Cook County, Illinois - The whole text, 1884 (part 1 of 61)

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SOME years ago the Publisher of this volume conceived the idea of preparing an historical work on the most marvelous of modern cities, Chicago. - At an early period in the progress of that undertaking, the fact became apparent that a history of the metropolis, no matter how exhaustive it might be in itself, could not be made to include one of the most essential features of the social vitality of the city, namely, a description of the numerous suburban residence-villages which form quiet retreats for thousands of busy men when the day's activities in the commercial center are done. Home life in these villages, which are, in most instances, rural only in comparison with the great city, is the delight of thousands who, if treated of only in their relations to commercial affairs, would be but partially represented.

It was also seen that a history of the city could not be made to include a record of the political, educational, religious, agricultural, and social affairs of the county of which Chicago is the capital, although each of these subjects contributes to the sum total of the city's importance as a political and social power.

It was, therefore, decided to extend the scope of the plan, and prepare a volume which should embrace the extramural themes, as well as an epitomized history of Chicago ; thereby forming a work at once complete within itself and supplemental to the comprehensive work pertaining solely to the city.

The dimensions and character of this History permit of the detailed description of the villages and townships of the county. A large corps of competent and experienced writers was employed for many months in the labor of gathering and compiling the histories of the several townships, by the examination of records and interviews with old residents. Care has been taken to obtain all information vital to the theme of the county's development, and to reduce to permanent form the scattered fragments of knowledge that were fast disappearing.

The manufacturing interests of the county, while tributary to the city's aggregate of trade, posseys a special importance, in many cases, as centers of thrifty communities. They should be described, therefore, in their relative bearing to the townships in which they exist, rather than be made to lose their individual character as parts of an industrial statistical report.

The history of the greatest live stock market in the world belongs to the town of Lake. The magnificent educational institutions which make the name of Evanston known throughout the country are a source of commendable pride. The institutions at Morgan Park are likewise the cause of special desire for treatment after this plan. The manufacturing villages in Hyde Park are among the most noted in the State ; while Pullman suggests a theme demanding fullest attention.

Individual mention is also a special feature of this work, and forms a valuable portion of the History, because by this method only can the details of that enterprise and accomplishment which has made Cook County what it is, be preserved.

The early history of the region, and the narrative of original settlement, as well as the chief commercial and professional topics, compose the preliminary portions of the work, comprising a most entertaining series of distinct divisions ; but the distinguishing characteristic of the History is its elaborate sketches of the townships and villages. The advantages of this method are obvious, embracing, as it does, the personal statements of early settlers, the descriptions of localities, and the official political records of the numerous divisions of the county.

The acknowledgements of the Publisher arc hereby made to the many hundreds of persons who have freely aided the writers in the preparation of their manuscript.

While it is beyond reason to expect absolute accuracy in such a work, every effort to secure correctness has been made, and, it is confidently hoped, a near realization of that desideratum has been attained.

Original Proprietors Of The Soil

THE first definite ami reliable information regarding the original proprietors of the soil of Chicago, is gamed from the account given by LaSalle. of his expedition from the mouth of the St. Joseph, in Michigan, by land, to the Illinois River, in the winter of 1681-82. He says he proceeded on his journey from St. Joseph, toward* the Illinois, by the southern shore of the lake, and was in the country of the Miamis until he reached what was then the Cheeaugau, but is now the Desplaines River. The portage which he was obliged to cross in order to reach that river, he calls the Cheeaugau Portage. The neighbors of the Miamis, on the west, were the Mascoutins.

The Miamis, whose languge, manners and customs were almost identical with those of the Illinois, are Supposed to be the parent race, or an important branch of that nation. Thev originally lived beyond the Mississippi, some writers claiming that their home was on the shore of the Pacific. They had villages, one in common with the Mascoutins - in Wisconsin, before 1671, and as late as 1697 ; but the greater portion of the tribe, before this time, had found their way to the southern shore o\ Lake M chigan, and easi to the m ..; ih rho.nl of the St. Joseph River, in the present State of Michigan. They were of sufficient importance in Wisconsin, even as lateas 1690, to warrant the English in sending an ambassador to their villages to purchase their friendship with gifts. They were partial to the French, however, and the overtures of the English met with little success. In 1670 the village of United Miamis and Mascoutins on Fox River of Green Bay, was visited by l ather Allouez, and the following vear by Fathers Allouez and Dablon in companv. One object of the visit ot t it fathers in 167 1 was to quiet a disturbance between the Indians and some French fur traders who had offended them.

"We found them." says Father Dablon. *' in a pretty ted nature, and the mitulsof ttie savage much -...rod against the I rei.cn. who were there twdfcg ! ill-treating them in deeds and »or.l». piM^ing and carrying away their merchandise in sptte o U.cm. and conducting themselves toward them «ith insupportable insolence and indignities."

The Indians, although insolent to the traders, it seems were desirous of pleasing the missionaries, and Father Dablon, who had a keen sense of the ludicrous, found it hard to preserve his gravity, when a banc of savage warriors, anxious to do them honor, marched to their tent, and slowly paced back and forth before it, aping the movements of the soldiers on guard before the Governors tent at Montreal. " We could hardly keep from laughing," writes the good priest, " though we were discoursing on very important subjects, namely: the mvsteries of our religion, and the things necessary to escaping eternal fire." .

The Miami confederacy, composed of the Miamis, Illinois and Kickapoos, and which Bancroft says was the most powerful in the West, exceeding even the Six Nations, or Iroquois, included the Miamis proper, Weas and Piankeshaws.

In 168^ a large number of the nation settled at LaSalle's fort on the Illinois River. LaSalle wrote that vear from the " Portage de Chicagau," to LaBarre, then ' Governor of Canada, " The Iroquois are again invading the country. Last year the Miamis were so alarmed by them, that they abandoned their town and lied, but at my return they came back, and have been induced to settle with the Illinois at my fort of St. 1 rm is The Iroquois have lately murdered some families of their nation." The Miamis, at Fort St Louis, numbered 1.300, the Weas 500, and the Piankeshaws

Charlevoix, writing in 1721, says : " Fifty years ago the Miamis were settled on the southern extremity of Lake Michigan, in a place called Chicago, from the name of a small river which runs into the ake the source of which is not far distant from that of the river of the Illinois." .

St Cosmc and his companions found Miamis at Chicago in .699-1700, and a mission established among them, m charge of two Jesuit Fathcrs-Pinet and B.i.eteau L is said by an early writer, that m 1718. the Weas had a village at Chicago, but being afraid of the canoe people* left it, and passed around the head of I ake Michigan, to be nearer their brethren farther to the east Prior to this time - in 1701 - DeCourtemanchc, an agent of France, had visited the Miamis, both at St Toseph River and Chicago, to induce them to cease their wars with the Iroquois, which prevented communication between Canada and Louisiana by way of ttie Illinois River. A council of the Algonquin tribes was appointed at Montreal, which was attended by Chich.katalo. then principal chief of the Miami nation who made a speech in which he affirmed his friendship for the French, and desired to be guided by their wishes. I he Foxes, from the vicinity of Green Bay, succeeded the Iroouois in their attacks upon the Illinois and M.am.s. and during the first quarter of the eighteenth century had probably driven the latter from the vicinity of Chicago. From that time until the termination of Pontic's War and the final defeat and extermination of the

Illinois at Starred Rock, when the Pottawatomie* (rained possession of the country, the region now Chicago was inhabited, if inhabited at all. by roving bands of northern Indians.

Major Thomas Forsyth, who lived a large portion of his life among the Indians of Illinois and Iowa, says* that in the first quarter of the eighteenth century, all the different bands of the Illinois Indians spoke the language of the Miamis, and the whole considered themselves as one people : but from their local situation the language was broken up into different dialects "These Indians were attacked by a general confederacy of other nations, such as the Sauks and Foxes, who resided at Green Bay, and on the Ouisconsin ; the Sioux, whose frontiers extended south to the Rirer Des Moines : the Chippewas and Pottawatomie* from the lakes ; and also the Cherokees and Clioctaws from the south. The war continued many rears, and until that great nation, the Minneways Miamis or Illinois was destroyed, except a few Miamis and Wens on the Wabash, and a few who were scattered among strangers."

That portion of the Miamis who were driven from Chicago, found a home with the rest of the trilie, on the St. Joseph, the Maumee and the Wabash. During the war of the Revolution, the tribe was hostile to the colonies, and even after the treaty of peace, consummated in the year 1783, their depredations upon the settlers on the Ohio and Maumee were continued until the final surrender of the northwestern lake posts in 1796. In 1790, peace negotiations were opened with the Miamis and other tribes, which proved unsuccessful, and General Harrner was sent with an army by General Washington to bring the tribes to submission. Battles were fought nearChillicothe. Ohio, and near Fort Wayne, Indiana, neither of which was very successful on' the part of the Americans.

In 1791 two other expeditions were directed against the hostile Miamis, Shawanoes and others on the Miami and Wabash - one under command of General Charles Scott, and the other under General Wilkinson. In 1791 Governor Arthur St. Clair, of the Northwest Territory, marched with an army of fourteen hundred men to within fifteen miles of the Miami villages on the Great Miami, where on the 4th of November a sanguinary battle was fought. The Indians, led by Little Turtle, fought bravely, and finally defeated the Americans, who were compelled to retreat, abandoning their camp and artillery. In the precipitate (light the men threw down arms and accoutrements, and never halted until they reached Fort Jefferson, twenty-one miles distant. This success encouraged the Indians, and their tlepredations were only stopped by the decisive victory gained by General Anthony Wayne over the Western Confederacy of Indians, in August, 179a, which was followed by the treaty of Greenville, August 3, 1795 - the first treaty with the United States, to which the Miamis were a party. It was at this treaty that Little Turtle, the principal chief of the nation, made his celebrated speech, defining the limits of his country. He said to General Wayne, " You have pointed out to us the boundary line between the Indian and the United States. I now take the liberty to inform you that the line cuts off from the Indian a large |>ortion of country which has been enjoyed by my forefathers from time immemorial, without question or dispute The prints of mv ancestors' houses are everywhere to be seen in this region. It is well known by all my brothers present, that mv forefathers kindled the first fire at Detroit ; from thence extended their line to the head waters of the Scioto ; from thence to its mouth ; thence to Chicago, on Lake Michigan. These are the boundaries within which the prints <»f my ancestors' houses are ererywhere to be

Id 1840 what tew Miamis remained .n the Fast were removed from the Wabash to a tract of land now comprised in Miami County, Kansas. They had increased in numbers during the preceding years of peace, ami numbered about eleven hundred when they went to the Indian Territory. Homesickness soon reduced their ranks, and after remaining in the West a year, a large part of those surviving returned to Indiana. In 1854 the tribe ceded their land in Kansas to the Cnited States, excepting a reservation for their own use and occupancy ; which, also, they ceded in 1867. C>uite a number became citizens of Kansas, and the remainder were removed to the present Indian Territory, where they became confederated with the Peorias. The last of the Miamis in Kansas, numbering about one hundred and thirty, removed to the Indian Territory in 1871.

Thk Pottawatomies. - The Pottawatomics, Ottawas and Chippewas, whose language, manners and customs are similar, are supposed to be the original people who lived at the " villages of the falls." at St. Marys Strait, and on the northern bank of Lake Huron. These tribes belong to the great Algonquin family, and speak one of its rudest dialects. They were hunters and fishers, and by the Illinois Indians, who never made voyages on the water, were called the "canoe people," and held in dread, as they were warlike, and frequently in collision with neighboring tribes. The first mention of the Pottawatomies by the French Jesuits, is in the Relation of 16,39. where it is said that John Nicolet had visited them at their islands of Green Hay, where they had been driven by the Iroquois. 'These islands were known as the Pottawatomie Islands, and were the residence of the tribe for many years. Before the expiration of the first quarter of the eighteenth century a large portion of the Pottawatomies had emigrated toward the south, one band making a home on the St. Joseph River, of Michigan, am! another in the vicinity of Detroit. 'They were always intimately associated with other tribes - usually with the Ottawas or Chippewas, but sometimes with Miamis. Foxes or Winncbagocs. They were faithful allies of the French until after the death of Pontiac.and took part with that chieftain in his attac k on Fort St. Joseph, in May, 1763, and the subsequent siege of Detroit..

A treaty was concluded between the English and the Western Confederacy in August, 1764, and of the nineteen hundred and thirty warriors assembled at Niagara, as representatives of the various tribes, four hundred and fifty were Pottawatomies. Pontiac, disappointed at the result of his efforts to keep the hated English from the region of Detroit, came, it is said, to Illinois, and settled with a band of Ottawas, on the banks of the Kankakee. In 1769 he was assassinated, and it was believed by the united tribes (Ottawas and Pottawatomies) that the Illinois Indians were accessory to the crime. In revenge for the death of their idolized leader, war was waged by the Pottawatomics and other Northwestern tribes against the Illinois, until the latter was exterminated, and the victors had possession of all northern Illinois. " Starved Rock," in LaSalle County (the " Rock of St. Louis," of LaSalle and Tonty), was the scene of the final disaster which completely annihilated the once powerful nation which gave the State of Illinois its name. Driven from one place of refuge to another, the last surviving remnant of the Illinois Indians gathered on the summit of Starved Rock, where they were besieged by their enemies on every side : and when, at last, compelled by the pangs of hunger and thirst, in desperation they attempted to force a path through the ranks of the enemy, nearly every one was slain. Scarcely enough escaped to tell the tale.

The Pottawatomies w ere now the dominant tribe in upper Illinois, although in many cases their villages were composed of United I'ottawatotnies, Ottawas and Chippewas.* Through the Revolution they were hostile to the Americans, but after the victory gained by General Wayne over the Western Confederates in the summer of 1794, at Prcsque Isle, on the Maumec River, the Pottawatomies joined the other trilies in suing for

The nations, who with the confederated Indian force led by Little Turtle and Blue jacket, Ottawa and Shawnee chiefs, against General Wayne at this decisive battle, which eventuated in the treaty of Greenville, were the Miamis, Shawanocs, Delawares, Chippewas and Ottawas.

On the 3d of August, 1795, the treaty of Greenville was concluded at the fortified camp of General Wayne, called by that name. By this treaty the Indians ceded an immense tract of country, south of the lakes and west of the Ohio, together with certain specific tracts, including the sites of all the Northwestern posts.

Wabash and Huron-river bands Pottawatomies of the Woods) and by the leading chiefs of the M PottawatOmies of the Prairie" - the latter being those living in Illinois. The stipulations of this treaty remained unbroken until 181 1, when the machinations of Tecumseh and the Prophet sent General Harrison to the Wabash, and the battle of Tippecanoe followed.

By this treaty of Greenville the Indians ceded to the United States, "one piece of land six miles square, at the mouth of Chicago River, emptying into the southwest end of Lake Michigan, where a fort formerly stood." There was also a stipulation that the Indians should allow a free passage to the people of the United States 'from the mouth of the Chicago to the commencement of the portage between that river and the Illinois, and down the Illinois River to the Mississippi."

The Pottawatoinies joined in the treaty negotiated at Fort Wayne by General Harrison in 1803.3111! before 1809 had ceded considerable of their land to Government. In the War of 1812 a portion of the tribe joined the English, influenced by Tccumseh, and his brother the Prophet, and under the leadership of Suna-wcwo-nee, war-chief of the Prairie bands, made war u|x>n the Americans, and participated in the massacre of the

Fort Dearborn garrison. A treaty of peace was made with this band at Portage des Sioux in July, 1815, which was signed by Suna-we-wo-ncc, and it is said the band never broke the pledge of friendship then made. In the following September, a general treaty with the Pottawatoinies and other tribes was made at Detroit.

i> now the State of Michigan, were ceded to the United States prior to 1S20, by treaties at Spring Wells. St. Mary's and Saginaw. In 1821 it was proposed by Government to extinguish the Indian title to that portion of the country lying between the northern boundary line of Indiana and the Grand River of Michigan. It was believed that the Pottawatomies and kindred tribes - the United Tribes - numbered at this time in Michigan about four thousand.

A council to effect this object was appointed, to be held at Chicago, in August, 1821. Governor Lewis Cass, of Michigan Territory, and Solomon Sibley, were appointed L^nited States Commissioners, and Henry R. Schoolcraft was named as their Secretary. Mr. Schoolcraft, in his work entitled " Travels in the Central Portions of the Mississippi Valley," which was published in 1S25, gives a full account of the proceedings of this council, and of the appearance of the country at that time. He says:

"' < In crossing the Desplaincs, we found the opposite shore thronged with Indians, whose loud ami obtrusive salutations caused us to make a fen' minutes' halt. From this point we were scarcely ever out of sight i>l straggling parties, all proceeding to the same place. Most commonly the) were mounted on horses, and apparelled in their Iwst manner, and decorated with medals, silver l>ands anil feathers. The gaudy ati.l show v dresses of these troops of Indians, with the jingling CMMed by the sinking of their ornaments, and their spirited manner of riding, created a scene as novel as it was interesting. Proceeding from all parts of a very extensive circle of country, like ray* converging to a focus. Ihe nearer we approached, the more compact and concentrated the hotly became, and we found otir cavalcade rapidly augmented. and.ctmsei|uently. the dust, eonftltSon and notse increased at every by-path which intersected our way. After crossing the south fork of the Chicago, ami emerging Irom the forest that skirts it, nearly the whole number of those who had |>receded us appeared on the extensive and level plain that stretches along the shores of thr lake, while I he refreshing and noble appearance of the lake itself, with 'vast and sullen swell," appeared [>cyontl. We found, on reaching the post, that between two and three thousand Indians were assembled - chiefly Pottawatomies, Ottawa* and Chippewas. Many arrived on the two following davs. Provisions were daily issued by the Indian Department, during the treaty, to about three thousand."

The Council opened on the 17th and continued over a week. It was held on the north bank of the Chicago River, probably between the present North State and Pine streets - the space included between the house of John Kinzie and that of Dr. Wolcott, the Indian Agent. In the course of the proceedings Governor Cass defined the limits of the country then owned by the Pottawatomies. as extending along both banks of the

Illinois and all its tributaries. On the north it reached along the western shore of Lake Michigan to the Winnebagocs of Green nay. On the east they claimed all the country beyond the St. Joseph to the head waters of the Maumee and Wabash, and on the west, to the territory of the Sacs and Foxes on the Mississippi. The principal speakers on the part of the Pottawatomies were Topincbce,* chief the St. Joseph band, and Metea, of the Wabash band. The Ottawas and Chippewas also had their spokesman, and by each it was affirmed that the Pottawatomies, Ottawas and Chippewas were originally one nation, and still considered themselves as one |>eople.f

A treaty was concluded after a long delay on the part of the Pottawatomies, and live mil lion acres passed to the possession of the United Stales Government, the latter to pay to the Pottawatomies live thousand dollars annually for twenty years, and to appropriate one thousand annually for the support of a blacksmith and a teacher among them. The Ottawas and Chippewas received a smaller amount.

In 1827 the Pottawatomies refused to join the Winnebagoes in their hostile demonstrations against the Americans, and again in 1832, although many of the younger warriors were in favor of joining Black Hawk, the councils of Shawbonee.J Robinson and the Sauganash prevailed, and the Pottawatomie chiefs not only prevented the tribe from taking part in the war, but did their utmost to serve and protect the whites.

The last treaty between these Indians and the United St ates, prior to their removal to the Indian Territory, was made at Chicago - being concluded Scptemi>er 26, 1833. George B. Porter. Thomas F. V. Owen, and William Weatherford were Commissioners on the part of the Government. A preliminary council was held with the principal chiefs more than a week before the formal council, which was on the 21st of September.

Charles Joseph Latrobc. an English author, traveling in the United States, was present at this treaty. Speaking of the scene at the time of his visit, he says :

" When within live miles n( Chicago, we came to the first In- -lian encampment. Five thousand Indians were said to be collected around this little upstart village for the (.rosccution of the treaty, by which they were to cede their lands in Michigan and lllima*. We found the village, on our arrival, crowded to excesswe procured, with Rre.it difficult v. a small apartment, comfortless and noisy from its close prnximitv to others, but quite as good as we could have hoped for. The Pottawatomie* were encamped on all sides on the wide, level prairie bcvond the scattered village beneath the low woods which chequered them, on the sides of the MUll river, or to the leaward of the sand hills near the beach of the lake.

At the informal council the Indians had informed the commissioners that they did not wish to sell their lands; they wished, on the contrary, to keep them; but, as the council was appointed, they were urged to take the matter into consideration, which they did. Nearly a week elapsed before they could be again induced to Wet the commissioners, and in the meantime -

" Companies of old warriors might he seen sitting smoking under every bush, arguing, palavering, or powwowing with great earnestness; but there seemed no possibility of bringing them to another council in a hurrv. » » « The little village of Chicago was in an uproar from m .ming to night, and from night to morning: for during the hours ol darkness, when the housed portion of the inhabitants of Chicago sought to obtain repose in ihe crowded plank edifices of the village, the Indians howled, sang, wept, yelled and whooped in their various encampments. * * * The large bodv of Indians collected in the vicinity consisted not merely of chiefs and warriors, but in fact the greater part of the whole tribe were present, for where the warrior was invited to feast at the expense of the liovcrnment, the squaw look care to accompany him; and where the squaw went the children or papooses, the ponies, and the innumerable dogs followed, and here they were lis ing merrily at the cost of Ihe i iovcrninenl. Not far from the river lay many groups of tents constructed of c<iarse canvas, blankets and mats, and surmounted by poles supporting meat, moccasins and rags. Their vicinity was" always enlivened by various (Minted Indian figures, dressed in the SMM gaudy attire. - - - h'ar and wide the grassy prairie teemed with figures - warriors mounted or on foot, squaws and horses. Here a race between three or four Indian panics, each carrying a double rider, who were whooping and yelling like fiends; here a solitary horseman, with a long spcer, turbancd like an Arab, scouring along at full speed; groups of hobbled horses; Indian dogs and children, or a grave conclave of grcv chiefs seated on the grass in <

For the resiliences of the United States Commissioners, and other notables present at the treaty, a number of plank huts or cabins were erected on the north bank of the Chicago River. In the vicinitv of these the council lire of the United Tribes was lighted under a spacious open shed standing on the green prairie, and 011 the afternoon of the 21st of September some twenty or thirty chiefs assembled around it to commence proceedings. The Indians were seated at the western end of the council room and the commissioners were opposite them. On the 26th the treaty was ( (included; on the 27th certain supplementary articles addetl: anil, to the shame of the whites be it said, the Indians sold their lands, not because they did not love it and wish to remain upon if, but t>ecause they loved whisky better than everything else besides, and were allowed to drink until they cared for nothing else, but passively " put their hands to the quill " and signed away the' land which they had conquered, and had claimed for three quarters of a century The land ceded by this treaty contained about live million acres, and was.'with the exception of some small reservations, all the*n claimed bv the United Tribes in Illinois and Michigan.

They were granted a reservation which was then a part of the Indian Territory, but which by the " Platte Purchase" of 1S3O became the northwestern portion ot Missouri. In the summer of 1S35, the Pottawatomies came for the last time to Chicago to receive their annuities, and tO start thence for their Western reservation. The total number that assembled was alxiut five thousand. While in the town of Chicago, at that time, the Indians performed their war-dance, as a sort of farewell to their old home and their remaining friends among the whites. They were removed by Government, under charge of the late Captain J. B. F. Russell, to the reservation assigned them, now in northwestern Missouri, and about two years later again removed to the present site of Council Bluffs, Iowa. In 1837, the Pottawatomies of Indiana were removed to a tract on the Osage River, now in Miami Co., Kans. In 1848, the several bands disposed of their lands in Iowa anil on the Osage for the sum of §850,000 and removed to another reservation on the Kansas River, where they were joined in 1850 by the remnant still remaining in Michigan. In their Western home, as here, they were divided into the Pottawatomies of the Woods, the Mission band iwho were generally Catholics, docile, and easily civilized), and the wild Prairie band. At the treaty made with the tribe in Kansas, November 15, 1861, the latter could not be induced to break up their tribal relations, and were allotted a portion of the reservation which they were to hold in common. The Band of the Woods anil the Mission band elected to become citizens of the United .State;, and now hold their land in Kansas in severalty. The l'rairie band numbered seven hundred and eighty at the time of the treaty, anil was allotted a tract of about twelve miles square in what is now Jackson Co., Rans., upon which they still live. There are now 1883 on the reservation about four hundred and fifty; two hundred and eighty are in Wisconsin, thirty in Iowa and twenty-four in the Indian Territory. Dr.

H. C. Linn is the present agent of the l'rairie Indians and their present chief is Sinigh-nes-see. On the reservation the Indians have one hundred and five houses, some of which are very comfortable, and as many well cultivated fields, enclosed with good fences. The Indian boarding-school was opened 'in 1875. which with ils

"This prairie bund of Indians arc many of them resolutely cultivating the arts of peace. They are jusi and honest with the whites and themselves; they are developing the holy love of a persiina], permanent home; they arc comprehending subject* of business presented to them; llley are substituting, fur the sixteen Knglish letters they have heretofore used in thtir Indian language, all of the Knglish alphabet found necessary to express vocal sounds; they are learning to acquire, property ; ill line they are making graduaf progress, and iheir |>ernianent location in Jackson County may bring mutual compensation to themselves ami the ' superior race.' "

I. aSalle's expedition to the Illinois River by way of the St. Joseph and Kankakee, in 1680. The title of one of his chapters has been translated. " An account of the building of a new fort on the river of the Illinois, named by the savages Chc-cau gou, anil by us Fort Crevcceur " This is a very blind translation, and it is difficult to determine from it, exactly what Hennepin meant; but, judging from other descriptions of the same expedition, given by Meinbre and LaSalle, he probably intended that the title of his chapter should read, " An account of the building of a new fort, named by us Creveceur, on the river of the Illinois, named by the savages Checau-gott," which there is reason to believe was their name for the Illinois River. Marquette speaks of the river only as "the river of the Illinois," while Juliet calls it the "river of St. Louis," and also " The Divine River, or ( hitralaise.'f

Franquelin has evidently mistaken the locality of the St. Louis River of Joliet, as, on his large map of 1684, he has applied to the Ohio the name " River St. Louis or Chucagoa." The name, however, shows that the river called St. Louis was also called Checaugou or Chucagoa. "The name Chicagou is given to the Illinois by Coxe, also, in his " Louisiana." There is a map in the Historical Society Library at Madison, Wis., said to have l>een designed bv Samson, geographer to the French Ring in 1673, before the results of the expedition of Joliet and Marquette were made known On this map is laid down a river, with its outlet in the Gulf of Mexico, and which is intended to represent the Mississippi. It U called the "Chncagua River."

Chicago, is said to be "great " or " strong," from ka-go, something, and Chi, from gitchi, great. It is not unreasonable to believe that this was the generic term applied by the Illinois Indians, not only to their own "great river." but also to the Mississippi. Much information regarding the latter river had been gained by the French from the Illinois Indians, but it was always called by them the "Great River," which its name also signifies in the dialect of the Northwestern tribes - nucha or mecht, large or great ; and »///</, ttpi, river. The Illinois River is called the '- Divine River" " Riviere I.aDivinc"i by Joliet, who applies this name to the river, from the .source of the Desplaines branch to its mouth. LaSalle calls the Illinois the Divine River, in 1G80, and Membre says, speaking of the expedition on which he accompanied I-aSalle in 1681-S2, that they "went toward the Divine River, called by the Indians Checaugou," to make their way to the Mississippi; Membre, however, applying the name only to the northern branch of the Illinois Desplaines , which branch was called by that name or Chicago, until as late as 1812. LaSalle, writing of his expedition to the Illinois in the winter of 1681-82. says he' arrived in January, 1682, at "the division line called Chccaugau, froin the river of the same name, which lies in the country of the Mascoutins." The Mascoutins. at that time, had villages between the Fox and Desplaines. in common with the Kickapoos, whose language, manners and customs were identical. It is believed that they were bauds of the same tribe, known by the different names, and that the Rickaphos are now the only survivors of the tribe.

St. Cosmc, visiting this locality 111 1699 and again in 1700. spells the name variously ; as Chikagu, Chikagou, Chicago, Chicago, and Chicaqu. 'The latter spelling is equivalent to Chicaquc, or Checaqua, which was the name borne bv a long line of Illinois chiefs - and as applied to them.would mean the great, or |>owerful, chiefs.

Dr. William Barry,* first secretary of the Chicago Historical Society, who has given much attention to this question, makes the following statement :

" Whatever may base been the etymological meaning of th* word Chicago, in its practical use it probably denotes strong or great. The Indians applied this term to the Slississippi Kiver. to thunder, or to the voice of thclireat Maiinou. Edwin Hubbard, the genealogist, adopts a similar view, and says the word Chicago, in its applications, signified strong, mighty, powerful."

It must be remembered that when LaSalle came with his party of followers to this region in the winter of 1681-82, not only the river now the Desplaines, but the |H>rtage leading to it, was "called by the savages" [the Miamis and Illinois, whose dialect was the samei Chccagou. 'The name, "as the appellation of a chief or brave," or whatever it might mean, could not have been " transferred by the French to the river, and passed from the river to the locality when the French settled there," as Dr. J. Hammond 'Trumbull, of Hartford, Conn., suggests, because both river and locality were " called by the savages Checagou " when the French first visited them. If the meaning of this word, in the dialect of the Illinois and Miamis, was great, or powerful, and was the generic term by them applied to the Mississippi, the Illinois, their great chiefs, etc., and as the French gave other and specific names to their rivers and localities, this was at last only given to the Desplaines. the portage, and later to the little stream leading from the portage to the lake, of course, the name so applied lost all its significance.

locally to the present Chicago River is found in another dialect Chippewa of the same Algonquin tongue - the words, shegahg, meaning skunk, or shc-gau-ga-win/.he. skunk-weed or wild onion ; which it is believed was given to the present Chicago River by the natives, from the circumstance of its banks producing plentifully the wild leek or onion. The early French writers - Membrc, and Tontv in his " Memoir " - speak of the abundance of this bulbous plant throughout the country ; the latter mentioning the fact of subsisting on the wild onions which he and his companions grubbed from the mound, on their journey from the Illinois to Green Bay in the winter of 16S0-81.

-' The word Chicago '* understood iu be an lnili.ui word ; .it least it is derived from that mint What ils precise meaning is, or whether it has any particular meaning at all in it* present f- inn as new applied, is a' matter id considerable dispute among those who have given the subject attention. The w ord ernes to us through the early French explorers of the West as an Indian wold from tile language of the Algonquin group. Whilst this group of the North American trilses had one general or generic language by which they were distinguished, each tribe had Us dialect differing more or less from that of the other tnbes of the same group. The standard or parent language, however, since this people liecamc known to the whites. wa> that spoken by the Ojibways (t'hippeways, I the must powerful and numerous of the various tribes of this group. Those who pretend to make any positive assertion a* to the correct meaning of this word, as an Indian word, seem to have confined their investigations on the subject to the Indian language, as spoken by the Ojibways. without reference to irther dialects, seeming to ignor,- the fact that il could come from any other source, whereupon they reach the conclusion, and soasscrt.tli.it it means onion, garlic, leek or skunk. So far as appears at this day, there seems to have been no -pceial inquiry into the origin oc meaning of this word until about the time of the rebuilding of hurt Dearborn, in Idl6 The year following that event, Colonel Samuel A. Starron visited this place, and in a letter to General Jacob 1! town of the 1'nited States Army, refers to the river here as ' the River Chicago (or in the English - Wild Union River).' * * 1 The definition of the onion bv Rev. Kdward F. Welson, in his dictionary of ihc Ojlbw-ay language, is kechc-shc-gaug-vh-wutinh. He defines skunk as ?hc-gang. John fanner, for thirty years a captive among the Ojibways, and mam years United Stales Indian interpreter, in a 'Catalogue of Plant's and Animals, found in the country of the Ojibways, with English names,' appended to the narrative of his captivity, defines skunk as she-gang, lie defines onion as she-gau-ga-winzhc (skunk-weed). In a note thereto, by l»r. James, editor of Tanner s narrative, it is added : ' Krnm shih-gan-ga-winchc, this word in the singular num. ber, some derive the name Chicago.' * * * It is noticed that all who contend that the word Chicago, as applied to the river and city of that name, means skunk, onion or the like, derive their convictions on (he subject from one or more of the authorities which are before cited, or from some one familiar with the Ojihwav Ianguage, who forms his convictions to the same effect, from the' mere coincidence of sounds. History is so unsatisfactory and varied in regard to this word, thai we arc left to this day to determine its meaning vilely upon the basis of similarity of sounds. For there seems to be no fuel or incident narrated or mentioned in history that leads with any degree of certainty cither to the original meaning of this word as intended, or lo 'the dialect from which it is derived. And il is lo be confessed that upon the theorv aforesaid, conceding that the word comes from the Ojibway language or dialect, no one is prepared lo dispute the assertion so generally made that the word is derived from skunk. The word skunk being iu the Indian tongue simply shc-kang, iu order to make Chicago, the theory adopted is that ong, an Ojibway Wal termination is addul which makes I hi-cag-ong, meaning at Ihe skunk, the sound ng being dropped in common s,>eerh, leaving the word in the form now used. Whilst this is not inconsistent in practice in dealing with Indian names, there i> another theorv, it M Suggested, which may be adopted in this connection, that would seem lo be equally consistent. The word Chi-ca.go, without adding ng would be ;t fair Ojibway expression. The sound o added, would denote the genitive, and might be rendered thus, 'him of the skunk.' in which rase it would prokil.lv be the name of an individual, and it is slated that this word is the n Chief, but the name also of a li lions. * - » Thy mosl th.lt taI| ^ ^jj degree of certainty i», that il is of Indian origin and conies from some dialed of the Algonquin group, so called. Il must be noted, howxver. that in the Ojibway dialect this word, or that which is essentially the same, is not confined in its meaning to that contended fur as before mentioned. The word may mean, also, in that language, to forbear, or avoid, from kah-go, forbear, anil che, a prefix answering to our preposition to; or, il may mean something great, from kago, something, anil cH, from gil-che. great. Itesides several other words or expressions which may be found in this dialect, of the same sound, yet of different meanings, Che-cagua was the name of a noted Sac chief, and means in thai dialect, ' he that stands by the tree-' In the Pottawatomie dialect, the word choc-ca-go. without addition or abridgment, means destitute."

There have been various other theories in regard to the meaning of the word, but the weight of authority seems to denote that when the French first mentioned the river, "called bv the savages Chccagoit," they referred to the Illinois, and its northern branch, and that it was simply at that time the "great river" of the Illinois. When these Indians and the kindred tribe, the Mianiis. were driven from the region, ami the " canoe people" - all branches of the original Ojibways - gained possession of the country, the name was transferred to the present Chicago River, although it was still applied also to the Oesplaines. The name, as applied by these Indians to the little river had, doubtless, a local signification, ami from the time of their advent, Chicago River, in all probability, meant skunk-weed, garlic, or wild-onion river. It was certainly known as such as early .is 1773, when the Indians deeded to William Murray a tract of land, extending -' up the Illinois to Chicagou or C.arlick Creek," although it may never be fully known whether the simple word she-kang, the more complex she-gan-ga-winzhc, the Pottawatomie choc-ca-go. or some other similar word had the honor of giving a name to the present river and city of Chicago.

Early Explorations

John Nichi.ki. - A history of Canada, written in Latin, by M. DuCreux, and entitled //is/aria Canadensis, was published in Paris in the year 1664. In this work was the following passage:

"In the last months of 1642. New Krance mourned for two men of no common character who were snatched away from her; one of tlies,- (Kayrnbault), who died hrst. of disease, was a nicmlwT of the Society of the Jesuits, and the other, although a layman, was distinguished by singularly meritorious acts toward the Indian tribes of Canada."

This " layman," whose services in the interest of France and humanity well merited the above notice, was John Nicolet, the first civilized man who trot! the soil or floated upon the waters of the great Northwest - the dauntless pioneer who penetrated to the hitherto unknown -fresh water sea," beyond the "Lake of the Hurons." and visited the Indian tribe* dwelling upon its western shore; not resting until he reached the villages of the Illinois Erinioua/ atul.it is believed the beautiful prairies of the State which now bears their name. In the Historia Canadensis, and in the Jesuit Relations of 1639-43 Yimont .is found the narrative of thelifcand achievements of the man who occupied so important a place in the history of French explorations.

In 1603 Samuel Champlatn first came to the banksof the St. Lawrence to make a survey of the country preliminary to founding a colony and permanently securing to France a monopoly of the fur trade with the surrounding Indians. His visit was brief, but from the natives he learned enough to satisfy him that the failures of De La Roche, Pontgrave and Cha'uvin need not be repeated on the St. Lawrence. He returned to France, to sail again in 1608, with men. arms and stores for a colony, and in the summer of that year he commenced the settlement of Quebec. During his previous visits he had heard from the savages of regions farther to the west - of great lakes, cataracts and rivers - and had become convinced that from the head of the St. Lawrence, by means of these inland lakes and streams, and China; as. by the < >ttaxva of the North, he believed he could reach the Polar Sea. He came, therefore, to New France the second time, more as an explorer than as a merchant. The interests of the fur trade were placed in the hands of another, and after the settlement at Quebec acquired some degree of permanency, he commenced his exploration of the country farther to the south and west. Attaching to his interests the Algonquin* of the Ottawa, and the Hurons of Georgian Bay, who came annually to the St. Lawrence to trade, and who, like the French, were fearful of the encroachments of the Iroquois, Champlain penetrated the country to the lake which bears his name, drove the Iroquois from its waters, and by his powers so attached the allied tribes to himself, that before they left him to return to their homes the Hurons had invited him to visit them at their villages and ally himself with them in their war with the Iroquois.

After revisiting France in 1609 and 1610, he again returned in 161 1 to the St. Lawrence, and selected as a trading-post the present site of Montreal. The continuous and cruel wars of the Iroquois had compelled him to abandon his scheme of penetrating the western country, and he now devoted all his energy to the advancement of the interests of his superiors in France, by attempting to secure a monopoly of the fur trade of the surrounding region. With the design of extending this trade to more distant tribes, he commenced, about the year 1615, to train young men for the especial purpose of dealing with the Indians, by placing them in the charge of some friendly tribe to learn its language, manners and habits, and to become hardened and inured to the deprivations and loneliness of a life spent in the wilderness and among savages. While training others, he did not fail to cultivate the friendship of the Indians, and attach them to his interest by every means in his power. In 1615 he consented to lead the Hurons and Algonquins of the Ottawa against the Iroquois. With two Frenchmen and ten Indians he left Montreal in July of that year, traveled up the Ottawa to the Algonquin villages^ passed the Allumette lakes, and thence by Lake Nipissiug, French River and Georgian Hay, reached the home of the Hurons, which lay in the little peninsula formed bv the head of the Georgian Bay. the River Severn ami Lake Simcoe. Here he joined the warriors of the two nations who had gathered at the Huron village. With them he moved south to the shore of Lake Ontario, crossed the lake and attacked the Iroquois in their fortified villages in the present State of New- York. The attack was not a success, and. with his allies, Champlain returned to the Huron village, where he passed the winter, and returned to Quebec in the summer of 1616. arriving just one year from the time of his departure. He had learned enough of the lake of the Hurons and of the country farther west, with its treasures of copper and peltry, to be more than ever anxious to secure it for France.

Quebec, at this time, consisted of a small fort, of which Champlain was nominal commander, and a population of some fifty fur-traders, adventurers and Recollet friars. In 1 6 1 S there arrived at this post, from France, a young man named John Nicolet. lie was a native of Cherbourg, in Normandy, and son of Thomas Nicolet, a mail-carrier from Cherbourg to Paris. His mother was

Margucrita de la Mer. In accordance with the plan of Champlain to educate young Frenchmen for explorers and traders by actual trial of Indian life, Nicolet was selected for that purpose, as giving extraordinary promise of future usefulness, and sent to an Algonquin tribe, whose home was the Isle des Allumette, on the Ottawa River, that he might prepare himself for the career marked out for him.*

With the "Algonquins of the Island" he spent two years, accompanying them in their wanderings anil partaking of all their dangers and privations - sometimes almost perishing with hunger, and subsisting for weeks upon harks and lichens. During this time he never saw the face of a white man, or heard a human voice, save the guttural tones of the savages, which soon, however, became intelligible ; his memory, according to the record, l>cing wonderfully good. At the end of two years he had become familiar with the Algonquin language, and was then sent, with four hundred natives, on a peace mission to the Iroquois. It would appear from the narrative, that Nicole! was authorized to negotiate with the hostile tribe, as it is stated that " he performed his mission successfully." At this time he must have visited the Hurons, tlie allies of the Algonquin tribe, who would be equally benefited by the renewal of peace, and whose villages lav directly in his route.

After his return from this peace mission, Nicolet took up his residence with the Indians who dwelt on the shores of Lake Nipissing, further to the northwest than the Isle des Allumette. Here he lived eight or nine years, becoming practically one of the tribe. He had his cabin and trading-house among them, entered into their councils, and doubtless was looked upon as one of the "head men " of the nation. About the year 1633. t when Canada passed from the brief dominion of England back to its former owner, Nicolet was recalled to Quebec by Government, and made Commissary and Indian Interpreter in that city for the " Company of the Hundred Associates."

During the years of Nicolet "s absence among the Indians, New France had passed through various changes. The Recollets had been superseded by the Jesuits, who had commenced the work of establishing missions among the Indian tribes in Canada. The companies of French merchants who. for a time, enjoyed a monopoly of the fur trade, had Riven place to the Company of New France, commonlv called the " Company of the Hundred Associates," which, with Cardinal Richelieu as its brain and motive force, now held almost sovereign sway over both the secular and religious interests of the French colonists. Interrupted in its designs for a brief period, by the successes of England in Canada, its jurisdiction was restored after the treaty of peace, and in May. 1633. Champlain, who had been t arried prisoner to England, was again restored to his former office, and assumed command at Quebec, with the understanding that the affairs of New France were now to be conducted in the interests of the Hundred Associates, and the Society of Loyola. The French population on the St. Lawrence was even now only about one hundred and fifty, and the only trading posts were Quebec. Three Rivers, the Rapids of St. Louis, and Tadotissac, at the mouth of the Saguenay.

It was at this time that Nicolet was recalled from Nipissing, and entered the employ of the powerful company which ruled New France. The narrative says, " During this period while Nicolet was commissary and interpreter for the Company}, at the command of the same rulers, he had to make an excusion to certain maritime tribes for the purpose of securing peace between them and the Uurons." The Huron* had always been friendly to the French ; they were the most distant tribe with whom any Commercial intercourse was maintained, and their country lay in the path to the far West. Should this threatened war he declared against their allies, explorers would hardly dare venture far from the banks of the St. Lawrence, and the proselyting designs of the Jesuits would also l>c effectually checked, Champlain was eager, too, to gain knowledge of the "maritime tribes," called "Men of the Sea H by the Algonquin*, who sometimes made the long journey of five or six weeks to their country, and returned with wonderful tales of the nation which had wandered thither from the borders of a distant sea, and was still visited by a" strange people without hair or beards, who came from the west in large canoes, upon a great water, to trade." With his preconceived idea of the probability of reaching the sea which trashed the shore of Asia, by means of the western lakes and rivers, Champlain believed the "great water," of which the Indians spoke, might be this distant Western Sea, over which the l*ardless Chinese had passed to trade with the people who once lived on its borders. Therefore, to the rulers of New France, it was an object to secure |>eace between the Huron* and the " Men of the Sea," in order to advance the interests of both commerce and religion. Knowing the superior ability of Nicolet, and having been instrumental in placing him where .he, could acquire the special training necessary to fit him for the task of penetrating the wilderness' to these strange and unknown tribes, and also of dealing with them in a prudent and successful manner, Champlain selected him for the mission. He was to visit " La Nation des I'uants ;"* if possible, " secure a peace," between them and the Uurons, and their friendship lor France ; and he was also to explore the country of the I'uants in search of the passage to the Western Sea. Injury, i6v». Fathers Brebeuf and Daniel started from Quebec to found the Huron mission. Niculet accompanied them from Three Rivers, where he had been assisting in the building of a fort - as far as the Isle des Allumette, his old Indian home. rather lirebeuf savs he "endured every hardship" during the journey, "with the 'courage of the strongest savage." Here the fathers apparently left htm to go to their mission. From the time that Ntcolet left Ihree Rivers with the missionaries there is no record of his being on the St. Lawrence until December, 1635 - nearly a year and a half - the time of his absence on his mission to the West, when he visited the northern and western shore of Lake Michigan This visit, therefore, was between July, 1634, and December, 10,55. He was inn again absent from his post in Canada long enough for such a journev during his after life

Some time after the fathers left him at the Isle des Allumette, Nicolet followed them to the village of the Huron*, and thence set out on his pacific expedition, accompanied by " seven ambassadors of the Huron naion. and provided with gifts to conciliate any hostile tribe in hig path. Launching their canoes, the party paddled up the Georgian Bay; passed " the river"* which from Lake Nipissing; then the " Nation of

Michigan. Here lived the ancestors of the modern Ojibways and Chippewas - Algoncpiins, whose language was familiar to Nicolet, and here his party slopped for a brief rest. It may be that words here dropped by Nicolet, in regard to the new mission among the Hurons, were remembered. Not many years after, the inhabitants of this village asked that a missionary might be sent among them, ami still later there was founded here the successful mission of Dablon and Marquette.

Leaving the " Yiilage of the Falls," Nicolet returned down the strait of St. Mary, turned to the west, passed Mackinac, and his little canoe floated upon the clear waters (if the "second great fresh water sea." The pioneer white man had found his way to the threat Northwest. With that little boat came the beginning of the end which is not yet, - the dawning of the wonderful to-day of the West Coasting along the northern shore of Lakc Michigan, he stopped occasionally Upon the shore of what is now the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, reached Green Bay and the mouth of the Menomonee River, which he entered, and visited the Indians living in its valley. At the head of Green Bay. near the point where it receives the waters of Fox River, lived the Winnebagoes* to whom he had come with nis message of peace. The narrative* continue* thus:

"When he was two day* distant (from the Winnebagoes), lit Mint forward one of his own company to make known to tin- nation In w-hirh they were going that a European ambassador was approachinR with gifts, who, in In-half of the Uurons, desired lo secure their friendship 'I he cmliassy was received with applaiuc, and young men were immediately (eat to meet him, who were 10 carry the baggage and the et|inpment of the Manitouririiori (won dcrful man), and rscorl him with houur. Nicolet was clad in a Chinese rot* of silk, skillfully ornamented with birds and flower* of many colors: he carried in each hand a small pistol. W hen he had discharged ihesc. the more timid persons, lioy* and women, betuok themselves to flight, to escape as quickly as possible from a man who. they said, carried the thunder in both hi* hand*. Hut the rumor of hi* coming having spread far and wide, the chiefs, with their followers, assembled directly, to the number of four or live thousand person*; and the matter having Ucn discussed and considered in a general council, a trealv was made in due form. Afterwanl each of the chiefs gave a banquet after their fashion; am] at one of these, strange to siv. a hundred and twenty beavers were eaten."

After negotiating a treaty with the Winnebagoes, Nicolet sailed up the Fox River, of Grten Bay, a six days' journey, as the first step toward the discovery of the " great water " he desired to reach. Near the " portage " between the Fox and Wisconsin Rivers, he found a village of the Mascoutins.

Allouez found the Mascoutin village, which he visited in 1670, at the western extremity of the portage on the W isconsin, and says it was six days" sail down the Wisconsin to the " Messisipi," from the village. He also speaks of the lake or marsh near the portage as being the source of the Wisconsin River.J

"The Stan* Nicolet. who h«d penetrated farthest into those distant countries, aver* that had he sailed three days more 01. a great river w hich flow* from the lakc he would have found the sea."

- Ihls uilw. tailed OniniiK-guti in Vimonl » Krlatiiai (|tag} and Pua the I rerun. WMUM Willi the Wlmtaaa at Urrrn Buy by I O -DuCri-u*. ' ' have found that it was still a Ion?,' journer to the sea which washed the shores of Asia, and turned his course toward the south. He then visited the Illinois, whom he called Eriniouay. Vimont, from information derived from Nicolet, describes them as living south of the Winnebagoes, and as numbering about sixty villages. He also speaks of them as the Liniouek. After his visit to the Illinois villages. Nicolet returned to the region now Green Kay. visited the Pottawatomies, who lived on the islands at the mouth of the bay, and on the peninsula forming its western shore. His mission ended, he returned to the Huron village and thence to Three Rivers, where he is mentioned, in the parish records, as standing godfather to Marie, little daughter of Capitanel. chief of the Montaegnais Indians , on the 27th of December, 1635. On his return to Canada, he was assigned to the post at Three Rivers, by Champlain, as commissary and interpreter. On the 7th of October, 1637, he was married at Quebec ti> Marguerite Couillard, a godchild of Champlain. Their only child was a daughter. His history, from the time of 'his return until his death, is thus simply told by DuCreux;

"Nicolet returned to the Hurons, and presently, to Three Rivers, and resumed both of his former functions, vi*., as commissary and interpreter; being singularly beloved by both the Krcnch and the natives; specially intent upon thU, that uniting his industry and the very great influence which he possessed over the savages, with the efforts of the lathers of the ssxicty (Jesuits), he might bring as many as he could to the Church; until, upon the recall to France of Oliver.* who was ihc chief commissary of Quebec, Nicolet, nn account of his merits, was appointed in his place. But he was not long allowed lo enjoy the Christian comfort he had sn greatly desired, via,, that at Quebec he might frequently attend upon the sacraments, as his pious soul desired, and that he might en|oy the society of Ihnsc with whom he could converse upon divine things. On '.he last day of October (tCi42>, having embarked upon a pinnace at the seventh hour of the afternoon (as we French reckon the hours), i. e.. just as the shades of evening were fulling, hastening, as I have said, to Three Riven, upon so pious an errand, j scarcely had he arrived in sight of Sillery.J when, the north wind blowing more fiercely, and increasing the violence id the storm which had commenced before Nicolet started, the pinnace was whirled around two or three times, tilled with water from all directions, and finally was swallowed up bv the waves. Some of those on board escaped, among them Savigiiy, the owner of the pinnace; and Nicolet. in that hour of peril, addressing him calmly, *aid: 1 Savignv, since you know bow to swim, by all niLans consult your own safety; I, who have no such skill, am going to Ciod: I recommend my wife and daughter to your kindness,' In the midst of this conversation, a wave separated them: Nicolet was drowned: Savignv, who from horror and the darkness of the night, did not know where he was. was torn by the violence of the waves from the lxi.it, to which he had clung for some time; then he struggled for awhile in swimming, with the hostile force of the changing waves, until at last, his strength failing, and his courage almost forsaking him, he made a vow lo tlod (Inn what, is not related). Then striking the bottom of the stream with his foot, he reached the sloping land under the water, anil forcing his way with difficulty through the edge of the stream, already frozen, he' crept, half dead, to the humble abode of the fathers. The prisoner, for whose sake Nico. l>-t had exposed himself to this deadly peril, twelve days afterward reached Sillcry, and soon after Quebec - having been rescued from the cruelty of the Algoni|uins by Rupaeus, who was in command at Three Rivers, in pursuance ol letters from Monlmagnv, on payment, no doubt, of a ransom. This, moreover, was not the first occasion Which Nicolet hail encountered peril of his life for the safety of savages. He had frequently done the very name thing l»efore. says the French?; writer; and to those with whom he associated he left proofs of his virtues by such deeds as could hardly be expected of a man entangled in the bonds of marriage; they were, indeed, eminent, anil rose lo the height of apostolic pcrfec- Hon; and, therefore, was the loss of so great a man the more grievous. Certain it is that the .savages, themselves, as soon as they heard what had befallen him, surrounded the bank of the great river in ciowds. to see whether they could rentier any aid. When all hope of that was gone, they did 'what alone remained in their power, by incredible manifestations of grief and lamentation at the sad fate of the man who had deserved so well o( them."

Thus perished John Nicolet, the brave yet gentle young pioneer who first found the path tuthe Northwest, and the first white man who saw its magnificent l;»kes, forests and prairies. Along his path followed, after many years, a long procession of devoted priests, brave explorers and hardy voyageurs ; but among them all. not one whose record is more noble than that of this unpretending " layman," who carried peace to the nations which he visited, and lived ami died in unselfish devotion to thecal! of the suffering and oppressed.

sketch of John Nicolet, it was mentioned that he started on his long western journey at the same time that Fathers Brcbeuf, Daniel and Davost set out to found the Huron mission, accompanying them a part of the way. After leaving Nicolet at the Isles des Allumette, the fathers pursued their journey to the southern extremity of the Georgian Hay, and on the eastern shore of Lake Huron, at Ihonatiria. the principal Indian village, established the mission of St. loseph. The country of the Hurons, although small in area, was rich and populous, and the inhabitants were more gentle and ready to listen to the missionaries than the other tribes they had visited. By 1636 three more fathers had been sent among them, and their work was wonderfully prosperous. In the autumn of 1641. the mission of St. Joseph was visited by a deputation of Indians occupying " the country around a rapid in the midst of the channel by which Lake Superior empties into Lake Huron,"* inviting them to visit their tribe. The fathers - were not displeased with the opimrtunitv thus presented of knowing the countries lying beyond Lake Huron, which no one of them had yet traversed ; " so Isaac Joguesand Charles Raymbault.f two of the later comers, were detached to accompany the Chippewas to their home. After seventeen days from their departure they reached the village at the"Sault," which Nicolet had Visited in 16.54, where the savages had assembled in great numbers to hear their words. They did not found a mission ; their visit being merely a preliminary one, to -view the field. The following year the Iroquois war broke out afresh, and missions and Huron villages alike disappeared. Fathers Jogues and Raymbault attempted to return to the St. Lawrence. The former was taken prisoner by the Iroquois and cruelly scourged and mutilated ; the latter died soon after his return. It was not until 1656 that the Jesuits dared again attempt the extension of their missions. In that year Father Garreau was ordered to Lake Superior, which now seemed a more promising field, but he was killed before leaving the St. Lawrence. DeGroselles and another Frenchman wintered on the shore of Lake Superior in 1658. They visited the Sioux, and from the fugitive Hurons who had sought refuge among them, heard of the Mississippi and the Illinois Indians, whom they had found on its banks. In 1660. Rene Menard, formerly a missionary among the Hurons, founded an Ottawa mission on the southern shore of Lake Superior, at Keweenaw Hay, but after a brief stay among the Indians died in the woods, of famine, or through violence. Five years later. Father Claude Allouez was sent to Lake Superior to take up the work of Menard. He arrived October 1, 1665, at " Chegoimegon," now Cheqtiamegon, or Ashland Hay, in Wis- consin, "at the bottom of which," wrote the missionary, " are situated the great villages of the savages, who there plant their fields of Indian com, and lead a Station* arv life." Near by he erected a small chapel of bark - the first structure erected by civilized man in Wisconsin, and at LaPointc, a little north of the Indian villages, he established the mission of the " Holy Ghost," which in 1669, fell to the charge of Father Jacques Marquette.

Jacques Maroiktik, whose name is now identified with the early history of Chicago, was a native of Laon, in Picardy - a devoted priest, and a learned and talented man. He had been employed on the St. I,awrencc,and was preparing for a projected mission to the Montaegnais Indians, at the mouth of the Saguenay. in Canada, when he rec eived orders to prepare for the Ottawa mission on Lake Superior, then in charge of Father Alkmex. He left Quebec on the 21st of April, 1668, and journeyed with the Ottawa flotilla of that year, to Sault Ste. Marie. When he reached I^ike Superior, he found that new missions were required on the lakes, as the Hurons and other tribes driven west by the Iroquois were now returning toward their old homes. Two places were selected by the Jesuit superior, wherein to found these missions - the Chippewa village at the "Sault,'" and (ireen Bay. The former station was assigned to Marquette. A year later Allouez left the Ottawa mission at La Pointc, to found the mission at St. Francis Xavier, at Green Bay, and Marquette was transferred from the "Sault" where, with the help of Father Dablon, his superior, he had built a church and established the mission of St. Mary , to the western shore of Lake Superior, the former station of Father Allouez. Marquette arrived at La Pointe in the autumn of 1669, then the extreme point to which the French had penetrated, and lived a year and a half among the savage tribes who had congregated there the Hurons, and Ottawas driven from the east, the Christian Kiskadons. and the Scoffing Onlaonks , " busily employed from morning till night " in instructing and admonishing them, both in chapel and cabin. In the spring of 1670, he was appointed to the Illinois mission, and earnestly hopes that it will " please God to send some father to take his place," that he may set out in the fall to commence the work among the Illinois. Several of this nation had. been at La Pointe during the winter, and these "lost sheep"' had called upon him " so pitcously," that he could not resist their entreaties to visit them. The young Illinois hunters accordingly left La Pointe in* the spring, with a promise to send some of their "old men " to guide Marquette to their prairies in the coming fall. Marquette had learned much of these "hunters" during the winter. They told him of the great river, "almost a league " which they passed in coming to La Pointe.which he says he desired to visit, to teach the natives along its banks, and *' in order to open the way to so manv of the fathers who have long awaited this happiness'" As a minor consideration, he desired "to gain a knowledge of the southern or western sea." Of the Illinois hesavs:

" The Illinois are thirty Jays" journey l.v land from I.a I'ointe. by a difficult road; they lie southwest* from it. On the wav you pa» the nation of the Kctchigaminst who lived in more titan twenty large ratlin*. They are inland and seek tohave intercourse with the French, from whom thcv hope In (jet axes, knives and ironware. - - - pass then to the Miamiwck.i and b> great desert, reach the Illinois, who arc assembled ehicflv in two towns contains more than eight or nine thousand souls. ' When the Illinois come to La Pointe they pass n large river almost a ieaguc wide. It runs north and south, and so Tar that the Illinois, who do not know what canoes arc, have never yet heard of it* mouth. The ItiinoK are warriors, they make many slaves, whom ihey sell to the Ottawas for guns, powder, kettles, axes and knives. They were formerly at war with the Nadouessi, but having made peace some vcars since. I confirmed it, to facilitate their coming to La Pointe, where I am going to awail them in order to accompany them to their country."

Marquette did not found a mission among the Illinois, as he desired, in the fall of 1670. The Sioux - the Nadouessi, whose treaty with the Illinois he had confirmed, and whose country he believed he could safely pass - declared war on the Ottawas and Hurons, and, with what remained of his terrified flock, he passed another winter at the mission of the Holy Ghost. In the spring he left the dangerous neighborhood of the Sioux, with the Hurons, his last remaining Indians; the Ottawas, for whom the mission was established, having previously fled toward the cast.

Marquette embarked with his Hurons on Lake Superior, and crossing to its eastern extremity in frail canoes, passed down the strait of St. Mary, and thence to Michilimackinac. Filtering the latter strait, they resolved to land and make a home there, and on the northern side of the trait now Point St. Ignace, of the Michigan Peninsula , Marquette erected a rude chapel, and founded among the Hurons the mission of St. Ignatius. The Indians soon built near the chapel a palisade fort, enclosing their cabins, and Marquette remained among them, until the spring of 167 j.

In 1671 France took formal possession of the whole country of the upper lakes, determined to extend her power to the extreme limit, vague as it was, of Canada. The Mississippi and some of its principal tributaries were well known to exist, and the importance of its exploration - it could hardly be termed discoverywell understood. The rulers of New France, how did not regard this great river merely as another avenue to be opened whereby the cross might be carried to unknown tribes; and the ambitious Frontenac and sagacious Talon, well knew that Marquette was not the man to be entrusted with the purely secular interests of the expedition which they had determined upon. Therefore Louis Juliet, whom they rightly "deemed competent for so great a design," was selected as the leader, and Marquette was "chosen to accompany him;" the former to seek by the Mississippi the mythical kingdom of Quivira, which with its gold and precious stones was believed to lie in the path to the California sea; and the latter " to seek new nations toward the South Sea, to teach them of the great God whom they have hitherto unknown."

Louis Jolikt was born in Quebec, in 1645, and was the son of a wheelwright in the employ of the Company of the One Hundred Associates. He was educated at the college of Quebec, and, evincing a desire to enter the priesthood, look the preliminary steps and entered the theological seminary in the same city. As he grew older, mathematical and geographical studies seemed to have a greater charm for him than theological, and he finally decided to embark in business life. He first came to the W est as a fur-trader, and was afterward - about 1667 - sent by Talon to explore the copper mines of Lake Superior. On his return from this expedition, in 1669, he met LaSallc near the head of Lake Ontario, and in 1671, he is mentioned as being present at St. Lusson's grand convention of Indian tribes at Sault Ste. Marie. Having received the necessary instructions, Joliet left Quebec on the 8th of December, 1672; arrived at Michilimackinac, and on the 17th of Mav, 1673, the two explorers, with one other Frenchman, and four In- dians, started from the mission of .St. Ignatius on their memorable expedition. Before leaving, they made a map of the new country they hoped to explore, from information gained from the Indians, " marking down the rivers," says Marquette, " on which we were to sail, the names of the nations and places through which we were to pass, the course of the great river, and what direction we should take when we got to it." The history of their expedition is well known. Entering (keen Bay they passed to its head, and entered Fox River. This they UCended, obtaining guides to lead them through the maze of marshes and little lakes between it and the Wisconsin, as they approached the portage between the two rivers. Sailing down the Wisconsin, they entered the Mississippi on the 17th of June, 1673. After a voyage of more than a week, they for the first time beheld an Indian trail, leading from the west bank of the river back to a beautiful prairie. Leaving their men with the canoes, Jolict and Marquette, with many misgivings a< to what would he their fate, silently followed the little path until thev came in sight of three Indian villages.

One was on the bank of a river, and the others on a hill, a short distance beyond. With a prayer for protection, they halted and gave a cry to announce their presence. The astonished Indians poured from their cabins, to halt in turn and gaze upon the strangers. At last four old men came slowly and gravely toward them, with calumets of peace. Silently they advanced, and having reached them, paused to look upon them more closely. Marquette, judging now that their intentions were friendly, addressed them in Algonquin, asking who they were. They replied, " We are Illinois,"* and extended the pipe of peace. These were the Pcorias and M o i 11 g w e n a s, whose villages were west of the Mississippi, and, as laid down on Marquette's map, were on the south bank of a river supl>osed to be the Pes Moines, the upper jxart of that river still bearing the name of Mongolian the Monk . These Illinois Indians treated their visitors with great kindness, and the next day a crowd of six hundred natives escorted them to their canoes, to see them embark. The explorers promised to pass back through this town in four moons, but were not enabled to keep their promise. They sailed down the clear current of the Mississippi, passed the " Ruined Castles." passed the monstrous painting on the rock, passed the Missouri and Ohio and reached the Arkansas, when they decided that they "bad gained all the information that could be desired from the expedition," "that the Mississippi had its mouth in Florida or the Gulf of Mexico," and, on the 17th of July, just one month from the time they left the Wisconsin, they turned their canoes up the river. Finding the ascent difficult, they entered the Illinois River, which Marquette says, '-greatly shortened their path," and which he describes as broad, deep and gentle for sixty-five leagues, with many little lakes and rivers, while meadows and prairies, teeming with game, bordered it on either side. Sailing up the river to within a few miles of the present site of Utica, they arrived at an Illinois village, called Kaskaskia, where the travelers were well received, and to which Marquette promised to return at some future time to instruct the tribe. A chief, with a band of young Kaskaskians, accompanied them thence to Lake Michigan, which they reached with little trouble, and paddling up its western shore, arrived at the mission of St. Francis Xavier, at Green Hay, during the latter part of September. Here the two companions remained together through the winter. As early as possible in the summer of 1674, Joliet hasieneil to Oiiebec to report to the authorities, visiting LaSallc at Fort Froutenac. on his journey. In a letter to Frontenae, written October 10, 1674, he says:

" It is not long since I returned from my South Sea voyage, 1 was fortunate during all that time, but on my way back. just as I m> about li> laud at Muntreal, my canoe capsi/cd and I lust two men. with niv chest, containing all niv papers and my journal, with some curiosities Iran those remote countries. I greatly regret a little slave ten years old who had bet? a presented to me." Ikwas endowed with a good disposition, full of talent, diligent and oticilienl ; he made MSJWflf UUddflUiiiil in French. and l«rgan to read and write I was saved after being four hours in the water, having lost sight and consciousness, by some fishermen, who never went in that place, and would not have btM there, had not the Blessed Virgin obtained this grace (or me from tlod, who arrested the course of nature to rescue me from death. But for this accident, yiKir lordship would have received quite a curious relation . but nothing is left mc except my life."

He then briefly describes the result of his voyage. On the 14th of the following month Count DeFrontenac announced to Colbert the successful issue of the e.\|>ctiition.

Marquette was detained at Green Hay through the Whole summer of 1674 by sickness. As soon as lie was sufficiently recovered, he drew up and sent to his superior (Father Dabton) copies of his journal of the voyage down the Mississippi, and doubtless also the map known as " Marquette's map," a copy of which is here given *

With the return of the flotilla from Quebec, he received orders to set out for his Illinois mission. He started from the mission at Green Hay on the 25th of October, 1674, and with two Frenchman. Jacques and Pierre, went north as far as Sturgeon Bav, where now a canal connects its waters with Lake Michigan. At the portage he joined a party of Pottawatomie* and Illinois, who also had started for the Kaskaskia village. U :th them he crossed the difficult portage from the head of Sturgeon Bay to l,ake Michig an, mi which they embarked on the 31st of Octol>er. The little fleet proceeded ii]) the western shore of the lake, and after many detentions arrived at Portage Riverf early in December. Marquette mentions the fai t of passing " eight or ten pretty fine rivers" on his journey up the lake from one portage to the other. On the 19th of November he arrived at the bluffs." where he was detained two days and a half. While thus detained. Pierre left him, and passed through the woods to a prairie twenty leagues from the portage. Starting from "the bluffs" about noon on the 21st, Marquette, savs : "We had hard enough work to reach a river." He entered the river, however, and found there Mascoutins, -- to the number of eight or nine cabins." The Illinois Indians left htm here and "passed on the prairies."

where they were more abrupt and lofty, perhaps, than at any other point, Pierre must have passed " through the woods " to the present site of Racine, "twentv leagues from the portage," and Marquette must have reached the place by entering Root River. It was the 27th of NovenilHT before Marquette again embarked, l>eing detained by the wind. Nine miles farther, and he was again detained "by a wind from the shore, immense waves that came from the lake, anil the cold." On the 4th of December they again " started " to reach '- Portage River." He docs not say what day they arrived there, but they remained at the mouth of the river a few days, during which time his men killed considerable game. On the 12th they began to draw their luggage up the river, and on the 14th were settled in a cabin some live miles from the mouth of the river, "near the portage," and in the route to an Illinois village, six leagues further on. Here Marquette was obliged to remain all winter on account of a severe illness. This cabin, it would seem, belonged to two French trailers, Pierre Moreau La Toupine , and his companion who was not only a trailer but a surgeon as well, and who were then at their winter hunting-ground, about fifty miles from the portage, and not very far distant from a village of Illinois Indians. These traders were exacting a visit from Marquette and his companions at their cabin at the hunting-ground, and had made due preparation to receive them by laying in an extra store of provisions. Marquette says that "some person informed La Toupine and the surgeon that we were here at the portage , ami unable to leave their cabin." and that as soon as the two Frenchmen knew that illness prevented his " going to them," the surgeon visited him, brought him provisions, and stopped with him for a time " to attend to his duties." In fact, Marquette says "they did ami said everything that could be expected of them." They "gave' the Indians to understand " that the cabin In-longed to Marquette, and he remained in it through the winter unmolested. When ihe surgeon had finished his visit, Jacques accompanied him to his wintering ground, and returned with more provisions, sent by the Frenchmen to the sick priest. Marquette, in turn, repaid their kindness by doing all in his power tn influence the Indians to deal fairlv with the traders, who. he says, "do not rob them the Indians . m getting furs in the country, so great is the hardship they e.\|K:rience in getting them." It is not probable that these were the only traders in the country of the Illinois at this time, or that they were the only ones who had crossed the portage to the interior and returned, bringing their furs to Lake Michigan in the spring, when ready to embark for their trip to the St. I .awrence. When Marquette went, in the spring, to the fcaskaskia village, he met the " surgeon," on the way. coming up the Oesplaines with his furs, "but," he savs, "the cold being too severe for men who have to drag their canoe through the water, he made a cache for his beaver," and turned back with Marouctte toward the Kaskaskia village.

Marquette continued sick in his cabin through the winter of 1674-75. Toward spring, through the special interposition ol the Blessed Virgin, as he believed, his sickness abated, and before March he was able to leave his cabin and observe the peculiarities of the country. In the latter part of March the Desplaines River broke up and flooded the prairie which formed the portage. He describes the situation thus :

" The north wind having prevented the thaw lill the 2sth of .March, it began with a southerly wind. The next dav game began to appear; we killed thirty wild pigeons, which I found better than those Maw (Quebec), but smaller, both young and old. On the 28th the ice broke, and chnked above us. On the 2gth, the water was so high that we had barely time to uncabin in haste, put our things cm trees, ami try 10 find a place to sleep on some hillock, the water gaining on us all night ; but having frown a little, and having fallen, as we were near our luggage, the dyke burst, ami ice went down : and as the waters arc again ascending already, we are going to embark to continue our route."

The " portage," where Marquette passed the winter of 1674-75, and which he says in his letter to Dablon, is the same he crossed with Juliet, eighteen months before, is described in a letter written by LaSalle to Frontenac, which was published by Margry. in one of his volumes, and republished in the Magazine of American History. Juliet visited LaSalle at Fort Frontenac, on his return to Canada from his Mississippi voyage, in the spring of 1674, and at that time, it is presumed, told LaSalle of the Checagou |iortage. LaSalle visited the same place in January. 1682, and was detained there several days by the snow. Juliet had affirmed, in a communication to the authorities in Canada, that it would be possible to go from l.akc Eric to the Mississippi " in boats," and, " by a very good navigation," saying that "there would be but one canal to make, by cutting half a league of* prairie to pass from the Lake of the Illinois into St. Louis River,* which empties into the Mississippi." LaSalle, on examining the place in 1682, did not believe the scheme practicable. He speaks disdainfully of Joliet's '- proposed ditch," and says he "should nut have made any mention of this communication " the canal spoken of . " if Juliet had not proposed it without regard to its difficulties." He thus describes the portage mentioned by Juliet, which he calls the " Portage of Checagou ":

" This i> an isihmus of land at 41 degrees. 50 minutes north latitude, at the west of the Isiinois l-nke.t which is reached by a channel} formed bv the junction of several rivulets or mcadow ditches. It is navigable for about two leagues to the edge of the prairie, s quarter of a mile westward. There is a little lake, divided by a causeway, m ule by the beavers, about .1 league and .1 half long, from which runs a stream, which, after winding about a half league through the rushes, empties into the river Chec.igou.S! and thence into that of the Illinois. This lake | is tilled by heavy summer rains or spring freshets, and discharge* also into the cha.inel which leads to the lake of the Isiinois, the level of which is seven feet lower than the prairie on which the lake is. The river of Checagou does the same thing in the spring when its channel is full. It empties a part of its waters by this little lake into that of the Isiinois (l-akc Michigan), ami at this season, Joliet says, forms in the summer time a little channel for a quarter of a league from this lake to the basin which leads to that of the Isiinois, by which vessels can enter the Checagou ami descend to the sea."

Marquette remained at the portage described above until the 30th of March, when, as he relates, in the passage quoted from his journal, the south wind had caused a thaw, the breaking up of the ice in the Desplaiues, ami the flooding of the prairie portage. ( In the 30th, taking advantage of the high water, he had embarked probably on Mud take) and had proceeded nine miles on his journey by the 31st, anil arrived at about the place where he anil Joliet were obliged to leave their canoes and commence the portage in the fall of 1673, when the water was low. St. Cosine, who passed to the Mississippi by the portage of Checagou in October, 1699, gives a similar account of the comparative length of the portage in spring and fall - nine miles in the fall and less than a mile in the spring. He says-

'" We siarted from Chicago on the 2gih, and put up for the night aliout two leagues off. in lite little river which is then lost in the prairies. The next day we began the portage, which is about three leagues long when 'the water is low. and onlv a quarter of a league in the spring, for vou embark 011 a little lake that empties into a branch* of the river of the Illinois; but when the waters are low you have to make a porlage to that branch."

Marquette, as the waters were certainly high when he started, must have embarked on this little lake " going up "to the Desplaiues, "without finding anv portage," as the waters of that river through the lake spoken of, were now rushing down to the Lake of Michigan.f The distance of "half an arpent "J which they were obliged to drag their canoes, might have been from the high ground where they slept on the night of the 29th to the place where they embarked on Mud take.

Atter having passed nine miles from the point where he embarked, being then in the Desplaiues, he says : " Here we Joliet and himself began our |H>rtagc more than eighteen months ago." He was now in what he justly called an " outlet " of the Illinois, for the Desplaines was such in the spring until much later than Marquette's time. He evidently knew also of the other branch of the Illinois - the Teakikifj of the Jesuits - by which he could reach the St. Joseph and the lake - and by which " outlet." as he calls it. he probably returned to Mackinac.

Marquette was eleven days on his way to Kaskaskia village, arriving on the 8th of April. He was received by the Indians "like an angel from heaven." After preparing the minds of the chiefs for what he wished to accomplish, he called a grand council of the nation in the beautiful prairie near the town.|| Live hundred chiefs ami old men, and fifteen hundred youths assembled, besides a great crowd of women and children. He explained the object of his visit, preached to them and said mass. Three days later, on Easter Sundav, the Indians again assembled on the prairie, when Marquette again said mass before them, " took possession of that land in the name of Jesus Christ, and gave this mission the name of the Immaculate Conception of the Messed Virgin."