SKETCH OF CHICAGO.
First White Visitors - The Name -
Jean Baptiste - John Kinzie -
Ft. Dearborn - EvacuationThe Massacre
- Heroic Women- Capt. Heald - Capt.
Wells - Scalping the Wounded - Ft.
Dearborn Re-built - Illinois and Michigan
Canal - Chicago Laid Out-Removal of
Indians - City Organization - Pioneer
Religious Societies - Public Improvements
- Location of City-Growth - The Great
Fire - Rise of the New Chicago.
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Chicago in 1820 |
Site of Lake Street Bridge |
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If, so many centuries after the founding
of Rome, mankind still feel interested
in the mythical story of Romulus and
Remus, may not the present and future
generations read with equal interest
the more authentic story of the founding
of a great modern city?
The Jesuit missionary and explorer;
Marquette, first visited the place
where Chicago is located, in 1673.
Again, in the winter of 1674-5, he
camped near the site of the present
city, from December until near the
close of March. Upon his arrival,
in December, the Chicago river was
frozen over, and the ground covered
with snow. The name is of Indian origin,
and was applied to the river. By the
French voyageurs it is variously
spelled, the majority rendering it
Chicayou. The place is mentioned
by Berrot in 1770.
In 1796, Jean
Baptiste, a trader from the West Indies,
found his way to the mouth of the
little stream known as Chicago river,
and engaged in trading with the Indians.
Here for eight years almost alone,
he maintained trade and intercourse
with the savages, until, in 1804,
Fort Dearborn was erected, and a trading
post was established by John Kinzie,
who became the successor of Jean Baptiste.
Fort Dearborn, as first constructed,
was a very rude and primitive stockade,
which cost the government only about
fifty dollars. It stood on the south
bank of Chicago river, half a mile
from, the lake. The few soldiers sent
to erect and garrison it were in charge
of Major Whistler. For a time,
being unable to procure grain for
bread, the soldiers were obliged to
subsist in part upon acorns. The original
settler, Jean Baptiste, or as his
full name was written, Jean Baptiste
Point au Sable, sold his cabin to
Mr. Kinzie, and the latter erected
on the site the building known to
the early settlers as the "Kinzie
House." This became a resort
for the officers and others connected
with the garrison. In 1812 the garrison
had a force of 54 men, under the command
of Capt. Nathan Heald, with
Lieutenant Lenai L. Helm and
Ensign Ronan. Dr. Voorhees
was surgeon. The only white residents,
except the officers and soldiers,
at that time, were Mr. Kinzie and
his family, the wives of Capt. Heald
and Lieut. Helm, and a few Canadians,
with their families. Nearly up to
this time the most friendly relations
had been maintained with the Indians—the
principal tribes by whom they were
surrounded being the Pottawattamies
and Winnebagoes. The battle of Tippecanoe
had been fought the year before, and
the influence of Tecumseh began to
be observable in the conduct of the
Indians. They were also aware of the
difficulties between the United States
and Great Britian [Britain], and had
yielded to the influences brought
to bear by the latter. In April of
this year, suspicious parties of Winnebagoes
began to hover about the fort, remaining
in the vicinity for several days.
The inhabitants became alarmed, and
the families took refuge in the fort.
On the 7th of August a Pottawattamie
chief appeared at the fort with an
order or dispatch from Gen. Hull,
at Detroit, directing Capt. Heald
to evacuate Fort Dearborn, and distribute
all the government property to the
neighboring Indians. The chief who
brought the dispatch advised Capt.
Heald to make no distribution to the
Indians. He told him it would be better
to leave the fort and stores as they
were, and that while the Indians were
distributing the stores among themselves,
the whites might escape to Fort Wayne.
On the 12th of August Capt. Heald
held a council with the Indians, but
the other officers refused to join
him. They feared treachery on the
part of the Indians, and indeed had
been informed that their intention
was to murder the white people. In
the council Capt. Heald had taken
the precaution to open a port-hole
displaying
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a cannon directed upon
the council, and probably by that
means kept the Indians from molesting
him at that time. Acting under the
advice of Mr. Kinzie, he withheld
the ammunition and arms from the Indians,
throwing them, together with the liquors,
into the Chicago river. On that day
Black Partridge, a friendly chief,
said to Capt. Heald: "Linden
birds have been singing in my ears
to-day; be careful on the march you
are going to take." On the 13th
the Indians discovered the powder
floating on the surface of the water,
a discovery which had the effect to
exasperate them the more, and they
began to indulge in threats. Meantime
preparations were made to leave the
fort.
Capt. Wells, an
uncle of Mrs. Heald, had been adopted
by the famous Miami warrior, Little
Turtle, and had become chief of a
band of Miamis. On the 14th he was
seen approaching with a band of his
Miami warriors, coming to assist Capt.
Heald in defending the fort, having
at Fort Wayne heard of the danger
which threatened the garrison and
the settlers. But all means for defending
the fort had been destroyed the night
before. All, therefore, took up their
line of march, with Capt, Wells and
his Miamis in the lead, followed by
Capt. Heald, with his wife riding
by his side. Mr, Kinzie had always
been on the most friendly terms with
the Indians, and still hoped that
his personal efforts might influence
them to allow the whites to leave
unmolested; He determined to accompany
the expedition, leaving his family
in a boat in the care of a friendly
Indian. In case any misfortune should
happen to him, his family was to be
sent to the place where Niles, Michigan,
is now located, where he had another
trading- post. Along the shore of
lake Michigan slowly marched the little
band of whites, with a friendly escort
of Pottawattamies, and Capt. Wells
and his Miamis, the latter in advance.
When they had reached what were known
as the" Sand Hills," the
Miami advance guard came rushing back,
Capt. Wells exclaiming, "They
are about to attack; form instantly."
At that moment a shower of bullets
came whistling over the sand hills,
behind which the Indians had concealed
themselves for the murderous attack.
The cowardly Miamis were panic-stricken,
and took to flight, leaving their
heroic leader to his fate. He was
at the side of his niece, Mrs. Heald,
when the attack was made, and, after
expressing to her the utter hopelessness
of their situation, dashed into the
fight. There were 54 soldiers, 12
civilians and three women, all poorly
armed, against 500 Indian warriors.
The little band had no alternative
but to sell their lives as dearly
as possible. They charged upon their
murderous assailants, and drove them
from their position back to the prairie.
There the conflict continued until
two-thirds of the whites were killed
and wounded. Mrs. Heald, Mrs Helm
and Mrs. Holt, all took part in the
combat. In a wagon were twelve children,
and a painted demon tomahawked them
all, seeing which, Capt. Wells exclaimed,
"If butchering women and children
is your game, I will kill too,"
and then spurred his horse toward
the Indian camp, where they had left
their squaws and papooses, He was
pursued by several young warriors,
who sent bullets whistling about him,
killing his horse and wounding Capt
Wells. They attempted to take him
a prisoner, but he resolved not to
be taken alive. Calling a young chief
a squaw, an epithet which excites
the fiercest resentment in an Indian
warrior, the young chief instantly
tomahawked him.
The three women
fought as bravely as the soldiers.
Mrs. Heald was an expert in the use
of the rifle, but received several
severe wounds. During the conflict
the hand of a savage was raised to
tomahawk her, when she ex-
100
claimed in his own language,
"Surely you will not kill a squaw."
Her words had the effect to change
his purpose, and her life was spared.
, Another warrior attempted to tomahawk
Mrs. Helm. He struck her a glancing
blow on the shoulder, when she sized
him and attempted to wrest from him
his scalping knife, which was in the
sheath attached to his belt. At that
moment the friendly Black Partridge
dragged her from her antagonist, and
in spite of her struggles carried
her to the lake and plunged her in,
at the same time holding her so she
would not drown. By this means he
saved her life, as he intended. The
third woman, Mrs. Holt, the wife of
Sergeant Holt, was a large woman,
and as strong and brave as an amazon.
She rode a fine, spirited horse, which
more than once the Indians tried to
take from her. Her husband had been
disabled in the fight, and with his
sword, which she had taken, she kept
the savages at bay for some time.
She was finally, however, taken prisoner,
and remained a long time a captive
among the Indians, but was subsequently
ransomed.
After two-thirds
of the whites had been slain or disabled,
twenty-eight men succeeded in gaining
an eminence on the prairie, and the
Indians desisted from further pursuit.
The chiefs held a consultation, and
gave the sign that they were ready
to parley. Capt. Heald went forward
and met the chief, Blackbird, on the
prairie, when terms of surrender were
agreed upon. The whites were to deliver
up their arms and become prisoners,
to be exchanged or ransomed in the
future. All were taken to the Indian
camp near the abandoned fort, where
the wounded Mrs. Helm had previously
been taken by Black Partridge. By
the terms of surrender no provision
had been made as to the disposition
of the wounded. It was the understanding
of the Indians that the British general,
Proctor, had offered a bounty for
American scalps delivered at Malden.
Here there was another scene of horror.
Most of the wounded men were killed
and scalped.
Such is a hasty glance at scenes that
were witnessed on this then wild shore
of Lake Michigan. Such were the experiences
and the struggles of the heroic men
and women who ventured forth into
the wilderness to plant the germs
of civilization, and to lay the foundations
of future cities and States. The site
on which now stands a city which ranks
among the greatest on the continent
is consecrated by the blood shed by
heroes on that bright 15th day of
August, 1812. Fort Dearborn was rebuilt
in 1816, under the direction of Capt.
Bradley, and was occupied until
1837, when, the Indians having removed
from the country, it was abandoned.
Congress, on
the 2d of March, 1827, granted to
the State of Illinois every alternate
section of land for six miles on either
side of the line of the then proposed
Illinois and Michigan canal, to aid
in its construction, from Chicago
to the head of navigation of the Illinois
river. The State accepted the grant,
and on the 22d of January, 1829, organized
a board of canal commissioners, with
power to layout towns along, the line.
Under this authority the commissioners
employed Mr. James Thompson
to survey the town of Chicago. His
first map of the town bears date August
4, 1830. In 1831 the place contained
about a dozen families, not including
the officers and soldiers in Fort
Dearborn. On the 10th of August, 1833,
it was organized by the election of
five trustees—there being twenty-eight
voters. On the 26th of September of
the same year, a treaty was signed
with the chiefs of the Pottawattamies,
seven thousand of the tribe being
present, and on the 1st of October
they were removed west of the Mississippi.
The first charter of
101
the city was passed
by the Legislature of Illinois, and
approved March 4th, 1837. Under this
charter an election was held May 1st,
of the same year. A census was taken
on the 1st of July, when the entire
population was shown to be 4,170.
The city then contained four warehouses,
three hundred and twenty-eight dwellings,
twenty-nine dry goods stores, five
hardware stores, three drug stores,
nineteen provision stores, ten taverns,
twenty-six groceries, seventeen lawyers'
offices, and five churches. It then
embraced an area of 560 acres. At
this date grain and flour had to be
imported from the East to feed the
people, for the iron arteries of trade
did not then stretch out over the
prairies of Illinois, Iowa, and other
States. There were no exportations
of produce until 1839, and not until
1842 did the exports exceed the imports.
Grain was sold in the streets by the
wagon load, the trade being restricted
to a few neighboring farmers of Illinois.
Of religious organizations
the Methodists were the pioneers,
being represented in 1831, 1832 and
1833, by Rev. Jesse Walker. Their
first quarterly meeting was held in
the fall of 1833, and in the spring
of' the next year the first regular
class was formed. The first Presbyterian
church was organized June 26th, 1833,
the first pastor being Rev. James
Porter. It consisted at the time
of twenty-five members from the garrison
and nine from the citizens of the
town. The first Baptist church was
organized October 19th, 1833; and
the first Episcopal church, St. James,
in 1834. The first Catholic church
was built by Rev. Schofler,
in 1833-4.
The first great
public improvement projected was the
Illinois and Michigan canal, one hundred
miles in length, and connecting Chicago
with La Salle, at the head of navigation
on the Illinois river. It was completed
in the spring of 1848.
To the eye of
an observer, Chicago seems to be situated
upon a level plain, but in reality
the height of the natural surface
above the lake varies from three to
twenty-four feet, and the grade of
the principal streets has been raised
from two to eight feet above the original
surface. A complete system of sewerage
has been established. The surrounding
prairie for many miles is apparently
without much variation of surface.
Though it cannot be observed by the
eye, yet the city really stands on
the dividing ridge between the two
great rivers that drain half the continent,
and is about six hundred feet above
the ocean. Chicago river, before being
widened, deepened, and improved, was
a very small stream. It has but very
little perceptible current, and for
several miles is very nearly on a
level with the lake. It is formed
by two branches, one from the north
and the other from south, which unite
about a mile from the lake. From this
junction the stream flows due east
of the lake. These streams divide
the city into three parts, familiarly
known as North Side, South Side, and
West Side. Bridges constructed upon
turn-tables, or pivots, are thrown
across the streams at many places.
By swinging the bridges round, vessels
are allowed to be towed up and down
the river by steam tugs, so that there
is very little difficulty in the way
of passing from one division of the
city to another. The stream has been
made navigable for several miles for
sail vessels and propellers, and immense
warehouses and elevators have been
constructed along its banks, where
vessels are loaded and unloaded with
great rapidity.
We have seen that
when the first census was taken in
1837, the city had a population of
4,170. By 1840 it had increased to
only 4,470; in 1845 it was 12,088;
in 1850 it was 28,269; in 1855 it
was 83,509. The census of 1870 showed
a population 298,977.
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One
of the gigantic public improvements
of Chicago is that for supplying the
city with water. Owing to the fact
that the water in the lake, near the
shore, was polluted by filth from
the river, in 1865 a tunnel was cut
under the lake, extending a distance
of two miles from the shore. This
tunnel is thirty-five feet below the
bed of the lake. This work is regarded
as an example of great engineering
skill, and has proved to be successful.
The contract price for this work was
$315,139. Another great work is the
tunnel under the Chicago river at
Washington street, cut for the purpose
of dispensing with the bridge over
the river, and to obviate the necessity
of the public waiting for vessels
to pass. The contract price for this
great work was $200,000.
There are other
great public improvements of the city,
which with her railroads leading out
in all directions, her immense lake
shipping trade, and her population
of nearly half a million people, show
the greatness that Chicago has attained,
all within so short a time. As she
has been great in her prosperity,
so also has she been great in her
calamities. On the 8th and 9th of
October, 1871, this city was the scene
of one of the greatest conflagrations
known in the annals of the world—greater
than that of London in 1666, when
thirteen thousand buildings were burned.
In Chicago twenty thousand buildings
were swept away by the devouring element,
with miles of magnificent business
blocks, palatial residences, and costly
ornamentations—all covering an
area of over five thousand acres!
In all that part of the city between
Harrison street and the Chicago river,
and on the North Side for nearly four
miles to Lincoln Park, there was nothing
to be seen but the ruins of a city
that had suddenly gone down at the
merciless bidding of the fire-fiend.
It was a scene of desolation and ruin,
and its announcement at the time thrilled
a sympathetic chord which vibrated
throughout the whole civilized world.
Like the fabled Phoenix, Chicago rose
again from her own ashes, but grander
and more magnificent than she was
before. Chicago is now, and has for
some years been, the greatest pork
packing-and grain shipping market
of the world. Her commerce is of immense
proportions and reaches to all lands
where American trade is known. She
is the commercial metropolis of the
great Northwest, and the States of
Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Wisconsin
and Minnesota, pour their tributes
of wealth over thousands of miles
of railroad into her lap.
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Fort Dearborn, 1830 |
"Old Kinzie House" |
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