Cook County, Illinois - The whole text, 1884 (part 7 of 61)

" It is a grievous thing that liovernment is not strong-handed enough to put a stop to the shameful and scandalous vile of whis. ky to these poor, miserable wretches. Hut here lie casks of it (or sale under the very eye of the commissioners, met together for purposes which demand that sobriety should be maintained were it only that no one should be able to lay at their door an accusal on of unfair dealings, and of having taken the advantage of the help, less Indian in a bargain whereby the people of the I nitcd Mates were to t>e so greatly the gainers. And Mich was ihe state of thing, day by .lay I (owever anxious I and others might be to exculpate the Unued Mates <;ovcrnmenl from the charge of cold and sclhsh policy toward the remnant of the Indian tribes, and from that of resorting to unworthy and diabolical means in attaining possession of their lands-* |1>ng a, it can w s.,i(. 'that drunkenness was not guarded against, and that Ihe means were fur- . i ""1C "f.,hc "KM* aml um,cr ,hc "«"<-- "< 'he n the way; another, the sky looked cloudy, and the Indian never £ ,1 J! mV"T\3nl Imsincis except the skv be clear. At length on the 2 st Sep.cmber. the I'ottawalomics resolved to meet he commissioners. We Mere politely invited to be present, the Jn: m?,TC lUhre *'as UKm"' » spacious open shed on upper. The palaver was opened by the principal lie requested to know why he and his colleagues were called to the council. An old warrior arose, and in short sentences, generally of five syllables, delivered with a monotonous intonation and rapid utterance, gave answer. Ilis gesticulation was appropriate, but rather violent. Kite, the half-breed interpreter, explained the signification, from time to time, to the audience; and it was seen lhat the old chief, who had got his !i>sm. answered one question by proposing another, the sum and substance of his oration being that the assembled chiefs wished to know w hat was ihe object of their (ireat Father at Washington in calling his red children together at Chicago! This was amusing enough, after Ihe full explanation given a week before at tile ojHjmng session, and particularly when it was recollected that they had feasted sumptuously during the interval at the expense uf their I ireat Father; il was not mailing very encouraging progress. A young chief arose, and spoke vehemently to the virtu- purpose. Hereupon tin- commissioner made I hen a forcible Jacksoiiion disroursc, wherein a gmsl deal which was akin to threat was mingled with exhortations not to play with their Father, but to come to an early determination whether they would or would not sell and exchange their territory; and this clone, the council was dissolved, ( hie or two tipsy old chiefs raided an occasional disturbance, else matters were conducted with due gravity. The relative positions of commissioner anil the whins before prairie, were to me strikingly impressive. The glorious light of the setting sun, streaming in under the low roof of the councilhouse, fell full on the countenances ol Ihe former as they laced the west, while Ihe pale light of the east hardly lightened up tile dark and painted lineaments of the poor Indians, whose souls evidently clave lo their birth-righl in that quarter. Kven though convinced mi tin ii-.i i ---'[', , (-.In it -err i nil, tm I - .it I i t t then) in their i rsolation and decline. Ignorant and degraded as they may have been in their original stale, their degradation is now ten-fold after years .oiirsc with the whites; and their speedy disappearance frnrr: ppcars as certain as though it were already scaled and accomplished. Your own reflection will lead you to form I lie u'lelusion, and it will lie a just one. that even if he had the will, the power would be warning for the Indian to keep his territory; and UUM ihe business of arranging the terms of an Indian treaty, whatever it might have been two hundred years ago, while the Indian trilies had not. as now, thrown aside the rude but vigorous intellectual character which distinguished many among them, now lies chiefly between the various traders, agents, creditors and halfbreeds of the tribes, on w hom custom and necessity have made the degraded chiefs dependent, ami the (iovernmcnt Agents, When the former have seen matters so far arranged that their selfinterest, and various schemes ami claims, are likely to be fulfilled and allowed to their hearts' content, the silent acquiescence of the Indian follows, of course; and till this is the case, the treaty can never be amicably effected. Ill fine, bcl-brc we quilled Chicago on the 25th, three or four days later, the treaty with the Pottawatomie* was concluded - the commissioners putting their hands, and the assembled chiefs their paws, to the same."

The commissioners on the part of the Government were: G. 15. Porter, Thomas J. V. Owen, and William Wi-atherforcl; on the part of the Indians all the chiefs and the leading men of the United Nation that could he gathered - a must motley crowd, of whom only one out of seventy-seven signed his name to the treaty without "his X mark," and probably not over half a dozen Understood the provisions of the treaty, except as explained to them imperfectly by interpreters, few of whom were themselves passable Knglish scholars.

The treaty consummated at this time was signed on September 26, 1834, and ratified by the Senate, after some unimportant changes. May 22, 1834. Its provisions and terms were as follows:

Article t ceded to the United States all the lands of the United Nation of Chippewa. Ottawa, and Pottawatomie Indians "along the western shore of Lake Michigan, and between this lake and the land ceded to the United States by the Winnebago nation, at the treaty of Fort Armstrong, made on the 15th of September, 1832: bounded on the north bv the country lately ceded by the Menominces, and on the south by the country ceded at the treaty of Prairie du Chien. made on the 29th of July, 1829, supposed to contain five millions of acres." This cession completely extinguished all the title to lands owned or claimed by the United Nation east of the Mississippi, and left the whole Northwest, with the exception of some minor and unimportant reservations, open to the settlement of whites who, henceforth, could look to the United States to protect them under its laws in any le»,al title they might acquire by pre-emption or purchase.

1 '.\ tract of land of like extent as that ceded, five million acres, situated on the east bank of the Missouri River, between the mouth of Boycr's River on the north ami the mouth of Nandovvay River on the south ; the eastern and northern boundary being the western State line of Missouri and the western boundary of the reservation of the Sacs and Foxes, north to a point from which, if a straight line be drawn to the mouth of Boyer's River, the whole tract inclosed by the said boundaries should'comprise live million acres.*

A deputation consisting of not more then fifty Indians, accompanied by live agents of the United States, were to visit the lands granted previous to the removal of the tribes, at the expense of the Government, and, on the ratification of the treaty by the United States, the tribes living within the boundaries of the State of Illinois were to remove to the new reservation immediately : those living further north, in the Territory of Wisconsin, to remain, if they desired, three years longer, unmolested and under the protection of the United States Government, and were to receive subsistence on their journey, and for one year after their arrival at their new homes.

be made as follows: $100,000 to satisfy sundry individuals in behalf of whom reservations were asked, which the commissioners refused to grant ; and also to indemnify the Chippewa tribe, who are parties to this treaty for certain lands along the shore of Lake Michigan, to which they make claims, which have been ceded to the United Slates by the Menominee Indians. The manner in which the sum was paid is set forth in schedule A, further on: §150,000, to satisfy claims made against the said United Nation, " which they have here admitted to be justly due, and directed to be paid." Who got this money appears in schedule B, hereafter : §100,000 to be paid in goods and provisions, a part to be delivered on the signing of the treaty, and the residue during the ensuing year; $2&d,ooo, to be paid in annuities of §14,000 per year for twenty years; §150,000 for the erection of nulls, houses and shops for agricultural improvements, the purchase of agricultural implements, and the support of physicians, millers, farmers, blacksmiths and such other mechanics as the President of the United States may see fit to appoint ;

- Than were the boundaries as defined in the treaty. An amendatory treaty, made r>cl,>bcr I. and siunrd hy the Cnitrd Slates CommOTir.ru «nd a minority of the chiefs nn.l head uwn of the trior, nunibenntr only srsen, of whom Caldwell m> nnr. changed the boundaries lor a ..moderation of S iwm, for the benefit of the nation, and the further sum of ti.±*> "to be paid to libolson Kerchcval for srrvlirs rendered the said I'nited Nation of Indians during the late war brtwrrn thr United Stale* I oivemmcnt and the Sat* and |-o«rs." and $1,000 to looser K. Walker, " for venues rendered the said United Nation* in brinxinn Indian prisoner* from west of the Mississippi River to Ottawa. USullt Co.. 111., for whose appi-araix. at the Circuit Court of said cosinty said nation was Utuivrt." .

The la/imdnries wrn- for the above consideration, changed as follows: " Iteiinnini: at Ihc month "f Dover's River; thence down the Missouri River, to a point thereon from which a due rast line would strike the northwest corner of the Suit o| Missouri ; thence alons said east line to the northwest corner of said Stair : thrive al.aiv- it..- bosmdary of said Stale of Missouri till it strlVrs the line of the lands of Sacs and (-'on Ind'ans; thence northwardly lion* the Kiid linr a point from which a »ol line would strike the sources of the f.illlr Sioux K.vrr ; thence alunic sa.il west line till .1 strikes the «.«««* of said river; Owner down said river to it. month; thence down the Missouri Rive. 1.. ihr place of b-xinnins - the said l«.ui.itary shall contain five million uttr*, hut should it contain more, then sajd boundaries arc to uc redu.nl so as to contain the said live million acres."

(j) Individual stipend* were granted as follows: Itilly Cald. well. $400 per rear for life; Alexander Robinson, $300 per year for life : in addition to annuities before granted them; $200 per year, each, for life, to Joseph Laframboisc and Shawbonce ; $2,000 to Wah-pon-ch-scc and his band ; and $1,500 In Awiiki.Uand his band for nineteen sections of lanoVfrrantcd them at the treatv of Prairie dc Chicn, which were to be given up.

Article 5 continued as grants jn fce simple lo all individuals to whom reservations had been ceded by previous treaties, all such lands, to their heirs and assigns forever.

" In testimony whereof, the said George B. l'orter, Thomas J. V. Owen, and William Wcathcrford, and the undersigned chiefs and head men of ihe said nation of Indians, have hereunto set their hands at Chicago the said day and year (September 26, 1S33). G. B. Porter Me-am-ese, his x mark

- The names of nrithn Alexander Robinson nor Hilly Caldwell, both leadin? chiefs of the Pottawatomie*, appear awmt the sinners of the treaty. They w-err laith able to write their names. Robinson's Indian name was Che cheeh, " Che-che-|iin-|[U«.'" The "Chc-cheijahlf Robinson's. " shawwere Uah able to write their binu-way nc. as one historian spells nay ' siitrutu.e a-.tarhed to the treaty was probably Robinson s. " Sllawnai-see S was protably the sixnature of Hilly l>ldwell (SaUl(ar.ash). To thc« slxoature. is attached the nark .x> 01 illiteracy. Thry could write, but their signatures do 0* appear eacept in the above form.

Claude LaframboisV* children 600 Antoine Ouilmcl's children 300 Josetle ' Onilnjrt. (John H, Kin!ne/ trustee)".'.'. *E Mrs. Webh (daughter of Antoine OuilmVt) 25 Alexander Robinson's children . . . 200 Billy Caldwell', children *°°

Margaret Ellen Miller. Mont- f For each of wboml" gomery Miller, and Fillv I Richard | Ham- Miller, grandchildren of") ilton, of Orion I 800 Margaret Hall, (is trustee. ' ant absorbed the fund. How large a portion of it represented robbery, theft, and perjury will never be known until the great book is opened at the last day. The list of names and amounts apportioned is as follows :

John Ht. Chandonai. (one thousand dollars of this sum lo Iw paid to Robert Stuart, agent of the American Fur Company, by the particular request of John I!. Chandonai).. 2500

Agreeably to the stipulations contained in the third article of the treaty, there have been purchased and delivered at the request of the Indians, goods, provisions and horses, to the amount of sixty-live thousand dollars, (leaving the balance to be supplied in the year one thousand eight hundred and thirty. four, thirty-five thousand dollars).

As evidence of the purchase and delivery as aforesaid, under the direction of the said commissioners, anil that the whole of the same have been received by the said Indians, the said Ccorge B. Porter, Thomas J, V. Owen, and William Weatherford, and the undersigned chiefs and head men. on behalf of the said United Nation of Indians, have hereunto set their hands, the Iwenty-seventh day of September, in the year of our Lord one thousand' eight hundred and thirty-three.

It is not now essential to the object of the historian or to the interest of the reader to know ho« th Z v five thousand dollars of goods was paid, or in what the goods consisted, nor whether the chiefs who signed the established across the Chicago River at Dearborn Street Charles H. Chapman was appointed femZ," The limits of the new town were, on November^' extentled so as to embrace not far from sevenShs of one square mile. The boundaries were E

A»on,;"d J,UrVey°r' Joh" 1>ea" ^» as Corpoi Chicago krom 1833 to 1837. - The close of the ITZJ u ( l,ica«"ale8ally organised town. Its >o, national the time has been variously estimated at from one hundred and fifty to one thousand. No record of any enumerat.on of the inhabitants is extant, and all statements as to the actual population at that time rlLnrUT^\ 'd,"n the Whims- iml'^ssions. or to rm , h rC(,,,ia"d 3 Elation of ,50

Z n r . ,SCd °" the ""ml,er of vo,crs (twenty-eight) a the ,rs, election, and allowing a population of five AmS? ^oter, the resident population was ,40 in August 1*33 at the time the first election was held. I he mflux « rawn in during the Indian treaty, in S p en 1,,-r. added largely to the permanent population e town aS m;inv wlu, came hefe a, ^ ^

, «, !'h u',U"W V>Wn of ('h'<-ago as organized in the fall of - ilow h 1 'u 1 ;'S Sn,a" 1" P°Pul;,tion as the law would JHOW, had aM the requ.red elements of civilization within regards its subsequent growth and development, and brings Hon. William H. Ogden upon the stage before his time, but is given entire, nevertheless. It reads as follows :

" In the winter of 1833.33 I was spending some time with my friend Arthur Bronson in New York as his guest. Among ot her topics wc discussed that of a visit to the Western country the following summer for information and pleasure. The recent occurrence of the Black Hawk War (which look place in litJJ. the previous summer) had directed attention to that region of country west of t.ake Michigan (where it had taken placet in the northern part of Illinois and southern portion of the then Territory of Wisconsin. We decided on the plan of a journey to Chicago, the ensuing summer. My residence was then at Geneva, in Ontario County, in the western |wrt of the State of New Vork, and it was arranged that Mr, Bronson would leave New York in June following and 1 would join him at Geneva Having settled upon this plan, we directed our attention to obtaining some information in regard to that region of country and the methods of traveling. General Scott, who had charge of the campaign against the Black Hawk Indians,* and who had but recently returned from the Wot. was a friend of Mr. Bronson 's and he applied In him for information on the subject. General Scott had been very much impressed by his visit, with the extent, beauty and attractions of that portion of the UltlMd -States, and he expressed the opinion to Mr. Bronson that Chicago in the future settlement of the country, would belikely to become an important town. In further prosecution of his inquiries he was advised to apply to Mr. Daniel Jackson, then a leading merchant of this city (New York), who was engaged in the business of furnishing Indian supplies, and Mr, Bronson had recourse to him. On going to the store and stating the object of his visit to Mr. Jackson, the latter responded to his application with interest, and said that he would then introduce him to a man from Chicago, who at that moment happened to be in his store making purchases of Indian goods. This was Robert A. Kinzie. and Mr. Ilronson was introduced to him. The result of this interview with Mr. Kinzie (from whom Mr. Bronson obtained all the information needed for the journey) was a voluntary offer on the part of Mr. Kinzie to Mr Bronson, that, if the latter anil his fru-nd had in view the purchase of any property in the West, or if they should desire to purchase any when there, he had an interest in some land in Chicago which he would sell to us, and he gave Mr. Bronson a description of the property, stating the quantity, terms, etc.. with the privilege of considering it and of deciding whether he would take it or not. after we should have seen it. The latfW thus offered was one-fom th interest in the north fractional half of Section ten! to), in common anJ undivided, on which Kinzic's addition to the town of Chicago was afterwards laid out - Mr. Robert A. Kinzie as one of the heirs at law of his father being entitled to one-fourth part

" In the summer of 1S33, in accordance with the arrangement previously made in the winter, as above stated. Mr. Bronson and I proceeded on our Western journey. Wc stopped at Niagara Falls, to which place we were accompanied bv our respective families, from whom wc parted there, and went on ;o Buffalo, where we took a steamer fiw Detroit. Wc duly arrived at Detroit, where we remained some time. Arrangements were then made for the journey to Chicago, The country between Detroit and Ghieago was then a comparative wilderness, and the route to Chicago was by what was known as the Indian Trail, which travejstd the southern portion of the Territory of Michigan in a southwesterly course from Detroit through Vpsilanti to White I'igeon Prairie, where it approached the northern boundary line of the State of Indiana, and passing through South Bend and LaPorte Prairie (the Door prairie) to Michigan City. Preparatory to the journey, we provided a wagon and pair of hnrses and two saddle horses, and arranged with a young man. named Gholson Kerchcval. who was familiar with the route, having been connected with the Indian agency at Chicago, to accompany us all the way from Detroit to Chicago; wc laid in supplies, provisions and groceries, such as we thought might be needed on the way. The journey occupied several days. On arriving at White Pigeon Prairie, where there was a settlement, we were so attracted by the beauty of the country that wc stopped several days there and made short excursions in the vicinity. At LaPortc they were just then establishing the sile of the county town, now the city of I. a Porte, and a Government agency for the sale of lands. It was about this time that this portion of the State of Indiana was brought into market bv the Government for sale.

" Wc arrived at Michigan City late in the evening. There was but a single house there at which wc could stop. It was kept by General Orr. We there met with Major Els! on. of Crawfords- - It is well known thai General Scott did nm rwich ihf ground until Wvillc, who had become the purchaser of the section of land on which Michigan City was laid out. and he had just then completed a survey and map of the town, which he exhibited to us, and offered to sell us lots. It was a great noveltv to us, this map of Michigan City, and in the morning, when daylight came, and we could look out upon the land around us, the novelty was still more striking, for a more desolate tract of sand and barren land could hardly be conceived of. There was scarcely a tree or shrub to distinguish it, much less any houses ; it was literally in a slate of nature. Major Klstnn had been attracted to it by the fact that it was the only place on l ake Michigan, within the territory of the Slate of Indiana, where it might be possible at some future time to establish a commercial port in connection with the navigation of the lake; and this distant vision of possibilities attracted his attention at this early day, and the lirst step towards its realization had now been taken bv him in the survey and map just then completed of Michigan City.

" l'rum Michigan 1 it y to Chicago, a distance of about sixty miles, the journey was performed by me on horseback. There was but one stopping place on the way, and that was the house of a Frenchman named liayetlx, who had married an Indian woman. At Calumet River, which was crossed on a float, there was an encampment of Pottawatomie Indians. There were some trees on the westerly hank of the nvcr. and in some of these the Indians had hammocks. In making the journey from Michigan City to Chicago I followed the shore of the lake nearly the whole distance.

" I approached Chicago in the afternoon of a beautiful day, the 2d of August. HS33) ; the sun setting in a cloudless sky. Or. my left lay the prairie, bounded only by the distant horizon like a vast expanse of ocean ; on my right, in the summer stillness, lay Lake Michigan. I had never seen anything more beautiful or captivating in nature. There was an entire absence of animal life, nothing visible in the way of human habitation or to indicate the presence of man. ami yet 11 was a scene full of life : for there, spread out before me in every direction, as far as the eye could reach, were the germs of life in earth, air and water. I approached Chicago in these closing hours of dav. 1 So calm, so clear, so bright.' - and this was the realization of the objective point of my journey.

" But what was the condition of this objective point, this Chicago of which I was in pursuit, to which I had come? A ?.mall settlement, a few hundred people all told, who had come together mostly within the last year or two. The houses, with one or two exceptions, were of the cheapest and most primitive character for human habitation, suggestive of the haste with which they had liecn put tip. A string of these buildings had been erected without much regard to lines on the south s:de of the Chicago River (South Water Street) On the west side of the South Branch, near the junction, a tavern had been improvised for the entertainment of travelers, erected by James Kinzie, but kept by a Mr. Crook (?) ; and there wc found lodgings. On the north side of the Chicago River at that time, there was but a single bui'ding, known as the Block House. I crossed the river in a dug-oul canoe about opposite to it. My recollection is that the house winch had once been occupied by Mr. Kinzie. the Indian Agent, on the North Side, near the lake shore, had been previously destroyed by tire. 'The Government had just entered u|K>n the harbor improvement of the Chicago River ; the work was under the charge of Major Bender. Fort Dearborn was a military establishment, and just at this lime there was a transfer of a company of I'nited Stales troops from Green Hay or Saul! Ste. Marie to Fort Dearborn, under the command, I think, of Major Wilcox, accompanied by the Rev. Jeremiah Porter, as chaplain, to whom I hail a letter of introduction. On the morning after my arrival, in walking out. I met a gentleman from whom 1 inquired where he could be found, anil on exhibiting my letter, he said he was the person and that he was then on his way to attend the funeral of a child, and he asked me if I would accompany him as it was near by, which 1 did. On going to the house, which was one of the kind I have described, new and cheap, we found the father and mother ; the dead child lay in a rude coffin. 'There was no one else present except the parents. Mr. lohn Wright, Dr. Kimball, Mr. Porter and myself, and it became a question how the remains of the child should be conveyed to the cemetery, which was on the west side of the North Branch of the river, t recollect that while we were attending this simple service, we were interrupted by the noise of a hammer of a workman outside, who was engaged ill putting up a shanty for some new-comers, and Mr. Porter went out and secured the assistance of this workman. Wc acted as bearers in conveying the remains of this poor child from the house to the grave and assisted in burying it.

'- Emigrants were coming in almost every day in wagons of various forms, and, in many instances, families were living in their covered wagons while arrangements were made for putting up shelter for them. It was no uncommon thing for a house, such as would USWCr the purpose for the time being, to be put up in a few days. Mr. Hronson himself made a contract fur a house. t<i l>c put up and finished in a week. There were, perhaps, from two to three hundred people in Chicago at that time, mostly strangers to each other. In the tavern at which we staid, the partitions were chiefly upright studs, with sheets attached to them. The house was crowded with people - emigrant* and travelers. Many of them could only find a sleeping-place on the floor, which was covered with weary nun at night.

" The can window of my bed-room looked out upon l.akc Michigan in the. dfftanCCi Fort I'carborn lying near the margin of the lake ; and, at this time, then was nothing, or very little, to obstruct the view between the inn and the lake, the fort and the buildings connected with it being the principal objects J and those buildings were verv low structures ; and 1 could, from rnv window, follow the curse of the river, the water of which was is pure as that of the lake, from (be point of junction to its entrance into the lake.

"A treaty was to tie held in September, at Chicago, with certain tribe, of Indians of the Northwest, by Coventor I'orter, of Michigan, as commissioner on behalf of the Government, for the extinguishment of the Indian title to that region of eountrv now forming that part or Illinois north of Chicago, and the adjacent territory now include,! in the State of Wisconsin. Preparatory to this, the Indians were gathered in large numbers at Chicago, arid it was a curious spectacle to sec these natives in groups in their wigwams scattered about on the prairie, in and around the town, chiefly near the junction of the branches of the river, some on the west side .mil some on the east side of the North Branch This treaty was held in September, and bv it the Indian title to all that region of country was extinguished, and the lands were subject to survey, and were afterwards tin May. 1835,1 brought into market. 1 he lin,- of Indian territory, to which their title had been previously extinguished, extended alioul twelve miles north of Chicago Hut these lands including Chicago, had not yet been brought into market by the Government, and were not, therefore, subject to purchase by emigrants. They could only acquire a pre-emptive right by actual settlement, and it was in this wav that the title to what .s now- called Kind's Edition, was acquired. At this time, the patent f.,r It had not been obtained, and the land lay in a wild state. '

-' It was on this visit to Chicago with Mr. Hronson that wc spent some time, and made the acquaintance of the principal men of the place. Among these, as I now remember, were Mr. Richard I. Hamilton, the ki.mes (John H. and his brother Koliert A.) and James kuuic (the latter a half-brother to the former). Mr. W right .Or emple, tiurdon S. Hubbard. Colonel Owen.' and Ljcor^f \\ . I M«*.

The present condition and prospects of Chicago, and its future, and that of the country around it. was, of course the subject of constant and exciting discussion. At this lime,' that vast country lymg between Lake Michigan and the Mississippi Kiver (which then seemed to be the natural boundary of the West 1 and the country lying northwest of it, which now includes Wisconl?Wa',l;'>; in ""<-- RTt-rt unoccupied expanse of bc > tdul land, covered With the most luxuriant vegetation-.-, vast flower gar. en-beauufu! to look at in its virgin state, and ready for xh, plow- of the farmer. One could not fa,! to be grea.lv impressed w. h this scene, so new and extraordinary, and to see there the germ of hat future, when these vast plains would be occupied and

i . - £n ',hc'r a,mndam H"* of numu food, and sus amlng millions of DOputeta,. Like M ichigan lay there, four hundred and twenty miles in length north and south and it w s clear .0 my mind that the productions of that vast country h»

Ottawa or l"cru, a distance of about eighty or one grant had been ma<)e by Congress, to 'the Territory or State of Illinois, at an early day, of each alternate section of land in aid of the an

" ^«'w 1 Cleans at this time was regarded as a market for the valley of the Mississippi, as it could be reached bv the Mississippi River and its tributaries, so the construction of such a canal lietween Lake Michigan and the Illinois River would secure 10 Chicago the benefit of this western outlet to market by a continuous water communication, and this was regarded as an object of great importance for the future development of the country. The leading men of Chicago were anxious that we should interest ourselves in the prosecution of this work; ami so enthusiastic had we become in our views of the future of this region of country and of Chicago as its commercial center, that we entered into their views, and it was agreed that an application should be made to the legislature to incorporate a company for the construction of a catial or a railroad lielween Chicago and the Illinois Kiver. to which com- |xariy the State should convey its land grant, coupled with cnrililions for the construction of either a canal or a railway within a certain time, and upon such conditions as might be imposed bv the l egislature; and that certain persons who were then present at Chicago, of whom Lucius Lyon (afterwards the first Senator in Congress from the State of Michiganl, Mr. Hamilton, Mr. Kirm'e, and Dr. Temple, I think, as a committee, were to take charge of this memorial ami submit it at the next session of the Legislature of the Slate of Illinois. A memorial to the Legislature and a letter of instructions to the committee were carefully prepared by Mr. Itronson and myself. eml>odying our views and suggesting the terms and conditions upon which the company should be incorporated.

"The committee were to proceed to Jacksonville with the memorial at the next session of the Legislature. Whether this proposition was ever formally submitted to that t>ody or not I am not able to state, but it is certain that the discussion caused by it had the effect to stimulate the legislature at the session of 1B34-35 to avail of the liberal and yet dormant grant made by Congress (or the purpose, and a bill was passed at that session' authorising a loan for the construction of the canal as a State work: and the work was soon after commenced and. though retarded by embarrassments which overtook the State and for a time prostrated its credit, it was finally completed and remains to this day a monument nut only of the enterprise of the Stale, but of its integrity in the fulfillment of its pecuniary obligations to its creditors.

" It may not be amiss to say in this connection that, when the Slate of Illinois, in common with several of the Western Slates, failed to meet the obligations it had incurred in its efforts to carry out prematurely, having respect to its population and ability, a vast system of interna! improvement - that the question, What can he done to arrest the ruin and retrieve the credit of the State? became one of vital importance not only to its citizens but to all who had any interest in the Stale. Of course Mr. Bronsori and myself were deeply interested, and gave to it a good deal of lime ami thought - the result of which was the suggeslion that the only feasible plan would be for the Stale to ask of its bondholders, who were chiefly in Luropc. lo make a further advance of money suflicient for the completion of the ufhal. for the payment of which the canal, its lands and revenues should be pledged, backed by the failh and credit of the Stale; and upon this basis the arrangement was finally made by the State which insured the completion of the canal.

"I am happy to avail myself of this occasion to record this brief tribute to the memory of my friend, Arthur Bronsom, to re- I thi :u> ns nl 1 hicagi 1 ol 1 1 . « n « , friend their State and city at that most eventful period in their history. Ne one bU| he who then lived, and fully understtxxl the situation, can rightly appreciate the value of such aid and influence as Mr. Hronson rendered, aflccting the honor and prosperity of a Slate.

" While at Chicago our attention was directed to the properly which Robert A. Ktmie had offered us, vir.: his quarter interest as one of the hcirs-al-law of his father, in the north fractional half of Section 10. This purchase was declined after a careful reconnoisvmcc of the land by me in person, accompanied by a surveyor, mainly because the remaining three-quarters, being owned by other persons, their co-operation in the disposition of the pmperty would be essential to a satisfactory management. It was ascertained that Major-< k-neral Hunter, then and now in the United Slates Army, had become the owner of one-half interest in the same property and that he also owned eightv acres in the adjoining Seclion No. 0. that is 10 say, the cast half ol the northeast quarter of Section <>. now known as Wolcott's addition; and as the result of our consideration on the subject we concluded to open a negotiation with hmi for the purchase of his entire interest in Chicago. This negotiation w-as begun by correspondence with hun, His engagement in the service of the country at remote military stations rendered communication with him difficult ami slow, ami the negotiation with him, though commenced in the (all of 1833. was not consummated until late in the summer of 1S34, when a proposition was received from him offering the property, vu,: the half of Kinzic's addition and the whole of Wolcott's addition land lilock No. 1 in the town of Chicago, lying on the north side of the river) for the price of $10,000, at which sum it was purchased by my friend Mr. Arthur Brunson and his associates in the fall of 1834, and the title to it was taken in the name of his brother, Mr. Frederic Hrnnson. For private reasons I took no interest in the purchase, although the negotiations up to the final offer of Major Hunter had been conducted in accordance with the original suggestiun. for our joint account and interest. In the month of May following I purchased of Mr. Ilronson the same property for the consideration of $100,000. While the title was in Mr. Hronson, arrangements had been made for an auction sale of the property in the month of June, following simultaneously with the (jovcrnmcnt sale of lands, which hail been advertised to take place at Chicago in May. 1835 - the first of the kind in that portion of the United States, the surveys for which had been completed and the Indian title to which had been extinguished. It was expected that this would attract a very large concourse of people to Chicago, as it did, for it brought into notice and offered for sale lands in the most attractive and fertile portion of the United States. The sale of the lot* in the property, which I had acquired by purchase from Mr. Hronson, was to follow after the sale of public lands; all the preliminary step-, to effect it had been taken, and Krederic Hronson was then on his way to Chicago to superintend the sale. Of course all these proceedings were now subject to my control, and the disposition to be made by me in regard to it was under consideration. In making the purchase I had contemplated this condition, and had in view my brotherin-law, William I!. Ogden, a* the lust person to take charge of the whole business. He was then a member of the Legislature of this State, from the county of I Delaware, during the memorable session o( 1S35. 1 wrote to him requesting that he would terminate his labor there at the earliest possible moment, and go to Chicago to take charge of this property. This he consented to do, and in May, 1*35, he went to Chicago and there met Frederic Hronson, who turned the property over to him as my agent. This was Mr. Ogden's introduction to Chicago, and his lirst visit to the country west ot Niagara. I le had been born at Walton on the Delaware River, in Delaware County, and had lived there up to this period of his life. His father, who hail Ix-en a successful business man engaged in manufacturing industry and in the lumber trade, had been stricken down hv paralysis and disabled from active business, when William, his eldest son, was about seventeen years of age: and in consequence, the responsibilities of the family and the conduct of business had devolved mainly on him.

"It was in May. I that Mr. Ogden went to Chicago for the purpose above stated. The spring had been one of unusual wetness, and on his arrival at Chicago to take charge of the property committed to his care, his lirst impressions were not at all favorable. The property lav there on the north side of the river an unbroken field, covered with a course growth of oak and underbrush, wet and marshy, and nyiddy from the recent heavy rains. Nothing could be more unattractive', not to say repulsive in its surface appearance, It had neither form nor condincsS, and he could not at first sight in looking at the property, in its then primitive condition, see it as possessing any value or offering any advantages to justify the extraordinary price for which it had been bought, lie could not but feel that I had been guilty of an art of great folly in making the purchase, and it was a cause' of sad disappointment and of great depression. To him it was a new experience : it was novel and different from anything that he had ever been engaged in. But Mr. Ogden hail gone there for a purpose and to execute an important trust. A great dea! of work had to lie done to prepare this wilderness field for the coming auction. It had to be laid out and opened up by streets and avenues into blocks and lots, the houndaries of which must lie carefully defined, maps and plans must lie made, surveys perfected anil land marks established. Mr. Ogden addressed himself to this work with energy and brought to it his extraordinary ability in the handling of all material interests. The work that he 'accomplished on this properly in a short time, under circumstances discouraging and depressing, was wonderfully effective. He conceived what would be required in order to attract the attention of purchasers, so that by the time the auction sale approached he could exhibit it in business form. It will be remembered that the tract covered Ul acres, exclusive of the half In-longing to the Kin/ies, which lay in mass with it, say fifty-one acres, which, added to my purchase represented by Mr. Ogden, made a tract of 1S2 acres.' The (Government vile of lands had brought together a large collection of people from all parts of the country.

particularly from the East and Southeast, and these were there when Mr.' Ogden offered the property on the North Side. The result of the auction was a surprise to him. for the sales amounted to more than one hundred thousand dollars and included about one-third of the property. This result, although it was astonish, ing to him, seemed yet to fail of making the impression on bis mind of the future >>( the town which was to become tilt scene of his after life, and in the development anil giowth of which he himself was to become an active and most important factor.

" As he cxptessscd himself to me in giving an account of the transaction, he could not see where the value lay nor what it was that justified the payment of such prices. He thought the people were crazy and visionary. Having completed the sales, he left Chicago in the summer and did not return there until the summer follow, ing 1 thtb I. Hut he was not long, after this experience, in grasping the iilea nf the future of that portion of the United States, and ol the natural advantages whRh Chicago offered as the site of a commercial town, which in the future growth of the countrywould become so important. As the result of this agency and the care of this large property interest, regarding it as an occupation, he gave bis mind to the consideration of the whole subject, and it determined him in the end to make his home in the West and identifv himself with the fortunes of Chicago. It was a field suited to his taste and to his habits, and (or which his previous lite and experience in his native country had trained him, although that life and experience had up to this time been narrow as was the boundary the Delaware River on which he hail been tearcd. Now, his mind and his energies were directed to the development of the vast and boundless prairies of the West. He hail been reared in a country of dense forests, and surrounded on every side by mountain scenery, and now he was in a field where there were no forests and no mountains.

" It was not long liefore Mr. Ogden became imbued with an enthusiastic appreciation of the capabilities and attractions of this new country. His descriptions of it were poetic and inimitable.

" And from this time onward up to the close of bis life he gave to Chicago the full benefit of his rare talents and ability: and he has left in the city of his adoption the distinctive marks of his life work, as well as through the West and Northwest, where the great railway! which he projected and promoted to completion will remain ever as monuments of his genius and his enterprise. No man exercised a more magical influence in stimulating all around him to aits of usefulness and improvement in the interest of intellectual, social and material progress, and the development of the country : and few men were capable of accomplishing so much useful work in so short a time. He was comprehensive and broad in his views as the country in which he lived. The later jears of his life were devoted largely to the extension of lines .t! railways to the Pacific coast, and especially the Northern Pacific, which is nowapproaching completion. Mr. Ogden had always regarded this mute as MM of the most important, and the country w hich it traversed - and which by its completion would be opened to settlement - as one of the most attractive and richest in its soil productions of any of the projected lines connecting the Atlantic with the I'acihc coast.'

"During all this period, from 1835 1o 1 sfti, my house was Mr. Ogden's home when in New York. As mcmury sweeps back over these most active years of his life - associated as they are indissolubly with Chicago and the West - and reproduces the picture mellowed by time, of what he was as a man, and of what he was doing ami what he did do : the charm of his influence is still fell, fragrant with svmpathv for his fellow-men in all conditions of lifeline on whose tombstone might be appropriately inscribed, ' Write me as one who loves his fellow-men.'

"And the citirens of Chicago do but honor themselves by placing in their Historical hall the portrait of him whose name should ever be cherished as one of their foremost and most notable cit liens."

" In lftl3 the settlement of the new town, so far as buildings showed, was mostly on what is now Water Street. There was noth. ing on l-ake Street, except perhaps the Catholic church begun on the northwest comer of 1-akc and State. Up and down Water Street. Iietwcen what is now State and Wells streets, now Fifth Avenue, all the business houses and stores were built. Also nearly all the cabins for dwellings. You could, from every store and dwelling, look north across the river, as there were no buildings on what is now the north side of that street. At that time a slough emptied into the river, at what is now the foot o( State Street, and was a sort of bayou of dead water through which scows could be run up as far as Randolph Street, near the corner o( Dearborn, and there was a dry creek up as far as where the Sherman House now stands. There was a foot-bridge of (our logs run lengthwise across the creek near (he mnuth of the creek. At that time there was no bridge across the main river, and never had been. There was a sort of bridge built the year before by Anson Taylor acre** the South Branch near Randolph Street - a log-bridge, i|uitc- mar the water, over which teams omM |usi. Hall \ Miller had. in IS.1}, a large tannery on W olf I'oint. 'I hi-re was no foot-bridge across North Branch, that I remember, at that early day. At the Wo! f I'oint Hotel there was a sign-post up ; perhaps there was at one lime a sign of a wolf on it, but if so, it was a temporary charcoal or chalk sign put up by the boys. I don't rememlwr it."

The population mmi!>ercd not far from two hundred and fifty at the close <if the year. It comprised six lawyers - Russel K. Heaeock, who had come in 18*7 ; Richard J. Hamilton, 1S31 ; and Giles Spring, |ohn Dean Caton, Edward W. Casey and Alexander N. Fullerton, who had put out their signs in 1833. There were also ei>jlit physicians: Elijah D. Harmon came May, 1830; Valentine A. Boyer, May 11, 1832; Edmund S. Kimberly, 1832 ; Phillip Maxwell, February, ,833 ; John T. Temple, spring of 1833 ; William liradshaw Egan, fall of 1833; Henry H. Clark, 1853; and George F. Turner, Assistant-Surgeon U. S. A., at the garrison.

The Temple Building, where most of the Protestant religious services of the town were held, was built through the agency and efforts of Dr. John T. Temple, who had arrived early in July, 1835, with his family, consisting of a wife and four children. He was a pious and earnest Baptist Christian, and came to Chicago from Washington. I), C, armed with a contract to carry the mails from Chicago to Fort Howard, Green Bay Hts contract gave him a surety of a living, so that h'is surplus energy could well be used in the services of the Lord, as he understood it Through his efforts he heading the subscription paper with $too, found funds to build a two-Story building at the corner of Franklin and South Water streets, which was the earliest structure dedicated especially to religion and education erected in Chicago. 'The lower storv was a hall for religious services, the upper floor was a school-room, where Granville Temple Sproat kept one of the first public schools MiSs Chappel Mrs. Jeremiah Porter , Miss Sarah Warren 'Mrs. Abel E. Carpenter . and S. L. Carpenter w'ere at different times teachers in schools held in this building.*

The Temple Building did not derive its name from its dedication to sacred uses, but from the fact that Dr. temple built it and rented it to such societies, rclicious or otherwise, as could pay the rent, The name of the bu.klcr gave to the building itself a double sanctity that its subsequent career could not sustain and leased to David Clock, who was the landlord; the Mansion House, where arc now numbers 84 and 86 Lake Street. It was at that time an unpretentious log tavern kept by Dexter Graves, and according to some authorities had no name, being on the site of the building which was afterwards known by the above-mentioned name. Besides this there were several boarding-houses where transients were fed and lodged, if there was room, which depended upon how particular the regular boarders might be as to the number or character of the said transients who had to be stowed away in their rooms, either as bed-fellows, or on the floor. Mrs. Rufus Brown kept one of the first-class boarding houses.

In addition to the ministers, lawyers, doctors, landlords and others before named, a fair assortment of druggists, merchants, butchers, carpenters, blacksmiths, and other artisans were settled in the town. 'There was also a score of adventurers, comprising moneyed speculators and prospectors, as yet undecided whether to stay at Chicago or go on.

The following is an imperfect list of the denizens of the town in the fall of 1X33, not before named : Philo Carpenter, still living in Chicago, druggist, who came in July, 183s; Peter Pruyne, druggist, early in 1833; George W. Dole, merchant ; P. F. W. Peck, merchant; Madore W. Beaubien. merchant ; John Bates, Jr., still living in Chicago, auctioneer, who came in 1832; . Manson Sweet, 1832 ; A ugustin 'Taylor, builder, still living in Chicago, arrived June. 1833 ; J. B. Beaubien, merchant ; the Kinzies, John and Robert A., merchants ; T. J. V. Owen, who came in 1831 ; John Watkins. school-master, came in 1832 ; James Gilbert, came in 1833 ; Charles H. Taylor, came "in 1832; John S. C Hogan. Postmaster, came in 1832 ; William Ninson. came in fall of

1832 ; Hiram Pearson, came in spring of 1833 ; George Chapman ; John Wright ; Mathias Smith, came in 1833; David Carver, seaman and lumber merchant, came in

1833 ; Eli A. Rider, came in 1832 ; Dexter J. Hapgood, came in 1832 ; George W. Snow, came in 1832 ; Choison Kcrcheval, Government Agent and clerk, came in 1831, died in California : Stephen F. (Sale, from New Hampshire ; Captain DcLafayettc Wilcox, in the garrison ; Lieutenant Louis T. Jamison, in the garrison; Enoch Darling, W. H. Adams. C A. Ballard, Captain J. M. Baxley,came June, 1833, and remained until April, 1836 ; Lieutenant j. L. Thompson, came June 20, 1833. and remained until December, 1836; Jabe/. K. Botsford, speculator and capitalist ; Morris Bumgardcn, came in 1S32 ; Henry and Samuel L. Brooks; Stephen Rexford, came July 27, 1833 ; Charles Wisencraft, came in 1833; John S. Wright, then a minor, afterward editor of Prairie Farmer, and one of the most meritorious pioneers of Chicago, came in 1832 ; John W right, carne in 1832,3 merchant ; Timothy and Walter Wright, came in 1833; Patrick Welch, in 1833; John Calhoun, printer and editor of the first newspaper published in Chicago, arrived in November, 1833, and issued the first number of the Chicago Democrat November 26, i»33j Tyler K. Blodgett. came in the spring of 1833, and started the first brickvard, between Dearborn and Clark streets, on the North Side ; Oscar Pratt and Beckford, printers, were in the employ of Mr. Calhoun at that time ; E. H. Mulford, watch-maker, came in 1833 ; Lemuel Brown, blacksmith, came in 1833; Joseph Meeker, carpenter and builder, came in the summer of 1S33 ; Major Handy, bricklayer and mason ; E. K. Smith ; L. D. Harrison ; Archibald Clybourne, butcher, came in 1823. then living north of the town limits, and not a voter in the new village ; John K. Clark, half-brother of AClybourne, then living with him ; Nelson R. Norton, ship-carpenter, and builder of the first draw-bridge over the main river, at Dearborn Street, in March, 1834, came November 16, 1833 j he also built the first sloop, the "Clarissa," launched .May 12, 1836:; Anson H. and his brother, Charles Taylor, came in 1832 ; John Miller, brother of Samuel, the landlord, came in 1831. and run a tannery just north of Miller's tavern ; Kcnjamin Hall, tanner, a partner of John Miller, who came in 1832 ; Martin D. Harmon ; Willard Jones ; Ashbel Steele, plastered Calhoun's printing office in November, 1833 ; S. B. Cobb, a minor, came June 1, 1833.

Many of these names are not on the list (if voters for 1833, for the reason that they had not been in Chicago a sufficient time to gain the right under the law to vote. They arc, nevertheless, entitled to a place in the list of actual residents of the new town of Chicago, as organized in 1833.

As appears from the above list there were besides, four churches, a newspaper, a private school, and a job printing office ministering to the higher wants of the community ; and besides the taverns enumerated, a half dozen stores and a butcher, to minister to the physical necessities of the citizens. There was not at that time a single dram shop or what would in these later days be denominated a saloon, where the sale of spirituous liquors was the only ostensible business. That was carried on in connection with the stores and hotels, the tavernkeeper being by the terms of his license allowed to sell liquors to his guests, and not forbidden to sell to others.

The bridges were quite primitive, and consisted of a rude foot-bridge crossing the North Branch above the Wolf Tavern: and a log bridge across the South Branch, hetween Randolph and Lake streets, nearer Randolph. The latter is stated to have been build by Anson H. Taylor and his brother Charles, in 1832. Its total cost, as stated in Hurlbut's Antiquities, p. 556, was $486.20, of which sum the Pottawatomie Indians contributed $200. The bridge is frequently mentioned by the early comers of 1833. It was, prior to 1S34, the only bridge across the river or its branches over which teams could pass. At a meeting of the Town Trustees December 4, 1S33, both these bridges were reported as "needing repairs," as the historian says, " probably because, in contravention of the law, their bulk had been lessened, for the building of fires; the said bridges being nothing more nor less than piles of rough wood thrown into the channel."

The only manufactory established at that early day was the rude shed called a tannery, near the Miller tavern, where John Miller and Benjamin Hall were tanning a few hides into a rough but endurable leather. A saw-mill was in operation on the North Branch, below ("Iybourne's, at the mouth of a slough just south of Division Street.* At that lime there was but one street running to the lake, described bv Jedediah Wooley. who surveyed it April 25, iS32,as extending "from the east end of Water Street at the west line of the Reservation} in the town of Chicago, to Lake Michigan. Direction of said road is south 88' i° east ; from the street to the lake eighteen chains and fifty links." The street was fifty feet wide, and was reported by the viewers as "a road of public utility, and a convenient passage ffOBl the town to the lake. It was only staked out and marked by the travel from the town to the fort. There was a rough bridge thrown across the slough at State Street to make the highway available.

At this time, although the work of making a harbor had been begun bv building the first section ot the south pier, which shut off the current of the river through the old mouth, there was no harbor, only a roadstead, where craft might find fair anchorage and safe landing by boats or lighters in any but the most tempestuous weather.

The close of the year 18 53 saw the town, above imperfectly described, fairly born and in its corporate swaddling clothes. Its past history or present condition did not warrant, at that time, the extravagant hopes that its citizens had in its future development Its subsequent history has transcended the wildest prophesies of its early friends.

The Town, 1833 to 1S37 - The history of the town of Chicago covered a period of nearly four years - from August 10, 1833, to March 4, 1837. On the latter date the act incorporating the city was passed, and the election of the first city officers under the act was held on the first Tuesday of the May following. 'The annals of the town of Chicago for the period of its existence show a most wonderful growth in population, commerce and trade. During this era the tide of immigration set in vigorously to the lands of the I'ottawatoniies just acquired. Its principal route to the region, by land, lav through Chicago, which became the portal to the coveted territory, anil through which, with increasing volume, it flowed until suddenly checked by the general financial collapse of 1837. 'This disaster for a time retarded all business, checked immigration and brought the town itself to such a sudden stop in its headlong career of prosperity as to seriously dampen the ardor, and still more seriously deplete the pockets, of its enterprising and over-sanguine citizens. As the entrepot of this vast westward moving and endless caravan, Chicago could but increase its own population from the ever-changing throng of sojourners. This was the era of the wildest speculations in land ever known in the country, and Chicago became the western center of the craze which began in 1S35, developed in 1836, culminated in the early part of 1S37, and finally burst into thin air in the fall of the latter year.

The sale, by public auction, of the school section '16 occurred October 20. 21, 22, 23, and 24, 1S33, was made under R. J. Hamilton, commissioner, and by John Bates, auctioneer, and realized prices quite beyond expectations. 'The section embraced the square mile between State and Halsted streets on the east and west, and Madison and Twelfth on the north and south. It was divided into one hundred and forty-four blocks, the area of each being not far from four acres, not including the streets. All but four of the lots were sold, and brought in the aggregate the sum of $58,865. or an average of $6.72 per acre. The land was sold mostly on credit of one, two and three years at ten per cent interest. No such favorable chance for purchasers of limited means to become possessed of land near the village occurred again until alter the financial revulsion of 1S37. These blocks, afterward cut up into lots, together with the canal lots in Section 9, were the original lots on which the trading and speculation was begun, which, as the mania increased, was supplemented by various "additions " to the town, which were platted on paper, and the lots thrown into market.*

The Great Land Ckaze - Karly in the spring of 1834 emigration from all parts of the East, even to the hitherto extreme western settlements, set for the lands just open to occupation by the treaty made at Chicago the previous September, By the middle of April, the van had arrived in Chicago, and by the middle of May there was no room for the constant crowd of incomers, except as buildings were hastily put up for their accommodation, or as sojourners, leaving the town, made room for them. The hotels and hoarding houses were always full; and full meant three in a bed sometimes, with the floor covered besides. Many of the emigrants coming in their own covered wagons had only them or a rude camp, hastily built, for home or shelter. All about the outskirts of the settlement was a cordon of prairie schooners, with tethered horses between, interspersed with camp fires, at which the busy house-wives were ever preparing meals for the voracious pioneers.

The price of real estate in Chicago was not long in evincing signs of what in later times would have been styled " .1 Iwara." I \\ er me hundred and fifty hoi KS, stores and shanties were put up, mostly on the canal section 9} during the spring and early summer. Lots which had sold at $20 to $50 at the first sale of canal lots, and for two years thereafter had been bandied about by the luckless owners, and swapped and bartered in regular hone-jockey stvle, suddenly assumed the true dignity of real estate, and had a price and a cash valuation. Many an old settler discovered that he was, if not rich, the possessor of possible wealth in what he had before deemed a possible incumbrance at tax-paying time, and, to strangers from the Hast seeking to invest, began to put on the airs of a landed proprietor. It was not long before land-agents became plenty in Chicago, and their offices the most crowded business resorts in the city.

At first the purchases were what might be termed legitimate ; a lot for. ash on which the purchaser would erect a dwelling or store. The legitimate demand soon absorbed the floating supply and prices began to advance under the competition of anxious buyers I ots purchased one day for $50 were sold the next for $60 and resold m a month for $,00. It did not take long under such circumstances to develop a strong speculalive fever, which infected every resident of the town and was caught by every new-comer. At the close of the year 1834, the disease had become fairlv seated Wh itever might be the business of a Chicagoan, or however profitable, it was not considered a full success except it showed an outside profit on lots bought and sold The next year was but a continuance of the trade, enlarged by the constantly increasing number of speculators who now bought, not so much for investment, and with less S to Va,u_e. the increasing number of summer !xncjtein^nt*« greatly increased during the summer and early fall of ,835 by the opening of the Government Land-Office, which occurred May ! where

As the interior la-came settled the mania for land speculating spread throughout the newly settled country, and Chicago became the mart where were sold and resold monthly an incredible number of acres of land and land-claims outside the city, purporting to be located in all parts of the Northwest. It embraced farming lands, timber lands, town sites, town lots, water lots, and every variety of land-claim or lain) title ever known to man. The location of the greater portion of property thus sold was, as a rule, except so far as appeared in the deed, unknown to the parties to the trade; and, in many cases, after the bubble had burst, the hplders of real estate, acquired during the excitement, on investigation failed to find the land in existence as described. Town lots were platted, often without any survey, all over Wisconsin and Illinois, wherever it was hoped that a town might eventually spring up, or wherever it was Indieved that the lots could be floated into the great tide of speculative trade.

'I he following are a few of the many paper towns advertised in the Chicago papers during 1836 : Lots in Warsaw; in Michigan City; in Koshkonong, Wis. ; in Macomb, McDonough County; in Winnebago, on Rock River; in Oporto, opposite' Dixon's Ferry ; in New Boston, Mercer County ; in Liverpool, Ind. ; 'in Oqtuk. : in Concord - fifty lots ; in Calumet, in Rockwell; an addition to the town of Stephenson ; lots in Sheboygan, Wis.; in Wisconsin City,* now Port Washington, Wis.; also Ottawa Canal lots, which the American, November 19, 1S36, stated were sold at §21,358, being $3,266 in excess of the valuation ; also canal Port lots in Vienna, Will County.

The leading advertisers were; John Bates, Jr.; Thompson «\- Wells; lliggins, Montgomery & Co.; R. K. Richards, agent of Chicago and New York Land Company office, in July, 1836, over the drug store of W. H.& A. F. Clarke, corner Lake and Clark streets ; A. Garrett, auction room, on Dearborn Street. Mr. Garrett's room was the most popular resort of the speculating crowd. The American, October 31, 1835, stated that during the

* Thr following description of " Wisconsin Citv," and what he-came ol it. 1* given us the pnriuihlr history of nearly all the paper towns and till" platted anil ...lil during those exciting timet. " The) [the proprietors] forthaith laid out thr limn and named it * Wisconsin City.' The original pla! wax on Ihr n. nth side of Sauk Creek, along the lake shore, on the lite of thr present village of Port Washington. "I'he street* were laid out north and south, and east and west I rum the blurts lo the lake.all r»«r|.l l-.lr Street, which ran diariaially ia » northeasterly direction along the shore. The street nearest the creel, destined for ihnks and slunri when ttir dredging was completed, was namrd CansJ Street. The parallel streets in order, giving north, wrfe Main. Washington and Jackson, earh having a width of si sty -sis feci, esrept Main, which «nt eighty feet in w»dlh ; Lake Street intrrwrled Cumil Slrecl at its foot and ran ah*ig the Lake front. City Street starting at the intersection of like and Canal streets ran due north and south, intersecting .Main. Washington and Jack-* st reels ; weal and parallel came in order franklin. Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Mnntgomery and Clay streets, alt of the regulation width of sixty-si* feet except Vn'Cnsin, which was eighty feel wide. The public square was in .he blurk bounded I v Washington on the south. Wisconsin on the east, Jackson on the nnrth and Milwaukee on the west. Alleys twenty feet in width rnnniiil north and south. Intersected each block. The lots were roxito leet in wte. Ike names of the proprietors of this embryo city, as appears in the reconled plsl. wrre Solomon Juneau. Morgan I.. Martin. O. S. ifoamrr. Allen O. T. Breed. Woontej Harrison. Calvin Harmon, G. S. Hosmer. Thomas A. Homes and W illiam Payne, all nmi-residrnls earept General Harrison The land seems to have been reded be the Government to Harrison and sold tr- bis partners, whom he let into the speculation on easy terms. Some sixteen acres of land wrrr red and several lanldings erected ; a tavern, two stores, and scs erst dwellinf- 11 thai of the " father ol the city," General Harrison, whits ing. A dam was built on the creek some distance front the erected. The lirst transfer of pn .perty by deed appearing a port of this trart. It bears dale flecvmber I. i» li. and A Homes an undivided hall of about eleven acres, the coo- -s'. In tanuaiy. 1616. Holmes sold abosil (out acres of this ie.ni lor't,... In f'rhruarv. iSt*. Levi Mann bought tw

Prxes went up rapidly but < ulmina was reached in August of that yea one-lijilf acres of a tract adjoining' thi sold to one Jasper RostwH-k ta equivalent to nearly $i.8 «j per acre 1 he decadence of Wisciaisin City ten months of the year he had sold §1.800,000 of property, real and personal, and that he had fitted up a large room, "'equal to any in New York or Philadelphia." A single advertisement of R. K.. Richards, July 2, 1836, offered for sale lots in Chicago, Joliet. Penn, Dorchester, Tiemont, and l'ekin ; also lots in Dearbornville, Constantine, Mottville Mills, St. Joseph and Milwaukee.

The American, July 2, 1836, said, " The rapidity with which towns are thrown into market is astonishing. Houses are born in a night, cities in a day, and the small towns in proportion."

The speculative mania was not confined to Chicago or the West. A superabundance of paper money, issued under divers State laws, had flooded the whole country, in volume far in excess of the requirements of legitimate trade, and was seeking outside investment in all quarters. In the great money centers of the East. New York, Boston, and Philadelphia, a furore of speculation in all commodities and in real estate was at its height, before the Western mania was fairly started. The rumor of the fortunes made in a day at Chicago in the purchase of Western lands soon reached New York, where, among capitalists, the excitement became but little less intense than at home. There a new speculative ilemand grew up which proved an outlet for the avalanche of new towns that were being thrown into market. But for this, the craze might have spent itself sooner ; as it was. Eastern capitalists, after once embarked in the trade, became the most reckless and wildest speculators and held the excitement at fever heat until the collapse, which began at the East, forced them to take an observation, which resulted in a sudden and complete stoppage of monetary supplies from that source. The trade was thrown back upon its own resources, and fell into a state of languishnu iu at once, from which it went into a rapid decline, ending In-fore the close of the year in absolute death. Although innumerable fortunes were made, few survived the wreck, and no class suffered more in the final crash than the non-resident speculators, who, in fact, were about the only ones who ever put much real capital into the business.

The first historic lecture ever delivered in Chicago was by Joseph N. Balestier, before the Chicago Lyceum. January 21, 1840. Speaking of the "Land Craze," he said:

" The year 1835 found us just awakened to a sense of our own importance. A short time before, the price of the best lots did not exceed two or three hundred dollars; and the rise had been so mpid, that properly could not, from the nature of things, have acquired an ascertained value. In our case, therefore, the inducements to speculation were particularly strong; and as no fixed value could be assigned to property, so no price could, by any established standard, be deemed extravagant. Moreover, nearly all who came to the place expected to amass fortunes by speculating. The wonder then is, not that we speculated so much, but rather that we did not ru>h more madlv into the vortex of ruin. Well indeed would it have been had our wild speculations been confined to Chicago; here, at least, there was nmuthhi" received in exchange for the money of the purchaser. Hot the few miles that composed Chicago formed but a small item among the subjects of speculation So utterly reckless had the community grown, that they chased every bubble which floated in the speculative atmos phere: madness increased in proportion to the foulness of its aliment; the more absurd the project, the more remote the object, the more madly were thev pursued. The prairies of Illinois, the forests of Wisconsin and. the sand-hills of Michigan, presented a chain almost unbroken of supposititious villages and cities. The whole land seemed staked out and peopled on paper. If a man were reputed to be fortunate, his touch, like that of Midas, was supposed to turn everything into gold, and the crowd entered blindly into even- project he might originate. These worthies would besiege the' band office* and purchase town sites at a dollar and a quarter per acre, which in a few days appeared on paper, laid out in the most approved rectangular fashion, embl.-uoned in glaring colors, and exhibiting the public spirit of the proprietor in the multitude of their public squares, church lots, and school lot reservations. Often was a fictitious strearnict seen to wind its ro mantic course through the heart of an ideal city, thus creating water lots and water privileges. Hut where a rml "stream, however diminutive, did find its way to the shore of the lake - no matter what was the character of the surrounding country - some wary operator would ride night anil day until the place was secured a't the Government price. Then the miserable waste of -sand and (ens which lay unconscious of its glory on the shore of the lake, was suddenly elevated into a mighty city, with a projected harbor and light-house, railroads and canals, and in a short time the circumjacent lands were sold in lots, fifty by one hundred feet, under the name of 'additions. Not the puniest brook on the shore at Lake Michigan was suffered to remain without a city at its mouth, and whoever will travel around that lake shall find many a mighty mart staked out in spots suitable only for the habitations of wild

" If a man were so fortunate as to have a disputed title, it matle no great difference where the land lav. or how slender was his claim, his fortune was made; for the very insecurity of the purchase made it desirable in the eyes of the venturous. A powerful auxiliary to the speculative spirit was the sale of lands by auction. When bodies of men. actuated by a common motive, assemble together for a common object, zeal is apt to n:n into enthusiasm: when the common passion is artfully inflamed by a skilful orator, enthusiasm becomes fanaticism, and fanaticism, madness. Men who wish to he persuaded arc already more than half won over, and an excited imagination will produce almost any anticipated result. Popular delusions have carried away miliums at a time; menial epidrmics have raged at every period of the world's history, and conviction has. been ever potent to work miracles. Now the speculating mania was an epidemic of the mind, and every chord struck by the chief pcrlormcrs produced endless vibrations, until the countless lune of the full diapason broke forth in maddening strains of fascination. The auctioneers were the high priests who sacriliced in the Temple of Fortune; through them the S|>ceulators spread abroad their specious representations. Like the Sibyls and l-'lamcns of old they delivered false oracles, and made a juggle of omens and auguries.

" But the day of retribution was at hand; the reaction came - and the professional speculator and his victims were swallowed up in one common ruin. Trusting to the large sums due to him. the land operator involved himself more and more deeply, until his fate was more pitiable than that of his defrauded dupes,

-' The year 1837 will ever be remembered as the era of protested notes; it was the harvest to the notary and the lawyer - the year of w rath to the mercantile, producing, and laboring interests. Misery inscriltcd ils name on many a face but lately radiant with high hopes: despair was stamped on many a countenance which was wont 10 lie ' wreathed in smiles." Broken (ortuncs, blasted hopes, nve, and blighted characters: these were the legitimate offspring of th.>se pestilent times. The land resounded with the groans of ruined men. and the vibs of defrauded women, who had entrusted their all to greedy speculators. Political events, which had hitherto favored thcx- wild chimeras, now conspired to hasten anil aggravate the impending downfall. It was a si cue of wile and desolation. Temporary relief came in the shape of Michigan money - but like all empty expedients, it, in the end. aggravated the disease it pretended to cure - it seemed a sovereign panacea, but it proved a quack specific. Let us turn from this sickening spectacle of disaster and ruin. Mad as her citizens had been, Chicago aui Chicago still. Artificial enterprises had failed, but nature was still the same. There stood Chicago ' in her pride of place' - unmoved and immovable. Though mourning and desolate, she could still sustain an active population. Need I add that SUE HAS DONE IT?"

The delinquent tax-list, published in the American, October 1, 1S36, showed a large number of lots owned by non-residents. The taxes levied and remaining unpaid were ridiculously small, in comparison with the high market valuation then current. Doubtless many of the visionarv owners, who counted their wealth in these lots bv thousands had not the wherewith in ready money to pay the taxes on their possessions, small as they were. Of two hundred and twenty lots advertised in Section 16, one hundred and fifty-five were taxed less than one dollar each ; forty-two, from §1 to §5 ; ten, from $5 to $10 ; twenty-two, from $10 to $25 ; and one at $39. In Wolcott's addition, one lot was taxed $10.50; three, from $7.50 to $10; and others at less than $7 each. In North Branch addition, no single lot advertised was taxed as high as one dollar. In Waubansia addition, the three lots advertised were assessed, respectively, §2.50, $3.50 and $7.50. In the original town. Section 9, the lots were assessed - one for $50 .50; two for $50, one for $19, thirteen from $17 to $to, and eighteen for less than §10. At that time it is apparent that the most valuable property, in the practical eyes of the assessors, was on the old town plat.

The Following extracts, letters and personal reminiscences, more or less relevant, will give the reader a more distinct idea of the occurrences, and the people, while the excitemsnt was at its height, than could be obtained from an unbroken narrative.

The incipient stages of the disease, as it began to show in old residents, is told in a short letter, dated August 18, 1S.S3, from Dr. Horace Chase, now a resident and a leading citizen of Milwaukee. He writes :

"Soon afk-r the sale of Ms in Chicago, in 1S31, 1 think. Robert Kiniie. on hi* way to Detroit, stopped jt March's trading, post, near Coldwatcr. There happened to be several of us present, and Hub, finding an audience lie look for green-horns, began to boast about Chicago, and what a great city it would become. ' Why.' said he, ' I bought some of the brst lots in Chicago for dollars apiece to-day.' It seemed to us utterly absurd that a lot should be worth *i*ty dollars, when two hundred dollars would bay one hundred and sixty acres of land of the best quality, and in 1H33 there were tens of thousands n( such chances in Michigan Not a single |wrson in the crowd believed Hob's yarn."

John S. Wright * in his most valuable book, "Chicago : Past, Present, and Future." gives his own experience during the speculative era. He died in I'hila.lelu -n ' !>teml,cr ,S7-» His remains rest in Rose Hill. Chicago, l rom his autobiographical sketch, pp. 289, 290, the following interesting extracts are taken : " In 1 iS.52. at the age of seventeen, my father took me to Chiwith a Stock 0/ merchandise. The town then contained some lundredand fifty people (exclusive. if the garris..ni. two framed and no dwellings, except those built of log,. After remaint£l m 3?!fe!?R^! '"V'V'O- ">u,h <** »»'. and satis.

various parties m New York, real estate for over $50,000, receiving about two-thirds of the pay cash in hand, anil giving my individual obligations to make the conveyance when 1 came of age, the \u\y following. My father would have been my heir, in the event of mv death, and they knew he would fulfill my contract*. 1 had, ibrn'. in 1R36, acquired a property of over $2uo,ooo, without any issuance even ftom my father, never having used his mcney for my operations, the store being his, and for conducting it only my expenscs hud In-en paid. My uncle was the only relative w ho could have aided me, and he never would, even temporarily. So far from it, he was in my debt continuously from 1S34 to our'final settlement in 1*3*. Hut 1S37 brought ruin to roe. as it did to nearly all who owed anything : though it was not so much speculation in real estate a, engaging in mercantile business lhat in volt ed me. At lhat age it seemed desirable evert- way to hate rtgular occupation to promote gKxl habits, and in accordance with my father's wishes. 1 purchased in I S30 a warehouse and dock-lots, to xngngc in the shipping business, which cost $23,500. My whole indibii dness was about Si5,<««. I had nearly tav.cco due to me, which was supposed to be well secured, it being chiefly the tmal payments on property of which over half the com had been paid, to provide ample means for business, I sold in the autumn of 1830 a tract adjoining the city f.ir $50,000, quick pay. This trade" was unhurt, unately broken up bv the merest accident, and thereafter I had no opportunity to sell at wh it was deemed a fair price. I came in possession of the warehouse May 1, 1*37; and though having small cash resources, I thought best to commence business, hoping there would soon be a favorable turn Hut all went down, down, and I was soon inextricably involved. The money used to Ley those lots for business, not speculation, would have carried me through. |ty 1S40, mv property had all gone ; <:ne piece thai had been worth $100,000. went lor (6,000; another that had been worth $12,00,, »cnt (or $,,,«, an,| «,

J. I). Honnell, a young man of far more ardent hope than his financial condition would warrant, came to Chicago in He subsequently found a safe haven

"My first entry into the city of Chicago was forty years ago, August 25. IS3;. approaching the city on foot from thesouth. On emerging from the oak openings, I came upon the hotel of Mollis Newton, and on entering the house I found the landlord at home, and alone. Asking him how far it was to Chicago, he informed me it was three miles, and in answer to whether there was any house on the way, he said yes - lhat Mr. Clarke's house was about half way. On his asking where 1 came from and for what I camr. I answered lhat I had made a claim in Thorn drove for my parents, who were soon coming on, with ox teams, from Ohio, and that I was Koinjj into the town to leam what I could find to do. lie immediately proposed to sell me his tavern stand with the hMlf MM lot U|Min which it stood, for $,«*>. so that he could noon to 3 fatm, for he was ' d - d sick of beeping tavern on that sandy leach, uhcre his eyes were constantly full of sand.' Hut 1 declined to make any bargain wilh him. and j'^ged along over I he sand hill< for Fort Dearborn and Chicago, where I arrived in the evening, having calked from I horn l irove via rhomton, thirtjr-thKC ulla, » CM> cago, that day ; which, if taken into consideration, away back in those d<ty>, w hen there was scarcely a road at all. was a good day's walk. And yet, by the Hoosiers on the Chicago ic Cincinnati road, there was much teaming in 'prairie schooners,' in bringing corn-meal and bacon to the Chicago market, anil loading luck with salt.

" On arriving at Chicago 1 stopped over night at the Mansion House. In the morning I commenced looking over the town and prospecting for a boarding. place, and to learn what 1 could find to do. The hotels were all pretty full, and their prices ranting too high for my finances. I walked across the street, w here the tirsl thing that attracted my attention was the sound of a violin. On entering a small wooden slucture. their stood behind a rudely constructed counter Mr. Dalton. a recent arrival frrm Columbus. Ohio, a former tailor there, but w ho had now opened a liquor shop, and played the liddle to attract customers.

" Passing cast, toward the mouth of the river, was the Lake House in course of construction, east of which was the residence of 1>. Kimball, who was a partner of Mr. Pravne in a drug slot* OB Sooth Water Street. Mr. Pruvne was Stale Senator. Oppo*'" I>r. Kimball's was Hunter & llinsd. lcs warehouse. Adjoining on the west was Newberry & Dole-* warehouse, and on one part of the latter building was' the hat store of McCormick & Moon, of lXetroit. Mr. Moon being the partner of the Chicago store. In the hack par: nf the tt-as Jesse Butler's tailor shop. In turning the corner of Dr. Kimball s residence, awav to the northeast, among the *and-hills, close by the lake shore, stood a small yellow house, occupier! by Parnick Kclscy as n boarding-house, ostensibly run by live, I'aruick's wife, fur Mr. Kclscy was a sub-contractor in removing slumps anil grubs, preparatory to the grading of the street on the North Side, through the swamps and bogs, which at that time rendered traveling almost impossible. But as Mrs Kelsev had all the boarders that she could accommodate, 1 was obliged to seek other quarters.

" I>earliorn Street at the time I write was the " lively " street, for Garrett's auction-room was located there, on the west side of the street, close to Cox .Y Duncan's clothing store, just opposite to which were Mr. Orccnlcaf's.-iuction-rooms. To the latter place I was wont to go of evenings anil bid olT town and city lots, having the next day in which to secure a purchaser, and in case I failed to sell for an advance of my purchase I returned at night and |iaid Mr. Grcenlcaf a dollar anil the property was offered again for sale,

" The winter of 1835-36 wis a gay one for Chicago. Mr. Jackeax had a dancing-school at the New York Mouse once a week, which called out the elite of the city. Lincoln's coffee-house was the popular drinking place, situated, I think, on the corner of St. Clair and Wells streets. Mr. Lincoln had a favorite horse, an iron grey, and quite licet on foot, particularly so when in oursuit of a prairie wolf. Many a time in the winter of 1835.3b I have seen Mr. Lincoln mount his horse when a wolf was in sight on the prairie toward Bridgeport, anil within an hour's time come in with the wolf, having run him down with his horse and taken his life with a hatchet or other weapon.

" In 1833. Mr. Kingsbury, the original owner, offered all the land, and a great ilea; more than is now included in the Kingsbury estate to Captain Joseph Napcr. for $900. Fortunately for the heirs the doughty Captain couldn't seethe bargain, and Mr. Kingsbury was constrained, much against his will, to hold on to what he had. The land thus offend for $>/cx> included a good portion of the four blocks that surrounded the court-house squ ire, including the Kingsbury and Ashland blocks.

" The most historic lot in Chicago undoubtedly is the one occupied by the Trcmont lluuse. It has been in the ' rattle-box,' swapped 'for ponies, refused for a barrel of whisky, and when an old settler wants to give you an idea of the city when he first stuck his brogans in the mud. he will somehow associate the price of the Trcmont House lot with it ; and any old settler will tell the year of your arrival he giving hnn the value of llie lot at that particular time. One old codger will tell you. " When I came here I could have bought the lot the Tremonl House stands on for a cord of wood.' That means 1*31. Another puts the value, with the preliminary remark, at a pair of boots. That means 1S32 A third fixes the price at a barrel of whisky. That means 1S33. The fourth adds a voke of steers and a barrel of flour. That means 1834. A fifth talks about $500. That means 1535. A year or two afterward it was worth $5,000. and now it is nearer $500,000. In 1 833 Captain Luther Nichols refused to give Haptiste Beaubien forty cords of wood for it. and wood was then worth $1.25 per cord.

" John Noble still has in his possession the original deed, signed by the Countv Commissioners, conferring on him a title to the lot occupied by the ' I'ivoli,' on the southwest corner of Clark and Washington streets, for the sum of $01 in lawful money. The deed is dated June 14. 1*32. Many regard this as the most valuable lot in the "city, and is worth in the neighborhood of $3,000 a front foot."

The following description of the metes and bounds is as appears in a deed of a pit-ire of property situated on Chicago Avenue, adjoining the river, conveyed by John Noble to James IS. Campbell and George I".'. Walker. It reads as follows ;

" The following described tract or parcel of land, situated, lying and being in the county of Cook, in the State of Illinois, and being the one equal and undivided half of a lot or parcel of land transferred bv Mark Noble, Sr., and wife, to lame-. It. Campbell and Ccotge K. Walker, bv deed bearing date the 2sih day of August. 1 S33, and the said" lot or parcel of land is bounded by the following metes and bounds, lo-wil : Beginning at a hickory stake on the east side of the road on the North Branch of the 1 hicago River, on the dividing line between Section -| anil river, in Township 39 north, Range 14 east, thence cast along said line two chains and twenty links to a hickory stake cornered and running from a large hasswnod with three hacks, south ciglitv-fivc, west twenty-two links: thence north eight chains eighty-one links: thence west crossing a sluice to a white oak standing on the river bank, bla/ed on the south side, nine chains ninety-two links : thence southeast along the shore of said river to the place of beginning, containing 10.04 acres, more or less."

At the first sale of canal lots in 1829 in Section 9, h<- bought two lots, one on the northwest coiner of Lake and I-aSalle streets, and the other on the southwest corner of LaSalle anil South W ater streets. They were eighty by one hundred feet in size, and were bought for $33.33 each. In 1X36 the lots would have found ready purchasers at $100, oco. Mr. Hubbard disposed of a part of the property during the excitement, and the remaining portion after the crash, on a falling market ; nevertheless, he realized in the aggregate. $80,000 on his investment of $66.33,

A chronicler in the Sunday Times, October 24. 1875, tells the following story concerning another large and successful operation, which illustrates how the mania raged in New York, and how that Eastern "bonanza" was worked by local operators in Chicago: