USA > Illinois > Cook County > Chicago > Stories and sketches of Chicago; an interesting, entertaining, and instructive sketch history of the wonderful city "by the sea" > 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
M. LE
Gc 977. 302 C43mac 1415247
GENEALOGY COLLECTION
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01072 9793
Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2018 with funding from Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center
https://archive.org/details/storiessketcheso00mccl 0
-
STORIES
AND SKETCHES
OF
[Drexel Boulevard and South Park, Chicago.].
CHICAGO
AN INTERESTING, ENTERTAINING, AND INSTRUCTIVE SKETCH HISTORY OF THE WONDERFUL CITY "BY THE SEA."
EDITED BY
J. B. MCCLURE,
Compiler of " Moody's Anecdotes;" "Moody's Child Stories;" "Edison and His Inventions ;" "Lincoln's Stories;" " Mistakes of Ingersoll;" " Stories and Sketches of Gen. Grant;" " Entertaining Anecdotes;" " Replies to Ingersoll on Thomas Paine," Etc.
CHICAGO: RHODES & MCCLURE, PUBLISHERS. 1880.
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1880, By J. B. MCCLURE & R. S. RHODES, In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at. Wash ngton, D. C.
ELECTROTYPED BY BLOMGREN BROS. & CO. CHICAGO.
1415247
The stories and sketches found in this volume furnish an interesting, instructive, and exhaustive history of the most remarkable city in the world. They have been care- fully gathered from living men, many of whom are not yet "old," whose early life on "Chicago soil " antedates any single building now standing in the great city!
It is curiously strange, and no less significant, to hear Ex-Lieut. Gov. Bross tell of building his first house "out on the wild prairie," near what is now the Exposition grounds, and of "driving home his cows" from a region now solid with blocks for nearly seven miles beyond! Equally strange is Judge Caton's story of " treeing a great bear"-and kill- ing it-in the wild woods, now within the business center of the wonderful city! But strangest of all are the stories of Gurdon S. Hubbard, whose early Chicago life looked out "all round " on an absolute wilderness, with his nearest " settle- ment " down at Danville, 130 miles away!
Chicago is the product of modern civilization, not only as represented in the old world, but also the new. And it is the newest of the new! Hence her river "runs up stream," etc. And this feature gives a peculiar and signifi- cant interest to the stories and sketches in this volume, which have been gathered from the "old settlers," various books on Chicago, the press, and friends. In a very enter- taining manner they outline the wonderful history and great success of a most remarkable city.
A complete "Visitors' Guide" has been added, for the benefit of those who visit Chicago.
J. B. MCCLURE.
May 25th, 1880.
5
Faymarc $ 7.50 5-29-67 bu -. 1953 Phone
NITENTS.
A
Page.
A Laughable Story-Love Letters in the Early Days of Chicago-How Some of Them Were Franked By the Aid of Congressman Wentworth. 85
An Amusing Indignation Meeting-How State Senators Were Tortured in True Indian Style, and Blown to Atoms. 110
An Amusing Story of a Script-ticket "Good for a Drink" That Got Into a Contribution-Box-Getting on in the World Without Money. SS
An Army from Danville, Ill., Rushing to the Rescue of Chicago from an Indian Massacre-Incidents by the Way .. 53
A Dreadful Scene in the Washington Street Tunnel During the Great Fire.
120
A Laughable Hotel Story, and the Hotel Buildings of Chicago-Where Horace Greeley Got His "Go West Young Man.". 175
A Laughable Story of an Early Horse Race on the Ice .. ... 168
A Graphic Picture of Chicago " Yesterday and To-day;" By Gen. Strong. 1SO
A Remarkable Instance in the Great Fire Where a Man Saves His House by Throwing Hard Cider on It ..... 122
A Thrilling Adventure of One of the Fort Dearborn Massacre Prisoners, as Told by Himself. 40
A Wedding Reminiscence of the Great Fire. 116
VI.
CONTENTS. VII.
B
Bits of History 130 Board of Trade Building 165
Buyin . Up Chicago Lands from the Indians-A Heavy Real Estate Transaction 41
Central Park.
141
Chamber of Commerce. 165
Chicago's Early Fiddler, Mark Beaubien 91
Cihcago's First Loafer
79
Chicago's First Irishman-His Picture as Painted by "Long John". 93
Chicago's First Minister and Church. Sketched by the Pastor.
70
Chicago's First Wedding
79
Chicago, Ind.
27
Chicago Lumber Yards.
164
Chicago, Va. 26
Chicago Water Works 146
Churches in Chicago 188
Cook County in 1831. Sketched Ex-Lieut. Gov. Bross 96
Colleges, Universities, and Theological Seminaries 187
D
Douglas Monument 172
Douglas Park. 144
E
Early P. O. Days-"Long John" Perched on a Dry Goods Box, Reads to the Citizens the New York Papers .. .. 102
VIII.
CONTENTS.
First Chicago Visitor, Sketched by "Long John" Went- Worth 19
First Daily Newspaper 79
The First Draw-bridge Across the Chicago River-Sketched by the Builder.
67
First School Teacher in Chicago-He Opens in a Little Barn Twelve Feet Square-His Own Sketch of His Early Labors. 66
The First Settler on Chicago Soil, and What Became of His Claim .. 23
First Sunday-school in Chicago. Sketched by the Rev. Arthur Mitchell, D. D. 69
Fort Dearborn . 28
Fort Dearborn Massacre-A Thrilling Story by an Eye- Witness 30
G
Gen. Winfield Scott in Chicago-An Interesting Bit of His-
tory .. . 101
Grain Elevators. 161
Hon. John Wentworth's Early Experience in Church Mat- ters-Not Able to Rent but Half a Pew-His Descrip- tion of Parson Hinton's Sensational Lectures on the Devil 107
Hon. Isaac N. Arnold's Personal Experience in the Great Chicago Fire-A Graphic Description of that Wonderful Conflagration. 123
Hon. Isaac N. Arnold's Story of Abraham Lincoln. 105
How a Cat in the Old Post Office Saved its Life in the Great Fire by Jumping into a Pail of Water 121
How a New Silk Dress was Exchanged for a Fortune 104
CONTENTS. IX.
How a Woman was Saved in the Great Fire by Brave Men -A Narrow Escape. 118
How Chicago Escaped Being a French City, and the Paris of America. 24
How the Yankee Clock Peddler Flanked an Early Chicago Law, Which Required Only One Man to Break, but Two to Keep. 87
Humboldt Park. 141
Hunting Wolves Around Chicago-An Exciting Instance in which a Herd Take to the Ice in the Harbor 62
I
Industrial Exhibition Building. 174
h
Judge Caton's Chicago Bear Story 92
Judge Caton's First Night in Chicago-His Boarding House, and What Became of the Landlady's Daughter 64
Jefferson Park 142
Laughable Court Work-Regulating the Price of Boarding, Horse-feed, and the Drinks. 111
Lake Park. 144
Lincoln Park. 135
Long John's Story of an Early Chicago Wedding-The Whole
City Invited, Etc. 74
M
Masonic Fraternity.
192
N
New Court House and City Hall.
176
x.
CONTENTS.
Oid Jack, the Singing Ferryman-A Floating Music Hall. .. 114
Other Parks .. 144
P
Parks and Boulevards. 133
Post Office and Custom House 156
Public Buildings.
R
River Tunnels.
150
Railroads; Depots; Surburban Towns 186
S
South Park.
140
St. James Episcopal Church. 77
I
The First Ferry
65
The Lake Crib. 150
The Name " Chicago" 17
The Turning Bridges and a Bridge Story 169
The Winnebabo Scare-A Telescopic View of the Chicago Horizon Fifty Years Ago, Sketched by a Living Resi- dent, Col. G. S. Hubbard. 45
Trotting Park. 166
UJ
Union Park 139
Union Stock Yards 158
Violets SO
Z
The Zoological Garden in Lincoln Park. 137
Classification.
FIRST THINGS
PAGE ..
-
-
17
AMUSING AND OTHERWISE - - - - 85
WONDERS AND BEAUTIES -
- 133
2+
-2
Q1
ISTRATION
BY BAKER & CO
Page.
WM. B. OGDEN Frontispiece.
FIRST CHICAGO VISITORS. 19
FATHER MARQUETTE ON HIS JOURNEY IN 1674 21
FIRST SETTLER ON CHICAGO SOIL. 23
FIRST FAMILY RESIDENCE IN CHICAGO .. 25
GEN. CLARK, AFTER WHOM CLARK STREET. CHICAGO, WAS NAMED .. 26
THE ORIGINAL FORT DEARBORN, BUILT IN 1804. 28
FORT DEARBORN AS REBUILT IN 1816. 29 32
THE MASSACRE
FORT DEARBORN FROM THE NORTHEAST. 37 CHICAGO SIX YEARS AFTER THE MASSACRE 42 THE PEACEFUL HOME OF EARLIER DAYS. 44 CHICAGO IN 1820. 47 THE PIONEER HOME 50 FIRST HOTEL IN CHICAGO 61 A WOLF HUNT IN EARLY DAYS 63 OLD DEARBORN STREET BRIDGE. 68 " TAKEN ". 75 "EXPECTATION" 84 THE NEW CHICAGO POSTOFFICE. 03 109
VIEW ON DEARBORN AVENUE BEFORE THE FIRE
THE GREAT FIRE AS SEEN FROM THE LAKE. 117
OLD POSTOFFICE CAT 121
BUSINESS CENTER OF CHICAGO. BURNED IN A SINGLE NIGHT. 124
CHICAGO. ONE DAY AFTER THE FIRE 127
SUPPOSED ORIGIN OF THE GREAT FIRE. 129
ILLUSTRATIONS.
DREXEL BOULEVARD AND SOUTH PARK 132
VIEW OF FOUNTAIN IN LINCOLN PARK 134
LAKE SHORE DRIVE AT LINCOLN PARK 136
VIEWS IN UNION PARK. 138
RUSTIC BRIDGE, ETC., IN UNION PARK. 139
VIEWS IN JEFFERSON PARK 142
PARK VIEWS 143
AT PLAY IN THE PARK. 145
OLD CHICAGO WATER WORKS. 146
NEW CHICAGO WATER WORKS. 147
THE GREAT ENGINE AT WATER WORKS. 149 THE CRIB IN THE LAKE .. 151
WEST SIDE PUMPING WORKS
152
ARCHING THE TUNNEL
153
SECTIONAL VIEW OF CRIB, TUNNEL, WATER WORKS, ETC. 154
SECTIONAL . VIEW OF WEST SIDE WATER WORKS,
TUNNEL, ETC. 155
SECTIONAL VIEW OF LASALLE STREET TUNNEL 157
STOCK YARDS AND TRANSIT HOUSE 158
UNION STOCK YARDS. 159
WATER TANKS AT STOCK YARDS 160
THE LUMBER DISTRICT. 162
ELEVATOR AND LUMBER YARDS 163
BOARD OF TRADE BUILDING.
TROTTING PARK. 165
167
VIEW ON CHICAGO RIVER, WITH TURNING BRIDGE .. 170
DOUGLAS MONUMENT 173
EXPOSITION BUILDING. 174
THE OLD COURT HORSE (BURNED 1871).
177
NEW COURT HOUSE, CLARK STREET FRONT 178
CITY HALL AND COURT HOUSE, WASHINGTON STREET FRONT. 179
CHICAGO, " YESTERDAY AND " TO-DAY." 181
THE PIONEER 183
-
QUI
CAMINOURA
VIEW OF FOUNTAIN IN LINCOLN PARK
[134]
-
WALLIS
SECTIONAL VIEW OF LA SALLE ST. TUNNEL, SHOWING MASONRY
[157]
71
CHICAGO
33
1833
vx 1880~
80
CHICAGO.
STORIES AND SKETCHES - -OF- CHICAGO.
FIRST THINGS.
The Name.
The first geo- graphical notice of Chicago, is found in a map dated Quebec, Canada. 1688, on which "Fort Checagou " occupies the exact location of the pres- ent city, and the form of Lake Mich- igan is represented quite correctly.
In an atlas, pub- lished in 1696, by Le Sieur Sanson, "Geographer to the King," we find the whole Mississippi
River, from its origin to the Gulf of Mexico, is named "Cha- caqua." In other old works it is called the " Chacaqua, or Divine River."
A manuscript, purporting to have been written in 1726 by M. de Ligny, at Green Bay, and brought from France
[17]
2
18
STORIES AND SKETCHES OF CHICAGO.
by General Cass, mentions the place as "Chicagoux; " and that name is found to occur several times in the official correspondence of the earlier years of the present century.
The name of "Chicago" has been interpreted to mean " Wild Onion," after the herb which once grew profusely on the banks of the river. But the above historical facts tend to prove that the word had a much nobler meaning; added to which we know that the word Checaque was used as the name of thunder, or the voice of the Great Manitou. If we include this supernatural factor, Chicago might be called the "Divine City," or, more literally, " A Thunder- ing City."
It has been suggested, however, that all of the above in- tentions may be harmonized, if we atttach to the name the meaning of " strong," as it is well known that the Indian speech contained many more of these incongruous congru- ities than are to be found in the languages of the present day.
19
FIRST THINGS.
The First Chicago Visit- ors .- Sketched By "Long John " Wentworth.
Those best ac- quainted with In- dian antiquities give Chicago a far-reach- ing past. As there were Indians before the discovery of the continent, there must have been con- spicuous and cen- tral points for coun- cils, and Chicago was undoubtedly one of them.
The name, or its spelling, or its pronunciation, may have been different. But the Indians were not troubled with dictionaries or spelling-books. There were no spelling- schools among them. No book agent ever annoyed their Boards of Education.
20
STORIES AND SKETCHES OF CHICAGO.
John Quincy Adams (says Mr. Wentworth) whose seat was near mine in Congress, seeing me write "Chicago," said: "That's the way everybody spells it now; but, under my Administration no two Government officers, writing from there, ever spelled it the same way." He repeated over a long list of the various ways in which it was for- merly spelled.
Then he said: "I see you have not settled upon your pronunciation yet, as members of your own delegation pro- nounce it differently," as we then did.
The first written account of the Northwest bears the date of 1654, when two French fur-traders from Canada visited this country, and two years after returned and gave such glowing descriptions of the region as excited a gen- eral disposition to explore it.
Yet there may have been white inen in Chicago even be- fore that time. It is claimed that there was a missionary station at Mackinaw about 1607. The place thereof is still known as Point Ignace. It was there that the remains of Father James Marquette were taken, about 1720, from the banks of Marquette River, over in Michigan, where he died May 18, 1675.
In 1700 there were thirty-five of these missionary sta- tions or quasi-military posts located all the way from Frontenac (now Kingston), on Lake Ontario, via Detroit, Mackinaw, Green Bay, Chicago, Peoria, St. Louis, etc., to New Orleans. About the same time there was another route by land, via Fort Wayne, to Chicago.
Their route out of Chicago was down the north fork of the South Branch through Mud Lake, then called le petit lac, to the Desplaines River, and generally in the same little boats with which they had passed over the lakes of the east.
Marquette was undoubtedly the first white man who tar- ried any length of time in Chicago. He was undoubtedly
21
FIRST THINGS.
our first clergyman. The church, however, in which he preached was spared the necessity of extinguishment in the Chicago fire.
The following extracts from Father Marquette's journal are interestingly descriptive of the early surroundings at Chicago in his day:
" Dec. 4, 1674 .- We started well to reach Portage River (Chicago River), which was frozen half a foot thick. There was more snow there than anywhere
[The first Chicago visitor, Father Marquette, on his journey, in 1674.]
else, and also more tracks of animals and turkeys. The land along the shore is good for nothing, except on the prairies. Deer-hunting is pretty good as you get away from the Pot- tawatamies.
" Dec. 12 .- We could not say mass on the Feast of the Conception on account of the bad weather and the cold. During our stay at the mouth of the river, Pierre and Jacques killed three buffalo and four deer, one of which ran quite a distance with his heart cut in two. They con- tented themselves with killing three or four turkeys of the
22
STORIES AND SKETCHES OF CHICAGO.
many which were around our cabin (probably an Indian wigwam, which were sometimes called cabins), because they were almost dying of hunger. Jacques brought in a part- ridge (prairie chicken) that he had killed, every way re- sembling those of France, except that it had like two little wings of three or four feathers, a finger long, near the head, with which they cover the two sides of the neck where there are no feathers.
" March 30 .- The north wind having prevented the thaw till the 25th of March, it began with a southerly wind. The next day game began to appear; we killed thirty wild pigeons. On the 28th the ice broke and choked above us. On the 29th the water was so high that we had barely time to uncabin in haste, put our things on trees, and try to find a place to sleep on some hillock, the water gaining all night.
"March 31 .- Besides this outlet the river has an- other (meaning the Desplaines), by which we must de- scend. Only the very high grounds escape inundation. That where we are has increased more than twelve feet. Here we began our portage more than eighteen months ago. Geese and ducks pass constantly. We contented our- selves with seven."
In May, 1675, Marquette returned and passed out of the Chicago River to the other side of the lake and to the eternal shores beyond. He died on his way to Mackinaw. May 18th, 1675, in his 38th year, and was buried on the banks of the stream which now bears his name.
Father Marquette was a native of France, who after re- ceiving a suitable education devoted himself to the cause of his Master. It was this work which brought him to the New World, in which he labored faithfully until death. He was a man of fine intelligence and remarkable industry and well deserves the monument recently erected to his name on the shores of Lake Michigan.
23
FIRST THINGS.
The First Settler on Chicago Soil -- And What Became of His " Claim."
It is a little sin- gular, " in the natu- ral order of things," that the "first set- tler" of Chicago should have been a negro, all the way from San Domingo. Nevertheless this is the historical fact. His name was Jean Baptiste Point au Sable, and he " drove his stakes " in 1796 in the neighborhood of Dearborn and Water streets, where he built a rude hut, and "laid claim " to the surrounding country.
He did his best to ingratiate himself into the affections of the Indians, with the idea of becoming a chief. When this point was accomplished he intended to send back for more of his fellow-countrymen, and plant a San Domingo colony on the banks of the Chicago River and the adjacent prairies.
After residing here a few years, and meeting with poor success in becoming a chief, he removed to Peoria, then known as Fort Clark, where he died. A Frenchman, Le Mai, a trader, succeeded the negro settler in his dwelling and claim, who, after several years' occupation, sold in turn to a man subsequently of note in the settlement, John Kin- zie, who was then residing with his family at the mouth of the St. Joseph River, on the eastern shore of the lake, now in Michigan. Mr. Kinzie, at this time, was the agent of Astor's
24
STORIES AND SKETCHES OF CHICAGO.
celebrated American Fur Company. He held possession of the negro's claim, and subsequently enlarged "the original hut" and otherwise changed it into a comfortable dwelling which, in 1804, he and his family made their place of abode. This was the first "family house" erected in Chicago.
How Chicago Escaped Being a French City and the Paris of America.
Chicago was essentially French until the erection of Fort Dearborn, in 1804, which brought the English language on the shores of Lake Michigan.
When the last war between Great Britain and France broke out on the American Continent, the French had ex- tended their power up the Ohio River, as far as Fort Du Quesne, now Pittsburg, and were contemplating a line of militia-posts from that place to Lake Ontario.
Had they succeeded in this, and held their power on this continent, Chicago would certainly have been a French city, and, in all probability, the Paris of America; with the General Assembly here, composed of delegates from Hali- fax, Quebec, Montreal, St. Louis, New Orleans, and the Pacific cities.
When the French defeated the British forces at Fort Du Quesne, and left their Commander-in-Chief, Gen. Braddock, dead upon the battle-field, they thought they had inflicted a fatal blow upon British power in America; but they in- flicted a greater one when they left alive upon the same battle-field the juvenile George Washington, destined so soon to lead to glory the colonists, spurred to battle by the eloquence of John Adams in Faneuil Hall, and of Patrick Henry in the House of Burgesses of Virginia.
After the treaty of peace between Great Britain and
-
....
[25]
THE WOLD KINZIE HOUSE,"
FIRST FAMILY RESIDENCE IN CHICAGO ..
26
STORIES AND SKETCHES OF CHICAGO.
France, in 1763, by which the Canadas were ceded to Great Britain, our relations to the two countries were entirely reversed.
And by the treaty with Gen. Anthony Wayne with the Indians at Greenville, O., in 1795, the Indians ceded to the United States: "One piece of land, six miles square, at the mouth of the Chicajo River, emptying into the southwest end of Lake Michigan, where a fort formerly stood." This was an old French fort, probably built over 100 years be- fore, by the earliest French explorers. This was the first transaction, on record, in Chicago real estate. Gen. Wayne (says " Long John ") spelled Chicago with a "j." The baby's name in 1795 was "jo." He had not got the " go" then. It was Chica-jo.
Chicago, Va.
[Gen G. R. Clark, after whom Clark St., Chicago, was named,) Under the conquest of Gen. George Rogers Clark, whose
27
FIRST THINGS.
expedition Virginia had fitted out, and the expenses of which were never refunded, that State claimed the whole Chicago country. In 1778 her Legislature created the County of Illinois, embracing all the State of Illinois.
The address was then " Chicago, Va." And but for the ordinance of 1787, which ceded the Northwestern Territory to the United States, according to Mr. Wentworth's face- tious remark: "Chicago might have been raising slaves up to the time of Lincoln's Proclamation, and the white laborers, who have done so much for the development of the city, been entirely excluded. As it was, we were only com- pelled to catch the slaves that others raised, whilst follow- ing the old Indian trail to Canada and freedom."
Chicago, Ind.
In 1800 Illinois was organized into a Territory with Indiana, under the name of Indiana Territory, with Gen. William Henry Harrison as Governor. The seat of gov- ernment was Vincennes, Ind., and then all were Hoosiers.
The address was "Chicago, Ind." This state of things continued for about nine years, when the name of " Hoosier" was changed to that of "Sucker," by the organization of what was called the "Illinois Territory," with Ninian Edwards as Governor, and with the seat of government at Kaskaskia. This took place in 1809.
It was, however, under the Hoosier administration that Fort Dearborn was erected in 1804, and named after Gen. Henry Dearborn, a conspicuous officer in the American Revolution, and afterwards Secretary of War.
28
STORIES AND SKETCHES OF CHICAGO.
Fort Dearborn.
Fort Dearborn was built by the United States Govern- ment in 1804, and garrisoned with about fifty men and three pieces of artillery. Its location was on the south bank of the river, just east of Rush Street Bridge.
It had two block houses, one on the south-east corner, the other at the northwest. On the north side was a sally-port. or subterranean passage, leading from the parade ground to the river, designed as a place of escape in an emergency,
[The original Fort Dearborn, as built in 1804.]
or for supplying the garrison with water in time of siege. The whole was inclosed by a strong palisade of wooden pickets. The ground adjoining on the south side was in- closed and cultivated as a garden. Up to the time of its erection no white man had made his home in this region.
For eight years the garrison was quiet, and the traders were prosperous, the number of the latter having been con- siderably increased. Then the United States became in- volved in trouble with Great Britain, which finally broke out into the war-flame. The Indians took the war-path
29
FIRST THINGS.
long before the declaration of hostilities between the two civilized nations. This resulted finally in the awful "Fort Dearborn massacre," in which the fort was burned.
For four years after this terrible event the place was de- serted by all save the Indians. Even the fur-traders did not care to visit the scene of so much disaster, and Chicago seemed to have been remanded into aboriginal darkness.
BAKEITES
[ Fort Dearborn as rebuilt in 181. ]
In 1816 the fort was rebuilt, under the direction of Capt. Bradley, and was thereafter occupied continuously by United States troops for twenty-one years, except for a short time in 1831. In 1837 it was abandoned, as the In- dians had been removed far to the westward. The fort stood, however, till 1856, when it was demolished.
30
STORIES AND SKETCHES OF CHICAGO.
Fort Dearborn Massacre-A Thrilling Story by an Eye-Witness.
It was on the morning of the 15th of August. 1812, that Fort Dearborn. by military authority, was evacuated.
As the troops left the fort the band struck up the Dead March. Captain Wells took the lead, at the head of his little band of Miamis. He had blackened his face before leaving the garrison, in to- ken of his impending fate. They took their route along the lake shore. When they reached the point where commenced a range of sand-hills intervening between the prairie and the beach, the escort of Pottawatamies, in number about five hundred, kept the level of the prairie, instead of contin- ยท uing along the beach with the Americans and Miamis.
They had marched perhaps a mile and a half, when Cap- tain Wells, who had kept somewhat in advance with his Miamis, came riding furiously back. "They are about to attack us," shouted he ; "form instantly, and charge upon them."
Scarcely were the words uttered when a volley was show- ered from among the sand-hills. The troops were hastily brought into line, and charged up the bank. One man, a veteran of seventy summers, fell as they ascended. The re- mainder of the scene is best described in the words of an eye-witness, Mrs. Helm, the wife of Captain Helm, and step- daughter of Mr. Kinzie :
" After we had left the bank," says Mrs. Helm, " the firing became general. The Miamis fled at the outset. Their chief rode up to the Pottawatamies and said :
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.