Cook County, Illinois - The whole text, 1884 (part 3 of 61)

LaSalle then gives a long description of the portage from what he calls the "channel which leads to the lake of the Illinois " [ this channel being our Chicago River . to the Desplaines " Cheeagou " . and combats the statement of Joliet, that "by cutting only one canal half a league through the prairie, one may pass from the lake of the Illinois into the St. Louis River,"* saying that this " may very well hapj>en in the spring" - when the swollen waters of the " Cheeagou," through the " little lake on the prairie," found their way even to I.ake Michigan - "but not in the summer," because at that season, he says, even the Illinois River is navigable only as far as Fort St. Louis.* There was another difficulty in the way of successful navigation, which LaSalle believed Joliet's "proposed ditch " would not remedy, and that was the " sand bar at the mouth of the channel which leads to the lake of the Illinois." F.ven the force of the current of the Cheeagou, when in the great freshets of the spring it poured its waters into this channel, was not powerful enough to remove that obstacle ; and for these and various other reasons, LaSalle believed " it would be easier to effect the transportation from Fort St. Louis to the lakes by using horses, which it is easy to have, there being numbers among the savages."

LaSalle slates, in a paper written in 1682, that he " joined M. de Tonty who had preceded him, with his followers and all his equipage forty leagues into the Miamis' country, at the River Chekagou $; in the country of the Mascoutins, where the ice on the river had arrested his progress ; and where, when the ice t)ecame 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 seventy leagues." It would seem from the above quotations, that the name M Cheeagou," or " Chekagou," was applied to a certain locality which, in 1681-82, formed the division line between the Miamis and Mascoutins ; the river of that name being within the limits of. or the eastern boundary line of the Mascoittin country which extended west to the Fox River.

It is not within the province of this historv to relate, in detail, the adventures of LaSalle and his followers on their Mississippi voyage. It is sufficient to sav that the party descended the Illinois River, on the sledges made at the Desplaines, to Peoria Lake, where open water was reached. Embarking thence in the canoes, whjch formed a part of their baggage, they reached the Mississippi on the 6th of February, 1682, and on the 9th of April arrived at its mouth. Then, with solemn and impressive ceremonies, LaSalle took possession of the valley of the Mississippi in the name of France, called the new acquisition Louisiana, in honor of the king, and realized the great and all-absorbing desire of his life. On Ins return toward the Illinois, he was seized with a dangerous illness, and detained in consequence, at the Chickasaw Bluffs, where a fort had been estab- lished on the downward passage. Tonty was directed to hasten forward to Mackinac, and dispatch the news of the successful termination of the expedition to Canada. He left the bluffs on the 6th of May, arrived about the end of June at Chicago, and by the middle of July at Mackinac, where he was joined in September by LaSalle. Returning to the Illinois the same fall, LaSalle and Tonty, during the winter of 1682-83. strengthened and fortified the cliff known as Starved Rock, encircling its summit with a palisade, and building storehouses and dwellings within the enclosure. The fort was called St. Louis, ami alwmt it, at the base of the cliff, LaSalle gathered the surrounding Indians, until their log and bark cabins formed a village, containing some twenty thousand souls. At Fort St. Louis, French colonists also settled, who were obliged to go to Montreal for supplies, and that by way of the wellknown Chicago route. Frontenac, the friend and patron of LaSalle, was no longer in power, and LaBarre, his successor, was hostile to both LaSalle and his enterprise. LaSalle writes to LaBarre, from the "Chicagou Portage," June 4, 16S3, entreating him not to detain his colonists at Montreal, as coureurs Je bois, when they came there to make their necessary purchases, some of which are indispensable to the safety of the fort where he has now " but twenty men. and scarcely a hundred pounds of powder." To such lengths did LaBarre filially CttlTy his enmity, that LaSalle's positional Fort St. Lou in became Unbearable, and in the autumn of 16X3, leaving Tonty in possession, he repaired to (Quebec, and thence sailed tor France, to triumph over hb foes, and reinstate Tonty in peaceful possession of the fort on the Illinois; but never again to return to Fort Mianiis, or the Rock of St. I.onis, or visit with his motley retinue of devoted priests, brave young Frenchmen and solemn savages. -- Checagou," the site of the peat city where now a crowded thoroughfare perpetuates his name, and where multitudes of people cherish his memory, and -- delight to do him honor."

USalle again sailed from France. August 1, 1684. with vessels containing supplies for founding a colon v at the mouth of the Mississippi; entered the Gulf of Mexico, and discovered land on the 28th of December. This proved to Ik? the coast of Texas, the captain having ignorantly passed the mouth of the Mississippi. They landed near Matagorda Hav. and erected there a fort, where the colony remained together about a vear Afterward, l.aSalle made several excursions into the surrounding country, hoping to discover the Mississippi anil, finally, discouraged and des|>erate. resolved to find his way to Canada. One attempt was made, in

1686. which resulted in defeat, and the party, after wandering six months, found their wav back to the fort at Matagorda. On the 7th of January. 1687. LaSalle again made an attempt to --each the north, and get supplies for bis almost starving men. ami, after two months' wandering, was assassinated by some of bis discontented and faithless followers, on the 19th of March.

1687. After the murder, the partv separated, ami, finally, but live reached Fort St. Louis, on the Illinois, River, where the faithful Tonty still commanded. One of these was Henri Joutei. who with bis companions, was detained at the fort until spring. Thev made one trip to Chicago, in the fall of 1687, and another in the spring of 168S. Joutei describes their experiences thus in his journal :

"On Sunday, ihe 14th of September. n,sy, about two in the afternoon, we came into the neighborhood of Fort St. I. auto, .\l length we entered the (ort, where wc found and surprised sevend persons who did not expect lis, All the French were under arms, .ind made several discharge* lo welcome us. M. de la Belle Fontaine, lieutenant to M, Tonty, was at the head of ihetn. and com. plimentcd us. Sieur liotsrondcl, clerk to the late M. de la Salle, having told us he had a canoe, in which he desired to go down to ( anaila, we prepared to make use of that opporinnitv. Care whs taken to gather provision for our vovngc ; to get furs to barter as we passed Miciliniaquinay. M. t'avclier* wrute a letter for M. I»nty. which he led there to In- delivered lo him, and we repaired to the lake | Michigan] loemkirk. Il wouldlbc needless to relate all the troubles and hardships we met with in that journey ; il was painful and fruitless, for, having gone to the hank of the lake in very foul weather, after wailing there live days for that foul weal her to cease, and after we had embarked - notwithstanding the storm - «e were obliged to put ashore again, lo return to the place where wc had embarked, ami there to dig .1 hole in the earth to burv our baggage and provisions, to save the trouble of carrving (hem hack to tort l.otiis. whither we .cturucd. and arrived there the 7th "f October, where they were surprised to see us come back. Thus we were obliged to continue in that fort all the rest of the autumn, and part of the winter. On the 27th of October, of the same year. >l. tonty returned from the war with the Iroquois, We continued after this manner till the month of December, w hen two men arrived from Montreal. They came to give notice to M. Tontv. thai 'hree canoes, laden with merchandise - ponder, ball and' other things - were arrived at Chicagou ; that there lieing too little water in the river, and what there was being frozen, they could come no PP'HJ so that, it being requisite to send men to fetch those tilings, M. Unty desired the chief of the Chahouanous 1 to furnish him with pcop|c. That chief accordinglv furnished forty, men as well as women, w ho set out with some Frenchmen. The noncslv of the 1 huhuuanons was the reason ,,f preferring them before the illinois who are, naturally, knaves. Thai ammunition and merchandise were soon broujrhl, and very seasonably, the fori being then in want. At leuglh we set ..ut. the 21st ..f March, from Fort l.ouis. I he Sieur lloisrondct, w in. was desirous to return lo Krance, joined us. We embarked on rhe river, which was then beCOflU navigable, and before we had advanced live leagues, niel wilh a rapid stream which obliged us to go ashore, and then again into like water to draw along our canoe. I had the misfon line lo hurl one of mv feel against a rock which. lay under the waler, which troubled me' verv much for a long lime. Wc arrived at ihicagou on the 20th ol March, and our lirst care was lo seek what we had concealed al our former voyage, having, is was there said, buried our luggage and "prousions. We found it had been opened, and some furs ami linen taken iway, almost all ol which belonged to me. This iiad been done by a Frenchman, whom M. Tony had sent from the lort during the winter season to know whether ihere were any canocsat L hicagou. and whom he had directed to sec whether Xnybodv had meddled wilh what he had concealed : and he made use of that ailvice to rob us. The hail weather obliged us lo slav in that place until April. This time of rest was advantageous for the healing ol my fool ; and there being Iml very little game in that place, we had nothing but our meal, or Indian wheat, lo feed on ; yet we discovered a kind of manna, which was a great help lo lis. ' |t a sort ol tree, resembling our maple, in which we made incisions, whence Bowed a sweet liquor, and in it we boiled our Indian wheal, which made it delicious, sweet, and of a very agreeable relish. There being 110 sugar canes in that connlrv, those trees supplied thai liquor, which heing boiled up and evaporated, turned into a kind ol sugar, somewhat brownish, but verv good. In the woods «e found a son of garlic, not so stron* as ours, SInaJl oniom vm like ours m taste, and some chafed of the same relish as that we have, but different in leaf. The weather being somewhat mended, we embarked again, and entered upon the lake on the Jth of April," keeping to the north side, to shun the Iroquois."

l onty evidently knew Chicagou well. In his journeys to Canada, and, during the Iroquois war, to Detroit and Mackinac, he must have often passed the portage, and descended the little river to embark on Lake Michigan. Durantaye, Dul.hut Duluth . and Tontv were conspicuous among the young Frenchmen engaged in the long struggle between the French and the Iroquois, the latter being friendly to the English and ready to assist them in extending their jurisdiction to the up))er lakes. During these years French forts were erected at various important points on Lake Michigan, commanding the fur trade of the interior and rendering the French more secure against the attacks of the Iroquois or their western allies, the Foxes. Besides the fort of the Mianiis at St. Joseph, there was one at Mackinac, where De La Durantaye, commanded, and one al Detroit, commanded by " Sieur DuLhut '* Duluth .

In the spring of 1684, Tonty was informed that the Iroquois were gathering to attack him at Fort St, Louis. He sent to Mackinac for assistance, anil M. de la Durantaye came with sixty Frenchmen to his relief. Father Allouez also accompanied the party. The following yeai Tonty went to Mackinac to obtain news, if |>ossible, of LaSalle. Hearing that he was at the mouth of the Mississippi he resolved to go in search of him. and says:*

" 1 embarked, iherefore. lor the Illinois, on St. Andrew's hay l',V>th of October. I0K5) ; but being stopped by the ice, I wa"s obliged to leave my canoe, and lo proceed on by land. After go. iug one hundred and twenty leagues, I arrived at the fort of t!hicagou, where ,M. de la Ihirantayc. commanded: and from 1 hence I came to Fort St. l.ouis. where I arrived the middle of Inntian (tfiNf."

'This fort at "Chicagou," where Tonty found Durantaye in the early winter of 1685, had probably been erected by the latter since the spring of the preceding year, when he came to. the relief of the beleaguered Fort St. Louis. Tonty had repulsed the Iroquois before help arrived, but Durantaye would not remain in a country constantly exposed to their attacks, without erecting some kind of a fort for the protection of his little band of sixty men, and to keep their return path to Mackinac safe. Durantaye did not long remain at Chicago. A year later he was fighting the savages, with Tonty and I .a Forest, in the vicinity of Detroit, and at the end of the campaign he returned to Mackinac, where he was stationed for several years after.

In a reprint, by Munsell, of a book entitled H Early Voyages up and down the Mississippi,'" it being letters and reports of French Catholic missionaries, may be found a letter from Rev. John Francis lSuisson de St. Cosine, addressed to the liishop of Quebec, giving an account of the journey of himself and companions from Mackinac to the Illinois, in 1 699. which shows that there was at that time a flourishing Jesuit mission at Chicago, and also a large village of the Miami*. Die part]) left Mackinac in " light canoes," September 14, 1699. De Tonty, with the missionaries St. Cosine, DeMontigny, Davion and De La Source, were on their way to the lower Mississippi, by way of the Illinois, and DeVincennes, a French officer, with several companions, was to visit St. Joseph and the country of the Miamis. It wag the original intention of St. Cosme and party to have gone to the Mississippi by way of the Fox and Wisconsin rivers, but hostile Indians prevented, and thev were obliged to take the " Chicagou road." On the 7th day of October they arrived at "Melwarik" Milwaukee , where they found a village " which has been considerable,'' and where they remained two days on account of the line " duck and teal shooting." On the 10th they arrived at Kipikawi (Racine , intending to go up the Kipikawi River and crossing the portage to the Fox, descend that river to the Illinois; but, "as there was no water in it," they were " again obliged to take the route to Chicagou." They left the river at Racine on the 17th, but were so long delayed by the roughness of the lake that on the 20th, they were' still fifteen miles distant. On the Jist, when within half a league of the place, a sudden storm sprung up and they were compelled to land, and walk the remaining distance. St. Cosme says:

" Wo had considerable difficulty in Betting ashore and saving our canoes. We had to throw even-thing into the water. This is a thing which you must lake good care of along the lakes, and cspccially on .Mission (the shores of which are very Hat), to land s.k.h when the water swells from the lake, for the breakers get so large 111 a short time that the canoes are in risk of goinjj to pieces and losing all on hoard, several travelers liaving been wrecked there \\c went by land. M. DeMontignv, Davion and mvself. to the house <>f the Rev. Jesuit Fathers. .Kir people staying with the baggage We found there Rev. Father 1'inet and Rev. Father Hineteau, who had recently come in from the Illinois, anil were slightly sick. I cannot explain to you. Munscigncur. with what cordiality and marks of esteem these Kev. Jesuit Fathers received and caressed us during the time that we had the consolation of staving with them. The house is built on the banks of the small lakcl having the lake on one side, and a line large prairie on the other I he Indian village .s ..f over one hundred and fifty cabins, and one league on the river there is another village almost as large They are both of the Miamis. Rev. Father Finet makes it his ordinary residence- except 111 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. - * On the 24th of October, the wind having fallen, we made our canoes come with all our baggage; and. |icrceiving that the waters were extremely low, we made a cache on the shore, and took only what was necessary for our voyage, reserving till spring to send for the rcst,j,nd we left in charge of it Brother Alexander, who consented 1 there with bather Finet's man; and we started from Chirm at Surv.sl Rock was in cha '« r. . ,1 . .1 M; I cagou on the l')th, 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 aliout three leagues long when the water is low, and only a quarter of a league in the spring, for you (then) embark on a little lake which empties into a branch of the river of the Illinois; but, 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 funher, when we perceived that a little buy whom we had received from M. FtcMuys, having started on alone - although he had been told to wail - 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, W me,' -v., ,j .... ..hi -.u: [,l not find hitn. It was a verv unfortunate mishap, we were iwessed by the season, and the waters being very low, we saw well that being obliged l» carry our effects and our canoe, it would lake us a great while to reach the Illinois. This made lis |urt company. M. I k-Montigny, Ih.-Tonty and Davion continued the portage next day; and I, with fiwr' other men, returned to look for this little boy; and on my way back I met Fathers Pine! ami liincteM, who were going with two Frenchmen and one Indian to the Illinois. We looked for him again all that day without being able to find him. As the next day was the (cast of All Saints, this obliged me to go and pass the night at Chicagou with our people, who having said mass and performed their devotions early, we spent all thai day, too, in looking for that little boy, without being able to get the least trace. It was very difficult to find him in Ihc tall grass, for the w hole country is prairies - you meet only some clumps of woods. As the grass was high, we durst not set lire to it for fear of burning him. M. DeMontigny had told me not to stay over a day, because the cold was getting severe. This obliged me to start, after giving llrother Alexander directions to look for him and to take some of the French who were at Chicagou, I set out the 2d of Xovemlier, in the afternoon; made the portage, and slept at the river of the Illinois."

Pwrn- Francois Charlevoix, die n..|rd French historian and Iravrler. patted the east shore of Michigan, anil to the Moaussipi,,, by wav «if the Kankakee arid Illinois over.. ,;aK hl. ,,, .Wrvtfe- Fram, and with it his journal written while in America. The mural was translate,! into English after; I he history remained untranslated ntil . ho. .[, ,..,. on,, ho,.-. ... I.* 1. I.- , 1 LL..: t- ... \. .- .

From a letter of De La Source, one of the missionaries who accompanied St. Cosme to the Mississippi, it is learned that the boy who was lost in the tall grass of the prairie, after an aljsence of about two weeks, finally '* made his way back to Chicagou, where Brother Alexander was." He was insane and utterly exhausted. The party returned to Chicago from the lower Mississippi early in 1700, and remained there until Easter, the letter of De I, a Source being written at "Chicagou." From the allusions made by St. Cosme to " our people " before whom he said mass on AIL Saints' Day, and with whom he" posed the night at Chicagou," and also from his direction to - Brother Alexander." who remained behind in charge of the cache on the shore of Lake Michigan, to " take some of the French who were at Chicagou," to aid him in his search for the lost boy, it must be inferred that the place had become of considerable in>])ortance, as the point of disembarkation from the lake, on the route from Canada to Louisiana ; that it had become the residence of several French traders, and, during a portion of the year, of the Jesuit fathers connected with the Miami mission.

Soon after the opening of the eighteenth century, this route to the Mississippi became so dangerous that it was gradually abandoned, and finally almost forgotten. The long war between the Illinois and the Iroquois had made the Kaskaskias fearful and timid. They were directly in the path of the enemy from the location of their village, which, lying far up the river, was first struck by their war parlies on their raids into the country of the Illinois.

D'Iberville had landed, and a Frenc h settlement at the mouth of the Mississippi wasto be established. The Kaskaskias were eager to leave the dangerous locality in which they lived, and still be able to enjoy the friendship and protection of their friends, the French. Father Cravier, who for several years had been in charge of the mission of the Immaculate Conception, at the Kaskaskia village on the Illinois, went to Michilimackiuac carly in 1669, leaving the parent house in the care of Father Marest, and its branches one of which was at Chicago, among the Miamis^ in charge of Fathers Bineteau and Pinet. He returned in the fall of 1700, leaving Chicago for the Illinois on the 8th of September. When he arrived at the old village of the Kaskaskias, near the present site of Ctica, in LaSalle County, he found that all that tribe, accompanied by Father Marest, had deserted their village and the neighboring Peorias on the Illinois, and departed for the lower Mississippi. Gravicr followed his flock, promising the Peorias to return to them at their village at Peoria Lake. Marest was taken violently ill on his arrival at the present site of Kaskaskia, and with his Indians halted there, where he was joined by Cravier, and the new Kaskaskia mission was founded and named also the mission of the Immaculate Conception, in honor of Marquette ami his old mission on the Illinois River.

visit the various tribes in what is now Michigan and Illinois, and invite them to send deputies from their tribes to Montreal in order to arrange terms of peace with the Iroquois. DeCourtemanche reached the St. Joseph River December 21. 1700, and found the Miamis preparing to send war-parlies against the Iroquois, as were also all the Illinois tribes, except the Kaskaskias. After visiting the latter tribe, he " returned to Chicago ; there he found some Wcas Ouyatanousj, a Miami tribe, who had sung the war song against the Sioux and Iroquois." He induced them to lay down their arms and send deputies to the council at Montreal, the deputies to meet him at Michilimackinac. The chief of the Miamis at this time was Chickikatalo, " a noble looking and good old man," who made a speech at Montreal, in which he assured the French of his friendship for them, and desire to promote their interests by every means in his power. Before the council, the Kaskaskias had departed for the Mississippi, and great dissatisfaction was expressed by the other tribes at their taking this step.

Two years later, in 1702, Fort St. Louis was abandoned as a military post. Then followed long and bloody wars between the French of Louisiana and their Illinois allies, with various tribes of the Northwest, commencing with the Foxes of Wisconsin. Charlevoix says of the latter, during the early part of the eighteenth century. "The Outagamies Foxes infested with their robberies and murders, not only the neighborhood of the bay Green Bay ). but almost all the routes communicating with the remote colonial posts, as well as those leading from Canada to Louisiana." After the Foxes, came the Pottawatomies, who finally almost exterminated the old allies of the French, and the Chicagou route, formerly so often traversed by French missionaries and traders on their way to the Illinois and Mississippi, was, as before stated, forsaken, if not forgotten.

Father Julian Bineteau, who preached to the Miamis at Chicago, died not long after the visit of St. Cosine, from sickness contracted while following the Indians on their summer hunt over the parched and burning prairies. Father Francis Pinet, his companion, went to the great village of the Peorias, after the removal of the Kaskaskias, and there founded the Cahokia mission - where he died soon after. Father Cravier, according to his promise, returned to the village of the Peorias, where he was dangerously wounded, and descending the Mis- sissippi in search of medical trealm<-nt, died OH thevoyage in 1706. The labors of the French missionaries, and the attempts at rounding Krench colonies in Louisiana were no longer extended to the region north Of the Illinois, and with the exception of a struggling village at Starved Rock, even the once powerful Illinois had been driven by ,7J0, from all their villages above Peoria Lake. In that year Kou Chartres was built on he banks of the Mississippi, near the two French aetdements of kaskaskia and Cahokia -a protection to both. About the year 1718, the M.amis were driven

In 17.15 llnisbriant. the commandant at Fort Chartres. was made acting governor of Louisiana. Jtut M. HeSiette, a captain in the royal army, took his place at the fori. I>imeulties with the Koxes and their allies had been continually growing worse since the removal of the Illinois - the Krench being now more exposed to their attacks. The colonists were murdered almost under the guns of the fort, and the whole country of the upper Illinois was a battle-ground. DeLignerie was the Krench commandant at Creen Hay, and labored assiduously to bring about a peace between the northern tribes and the Illinois. On the'yth of June, 1716, he assembled the Sauks, \\ innebagoes and Foxes at his post, and "told them from the king, that they must not raise the war club against the Illinois, or thev would have reason to repent it." He was fairly well satisfied with the answer of the chiefs, anil hoped the peac e would be stable ; but DcSietle. at Fort Chartres. had less confidence in the Foxes, or their word, and suggested to DeLignerie that the best method would be to extemiin aie them at one. DeLignerie. while believing with l>c- Siette that this would l>e the very best possible method, if it could be carried out, feared the plan would not be a success, and that the Foxes would " array all the upper nations against us,*' and " the French of either colony be unable to pass from post to post, but at the risk <il robbery and murder." I bis hail l>een the case too long, and the commandant at C.reen Bay advised the impatient UeSeitte to " cause his people ' the Illinois 1 if they have made anv prisoners, to send them back to the Koxes," as he has - told the latter to do with theirs, it then young men bring in anv from the country." He continues : with yon and your Illinois, ami the nations of the bay. Wc vrill indicate U. Ihem the lime of the mee,inK, where it will probably be necessary to make a fort, and to lix the number of the French and Indiana who are to be a| the spot. These are mv thoughts. l>o MIC the honor to Rive me yours, li mv heallh will' allow I shall K" there with pleasure, and d it shall thus happen, it will give me great joy to see vou."

Section Of Moll'S Map Of 172O Early Kx

This interview at "Chikagou" was not destined "to thus nappen," as things did not ''no well " between the French and the Foxes during the coming year, and in August, 1727. M. DeBcauharnais, then commanding 111 Canada, informed M. DeSiette by letter at Fort Chartres, that he was determined to make war upon the Foxes the coining spring, and that the information was given " in order that he Sielte might make preparations, and give assistance by dis|w>sing the Illinois and the French of the Mississippi to join the Canadians," finishing his letter by saying, " It is reasonable to suppose that the people of Louisiana will c ome to this war with mule ardor than the Canadians, as they are much more exposed to

HeSielte joined the Canadian forces at Creen Bay the following spring, and a buttle ensued' at Butte des Morts. Wis., in which the French and their allies, the Illinois, were successful : but hostilities did not cease, and communication between Canada and the Mississippi by way of the Illinois River was as dangerous as before. For nearly half a century the name of Chicago is not mentioned, and there is no record of any visit of a white man to the locality. I >ul'ratz, an old French writer, and a resident of Louisiana from 1718 until 1 7.14, says of the Chicagott " and Illinois route in 1757: " Such as come from Canada, ami have business only on the Illinois, pass that way yet; but such as want to go directly to the sea, go down the river of the Wabachc to the Ohio, and from thence into the Mississippi." He predicts, also, that unless "some curious person shall goto the north of the Illinois River in search of mines," where they arc saiil to be in great numbers and very rich, that region " will not soon come to the knowledge of the French."

In June, 1773. William Murray, a subject of Ureal Britain, residing in K.;iskaskia, held a council, in the presence of the Hrilish officers and authorities stationed at the place, with the chiefs of the several tribes of Illinois Indians, in which he proposed to them, that for a certain consideration, they should deeil to him two tracts of land cast of the Mississippi : one of which was north of the Illinois River, and extended beyond the present *ite of Chicago. Mr. Murray states* that the negotia- tkm was concluded in July, 177,5, " to the entire satisfaction of the Indians," of whom the land was bought "in consideration of the sum of five shillings to them in hand paid," and certain goods and merchandise. The boundary, or ratlu-r the mention of certain points in this northern tract, was as follows :

"' licginning nl a place or point in a direct line opposite to the of the Mississippi River; thence up the Mississippi by the several cour-e> thereof to the mouth of the Illinois River. about six league*, he Ihe ume more or les- ; anil ihen up the Illinois Ri\er. by the several course- thereof, to I hkagou or (iarlick Creek, about ninety leagues or thereabout*, he the same more or lev. ; ihen nearls a northerly course, in a direct line to .1 certain place remarkable, being ihe ground on which an engagement or bailie Ha* fought alxnit (i>rty or tidy year- ago between the I'cwaria anil Rcnard Indian-, about ft fly league--, lie the -.one more nr le*»; thence by the same course in a direct line M l«o remarkable hills done together in ihe middle of a large prairie or plain, about fourteen league-, lx* the same more or Ic - ; Ihcnee a north of ca-l cour-c, in a direct line to a remarkable spring known bythe Indianby the name of Foggy spring, about fourteen leagues, lie the same more or less ; them e the same course, in a direct line to a great mountain to the northward of the White llnffaloe plain, about fifteen leagues, be the simr more or less ; thence nearly a soiithur-i course in a direct line to the place of In-ginning, about 'fortv league-. Ih- the MMK more or less.

Before the consummation of this purchase, Murray had associated several other Knglishmen with himself, and formed the " Illinois Land Company," which was re-organized as an American company, at Philadelphia, 011 the 19th of April. 17S0. when a constitution for the regulation of its affairs was drawn up. and a plan of settlement agreed upon. America was then at war with England, and although Mr. Murray asserts* that at the time settlers ami purchasers were ready to contract with the companv "and a large settlement could have been promoted, and possession taken of the lands, with the eminent of the natives," still it was deemed advisable to nispend all operations until the establishment of peace, and, in the meantime, submit their claims to the consideration of Congress. For this purpose- a meeting was held at Philadelphia, February 1, 1781, at which a memorial was agreed upon, ami presented at the session of that year, setting forth the claims of the com- pany, and concluding with a proposal to cede all the land Included hi the purchase of the Indians to the United States, on condition that one-fourth should be re-conveyed to the company. The rcj>ort of the committee of the House, of which Samuel Livermore was chairman, was favorable to the petitioners. The Senate committee reported adversely: "In the opinion of the committee, deeds obtained by private persons from the Indians, without any antecedent authority, or subsequent information from the Government, could not rest in the grantees mentioned in such deed a title to the lands therein described." The re|H>rt of the Senate committee was finally adopted and the petition dismissed.

One of the objections of the Committee of 1781 to granting the petition of the Illinois Land Company was WW "«ne of the deeds, beginning on the north side of the Illinois River, contains onlv a number of lines without comprehending nny land whatever" This refers to the tract, extending up the Illinois to Chicagou or Garlick Creek, thence some two hundred and seventy-nine miles in a northcasterlv course, and front that point by a southwesterly course of one hundred and twenty miles, reaching by some means a " point opposite the mouth of the Missouri River" - the place of beginning. Mr. Murray says : known corners desenhed. proceeding round 10 the said befjantae and the recm.cat.nn of an error in a course or two M to the S of the compass closes the survey, maintaining all the corners'"

He explains further that the Indians are only bound to regard " natural boundaries" ami " natural corners " and do not regard points of the compass or estimates ol distances, etc.

ish commander at Michilimackinac, is the initial point from which may be traced the growth of Chicago, from a single rude cabin on the sand-point at the mouth of the river, to the magnificent city which stands to-day, the type of modern progressive civilization.

Colonel DelVyster says elsewhere in the volume of Miscellanies, from which the above statement is quoted: ' Kschikagou is a river and fort at the head of l.ake Michigan.

Possibly the fort " where Durantaye commanded," was alluded to. or the French under Siette might have built a fort at Chicago, as they desired to do, when on their way to join the Canadian force at Green Kay. and make war on the Foxes of Fox River, in the spring of '7,2,?- V Def*97*eir wr<*e of Chicago and its first settler, the t rench lilies had been lowered from Fort cnartrcs, and Louisiana was in the hands of the English. II tad been British soil fourteen years before there is any record of a person "curious" enough to penetrate the country north of the Illinois and make a home on the shore of I^kc Mkhigsu,, The biography of Jean Bapbate Point Hesa.blcthe pioneer settler' of Chicago, is very brief. He was a native of Santo Oomingo, «' well educated and handsome." Before settling on the banks of thc«Chicago River he had lived among the l'eorias, with a friend named Glamorgan - also a Domingoan - who was reputed to be possessor of large Spanish land grants near St. Louis; and to the home of this friend he returned to die, in 1796.

By the treaty of Ryswick, September, jo, 1697, the western portion of the island of Hayti was ceded to France, - the French colony thereafter taking the name of the island, while the Spanish colony, founded in 1496, tested English had possession of the home of the Pcorias, and the equally detested Spaniards ruled the country across the Mississippi, the French colonists and all who remained faithful to them, would have few favors and little inducement to remain. Of the two Domingoan friends, settled at Peoria, Glamorgan was worldly wise, and with many others who sought favor with the Spanish Government, received his reward in lands near St. Louis. Baptiste Point I >cSaible remained faithful to the French, and finally left his home to make another on the eastern shore, retained its old name of Santo Domingo. From the time of this treaty the Spanish colony made little progress for half a century, while the Haytian colony rapidly grew rich and prosperous, soon becoming one of the most valuable possessions of France. Among its population were a large number of free colored people, mostly mulattoes, many of whom had received a liberal education in France and possessed large estates, although they were excluded from political privileges. Under this state of affairs it would be natural for an ambitious mulatto to leave the old Spanish colony and seek a fortune among the French in Louisiana. Many San Domingoans had been brought as slaves to I-ortChartrcs by Renault, in 1722. and were employed in the mines and otherwise, and the wonderful stories told by French adventurers of the riches of the country, constantly attracted others, equally adventurous, to its shores. The French were beloved by the natives and by all who settled among them and lived their easy, cheerful life. It may easily be believed that when the deamong the Pottawatomies of Chicago. He built his cabin on the north bank of the Chicago River, where it turned to the south, near its mouth, and at the head of the point of sand which extended them e between the river and the lake. Here he lived until 1796 - seventeen vears. All that is known of his life during that long 'period is gathered from the - Recollections" of ijnistin Grignon,* of Butte des Morts, near Oshkosh.

... and published in the third volume of the Wisconsin Historical Society's Collections. Mr. Grignon says: " At a very carlv period there was .1 negro lived there (Chica- So) named Baptist* l'«io« IteSaibk. My brother IWh Grignon. visited Chit-ago about i7'H. ami told me that I'oinl DeSaible was -1 large man ; that he hail a commission tor sonic olftce. but tor 'what particular office or from what Government. I cannot now recollect. He was a trader, pretty wealthy, and drank freely. I know not what became of him."

related above is thai in 1 796 he sold his cabin to one I.eMai, a French trader, and returned to Peoria, where he died at the home of Ins old friend, Glamorgan. It may Ik- true, as is related, that he sought to place himself at the head of the Pottawatomies as their chief. If true, his desire was unratified, and lean Baptiste Point DeSaible, handsome, rich and faithful though he was, left his home washed by the waters of Lake Michigan and the Checagou River, not only the first landed proprietor, but also the first disappointed man of C hicago.

I.eMai, the second dweller in the cabin on the standpoint, made some improvements, and occupied it as his home and trading-house until 1X04.

William Burnett,* a trader at St. loseph, Michigan writes, under .late of May 14, 1786, to George Mehlnrnii a merchant of Mackinac, that if a vessel which is to be sent from that port is to come to Chicago, he wished that he may Stop at the mouth of the St. loseph River that he may ship life com. as he has not canoe nor hat-' leau. In various letters covering the period from 1 786 to i^o.t. he alludes to Chicago.! and mentions names amil.ar to the early settlers of jhe place. Mav 6 1 700 he writes: «| received a letter vesterdav from Chicago' wherein it is said that nothing is made in the Mississippi this year. August 24, 1 79S, he writes from St. loseph to Messrs. Parker, Cirard \ Ogiloy, merchants Of Moot-

Mr. Burnetts connection with the India., trade in thw region lasted many years. It ,s stated \V-, ."" that at the time of the massacre of the F rt fiE born garnson in ,X, 2. m angry savage came to the £S m which were the family of John Kin/.e. in « -

In the summer of 1803, Captain John Whiter C S. A., then stat.oned at Detroit, was ordered w fh his Company to C icago.J to occupy the post and b Id a" fort. I he sc.ld.ers were conducted bv land to UK-jr cles^ nnat on by Lieutenant James S Swearingen. he U I racy." came from Detroit to the «- the St. Joseph Rtver. Captain Whistler, wtfe and young son, Oeorge; also his eldest son. Lieutenant H illia.n Whistler, with his young bride. This party left the schooner at St. Joseph River, and came thence to Chicago in a row boat, Mrs. W illiam Whistler who visited Chicago in the fall of 1S75, states that .in her arrival, 111 1803, there were here but four cabins or traders huts. These were occupied bv Canadian French. With their Indian wives * She mentions the names of three: I.eMai, Ouilmette and Pettell. I'ossiblv the other was the " house." mentioned bv William Burnett In the spring of 1S04, John Kinzie. then residing at Bertrand, or Pare aux Yaches, near Xiles. Mich purclucsed the property of I.eMai. and, with his wife and infant son, John H. Kuuie. came to live at Chicago. On his arrival he immediately moved into the old cabin of Le -Mac which he gradually enlarged and improved, until, as years rolled by, it was transformed into a comfortable hospitable home - the only home of a while settler in h,t;i,g" f,)1r man-v >'ears' '» this house, which stoodf on the north Bide of the Chicago River, where it bent to the soul h. s. 1 that from its piazza -the Indian canoes could seen going down and into the lake" at the fool Of what .s now Madison Street. Mr. Kinzie lived until late in 1X27. except during the four vcars, from the summer of 1812 to the summer or fall of l8[6 - the time intervening between the destruction and rebuilding of l-ort Dearborn.

John Kinzie, justly called the " Father of Chicago," was born in Quebec, about the year 176,. His father was John Mckenzie, or McKinzie, a Scotchman, who married Mrs. Haliburton, a widow with one daughter, and WC«I While John, their only child, was an infant. Mrs,Mckmzie subse.piently married William Forsvth, a merchant, of a Sc otch Presbyterian fam.lv. who settled m Hlackwater. Ireland, emigrated from that place to New \ork in 1750. sc-rved under Wolfe, in 1759, and a tu ward became a resident of Onc-lrcc. So,,,, after this marriage, the l-orsyth family, including the children of Mrs orsyth by her former marriages, removed to New Yor* t Ity. where they resided many years, and removed thence to Detroit. While residing in New York, John Kuu,e was placed in a school at W'illiamsburgh. Long Is and w.th two of his Forsyth half-brothers : a negro it found no "Johnny Kinzie." Kviden.lv. an adventurous life was attractive, even to the lad' of "ten or eleven years, tor he had left books and studies and taken passage on a sloop Imt.nd for Allan v, resolved to SSJS yt °, hu °ld, ^?m« Quebec and there seek F.irtuii t 1 , -v which he might earn his own living. I .rtun.itely, he found a friendlv fellow passenger, bv lime to Detroit.* Young kinzie early became an Indian trailer, anil also acquired a reputation as silversmith in Detroit. His early trade with the Indians was with the Shawnees and Ottawas. his houses being established at Sandusky, and on the Mauniee. During these years he formed a marriage relation with Margaret Mckenzie, a young girl of American parentage, who had been for many years a captive among the Indians in Ohio, and who. doubtless, was ransomed by kinzic, and taken to Detroit as his wife.

From the year 1775 until the surrender of Comwalli> at Yorktown, October 19. 1781. open war prevailed between the Virginia colonists and the Hritish forces under Lord Dtinmorc. the newly appointed Coventor of the Colony. The Yirginia convention, which met at Richmond, March io, 1775, to appoint delegates to the new Continental Congress, took measures for enrolling companies of volunteers in each county. Lord Dunmore proclaimed martial law Novemlnrr 7 of the same vear. took |>ossession of Norfolk, and continued a predatory warfare along the coast until the fall of 1776. During the progress uf this so-called " Dunmore W ar." when the western portion of Virginia was at the mercy of any foe friendly to the Hritish, Isaac McKcnzie and his family were living in Oilcs County, Yirginia, near the Kenewha River. A band of Shawnees from Ohio, in one of their hostile incursions, attacked his cabin, which they destroyed, anil murdered all his family, except two daughter* - Margaret, a little girl of ten years, and Elizabeth, two years younger. Mr. Mckenzie escaped, but the girls were carried captive to the great village of the tribe, at Chillicolhe. where they were kept in charge of the chief. After about ten years' captivity, they were taken, or found their way. to Detroit. Margaret became the wife of John kinzic and the mother of his three elder children - William, lames and Elizabeth, The younger sister became the wife of a Mr. Clark, a Scotch trader, and the mother of his two children - John R. and Elizabeth After a separation of manv vears, Mr. Mckenzie, the father of the lust girls, also came to Detroit, and there found his daughters. He remained with them for a time; then relumed to Yirginia. accompanied by both his daughters, with their children, from whence Margaret never returned. Whatever might have been the cause of the separation, it was a final one. John kinzie and his wife, Margaret, never met again.

I'he county record- at Detroit show, in May. 1795, a conveyance irf land on the Mauniee to John kinzie and Thomas Forsyth of Detroit, by the Ottawa Indians; also bv the same' Indians. November, 1 797. a conveyance of land bv the same Indians to " John kinzie. silversmith, of Detroit." About the year 1800, Mr. kinzie removed to the St. Joseph River, Michigan, and (luring that year was married to Mrs. Eleanor l.ylfe Mckillip. whose former husband, a Hritish officer, was accidentally killed at Fort Defiance in 1794, leaving her a w idow with a young daughter, Margaret. The trading house of Mr. kinzie was on the St. Joseph River. His son, John Harris kinzie, was born at Sandwich, opposite Dc troit, July 7. 180,?. The young boy was soon taken to the St. Joseph River, and there the faintly remained until Mr. kinzie bought the trading house of I.eMai, and Settled at Chicago in the Spring of 1804.

John kinzie came to this new location in the prime of itis life - strong, active and intelligent - his life sobered by experience, but his heart kindly and generous He was beloved by the Indians, and his influence over them was very great. He acquired the reputation of being, far r.w/hmr, "the Indians' friend," and through the most fearful scenes of danger, Shawnec-aw-kec. the Silverman, and his family, moved unscathed.

The eight years following his location at Chicago, passed quietly. He attended to the business of his trading-house, which rapidly increased. Before 1805 he had visited Milwaukee, established a trading-post, and made many friends among the Indians there."* He also had a branch of the parent house at Rock River, others on the Illinois and kankakee, and one in the region afterward Sangamon County. This extended Indian trade made the employment of a large number of men at headquarters a necessity, and the Canadian voyageurs in the service of Mr. kinzie were about the only white men who had occasion to visit Chicago during those early years. Mr. kinzie was sutler for the garrison at the fort in addition to his Indian trade, and also kept Up his manufacture of the ornaments in which the Indians delighted. During the first residence of Mr. and Mrs. John kinzie in Chicago three children were born to them - Ellen Marion, in December, 1805 ; Maria Indiana,! in 1807 : and Robert Allen. February 8, 1X10: Margaret Mckillip. Mr. kinzic's step-daughter, who married Lieutenant l.inai Helm of Fort Dearborn, and also Robert Forsyth, nephew of Mr. kinzie, were at times members of his family, the latter being the rirst teacher of John H. kinzie. From the county records at Detroit.} it appears that Mr. kinzie and John Whistler. Jr.. were partners in business in September. 1810, and that Thomas Forsyth w;i> also connected 111 business with Mr. kinzie in Chicago, during the sune year.

In the spring of 181 2, Mr. kinzie had an encounter with John l.alime. Indian interpreter at Fort Dearborn, which proved fatal to the latter. The facts of this unfortunate occurrence as related to the writer by an eye-witnessS of the deed, were to the effect that an animosity had long existed between l.alime and Mr. kinzie. but no acts of. violence had ever occurred. That un the day in question, Mr. kinzie left his house unarmed and went across the river to the fort, on all errand. Having completed his business, he started to return and was followed by l.alime. Just as he passed the enclosure, and the gate was being shut for th« night. Lieutenant Helm, who was officer of the day. called out to him to beware of l.alime. who wa- then close- Ihehini! him. He turned, grappled with 1-alime. and wrested his pistol from him, which was discharged in the struggle, but without harm. La lime had a dirk also in his belt, and while the two men were on the ground, this was thrust into his side, inflicting a fatal wound. During the excitement Mr. kinzie was also wounded, and reached his home holding a bloody handkerchief to his side. He was concealed in the woods until night and then taken to Milwaukee by some ot the Indians, where he was kept in the house of Mr Mirandcau, the father of Mrs. l'orthier, until the facts

Of lllC case were known, and it was safe for him to return. Mr. I.alimc had warm friends at the fort, and until it was known that the killing was accidental and the struggle, on Mr. Kinzie's part, in self-defense, great anger was excited, and many threats were made against him. The verdict rendered' bv the officers at the fort, on the examination of the circumstances, was "justifi. able homicide," and Mr. Kinzie returned to Chicago as soon as his wound was healed.

Save this affair, time passed peacefully away for eight years. Then came the fright of April, 1S1 2, when the dwellers at " Lee's Place " were murdered by the Indians, followed, on August 15, by the massacre of the garrison of Fort Dearborn*

Mr. Kinzie removed his family to the fort for protection, at the time of the Indian outrage of April 7, and they were yet living there when it was evacuated on the 15th of August. Having determined to accompany the troops himself, believing he could afford them some protection, he entrusted his family - now consisting of wife and four children , John IL, nine years of age. and Lllen, Maria and Robert, younger: to the care of his dcrk, John Baptiste Chamlonnait, and two friendlv Indians upon whose fidelity he could relv, who we're to convey them in a boat to his former home at Hertrand on the St. Joseph River. Mr. Kin/ie left the fort with the garrison. The boat, leaving a little later, had been taken on y to the mouth of the river, where now is the OOt of Madison Street, when a message was received from Mr. Kinzie, ordering it to proceed no further. The family accordingly remained at that point under the protection of the friendly Indians, until, after the loss of about two-thirds the number of the garrison, the massacre was stayed by the surrender of the survivors, with he s relation that their lives should be spared, and they should be delivered at some British post. It hdmr then considered safer for the Kinzie family return the" dSS^? t'U » t,rdfSS vig,la,,ce ,jf «* neighboring ch efs, Rlack Partridge. Waubansee and Caldwell the Sauganash, who proved in this emergency that an ! than can be a faithful friend. On the iSth of August

American prisoners. Mr. Kinzie was then taken to Quebec to be sent thence to England. The vessel upon which he was placed, when a few days out, was chased by an American frigate and driven to Halifax, and, on a second attempt to make the passage, sprung a-leak, and was obliged to return to port. Mr. Kinzie was once more confined in Quebec, but soon released and allowed to return to his family in Detroit, then the headquarters of General Harrison.

While residing in Detroit, Mr. Kinzie was a witness to the treaty made with the Indians at Spring Wells, near that post, on September 8, 1815. He is on record] October, 1815, as a partner of Thomas Forsyth. In 1816, John and Eleanor Kinzie conveyed several pieces of land, one of which, described as "where I now live, and have built and made improvements," is dated June 24, 1816. In the same year - probably in the autumn- Mr. Kinzie returned with his family to Chicago, and the " Kinzie House " again became his home. He engaged in trade with the Indians, and also resumed his occupation of silversmith. After the reorganization of the American Fur Company, in 1817, although not appointed agent of the company, he was on intimate and confidential terms with the agenLs at Mackinac, and continued to do a larye business as an independent trader.* Writing to Mr. Kinzie. from Mackinac, June 22, 1817. one week after his arrival there, as agent of the American Fur Company, Ramsey Crooks says, " I am happy to learn your success in the late campaign, and sincerely hope it may continue. I look for a visit from you soon, but should that be inconvenient yet, for some 'time, any commands you may in the interim favor us with shall be duly attended to." In a letter written to Governor Cass, a day later, he speaks of the success of Mr. Kinzie in his ventures during the past year. By letters published elsewhere in this volume, it will I* seen that Mr. Kinzie was actively engaged in the fur trade, after his return to Chicago, in 1816. In September. 1818. he signed as a witness, with title of sub-agent, the treaty of St. Marys. Ohio. In the summer of 1818, he sent his son John to Mackinac, to be indentured to the American h ur Company. Mr. Crooks writes to Mr. Kinzie, August 15, 1818, that John reached the place "in good health, which has continued ever since." It would seem that he sent his son in company with Mr. Cliandonnait.f his former clerk, as Mr. Crooks alludes to the fact of buying skins brought bv him - the price of which does not meet his Kinzie's "expectations."

On the 5th of June, 1821, Mr. Kinzie was recommended as Justice of the Peace for Pike County - apparently the first for that district, but it does not appear that he was commissioned

... In a11 the '^teis written by Mr. Crooks to Mr. Kinzie he speaks in terms of commendation of |ohn, and the following letter of Mr. Kinzie - the only one from his pen now accessible, shows his appreciation of the value of meriting the confidence of the agents of the Company, and enables the reader to form a just estimate of the man. The letter is to his son, at Mackmac, and is dated August 19, 1821:

iW S"" '~\ re«'Vl--<l your letter by the schooner. Nothm2 Rues roc m.M-csaliNfactirm than to hear from you and of vou. luloes 1 , . - . !Ty 1 \ and >'our m"»her a pleasure to hear how your tonulVi, .1- by ever>" "nc ihut hoPes ><"' every advantage. Rather let lh,s simulate you to continue the worthy man, f« a

Modern Chicago And Its Settlement

I have been reduced in wages, owing to the economy of the Government. My interpreter's salary is no more, and I have but $100 to subsist on. It does work mc hard sometimes to provide l<.r your sisters and bi ither* on this, tad maintain on family in I decent manner. I will have to take new measures. I hate to change houses, but I have been requested to wait Conaiil's arrival We are all mighty busy, as the treaty commences to-morrow and

The U. S. Indian Agency was established at Chicago in 1804, and re-established In 1816, when Mr Kinzie was appointed sub-agent, under Charles Jouett. He served in the same capacity under Dr. Alexander Wolcott, and also as Indian interpreter for a short time. December 2, 1813, he was recommended as a Justice of the Peace for Fulton County, and July 28, 1825. was appointed Justice of the Peace for Peoria Coitntv. After the death we have hordes of Indians around us already. My best respects to Mr. Crooks and Stewart, and all the gentlemen of your house. " Adieu. I am your loving Father."

Mr. Kinzie's name appears as sub-agent ami witness to the treaty of Chicago, August 29, 1821, which was signed in the immediate neighborhood of his residence - probably between his house and the agency-house, a little west. The accepted spelling is Kinzie, not as above.

Mr. Kinzic, appealed to by Governor Cass, spoke to the Indians, who were discontented with the annuities granted them, in the following words ; " You must recollect that when I first spoke to you about the annuity at St Mary's, I told you I could offer only two thousand dollars, You said it was too little. I took this answer to your father, who said that the annuity was small, because you had sold but a small tract of country ; but he authorized me to give a little more, and when I returned, I offered you five hundred dollar more, which you agreed to, and upon this the treaty was signed. Mr. Bertrand was also present, and can speak to this point."

of John Crafts, in the latter part of 1825, Mr. Kinzic was appointed agent of the American Fur Company, and as early as the fall of 1827, with his family, he took his final leave of the old house as a home. One of his daughters, the wife of Dr. Wolcott, lived in a building within the walls of Fort Dearborn, then without a garrison. The residence of Colonel Hcaubien was close beside the south wall of the fort, and there Mr. Kinzic was living at the time of his death. On Monday, January 0, 1828, while visiting his daughter, Mrs. Wolcott. he was suddenly stricken with apoplexy - his second attack - and died after a very brief struggle. The funeral services were conducted within the fort, and all that was mortal of the pioneer of Chicago, was buried on the shore of Lake Michigan near by. Subsequently his remains were removed to the north side of the river, and interred just west of the present site of the water works. They were again removed to the cemetery, formerly on that portion of Lincoln Park near North Avenue and Clark Street, and once more to a final resting place at Graceland.

The esteem in which Mr. Kinzie was held by the Indians, is shown by the treaty made with the Pottawatomies, September 20, 1828. the year of his death, by one provision of which they give " to Eleanor Kinzic and her four children by the late John Kinzie, $.5,500.00, in consideration of the attachment of the Indians to her deceased husband, who was long an Indian trader, and who lost a large sum in the trade, by the credits given them, and also by the destruction of his property. The money is in lieu of a trait of land, which the Indians gave the late John Kinzie long since, and upon which lie lived."

Thk Kix/ii: Hoist. - For several years of its early existence, Chicago was simply Kurt Dearborn, and the trading establishment and house of John Kinzie. "Only this, and nothing more," save, perhaps, a few huts inhabited by half-breeds, and the wigwams of the Poilawatomies.

The cabin of I.eMai was gradually enlarged and improved by Mr. Kinzie. until what was nine a mere habitation became a comfortable home for his own family, and a hospitable shelter for every stranger that round its doors. The old home as remembered by John H. Kinzie, and described by his wife in " Watt bun," was a "long, low building with a piazza extending along its front, a range of four or live rooms. A broad green space was enclosed between it and the river, and shaded by a row of Lombard)- poplars. Two immense cottonwood trees stood in the rear of the budding. A line, well-cultivated garden extended to the north of the dwelling, and surrounding it were various buildings appertaining io the establishment - dairv. bake-house lodging-house for the Frenchmen, and stables.-"

A vast range of sand-hills, covered with stunted cedars, pines, and dwarf- willow trees, intervened between the house and the lake, which was, at this time, not more than thirty roils distant, between the house and Port Dearborn was kept up a foot ferry - a little boat swinging in the river, for the use of any passenger. Directly in front of its door the river bent to the south, around UK fort, and could be seen at the point where it emptied into the lake. A beautiful picture of this early Chicago home, as described bv John H. Kinzie. long vears after it ceased to exist, is drawn in the old Chicago Magazine of .857. The editor* says, speaking of Mr. Kinzie:

I ht Umhardy poplar,, which perished long ago, lbe coltoo. -roads which ..net- were saplings planted by hi, own hand, ami nhieh have stood until the more recent davs a, mementoes .if the past; the rough-hewn log, which formed the wall at M« home the garden anil ihe shrubbery, the feme piling that surrounded il.'and

UK palisades, glistening ln tne bright sun. while a gentle alone of green grass extended from the enclosure to the very w er? lie I was a beaunful dght , Ivcr all thi, rose the few palsaoons oX man progress, a, *«, an occasional stray Indian, with hi, canoe

In this house, the first white child of Chicago - K leu Mar.on kinzie -was born in December. ,804. 1 he little maiden played around her home, until danger came t<H, near, escaped n all, and returned with her parents to LhtcagO and her birthplace, to lice the old home, until on the roth of July, ,8«, she was married under its r<M,f |>r Alexander Wolcott.f then Indian Agent became the first Chicago bride, and the Kinzie

Kmz 2? "!? C,lica«° Wt'<ldi»K- Maria . K nz.e afterward the w.fe of General David Hunter was born herein ,807. and Robert Allen, youngest son «( John and Eleanor, on February 8, ,8 to

The Kinzie house was no gloomy home. Up to the very time of their enforced removal, the children "danced to the sound of their father's iolin," and linking hours of frontier life were made merry with sport and play Later, the primitive court of Justice Kinzie must have been held in its " spare room," if spare room there was. In 1829, after the old master who lived, there so long, had gone to his rest, it was used for a lime as a store, by Anson H, Taylor, and later, in March. 18.51. was the residence* and probably the office of Mr. Bailey, the first Postmaster of Chicago. Its best days were past when the family of Mr. Kinzie left it, and after 1831 and 18,52. when Slark Noble occupied it

Its decaying logs were used by the Indians and emigrants for fuel, and the drifting sand of Lake Michigan was fast piled over its remains. No one knows when it finally dis.ippenrcd. but with the growth of the new town, this relic of the early day of Chicago passed from sight to Ik- numbered among the things that were.

In 1808 Tecumseh and his brother Laulewasikan Open Door . who was related on the paternal side to the KickapiHis. removed from the old home of the ShawnecM in < >hio to a tract of laud on the Wabash River given them by the Pottawatomics and Kickapoos. Tecumseh had long objected to the grants of lands made by the Indians to the whites, and. with his brother, now engaged in a systematic effort to unite the Northwestern tribes in a confederacy, by which each tribe should Ikc pledged to make treaties or cede lands only with the consent of the league. During the year 1809, Tecumseh and the Prophet were actively engaged in this work, ami they were exasperated almost to madness, when by the treaty made at Port Wavne in September of that year, certain Western tril>es, including the Pottawatomies and Kickapoos. ceded tothe Cnited States through its commissioner. General Harrison, lands on the Wabash and White livers, which Tecumseh claimed belonged to the Shawnees, of whom he was the principal chief. Tecumseh was no party to the treaty, and maintained that the cession of land was illegal and unjust, and that he was in no wise bound by its terms. A council was appointed and held at Vineennes, August 12. 1810, to settle the difficulty if possible. It ended in a bitter and angry dispute lntwcen General Harrison and Tecumseh. The former maintained the legality of the treaty of i8oy, and his determination to hold and defend the ceded lands ; the latter, in an impassioned and fiery speech, denounced the whites and their aggressions, and declared that bv the terms of the great Indian league all lands were held in common - that all the tribes constituted one nation, and that without the consent of all no treaty of purchase anil cession was valid. He left the council more than ever determined to unite the Indians against the American intruders; a purpose more readily accomplished by reason of ill feeling existing between Great Britain' and the L'nited Stales, now steadily strengthening through the intrigues of English agents and traders in the Northwest. Soon after the council at Vineennes, Tecumseh and ihe Prophet visited the various Pottawatomie bands on the Illinois and its waters, including those of Shawlionee, Billy Caldwell, Senachwinc. Gonio. Main Poc, Black Partridge, I-etourneau or the Blackbird, and others, to induce them to join the confederacy and pledge themselves to sell no more land to the Americans. He received from the most of them little encouragement, but the visit evidently had its effect, as attacks on the while settlers of- Illinois soon followed.

In July, 1810, the Pottawatomies of the Illinois made a raid upon a settlement in Missouri, op(>osite the mouth of the Gasconade, stealing property and murdering several settlers, among whom was Captain Cole. The Governor of Missouri General William ( lark made a requisition upon Governor Ninian Edawards of Illinois, for the murderers. They had taken refuge with Main Foe.* the war chief of the tribe, then residing near Peoria Lake, hut whose village was on the Kankakee, just above the forks. They were never recovered. The following letter from General Harrison in relation to this affair, which has been deposited, with other papers Injlonging to Governor Edwards, with the Chicago Historical Society, is of interest to Chicago, showing the dangerous proximity of hostile Indians' the time the inhabitants believed thcmselvi the friendship of the neighboring least. The letter is addressed to -- Ceneral William Clark, Indian Agent, St. lamia:"

" Vim-en xks. 19th June, 1811. I have been exerting myself to lind'out where the nttawatotnies who murdered Captain Cole and his party were t., Iw found and the best mean- of apprehending them. (,v some month* past. I will now give you ihe result of my inquiries 011 the sub. jccl. Ihe chiefs of the Pottawatomies all acknowledge that the murderers belong to their tribe. Several of the principal ones were at Kort Wayne early thi* spring, and informed Captain Wells that they had put themselves under the protection of Main l\.v, tlM great war chief of the trilw, who resides upon the Illinois kivcr. One of these, however, spent the last winter with the I sent Wcllst up to the town of the latter in April last, 1 whether they were there and what would be the mc*t likely means of getting hold of them, and four others of the same tribe, who bad HI the beginning of thai month stolen fourteen horses from this neignborhood. In his report Wells informed me thai the murderers were not there ; that thev lived on the Illinois River and were only occasionally on ihe Wabash. I w<mld immediately have communicated this information 1.1 von. but as I still h...l a man at the Prophet'* village, I waited his return to know whether he would bring any further intelligence. A few days ago he arrived, and with him a young Indian, who formerly lived with me. and who is the son-in-law of Onoxa i«- Five Medals, a principal I'ottawatomie chief, Onoxa desired the voung man to inform me thai there was no probability of the murderers being delivered up. and thai there was no wa» of getting them but by sending a par tv of men and taking them wherever thev would be found. Ilroiulettc, the young maa above mentioned, savs that I Pottawa- ,,,:n' a- -.Ik- I v,.pher'> (own when he left it, with one ul llti horses taken from Cole, but he d.ies not know whether he was one of the party that took him. I have on the 23d April written to the secretary of War for particular instruction on the subject of them fellow*, but have not vet received an answer. I think, however that a formal demand had better be made of Main I'oc b\ Cuveni.iT Edwards, as they are certainly within his jurisdiction, and I will cause the same thing to be done of the chiefs who attend at lost Wayne to receive their annuity. There is not, however, the smallest probability of their being surrendered. I have no doubt "I the good disposition of Tupcnnibe,; the principal chief of the tribCtOnoaa and many others, but the tribe is so large and Mattered lhat they have no control over the distant parts, indeed very little the young men that are about them I am therefore certain out there is no other mode of bringing the culprits In justice but W sewing them ourselves. All the information that I receive from h , , .':ln cuun,rv confirms the rooted enmity of the Prophet to the I . S, and his determination to commence hostilities as *oon as he thinks himself sufficiently strong. Krom the uncommon insolence which he and his patty have lately manifested, I am inclined to believe that a crisis is fast approaching. A Frenchman 'lescending the Wabash about ten tlavs ago was robbed of his pirogue and some small quantitv of goods ; but the most daring piece of insolence that they have yet ventured upon is lhat of seizing Ihe salt destined for the tribes above them. The pirogue which I sent up with it returned last evening and the man who had charge of her re|>oris that he stopped at the Prophet's village and 1 him three barrels of salt intended for him, and that he was ordered to slop until a Council was held, and the whole was then taken from him. If our government will submit to this insolence, it will l>e the means <,f making all the tribes treat us with contempt.

" I do not recollect anything of the claim of llriam which von mention in your last. I may perhaps have received the papers and sent them to K.wt Wayne but I have forgollen it. I will thank you to state the particulars.

I'rior to the time the above letter was written, Matthew Irwin, I'. S. Factor at Chicago, hail given notice to the Secretary of War of the machinations of the I'rophet to incite the Indians on the Illinois to hostilities against the whites. The following letter was written by John l.alime*. Indian interpreterat Fort Dearborn, to General William Clark, at St. Louis, giving information of the thefts to which General Harmon aliudes in his communication to General Clark.

"Cllic.ua). Ifith May, lit I, " Sir: - An Indian from the 1'eofias passctl here ycslerdav, ami has given me information that the Indians about that place have been about the settlements of Ka*ka«kia and Vinccnnes. and have stolen Irom fifteen to twenty horses It appears by the infornialion given me lhat the principal actors are two brothers of the wife of Main I'oc. lie is residing at the Peorias. m a little above it, at a place they call Prairie tin lorbeaii. By the express going to Karl Wayne. I u ill communicate this to the agent. I presume, Sir. that you w ill communicate this to the Coventor of K-iskaskia anil to Ceneral Harrison. I am. sir, with respect,

Lalime again wrote on the 7th of July, iSit, to John Johnson. I". S. Factor at Fort Wayne, giving information of the murder of young Cox and the capture of his sister. The letter reads:

" Sin - Since my last to you we have news of other depredations antl murders committed about the settlement of Cahokia. The first news we received was that the brothers in-law of Main IW went down and stole .1 number of horses. Second, another party «ent down, siole MOM horses, killed a man, and took oft a young woman, but thev being pursued, were obliged to leave her to va\e themselves. Third, the* have !>ccn there, and killed and destroyed a whole family. The cause of it, or in pari, is from the l.iitle Chief that came last fall to sec Governor Harrison, under the feigned name of Wapewa. He told the Indians that he had told the Coventor lhal the Americans were settling on their lands; and asked him what should be done with them. He told the Indians that the Coventor had told them they were bad people, lhat they must drive them off, kill their cattle and steal Iheir horses, etc. being the quarter ending with the 30th of June, I am busy with the factory, and have a number of Indians here paying their visit tn Captain Healil, Krom 1 how circumstances, I hope. Sir, yaa will excuse mv hurry. Please give rav respects to Mrs. Johnson. '" I am with respecti Sir,

"J. LALIME." The murders alluded to in the letter of Mr. Lalime. had recently been committed. On the 2d of June, 181 1, the Indians surrounded the house of Mr. Cox on Shoal Creek, and finding only a young son and a daughter at home, killed the former and carried off the daughter a prisoner - antl also stole horses and other property. On the return of Mr. Cox, he assembled the settlers to the number of some eight or tin, ami gave pursuit. The Indians were overtaken about fifty miles north of the present city of Springfield, and the girl was recovered. Mr. Price and Mr. Ellis, two settlers who lived where now is the city of Alton, were murdered the same month of the Cox outrage, while at work in their cornfields. In order to induce the Indians to give up these murderers, and restore the stolen property, as well as in the hope of preventing such depredations in the future, a council was appointed by Governor Ninian Edwards, to be held at Peoria on the 1 6th of August, 1S1 1. Captain Samuel Levering, as representative of the Governor, started from Cahokia for Peoria July 25, tSn. He was accompanied by Captain Herbert Henry Swearingen and eight boatmen, who were to act as soldiers in case of emergency. On the 3d of August they arrived at Peoria, where they met Thomas Forsyth, the Indian Agent, who had long resided among the Indians, and thoroughly understood their language. He acted as interpreter. Gomo or Masseno.thc principal chief of the Pottawatomie* at Peoria, sent out his runners to summon the various chiefs on the river and in the surrounding country to the council, which was held on the 16th of August. Among the chiefs present were the Blackbird known by the French as Letoumeau, and by the surrounding Indians as Mucketcpennese ';, U'aubansec, Little Chief or Main Poc, Black Partridge, Senachwiue and others. The message of Governor Edwards was read to them, in which he made a formal and positive demand that the murderers of the Illinois settlers should be handed over to justice, and the stolen horses be restored to their owners ; otherwise. "Storms and hurricanes, and the thunder and lightning of heaven cannot be more terrible, than would be the resentment of their Great Father."

The chiefs were divided as to the policy of giving up the murderers, as they averred that they were under the protection of the Prophet, or tribes hostile to the Americans. Gomo, whose village was at the head of Peoria Lake, near that of Black Partridge, thought it was possible to recover and give them up ; but Main Poc, the war chief of the tribe, who lived on the Kankakee, and who was alluded to as -- Little Chief," by Mr. Lalimc, in his letter to the " Agent at Fort Wavne," declared " they were with the Shawanoc Prophet and he might as well kill himself as try to get them." In his speech, Main Poc said :

" You astonish me with your talk. Whenever you do wrong there is nothing said or done, but when we do anvthing you immediately take us and lie us by the neck with a rope. You see our situation to-day, we the Pottawatomie*, thippewas and Ottawa*. The Shawanoe Prophet blames us lo-dav for not listening to him ; you do the same, and we are now on "a balance which side to take. If our young men behave amis*, blame the Shawanoe I rophct for it. 1 hese young men upbraid us, for thev sav 1 You give the Americans your hand, and some dav they will' knock vou in the head. I his is the occasion of the late depredations among the Potlawatom.cs Observe what you nid yesterday : you said that you would kill our wives and children fur these murders Ihem men did not go from among us, but from the Shawanoe Pro-

Ct. I-rom here they went and done the mischief and returned k again. Perhaps you never heard of the Prophet before So now I ,ell u ,o you ; since he has been on the Wabash he has told he young mcn lhat . w,,, ^ |h<; d lha| ^ treated, and more than that, the Americans will be traitors to them wW ft*, l° m»ker*" il « altogether of yourselves. You Z X ,u fi. hcc;wVf o»r women and children in case of war > on he other hand, what will become of your women and children > U is better to avoid war. There is one horse in my vill-Z There were three - two died. I will take tlv»t , , 1!' 8 - ' nearer njytow n. The grca^r r^lt ° , nXc' Uken summir the Agent at Chicago told them not to purchase any stolen horses, but this snmmcr the commanding ofliccf has demanded the horses, and I intend taking that one and delivering 11 to hint at t'hieago."

Gomo also made a speech which, though friendly, showed the increasing dissatisfaction of the Indians with the encroachments of the whites, and particularly with their building forts, from which they inferred that the Americans intended to make war upon them and* dispossess them of their country. At the final adjournment of the council two horses only were delivered up, - the murderers were not found, and the council ended with still more bitter feelings on both sides.

In the fall succeeding this council on the Illinois River, Harrison took Bp his march for the Wabash. He had previously sent an agent to the village of the Prophet on the Tippecanoe River, to make one more effort to conciliate Tecumseh, who was there, but the interview ended in making the haughty warrior more determined than before, and on its termination he immediately set out for the South to secure the alliance of the Chickasaws, Creeks and Choctaws in the coming conflict which be anticipated.

During his absence. General Harrison marched with a small army to the Wabash, ascended that river to Tippecanoe, or Prophetstown, and encamped near. He was attacked in November, by the Prophet and his followers, who were completely routed, and their village broken up and destroyed. When Tecumseh returned from the South, he joined the British at Maiden, and thenceforth used all his influence and power to secure the alliance of the Illinois tribes for his new friends, sending messengers with bribes to buy their friendship if not their active co-operation.

The growing animosity of the Indians toward the Americans, and their friendliness toward the British, in* iluced Governor PIdwards to tall another council in the spring of 181 2, 'This was held at Cahokia, and was attended by all the prominent chiefs of the Pottawatoniies, Kickapoos, Chippcwas and Ottawas on the Illinois. 'The Indians were disappointed at the failure of the Prophet to fulfill his promises, and his defeat at Tippecanoe had lessened their faith in his pretensions. Their professions of loyalty to the American cause were profuse. Chiefs, who participated in the massacre at Chicago, a few months later, by their spokesman, Gomo, asserted, in the strongest term's, their determination never to join the British. Thev told Captain Hebert, the commissioner sent by the Governor, of the attempts of the English to induce the warriors of Main Poc's band to go to war against the Americans, and their resolution to remain in peace ; of their desire to have a U.S. Factor at Peoria, only that "on account of the Winnebagoes. who are now raging about, he might be killed, and they should be blamed ; " and declared that " whatever the English may do," the Americans might " rest assured that the four nations here, will never join th'-m." At the time of this council, a description of the Illinois River, and the tribes residing on it and its branches, was prepared for Governor Fid wards from which the following extract, giving the tribes at and above Peoria Lake, is taken :

" The Pottawatomie* were divided at that time (May, 181 i), into several bands on the Illinois River ; that of Gomo. consisting of about one hundred and fifty men. at the north end of Peoria Lake ; Pepper's band at Sand River (River ail Sable), about two leagues below the Ouinqui-quee (Kankakcer, consisting of about two hundred men, and of different nations, Pottawatomie*. Chippewas and Ottawas. I.etuurneau (the Hlaekbird),* and Mittitasse are of this band. Main Poc's band lies seven leagues up the Ouintiui-qucc, consisting of about fifty men. The other Pottawatomie* lielong to the River St. Joseph, in which river there are three or fnur villages. In the Fox River, which empties itself into the Illinois River nt the Charbonicrc (or Coalpit) about thirtv.five leagues above Peoria, is another band of Pottawatomie*, Chippcwas anil Ottawa*. mixed together. Wabccsauw (Waubunsee) is their leailer. This is a small band, about thirty. The Kce-kaa-poos aredivided in three bands : Pamawatam's hand, consisting of about one hundred men. exclusive of those at the Prophet's. He has left the old tillage, and is ikiw making his village on Peoria t.ake. The Little I Jeer has also abandoned their great village, and is now forming his village opposite Como's (on Peoria Lake). Mis band may consist of about seventy men. exclusive of those with the Prophet. Then is. at least, fifty of this band with the Prophet, and as niauv of the Pottawatomie*. At Little Makina (below Peoria Lalie), the south side of the Illinois, is a band headed by no particular chief, but led generally by warriors. Leltouw. or Sulkv. is generally

Chicago situated, with regard to the surrounding Indians, when Captain Heald received, on the 7th of August, the order to evacuate Fort Dearborn,

Fort Dearborn

In the month of August, 1795, General Anthony Wayne, called by the Indians "The Tempest," terminated the war that had raged in the Northwest for a number of years, by a treaty of peace signed at Greenville, Ohio. By this treaty, the Indians ceded to the United States a number of tracts of lands, ami among others "one piece of land, six miles square, at the looked upon as the main chief. At the camping place of Chicago, three leagues from the I .ake Michigan, or Chicago Fort, is a village of Pottawatomie*, Chippewa* and Ottawa*, of aUmt thirlv men. Co-wa-bee mai is their chief. [On the rude map, accompanying this description, Co-wa-bce-mai's village is placed at the point marked ' Portage, three leagues from the Chicago Fort." From the junction of the Kankakee and iJesplaines, is written

Ifwm here (the forks), to the lake twenty leagues, and is called S 7?*.°- J '-*av>»g Chicago to go to Makina, on the south side of (I-ake) Michigan, is q river called the 1 Little Calnmick,' about nve leagues from Chicago. Mere is a village consisting of about one hundred men. Old Campignan is their chief. He has a lurnt hand and nose broken, but it was reported this spring that he was killed in going to Niagara from Detroit. Maii-non-gai,* who was his second, probably now will be their chief. At the

11 ir lhc <^um-«lu«-<lu«! Illinois River loses its name, and is called from here Chicago River to the lake, a distance of about twenty leagues. On the north (west) side of Uke Michigan, vhieage* Fort, »wl thirty leagues from Chicago is River -Mill-waa-kee. There arc. generallv, several villages of Pottawntomics here."

The village of Black Partridge . Muck-otey-pokee: was on the south side of the Illinois River, opposite the head of Peoria Lake: Topenebe and Winnemeg were 0,1 the St. Joseph River. Thus were the settlers at mouth of the Chicago River, emptying into the southwest end of Lake Michigan, where a fort formerly stood." What this fort was or by whom erected, is now chiefly matter of conjecture. In 1718, James Logan, an agent of Governor Keith, of Pennsylvania, was sent to explore some of the routes to the Mississippi. Among others, he reports as to the route by way of the River (.'hicagou, as follows :

" From Lake Huron they pass by the Strait of Michilimakina four leagues, being two in breadth, and of a great depth, to the Lake llliitoise : Ihence one hundred and hlty league* to Fort Miamis, situated at the month of the Kivcr Chicagou. This fort is not regularly garrisoned."

About this time, or shortly after, the fort was probably entirely abandoned. At all events, at the time of the treaty of Greenville, the oldest Indians then living had no recollection of a fort ever having been at that place.*

Rumors that a garrison would be stationed at Chicago were in circulation as early as 1798, but it was not until 1803 that the fort was established. In July, 1803, a company of United State* soldiers, under the command of Captain John Whistler, arrived at the Chicago Kivcr. antl during that Hummer ami autumn built what has since been known as the first Fort Dearborn, named after General Henry Dearborn, at that time Secretary of W ar.

.Nearly all the histories which give any account of Port Dearborn say that it was established in the year 1K04. but in volume li, p. 175. American State I'apers, there appears the following return :

The fort stood on the south sitle of the Chicago River, at the liend where the river turned to enter the lake. It had two block-houses, one on the southeast corner, the other at the northwest, t >n the north side a subterranean passage leading from the. parade ground to the river, designed as a place of escape in an entergency, or for supplying the garrison with water in time of a siege. The whole was enclosed by a strong palisade of wooden pickets. At the west of the fort ami fronting north on tin- river was a two-story log building, covered with split oak siding, which was the I'nitCtl States agency-house. On the shores of the river, between the fort and the agency, were the root-houses or cellars of the garrison. The ground on the south side was enclosed and cultivated as a garden Three pieces of light artillery comprised the armament of the fort.

Captain John Whistler, the builder ami first commandant of Kurt Dearborn, was a native of Ireland. He was a British soldier in Burgoyne's army, and was taken prisoner at the time of the surrender of that army at Saratoga, After the war he married and settled in Hagcrstuwn, Md., where his sou William was bom He enlisted in the American Army and took part in the Northwestern Indian war. Hc'served tinder St. Clair, and afterwards under General Wavne. He was speedily promoted, rising through the lower grades to a lieuteuantcyin 1792, and became captain July 1, 1797. In 1814 he was a senior captain and brevet-major, having command at Fort W ayne. He rebuilt the fort in 1X.5, and removed to St. Charles, Mo., in 1817. In 1818 he was military storekeeper at St. Louis, and died in 1827 at Kellefontaine. Mo. He was a brave and efficient officer, and became the progenitor of a line of brave and efficient soldiers. His son, William W histler, will be noticed later as one of the commandants of the fort. Another son. George W. Whistler, graduated at West I oint m 1814, and served in the army until 1833, when lie resigned. He became a distinguished engineer, and in 1842 was appointed by the Russian Government to superintend the construction of railroads in Russia General J. ». G. Whistler, a son of William W histler, is now serving in the annv.

Life at the fort was dull enough during the early SESJ! rr \ to disturb the monotony of garrison life An occasional band to carry awav' the furs accumulated by the traders; hunting and hsmng; the assembling of the Indians to receive their payments-; the trailing in peltries ; the occasional birth of a haby - these were the events that interested the few'pcople gathered together on this far W estern border. In 1810 Captain Nathan Heald succeeded Captain W histler as commandant of the garrison. He was a native of New Hampshire, where he was born in 1775. He entered the army when young, and was lieutenant in 1799 and captain in 1807. He married Rebekah Wells, a daughter of Captain Samuel Wells, a noted Indian fighter of Kentucky, and niece of William Wells, to be noticed hereafter.

The I'ottawatomies were the Indians of the country. Signs of discontent among tin Indians throughout the Northwest became plainly visible. The great chiefs saw with alarm the continual encroachments of the whites and their demands for more lands, which could only be satisfied by the cession of all the hunting-grounds of the Indians As early as 1806. Teeumseh and his brother, the Prophet, hail sought, anil with considerable success, to unite all the Indians in one great confederacy to withstand the whites. It is probably true that Teeumseh intended at the first to withstand the whites peaceably, but he was soon dragged into war.