History of Cook County, Illinois : being a general survey of Cook County history, including a condensed history of Chicago and special account of districts outside the city limits : from the earliest settlement to the present time, volume I, Part 1

Author: Goodspeed, Weston Arthur, 1852-1926; Goodspeed Publishing Co; Healy, Daniel David, 1847-
Publication date: c1909
Publisher: Chicago : Goodspeed Historical Association
Number of Pages: 816


USA > Illinois > Cook County > History of Cook County, Illinois : being a general survey of Cook County history, including a condensed history of Chicago and special account of districts outside the city limits : from the earliest settlement to the present time, volume I > Part 1


Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org.


Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83



1


LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS


977.31 G62hi v. I


ILLINOIS HISTORY SURVEY LIBRARY


.


HISTORY OF


COOK COUNTY


ILLINOIS -BEING A GENERAL SUR- VEY OF COOK COUNTY HISTORY, INCLUDING A CONDENSED HISTORY OF CHICAGO AND SPECIAL ACCOUNT OF DISTRICTS OUTSIDE THE CITY LIMITS; FROM THE EARLIEST SETTLEMENT TO THE PRESENT TIME : :


Mur th EDITORS: WESTON A. GOODSPEED, LL. B. DANIEL D. HEALY A


Of all the things that men can do or make here below, by far the most momentous, wonder- ful and worthy are the things we call books. -Fenelon.


IN TWO VOLUMES ILLUSTRATED


VOLUME I


THE GOODSPEED HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION CHICAGO


1


95%31 GEahi V. I


COPYRIGHT BY GOODSPEED HISTORICAL, ASSOCIATION


1909


HAMMOND PRESS W. B. CONKEY COMPANY CHICAGO


/ 6 7


THE FIRST COURT-HOUSE AND JAIL.


-


20 5 11 frais.


12


HISTORICAL


Ill. Survey 11 Mr11 Engelke 2.75


PREFACE


B EFORE the compilation of this work was commenced the im- possibility of presenting the detailed history of Cook county. in two volumes was apparent to the Editors and Publishers, and hence the design as announced in the Prospectus was only to summarize the most important events. An examination of this work will show that much of the matter here introduced not only pursues an entirely different path of thought and investigation but supplies a wealth of comprehensive and valuable material never be- fore presented on the pages of Cook county history. A perusal of the chapters will prove the truth of this statement. We believe subscrib- ers will appreciate the immense amount of interesting and original matter presented and the critical and comparative method of treat- ment.


The Editors and Publishers in their laborious researches have received from all with whom they have come in contact nothing but courtesy and assistance. Particularly are their grateful ac- knowledgments due the officers and attendants of the Chicago His- torical Society, the Chicago City Library, the Municipal Library, the Library of Congress, the War Department and the various and numerous city and county departments. To Hon. William D. Barge, assistant corporation counsel, and Col. Francis A. Eastman, city statistician, are thanks due for valuable assistance and special favors. After all, the most important, valuable and reliable sources of infor- mation were found in the old newspaper files wisely preserved and guarded in the Chicago Historical Society Library and the Chicago City Library and kindly submitted to our writers and compilers with- out any restrictions.


The Publishers hereby cordially thank their subscribers, without whose material assistance these volumes could not have been pre- pared.


THE PUBLISHERS.


193820


TABLE OF CONTENTS VOLUME I


HISTORY


CHAPTERS


PAGE


FRENCH, SPANISH AND ENGLISH CLAIMS ; EXPLORATION, ETC. 33


THE INDIANS; TREATIES; RESERVATIONS ; INCIDENTS, ETC .. 47 COOK COUNTY BEFORE ITS FORMATION; THE NORTHERN BOUNDARY; HURON COUNTY ; LAND SURVEYS, ETC. 58


EARLY COOK COUNTY AND CHICAGO; SETTLEMENT, COMMERCE, ETC. 81


COOK COUNTY AND CHICAGO 1840-1850; COMMERCE;' MANUFACTURES; Ex- PANSION, TRANSPORTATION, ETC. 147


COOK COUNTY AND CHICAGO 1850-1866; COMMERCE; NEWSPAPER INFLUENCE; 206 LABOR, ETC.


POLITICS OF COOK COUNTY 1823-1866; ELECTIONS; CAMPAIGNS, NEWSPAPERS,


STATISTICS, ETC.


321


RUNAWAY SLAVES AND THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD. 403


THE WAR WITH MEXICO; COOK COUNTY VOLUNTEERS 421


THE CIVIL WAR 1861-1865; RECORD OF COOK COUNTY 425


COOK COUNTY ORGANIZATION ; TOWNSHIPS FORMED; TOWNS AND VILLAGES ORGANIZED, ETC. . 507


EARLY AMUSEMENTS; DEBATES ; THEATRES; MEN'S ASSOCIATIONS; LIBRARIES ;


MUSIC; ART; RACING; BASEBALL; CRICKET; SKATING, ETC. 550


THE INFIRMARY ; WORLD'S FAIR; SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR; LATE BANKING; CHICAGO SEAL; MARQUETTE CLUB; HAMILTON CLUB, ETC. 609


MUNICIPAL, JUVENILE AND OTHER COURTS. 638


EARLY BEEF AND PORK PACKING; RECENT STATISTICS, ETC. 651


BIOGRAPHY ; HOMES; DOMESTIC INFLUENCES; RELIGIOUS TRAINING; SCHOOL FACILITIES, ETC. 673


BIOGRAPHY AND REMINISCENCE


PAGE


PAGE


Ambrozaitis, Rev. Casimir 673


Amling, Albert F. .674


Blahnik, Vencel L 687


Angus, John .674


Bolen, John L. 687


Angus, William J.


675


Busch, Alexander


688


Armbruster, Charles Andrew.


. 676


Buss, George J.


689


Atwood, Harry F.


.676


Busse, William .689


Bagdziunas, John I. 677


Bailey, Edward W. 678


Ballinger, John Ralph, M. D. . 678


Barmore, Nathaniel L. 679


Bartley, Charles Earl 679


Castle, Perley D.


693


Bassett, Nelson M. .682


Belinski, Joseph J. .683


Benson, Dr. Emanuel O 684


Bentley, Frank Taggert. .684


Berezniak, Leon A.


685


Bishop, Edward P., Jr


685


Blaha, Joseph C.


686


Busse, John, Jr .. 690


Byrne, Dr. John Henry. 690


Caldwell, Henry P.


.691


Carr, Robert Franklin.


692


Chicago Sash, Door & Blind Mfg.


Co.


709


Childs, Frank Hall. 694


Clark, Will H .. . 695


Clarke, George Washington


695


Cmejla, Ferdinand A


697


TABLE OF CONTENTS


PAGE


Collins, Dr. Lorin C. .697


Connery, William M. .700


Connery, John T. 700


Keller, Albert W. 762


Kikulski, John 763


Klaus, Vincent J 763


Klicka, Emil 764


Kolacek, William 764


Kolkema, Joseph M. 765


Kopecky, Joseph 766


Kornaszewski, Valdimir C .. 766


Kosinski, Very Rev. John J .767


Kreft, John . .768


Krygowski, Anthony, M. D. 769


Kvitek, Rev. Bartholomew. .772


Kyle, Thomas D 772


Lake, William H. 773


Lakemeyer, Adolph, M. D 773


Lange, Rev. Francis. .774


Latimer, Henry Horace, M. D ... 774 Leigh, Edward Baker 775


Levy, David Rose. 775


Lockwood, Willoughby Starr. 776


Loeffler, William


776


Loebe, Albert C. 778


Loebe, John G .. 779


Longhi, Emilio 780


Lorimer, William .780


Lukoszius, Rev. Norbert I. 781


Luster, Max . .782


Marcinkiewicz, Stanislaus 782


Masterson, Frank Lawrence. 783


Meyer, J. H .. .783


Miers, Daniel Kirkwood. 784


Miller, John S .. 784


Miroslawski, Witold S. .785


Moore, George C.


786


Muensterman, Dietrich 786


McComb, James Julius ,790


791


Haggard, John D. 738


Haldeman, Robert Sheridan 740


Hankermeyer, Henry J 740


Hanreddy, Joseph


741


Hawley, Henry Stephen


742


Heafield, Lincoln S. 742


Healy, Daniel D.


743


Hellmuth, Joseph A. 744


Hibner, Edward J.


744


Higginson, George, Jr 745


Hill, Frederick A


745


Hill, John W 746


Horak, Henry


748


Hotchkiss, Charles W .748


Howland, Thomas S.


749


Hughes, Dr. John Owen. 750


Humiston, Dr. Charles Edward .. 751


Humphrey, Senator John 754


Hurlbut, William Daniels


755


Husak, Joseph 755


Hyink, William 756


Jackson, William John. 757


Jackson, Philip 758


Jagielski, Rev. Francis J.


759


Jones, Dr. Charles E 759


Kaspar, William . 760


Kavanagh, John E .761


Copeland, Dr. William L. 701


Crandall, James A.


702


Crosby, George H.


703


Crossette, Charles H


703


Cunningham, John T.


.704


Curtis, DeWitt H ..


705


Dal, John Wesley, M. D


706


Danisch, Frank P.


.706


Daprato Statuary Company


707


Decker, John E ..


707


Dickinson, Arthur W.


.708


Dierking, Frederick


709


Dierking, William Henry


711


Dillon, William


712


Doctor, Charles


713


Drach, Edmund A ..


714


Duntley, William Obed ..


.715


Du Plessis, Dr. Charles Orpha


718


Dwight, Walter E.


719


Eckhart, Col. B. A.


.720


Euwema, Herman


721


Fahrney, Peter


721


Farwell, Arthur Burrage


723


Fleming, Dr. Geoffrey J 724


Flizikowski, John S


725


Forbes, Daniel


726


Foster, Frederick E.


.726


Frees, Benjamin Marsh. 726


.727


Gash, Abram Dale.


Gauger, John A ..


730


Glaser, Benjamin J.


732


Glowacki, John Bartosz 733


Gould, Frank


733


Gronkowski, Rev. Casimir


.736


Guthier, Lorenz


737


McEnery, John T.


McMaster, William


792


Noelle, Joseph Burton .792


Novak, John L .. 792


Novak, Dr. Frank J 794


Novak, Charles, Sr .794


Nowicki, John M .. 795


O'Brien, Dr. Edward J 795


Obyrtacz. Rev. John .. .796


O'Gara, Thomas Joseph. 796


Oughton, Charles M., M. D .. 797


Papailiou, Gregory A., M. D. .798


Peterson, Ellis C. 798


Peterson, Charles Edward. 799


Philbrick, George Albert. 799


Pierce, Dr. Oscar F 801


Pigall, Dr. Joseph S 802


Plagge, John C .. .802


Plocinski, Andrew J 804


Polak, Joseph F. .804


Poklenkowski, John .805


Pyplatz, Rev. Dr. Michael C. .805


Rehm, Jacob 808


Rhodes, Carey W .809


Ricker, Konrad


810


Rixon, Hans A.


811


PAGE


Fritts, David H.


728


TABLE OF CONTENTS


PAGE


PAGE


Roberts, Roscoe L.


811


Swierczek, Rev. Stanislaus, C. R .. 830


Robertson, Albert L. 812


Swift, George B ... .831


Robertson, John 813


Rushkiewicz, Joseph


814


Russo, Andrea


,814


Triner, Joseph .834


Uczciwek, Hipolit 835


Vawter, William Arthur


835


Schmitz, Dr. Henry


817


Wachowski, John George


836


Schroeder, Conrad H.


817


Wachowski, Albert


836


Wachowski, Joseph T. 837


Warner, Thomas R. 838


Webster, Dr. John C. 838


Wells, Willis J. 839


Wengierski, Felix J 840


Wente, Frederick 840


Wheeler, Albert Gallatin 841


White, Carleton 845


Wilkerson, James H. . 846


Wilson, Johnson 847


Witkowski, Leo J., M. D. 847


Zajicek, Frank 848


Zaleski, Boleslaus 851


Zelezny, John V


.852


St. John, Dr. Leonard.


830


Swinscoe, George E .. 831 Szczypta, Rev. John, C. R. 833 Thornton, Dr. Francis E. 833


Salat, Joseph J


815


Seneff, Edward H.


818


Senne, Henry C ..


818


Sharp, William Nye.


819


Sieminowicz, Waldimir J., M. D .. 820


Sojar, Rev. Anton.


820


Stafford, John W


821


Stansfield, James Howard.


821


Stary, John J.


822


Stotz, Dr. Charles F. 822


Stratford, Henry Knox, M. D.


.823


Straus, Simeon


826


Strawn, Silas H.


827


Stromberg, Charles J. 828


Stuve, Henry


828


816


Sandig, Alfred


816


Sayers, Jobe H.


1


TABLE OF CONTENTS


ILLUSTRATIONS


NAMES


PAGE


Anderson, John ..


103


Atwood, Harry A. 175


Ball, L. C .. 373


Billings, C. L. 373


Bosch, Henry


157


Breidt, H. H ..


373


Brown, Taylor E


265


Brown, W. M.


373


Brundage, L. A.


.337


Byford, Dr. W. H


229


Camp Douglas, 1862


445


Carolan, Joseph 355


Caverly, John R. 391


Chambers, Jerome B


67


Chicago, Original Town, 1830.


121


Chindblom, C. R


.355


Clark, A. C ..


.373


Clarke, G. W. 211


Colburn, W. E.


355


Cook County, Map of, 1831. .463


Courthouse and Jail, first.


Frontispiece


Courthouse, second


481


Courthouse, third 481


Courthouse, fourth


499


Courthouse, fifth


517


Courthouse, present


517


Courthouse, ruins of


499


Davies, Will T 337


Decker, J. E. 283


Dennis, J. M ..


.355


Duntley, W. O.


.319


Eastman, Col. F. A.


283


Elias, J. J.


.355


Erickson, Alfred O


391


Etelson, S. A.


373


Fitch, Edward C.


391


Frercks, Henry J.


391


NAMES


PAGE


Gauger, John A. 247


Glackin, E. J .. .373


Grain Shipped, First.


409


Harmon, Dr. E. D 49


Harris, Madison R. 391


Hazard, Paul A .. 103


Hillstrom, O. R.


355


Horse Railways, 1865 427


Jandus, C. R. 373


Jones, W. Clyde.


373


Juul, Niels


.373


Lundberg, Carl


373


Mastroianni, Pasquale


283


Morrison, Clyde A.


391


Nightingale, A. F.


103


Olsen, Peter B.


103


Peters, Charles W .337


Plagge, John C ..


.301


Powell, Isaac N


283


Rainey, E. J.


.373


Rhode, Rev. Paul P.


139


Schmidt, G. K. 355


Schmitt, F. P


.373


Schrojda, W. . .355


Senn, Dr. Nicholas.


.301


Spears, Henry


337


Strassheim, Christopher


.337


Sullivan, J. J.


391


Umbach, W. J.


355


Wamsley, D. H.


.391


Wheeler, Albert G.


193


HISTORY OF COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS


FRENCH, SPANISH AND ENGLISH CLAIMS


D ATING from the first settlements along the Atlantic coast and the Gulf of Mexico, there arose among the warring, envious and ambitious nations of Europe conflicting claims to the ownership of American soil. Regardless of water courses, river basins or rival claims, the English colonies along the Atlantic claimed an extension of their territorial grants westward on parallels of latitude to the South Sea, as the Pacific ocean was then called. On the contrary, both France and Spain, upon discovering a river and forming a settlement on its lower course, claimed the entire valley of that stream, regardless of rights or claims on the upper courses. Thus the French at the start claimed the whole St. Lawrence valley, which included the Great Lakes and the tract now known as Cook county, Illinois. By the discovery of Columbus in 1492, Spain could claim all of the two Americas. The discovery of North America by Cabot in 1498 gave England a claim to that country. In 1603 France granted to De Chartes a strip from forty to forty-six degrees north latitude and extending west- ward across the continent; this included Cook county. In 1606 an English grant extended across North America between thirty- four and forty five degrees north latitude. The London colony grant was between thirty-four and forty-five degrees north latitude. The Plymouth colony grant by James I., on November 3, 1620, embraced the country from the Atlantic to the South Sea (Pacific ocean) and from the fortieth to the forty-eighth degree of north latitude. On August 10, 1622, the Council of Plymouth granted to Mason and Georges much of what is now Vermont, New Hampshire and a part of Maine. What is now Connecticut was included in the Plymouth colony grant of 1620. The present state of Illinois was claimed as a part of Florida and was so laid down on the old Spanish maps. This claim was con- firmed by Pope Alexander VI, who granted Ferdinand and Isabella in perpetuity all the land they had discovered, or should thereafter discover, west of an imaginary line drawn from north to south Vol. I-3. 33


34


HISTORY OF COOK COUNTY


one hundred leagues west of the European shores. Thus the west- ward extension of the English colonial grants, as claimed, likewise embraced Cook county. The Atlantic colonists, with a persistence that demands admiration, continued to claim this westward exten- sion until the formation of the Northwest territory. Thus at first the swollen and ephemeral claims of the English, the Spanish and the French to the tract of territory now known as Cook county, Illinois, may be said to have been about equal in points both of unsoundness and uncertainty.


But the French, with greater energy and envy, perfected their claims to the soil here, while the English and the Spanish did not, and therefore France, be it said to the credit of her martyrs, became the first white owner of what is now Illinois and therefore Cook county. But this splendid result was as much due to individual enterprise, the undaunted spirit of adventure and the self-sacrificing proselyting efforts of the Catholic fathers as to the colonizing ambi- tion of the French government. At that date the servile and erratic French people were more the tools and puppets of royalty than the people of any other country except Spain. They yielded a blind and unquestioning obedience to the empty mandates of their but- terfly sovereign, mainly because Church and State were united; and to question the acts of the King was tantamount to an assault, not only on the State, but on religion itself. Thus the idle and indifferent wish of the King, announced by his paramours through the Governor of New France, as Canada was then called, was sufficient to send into the Western wilderness, among savage beasts and little less savage men, such heroic souls as Nicolet, Perrot, Joliet, Marquette, Moreau, Durantaye, Duluth, La Salle, Tonty, Hennepin, Allouez and scores of others, who gladly at the King's behest offered themselves to martyrdom for the glory of France.


It seems that the word Chicagou, or Chicago as it is now written, had a meaning among the Indians and the French explorers and missionaries equivalent to the English words great, strong, mighty, superior, etc., signifying some unusual and notable quality in the object to which it was applied. The term may have included the idea of water, though it is known to have been applied to indi- viduals, to tracts of country and to the wild onion growing through- out Northern Illinois. The pungent odor of the onion-strong and unusual-probably led to this application of the word. The mighty Mississippi, particularly its lower course, was designated Checagou, variously spelled, by the tribes on its banks. At the time the bloody expedition of De Soto reached the Mississippi river in 1539 he found the Chisca (Chickasaw of a later date) nation of Indians, who called the Mississippi the Chucagua and applied the same term to their entire province. In Franquelin's large map of 1684 the Kankakee river is called Chekagou and the Chicago river is called Cheagoumeman. In De Lisle's map of 1718 the present Des Plaines


35


HISTORY OF COOK COUNTY


is designated Chicagou, and so is a section of Lake Michigan, but his map of 1703 applies that term to the present Chicago river only. D'Anville in his map of 1755 calls the Des Plaines the Chicagou and also a section of Lake Michigan by the same name. In Mitchell's map of 1755 the present Chicago river is named river and port of Chicagou. In Popple's map of 1733 the Chigagou is mentioned, but clearly referred to the St. Joseph, where Fort Miami was located and an Indian village called Chigagou stood. On La Houton's map of 1703 a deep bay south of Chicago is called Chegakou and the Chicago portage is called the same. In Charle- voix's map of 1774 the term Checagou seems to apply to a portion of Lake Michigan. In Senex's map of 1710 the Chicago river is not shown, but the term Checagou is plainly applied to a village of the Mascoutens or Kickapoos, or both, located on the present site of down-town Chicago. Moll's map of 1720 names only the Checagou portage. It is probable that Lake Michigan or its south- ern extremity may have been called Chicagou by the Indians. Hen- nepin in his erratic account of La Salle's expedition in 1782 said in a caption, "An account of the building of a new fort named by us Fort Crevecœur, on the river of the Illinois named by the savages Che-cau-gou." In his map of 1684, Franqulin (probably by mis- take) calls the Ohio river the "River St. Louis or Chucagoa." Thus the St. Louis, whatever stream it may have been, was known as Chucagoa. Coxe in his map of Louisiana calls the Illinois the Chicagou. Samson's map of 1673 styles the Mississippi the Chica- gua. In Margry's map (1679) the Grand Calumet is called Cheka- goue. Father Membre, who accompanied La Salle in 1681-82, says they "went toward the Divine river (Illinois), called by the Indians Checaugou." La Salle says (1681-82) that they arrived at "the division line called Chicagua, from the river of the same name which lies in the country of the Mascoutens." This was the Des Plaines. The head chief of the Illinois was Checaqua, named thus because he was great, mighty, powerful, strong. The name is variously spelled Chikagu, Chekagou, Chicagu, Chicague, Checagou, Checaqua, Chicagou, Checaugou, Chucagoa, Chucagua, Chigogoe, etc. Even as late as the treaty of Greenville, held August 3, 1795, there was manifest confusion as to what had been located on the Chi- cago river and what not. By that treaty the Indians ceded to the United States "one piece of land six miles square at the mouth of the Chicago river, emptying into the southwest end of Lake Michigan where a fort formerly stood." The latter clause very likely refers to the fort that stood on St. Joseph river formerly called Chicagou. It is clear that, owing to the fact that several streams were really called Chicagou by the Indians and therefore by the whites, the distant mapmakers themselves became confused when they at- tempted to locate forts, villages or circumstances thereon. The old Indian name of the Calumet was spelled Killimick or Calamick; the Kankakee was spelled Teatika.


36


HISTORY OF COOK COUNTY


An important reference to Chicago was made by Governor Rocheblave of Illinois in 1783. . At that time he was fighting to have his claims for losses during the Revolution made good by the British government at Quebec. Hè stated he wanted his claims allowed at once as he had to go from Quebec to "find Madame Rocheblave and the rest of the family at Chikagou." It is known that his family were still at Kaskaskia. Thus the reference was not to the present Chicago. It must have been either to the western country as a whole, or to the Mississippi or Illinois river settlements in par- ticular.


In 1721 an English commission, having explored the Western › country, reported, among other findings, that "from the Lake Huron they pass by the Strait Michillimackinack four leagues, being two in breadth and of great depth, to the Lake Illinoise (Michigan), thence . 150 leagues on the lake to Fort Miamis, situated on the mouth of the river Chicagoe. From thence come those Indians of the same name, viz. : Miamis, who are settled on the aforementioned river (Maumee, formerly Miami) that runs into Lake Erie. Up the river Chicagoe, they sail but three leagues to a passage of one-fourth of a league, then enter a small lake of about a mile and have another very small portage, and again another of two miles to the river Illinois (Kan- kakee), thence down the stream 130 leagues to the Mississippi." This must have been the river referred to in 1699 by St. Cosme when he wrote that on a trip to the Illinois country he found the Miamis at Chicagou, where there was already a mission under Fathers Pinet and Bineteau. Neither at that time nor at any time were the Miamis located permanently on the present Chicago river, but they were on the St. Joseph, then called Chicagou, where there was a mission and a fort. Charlevoix writes: "All having promised to send deputies there, he proceeded to the Western quarters; but turned south and went to Chicagou at the lower end of Lake Michigan, where the Miamis then were." He spoke of it as a place and not as a river. This visit must have been made to the St. Joseph river, called Chi- cagou, where the Miamis were, and not to the present Chicago river. Shea, in a footnote to Charlevoix's account, says that Perrot went no farther than Green Bay, because the Miamis were not then at Chi- cago; but Shea apparently did not know that St. Joseph river was early called Chicagou, and that therefore the Charlevoix account was consistent, Perrot's visit being to the Miamis on St. Joseph river.' Shea seemed to think that because the Miamis were not then at the present Chicago river, Perrot could not have made the visit as nar- rated by Charlevoix. But there are too many particulars mentioned to warrant any doubt that Perrot at this time really visited the Miamis on St. Joseph, and probably was the first white man to look upon the present Cook county. The Miami head chief then was too old to attend the proposed general assembly of the Western tribes, but he empowered the Pottawatomies to represent him and his tribe


1


1


37


HISTORY OF COOK COUNTY


on that occasion. This assembly was held at Sault St. Mary in May, 1671. Perrot did not visit the Mascouten, Kickapoo or Illinois tribes at this time-why, it is not known.


Joliet and Marquette were probably the first white men actually to traverse the present Chicago river ; this was in July, 1673, on the return trip from their first visit to the Mississippi. The fact is cer- tain, but the route traversed is somewhat doubtful; it may have been the Calumet or Stony creek route. The description fits the Calumet river as well or better than the Chicago river, and one writer, at least, Albert D. Hagar, has argued with much force and plausibility that they must have passed over the former route. However, both routes were within the present limits of Cook county. In Decem- ber, 1674, Marquette again passed over the same route, whether it was by the Calumet or the Chicago river. From the 4th to the 12th of December, he and his companions spent the time at the mouth of the river killing game and getting ready to cross the portage. Deer were abundant. There were eight or nine cabins of the Mascoutens near the mouth of the river. With him, among others, were two Frenchmen named Pierre and Jacques. After starting he stopped at a log cabin nearly five miles from the mouth of Chi- cago or Calumet river. This hut was owned by two traders-Pierre Moreau (La Taupine) and a trader-surgeon, both of whom were temporarily absent, though they returned as soon as they heard of the presence of Father Marquette. The possible location of the cabin has been recently, though perhaps erroneously, marked in the lumber district of Chicago. So far as known, this rude house was the first white human habitation in what is now Cook county. When it was built is unknown. Here Marquette remained the balance of the winter-sick but patient, brave and contented with his lot, though death stared him in the face. Mr. Hagar argues that the cabin stood on the Calumet route, but recently writers and public opinion have placed it on the South Branch of the Chicago river.


Father Claude Allouez, who succeeded Marquette in charge of the Illinois missions, and who came out in 1677, related that upon his arrival he was met at the mouth of the Chicagou river by a large number of Illinois Indians, who conducted him to their villages in the vicinity of the present Utica, Ill. This Chicagou river may have been the St. Joseph, because in a subsequent visit he spoke of Chicagou river and clearly meant the St. Joseph. He returned to Canada, but came out again in 1678 and again in 1680 and 1684, the latter time with Durantaye, who at this time built a fort at the mouth of the Chicagou river. The Chicagou river here referred to must have been the St. Joseph, of Michigan, because there is no evidence that Durantaye or any other person built a fort thus early at the present Chicago, but a fort was built on the St. Joseph about 1784, and Durantaye, the same year, was in command there. At this date Tonty commanded Fort St. Louis at Starved Rock, Ill.




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