History of Cook County, Illinois From the Earliest Period to the Present Time, Part 26

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

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bought a lot, or put out his sign as a lawyer, doctor or a real estate dealer he was recognized as a permanent inhabitant. There were built during the spring and summer of 1833 nearly one hundred and fifty frame buildings, mostly on the north and south sides of the Chicago River below the forks.

The arrivals of emigrants who came to Chicago during the season and made the place their home were too numerous to be named in detail. Several events transpired during the year, which combined went far to increase the prosperity and brighten the future pros- pects of Chicago.

HARBOR IMPROVEMENTS BEGUN. - Up to 1833 Chicago coukl not be said to have had a harbor. The bar across the mouth of the river, as it is now, made it impracticable for any laden vessel to enter it, and, ex- cept as a roadstead where ships might anchor off shore and be lightened of their cargoes, it had no claims to be called a harbor. The canal project, calculated to open a water-carriage from the lakes to the Gulf of Mexico, by way of the projected Michigan & Illinois Canal had been already inaugurated by favorable Legislative grants, by the preliminary survey of some of the town sites, and by the sale of lots and lands sufficient to es- tablish the belief that the work would be speedily be- gun and ultimately finished. Chicago, as the lake ter- minus of the proposed canal, must necessarily bave a har- bor, and Congress having already shown favor to the canal scheme, could do no less than to render it feasible by improving the harbor. An appropriation of $25,000 was accordingly made March 2, 1833, and work com menced on the improvement July 1. Major George Bender was the superintendent. His subordinates were Henry S. Handy, assistant superintendent ; Samuel Jackson, foreman of construction ; A. V. Knicker- bocker, clerk. Joseph Chandler and Morgan 1 .. Shap- ley had executive charge of the work, Jones & Mc- Gregory being contracters for the wood work. Under the direction of these men, and with a large force of labor- ers the building of the present magnificent harbor was begun .* During the summer and fall some five hun- dred feet of the south pier was finished, and in the sub- sequent spring the north pier was extended a like dis- tance, cutting off the old tortuous channel to the south, and making a straight cut for the river across the bar into the lake. Little dredging was done, but a heavy freshet in the spring of 1834 cleared the new channel so that vessels of large burden came up the river for the first time during the summer of that year.t

THE GREAT INDIAN TREATY OF 1833 .- The close of the Black Hawk War had resulted in the final ex- tinguishment of the title of the Sac and Fox Indians to all their lands east of the Mississippi. September 15, 1832, a treaty was concluded at Fort Armstrong. whereby the Winnebago nation ceded all their lands to the United States " lying south and east of the Wiscon- sin River and the Fox River of Green Bay." The Chippewas, Ottawas, and Pottawatomies still held their title to the land of northeastern Illinois and southern Wisconsin, besides large tracts not very definitely de- fined in Indiana and Michigan. It was necessary, in order to open up to civilization the lands ceded by the other tribes lying west and northwest, that the In- dian title to this vast tract of land lying along the western shore of Lake Michigan should be extinguished. For Chicago, it was a vital necessity, as the town was girt on all sides and for many miles north and west by

. See article entitled Harbor and Marine for full history.

+ On Saturday, July 11, 1844, the schooner "Illinois," the first large vessel that ever entered the river, sailed into the harbor amid great acclamations. Colbert's History. p. 46.

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the lands of the United Nation of Chippewa, Ottawa, and Pottawatomie Indians .*

In September, 1833, a grand council of the chiefs and lead men was called to meet at Chicago to nego- tiate a treaty whereby the lands might be peaceably ceded, and the Indians removed therefrom, to ntake way for the tide of white emigration which had begun to set irresistibly and with ever increasing volume to the coveted region. It wasa most intportant matter for both the Indians and the Government; but to the former most montentous, since it involved the extinction of not only their title to the land which had been their home during a period which only their traditions could dimly measure, but the obliteration of all associations dear to them in their tribal or family relations. Black Hawk's ill-starred campaign, followed by the subsequent treaty made by his tribe, showed them the inevitable result which must follow resistance. They knew quite well that they had no alternative. They must sell their lands for such sum and on such terms as the Govern- ment agents might deem it politic or just or generous to grant. The result of the treaty was what might have been expected. The Indians gave up their lauds and agreed for certain considerations, the most of which did not redound to their profit, to cede all their lands to the Government, and to leave forever their homes and the graves of their fathers for a land far toward the setting sun, which they had never seen and of which they knew nothing.

Charles J. Latrobe, an English traveler, gave a very graphie description of the gathering of the ludians to the grand council, how the negotiations were conducted to a conclusion, and a description of Chicago as it ap- peared to him, crowded with adventurers who had been drawn thither to prosecute their claims against the In- diaus, or to reap such harvest from them as duplicity and knavery might gather from the drunken orgies that were the inevitable concomitants of every gathering of Indians where they met the whites, whether in trade or council. The account reads as follows:

"When within five miles of Chicago, we came to the first Indian encampment. Five thousand Indians were said to be col- lected around this little upstart village for the prosecution of the treaty, by which they were to cede their lands in Michigan and Illinois.

" I have been in many odd assemblages of my species, but in few, if any, of an equally singular character as with that in the midst of which we spent a week at Chicago. This little mushroom town is situated upon the verge of a perfectly level tract of country, for the greater part consisting of open prairie lands, at a point where a small river (whose sources interlock in the wet season with those of the Illinois) enters Lake Michigan. It however forms no harbor, and vessels must anchor in the open lake, which spreads to the horizon to the north and east in a sheet of unbroken extent. The river, after approaching nearly at right angles to within a few hundred yards of the lake, makes a short turn, and runs to the southward parallel to the beach. Fort Dearborn and the light-house are placed at the angle thus formed. The fornier is a small stockaded inclosure, with two block-houses, and is gar- risoned by two companies of infantry. It had been nearly abcas- duned, till the late Indian war on the frontier made its occupation necessary. The upstart village lies chiefly on the right bank of the river, above the fort. When the proposed steamboat communica- tion between Chicago and St. Joseph's Kiver, which lies forty miles distant across the lake, is put into execution, the journey to Detroit may be effected in three days, whereas we had been up- wards of six on the road. We found the village, on our arrival. crowded to excess; and we procured, with great difficulty, a small apartment, comfortless and noisy from its close proximity to oth- ers, but quite as good as we could have hoped for. The Pottawa- tomies were encamped on all sides -on the wide, level prairie beyond he scattered village, beneath the shelter of the low woods which chequered them, on the side of the small river, or to the leeward of the sand hills near the beach of the lake. They con-

. These Indians, had, by treaty at Pratrie du Chien, July 29, 183g, ceded alt their lands in the northwestern part of Illinois,

sisted of three principal tribes, with certain adjuncts from smaller tribes. The main divisions are the Pottawatumies of the Prairie and those of the Forest, and these are subdivided into district villages under their several chiefs. The General Government of the United States, in pursuance of the scheme of removing the whole Indian population westward of the Mississippi, had empow- ered certain gentlemen to frame a treaty with these tribes to settle the terms upon which the cession of their reservations in these states should be made. A preliminary council had been held with the chiefs some days before our arrival. The principal commis- sioner had opened it, as we learned, by stating that as their Great Father in Washington had heard that they wished to sell their land. he had sent commissioners to treat with them. The Indians promptly answered, by their organ, 'that their Great Father in Washington must have seen a bad bird which had told him a lie; for, that far from wishing to sell their land, they wished to keep it." The commissioner, nothing daunted, replied, ' that neverthe. less, as they luul come together for a council, they must take the matter into consideration.' Ile then explained to them promptly the wishes and intentions of their Great Father, and asked their opinion thereon. Thus pressed, they looked at the sky, saw a few wandering clouds, and straightway adjourned sine die, as the weather is not clear enough for so solemn a council. However, as the treaty had been opened, provision was supplied to them hy regular rations; and the same night they had great rejoicings- danced the war dance, and kept the eyes and ears of all open by running, howling about the village. Such was the state of affairs on our arrival. Companies of old warriors might be seen sitting smoking under every bush; arguing, palavering, or pow-wow-ing, with great earnestness; but there seemed no possibility of bringing them to another council in a hurry.

" Meanwhile, the village and its occupants presented a most motley scene. The fort contained within Its palisades by far the most enlightened residents in the little knot of officers attached to the slender garrison. The quarters here, consequently, were too confined to afford place of residence for the Government Commis- sioners for whom, and a crowd of dependents, a temporary set of plank huts were erected on the north side of the river. To the latter gentlemen. we, as the only idle lookers on, were indebted for much friendly attention; and in the frank and hospitable treatment we received from the inhabitants of Fort Dearborn, we had a fore-" taste of that which we subsequently met with everywhere under like circumstances during our autumnal wanderings over the fron- tier. The officers of the United States Army have, perhaps less opportunities of becoming refined than those of the Navy. They are often, from the moment of their receiving commissions after the termination of their cadetship at West l'oint, and at an age when good society is of the utmost consequence to the young and ardent, exiled for long years to the posts on the Northern or Western frontier, far removed from cultivated female society, and in daily contact with the refuse of the human race. And this is their misfortune, not their fault; but wherever we have met with them, and been thrown as strangers upon their good offices, we have found them the same good friends and good company. But I was going to give you an inventory of the contents of Chicago, when the recollection of the warm-hearted intercourse we had enjoyed with many fine fellows, whom probably we shall neither sce nor hear of again, drew me aside. Next in rank to the officers and commissioners may be noticed certain store-keepers and merchants, residents here, looking either to the influx of new settlers establish- ing themselves in the neighborhood, or those passing yet farther to the westward, for custom and profit, not to forget the chance of extraordinary occasions like the present. Add ta these a doctor or two, two or three lawyers, a land agent, and five or six hotel-keep- ers. These may be considered as stationary, and proprietors of the half hundred clapboard houses around you. Then for the birds of passage, exclusive of the Pottawatomies, of whom more anon, and emigrants and land speculators, as numerous as the xand. you will find horse-dealers, and horse stealers -rogues of every description-white, black, brown, and red ; half-breeds. quarter-breeds, and men of no breed at all; dealers in pigs, poultry. and potatoes; men pursuing Indian claims, some for tracts of land. others like our friend 'Snipe,"" for pigs which the wolves had eaten; creditors of the tribes, or of particular Indians, who know that they have no chance of getting their money if they do not get it from the Goverment Agents; sharpers of every degree; pedlars, grog-sellers; Indian Agents and Indian traders of every descrip- tion, and contractors to supply the Pottawatomies with food. The little village was in an uproar from morning to night, and from night to morning; for during the hours of darkness, when the housed portion of the population of Chicago strove to obtain repose in the crowded plank edifices of the village, the Indians howled,

" A sobriquet applied to a late fellow-passenger. " on his way to Chicago, to be present at the impending treaty, with a view to prefer certain claims to The Government commissioner for the loss of hogs, which, doubtless, the wolves had eaten; but which, no matter, the Indians might be made to pay for."

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sang. wept, yelled, and whooped in their various encamp- ments. With all this, the whites seemed to me to be more pagan than the red man. You will have understood that the large body of Indians collected in the vicinity consisted not merely of chiefs and warriors, but in fact the greater part of the whole tribe were present; for where the warrior was invited to feast at the expense of the Government, the squaw took care to accompany him; and where the squaw went, the children followed, or pa. ponses, the punies, and the innumerable dogs followed, and here they all were living merrily at the cost of the Government.

"All was hustle and tumult, especially at the houses set apart for the distribution of the rations. Many were the scenes which here presented themselves, portraying the habits of both red men and the demi-civilized beings around them. The interior of the village was one chaos of mud, rubbish, and confusion. Frame and clapboard houses were springing up daily under the active axes and hammers of the speculators, and piles of lumber announced the preparation for yet other cdifices of an equally light character. Races occurred frequently on a piece of level sward without the village, on which temporary booths afforded the motley multitude the means of 'stimulating." and betting and gambling were the order of the day. Within the vile two-storied barrack, which, dig. nified as usual hy the title of hotel, afforded us quarters, all was in a state of most appalling confusion, filth, and racket. The public table was such a scene of confusion that we avoided it from neces- sity. The French landlord was a spurting character, and everything was left to chance, who, in the shape of a fat housekeeper, fumed and toiled round the premises from morning to night.

" Within there was neither peace nor comfort, and we spent much of our time in the open air. A visit to the gentlemen at the fort, or prairie, filled up the intervals in our perturbed attempts at reading or writing indoors, while awaiting the progress of the treaty.

"I loved to stroll out, towards sunset. across the river, and gaze upon the level horizon, stretching to the northwest over the surface of the prairie, dotted with innumerable objects far and near. Not far from the river lay many groups of tents constructed of coarse canvas, blankets, and mats, and surmounted by poles sup- porting various painted Indian figures dressed in the most gaudy . attire.

" F'ar and wide the grassy prairie teemed with figures; warriors mounted or on foot, squaws, and horses. Ilere a race between three or four Indian ponies, each carrying a double rider, whooping and yelling like fiends. There a solitary horseman with a long spear, turbaned like an Arab, scouring along at full speed; groups of hobbled horses; Indian dogs and children; or a grave conclave of gray chiefs seated on the grass in consultation. It was amusing to wind silently from group to group, here noting the raised knife, the suhlen drunken hrawl quashed by the good-natured and even playful interference of the neighbors; there a party breaking up their encampment, and falling, with their little train of loaded ponies and wolfish dogs, into the deep, black, narrow trail running to the north.

" It is a grievous thing that Government is not strong-handed enough to put a stop to the shameful and scandalous sale of whis- ky to these poor, miserable wretches. But here lie casks of it for sule under the very eye of the commissioners, met together for pur- poses which demand that sobriety should be maintained, were it only that no one should be able to lay at their door an accusation of unfair dealings, and of having taken the advantage of the help- less Indian in a bargain whereby the people of the L'nited States were to be so greatly the gainers, And such was the state of things day by day. However anxious 1 and others might be to ex- culpute the United States Government from the charge of cold and selfish policy toward the remnant of the Indian tribes, and from that of resorting to unworthy and diabolical means in attaining pos- session of their lands-as long as it can be said with truth that drunkenness was nut guarded against, and that the means were fur- nished at the very time of the treaty and under the very nose of the commissioners-how can it be expected but a stigma will attend every transaction of this kind ?

" But how sped the treaty ? you will ask. Day after day passed. It was in vain that the signal-gun from the fort gave no- tice of an assemblage of chiefs' at the council fire. Reasons were always found for its delay. One day an influential chief was not in the way; another, the sky looked cloudy, and the Indian never performs any important business except the sky be clear. At length, on the 21st September, the Pottawatomies resolved to meet the commissioners. We were politely invited to be present.

" 'The council-fire was lighted under a spacious open shed on the green meadow on the opposite side of the river from that on which the fort stood. From the difficulty of getting all together it was late in the afternoon when they assembled. There might be twenty or thirty chiefs present, seated at the lower end of the in- closure, while the commissioners, interpreters, etc., were at the

upper. The palaver was opened by the principal commissioner. He requested to know why he and his colleagues were called to the council. An old warrior arme, and in short sentences, generally of five syllables, delivered with -a monotonous intonation and rapid utterance, gave answer. His gesticulation was appropriate, but rather violent. Rice, the half-breed interpreter, explained the sig- nification, from time to time, to the audience; and it was seen that the old chief, who had got his lessom, answered one question by proposing another, the sum and substance of his oration being that the assembled chiefs wished to know what was the object of their Great Father at Washington in calling his red children together at Chicago! This was amusing enough, after the full explanation given a week before at the opening session, and particularly when it was recollected that they had feasted sumptuously during the in- terval at the expense of their Great Father; it was not making very encouraging progress. A young chief arose, and spoke vehemently to the same purpose. Hereupon the commissioner made them a forcible Jacksonion discourse, wherein a good deal which was akin to threat was mingled with exhortations not to play with their Great Father, but to come to an early determination whether they would or would not sell and exchange their territory: and this done, the council was dissolved. One or two tipsy old chiefs raised an occasional disturbance, else matters were conducted with due grav- ity. The relative positions of commissioner and the whites before the council-fire, and that of the red children of the forest and prairie, were to me strikingly impressive. The glorious light of the setting sun, streaming in under the low roof of the council- house, fell full on the countenances of the former as they faced the went, while the pale light of the east hardly lightened up the dark and painted lincaments of the poor Indians, whose souls evidently clave to their birth-right in that quarter. Even though convinced of the necessity of their removal, my heart bled for them in their deso- lation and decline. Ignorant and degraded as they may have been in their original state, their degradation is now ten-fokl after years of intercourse with the whites; and their speedy disappearance from the earth appears as certain as though it were already scaled and accomplished. Your own reflection will lead you to form the con- clusion, and it will be a just onc, that even if he had the will, the power would be wanting for the Indian to keep his territory; and that the business of arranging the terms of an Indian treaty, what- ever it might have been two hundred years ago, while the Indian trilx's had not, as now, thrown aside the rude but vigorous intel- lectual character which distinguished many among them, now lies chiefly between the various traders, agents, creditors and half- breeds of the tribes, on whom custom and necessity have made the degraded chiefs dependent, and the Government Agents, When the former have seen matters so far arranged that their self- interest, and various schemes and claims, are likely to be fulfilled and allowed to their hearts' content, the silent acquiescence of the Indian follows, of course; and till this is the case, the treaty can never be amicably effected. In fine, before we quitted Chi- cago on the 25th, three or four days later, the treaty with the Pot- tawatomies was concluded-the commissioners putting their hands, and the assembled chiefs their paws, to the same."

The commissioners on the part of the Government were: G. B. Porter, Thomas J. V. Owen, and William Weatherford; on the part of the Indians all the chiefs and the leading men of the United Nation that could be gathered-a most motley crowd, of whom only one out of seventy-seven signed his name to the treaty with- out " his X mark," and probably not over half a dozen understood the provisions of the treaty. except as ex- plained to them imperfectly by interpreters, few of whom were themselves passable English scholars.

The treaty consummated at this time was signed on September 26, 1833, and ratified by the Senate, after some unimportant changes, May 22, 1834. Its pro- visions and terms were as follows:

Article 1 ceded to the United States all the lands of the United Nation of Chippewa, Ottawa, and Potta- watomie Indians "along the western shore of Lake Michigan, and between this lake and the land ceded to the United States by the Winnebago nation, at the treaty of Fort Armstrong, made on the 15th of September, 1832: bounded on the north by the country lately ceded by the Menominees, and on the south by the country ceded at the treaty of Prairie du Chien, made on the 29th of July, 1829, supposed to contain five mil- lions of acres." This cession completely extinguished

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all the title to lands owned or claimed by the United Nation east of the Mississippi, and left the whole North- west, with the exception of some minor and unimportant reservations, open to the settlement of whites who, hence- forth, could look to the United States to protect them under its laws in any legal title they might acquire by pre-emption or purchase.

The considerations for thus yielding up their whole country were stated in Articles 2 and 3, and were :

(1) A tract of land of like extent as that ceded, five million acres, situated on the east bank of the Missouri River, between the mouth of Boyer's River on the north and the mouth of Nandoway River on the south ; the eastern and northern boundary being the western State line of Missouri and the western boundary of the reservation of the Sacs and Foxes, north to a point from which, if a straight line be drawn to the mouth of Boyer's River, the whole tract inclosed by the said boundaries should comprise five million acres .*

A deputation consisting of not more then fifty In- dians, accompanied by five agents of the United States, were to visit the lands granted previous to the removal of the tribes, at the expense of the Government, and, on the ratification of the treaty by the United States, the tribes living within the boundaries of the State of Illinois were to remove to the new reservation imme- diately : those living further north, in the Territory of Wisconsin, to remain, if they desired, three years longer, unmolested and under the protection of the United States Government, and were to receive sub- sistence on their journey, and for one year after their arrival at their new homes.

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History of Cook County, Illinois From the Earliest Period to the Present Time, Part 26

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