, James, 637. 
 
 11 Miss Pamelia C. 637. 
 Harthaway, Mr. 89. 
 Hartzell, Major, 568. 
 Haselwood, Wm. 552. 
 Hazelton, W. F. 322. 
 Hays, A. A. jr. 422. 
 Hawley, Pierce, 594. 
 Hawes, Rev. Dr. Joel, 617. 
 Heacock, Reuben B. 41. 
 
 11 Point, 40. 
 
 .1 Russell E. 37, 39, 40,41, 42, 214, 
 284, 285, 349, 370, 427. 
 Heading Chicago Democrat, 641. 
 Heald, Capt. Nathan, 77, 109, 177, 178, 
 
 180, 191, 358, 379, 424. 
 Heald, Mrs. Capt. N. 357, 390. 
 "Heartless," Vessel, 418. 
 Helm, Lieut. L. T. 178, 180, 378, 379. 
 
 415, 482. 
 Helm, Mrs. Margaret, 35^ 352, 353, 
 
 378, 415. 425, 428, 431, 482, 626. 
 Henderson, Rev. A. W. 301. 
 
662 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Hennepin, Father Louis, 154, 156, 183, 
 262, 434, 435, 437, 441, 442. 
 
 Henry, Mr. 72. 
 
 Herkimer, Gen. 51. 
 
 Hertz, H. L. 327. 
 
 Hesler, Alexander, 515, 605. 
 
 Hickling, Wm. 367, 394, 414, 459, 460, 
 461, 463, 467, 468. 
 
 Hill, Horatio, 644. 
 
 Hinton, Rev. Isaac T. 295, 296, 617, 
 624, 625, 626. 
 
 Histoire de LaSalle, 251. 
 
 Historical Magazine, 118. 
 
 Historical Sketch of Chicago, (Chicago 
 Democrat), 356, 394. 
 
 His only Monument, 649. 
 
 History of Fort Dearborn and its Occu- 
 pants, 647. 
 
 History of Joliet and Will Co. 374. 
 n of DeKalb County, 373, 466. 
 11 of Ogle County, 368. 
 
 Hoard, Samuel, 549. 
 
 Hoffman, Chas. F. 240, 335, 424, 507. 
 
 Hogan, John S. C. 143, 288, 530, 532, 
 
 533. 534, 538. 
 Hogle, John F. 33. 
 Hollanders on the Hudson, 404. 
 Holliday, John, 34. 
 " Hoosier Avenue, " 648. 
 Hoosiers on the Alert, 507. 
 Hopkins, A. S. 296. 
 Hopkins, Gerard, 99. 
 Hopson, Lieut. John D. 207. 
 "Horned Breeze," 419. 
 Home for Billy Caldwell, 462. 
 House of the Jesuits, 1699, at Chicago, 
 
 592. 
 House of Rums Brown, 572. 
 Howe, Frank, 95. 
 Hoyne, Hon. Thos. 295, 580, 583. 
 Hubbard, A. S. 382, 421, 532. 
 
 „ Eber, 559. 
 
 11 Edwin, 121. 
 
 11 Hon. Guidon S. 29, 30, 31, 33, 
 34, iai, 199, 212,307, 308, 367, 
 37°, 397, 412, 421, 425, 453, 
 477, 478, 496, 523, 540. 
 
 Hubbard, Mr. and Mrs. E. K. 626. 
 
 ■1 Note about Wolf Point, 497. 
 
 11 Thomas, 295. 
 
 11 T. R. 296. 
 Hudson Bay Co. 32, 409. 
 Hudson, Henry, no. 
 Hugunin, Gen. Daniel, 416. 
 
 11 Henry M. 416. 
 
 11 Hiram, 297, 417, 425, 644. 
 
 11 John C. 517. 
 
 11 Judge Peter D. 416, 417, 418. 
 
 11 Capt. L. C. 417, 418, 419, 420. 
 
 11 Capt. Robert, 370. 
 Hull's Surrender, 330, 390. 
 "Humble Beginning," 597. 
 Humphrey, Rev. Dr. Z. M. 620. 
 Hungry Visitors, 501. 
 Hunt, Henry I. 196. 
 Hunter, Gen. David, 490, 491, 523. 
 
 n Mrs. Gen. 382. 
 Huntington, Alonzo, 393. 
 
 11 Rev. Wm. P. 629. 
 Huntoon, B. 296. 
 
 ,1 Rev. Mr. 628. 
 Hurlbut, Sidney S. 425. 
 Hyde, Dr. James N. 352, 360, 537. 
 Hymn at Dedication of First Presby- 
 terian Church, 611. 
 Illinois and Michigan Canal, 408. 
 
 11 Territory organized, 374. 
 "Illinois Exchange," 512, 522. 
 "Illinois;" Schooner, 523. 
 Incident at St. Joseph, 79. 
 Incident from " Wau-bun, '' 460. 
 Indian Agency House, 104, 406, 411. 
 
 11 Council in 1832, 457. 
 
 11 Execution, 45, 427. 
 
 11 Tradition generally, 271. 
 Ingersoll, Chester, 504, 525. 
 Ingalls, A. W. 300. 
 Inglis, John, 274. 
 Innes, Robert, 67. 
 Inter Ocean, 423. 
 Iowa River, 442. 
 Irving, Washington, 35. 
 Irwin, Matthew, jr. 202, 203, 480. 
 Isle Royal, 440. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 66 3 
 
 Jacker, Father, 399. 
 
 Jackson, Andrew, 529, 636. 
 
 Jackson, Lucinda, 623. 
 
 Jackson's Message, 642. 
 
 Jackson, T. 623. 
 
 Jackson vs. Wilcox, 312. 
 
 Tames, Dr. Edwin, 204. 
 
 James, P.-M. Gen. 526. 
 
 Jamison, Lieut. Louis T. 496. 
 
 Janise, Mr. 55. 
 
 "January Searle," 429. 
 
 Jayne, Dr. Canal Commissioner, 566. 
 
 Jeffrey, Thomas, 266. 
 
 Jenkins, John, 423. 
 
 Jesuit Missionaries, 347. 
 
 Jesuit Relations, 338. 
 
 Jocularity and the Legal Profession, 580. 
 
 Johnson, Hon. Andrew, 549. 
 
 11 Johnson, S. 521. 
 
 11 Capt. Seth, 113, 421, 521, 604. 
 
 11 Mrs. Capt. Seth, 113. 
 
 11 Col. John, 528. 
 
 11 John, 98. 
 
 11 Lathrop, 521. 
 
 n W. T. Legal Professor, 322. 
 Joliet, Louis, 146, 148, 257, 356, 357. 
 Jones, K. K. 367, 635, 642, 645. 
 
 11 King & Co., 428. 
 
 11 Willard, 623. 
 
 11 William, 297, 300. 
 Jordan, Walter, Letter of, 178, 564. 
 Jouett, Charles, 97, 102, 107, 361, 406, 
 
 410, 476. 
 Jouett, John and Robert, 102, 103. 
 Joutel, Henry, companion of LaSalle, 
 
 164, 437- ' 
 
 "Joutel's Journal," 262. 
 Juneau, Solomon, 210. 
 Justice to the Memory of a Patriot, 648. 
 Kamm, J. J. 528. 
 Kaw-kee-me, 75, 354. 
 Keating, Prof. W. H. 204, 453. 
 Kellogg, Sarah, 296. 
 Kendall, Amos, 529. 
 Kercheval, Gholson, 349, 492. 
 Ke-wa-goush-kum, 195, 200. 
 Kingston, Hon. T. 249, 455. 
 
 Kimberly, Dr. Edmund S. 295, 557, 
 
 629. 
 Kinney, H. S. 447. 
 Kinkeki, 56, 57, 59. 
 Kinzie and Hunter, 486. 
 Kinzie's Addition, 204, 312, 486. 
 Kinzie, Arthur M. 569. 
 Kinzie, Davis and Hyde, 493. 
 Kinzie, Elizabeth, 471, 480, 483. 
 Kinzie, Mrs. Eleanor, 471, 482. 
 Kinzie, Ellen M. 38, 39, 477, 490. 
 Kinzie Family, 468, 581. 
 Kinzie House, 348, 371, 375, 381, 389, 
 
 407, 411, 422, 423, 479, 480, 595. 
 Kinzie House in Detroit, 470. 
 Kinzie-House Views, 474. 
 Kinzie, James, 34, 46, 288, 393, 406, 
 
 407, 414, 471, 480, 481, 483, 515, 
 
 540, 566, 568. 
 Kinzie, Mrs. J. A. 120, 347-355, 368, 
 
 369, 376. 377, 378, 379> 381, 4°8, 
 
 453. 460, 473, 488, 489; 490, 499, 
 
 569, 626. 
 Kinzie, John, 28, 31, 45, 68, 70, 73, 
 
 188, 189, 190, 191, 196, 201, 2:0, 
 
 284, 307, 357, 361, 376, 378, 4°6, 
 
 416, 453, 468-479. 
 Kinzie, Col. John H. 125, 209, 284, 
 
 288, 354, 355, 374, 410, 423, 431, 
 
 444, 484, 485, 486, 487, 488, 523, 
 
 568, 630. 
 Kinzie, Maria, 38, 490. 
 Kinzie, Maj. Robert A. 37, 38, 84, 288, 
 
 349, 381, 416, 4°9, 491, 492, 493, 
 
 494, 506, 529, 568, 606. 
 Kinzie, R. H. 481. 
 Kinzie, Wm. 471, 480, 483. 
 Knaggs, Wm. 194, 196. 
 Knickerbocker, A. V. 360. 
 Knowles, Joseph, 179. 
 Kosciusko, 97. 
 L'Arbre Croche, 562. 
 LaBarre, Gov. de, 259. 
 LaBourbone, 568. 
 Larbroroche, 59. 
 Lafleche, Rev. Lewis, 119. 
 Lafontaine and Abbott, 70, 71. 
 
664 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Lafourche, 54. 
 
 Laframboise, Alexis, 305, 565. 
 
 n Francis, 65, 305, 413, 565. 
 
 ,1 Joseph, 194, 336, 568. 
 
 n Joseph's Daughter, 539. 
 
 „ Josette, 313, 350. 
 
 ,1 Mrs. Madeline, 33, 305, 565. 
 Lafromboir, Mr. 58. 
 LaHontan, 166, 261, 399, 437, 439. 
 Lake Erie, 434. 
 
 „ House, 522, 523, 524. 
 
 11 Huron,'435. 
 
 11 Michigan, 435. 
 
 it Mich, and 111. River Communi- 
 cation, 184, 185, 186. 
 
 11 Ontario, 434. 
 
 11 Peoria, 437. 
 
 11 St. Clair, 436. 
 
 11 Street House, 517. 
 
 11 Superior, 435. 
 " Lakeside Monthly, " 368, 374. 
 LaLime, Mr. 55. 
 LaLime, John B. 194. 
 Lamorandiere, Ettienne, 35. 
 Land Conveyance in 1773, 272. 
 Land Office Proposition, 282. 
 Lapence, Mr. 59. 
 LaPerche, Joseph, 35. 
 LaSalle, Letter of, 157. 
 LaSalle, Robert de, 160, 162, 183, 250- 
 
 259, 403, 404. 428, 436. 
 LaSource, Rev. Thaumur de, 169, 592. 
 Last Indian War-Dance, 249. 
 Last Letter of Father Marquette, 149. 
 Last of the Wild Bears, 277. 
 Lat. and Lon. of Court House, 45. 
 Latrobe, Chas. J. 214, 507. 
 Launch of the "Clarissa," 558. 
 Laughton, Mr. 309, 516. 
 Laughton, Bernardus H. 558. 
 Lawe, John, 35. 
 Learned the Violin, 485. 
 Leavenworth, Miss Ruth, 292, 293. 
 Lebay, 65. 
 LeClerc, J. B. 194. 
 LeClerc, Pierre, 194. 
 Lecture of J. N. Balestier, 346, 508. 
 
 Lecture by Wm. Bross, 421. 
 
 11 by Judge Law, 372. 
 
 11 by J. A. Marshall, 421. 
 
 t, by John Wentworth, 388, 425. 
 Ledrue, Rev. Mr. 62. 
 Lee, Benjamin T. 499. 
 Lee's Place, " Hardscrabble, " 349. 
 Legothrie, Mr. 65. 
 Le Mai, M. 25, 376, 472. 
 Le Petit, Lac, 207, 438. 
 Letendre, J. B. 307, 319, 322. 
 Letter of Thomas H. Benton, 589. 
 
 ,1 William Burnett, 49-74. 
 
 11 Stephen Forbes, 285. 
 
 ,1 Capt. N. Heald, 177. 
 
 11 Daniel Webster, 590. 
 
 „ Dr. Alex. Wolcott, 317. 
 Levi, Levi Andrew, 274. 
 Likeness of John Kinzie, 416. 
 Lincoln, Abraham, 141, 451, 549- 
 Lindsay, Govt. Agent, 201. 
 List of Early Residents, 421 
 List of Post-Masters, 551. 
 Little Calamick, 207. 
 "Little Turtle," the Chief, 96, 129, 404. 
 "Little Woods," 84. 
 Localities of the Post-Office, 551. 
 Locality of the Kinzie House, 473. 
 Logan, Hugh, 180. 
 Logan, Hon. James, 171, 593- 
 London Chronicle, 527. 
 Long, Maj. S. H. Expedition, 204, 344. 
 Lord, Hugh, 277. 
 Lord, Rev. Wm. 629. 
 Lossing, Benson J. 375. 
 "Lost Pleiad," 21. 
 Lots built on in 1834, 594. 
 Low, Nicholas, 468. 
 Low water in Lake Mich. 558. 
 Loyd, Alexander, 299, 628. 
 LudicrousTncident at Vincennes, 51. 
 Mackenzie, Elizabeth,, 471. 
 Mackenzie, John, 468. 
 Mackenzie, Margaret, 471. 
 Mackey, Lieut. Eneas, 188, 189. 
 Mackinaw, 181. 
 Mackinaw Co. 29. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 66s 
 
 Magill, Arthur, 486. 
 Mah-naw-bun-no-quah, 302, 305, 334. 
 Manierre, Judge George, 580, 586. 
 Mansion House, 518, 519, 522. 
 Map of Chicago 1834, 573. 
 Maps of C. C. Baldwin's Coll. noticed, 
 262. 
 
 N. Bellin, noticed, 265. 
 
 Bowen, noticed, 266. 
 
 Bowles' Atlas, noticed, 267. 
 
 Carey's Atlas, noticed, 268. 
 
 Father Charlevoix, noticed, 265. 
 
 Coxe, noticed, 435. 
 
 D'Anville, noticed, 266. 
 
 DeL'Isle, noticed, 263, 435, 436, 
 
 437- 
 Louis Joliet, noticed, 253, 257. 
 Joutel's Journal, noticed, 262. 
 LaHontan, noticed, 261. 
 Father Marquette, noticed, 149, 
 
 385, 400, 430. 
 John Mitchell, noticed, 266, 434. 
 Herman Moll, noticed, 265. 
 Henry Popple, noticed, 265. 
 John Senex, noticed, 264, 435. 
 Shelton and Kinsett's noticed, 268. 
 Garard VanKeulen, noticed, 264. 
 The West, in MS. noticed, li>-j. 
 Marcy, Capt. R. B. 524. 
 Margry, Pierre, 157, 260. 
 "Mar Pock," 107. 
 
 Marquette, Father James, 145, 146, 
 148, 149, 250, 338, 342, 346, 356, 
 384, 38S. 386. 387. 398, 4°o. 402, 
 425, 426, 429, 430, 435, 436, 437, 
 
 59i- 
 Markle, A. A. 518, 522. 
 Martin? Gershom, 635. 
 Martineau, Miss Harriet, 367, 487, 628. 
 Marshall, J. A. 421. 
 Marshall, O. H. 403. 
 Mastering a Dilemma, 333. 
 "Mary," an early Lake craft, 575. 
 Matson, N. 464. 
 Mattison, Joseph, 639. 
 Matthews, William, 30. 
 Maxwell, Dr. Philip, 84, 85, 358, 421. 
 
 May, Mr. 57. 
 
 May, James, 63. 
 
 McArthur, Gen. John, 126, 550. 
 
 McClellan, James, 293. 
 
 McCorreston, W. 396, 522. 
 
 McConnell, Murray, 312, 328. 
 
 McCoskey, Bishop, 490. 
 
 McCoy, Rev. Isaac, 191, 192, 197, 198, 
 
 199. 334. 621. 
 McCoy's His. Bap. Missions, 191. 
 McDonald, Alex. 481. 
 McGregor, John and James, 69. 
 McGulphin, Patrick, 61. 
 McKay, Col. 34, 
 McKee, Col. 353. 
 McKee, David, 37, 358, 411, 418, 528, 
 
 581. 
 McKee, Stephen J. 37, 581. 
 McKillup, Mrs. Eleanor (Lytle), 406, 
 
 471. 
 McKinney, Col. T. L. 199, 422, 480. 
 "McKinney & Hall's Indian Tribes," 
 
 445- 
 McKenzie, Robert, 67. 
 McKenzie, Mr. 61. 
 McNeil, Gen. John, 37, 418. 
 McTavish, Mr. 58. 
 McTavish & Frobisher, 60. 
 Mechecunnaqua, or " Little Turtle, " 
 
 96,. 129, 404. 
 Meeker, " Squire, " 299, 300. 
 Meeker, Joseph, 610. 
 Meldrum, Messrs. 306. 
 
 .1 George, 50, 54, 62. 
 
 11 and Parke, 52, 53, 304. 
 Membre, Father Zenobius, 163, 434, 
 
 435. 43°, 437- 
 Memoir, LaSalle to Frontenac, 154. 
 Memorial Chart, 425. 
 "Memories of Shaubena," 464, 477. 
 Merritt, James D. 133, 538. 
 Me-te-a, Chief, 196, 2CO. 
 Methodist Episcopal Church, 594. 
 "Metropolitan Hall," 603. 
 Michillimackinac, 441. 
 Michigan Pioneers, Soc. Coll. 397. 
 Miles, George, jr. 196. 
 
666 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Military Discipline, 446. 
 Miller, Mr. 213. 
 
 „ John, 46, 557, 629. 
 
 11 said 't was a trick, 595. 
 
 11 Samuel, 484, 499, 505. 
 Miller's Tavern, 432, 496, 497, 505. 
 Milligan, James, 274. 
 Milne, Edmund, 274. 
 Mills, Elias, 179. 
 Miltimore, Ira, 48, 298, 299, 300. 
 Milwaukee, 1827, 210. 
 Milwaukee and Root River in 1835, 627. 
 "Milwaukee Magazine," 417. 
 Minshall, Thomas, 274. 
 Miscellaneous Items, 562. 
 Mitchell, Rev. Arthur, 365, 603, 621. 
 
 11 Eliza and James, 33. 
 
 „ John, 266, 437. 
 
 11 Rev. John T. 599, 623. 
 Model for City Seal, 630. 
 Monguago, 194. 
 
 "Mons Meg," of Fort Dearborn, 128. 
 Montigny and St. Cosme, 592. 
 Montgomery, R. 196. 
 Moore, Peter, 623. 
 "More Spanish than Skunk," 423. 
 Morgan, Capt. 213, 422. 
 Moran, Pierre, 194. 
 Mosquigon River, 61. 
 Morris, Hon. Buckner S. 540. 
 Morris, Illinois, 467. 
 Morrison, Charles, 58. 
 Morrison, Wm. 34. 
 Motte, August, 180. 
 Mud Lake, 438. 
 "Mufti," 487. 
 Mukudapenais, 191. 
 Muller, M. 455. 
 Munson, F. A. 522. 
 Murphy, Edmund, 511. 
 
 ,1 Edward, 294, 295, 296. 
 
 „ John, 511, 512, 513, 514. 
 
 11 and Titus, 504. 
 
 11' Mrs. Harriet A. 506, 50S, 511, 
 512, 513, 514. 
 Murray, Wm. 272, 274. 
 Myrick's Tavern, 45, 525. 
 
 Nadeau, Monique, 330. 
 
 Names of Western Lakes, Rivers, etc. 
 
 434- 
 Narration of G. S. Hubbard, 421, 422. 
 Narrow Escape, 127. 
 National Protest, 270. 
 Nautical, 80. 
 Navarre, Pierre, 34. 
 Neads, John, 180. 
 Neads, Mrs. 180. 
 Nelson, a Captive, 180. 
 Nes-cot-no-meg, 183, 349, 463. 
 Newberry, Oliver, 308, 558. 
 
 11 and Dole, 249. 
 
 .1 and Ogden, 559. 
 
 ,, Walter S. 560. 
 New Departure, 384, 531. ' 
 New Found Speech of Capt. Wells, 380. 
 "New York House," 521. 
 Nicollet, Sieur Jean, 389. 
 Niles' Register, 178, 179, 356. 
 Noble, John, 109, 433. 
 
 „ Mark, 109, 479, 595, 597. 
 
 11 Misses, 113. 
 
 „ Prof. T. S. 534. 
 
 11 Mrs. Serena R. 37. 
 Noiseux, Rev. Mr. 372. 
 Non-no-ga, 106. 
 
 Norris' Chicago Directory 1844, 367. 
 Northwest Fur Company, 32, 409, 528. 
 Norton, Nelson R. 557, 558. 
 Not near as Old, 451, 452. 
 Not the first sail vessel here, 50, 41 J, 
 418, 419. 
 
 m 11 School-teacher, 366. 
 
 1. 11 White Woman, 384. 
 
 " 11 to settle the Mississippi Val- 
 ley. 594- 
 "Number One," 475. 
 Nunnery on LaSalle Street, 396. 
 "Oahiya," 56. 
 Ogden, Mahlon D. 364. 
 Ogden, William B. 48. 
 Ogilvy & Co. John, 64, 66. 
 "Ohio House," 525. 
 Old Fort, 62. 
 
 11 "Geese," 498, 499. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 667 
 
 Old Gun, 128. 
 
 n Mackinaw, 62. 
 
 11 Merchants of New York, 28. 
 
 n Rome, 499. 
 
 11 Settlers' Society Record, 354. 
 
 11 Stories. By B. F. Taylor, 427. 
 Oliphant, Richard, 637. 
 Oliver, J. B. 319. 
 O'Meara, Rev. T. 295, 602. 
 " One Death in Four Years, " 564. 
 One of the Old Log-cabins, 572. 
 On the Way to Chicago, 551. 
 Op-po-mish-shah, 106, 427. 
 Oram, Joshua F. 547. 
 Origin of name Chicago, 117-124, 189, 
 
 268, 271, 423. 
 Origin of name " Wolf Point, " 498. 
 Osborn, Leader of Choir, 608, 636. 
 Osborn, Thomas O. 549. 
 Osterhoudt, L. M. 514, 521. 
 Oswego, N.Y. 419, 420. 
 Ouilmette, 25, 212, 361, 452. 
 Owen, George, 288. 
 Owen, Thomas, 288. 
 Owen, Col. T. J. V. 109, 220, 287, 
 
 288, 354, 457, 601, 629, 630. 
 Owen, William, 288. 
 Paddock, Sarah Edwards, 636. 
 Palmer, Frank W. 550. 
 Page's "Chicago Massacre," 416. 
 Palairet, John, 267. 
 Parker, Gerard & Ogilvy, 65, 67, 68. 
 Park, F. D. 412. 
 Parkman, Francis, 250, 251, 434. 
 Parshall, P. J. 578. 
 Pasquinade in 1835, 396. 
 Patterson, Mr. 69. 
 Patterson, Charles, 56, 440. 
 Patterson, Rev. R. W. 301. 
 Patterson's Point, 440. 
 Pearisburgh, Va. 471. 
 Pearsons, Hiram, 518, 558, 617. 
 Pearson, Hon. John, 393. 
 Peck, P. F. W. 113, 288, 290, 493, 
 
 505, 605. 
 Pettell, M. 25. 
 Penn, Wm. 96, no, 526. 
 
 Pensonneau, Louis, 35. 
 
 Peoria, Lake, 211. 
 
 Perkins, H. B. 297. 
 
 Perkins, Rev. James H. 343. 
 
 " Perseverence " of Fitch, on the Dela- 
 ware, 582. 
 
 Pesotum, that killed Capt. Wells, 380. 
 
 Peyton, Francis, 296, 540. 
 
 Phelps, Mr. 581, 
 
 Philadelphia Platted, 1 10. 
 
 Phillips, George S. 429. 
 
 Phillips, Major, Paymaster, 186, 196. 
 
 "Phillips," or "Sea Serpent," 575. 
 
 Picket, Ignace, 35. 
 
 Pictorial History of Revolution, 375. 
 
 Picture; a Deformity, 371. 
 
 Pictures of Kinzie House, 474. 
 
 Pierce, Benj. K. U. S. A. 565. 
 11 Lieut. John S.33. 
 „ S. D. 358. 
 
 Pierre and Jacques; Marquette's Ser- 
 vants, 338, 341, 399. 
 
 Pinckney, Capt. 558. 
 
 Pineda, Don A. Alvarez, 436. 
 
 Pinet and Boniteau, Fathers, 168, 382. 
 
 Pinney, Catharine Louise, 329. 
 
 Platte Purchase, 463. 
 
 Point St. Ignace, 425, 426. 
 
 P.-O. Clerk in 1826, 544. 
 
 Pope, Capt. Surveyor, 566, 567, 568. 
 
 Popple's Atlas, 265. 
 
 Population of Chicago, 396, 644. 
 
 Porlier, Jacques, sen. 35, 
 
 Portage River, 149, 405. 
 
 Porteous, Mr. 64. 
 
 Porter, Gov. Geo. B. 220, 223, 236. 
 11 Rev. Jeremiah, 290, 292, 395, 482, 
 
 603, 616, 626. 
 11 Mrs. Jeremiah, 289, 292, 366. 
 n Gen. Peter B. 357. 
 11 Mr. Sec'y Canal Commissioners, 
 566. 
 
 P.-O. Equipments in 1832, 143. 
 
 Portraits of the Mayors, 634. 
 
 Portrait of Col. J. B. Beaubien, 308. 
 11 Mark Beaubien, 331, 506. 
 11 Medore B. Beaubien, 336. 
 
668 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Portrait of Archibald Caldwell, 495. 
 
 i! John Calhoun, 641. 
 
 ti Deacon Philo Carpenter, 608. 
 
 pi Stephen Forbes, 284. 
 
 11 Mrs. Stephen Forbes, 285. 
 
 11 Col. Gurdon S. Hubbard, 29. 
 
 11 Judge C. Jouett, 102. 
 
 ., Col. J. H. Kinzie, 568. 
 
 11 Mrs. J. A, Kinzie, 569. 
 
 m Maj. R. A. Kinzie, 493. 
 
 11 Little Turtle, 563. 
 
 11 Me-te-a, 563. 
 
 11 Rev. Jeremiah Porter, 607. 
 
 n Mrs. Jeremiah Porter, 292. 
 
 11 Alex. Robinson, 458. 
 
 11 Shabonee, 467. 
 
 11 Tecumseh, 562. 
 
 ,1 Col. Wm. Whistler, 26. 
 
 11 Mrs. Col. Whistler, 23. • 
 Potier, Mr. 61. 
 Pothier, Toussaint, 66. 
 " Potter's American Monthly, "375, 376, 
 
 381, 423, 473. 
 Pontwatamies, 57. 
 "Powerful Frosty," 553. 
 Powell, George N. 525. 
 "Powell's Tavern," 525. 
 Pownal, John, 266. 
 Pownal, Gov. Thomas, 266. 
 Prairie du Chien, 34, 209. 
 "Prairie Store," 572. 
 Pratt, Capt. Amos, 214. 
 Pratt, Oscar, 638. 
 Prescott, Eli S. 328. 
 Pretended Voyage to Lake Mich. 251. 
 Price, Richard M. 35. 
 Price, Wm. 546. . 
 Primitive Corn Mill, 446. 
 Prophet of Cincinnati, 396. 
 Process Verbal, 1682, 160. 
 Proctor, Col. 178, 180. 
 Pugh, Mr. Canal Commissioner, 566. 
 Quadoghe, 267. 
 Quarter, Rev. Bishop, 602. 
 Quebec Surrendered, 173. 
 Quixotic Individuals, 388. 
 Racine, or Root River, 189. 
 
 Ragor, Mrs. 458. 
 
 Railway Prophecy, 84, 89. 
 
 "Rambler in North America," 214. 
 
 Ransom, Amherst C. 478. 
 
 Ransom, Capt. 34. 
 
 Rat Castle, 432, 500, 504. 
 
 Rates of Postage, 544, 545. 
 
 Raymond, B. W. 520. 
 
 Read, Charles H. 393. 
 
 Read, Lucinda, 637. 
 
 Reaume, Mr. 61. 
 
 Recognition of Chicago, 394. 
 
 Recollections by C. Cleaver, 569, 570. 
 
 "Record" of the Printers, 416. 
 
 Reed, Darius, 381. 
 
 Reed, Levi, 381. 
 
 Reid, John, 61. 
 
 Relatives of Shabonee, 468. 
 
 Relic, where is it? 21. 
 
 Reminiscences of J. M. Bucklin, 565. 
 
 1, of Rev. S. R. Beggs, 373. 
 Rew, Dr. Norman, 135. 
 Reynolds, Gov. and His. 111. 397, 636. 
 Rickords, William, 523. 
 Rice, Susannah, 623. 
 Riley, Judge, 206. 
 
 m James, 106. 
 
 11 John, 106. 
 
 11 Peter, 106. 
 River Calumet, 439, 452. 
 
 11 DuPage, 441. 
 
 11 Illinois, 437. 
 
 11 Illinois Fox, 441. 
 
 11 Kankakee, 439. 
 
 n Marquette, 449. 
 
 11 Maumee, 440. 
 
 11 Milwaukee, 441. 
 
 11 Missouri, 264, 436. 
 
 11 Muskingum, 440. 
 
 11 Ohio, 56, 437. 
 
 11 Plein, 182, 183, 184, 437. 
 
 11 Rock, 442. 
 
 11 Root, 441, 481. 
 
 11 St. Croix, 441. 
 
 11 St. Joseph, 440. 
 
 11 Wisconsin, 441. 
 Roberts, Capt. of Michillimackinac, 178. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 669 
 
 Roberts, David L. 500, 514, 525. 
 
 Robertson, Capt. 51, 52. 
 
 Robinson, Mr. 57. 
 
 Robinson, a guide, 104. 
 
 Robinson, Alexander, 94, 109, 208, 
 
 353. 4i5> 45°. 453, 45°. 458, 505, 
 
 568. 
 Robinson, Rix, 35. 
 Rock Fort, or Starved Rock, 369. 
 Rodgers, Capt. of " Walk-in-the-Wa- 
 
 ter," 419. 
 Rodgers, George W. 516. 
 Rolette, Joseph, 33, 34, 491. 
 Roland, Antoine, 194. 
 Roman Catholic Church, 601. 
 
 11 Catholic Missions, 593. 
 Romulus and Remus, 499. 
 Ronan, Ensign George, 178, 379. 
 Ross, Alex. 274. 
 Ross, John E. 458. 
 Rossiter Asher, 298, 518. 
 "Round Head," 465. 
 Roussain, Eustache, 33. 
 Rucker, Henry L. 295. 
 Rue, John C. 517. 
 Ruff, Capt. 67. 
 Rumsey, A. G. 297. 
 
 11 George F. 267. 
 
 11 Tames, 275. 
 
 11 Julius S. 632. 
 Russell, Deacon Aaron, 615. 
 
 „ Jacob, 295, '523, 524. 
 
 11 John B. F. 542. 
 Ryan, Thomas, 319. 
 Sabbath-Day Incident, 94. 
 "Sag," the, 438. 
 Saginaw Bay, 440. 
 " Saginaw House, " 470. 
 Sa-gua-nash, 84. 
 
 Sail Vessels, Early at Chicago, 390. 
 Saloon Building; 425, 542, 628. 
 Sand Banks, 200 years since, 387. 
 Sand Ridge, 500. 
 Sandusky Bay, 440. 
 Sanford, Rev. Miles, 626. 
 Sanson, Geographer, 260, 434. 
 Sarbonne, III. 
 
 44 
 
 300. 
 
 34- 
 
 ■Sargent, John K. 623. 
 Sauganash Tavern, 333, 413, 506, 507, 
 
 508, 512. 
 Sawyer, Dr. Sidney, 520. 
 Sayers, John, 53. 
 Scammon, J. Young, 297, 299, 
 
 312, 542, 586. 
 Scarritt, Rev. Isaac, 373, 594. 
 Schindler, Therese, 33, 194. 
 Schooner "Ann," Capt. Ransom, 
 " Illinois, " 359. 
 " Me-mee, " 489. 
 "Nancy," 58. 
 "Napoleon," 30,8. 
 "Tracy," 25, 393. 
 Schoolcraft, H. R. 118, 120, 188, 189, 
 
 190, 191, 271, 413, 476. 
 Schoolcraft's Narrative, 187, 562. 
 
 n "Oneota," 118. 
 
 11 Opinion of Chicago, 190, 471. 
 
 11 Thirty Years, 413, 444. 
 
 11 View of Chicago, 1820, 318, 564. 
 Scott, J. H. 297. 
 
 11 Capt. Martin, 84, 85, 89, 567. 
 
 11 Stephen J. 558. 
 
 11 Gen. Winfield, 214, 391, 500, 501. 
 
 „ Willis, 412, 425, 432, 476. 
 Scripps, John L. 547, 548, 549. 
 Secretary of Tecumseh, 460. 
 See, Miss Leah, 482. 
 See, Rev. Wm. 350, 373, 393, 415, 
 
 482, 596. 
 Sermon at Presbyterian Church Dedi- 
 cation, 612. 
 Several Indian Names, 583. 
 Seymour, Jesse, 512. 
 Seymour, Mr. of Long's Expedition, 
 
 564. 
 Shabonee, 432, 461, 464, 466. 
 Shaffer, Rev.B. 602. 
 "Shakespeare Hotel," 525. 
 Shapley, Morgan L. 131. 
 Shaw-ne-aw-kee, 475, 486. 
 Shaw-we-no-quah, 336. 
 Shea, Dr. J.G. 118, 149, 338, 343, 
 
 385, 401, 426, 434, 436. 
 "Shekaug," or "Old Garlic," 269. 
 
670 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Shelley, Geo. E. 523. 
 
 Shelton & Kinsett's Map, 268. 
 
 Sheppard's Indignation, 294. 
 
 Sherman, A. S. 300. 
 
 Sherman, Francis C. 337, 524, 585. 
 
 Sherman House, 525. 
 
 Sherman, Silas W. 544. 
 
 Shuman, Mr. 125. 
 
 Shuttleworth, Julia, 286. 
 
 Silver Pitcher, 22. 
 
 Silversmith Shop, 475. 
 
 Simons, Edward, 127, 279. 
 
 Simon, Joseph, 274. 
 
 Sixty Authors and Several Hundred 
 
 Errors, 337. 
 Skinner, Mark, 299, 300. 
 Skinner, Charles, 519. 
 Sleeping Partnership Dissolved, 536. 
 Sloop Russell, 67. 
 Sloop Clarissa, 415, 575. 
 Slosser, Mac, 547' 
 Smith, J. T. 519. 
 
 m George, 523, 576. 
 
 11 Rev. C. B. 626. 
 
 11 Mrs. fate of, 247. 
 
 n Mr. 512. 
 
 11 Hon. Theophilus W. 397. 
 Smith's History of Wisconsin, 181. 
 Snow, George W. 48, 290, 501. 
 Social Profanity, 144. 
 Social Intercourse and Drinking, 497. 
 Solomon, Levy, 60. 
 Southern Hotel, 525. 
 Spaniards at St. Louis, 63. 
 Spanish Money, 544. 
 Sparks, Jared, 385. 
 Speech of Alex. Robinson, 45 7. 
 
 11 "Black Partridge," 377. 
 
 „ "Little Turtle," 99. . 
 "Speedwell," Vessel, 61. 
 Speer, Isaac, 126, 127. 
 Speer and Cosper, 22. 
 Spotka, 464. 
 Sproat, David, 274. 
 Sproat, Grenville T. 290, 611. 
 Squires, Capt. 523. 
 Squires and Williamson, 525. 
 
 Stafford, John F. 383. 
 Standish, W. H. 311. 
 Starr and Little, 637. 
 Starved Rock, 258. 
 Steamboat "Chicago", 415. 
 t, Hotel, 522. 
 it "Great Western," 214. 
 11 "General Wayne," 214. 
 
 "Henry Clay," 486. 
 ,1 "Sheldon Thompson," 214. 
 " Walk-in-the- Water, " 419. 
 St. Cosme, Rev. J. F. B. de, 167, 168. 
 
 11 Cyr, Rev. J. M. I. 382, 600. 
 
 11 Ignace Point, 399, 400, 425. 
 
 n Ignatius Mission, 4QI. 
 
 11 James Episcopal Church, 482, 628. 
 
 11 Jean, Mr. 66. 
 
 11 Joseph River, 50-70, 405. 
 
 11 Leger, Col. Barry, 50, 51, 52. 
 
 11 Louis Indian, 268. 
 
 11 Mary's College, Montreal, 400, 430. 
 
 11 Mary's Falls, 181. 
 
 11 Palais, Rev. Maurice de, 602. 
 
 .. Tuskey, 55. 
 Steele, Ashbel, 278, 509, 521. 
 Stevens, G. 521. 
 Stewart, Hart L. 545. 
 Stone, John, Trial of, 393. 
 11 11 Execution of, 45. 
 
 11 Oscar, 78. 
 Storey, Wilbur F. 393. 
 Storrow, Samuel A. 181, 441, 463. 
 Store of P. F. W. Peck, 605. 
 Stow, William H. 375, 428, 525. 
 Strode, Col. J. M. 94, 326, 580. 
 Stuart, John T. 542. 
 Stuart, Robert, 30, 203, 355. 
 Stuart, Mrs. Robert, 395. 
 Stuart, William, 540, 543. 
 Studied as a Classic, 498. 
 Sturtevanf, Mr. A. D. 297, 300. 
 Surdam, Duane, 525. 
 " Suminecatha, " 85, 93. 
 Surrender of Quebec 1629, 593. 
 Swagger, an English Inheritance, 363. 
 Swearingen, Lieut. James S. 25, 27, 
 
 28. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 671 
 
 Sweeney, John, 278, 280, 427, 558. 
 Sweet, Alanson, 361. 
 Tabeau, Mr. 50, 55. 
 Tallmadge, Mr. Alderman, 300. 
 Tanguay, Abbe, Gen. Die. of, 303. 
 Tarleton, Col. 103. 
 Tartar Clans, 271, 335. 
 Tasse, Joseph, 303. 
 Taylor, Abner, a mistake, 413. 
 Taylor, Anson H. 479, 556. 
 Taylor, Aug. Deodat, 394, 602. 
 Taylor, Benjamin F. "Old Stories" of, 
 
 427, 510. 
 Taylor, Charles, 500, 556. 
 Taylor, Mrs. Charles, 113, 497, 500, 
 Taylor, E. D. 322, 325, 326. 
 Taylor, Maj. Zachary, 187, 545. 
 Tecumseh, 460, 465, 562, 564. 
 Temple, Dr.. J. T. 109, 290, 557, 612, 
 
 622. 
 TenEyck, Conrad, 196. 
 Teppeconno, 57. 
 Thatcher, David C. 131. 
 The Sign with the Wolf, 496. 
 Thinks it "conclusive," 272. 
 Thomas, Mr. 63. 
 Thomas, Col. James, 181. 
 Thompson, Lieut. James L. 85, 109. 
 Thompson, William, 274. 
 Thought his Prophecy not Reliable, 620. 
 Thrilling Incident from "Wan-bun," 
 
 460. 
 Timber on the "South-side," 433. 
 Todd, Mr. 57. 
 Todd, Andrew, 58, 59. 
 Todd, McGill & Co. 58. 
 Todd, William, 59. 
 Tonty, Henry de, 158, 161, 260, 434. 
 To-pay-nah-bay, 75, 192, 196, 197, 
 
 198, 200. 
 Tour of Gov. Cass, 1820, 374. 
 To Whom it may Concern, 581. 
 " Tracy, " vessel, 25. 
 Traders' Licenses, 70. 
 Traditionally Drunk, 311. 
 "Traveler's Home," 504. 
 Treaty of Arbre Croche, 461. 
 
 Butte' des Morts, 422. 
 
 Chicago, 1821, 476. 
 
 Chicago, 1833, 217-239. 
 
 Greenville, 270, 360, 365. 
 
 Prairie du Chien, 455, 462, 466. 
 
 St. Louis, 1816, 239, 358, 443, 
 466. 
 , 11 St. Mary's, O. 476. 
 "Tremont House," 519, 520. 
 Tribune, Chicago, 270, 271. 
 "Tricks of the Trade," 363. 
 Trimble, Hon. Wm. A. 196. 
 Trip to Chicago in 1828, 594. 
 Trotier or Beaubien, 303. 
 Trowbridge, Hon. C. C. 188, 201, 203, 
 
 374- 
 Trowbridge, S. G. 542. 
 Trumbull, J. Hammond, 121. 
 Trustees' Lease, 113. 
 Tucker, B. E. 519. 
 Tucker, Rev. Dr. Elisha, 626. 
 " Tuck Chicago, " 423. 
 Tuttle, F. B. 509. 
 "Twelve Families in the City," 598. 
 Two Cherished Legends, 498, 
 Two Prominent Factors, 271. 
 Tyler, Hon. John, 543, 544. 
 "Underground Railway," 364. 
 "United States Hotel," 512. 
 Van Alstine, John, 89?. 
 Van Der Bogert, W. H. 109. 
 Vandergrist, David, 89. 
 Van Home, James, 179. 
 Van Keulen, Gerard, 264. 
 VanVoorhis, Dr. Isaac V. 178, 352, 
 
 362. 
 Variety; Kinzie House Views, 371, 
 
 473, 474- 
 Varnum, Jacob B. U. S. Factor, 196, 
 
 203. 
 "Vermont House," 514. 
 Verrazano, 434. 
 Vessel Ashore, 1793, 61. 
 Vicissitudes of Fur Trade, 77. 
 View of the Beaubien Land, 318. 
 
 11 Wabansa Statue, 449. 
 
 11 Kinzie House, 474. 
 
672 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 View of Wolf Point, 503. 
 
 11 Beaubien's Violin and Calumet, 
 
 S°9. 
 
 West-Side, 513. 
 
 "Wigwam," i860, 515. 
 
 Green-Tree Tavern, 516. 
 
 Lake Street, 1839, 520. 
 
 Chicago P.-O. Mark, 1836, 539. 
 
 Saloon Building, 543. 
 
 Ice Jam, 1849, 561. 
 
 P. F. W, Peck's Store, 605. 
 
 Block House, Ft. Dearborn, 647. 
 Vincennes, Ind. 72, 73. 
 Vincennes, M. de, 173. 
 Violin of Mark Beaubien, 508, 509. 
 Virginia Settlement, 471. 
 Visget, Jacob, 196. 
 Voyage to Chicago, 1810, 383. 
 Wabansaand his Statue, 443-450, 464. 
 Wabansa, 481. 
 Wadsworth, Julius, 583. 
 Wadsworth, Tertius, 602. 
 Wait, Timothy, 136. 
 Waldy, Henry, 526. 
 Walker, Capt. Aug. 214. 
 Walker, Rev. Jesse, 109, 113, 288, 373, 
 
 391, 397, 502, 594, 595. 
 Walker, Martin O. 542. 
 11 Rev. Wm. F. 554. 
 1, Geo. E. 566. 
 " Walk-in-the- Water, " Steamboat, 419. 
 " Walk-in-the- Water," (or "Miere,") 
 
 Chief, 465, 583. 
 Wallace, Wm. H. 34. 
 Walnut Grove, 493. 
 Wandell, George, 134. 
 "War" of 1812, 175, 176. 
 Warden, Peter, 623. 
 Warner, Goodrich, 33. 
 Warren, Sarah L. 290, 291. 
 Warren, Truman A. 34. 
 Was he "a circumlocutionist?" 390. 
 " Washington's Journal, " 435. 
 Was it the First? 575. 
 Was Marquette at Chicago? 384. 
 "Watchman, what of the Night!" 619. 
 Watkins, Therese (Laframboise), 336. 
 
 Watkins, John, 109, 287, 288, 293, 
 
 366, 39 1- 
 Watkins, Thomas, 336, 532, 539, 543. 
 Watson's Annals, 526. 
 Wattles, Wm. W. 504, 518. 
 " Waubansee, " 380. 
 Wau-bun, 75, 104, 271, 347, 357, 381, 
 
 406, 408, 433, 443, 468, 473. 489. 
 
 495, 506, 5°7- 
 Wayne, Gen. Anthony, 175, 466. 
 Weatherford, Wm. 220, 231. 
 Weather in Chicago, 1820, 280. 
 Webster, Daniel, 447, 590. 
 Weed, Edmund, 594. 
 Weeks, Cole, 496. 
 Wellmaker, John, & Co. 499. 
 Wells Street or 5th Avenue, 648. 
 Wells, Capt. Wm. 70, 73, 97, 103, 178, 
 
 357, 358, 380, 388, 408, 424, 648. 
 Wells, Wm. H. 119, 122, 283, 289, 
 
 292, 297, 300. 
 Wells, Wm. Wayne, 369, 390. 
 Wentworth, Elijah, 391, 496, 497, 498, 
 
 499, 529- 
 Wentworth, Hon. John, 37, 103, 108, 
 124, 141, 175, 178, 305, 335, 393, 
 406, 442, 463, 465, 471, 477, 480, 
 481, 496, 499, 508, 512, 513, 514, 
 
 523, 529, 533, 539, 542, 557, 5^5, 
 585, 586, 599, 601, 602, 625, 645, 
 646, 647. 
 Wentworth, E. and the Wolf, 497. 
 Western Hotel, 525. 
 "Westward Ho!" 417. 
 Wheeler, Capt. Fred, 131. 
 Whiley, Mr. 72. 
 Whipley, J. 196. 
 " Whispered in her Ear, " 432. 
 Whistler, George W, 25, 
 
 „ Capt. John, 25, 26, 354, 355, 
 405, 409, 426. 
 John, jr. 469. 
 John H. 38. 
 
 M. L. first kncnun white boy, 38. 
 Col. Wm. 412. 
 Mrs. Wm. 23, 376, 407, 493. 
 White Elk," 105, 106, 427. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 673 
 
 Whitehead, Rev. Henry, 598. 
 
 "White Otter," 107. 
 
 White Pigeon, 529. 
 
 "White Raccoon," 179. 
 
 Whiting, Wm. 307. 
 
 Whitlock, James, 325. 
 
 Whittlesey, Col. Chas. 172. 
 
 Whittlesey, Elisha, 526. 
 
 Who Killed Tecumseh, 564. 
 
 Whoop for Return of the Prairie, 456. 
 
 Wickliffe, the renowned, 401. 
 
 " Wigwam " of Col. Beaubien, 306. 
 
 " Wigwam " of Lincoln's Nomination, 
 
 SIS- 
 Wilcox, Capt. Lafayette, 109, 328. 
 Wilcox, Maj. Lafayette, 607, 615. 
 Wilcox, Miss Myra D. 554. 
 Wilcox, Charles, 554. 
 "Wild Onion River," 182. 
 Wilder, A. G. 300. 
 Wilderness Letters, 49-74. 
 Willard, Miss Frances L. 294. 
 Williams, J. L. 529. 
 Williams, Mr. 55. 
 
 „ Eli B. 290, 413, 425, 556. 
 
 „ E. S. 393, 580. 
 
 1, H. 360. 
 
 11 Gen. John R. 196. 
 Wilson, John L. 427, 537, 573. 
 Wilson, Richard L. 545. 
 Wilson, Gen. James G. 556. 
 Winchell, John, 529. 
 Winnebago Grammar, 485. 
 
 11 War, 1827, 421. 
 
 Winnemeg, 380. 
 
 Winslow, D. A. 79. 
 
 Winslow's Sketch Ber. Co. Mich. 364. 
 
 Winston, Richard, 276, 277. 
 
 " Winter in the West, " 240, 424. 
 
 Wisconsin Marine and Fire Insurance 
 
 Company, 576, 577. 
 Wisconsin State Historical Society, 
 
 106, 181, 186, 372, 422, 45s, 529. 
 Witherby, Eathan, 299. 
 Witherell, Judge, Reminiscences of, 
 
 306. 
 Wolcott, Dr. Alexander, 39, 188, 189, 
 
 190, 196, 198, 201, 208, 280, 410, 
 
 426, 453, 477, 478, 490. 
 Wolcott, Alexander (2d), 473. 
 Wolfe, Gen. 451. 
 Wolf Hunt, 246, 247. 
 
 11 Point, 391, 414, 498, 499, 515. 
 
 11 Tavern, 504. 
 Wood, A. C. 299. 
 Woodruff, Geo. H. 374, 537, 573. 
 Woodward, Walter, 636. 
 Woodworth, Hon. James H. 632. 
 Wool, Gen. John E. 187. 
 Worthingham, Wm. 361. 
 Wouldn't let it be Copied, 574. 
 Wright, Deacon John, 288, 617. 
 
 n John S. 293, 331, 366, 493, 574, 
 608. 
 
 11 Thomas, 293, 295, 296, 540. 
 Wrongly Located, 598. 
 Wynkoop, H. A. 546. 
 Yale College, 271. 
 
 FERGUS PRINTING COMPANY CHICAGO. 
 
HI 
 
 '111 
 
 H 
 
 St 
 
 m 
 
 M 
 
 m 
 
 m 
 
 m 
 
 WSmsSSm 
 
 m 
 
 iss 
 
 1 
 
 It 
 
 IS 
 
 ^SssisiSwSw