History of Chicago. From the earliest period to the present time, Part 12

Author: Andreas, Alfred Theodore
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Chicago, A. T. Andreas
Number of Pages: 1340

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On a map in Jeffery's " Natural and Civil History of the French Dominions in North and South America," published in London, 1761, it is said: "The Ohio coun- try was known early to the English, and thoroughly dis- covered beyond the Mississippi by Colonel Wood, from 1654 to 1664, as also by Captain Bott, in 1670." The writer has found no contemporaneous evidence that cor- roborates these statements.

In the year 1670. Father Allouez. visited the Winne- bagoes and Mascoutins, and says the Mascoutins saw upon the Mississippi River " men like the French, who were splitting trees with long knives (whip saws? some of whom had their house vessel ?) on the water.|

The first official action towards discovery and the establishment of the French Government over the North- west, of which there is a record, known to the writer, was in 1670. M. Talon, the Intendant of New France, in his report to the King, dated at Quebec, September 10, 1670, says : " I have dispatched persons of reputation, who promise to penetrate farther than ever has been done : the one to the west and the northwest of Canada, and the others to the southwest and south. These adventurers are to keep journals, take possession, dis- play the King's arms, and draw up proces verbaux to serve as title.'

Under date of November 2, 1671, he reports to the King as follows : " Sieur de la Salle has not returned from his journey to the southward of this country. But Sieur de Lusson is returned, after having advanced as far as five hundred leagues ** from here, and planted the cross and set up the King's arms in presence of seventeen Indian nations, assembled. on this occasion, from all parts ; all of whom voluntarily submitted them -.

* Disc. Miss, Valley. pp. 31-37.

+ 1bidl. p. 49.

# Hist. C'ul., vol 2. p. 108.

Dice. Min. Val. p. 28: Kel. 163, P 135.

Ilul. p. 27: Kel. 1670-71. p. 177.

* French line .. N V. Cul., val. o. p. 44. "

** France had, until the introduction of the metric system. the " legal posting-league," equal to two and turty-two hundredths English miles. (Ch4 .- bers' Encyripedia ;

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EARLY CHICAGO AND THE NORTHWEST.

selves to the dominion of his Majesty, whom alone they regard as their sovereign protector.' *

The principal speaker at this convention, heid June 4, 1671, was Father Allonez, a Jesuit missionary, who had a knowledge of the Algonquin language. He was not exempt from exaggeration, as will be seen in his speech, which, in part, was as follows :+

" It is a good work, my brothers, an important work, a great work that brings us together in council to-day. Look up at the cross which rises so high above our beads. It was there that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, after making himself a man for the love of men. was nailed, and died to satisfy his eternal Father for our sins. He is the master of our lives; the ruler of heaven, earth and hell. It is he of whom I am continually speaking to you, and whose name and words I have borne through all your country. But look at this post to which are fixed the arms of the great chief of France, whom we call King-he lives across the sea. He is the chief of the great- est chiefs; and has no equal on earth. All the chiefs whom you have ever seen are but children beside him. He is like a great tree, and they are but the little herbs that one walks over and tramples under foot. You know Onontio, that famous chief (governor) at Quebec. You know, and you have seen, that he is the terror of the Iroquois, and that his very name makes them tremble since he has laid their country waste and burned their towns with fre. Across the sea there are ten thousand Onontios like him, who are but the warriors of our great King, of whom I have told you. When he - says ' I am going to war.' everybody obeys his orders, and each of these ten thousand chiefs raisesa troop of a hundred warriors, some on sea and some on land. Some embark in great ships, such as you have seen at Quebec. Your canoes carry only four or five men, or, at the most, ten or twelve; but our ships carry four or five hundred. and sometimes a thousand. Others go to war by land and in such numbers that if they stood in a double file they would reach from here to Mississaquenk, which is more than twenty leaguesoff. When our King attacks his enemies he is more terrible than the thunder: the earth trembles; the air and the sea are ail on fire with the blaze of his cannon: he is seen in the midst of his warriors, covered over with the blood of his enemies, whom he kills in such numbers that he does not reckon them by the scalps, but by the streams of blood which he causes to flow. He takes so many prisoners that he holds them in no account, but lets them go where they will, to show that he is not afraid of them. But now nobody dares make war on him. All the nations beyond the sea have submitted to him, and begged humbly for peace. Men come from every quarter of the earth to listen to him and admire him. All that is done in the world is de- cided by him alone."

In this same strain much more was said by the mis- sionary, and no wonder the confiding and uncivilized Indians " voluntarily submitted themselves" to such a powerful sovereign who, they hoped, would protect them from the Iroquois, whom they so much feared. Nicholas Perrot was the person who invited the various tribes to the convention. He was well known to the Indians. He was a fur-trader, interpreter for the government, and the discoverer of the lead mines at Galena.

Charlevoix, corroborated by others, says: "In 1671, after having visited all the northern nations" and "in- vited them to meet in the following spring at Sault 'Ste. Marie * *

* he (Perrot; turned south and went to Chicago at the lower end of Lake Michigan where the Miamis then were." The Miamis were invited to attend, but the great age of their chief, Tetenchoua, and the fear that a fatal accident might befall him, in case he left his home, and who " never marched except with a quard of forty soldiers," the invitation was declined. The Pottawatomies, were, however, empowered to act in behalf of the Miamis. Particular allusion is made to this trip of Perrot " to Chicago at the lower end of Lake Michigan where the Miamis are," in order to announce the proposition that the Chicago there spoken of and the one subsequently alluded to by carly writers, as the home of the Miamis, did not embrace the present site of Chi- -ago. Chicago was a name applied to a tract of conn- try at the south end of Lake Michigan, It nowhere has been found by the writer located by the early writers

* N. Y. Col., vol. 2, p. 72.

+ l'arkin.in's Di -. Northwest, p. 14.

upon the west side. In these investigations it will be shown that at least three streams bore the name of Chi- cago in some of its varied spellings, viz: the St. Joseph, the Grand Calumet and the Desplaines. Coxe, in his History of Louisiana, calls the Illinois the river Checa- gou.

The early writers often speak of the Miamis at Chicago. Many old maps have been examined by the writer, but not one indicates that the Miamis ever resided where Chicago now is. On the contrary, the Mascoutins are shown to have been there, and the Miamis were invariably located on the Fox River, in Wisconsin, or at the southeast of Lake Michigan, on the St. Joseph, Wabash and Maumee rivers. The latter name, a synonym of Miami, was formerly called the Miami River of Lake Erie, and the St. Joseph was fre- quently called the river of the Miamis. Le Clercq says : " The Miamis /in 16So are situated south by east of the bottom of Lake Dauphin (Michigan , on the borders of a pretty fine river, about fifteen leagues inland, at 41º north latitude.'

On an old French map, now in the archives at Paris, and lately produced by M. Margry, bearing date of 1679-82* the Miamis are located southeast of Lac. de Illinois Michigan, on the R. des Mianiis St. Joseph).

And while referring to this map it will be seen that a stream occupying the geographical position of the Grand Calumet, and emptying into the extreme south end of Lake Michigan, bears the name of R. Chekagoue. This is probably the earliest map upon which a river is named Chekagoue, and this stream was doubtless the . western boundary of the lands of the Miamis, t and was the Chicago alluded to by Little Turtle in his speech of July 22, 1795. It will be seen by further examination of. this map, made a short time after Marquette's death, that 'seven streams enter the lake from the west, but none have the north and south branches peculiar to the Chicago River, and only one of them bears a name, the Melico Milwaukee'.

If further proof were necessary to show that the Miamis were located at the south and southeast of the lake, and not at the present site of Chicago, the follow- ing maps might be cited : La Hontan, Paris, 1703 ; J. . B. Hofmann, Paris, 1702 : - G. Del Isle, Paris, 1700 and 1703-18-22; Senex, 1710 ; Nicholas 'de Fer, Paris, 1718-26 ; I. F. Bernard, Paris, 1726 ; Sir D'Anville, . Paris, 1746 ; Sieur Robert de Vangondy, Paris, 1753 ; Jeffery's from D'Anville, London, 1755 ; Bellin, Paris, 1755 ; Sieur LeRouge, Paris, 1755 : Sanson, 1764 ; Fad- den's Atlas, London, 1767 : Saver & Bennet, London, 1790 ; Samuel Lewis, Philadelphia, 1776.

By referring to the Marquette map published by Thevenot, it will be seen that dotted lines indicate the route taken by Joliet and Marquette. It is thought by some that these are not properly laid down, especially the one leading from the villages of the Illinois to the Mississippi. Some think the Illinois Indians were on the Des Moines River near Des Moines, Iowa, and not on the Illinois River in the south part of Bureau and LaSalle counties, Ill. It is said the latter points are too far from the Mississippi River for men to go and return again in five days. From Keokuk, the nearest point on the Mississippi, to Des Moines is one hundred and sixty-two miles. From Davenport to Des Moines, in a nearly due west course it is one hundred and seventy-

? See map elsewhere in this volume, from Margry's vol. 3.

+ Sir William Johnson, to his reports to the lawreis of trade, under date of November 13, 1763. in describing the western lumindary of the Iraquns, including the territory ut the Miamis, says: .. . To the thio above the Kilts, thence worthwerly In the sunth end of Lake Michigan, then along the eastern shore vi und lake," rte. lammdm documents N. 1. ( øl. vol. 71. 373- : Am. State page-r-, vul. 5. p 570.

HISTORY OF EARLY CHICAGO.

five miles. By railroad from Port Byron on the Mis- sissippi River, to Bureau Junction on the Illinois, is sixty-one miles, and to Utica it is eighty-one miles. In Marquette's journal, on the 25th of June, he speaks of leaving the Mississippi River and going to the villages of " the Illinois," who at once recognized them, and ex- claimed, " How beautiful is the sun, oh Frenchman, when thou comest to visit us."*

They were invited to visit "the great Sachem of the Illinois." He "went with a good retinne," the Indians following " without noise, and with marks of great res- pect " entertained for the two men. They arrived at the town, where they were cordially received, and sumptu- ously treated. When night came he "slept in the Sachem's cabin," and the next day took leave of him, "promising to pass back through his town in four moons." They were escorted back to the Mississippi by the Sachem "and " nearly six hundred persons," to where they had left their canoes with the boatmen, with strict instructions to keep careful watch of them until their return. This return route is marked by a dotted line, " Chemin du retour" from the " CachouachSia, Illinois " to the river. Marquette says, " The short stay -. I made them did not permit me to acquire all the infor- mation I would have desired.] They were divided into several villages, some of which are quite distant from that of which I speak, and which is called Peouare."S This village is on the west of the Mississippi River, and is "distant a hundred leagues from the Cascasquias."|

From the foregoing, it would seem that Marquette visited "the Illinois Indians " upon the river which re- ceived its name from them. He did not make a false promise to them to " return to their town again in four moons," After having descended the Mississippi to the mouth of the Arkansas, and " having gathered all the information that could be desired from the expedition " -that is, "to ascertain where the river emptied," they started on their return, July 17, 1673 .. In pursuance of the promise to the .Illinois, they entered the river of the Illinois, upon the banks of which they lived. They found there the town of Kaskaskia," composed of seventy four cabins. After Marquette had again promised to " re- 'turn and instruet them," he says, "One of the chiefs of this tribe, with his young men, escorted us to the Illi- nois Lake, whence we' at last returned in the close of September to the bay of the Fetid Green Bay. .

A dotted line from the Illinois town to the lake. shows that they entered the latter between 40° and. 41º north latitude, which would be at or near the south end of the lake. The court house in Chicago, three blocks south of Chicago River, is in latitude 41º 26'. It will be seen by referring to the map, that an inland bay or lake is shown upon it just north of the route they took. This is probably Calumet Lake. Reasons for this eon- clusion will be given further on

Marquette returned to the Mission near Green Bay, having in about four months and a ball traveled, as esti- mated two thousand seven hundred and sixty-seven miles. ** It was a hard journey. From his second jour- nal it appears that ill health detained him at that mission

+ Thid. p.

: They were absent from the beasts from the 25th to the Both inclusive. (Ibid. p. 34 ; Hist. Col. 1. ... sol. .. p. s.a : 1 hrs. tr4. p. 31.)

" I'nev tthe lilineis)are divided Into sesind holdted's, som et which I have not. different. They call themhe Tera to immer halt of the

· Written t . h.na !.... ou histo- mo in Theseant, and Kachka-kia on hole Inthe heart of later date, situated

thirteen months. On the 25th of October, 1674, he started with two boatmen to return to the Illinois Indians, with the hope of establishing a mission there. His jour- nal will be often referred to in order to determine the route which he took. From the 25th to the 30th of October, they were going from the mission to Lake Michigan via Sturgeon Bay. They overtook five canoes of Pottawatomics and four of Illinois Indians, who were on their way to Kaskaskia, the place to which Marquette was going. They agreed to make the journey together.

Marquette had traveled the route but once. The In- dians were probably well acquainted with it and knew all the good stopping-places along the west shore of the . lake.

We will carefully review the route Marquette took and, if possible, determine where his stopping-places were. He had reached Lake Michigan at a point oppo- site Sturgeon Bay-where there is now a ship eanal. He says, in his journal : " You meet eight or ten pretty fine rivers." We will name those that enter the lake from the west, commeneing at the north, and give the distances between each as follows: From starting point to Kewane River, twenty-four miles ; Twin River, twenty-one ; Manitowoc, five ; Sheboygan, twenty-five ; Black Creek, four ; Sauk Creek (Port Washington), twenty ; Milwaukee, twenty-four; Oak Creek, ten ; Root River, (Racine), thirteen ; Pike River, ten ; Pike Creek (Kenosha), one, and a very smail creek at Wau- kegan fifteen miles. From Waukegan to Chicago, a dis- tance of. thirty-six miles, no river enters the lake. Lake Bluff-probably " the bluffs " spoken of in Marquette's journal -- is thirty miles north of Chicago. The entire distance between the points named is two hundred and eight miles. From Marquette's journal, it appears that he was traveling on the lake about nine days. This would make an average of twenty-three and one-ninth miles per day.

He started on the lake, October 31, 1674, and says : "We started with pretty fair weather and stopped for the night at a little river." W'e assume that little river to be the Kewane, twenty-four miles south of where they started.

November I, he says : " We halted at night at a river from which a fine road leads to the Pottawatomies.". Marquette locates the Pottawatomies southeast of the head of Green Bay. The west branch of Twin River rises in Brown County. Wisconsin, less than three miles from the head of the bay, and hence it is assumed that the river at the mouth of which he encamped was Twin River, which is twenty-one miles from the month of Kewane River. Thus in two days, they traveled forty- five miles.

November 2, he says : "We traveled all day with fair weather." He does not speak of encamping at a river and probably, did not.

. November 3, he says : " As I was on land walking, coming to a river which I could not cross, our people put in to take me on board, but we could not get out again on account of the swell. All the other canoes went on except the one that came with us."

We will assume that this was the Sheboygan River- too deep to ford, and thirty miles from Twin River. He was detained here till the 5th. On that day he says : " We had hard work to get out of the river. At noon we found the Indians in a river." We are not sure what this river was; whether Black Creek, a small stream in Sheboygan County, or Sauk Creek, in Ozau- kee County; the latter being twenty-four miles, and Mark Creek not to exceed five miles from the mouth of the Sheboygan. If the Indians stopped at the first

EARLY CHICAGO AND THE NORTHWEST.

stream they reached after Marquette's boat left them, and waited for Marquette to overtake them, it would have been Black Creek. This seems probable, as they had agreed to go on together.

On the 6th, he says: "We made a good day's travel," but probably did not encamp at the mouth of a river. They found " foot-prints of men, which obliged us to stop next day " - probably for two days, as no entry is made on the 8th.

On the 9th, he says: "We landed at two o'clock, on account of the fine cabinage. We were detained here five days." This is assumed to be at Milwaukee, which is twenty-four miles from the mouth of Sauk Creek, and about forty-four miles from Black Creek- reached in about one and a half days' travel.

On the 15th, he says : " After traveling sufficiently, we cabined in a beautiful spot, where we were detained three days." This may have been at Root River (Racine), twenty-three miles, or at Pike River, thirty- three miles south of Milwaukee-probably the former place.

On the 20th, he says : " We slept at the bluffs, cab- ined poorly enough." It is assumed that this - was at what is now "Lake Bluff," thirty miles north of Chicago, thirty miles from Racine, and twenty miles from the mouth of Pike River. These are the only noticeable bluffs on the west side of the lake, except those above Milwaukee. He says : " We are detained two days and a half. Pierre going into the woods, finds. the prairie twenty leagues from the port- age. He also passed by a beautiful canal, Für. vaulted, as it were, about as high as a man. There was a foot of water in it." By going west from the shore at Lake Bluff. some five or six miles, the great prairie, that extends south to Calumet River and the Desplaines, is reached. No prairie is Teche found on the west of the bluffs above Mil- waukee, or at any bluffs on the west shore of the lake, except those mentioned. The succeeding entry in Marquette's journal suggests that the Milwaukee bluffs were . not alluded to, when he says : "Having started about noon, we had hard enough work to make a river." Had it been those above Milwaukee, it would not have been a hard task to reach Milwaukee River, within five miles of them, or even Oak Creek, ten miles further south. On the other hand, it would have been a hard afternoon's work to row the canoe thirty miles. Not a creek enters the lake, between the bluffs and Chicago. Such a half day's journey deserved a notice in his journal. On the 21st "of November, 1674, he says : "We are detained here [at the mouth of Chicago River. probably,] three days. An Indian having discovered some cabins, came to tell ns. Jacques went with him there the next day. Two hunters also came to see me. They were Mascoutins, to the numbers of eight or nine cabins." 'On many of the old maps, the Mascoutins are located west of where Chicago now is. Marquette says : "Having been detained by the wind, we remarked that there were large sand-banks off the shore, on which the waves broke continually." By reference to early maps of Chicago, it will be seen that Chicago River took a short turn just before reaching the lake, and its mouth was about one-fourth mile further south, at, or near, what is now the foot of Madison Street. No entries are made between the zist and 27th.

On the 27th, he says: "We had hard enough work to get out of the river." It is well known that the river had a wide mouth, and a sand-bar crossed it, so that it was oftentimes difficult to " cross the bar."*

He continues by saying: " Having made about three leagues" (seven and one-fourth miles , " we found the Indians " (of their party, and also met " three Indians, who had come from the village." They were detained there by the wind the remainder of the month. He does not speak of being at the mouth of a river. There is none after leaving Chicago, for the distance of twelve miles, when the Little Calumet River is reached.

On the Ist of December the only entry made is, " We went ahead of the Indians so as to be able to say mass." No entry is made on the 2d. On the 3d he writes: " Having said mass and embarked, we were com- pelled to make a point and land. on account of the fog." He seems to be making very slow progress.

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History of Chicago. From the earliest period to the present time, Part 12

Author: Andreas, Alfred Theodore Publication date: 1884 Publisher: Chicago, A. T. Andreas Number of Pages: 1340

Author: Andreas, Alfred Theodore
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Chicago, A. T. Andreas
Number of Pages: 1340