History of Cook County, Illinois From the Earliest Period to the Present Time, Part 13

Author: Andreas, A. T. (Alfred Theodore), 1839-1900
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Chicago : A.T. Andreas
Number of Pages: 875

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During his absence, General Harrison marched with a small army to the Wabash, ascended that river to Tippecanoe, or Prophetstown, and encamped near. He was attacked in November, by the Prophet and his fol- lowers, who were completely routed, and their village broken up and destroyed. When Tecumseh returned from the South, he joined the British at Malden, and thenceforth used all his influence and power to secure the alliance of the Illinois tribes for his new friends, sending messengers with bribes to buy their friendship if not their active co-operation.

The growing animosity of the Indians toward the Americans, and their friendliness toward the British, in- duced Governor Edwards to call another council in the spring of 1812. This was held at Cahokia, and was at- tended by all the prominent chiefs of the Pottawatomies, Kickapoos, Chippewas and Ottawas on the Illinois. The Indians were disappointed at the failure of the Prophet to fulfill his promises, and his defeat at Tippe- canoe had lessened their faith in his pretensions. Their professions of loyalty to the American cause were pro- fuse. Chiefs, who participated in the massacre at Chi- cago, a few months later, by their spokesman, Gomo, asserted, in the strongest terms, their determination never to join the British. They told Captain Hebert, the commissioner sent by the Governor, of the attempts of the English to induce the warriors of Main Poc's band to go to war against the Americans, and their resolu- tion to remain in peace ; of their desire to have a U. S. Factor at Peoria, only that " on account of the Winne- bagoes, who are now raging about, he might be killed, and they should be blamed ; " and declared that " what- ever the English may do," the Americans might "rest assured that the four nations here, will never join them." At the time of this council, a description of the Illinois River, and the tribes residing on it and its branches, was prepared for Governor Edwards, from which the following extract, giving the tribes at and above l'eoria Lake, is taken :

" The Pottawatomies were divided at that time (May, 1812), into several bands on the Illinois River ; that of Gomo, consisting of about one hundred and fifty men, at the north end of l'eoria Lake ; l'epper's band at Sand River (River au Sable), about two leagues below the Quin-qui-quee (Kankakee), consisting of about two hundred men, and of different nations, l'ottawalomies, C'hippe- was and Ottawas. Letourneau (the Blackbird),* and Mittitasse are of this band. Main l'oc's band lies seven leagues up the Quin- qui-quee, consisting of about fifty men. The other Pottawatomies

* The Blackbird, it will be remembered, was the chief to whom the Troops remaining after the massacre at Chicago, in the same summer, surrendered.

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MODERN CHICAGO AND IT'S SETTLEMENT.

belong to the River St. Joseph, in which river there are three or four villages. In the Fox River, which empties itself into the Illinois Kiver at the Charbonicre (or Coalpit) about thirty-five leagues above Peoria, is another hand of Pottawatomies, Chippewas and Oltawas, mixed together. Wabeesause (Waubunsee) is their leader. This is a small band, about thirty. The Kee-kaa-poos are divided in three bands : l'amawatam's band, consisting of about one hun. dred men, exclusive of those at the Prophet's. He has left the old village, and is now making his village on Peoria Lake. The Little Deer has also abandoned Their great village, and is now forming his village opposite Como's (on l'eoria Lake). His band may con- sist of about seventy men, exclusive of those with the I'rophet. There is, at least, fifty of this band with the ['rophet, and as many of the l'ottawatomies. At Little Makina (below l'eoria Lake), the south side of the Illinois, is a band headed by no particular chief. bul led generally by warriors. LeBouw, or Sulky, is generally

Chicago situated, with regard to the surrounding In- clians, when Captain Heald received, on the 7th of August, the order to evacuate Fort Dearborn.

FORT DEARBORN.

In the month of August, 1795, General Anthony Wayne, called by the Indians " The Tempest," ter- minated the war that had raged in the Northwest for a number of years, by a treaty of peace signed at Green- ville, Ohio. By this treaty. the Indians ceded to the United States a number of tracts of lands, and among others "one piece of land, six miles square, at the

OLD FORT DEARBORN, ERECTED IN 1803.

looked upon as the main chief. At the camping place of Chicago, three leagues from the Lake Michigan, or Chicago Fort, is a vil- lage of Pottawatomies, Chippewas and Ottawas, of abunt thirty men. Co-wa-bee mai is their chief. [On the rude map, accom- panying this dlescriptiun, Co-wa-bee-mai's village is placed at the point marked ' Portage, three leagues from the Chicago Fort." From the junction of the Kankakee aml Desplaines, is written 'From here (the forks), to the lake twenty leagues, and is called Chicago.'] Leaving Chicago to go 10 Makina, on the south side of {Lake) Michigan, Is a river called the ' Lille Calnmick,' about hve leagues from Chicago. Here is a village consisting of about one hunilred men. Old Campignan is their chief. He has a burnt hand and nose broken, but it was reported this spring that he was killed in going to Niagara from Detroit. Man-non-gai," who was his second, probably now will be their chief, At the forks on the Quin-qui-quee the Illinois River loses its name, and is called from here Chicago River to the lake, a distance of about twenty leagues. On the north (west) side of Lake Michigan, leaving Chicago Fort, and thirty leagues from Chicago is River Mill-waa-kee. There are, generally, several villages of Potta- watomics here,"

The village of Black Partridge (Muck-otey-pokee) was on the south side of the Illinois River, opposite the head of Peoria Lake: l'openebe and Winnemeg were on the St. Joseph River. Thus were the settlers at

* Called Nau-non-gee in " Waubun," pp. 162-104.

mouth of the Chicago River, emptying into the sonth. west end of Lake Michigan, where a fort formerly stood." What this fort was or by whom erected, is now chiefly matter of conjecture. In 1718, James Logan, an agent of Governor Keith, of l'ennsylvania, was sent to explore some of the routes to the Missis. sippi. Among others, he reports as to the route by way of the River Chicagou, as follows :

* From Lake Huron they pass by the Strait of Michilimakina four leagues, being two in breadth, and of a great depth, to the Lake Illinoise : thence one hundred and fifty leagues to Fort Miamis, situated al the mouth of the River Chicagou, This fort is not regularly garrisoned."

About this time, or shortly after, the fort was proba- bly entirely abandoned. At all events, at the time of the treaty of Greenville, the oldest Indians then living had no recollection of a fort ever having been at that place."

Rumors that a garrison would be stationed at Chi- cago were in circulation as early as 1798, but it was not until 1803 that the fort was established, In July, 1803,

· American State Papers, vol. 5. p. 56a.

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HISTORY OF EARLY CHICAGO.

a company of United States soldiers, under the com- mand of Captain John Whistler, arrived at the Chicago River, and during that summer and autumn built what has since been known as the first Fort Dearborn, named after General Henry Dearborn, at that time Secretary of War.

Nearly all the histories which give any account of Fort Dearborn say that it was established in the year 1804. hunt in vedume 12, p. 175, American State Papers, there appears the following return :

" A return of the Army of the United States for the year 1303 designating every post and prim of occupancy. Dated December 31, 1903.

Fort Dearborn Ind, Ter. 1 Captain. Second Lientenant.

1 Fwsign.

4 Sergeants. 3 Corporals. 4 Musician 54 Privates. : Surgeon's male."

This report conclusively shows that the fort was named Dearhorn from the beginning, and that it was garrisoned in 1803.

The fort stood on the south side of the Chicago River, at the bend where the river turned to enter the lake. It had two block-houses, one on the southeast corner, the other at the northwest. On the north side a subterranean passage, leading from the- parade ground to the river, designed as a place of escape in an emer- gency, or for supplying the garrison with water in time of a siege. The whole was enclosed by a strong pali- sade of wooden pickers. At the west of the fort and fronting north on the river was a two-story log building. covered with split oak siding, which was the U'nited States agency-house. On the shores of the river, he- tween the fort and the agency, were the root-houses or cellars of the garrison. The ground on the south side was enclosed and cultivated as a garden. Three pieces of light artillery comprised the armament of the fort.

Captain John Whistler, the builder and first com. mandant of Fort Dearborn, was a native of Ireland. He was a British soldier in Burgoyne's army, and was taken prisoner at the time of the surrender of that army at Saratoga, After the war he married and settled in Hagerstown, Md., where his son William was born. He enlisted in the American Army and took part in the Northwestern Indian war. He served under St. Clair. and afterwards under General Wayne. He was speedily promoted, rising through the lower grades to a lieuten- antey in 1792, and became captain July 1, 1797. In 1814 he was a senior captain and brevet-major, having command at Fort Wayne. He rehuilt the fort in 1815. and removed to St. Charles, Mo., in 1817. In 1818 he was military storekeeper at St. Louis, and died in 1827 at Bellefontaine, Mo. He was a brave and efficient off- cer, and became the progenitor of a line of brave and efficient sokliers. His son, William Whistler, will be noticed later as one of the commandants of the fort. Another son, George W. Whistler, graduated at West Point in 1814, and served in the army until 1833, when he resigned. He became a distinguished engineer, and in 1842 was appointed by the Russian Government to superintend the construction of railroads in Russia. General J. N. G. Whistler, a son of William Whistler, is now serving in the army.

Life at the fort was dull enongh during the early years, and little occurred to disturh the monotony af garrison life. An occasional band to carry away the furs accumulatetl hy the traders ; hunting and fishing ;

the assembling of the Indians to receive their payments; the trading in peltries ; the occasional birth of a baby -- these were the events that interested the few"people gathered together on this far Western border. In 1810 Captain Nathan Heald succeeded Captain Whistler as commandant of the garrison. He was a native of New Hampshire, where he was born in 1775. He entered the army when young, and was lieutenant in 1799 and cap- tain in 1807. He married Rebekah Wells, a daughter of Captain Samuel Wells, a noted Indian fighter of Ken. tucky, and niece of William Wells, to be noticed here- after.

The Pottawatomies were the Indians of the country. Signs of discontent among the Indians throughout the Northwest became plainly visible. The great chiefs saw with alarm the continual encroachments of the whites and their demands for more lands, which could only he satisfied by the cession of all the hunting-grounds of the Indians. As early as 1806, Tecumseh and his brother, the Prophet, had sought, and with considerable success, to unite all the Indians in one great confederacy to withstand the whites. It is probably true that Tecum- seh intended at the first to withstand the whites peace. ahly. But he was soon dragged into war.

The Pottawatomies did not join with him at first. Many of their leading chiefs, through the influence of John Kinzie and the officers at Fort Dearborn, were friendly with the Americans and wished to remain so. Among these were Black Partridge, Winnemeg, Tope. nebe, and others. In May, 1810, the Pottawatomies. Chippewas, and Ottawas held a council at St. Joseph,. to consult as to joining the confederacy, but through the influence of Winnemeg, the Pottawatumies did not join. The younger warriors among them, however, did not sympathize with the oller heads, and felt the ap- peals to their patriotism made by Tecumseh and the Prophet. All the Indians, too. were largely under Brit- ish influence, and went every year to Maklen, Canada, to receive British presents. While Tecumseh was in the South in 1811, seeking to arouse the Choctaws, Chero- kees, C'reeks, and other southern tribes to join with him, the Prophet precipitated . hostilities hy attacking Gen- eral Harrison's troops at Tippecanoe. The Indians were defeated, and had it not been for British influence, the confederacy would have been dissolved. Mean. time, more or less alarm was felt among the settlers around Fort Dearborn, and reports of murders of the whites by hostile Indians hecame frequent.

A settler, named Charles Lee, had come to Fort Dearhorn shortly after it had been built, with his family. He took up a large farm on the South Branch of the Chicago River, about four miles from its month, at a point about where Bridgeport now stands. The farni- house was on the west side of the river. The farm was known as " Lee's place" and was afterwards called " Hardscrabble." Lee did not reside at the farm, but had a dwelling for himself and family on the lake shore, very near the fort. The farm was occupied by a man named Liberty White, who with three employés (two men and a hoy ) managed the place. On the afternoon of the 6th of Aprll, 1812, a party of eleven Winneba- goes came to the farm house and entering, seated them- selves without ceremony. One of the employés, a Cana- dian Frenchman, named Debou, became suspicions of them and remarked to the others, "1 do not like the appearance of these Indians, they are none of our folks. They are not Pottawatomies." One of the others, a discharged soldier, said to the boy, who was a son of Mr. Lee, " We had better get away if we can. Say nothing, but do as you see me do." It was nearly

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FORT DEARBORN.

sunset, and the soldier and the boy started towards the canoes, telling the Indians they were going to feed the cattle on the other side of the river, and that they would then return for supper. Gaining the other side of the river in safety, they made some show of collecting the cattle, but continued to get into the woods close at hand, and then started for the fort. On their way they notified the family of Burns, whose home was on the north side, a short distance above the fort, and then made their way to the fort. They had scarcely got out of sight of the farm-house ere the Indians shot and scalped the two men who had remained behind. The family of Burns was now considered to be in great danger, and a party of soldiers under Ensign Ronan, was sent to bring them to the fort. This was successfully done, and that

I. T. Helm and Ensign George Ronau. Twelve militia- men were also under his orders. Of the regulars, a large number were on the sick list. Altogether there were not probably forty able-bodied fighting men. With then were about a dozen women and twenty children. He received his orders on the 9th. But he trusted to the friendly reputation of the Pottawatomies, through whose country he mast pass, and waited for six days, until four or five hundred warriors were assembled at the fort, before he moved. He was then at their mercy. The Pottawatomie chief who had brought General Hull's order was Winnemeg, a friendly Indian, who well knew the feelings of the Indians. He at first ad- vised that the fort be held, until reinforcements should arrive. To this Captain Heald would not agree. Win-

CHICAGO IN 1812.

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MAP OF CHICAGO IN 1812.

night all the settlers around the fort were housed with- in its walls. The Indians committed no further attacks that time, but made off, satisfied with this exploit, with the two scalps obtained. The agency-house was now turned into a sort of a fortification for the settlers, and every care was taken to protect the settlement and to provide against surprise. Various attempts were made by the Indians during the next two months, but so alert were the whites that no damage was done, except the loss of a few cattle and sheep. So the summer passed. On the 18th of June, 1812, the United States declared war against England, and on the 16th of July, Fort Mackinac surrendered to the British. On the gth of August following, an Indian runner from General Hull, at Detroit, brought news of the war and the fall of Mackinac, to Captain Heald, with orders to evacuate Fort Dearborn and proceed with his command to Detroit, by land, leaving it to the discretion of the commandant to dispose of the public property as he thought proper. Within the next three days neigh- horing Indians came in from all quarters to receive the goods which they understood were to be given them. It might seem as if no other course was open to Captain Heald but to obey the orders of General Hull, His force was not as strong as that at Fort Mackinac. It con- sisted of fifty-four privates, and two officers, Lieutenant

nemeg's next advice was instantaneous departure, so that before the Indians could assemble or agree upon definite action, and while they would be taking posses- sion of the goods, the force might make its escape. Mr. Kinzie, who had long known the Indians, approved of the same course. The younger officers were in favor of holding the fort-but Captain Heald resolved to pur- ste his own way. This was to assemble the Indians, divide the property among them, and get from them a friendly escort to Fort Wayne. On the 12th a confer- ence was held with the Indians by Captain Heald, and they agreed to his proposals. They would take the property, and furnish him a guard of safety. Whether they really would have done so it is impossible to know, but Black Hawk, who was not present at the massacre, but knew the Indian version of it, subsequently said that the attack took place because the whites did not keep their agreement. There were two species of prop- erty that the Indians chiefly wanted, whisky and ammir- nition. There were large quantities of both at the fort, and the Indians were aware of that fact. On the 1 3th, Captain William Wells, Indian Agent at Fort Wayne. arrived at Fort Dearborn with thirty friendly Miamis, for the purpose of bringing Captain Heald on his way.

Captain Wells had lived among the Indians, and was cognizant of their character. He was the uncle

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HISTORY OF EARLY CHICAGO.

of Mrs. Heald. Born in Kentucky, he belonged to a determined to accompany the troops, hoping that his presence would be the means of restraining the Indians. Entrusting his family to the care of some friendly In- clians, to be taken around the head of the lake in a boat to a point near St. Joseph, he marched out with the troops. He was warned by several friendly chiefs not to accompany the soldiers, hut he was determined to do all in his power to bring some restraining influence to bear, if possible, on the savages. The strains of music, as the soldiers passed beyond the gates, were certainly not enlivening. By some strange and wierd choice of the band-master, who was among the killed, the " Dead March" was played as the soldiers filed out from the protection of the fortifications, on to the open plain. Scarcely had the troops departed, when the fort hecante a scene of plundering. family of Indian fighters. When he was a lad of twelve, he was stolen by the Miamis and adopted by Little Tur- tle, their great chief. He served with the Indians at the outbreak of the war in 1790, and was present at the hattle where St. Clair was defeated. But he then be- gan to realize that he was fighting against his own kin- tred, and resolved to take leave of the Indians. He asked Little Turtle to accompany him to a point on the Manmee, about two miles east of Fort Wayne, long known as the Big Elm, where he thas spoke : " Father, we have long been friends. 1 now leave you to go to my own people. We will be friends until the sun reaches the midday height. From that time we will be enemies; and if you want to kill me then, yoo may. And if 1 want to kill yon, I may." He then set out for General' Wayne's army, and was made captain of a company of Along the lake shore ran a beaten Indian trail, which sonts. He fought under General Wayne until the . was the path pursued. Westward from this, at abont treaty of Greenville, after which he removed to Fort Wayne, where he was joined by his wife, who was a daughter of Little Turtle. He settled upon a farm and was made Indian Agent and Justice of the Peace. He rendered effective service to General Harrison, the Governor.

When Captain Wells heard of the intended evacua- tion of Fort Dearborn he volunteered to go there and act as escort to the soldiers. He arrived at the fort on the 13th of August, too late, however, to have any influ- ence on the question of evacuation, Captain Heald had up to this point resisted the advice of Winnemeg, the friendly Indians, John Kinzie and his junior officers, as to adopting any other course. But now after all his firmness came a period of irresolution. The supply of muskets, ammunition and liquor was large. It was madness to hand over to the Indians these supplies with which first to excite and infuriate them, and then to leave them with still more abondant means of wreaking that fury on the garrison. This fact was strongly urged by both Captain Wells and John Kinzie. Captain Heald yieldled, and on the night of the 13th destroyed all the ammunition and muskets he could not carry with him. The liquor was thrown into the lake. No sooner was this done than the older chiefs professed that they could no longer restrain their young men. Black Partridge, one of the most noted Potawatomie chiefs, and always friendly to the whites since the treaty of Greenville, had received a medal from Generat Wayne at the time of that treaty. On the evening of the 14th he came to the fort and eutered Captain Heald's quarters. " Father," he said, "1 come to deliver up to you the medal I wear. It was given me by the Americans and I have long worn it in token of our mutual friendship. But our young men are resolved to imbrue their hands in the blood of the whites, 1 can not restrain them, and I will not wear a token of peace while I am compelled to act as an enemy."

The Indians held a council and resolved on the destruction of the garrison. And yet, with the most heroic fortitude and constancy, the officers made their final arrangements for the evacuation, sustaining and encouraging the men by their words and by their exam- ple. At nine o'clock on the morning of the 15th of August, all being in readiness, the gates of the fort were thrown open for the last time, and the march com- menced. In accordance with Indian custom, and in premonition of his fate, Captain Wells had blackened his face. With fifteen of his Miami braves, whom he supposed to be trusty, he led the advance. The other fifteen brought up the rear. The women and children were in wagons or on horseback. Brave John Kinzie

one hundred yards distance, commencing perhaps a quarter of a mile from the fort, a sand-bank, or range of sand-hills, separated the lake from the prairie. When the troops started, an escort of five hundred Pottawa- tomies accompanied them, but when the sand-hills were reached the Indians struck ont towards the prairie, instead of keeping along the beach. Concealing their movements behind the sand hills, they hurried forward and placed an amboscade in readiness for the troops,

The little band had marched aboot a mile and a half when Captain Wells, who had led the advance, came riding swiftly back saying that the Indians were abont to open an attack from behind the sand- bank. The company charged up the bank, firing one round, which the . Indians returned. The savages, get- ting in upon the rear, were soon in possession of the horses, provisions and baggage, shoightering many of the women and children in the attempt. Against fear- ful odds, and hand to hand, the officers and men, and even the women, fought for their lives.

But it was soon over. Drawing his little remnant of survivors off an elevation on the open prairie; out of range, Captain Heald himself wounded proceeded to examine the situation. The Indians did not follow. hut after some constiltation of the chiefs, made signs for Captain Heald to approach them. He advanced alone and.met Blackhird, who promised to spare their lives if they would surrender. Upon these terms Captain Heald complied with the demand.

Among the killed were Captain Wells, Ensign Ronan and Surgeon De Istar Van Voorhis. The wounded were Captain and Mrs. Heald, Lieutenant Helm and his wife. Every other wounded prisoner was put to death. Of the whole number that had left the fort but an hour before, there remained only twenty-five non- commissioned officers and privates and eleven women and children.

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History of Cook County, Illinois From the Earliest Period to the Present Time, Part 13

Author: Andreas, A. T. (Alfred Theodore), 1839-1900 Publication date: 1884 Publisher: Chicago : A.T. Andreas Number of Pages: 875

Author: Andreas, A. T. (Alfred Theodore), 1839-1900
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Chicago : A.T. Andreas
Number of Pages: 875