Reminiscences of Early Chicago and Vicinity

•^•;./;rf|**,V*;-J--^;-- :^j\:, ,,. .^' :'-r^yc;y^ •J-'^/-'^''- r' -:'t?s««^?^;?*^;^^^^ 377^31 Or151 LIBRARY EXTENSION DIVISION State Library SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS EDWARD J HUGHES Secretary of State and State Librarian i^ REMINISCENCES OF EARLY CHICAGO AND VICINITY EDWIN 0. GALE ILLUSTRATED BY W. E. S. TROWBRIDGE 3 1129 00056 2827 Chicago New York Toronto Fleming H. Re-vell Company London & Edinburgh MCMII ILLINOIS STATE LIBRARV Lc^^'75^ '^. COPYRIGHT, 19 m.3l G-151 TO MY SIX SONS, WHO HAVE ALWAYS TAKEN SO MUCH INTEREST IN MY STORIES OF EARLY CHICAGO, THESE REMINISCENCES ARE MOST AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED PREFACE "Youth, like softened wax, with ease will take Those images that first impressions make." The evolution of Chicago from an insignificant trading post to what it is to-day, occurring, as it has, during the continuous residence within its borders of a person who, as Holmes would say, is but 68 years young, seems more like a fairy story than an historical reality. I shall not endeavor to make an exact chronological statement of the incidents of our remarkable develop- ment, but rather to view the ground in its primal state and speak of the early toilers who planted the seeds which have produced the results so marvelous in themselves and of such interest to us and posterity. My purpose is to draw the curtain (every day be- coming more difficult to do), which conceals the slowly fading past from the rapidly changing present, that the reader may acquire, as I did, some knowledge of the characteristics of the men who planted the orchard whose fruit is now the wonder and admiration of every land. It was at an early age that I began to make mental record of events connected with our growth, and but a few years later, when I commenced to jot down at my father's dictation, or in reply to the questions I asked him, many of the facts which I shall now at- ; 6 PREFACE tempt to combine into a plain, though truthful nar- rative of the early days of our city and vicinity. And possibly, as the shuttle of thought plays through the loom of memory, weaving the present with the past, the fabric, upon completion, may resemble one of those crazy quilts of our dear old grandmothers, which represented a vast amount of painstaking, conscien- tious labor, for which we alway give them credit, though their handiwork may not appeal to a culti- vated taste as particularly artistic. It has long been the earnest wish of my children and the desire of some personal friends that I should do something of this kind; and being now released in a great measure from the cares of an intensely active business life, and having reached a quiet and unsolici- tous age, I have no excuse for longer delaying a task, dehghtful to me, and that I think will be of interest to others. As one who near the close of day Shall pause upon some lofty knoll, Thence turn to trace the winding way By which he's reached his present goal, May see beliind him opening wide The vistas dim of shaded wood, While still beyond on every side Lie crumbUng trunks where monarchs stood So I, in turning now to view The paths long years my feet have pressed. Would look beyond all objects new, On early scenes my eyes would rest. I would not walk the present shade, But where the sun with golden rays The tapestry of God displayed, Would talk with you of early days. E. O. G. INTRODUCTION As a few historical facts concerning Chicago and vicinity at and before the time when these reminiscences begin, will be valuable to the reader in the pages that follow, I shall endeavor to give an idea of conditions as they were throughout these parts, and to briefly describe the most important events that pre- ceded those which came under my personal notice. I have before me a wall map published by Phelps in 1832, "from the best authors," from which we can probably obtain a more comprehensive and concise idea of our surroundings at that time than from any other source. Instead of a multiplicity of cities, towns and villages in our vicinity, as we find in modern maps, we see scarcely anything except the names of lakes and rivers, and the settlements of Indian tribes, which are indicated in large characters extending in some instances across an entire state or territory, with a few forts scattered about for the safety of the venturesome and isolated settlers. OTTAWAS AND CHIPPEWAS. In very large capitals covers the entire western part 7 8 INTRODUCTION of Michigan Territory. East of them, around the Saginaw Bay section, we see SAGINAWS. On the St. Joseph river, Fort Joseph is the only evidence of the white man's presence; Detroit and Monroe, the only cities in the Territory; Spring Well and Janesville, on the trail between Detroit and Chicago, the only towns. In Indiana, Onatinon on the Wabash river, and Wayne on the Miami are the only villages north of Indianapolis, above which there is not a single city. The inscription POTTAWATTOMIES. occupies the entire northern portion of the state, and the name MIAMIS. extends from them to the center. As these were friendly tribes which had relinquished their title to the land, though still permitted by the treaty stipulations—as was the usual custom—to occupy it for 20 years, it required only Fort Adams, INTRODUCTION 9 located south of Wayne, to maintain the sovereignty of the Union. In Illinois, Fort Dearborn and Chicago are men- tioned, with Preoris Ville on the Illinois river, besides which there is not a town or city north of Vandalia, the capital of the State. SAC GREAT VILLAGE. is at the mouth of the Rock river, south of which extend the MILITARY BOUNTY LANDS. Near the head of Rock river we read ANCIENT MOUNDS. where in early day "They solemnly and softly lay Beneath the verdure of the plain The warriors' scattered bones away." Besides the names of various rivers, including Plain-aux-Plaines (the present Des Plaines), northern Illinois had nothing to denote the existence of the 8481:7? 10 INTRODUCTION white man. Higher up, on the Father of Waters, where the Ouisconsin (Wisconsin) joins it, is the village of Prairie du Chien or Dog-Indian Village. But over the entire region not occupied by the Menomines —between lakes Michigan and Superior—extending beyond the limits of the North Western Territory, in characters more pronounced than those indicating the title of the Federal Government, boldly ran the CHIPPEWA. Green Bay (Shantytown) and Fort Howard were swallowed up in the more important MENOMINY VILLAGE. The Pottawattomies, designated as occupying Northern Indiana, also extended to Chicago and made it and the vicinity their hunting and trapping ground. Such was the territory tributary to the settlement at Chicago three years before I arrived. Turning from this map, designating the homes of the Aborigines within my time, to a modern one giving no intimation that they ever existed save in the names of the rivers and of a few towns, we are reminded of the hnes of Mrs. Hemans: INTRODUCTION 11 "Ye say they all have passed away That noble race and brave. That their light canoes have vanished From off the crested wave. That midst the forests where they roved There rings no hunter's shout, But their name is on your waters, And ye may not wash it out." On August 24th, 1816, the Pottawattomies ceded to the United States Government a tract of land 20 miles, wide between Ottawa and Chicago. The land upon which the densest part of the city stands, however, was conveyed by the Miamis to the Government on August 7th, 1795, by a treaty made at Greenville, Ohio, with " Mad Anthony"—General Wayne—and is described as '' one piece of land six miles square at the mouth of the Chickajo river emptying into the south- west end of Lake Michigan, where a fort formerly stood," indicating that the French had fortifications at this end of the important portage between the lakes and the Mississippi before General Dearborn was wearing epaulets. Black Partridge, as an acknowl- edgment of his services in this transfer and of his friendship for the whites, received a medal from President Madison, of which he was extremely proud. Scientists explain the causes of the various ocean currents, trade winds and many other wonderful and marvelous operations of nature, but few have ever been able to account for the early tide of immigra- tion, or give a valid reason why the constantly growing current of humanity should flow to the little, shallow, obscure stream, known by the Indians : 12 INTRODUCTION and trappers who dwelt in the vicinity or employed it in their portages as the Che-ca-gou. Some had unquestionably believed in its great future, their faith being attested by their presence. Yet but few early travelers or settlers have left on record their reasons for such faith. One man, however, in 1682—more than two centuries ago—predicted a wonderful career for our city, and gave such an argument for his judg- ment as to stamp him a person of such exceptional foresight that his marvelously accurate prediction seems almost the offspring of inspiration. I quote from a letter of the brave and distinguished explorer, Robert Cavalier de La Salle, to a friend in France "After many toils I came to the head of the great lake and rested for some days on the bank of a river of feeble current now, flowing into the lake, but which occupies the course that formerly the waters of these great lakes took as they flowed southward to the Mississippi River.

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