USA > Illinois > Cook County > Chicago > History of Chicago : historical and commercial statistics, sketches, facts and figures, republished from the "Daily Democratic press" ; What I remember of early Chicago, a lecture, delivered in McCormick's hall, January 23, 1876 (Tribune, January 24th) > Part 3
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On the north side of the river and im- mediately opposite the garrison, stood the old "Kinzie House," as it was commonly called, which was also then unoccupied, and in a very dilapidated state. A short distance above, on the main branch of the river, and on the ground now occupied by the Chicago and Galena Railroad Company, stood what had been the Government Agency house, and known to the " oldest inhabitant " as "Cobweb Castle." That was then unoccupied, Dr. Wolcott, the Government Agent, having died the fall before. In its vicinity were several small log buildings for the accommodation of the blacksmith, interpreter, and others connected with the Agency. The black- smith then occupying one of the buildings was a Mr. McGee, now living in Dupage county. Billy Caldwell, the principal chief of the Ottawa, Pottawatomie and Chippewa Indians, occupied another. He was then Interpreter for the Agency. Col. Thomas J. V. Owen, who had been the winter before appointed to succeed the late Dr. Wolcott, had not then taken up his residence in Chicago ; G. Kerche- val, who was then sub-Agent, was then here. Dr. E. Harmon, the father of C. L. Harmon, and James Harrington of Gen- eva, Kane county, had taken up their residence here, and were making claims on the lake shore-Dr. Harmon where Mrs. Clarke now lives, and Mr. H. imme- diately north and adjoining.
Here we have some dozen families in the spring of 1831-only TWENTY-THREE YEARS AGO-constituting, with the officers and soldiers in the fort, the entire popula- tion of Chicago. Now, the city numbers more than sixty thousand, and its blocks of splendid stores, its fine churches, its
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railroads, and extensive commerce, are the wonder and admiration of all. We have never spent much time in reading works of fiction, but if there is anything in that dreamy literature more astonish- ing than these facts, we certainly have never seen it.
In June following, the garrison, by order of the Secretary of War, was aban- doned by the troops, and left in charge of Col. T. J. V. Owen, the Government Agent of the Ottawa, Pottawatomie, and Chippewa Indians; and by September, the fort, together with the old Kinzie House and the one on the lake shore (formerly vacant), were filled with emigrant families. In the latter part of September, the pay- ment of the Indian annuities was made by Col. Owen. There were present on that occasion about four thousand Indians, and among them was a deputation of eight Sauk and Fox Indians belonging to the band of the celebrated BLACK HAWK. Their object was to induce the Ottawas, Pottawatomies and Chippewas, to join them in their contemplated invasion of the Rock River country, and to wrest it from the whites, who, they alleged, had ob- tained it fraudulently. Had it not been for the influence of Billy Caldwell, little doubt was entertained of the success of the mission. Caldwell was well ad- vised of the weakness of the Indians, and the strength of the Government, and by his influence and representations, pre- vented the alliance. After the payment, a scene of drunkenness, debauchery and violence occurred, such as is never wit- nessed, except at an Indian payment.
During the fall, in the month of No- vember, the schooner Marengo, belonging to Oliver Newberry of Detroit, arrived. She had been looked for with much anxiety for some weeks. She encountered a heavy gale on Lake Michigan, which was just subsiding on her arrival. There being no harbor, she anchored out in the lake, more than half a mile from the shore, nearly in front of the fort, where she remained until the lake had become sufficiently calm to unload. This could only be done by the aid of small boats, crossing the bar at the mouth of the river which then emptied
into the lake near the foot of Randolph street. The "Marengo" was commanded by Captain Stewart, a veteran sailor who had long been in the employment of Mr. Newberry. The Telegraph, which arrived in July, and the Marengo, were the only arrivals during the season, except the one that transported the troops to Green Bay. The principal part of the population of Chicago during the winter of 1831-2 oc- cupied the quarters in the garrison, and were ministered to, in the way of creature comforts, by our estimable citizen, Geo. W. Dole, who was the only merchant then in Chicago, except Mr. R. A. Kinzie at "Wolf Point," which was the name given to the " settlement" at the junction of the North and South Branches, where Mr. Norton's lumber yard is now located.
The winter was long and intensely cold, and the population of the surrounding country so sparse, that no traveler could be found sufficiently reckless to traverse it. There were then no mail routes, post roads nor post offices at Chicago, and the only means its inhabitants had of knowing anything of the world was by sending a half-breed Indian once in two weeks to Niles, in Michigan, to procure all the papers, both old and new, that could be had. " Great caution," says Colonel Hamilton, " was exercised in reading the old first, that we might be properly advised of events in the world as they occurred. The trip was made on foot, and usually occupied a week. The arrival of " the mail" was an event of quite as much interest then as it is now ; but notwithstanding our exclu- sion from the world, we were not unhappy, and doubtless enjoyed ourselves as well as its inhabitants now do."
" A debating society was formed, com- posed of most of the male inhabitants of the fort, over which presided our venerable fellow-citizen, J. B. Beaubien, with much efficiency and dignity. Although not very conversant with 'Jefferson's Manual,' he had no occasion to use it, as every member was disposed to be orderly and behave himself; and each and all felt bound to contribute as much as possible to the gen- eral sum of knowledge and usefulness. To vary the amusement, a dance was oc-
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casionally got up at the house of Mark Beaubien, Esq., and for those who had no taste for such amusement, a religious meeting was held generally once a week in the Fort, bythe late Mark Noble, Jr., and his wife and two daughters, and Mrs. R. J. Hamilton, who were all members of the Methodist Episcopal Church."
These early meetings had a most happy effect upon all within their influence. Mrs. R. J. Hamilton, first wife of Col. H., contributed very much to their interest, as she was a lady of great intelligence, enlarged views, and devoted piety. She was for many years among the first in all religious and benevolent enterprises.
Col. Hamilton pays a just tribute to the zeal and piety of Mr. Noble. He was the principal speaker at all these meetings, and his exertions in the 'cause of truth were greatly blessed. He was a man of prac- tical common sense, and large experience, and was fitted for a "standard bearer " on the borders of civilization. It will be seen that the Methodists were here, as almost everywhere, the pioneers in Chris- tianity. They did not, however, establish the first church, as will be seen further on in our sketches.
Thus passed the winter of 1831-2. On the approach of spring, it was announced that "Black Hawk," a Sauk chief, was moving up Rock river, with about five hundred Sauk and Fox Indians, with demonstrations of a hostile character, un- less he could be permitted to remain on the lands formerly ceded to the United States. The rumor was confirmed by the arrival of the Hon. Richard M. Young, at Fort Dearborn, who was then one of the Circuit Judges of the State, and within whose judicial district Chicago was at that time. Judge Young was accompanied by Benjamin Mills, Esq., then a leading mem- ber of the Illinois bar, and our late fellow- citizen, Col. Strode, all from Galena. They had come by the way of Dixon, and from the conduct of the Indians as- sembled . there, were convinced of their hostile intentions. Before the adjourn- ment of the court other intelligence arrived confirmatory of these statements. The Indians continued to move up Rock river
until they arrived at the Kishwaukie, a tributary of Rock river, where they made a halt. An expedition was organized under the command of Major Stillman, of Peoria, from the counties of Tazewell and Peoria, principally with the object, as then understood, to watch the movements of the Indians and protect the few settle- ments on the extreme frontier from their depredations; but with the further under- standing, that they were not to strike the first blow. They proceeded up Rock river until within a few miles of the Indian en- campment, and by some want of discipline and caution, an action was brought on against a portion of the Indians, which resulted in a disastrous defeat and total rout of the whole of Major Stillman's force. Almost immediately after the de- feat of Major Stillman, the Indians, in bands, made a descent on the settlements on Fox river, at Hollenback's and Holder- man's Grove, and at other points on the river where there were settlements, burn- ing the houses and destroying the prop- erty, and had it not been for the friendly interposition and warnings of Shabbo-nee,* an Ottawa chief, who, till within a few years, lived at Shabbona's Grove, many of the people must have been massacred. Some barely escaped, being sufficiently near to witness the smoke ascending from their burning houses-what few inhabi- tants were in the surrounding country made their way to Chicago, to seek safety in Fort Dearborn, and by the 10th of May the Fort contained a population of near seven hundred souls, two-thirds of whom were women and children. This great disproportion of women and children was occasioned by the male heads of families taking their provisions and whatever else they could muster to drive their stock into . the settled parts of the country, mostly on . the Wabash. Col. Owen, the government agent, was then in charge of the Fort, and no effort on his part was spared to accom- modate all that came. He had himself a
* I often saw him in the streets of Chicago. He was not very tall ; but he was a broad-shouldered, stalwart specimen of the Indian. He died a few years ago, and was buried in the cemetery at Morris, Grundy county.
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large family and occupied the comman- der's quarters, but he confined himself to a single room, and gave up the rest to those who came in from the country. Gholson Kercheval and Col. Hamilton were appointed quartermasters to arrange quarters equitably among the people, and in many cases fifteen and twenty occupied a room that would not more than com- fortably accommodate a family of four or five persons.
Information was again received through " Billy Caldwell," by Col. Owen, that the hostile chiefs were tampering with the Ottawa, Pottawatomie and Chippewa In- dians belonging to his agency, and that in consequence of the success in the fight at Kishwaukie, many of the young men were strongly inclined to join them. It was with difficulty the chiefs could restrain them. A consultation was had with Messrs. Robinson and Caldwell, both influential chiefs among the Indians, who advised an immediate council with the principal chiefs together with some of their young men, at which Col. Owen was to address them, and let them know distinctly that if they formed any alliance or connection with Black Hawk, or furnished them men or aid of any kind, the Government would hold them to a strict accountability for it, and would punish them severely. The council was held at or near the place where the Rev. Mr. Richardson's church now stands, in the North Division of the city. There were present a number of the chiefs of the United Nations, including Caldwell and Robinson, and Col. Owen, and Col. R. J. Hamilton on the part of the Govern- ment. The council was opened by a few remarks from Caldwell to the chiefs. Blackfoot, a chief of considerable influ- ence and power, then addressed the council. He recounted many of their grievances, and charged the Government with gross injustice towards them, and concluded by remarking that now was a good time to redress them. His speech was evidently well received by the young men. Col. Owen followed him, and his boldness, energy, and the scathing rebuke he ad- ministered to Blackfoot changed the whole current of feeling against the chief. The
Indians retired for a few minutes, and then returned presenting their hands to Col. Owen, declaring their friendship to the Government, and offering to furnish a hundred braves to march against Black- hawk, if desired. Thus terminated this council; small and insignificant as it may now seem to have been, yet it was produc- tive of important results. ' To the unwa- vering friendship of Caldwell, and the bold, energetic conduct of Col. Owen be- fore the council, the inhabitants of Chicago were indebted for their safety in the con- test which followed.
Late in the month of May, 1832, a small force consisting of twenty-five men, was organized in the fort under the command of Capt. J. B. Brown, with Capt. Joseph Naper and Col. R. J. Hamilton, for the purpose of securing the frontier on Fox river, and to ascertain from personal ob- servation the extent of the depredations committed on the property of the inhabit- ants. It was also intended to render aid to the inhabitants settled on the Dupage river, who had assembled at Mr. James Walker's where Plainfield now stands, and erected a small fort for their protection. After leaving the fort on the Dupage, where they had remained a day, rendering such assistance as was desired, the expedition proceeded to Holderman's Grove. The In- dians had but recently left it after having destroyed all the personal property found in the house and around the premises, and scattered the fragments about the yard. The provisions which were not taken away were destroyed.
On the thi: d evening after their departure from Fort Dearborn the company encamp- ed about three miles from Holderman's Grove, in the direction of Hollenback's Grove, on Fox river. Some time before daylight, Mr. G. E. Walker, of Ottawa, arrived at the camp and stated that a man had arrived at that place (Ottawa) and reported that considerable firing had been heard on Indian creek, about fifteen miles from Ottawa, at the residence of a Mr. Davis, where the families of Davis, Hall and Pettigrew had assembled for mutual protection, and a short time afterwards a young man, a son of Mr. Hall's, arrived
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and confirmed the statement. He also stated that he was at work in the field about a mile from the house, heard the firing and saw the Indians.
Upon receiving this information, Capt. Brown immediately marched the company, with all possible dispatch, to Indian creek where the firing had been heard. Some five or six, a part of whom had joined the expedition on the route, left it and returned to afford protection to their respective families. The company ar- rived at Mr. Davis' residence between nine and ten o'clock, A. M. The scene there, as described by Colonel Hamilton, was the most painful that could well be imagined. Some thirteen dead bodies, composed of the families of Davis, Hall and Pettigrew, lay in the house and about the yard, consisting of men, women and children, who had been shot, speared, tomahawked, scalped and mutilated in the most cruel manner. Davis was a black- smith, and apparently a very athletic man. At the moment of the attack he was in his shop, and started for the house about seventy-five or a hundred yards distant, for the purpose, no doubt, of assisting to protect the families there. He was at- tacked a short distance from the shop, and from every indication a severe contest ensued.
By liis side, or near him, lay a large Ken- tucky rifle, which had been fired, and after- ward used in a hand-to-hand fight, as its stock was much shattered, and its breech broken. The bodies were collected and buried as well as they could be, under the circumstances, after which the expedition went to Ottawa, where they fell in with Major Bailcy, with a company from Taze- well Co., whohad been in the late disastrous Stillman expedition against the Indians at Kishwaukie, a pari of which, together with Major Bailey, joined Capt. Brown. The whole detachment proceeded to Chicago under the command of Major Bailey. On the route to Chicago, the guide to the ex- pedition, a half-breed Indian, reported at several points large fresh Indian signs. Much solicitude was felt for the families at Walker's on the Dupage, and some time after dark a man by the name of Payne
was hailed, who had just come alone from Chicago, and was on his way to Ottawa. The dangers of the route were made known to him, and efforts were made to retain hi n with the expedition. He, how- ever, announced himself an ambassador of God, and said he would be safe from any attack by the Indians. It wasevident he was partially insane, and he could not be induced to change his purpose. He had a long flowing beard, and venerable appearance. He was probably killed the same day, as his head was found two weeks afterward stuck on a pole in the prairie, and his body some half mile dis- tant from the lead. Our fellow-citizen, Gurdon S. Hubbard, Esq., was in the party that found him. Major Bailey and his command encamped the same evening at the fort on the Dupage, and started early the next morning with the families in the fort, and all their movable effects that could be transported in ox and horse teams, and arrived late in the evening at Chicago, after an absence of ten days. The fort was immediately organized as a military post, and placed under the com- mand of Major Bailey.
Two young ladies, by the name of Hall, were captured at Indian creck, and retained for some two weeks, when they were given up by a party of friendly Indians to Gov. Dodge, of Wisconsin. They were treated with great kindness and respect while they were captives. The massacre of the people of Indian creek occurred on the 21st of May. 1
In the meantime, three thousand militia were ordered out from Peoria and the counties south of it, and marched to Rock river, where they were joined by a detach- ment of regular troops from Fort Arm- strong, under General Atkinson. A party of one hundred and fifty militia under the command of Major Dement, fell in with a detachment of Indians, commanded by Black Hawk himself, somewhere between Rock river and Galena. An action en- sued, in which the Indians were routed. The main army continued to move up Rock river, around the head waters of which it was said the Indians were con- centrated.
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On the 21st. of July, General Henry, commanding an advanced party of the army, came up with the Indians between the Blue Mounds and the Wisconsin river. The troops were formed into a hollow square, and all attempts to break the line by the savages were in vain. A general charge was finally made by the troops, when the Indians were forced to retreat, with the loss of between fifty and sixty of their number.
The Indians continued their retreat to the northwest, crossed the Wisconsin river, and moved up the east bank of the Mississippi. About fifty miles above Prairie du Chien, they were again over- taken and completely routed, with the loss of one hundred and fifty warriors. This victory completely broke the power of Black Hawk, and ended the war. He was captured by a party of Winnebagoes, and delivered up to the officers of the United States at Prairie du Chien, on the 27th of August, 1832.
Early in the season General Scott was ordered to leave the seaboard and gather up all the troops on his route westward, and repair to Chicago. The Indians were entirely defeated before he was able to join the army.
On the 21st of September, 1832, all these difficulties were arranged by a treaty made at Fort Armstrong, (Rock Island,) by General Scott and Governor Reynolds, with the Sauk and Fox Indians, by which they relinquished all their claim to Eastern Iowa, and agreed to move west of the Missouri. Annuities were to be paid to the several bands, and a reservation of forty miles square was made to the principal Chief, Keokuk, and a portion of his fol- lowers.
We are indebted to P. F. W. Peck, Esq., for the facts contained in several of the succeeding paragraphs :
In July, A. D. 1831, the schooner Tele- graph, of Ashtabula, Ohio, Captain Joseph and John Naper, arrived at Chicago with a number of families, their own among the number, who soon after left and settled the place now known as Naperville. The village took its name from Captain Joseph Naper, he being
the first white settler upon its present site.
Mr. Peck left New York City in the month of May of that year (1831), with a small stock of goods for a "market," having previously determined upon a western home. Accidentally becoming acquainted with Captain Joseph Naper, at Buffalo, at which place the schooner was then loading for "Fort Dearborn," (Chicago), that gentleman, with character. istic frankness, invited Mr. Peck to em- bark with him and seek a home in that remote region, then but little known, where Capt. N. had previously determined to remove with his family. Mr. P. readily accepted, and left Buffalo with Capt. N. about the 1st of June, A. D. 1831, and arrived at Chicago after a passage of two months from the city of New York.
Probably many years prior to this ar- rival, no structure of any kind had been added to the small number of log cabins which, with the buildings of the garrison, constituted the town of Chicago ; and the only addition to its growth during that year was a small log store for Mr. Peck, shortly after his arrival, and which he owned and occupied until late in the fall of that year. It was built near the garri- son, a few rods northwest of the land on which Col. Beaubien formerly resided, and which James H. Collins, Esq., recently sold to the Illinois Central Railroad Com- pany.
It was after some deliberation and ad- vice, that Mr. P. determined to locate in " the lower village," instead of at "the Point," (West Side, ) which latter settlement was then, hethinks, rather in the ascendant. Rival feelings, to some extent, existed at the time between the people of those lo- calities, both contending that they pos- sessed superior advantages for the site of the future village of Chicago.
Shortly before Mr. Peck's arrival, the Canal Commissioners had subdivided into town lots part of Sec. 9, (the Old Town) and given titles to' a few of the lots to different purchasers. "Fort Dearborn " (fractional section 10) was not then subdi- vided, and much uncertainty existed as to the time, and under what auspices it
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ยท would ultimately be done. These circum- stances very much promoted the interests of land owners at " Wolf Point."
Mr. P. says that his young and fertile imagination presented before him as pos- sible to be built up within a reasonable time, the village church, schoolhouse, doc- tor's and lawyer's office ; a tavern, more fashionable than that kept by "Jolly Mark," a blacksmith, shoemaker, and tailor's shop, and a few painted stores and dwellings; and that his newly found home would be- come a respectable consolidated village, at one or the other of these two extreme settle- ments, for then no intermediate lots were considered to be of much importance.
Late in the fall of 1831, Mr. Peck re- ceived from New York, via the Lakes, a stock of goods with which, and the small stock he had previously in trade, he re- moved into Naper's settlement, and unit- ed in business with Capt. Joseph Naper, and remained with him until the spring of 1832, when the Sauk 'war drove the people into Chicago.
Mr. Peck has ever since resided in Chi- cago, having immediately after the ter- mination of Indian hostilities resumed mercantile business in a building then owned by S. Miller, Esq., North Side, at the junction of the North and South Branch- es, which for several previous years had been occupied by Messrs. Miller & Cly- bourne, as a store for Indian trade. Dur- ing the fall of 1832, and while occupying the building before mentioned, Mr. P. caused to be raised the frame of tlie building now owned by him, and situated on the southeast corner of South Water and LaSalle streets, which was finished and occupied by him early in May, A. D. 1833, as appears by vouchers for its payment which he has exhibited to us. It is built of black walnut and oak lumber. The lumber was hauled from Walker's mills -- now Plainfield-forty miles south west from Chicago, and is believed to have been the first lumber ever sawed in Cook county. Plainfield is now in Will county.
In this building Mr. Peck continued business until the fall of 1835, at which time lie disposed of his entire stock in trade to Thomas Hartzell, Esq., then of
Hennepin, and now a resident of this city, and one of the oldest and most respect- able settlers of Northern Illinois. He thinks the store above mentioned was the first frame building built on the south side of the river; but G. W. Dole, Esq., assures us that liis old warehouse, on the southeast corner of Dearborn and South Water streets, was completed and occu- pied by him in the fall of 1832. Mr. Dole then lived in a small log building, now covered with siding, which stands two or three doors east of the old ware- house on Water street. The warehouse has for some years been occupied for dwellings.
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