CHICAGO'S TRUE JOUNDtR THOMAS J.V.OWEN JAMES RYAN HAYDON THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS LIBRARY Cro7U wmlgfai SURVEY 3<^~ CHICAGO'S TRUE FOUNDER Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2012 with funding from University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign http://archive.org/details/chicagostruefounOOhayd LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS EMELINE HOTCHKISS OWEN Chicago's Most Historic Woman Sponsors' Limited Edition CHICAGO'S TRUE FOUNDER Thomas J. V. Owen A PLEADING for TRUTH and for SOCIAL JUSTICE in CHICAGO HISTORY By JAMES RYAN HAYDON Chicago Research Journalist WITH TWENTY ILLUSTRATIONS and 500 CHICAGOANS OF 1833 Printed Privately for the Author OWEN MEMORIAL FUND JAMES RYAN HAYDON, Director LOMBARD, ILLINOIS Copyright 1934 By JAMES RYAN HAYDON Printed and Bound In the United States of America (9 3' DEDICATION This volume is dedicated To my beloved Friend DR. OTTO L. SCHMIDT PATRON OF CHICAGO HISTORY Whose historical enthusiasm, Unremitting personal services, Benign understanding, and Uncommon generosity, Enabled this Author to bring His great task to a successful end. James Ryan Haydon CHICAGO'S TRUE FOUNDER THOMAS JEFFERSON VANCE OWEN A New Deal in Chicago History Q ,«"-» r— —v ^ *-v coo 730 SPONSORS of THE OWEN MEMORIAL BIOGRAPHY Buckley, Homer J. Budd, Britton I. Cannon, Thomas H. Casey, Msgr. J. A. Cermak, Anton J. Dawes, Rufus C. DePaul University Fasnacht, Rev. W. L. Griffin, Msgr. W. R. Horner, Henry, Governor Hines, Edward Igoe, Michael L. Illinois State Court Catholic Order Foresters Insull, Samuel Kelly, D. F. Kelly, Edward J. Loyola University Lyman, J. Frank LaSalle General Assembly Fourth Degree K. of C Lynch, Wm. J. Meyer & Cook Mullaney, Bernard J. McGarry, John A. McCarthy, Joseph W. O'Brien, John J. Quille, Msgr. C J. Rich, Elmer Rosenthal, Lessing Schmidt, Otto L. Shanahan, David E. Sheil, Rt. Rev. B. J. Smith, George S. Stern, Alfred W. Sullivan, Boetius H. Sweitzer, Robert M. Whealan, Emmett TABLE of CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I. Owen's Father: Major Ezra Owen 1 II. Owen Takes a Bride 10 III. Training for Chicago 16 IV. Owen Becomes a Lawmaker 20 V. Seizure of "Cobweb Castle" 28 VI. The Kinzie Mythology 37 VII. The New Indian Agent Arrives 50 VIII. Precursors of Notre Dame University 63 IX. Owen's Black Hawk War 78 X. Governor Reynolds' War 86 XL Owen Saves Chicago 92 XII. Cholera, Calumny and General Scott 106 XIII. Owen the Treaty Maker 119 XIV. Chicago Indian Treaty of 1833 126 XV. Owen's Chicago Plan 143 XVI. Owen's Contribution to Chicago 153 XVII. Owen — Founder of Chicago 163 XVIII. Chicago's First Great Citizen 178 XIX. Owen Dies — A Martyr to Duty 192 XX. Emeline Hotchkiss Owen 204 XXI. Oldest Family in Illinois 216 CONCLUSION. True Origin of Chicago 225 Appendix Indian Treaty Journal 237 500 Chicagoans of 1833 268 Numbered References 273 Genealogy of the Owen Family — Through Emeline Hotchkiss Owen 283 Through Thomas Jefferson Vance Owen .... 286 Property Owners in Chicago in 1833 288 Index 291 LIST of ILLUSTRATIONS PAGE Emeline Hotchkiss Owen — Chicago's Most Historic Woman . . Frontispiece John Kinzie in Debt $30,000 at the Massacre 8 and 9 Marriage Record of Thomas J. V. Owen 13 Under the Owen Pear Tree — More Than a Century Old ... 16 A Few of Owen's Friends — Pension Agent's Bond 19 When Chicago Had Four Dwellings — First Map of Chicago . . 22 Dr. Wolcott Revokes His Bond 34 and 35 Marriage License of Lieutenant David Hunter (Typed) ... 42 Repairs to "Cobweb Castle," the U. S. Agency Building .... 53 Chicago's First Educational Venture 70 and 71 Father Badin Asks Recognition from Congress 77 A Long Buried Secret of Early Chicago 135 Greater Chicago in 1831 — Herrington Map of 1831 148 Signers to the Herrington Petition 149 Owen Family Group 218 Elias Kane Owen — Protege of Abraham Lincoln, First Native Born Chicagoan to Become a Naval Officer 224 Two Sides to This Story — Hamilton's False Declaration . 278 and 279 CHICAGO'S TRUE FOUNDER CHAPTER ONE OWEN'S FATHER: MAJOR EZRA OWEN A NNALS of early Illinois give the information that Major Ezra Owen emi- j£\ grated from Kentucky to Kaskaskia in 1809; bringing with him his eldest son, Thomas, the subject of this biography. Readers of Chicago history will be interested to know that Major Ezra Owen had a peculiar association with events that were closely connected with the murder of John Lalime. A brief review of these events will be found at the end of this chapter. In Early Settlers of Sangamon County, it is stated that Ezra Owen was born in Halifax county, Virginia, on March 17, 1770. He emigrated to Kentucky when he was a young man and fought in the Indian wars in that state with Daniel Boone. Since the famous Indian fighter left Kentucky in 1788, Ezra Owen was less than eighteen years of age when he fought in that last sanguinary conflict which extinguished forever the claims and hopes of the Indians for this paradise of the pioneer. Boone's military philosophy was developed on the "Bloody ground of Kentucky"; and it was the fighting text book of the frontiers- men of the Blue Grass state. In the company of that celebrated foe of the savages, the young soldier of Halifax county, Virginia, learned his art of war which later was to serve in training the militia of Illinois. The acquaintance of Ezra Owen with Daniel Boone was of an intimate character, according to the family tradition. Duncan Mudd of Red Bud, a widely known, wealthy and admired citizen of southern Illinois, who is a great grandson of Franklin E. Owen, brother to Ezra, had this to say on that subject: "It was more than just an acquaintance, according to the way I heard about it. I used to hear the Owen men speaking of it in my young days. Seems like the Owens were friends of Boone. Sort of neighbors, or something like that. They spoke of him as an old acquaintance or friend of the family more than an Indian fighter." Ezra Owen's father was an emigrant from Wales. Neither his first name nor the time of his arrival in America is known. He had a second son, Franklin E. Owen, who is the ancestor of all the members of this family of Welshmen located in Illinois. Franklin E. Owen moved to Millidgeville, one of the famous towns of Georgia in revolutionary days. Here he reared a family consisting of Lemuel, Levi and Lucy, and when they were grown he removed to Hopkinsville, Ken- tucky. From this place he emigrated to Kaskaskia, Illinois, some time prior to 1819. He left a numerous posterity, whose genealogy may be found in the appendix to this volume. Ezra Owen located in what was known as Dr. George Fisher's settlement, about six miles northwest of Kaskaskia. "Old Kasky" was then the empress of the Mississippi Valley; the capital of the state, the county seat of Randolph 2 CHICAGO'S TRUE FOUNDER county, and the gateway to the western country, through which thousands of homeseekers passed to the lands beyond the Father of Waters. It is stated that between 1810 and 1820 Kaskaskia had a floating population of seven thousand persons. Ezra Owen's home was in Williamsburg township, which "included all that part lying west of the Kaskaskia river, (now, the Okaw,) as far as the front of the bluffs between the Kaskaskia and the Mississippi" rivers, and up along these high bluffs to the county line. He immediately began to take an important part in the political life of the community, and was a county supervisor in the territorial period. His military training in Kentucky with Boone enabled him to render val- uable services to his new homeland. His skill in training soldiers was honored by Territorial Governor Ninian Edwards, who appointed him quartermaster major of the 1st regiment on September 28, 1811, two years after his arrival in Illinois. 1 Ezra Owen built the jail of Kaskaskia, the only public edifice erected during territorial days. On December 4, 1815, he was elected Doorman, or Sergeant at Arms of the second legislative Council, which was the territorial senate and house of representatives. He continued in this position during the Third Legislative Council until the end of the territorial regime. When statehood was granted, he became the first sergeant at arms of the General Assembly of the State of Illinois, and served during the first and second legislative gatherings from 1818 to 1822. He was, therefore, continuously in this office for seven successive years, and held the position of Doorman longer than any other person. Ezra Owen was an unsuccessful candidate for assemblyman from Randolph county at the regular election on August 4, 1822. 2 He was defeated by a wealthy and prominent citizen, Thomas Mather of Kaskaskia: a political ally, later on, of his son, Thomas. On March 22, 1819, he was appointed a justice of the peace, and was one of the body of territorial justices who administered the affairs of Randolph county during that year while the new state was being organized. In the census of 1820, Ezra Owen's family is thus recorded: "Two males under ten years of age. "One female under ten years of age. "Two males between 10 and 16 years of age. "One male between 16 and 24 years of age. "One male upwards of 45 years of age. "One female upwards of 45 years of age." The male and female in the list over 45 years of age, were, without doubt, Ezra Owen and his wife. The male between 16 and 24 years of age could have been no other than Thomas. The only other member of this family of whom a record has been obtained, was a son, named Pickett Owen. Of this man, Duncan Mudd said: "Ezra Owen had another son, Pickett Owen. He had a family. I met him when he was between sixty and seventy years old, about the year 1868 or 1869. He had moved from Illinois to Dexter in Stoddard county, Missouri, and was a wealthy mill owner before the civil war. His perishable property was destroyed OWEN'S FATHER: MAJOR EZRA OWEN 3 during the rebellion, and when he returned to Illinois to repay my grandfather, Lemuel Owen, some borrowed money, he gave the heirs a deed for something between 600 and 700 acres of land in Stoddard county. He had a son-in-law with him on that visit. He was very deaf and could hear only through an ear trumpet. After the settlement he moved with his family to California in 1869 as near as I can remember." Nothing has been learned of the other three sons and one daughter of this family. The last appearance of Ezra Owen's name in public records occurs in the census of Randolph county, November 25, 1825, when he was living in Williamsburg township, of that county. The date of his death has not been ascertained. "There were no organized cemeteries at that time," said Duncan Mudd. "It was a custom for each family to have its own burying ground. The Owen family buried their dead on Ezra Owen's place, and I am sure he was buried there. Some graves can be seen there yet, but no markers and no records exist for persons interred." This private cemetery is on the east half of the northeast quarter of section 25, township 4, range 9, west. The story will now be told of the association of Major Ezra Owen's activities, as an Illinois militiaman, with the killing of John Lalime, sub-Indian agent and interpreter at Fort Dearborn, by John Kinzie, for reasons that have never been revealed by any Chicago historian. To set the stage properly for the recital of this tragic drama, facts given in the History of Chicago by Andreas will be made use of. Ezra Owen came to Illinois at a crucial period of Indian hostility to the settlers. About a year after his arrival, 1810, a party of Potawatomi raided the settlement opposite the mouth of the Gasconade in Missouri. Captain Cole and his party were killed and the settlers suffered much in stolen property and loss of life. Governor William H. Clark of Missouri made a requisition upon Governor Edwards of Illinois for the murderers who had taken refuge near Peoria, Illinois. Organization of the Illinois rangers to cope with this situation was the occasion for the entry of Ezra Owen into the military history of the state. Three months before he received his appointment as quartermaster major, the letter which follows was written by Governor General William H. Harrison of Indiana to General Clark, under date of June 19, 1811. It reads: "Dear Sir: — I have been exerting myself to find out where the Pottawa- tomies who murdered Captain Cole and his party were to be found, and the best means of approaching them, for some months past. I will now give you the result of my inquiries on the subject. "The chiefs of the Pottawatomies all acknowledge that the murderers belong to their tribe. Several of the principal ones were at Fort Wayne early this spring and informed Captain Wells that they had put themselves under the protection of Main Poc, the great war chief of the tribe, who resides upon the Illinois river. One of these, however, spent the last winter with the Prophet. "I sent Wells up to the town of the latter in April last, to ascertain whether they were there and what would be the most likely means of getting hold of them, and four others of the same tribe, who had in the beginning of that 4 CHICAGO'S TRUE FOUNDER month stolen fourteen horses from this neighborhood. In his report Wells informed me that the murderers were not there; that they live on the Illinois river and were only occasionally on the Wabash. "I would have immediately communicated this information to you, but as I still had a man at the Prophet's village, I waited his return to know whether he would bring any further intelligence. A few days ago he arrived, and with him a young Indian, who formerly lived with me, and who is a son-in-law of Onoxa or Five Medals, a principal Pottawatomie chief. "Onoxa desired the young man to inform me that there was no probability of the murderers being delivered up, and that there was no way of getting them but by sending a party of men and taking whatever could be found. Brouilette, the young man mentioned above, says that a Pottawatomie was at the Prophet's town when he left it, with one of the horses taken from Cole, but he does not know if he was one of the j party that took it. "I have on the 23rd April written to the Secretary of War for particular instructions on the subject of them fellows, but have not yet received an answer. I think, however, a formal demand had better be made on Main Poc by Governor Edwards, as they are certainly within his jurisdiction, and I will cause the same thing to be done of the chiefs who attend at Fort Wayne to receive their annuity. There is not, however, the slightest probability of their being sur- rendered. "I have no doubt of the good disposition of Tupennibe, [Topenebe] the principal chief of the tribe, Onoxa and many others, but the tribe is so large and scattered that they have no control over the distant parts, indeed, very little over the young men that are about them. I am therefore certain that there is no other mode of bringing the culprits to justice but by seizing them ourselves. "All the information that I receive from the Indian country confirms the rooted enmity of the Prophet to the U. S. and his determination to commence hostilities as soon as he thinks himself sufficiently strong. From the uncommon insolence which he and his party have lately manifested, I am inclined to believe that a crisis is fast approaching. A Frenchman descending the Wabash about ten days ago was robbed of his pirogue and some small quantity of goods; but the most daring piece of insolence that they have yet ventured upon is that of seizing the salt destined for the tribes above them. The pirogue which I sent up with it returned last evening, and the man who had charge of her reports that he stopped at the Prophet's village, and offered him three barrels of salt intended for him, and that he was ordered to stop until a council was held, and the whole was then taken from him. "If our government, will submit to this insolence, it will be the means of making all the tribes treat us with contempt. "I am very sincerely yours, Wm. H. Harrison." Governor Edwards made the formal demand for delivery of the murderers as suggested by General Harrison, during a council held at Peoria on August 16, 1811. But the culprits never were delivered up nor the stolen horses recovered. Chiefs Main Poc, also known as Little Chief, and Gomo were the principal OWEN'S FATHER: MAJOR EZRA OWEN 5 speakers for the redmen at this council. They completely evaded responsibility by declaring that the murderers were with the Prophet, although Captain Wells had definitely learned that they were refugees at Peoria. The utter failure of the United States Government, Illinois and Indiana, to secure the delivery of the criminals indicates that these two chieftains were either very gifted in the art of evasion, or else were ably counseled by white men. Gomo had his village at the head of Peoria Lake; while Main Poc lived on the Kankakee river. The continued presence of the great war chief at Gomo's village at Peoria indicates their cooperation in protecting the killers from punishment. The council called by Governor Edwards broke up, as Andreas puts it, "with still more bitter feelings on both sides." The stage is now set to show a possible connection between this angry encounter of red chiefs with white executives and the death of Lalime at Fort Dearborn. At this time John Kinzie was the wealthiest and, among the redskins, most influential Indian trader in central Illinois. He maintained a flourishing post on the Kankakee river where Main Poc had his village. The Potawatomi were his friends, his constant associates, his customers, and his means of livelihood. He loved them and they loved him, for he was their Silverman, "Shaw-nee-aw- kee;" and history records that John Kinzie never betrayed bis Indian friends. Their troubles were his troubles, and his counsels were ever at the service of the savages who produced his wealth. 3 John Kinzie would not have been human, nor would his life have been safe, if his devotion to the Potawatomi did not ensure his loyalty to them under all adverse circumstances. His half-brother, Major Thomas Forsyth, was United States Indian agent at Peoria Lake for the Peoria tribe of the Potawatomi. Readers of history will recognize him as the man who informed Black Hawk that the yearly goods received from the Government were not presents, — but were annuities. That is, they were annual payments for lands sold to the United States. Black Hawk denied these lands had been sold. The dispute ended with the Black Hawk War, which annihilated Black Hawk's tribe and ended the military career of the famous war chief in ignominy.* In 1811-12, John Kinzie was in partnership with Robert A. Forsyth, his nephew, who was the son of William Forsyth, another half-brother of the great Indian trader. It should be noted to avoid future confusion, that Kinzie had two nephews named Robert A. Forsyth. The second of these kinsmen was the son of Major Thomas Forsyth, the Peoria Indian agent. This nephew lived in the Fort Dearborn settlement and taught school in 1810-1811. He was about twenty years of age. His youth induces this writer to believe that he was not the Robert A. Forsyth who was John Kinzie's partner in the Indian trade. Another partner, William Smith, a British subject living in Canada, formed with Kinzie and Forsyth, the firm of John Kinzie and Company. At Fort Dearborn was stationed a well educated gentleman, widely popular and respected, and a loyal officer of the United States, John Lalime, Indian interpreter. Lalime vigorously set about to help administer retribution to the murderers in the Potawatomi tribe, who had taken refuge with their tribesmen at Peoria and were being protected by Main Poc and Gomo. For their crimes 6 CHICAGO'S TRUE FOUNDER and other atrocities committed in Illinois, he was endeavoring to secure their punishment by a zealous search after the facts. Under date of May 26, 1811, Lalime wrote from Fort Dearborn to General Clark at St. Louis, Missouri: "Sir: — An Indian from the Peorias passed here yesterday, and has given me information that the Indians about that place have been about the settlements of Kaskaskia and Vincennes, and have stolen from fifteen to twenty horses. It appears by the information given me that the principal actors are two brothers of the wife of Main Poc. He is residing at the Peorias, or a little above it, at a place they call Prairie du Corbeau. By the express going to Fort Wayne, I shall communicate this to the agent. I presume, Sir, that you will communicate this to the Governor of Kaskaskia and to General Harrison." The swift report of incriminating information against the Indian friends of John Kinzie to the military authorities by Lalime promised deplorable results to the business of the traders. Should the whites inaugurate a campaign against the Indians, destruction would menace the fur trade and commerce with the redskins, while the very presence of white men in the Indian country operated against the thriving business then enjoyed by John Kinzie & Co. Kinzie had ample means of getting information regarding reports made by the Indian interpreter, because his son-in-law, Lieut. Helm, was an officer at Fort Dear- born and his half nephew, Robert A. Forsyth, had similar privileges. Deadly enmity sprang up about this period between Lalime and Kinzie. Victoire Mirandeau, about ten years of age at that time, related in 1883 that the quarrel between the two men was about "business, — I guess." John Lalime continued to send the authorities damaging facts against the Potawatomi, the devoted red brothers of the trader Kinzie. More of their villianies are recounted by him to John Johnson, U. S. Factor at Fort Wayne, under date of July 7, 1811, in the letter quoted below: "Sir: — Since my last to you we have news of other depredations and murders committed about the settlement of Cahokia. The first news we received was that the brothers-in-law of Main Poc went down and stole a number of horses. Second, another party went down, stole some horses, killed a man, and took off a young woman, but they being pursued, were obliged to leave her to save themselves. Third, they have been there, and killed and destroyed a whole family. The cause of it, or in part, is from the Little Chief that came last fall to see Governor Harrison, under the feigned name of Wapewa. He told the Indians that he told the Governor that Americans were settling on their lands, and asked him what should be done with them. He told the Indians that the Governor had told them that they were bad people, that they must drive them off, kill their cattle, and steal their horses etc " In the midst of this diligent prosecution of the redskin thieves and mur- derers, early in the spring of 1812, John Kinzie killed Lalime at the gates of Fort Dearborn. 3 In this way, one of the most active and intelligent government agents was removed from the trail of the Potawatomi criminals, who were being sheltered from justice somewhere in the Peoria district where John Kinzie made his livelihood. Witnesses to the homicide were Lieutenant Linai T. Helm, son-in-law of the killer; the soldiers who were closing the gates of Fort OWENS FATHER: MAJOR EZRA OWEN 7 Dearborn at sunset at the moment the affray took place; and Victoire Mirandeau, a ten year old, half breed Indian girl, who was a servant in the Kinzie home in later years. Of all the persons who saw the tragedy, the little servant girl alone has been permitted to tell an eye-witness story. Although she asserted that she saw from across the river the meeting of the combatants, yet she plainly declares that her version of the death blow was "what they all said." Victoire was then living with the . Ouilmette family. She said, in 1883, that her sister Madaline saw the tragedy with her. Since the Potawatomi were allies of the British in 1811, and implacable foes of the Americans, it is not surprising that their best friend, John Kinzie, had powerful motives of self interest to strengthen his animosity to Lalime. In the fatal encounter, Kinzie was wounded by a pistol bullet and Lalime was stabbed to almost instant death. Six months later, at the massacre of Fort Chicago, August 15, 1812, John Kinzie lost his entire fortune and his business; while in the following December the perfidious Potawatomi had their village at Peoria destroyed by Captain Craig. 43 Success of the Illinois Rangers in chastising the redskins in the heart of their Indian country brings the father of Thomas J. V. Owen into the historical limelight. Whenever these Illinois soldiers took the field against the hostile savages the Potawatomi received such a thorough castigation that they were quickly brought into submission. And in the destruction of their stronghold at Peoria Lake in December, 1812, they suffered a punishment they long remem- bered. Never again did these Potawatomi make war against the United States. The man who trained the Illinois Rangers was Major Ezra Owen, who brought the spirit of Daniel Boone to Illinois. It was the art of Indian warfare learned on the "Bloody Ground of Kentucky" which played havoc with the Potawatomi in 1811 and 1812. For his services in drilling the Illinois militiamen, Ezra Owen had received, as previously stated, the title of Major Quartermaster from Governor Ninian Edwards in September, 1811. It was Major Owen's pupils, — the Rangers, — who brought retribution to the Potawatomi for the Massacre at Fort Dearborn; and for the murders and thieving committed in southern Illinois which form the background for the killing of John Lalime. To know the father is to understand his son. The character and military quality of Major Ezra Owen go a long way in explaining the extraordinary influence exerted over the Potawatomi by Indian Agent Owen. CHICAGO'S TRUE FOUNDER Qfart f ^o U.-6. &f4fy/?/S*4 Of c ^/^ rf Yfa^ els''* TfLet/TUrA™**- ^r or &&t*s m.0 t ^ fiPTPhsPuS ^^^^f^^ do bind ourselves, and each of us ; our heirs, executors, and administrators, and each and every of them, for and in the whole ; jointly, severally, and firmly, by these presents. Signed with our hands, and sealed with our seals, this ^jpTWiftf ->—day of ^—^ fr^cC in the year one thousand eight hundred anfydt-^wZtr s?U+aD _^ _ ^KHIB ©^)^2>ai?IIiD£?5 however, of this obligations such, that whereas the above bounden &&&w<%^ ^f.JC^Zhft^us^ is appointed aiiAgentfor paying United States* Pensions in the State ttVBssmitswm of < ^#/2uic*4t/ : Now, if the said ^f/w a*>&~S^-/y****£A ^? shall well and truly execute and faithfully discharge, according to laur, and to instructions retsived by him from proper au- thority, his duties as Pension Agent, aforesaid ; und he, hie hem, executors, or administra- tors, shall regularly account, when thereunto required, for all moneys received by him, from time to time, as Pension Agent, aforesaid, with such person or persons as shall be duly au- thorized and qualified on the part of the said United States for that purpose ; and, also, re- fund, at any time when thereunto required, any public moneys remaining in his hands, unac- counted for, then this obligation shall be null, void, and of no effect; otherwise to remain and be. in full force and virtue. BONE at $2%Z*M?k^/y£ "^Hc^ft^- — dollars, lawful money of the United State*, to be paid to the said United States; for which payment well and truly to be made, we bind ourselves and each of us, our, and each of our heirs, executors and administrators, for and is the whole, jointly and severally, firmly by these presents. Sealed with our .-tals, dated the w&Cg'J&eZ&Ki f *&£££<**S€-&JL<^*stC" _ has been appointed *~ *"^~~ *1^- z, and has accepted said appointment: No w> if the said tJOrd** o-t^- *Cm~- /fy&£^&tc , — shall and doth at all times, henceforth and during his holding and remaining in said office, carefully discbarge the duties thereof, and faithfully ex- pend all public moneys, and honestly account for the same, and for all public property which shall or may come into his hands in his said capacity of $ 4t_ c<^^^-v^> Ck^ir isi+Pi- " " without fraud or delay, then the above obligation to be void, otherwise to remain in full force and virtue. Seated and delivered ~\ in the wresence of J a<#U, Ofe&zr&z: £&»-* f^rti&u. ji-^^Ctj ItZZUJ^ 4^^> 34 CHICAGO'S TRUE FOUNDER Utnoto an men bp tftege »«#«& ».. ^%,«~<6*~ are held and firmly bound unto the United States of America in the sum of /£++v ""/nrt^fcc+i-eC ** dollars, lawful money of the United States, to be paid to the said United, States ; for which payment well and truly to be made, we bind ourselves and each of us, otir, and each of our heirs, executors and administrators, for and in the whole, jointly and severally, firmly by these presents. Sealed with our seals, datedthe e €u^Xl/MJ day of j^wvo — in the year of our Lord, one thousand eight hundred and Um^Xu^ and of the Independence of said States the forty dt-trr^ct . Cfjf «f Otlfefttatt Of tfjil* ^ilftgatUm ifi jtfutjj, That whereas the above bounden Ls&Zp><**< eiuv /fry&*~& , j****/? has been appointed J&ieti^+v £L~t,up£~ sjb 46jl, ¥cls4u? «—> &_» — -* and has accepted said appointment : Now, if the said is&clir<»t*ali*/ //}&*&?&, i shall and doth at all times, henceforth and during his holding and remaining in said office, cKarefully discharge the duties thereof, and faithfully expend aB public monies, and honestly account for the same, and for all public property which shall or may come into his hands in his said capacity of Ju*ufiC<-s*t^ a* <* *&& ' - * — /< . -. without fraud or delay, then the above obligation to be void, otherwise to remain in full Seated and deBvered,] mtheprcunceofl SvhfrL> gJ&£)*4£%~- y f tJs^t, ]fffi<*^V DR. WOLCOTT REVOKES HIS BOND. Shortly after "Cobweb Castle" was surveyed into Chicago, Dr. Wolcott revoked his bond by making a substitute at Detroit. This he took personally to Washington and had it approved by Secretary of War Eaton. The U. S. Treasury department clerk pointed out to this Author that the substitute bond had a "different signature than the original;" that it did not state where Alexander Wolcott was stationed; nor that he was employed by the United States; and that it was made out in an "irregular way." SEIZURE OF "COBWEB CASTLE" 35 been practically impossible to carry through the scheme successfully without the acquiescence of Governor Cass, superintendent of Indian affairs at Detroit, his superior officer; who could not have been ignorant of what happened to the government property at Chicago in 1829 and 1830. Such a protest has been made by the author of this volume to his own statements; and to the facts upon which his statement are established. It seems incredible that "Cobweb Castle" could have been snatched from the govern- ment's purse, without the hand of a single government official being raised to stop it, or to secure the return of the property. Yet, we have the official state- ment of the general counsel for the government acounting office, that there is no record existing of this peculiar translation of ownership. It is certain that the agency buildings were owned by the United States Indian bureau in July, 1830. It is equally certain that they were "claimed and held as individual property," as Indian Agent Owen stated, after October 23, 1830, the date of Dr. Wolcott's death. Regarding Secretary of War Eaton, the reader is referred to government records of his tenure of office, which seems to have been a nightmare of frauds of one kind and another in the administration of Indian affairs. 4 * Governor Cass, on the other hand, stands before his country as some- thing of a popular hero; a courageous and smart warrior; a magnanimous gen- tleman; a distinguished statesman; a cabinet officer of honor and distinction; and a regular high class he-man. His biographer says that Lewis Cass "com- mitted few political blunders and no moral ones." The latter part of this encomium is not true. Just as there are spots on the sun, which are visible to the naked eye more than 90,000,000 miles away from this heavenly body; so there is at least one large black smear on the character of this celebrated Indian administrator. Governor Cass sanctioned and cooperated officially with Indian Agent Wolcott in an iniquity at the Treaty of 1821 at Chicago with the Indians, which stands in the noon-day light of history as a crime of the first magnitude. It was such an atrocity of deceit against the simple minded savages by their "Great Father's" trusted representatives, that at the distance of one hundred and twelve years it still cries to Heaven for vengeance. Quaife, in Chicago and the, Old Northwest, has this to say of that clever rascality through which 5,000,000 acres of Michigan land were secured from the Potawatomi and Ottawa Indians at the Chicago Indian Treaty of 1821; for approximately $350,000: "The policy of bribing the leaders among the Indians was deliberately adopted by the agents of the government, including such men even as Lewis Cass. On January 1, 1821, Alexander Wolcott, the Chicago agent, thus addressed Cass relative to the contemplated Indian treaty and the expenses of his agency for the ensuing year: " 'To induce the Pottawatomie* to sell their lands, particularly the district of St. Joseph's to which they are much attached, iti will be necessary to bribe their chief men by considerable presents and promises; and that should be done, in part at least, before the period of treaty arrives, so that time may be given for its ejects to spread through the body of the nation. . . . In short, it appears 36 CHICAGO'S TRUE FOUNDER to me that a small portion of the sum appropriated to the treaty can be disposed of in the best ana) most efficient manner in conciliating and securing before hand the principal men of the nation!' (Indian Department, Cass Correspond- ence, Wolcott to Cass, Jan. 1, 1821.) Cass in reply expressed his approval of the proposal." After this masterly and well authenticated piece of official knavery of 1821, committed by Alexander Wolcott with the acquiescence of Governor Cass, it became increasingly difficult for the Detroit superintendent of Indian affairs to control the official conduct of the Chicago Indian agent. Andreas publishes a letter from Wolcott to Cass, in his History of Chicago which is illuminating in this respect. It reveals the Chicago Indian agent dawdling for an interminable period over an official task, — gathering information relating to the Potawatomi, — which was required by the Bureau of Indian affairs at Washington. Cass had reiterated his requests for this important information; but the indolent and intractable Wolcott demurely ignored his official demands for this service. The whole tenor of his letter reveals a subordinate who would do just as he pleased; and who enjoyed special dispensations from discipline or obedience in his official conduct. Furthermore there existed a warm personal and intimate friendship between these two men, which would cause Governor Cass to condone, and did cause him to condone, innumerable irregularities in the administration of Indian affairs at Chicago by Indian Agent Wolcott. If Governor Cass made any official attempt to prevent Dr. Wolcott from gaining possession of the government buildings at Chicago, a diligent search has failed to discover it. The grand larceny of 5,000,000 acres of the Territory of Michigan, at seven cents an acre, through bribery and "promises," together with some 2,000 gallons of whiskey for 3,000 Indians; makes the seizure of "Cobweb Castle" a puny transgression, as insignificant as the stealing of a bag of peanuts from a wholesale grocer. It is significant, to any one who chooses to consider it so, that when Mr. Owen arrived in Chicago with his family, the first week in June, 1831: Secretary Eaton had been ousted from his cabinet position: Lieutenant David Hunter had been relieved of his command at Fort Dearborn: The garrison at Chicago had been removed: Indian Agent Owen was installed in the commandant's quarters at Fort Dearborn; some weeks later: Governor Lewis Cass had been taken in President Jackson's cabinet as secretary of war; and, All official records relating to the loss of the Chicago agency buildings were expunged from the 2nd auditor's books in the general accounting office. Perhaps Dr. Alexander Wolcott paid the government for the houses he appropriated to his own estate; or, perhaps, he had permission from Secretary of War Eaton, to take them in the clever manner he did. If these assumptions be true, the official records to justify them have also been destroyed, — if they ever existed. CHAPTER SIX THE KINZIE MYTHOLOGY THOMAS J. V. OWEN'S advent in March, 1831, was the real "wau-bun" of Chicago, "the dawning" of its political day. He brought with him the sovereignty of Illinois. He came to make Chicago-land a white man's country. Not until the canal town was laid out in 1829 by the canal commissioners was the ground upon which the modern city stands the property of the state. Owen brought an end to the old era, — the Indian epoch; and inaugurated a civiliza- tion sponsored by the statesmen of Illinois. This birth period of Chicago has been submerged by the family prop- aganda of some pioneers; who sought to make the genesis of this great city a continuous pageant to glorify the Kinzie family. Bestowing upon the Indian trader, John Kinzie, a false title, — "Father of Chicago," they have developed a Kinzie Mythology about his pathetic figure. This has slowly withered away in the light of historical information that has so long been concealed. Indian Agent Owen represented that group of men in southern Illinois who conceived and brought into physical and political existence the Chicago which exists today. Prior to 1829 there had never been any discernible effort to establish a white man's town at the Fort Dearborn military post by John Kinzie or anybody else. On the contrary, documentary evidence leads to the conclusion that Kinzie and his son-in-law, Dr. Alexander Wolcott, Jr., made vigorous and, perhaps, villainous, exertions to prevent white settlers from locating within the Indian trading community. Clybourn & Miller, butchers, sent a memorial to the secretary of war, dated September 11, 1829, in which they set forth the iniquities of Indian Agent Wolcott, thus: "We do not only assent that the Indian agent at this place have agreed with his friends for doble the price that he knew Beef could have Ben Bought for, But he is doing all that is in his power to disincourage sitizens from settling in the vicinity of this place." Archibald Clybourn, one of the authors of the above indictment, was at that time a constable for the county of Peoria, a trustee of school lands for the United States government, and, in 1831, a justice of the peace. Andreas, the historian, states that Mr. Clybourn was one of the most zealous churchmen of early Chicago. The solemn affirmation of Clybourn & Miller to the truth of their accusations, would make it impossible to believe that Dr. Wolcott fav- ored building a town. Their memorial still exists in the original in the files of the Indian bureau. John Kinzie, himself, as already stated, recommended to President Madi- son that white men be excluded from the Indian country around Chicago except those who had a permit from the government. During the ten years, before their deaths, both Dr. Wolcott and John 37 38 SEIZURE OF "COBWEB CASTLE" Kinzie were active in the district of Chicagou. They saw thousands of white settlers pass through the settlement seeking homes; but invited none of them to stay and help build a town at Wolf Point, the center of civilian life before Chicago was born. If they made vigorous exertions to establish an organized town at this place, they left no evidence of such intention. John Kinzie's loyalty to the old Indian regime has never been more clearly expounded than by himself. His writings prove that he foresaw an Indian Utopia in Chicagoland. In a letter to William Woodbridge, secretary of Mich- igan territory, dated at Detroit, April, 1815, the old trader laid out in detail his scheme for the government of the Indian country. At the end of the com- munication Secretary Woodbridge, wrote: "The above communication was made in consequence of the expression to Capt. Kinzie of my wish to see in writing his notions concerning Indian intercourse." Kinzie wrote to Woodbridge: "Sir: With your permission I lay before you a plan that may be the means to continue peace and friendship between the United States and the Indian tribes that inhabits the jurisdiction of the U. S. Government: "Viz: "To give notice to all the tribes of Indians as early as possible that Peace is established between the government of Great Britain and the United States, and to call the different tribes to a general council to settle a peace between the hostile tribes residing on the American boundary and the United States as soon as possible, and at the most convenient place for furnishing the provisions etc. for the carrying on of said treaty, "to appoint agents to reside at the different posts that may be established, agents who are acquainted with the disposition and the language of the Nation, "to establish factors at each post, to admit the natives to give in memo- randums for such articles as may best suit the climate, "of the annuities that are allowed each nation, to adopt the system of hav- ing the villages of each nation as few in number as possible, and to allow traders to reside only in the villages, not to carry goods into the hunting camps. And also to prevent spirituous liquors entering into the boundary, agents not to receive from the Natives any present but what may be considered to be de- posited in some place appointed by the Superintendent for the use of the Gov- ernment, and the Indians to receive payment for the same only out of such goods as are appointed here for presents, or to be sent to the factory and paid there the value and the annuities to be delivered to the nation in the presence of the factors or Commandant of Garrison where the agent resides and their certificate to accompany the Indian receipts. "Agents to visit their district twice a year, to consider the chiefs as their associates and at times for to invite to their table, so as to inspire the Young- men of their village that respect is shown their leaders. "Agents not to carry on any mercantile transaction with Indians or others. Agents to be empowered to give medals to such Indians as they may conceive are worthy to be made chiefs. To grant license to such traders as are of good character only and the trader to give good security according to law. THE KINZIE MYTHOLOGY 39 "Government to lay out roads through the Indian country from Post to Post, particularly from Detroit to St. Joseph due west, there being but sixty miles of land carriage between the waters of Lake Erie and Michigan, to settle friendly Indians, Shawnees and the Delawares, on the lands occupied by the Kickapoos lying between the Illinois river and the Wabash. "To occupy Chicago, Green Bay and the prairie du Chien as Military Posts. To hold all councils by giving Wampum in lieu of writing instruments, to prevent citizens to settle in the Indian boundary, also to prevent citizens to destroy their game. The government to be as liberal as possible in allowing them provisions, gunsmiths would be useful, one to each garrison." In the above scheme of Indian government, the personal interests of John Kinzie are plainly visible. He wanted a monopoly on the redmen's commerce for himself and other favored traders. His expressed purpose of excluding white men generally from the country fixes his status as a person opposed to the extension of civilization belonging to the white race. In the very nature of things as they existed for John Kinzie's future prosperity, he could not have been a promoter of a Caucasian town. He was, therefore, in no sense the "Father of Chicago;" and his right to this title is wholly mythical. Historical facts, accessible to any one who cares to study their meaning, testify that Thomas J. V. Owen represented that great adventure of Illinois statesmen, out of which emerged modern Chicago, — offspring of the Illinois and Michigan canal scheme. The local group of citizens under his leadership organized a brand new town, created — by the state; and this municipality had no antecedents, no previous history, no geographical locale, no tradition, and no name. It was called Chicago by the canal commissioners, who might have given it any other designation they chose. The name Chicago had the greatest publicity value in selling canal lots; and the sale of canal land was at that time the most important function of the board of waterway officials. The new epoch began with the coming of Mr. Owen. The old order passed into twilight of its last day with the deaths of John Kinzie and Dr. Alexander Wolcott, — two men who might have founded a white man's town at Wolf Point had they any desire to do so. Mr. Owen combined in himself both the old order and the new; for he was the founder of incorporated Chicago as well as the last of the government Indian agents. The final act which brought the Indian regime to an end was the abolition of the office of Indian agent at Chicago by Congress, December 31, 1834; and the appointment of Mr. Owen as Superintendent for Removal of the Indians. This was the post he held when he passed away, although his old title of Indian agent has remained attached to his name in history. He was, therefore, at one and the same time, the first chief executive of Caucasian Chi- cago and the last chief executive of Indian government at Chicagou, the home- land of the United Tribes of Potawatomi, Chippewa, and Ottawa redmen. When Mr. Owen of Kaskaskia came to establish white political supremacy at Chicago, March, 1831, he found that the old regime had made a dying effort to strangle infant Chicago at its birth. This effort consisted, first in depriving the new Indian agent of a home at the agency house as already related and 40 CHICAGO'S TRUE FOUNDER second, in constricting the townsite within such unfavorable limits that its im- mediate development became impossible. The patt played by John Kinzie's son-in-law, Dr. Alexander Wblcott, Jr., will now be related, as it pertains to the designs upon the life of Chicago at the moment of its birth in 1829. This narration of hidden Chicago history introduces for the first time, in an important way, an honest Irishman, named Alexander Doyle, who was sub-agent of Indian affairs under Dr. Wolcott. This man was well educated, it would seem, and his indicated human infirmities did not include any moral turpitude in his official conduct. On the contrary, he became arrayed in open hostility to his superior on a matter of official integrity in the duties he had sworn to perform relating to Indian affairs. Needless to say, therefore, that the name of Alexander Doyle has been anathema to the fabricators of the Kinzie Mythology; who accord him no hon- orable mention among the pioneer citizens of the Garden City of the Prairies. Yet, he was a justice of the peace, who married John Kinzie's daughter, Maria Indiana, to Lieutenant David Hunter at Chicago on September 18, 1829. He was also, by his own statement, clerk of the board of Cook county com- missioners on February 7, 1832; which would make him the first county clerk of Cook county. That distinction is given by Andreas in his History of Chicago to William See, the blacksmith-preacher of Wolf Point. To enable the reader of this narrative to form an independent judgment on the character of Sub-Agent Doyle, a few of his letters will be reproduced. In addition to their evidence, they are interesting for their account of the hardships suffered by travelers to Chicago at that time. Also they may be taken as a pen picture of Mr. Owen's journeys during the succeeding years, for he was constantly going about the Indian country of Illinois in the hectic period preceding the departure of the redmen. Further historical interest is attached to these letters because they represent Chicago as being in the Territory of Michigan. The first communication was written February 17, 1827, from Mount Pleasant, Shenandoah county, Virginia; and was addressed to Col. Thomas L. McKenney, Office of Indian Affairs, Washington City. It reads in full: "Sir, Your favour of 10th inst. is before me, as also a commission, in- closed, conferring on me an appointment as Sub-Agent of Indian Affairs at 'Chicago in the Michigan Territory,' accompanying of which, was a memoran- dum of the duties, which sub-agents of Indian affairs have to perform, together with several acts of Congress, to regulate trade and intercourse with the Indian Tribes etc. The Receipts of all of which, I do hereby acknowledge, and after due deliberation, have come to the conclusion to accept the appointment, and I shall report myself to Mr. Alexander Wolcott Indian Agent at the post (Chicago) forthwith. "I return the department my sincere thanks for the honor conferred, and shall enter on the arduous duties, which are required of me with alacrity, not doubting at the same time, that my conduct, hereafter; will meet the appro- bation of all concerned. "You will please accept this as my willingness to embark forthwith on THE KINZIE MYTHOLOGY 41 Carriage Itettae of T)avid Hunter and Maria Indiana Kinzie State of Illinois ) Peoria county J I, John Dixon, Clerk of the County Commissioners Court in and for said county, do by the authority vested in me by the laws of Illinois, authorize any person legally qualified to perform the Marriage ceremony, to solemnize the same between David Hunter and Maria Indiana Kinzie, of the County of Peoria & State of Illinois. In testimony I have hereunto set my hand and ^-^-v^-v affixed my private seal (there being no public seal f SEAL ) provided) the 25th day of July, 1829. John Dixon, Clk. Ofc rttfirate of iKarriage Between David Hunter and Maria Indiana Kinzie State of Illinois ) Peoria County J I do hereby certify that on Friday, the Eighteenth day of September Instant by authority of a License issued by John Dixon, Esq., clk. of the court of the county aforesaid to "perform the marriage ceremony between David Hunter (of the United States Army) and Mariah Indiana Kinzie of the county and state aforesaid, join together in the holy state of matrimony the said Mariah Indiana Kinzie and the said David Hunter, and they are now according to law, Man and Wife. Given from under my hand and seal this 26th day of September, one thou- sand eight hundred and twenty-nine. Alexander Doyle, J. P. (Seal) 42 CHICAGO'S TRUE FOUNDER the duties of the office. Will you be so obliging as to give me Mr. Wolcott's address; by the return of the mail, that is; the nearest Postoffice to him. or the place in which. I may direct my letters, to him? for I find by my Post office directory, that there is no Post Office at, or near, the agency, more queries, must I resign the Post Masters place now or not? can I hold two commissions under the Genl. Government, at the same time? I presume not. In reporting myself to Mr. Wolcott (Indian Agent) must I do it, in person, by Proxy, by Special Messenger, or will a letter writtin to him by me. announcing to him. My having reed, the appointment, answer the same purpose as if I had appeared in person or otherwise? "When will my services be required? My Friend the Honbl Alfred H. Powell. M.C. informed me. that my services would not be required before 'Next summer.' You state (that) 'should you acept, Your pay will commence from the date of your communication, giving the information'. I do accept and have accepted, as before observed. Please be so obliging as to answer the above interrogations, and don't neglect, to give me Mr. Wolcott's address, and the name of the Post Office to which you direct your communication to him. "I wish you to be particularly attentive, in giving an answer to this as soon as possible, as I want to be off in a 'Tangent.' " On the same day, February 17, Mr. Doyle wrote to "The Honbl. James Barbour, Sec. at War, Washington City," accepting his appointment, and setting forth somewhat eloquently his high purpose of fidelity to the duties of his office, — which constitute the theme of the moment in this story. He said: "Permit me ... at the same time to assure you. that the confidance reposed in me. by the department will not be intentionally abused. But every- thing required of me. and all duties, which I may be called upon to perform, shall be rendered faithfully, to the best of my skill and ability, provided they are constitutional, and not repugnant or derogatory to the laws laid down for the government of the Indian Agencies. Those laws must be my 'Text Book.' "I have written, by this day's mail to Col. McKenney, assuring him of my having accepted the appointment, and through the hands of our Mutual Friend, The Honbl. Alfred H. Powell, M.C. you will each receive the like as- surance." It is not a little amusing, as well as prophetic of experience he was to meet, that Mr. Doyle should assure the secretary of war he would perform his duties faithfully, provided they were not unconstitutional nor derogatory to the laws of the United States. He was soon, to become enmeshed in that maize of fraud, trickery, conniving, sharp practices, double dealing, incompetence, and general dereliction of duty and plain obligations which characterized the ad- ministration of Indian Agent Wolcott. Anyone wishing to verify the above statement will find abundant material in the files of the Indian bureau at Washington. His proposed removal caused several persons to make applica- tion, as previously noted, for his position a year before he died. Apparently Mr. Doyle had influence enough to retain his postmastership at Mount Pleasant until the fall of 1827; for he started toward Chicago in November of that year. His letter to Secretary of War Barbour, written from St. Louis, and dated January 24, 1828, tells a heroic story of hardships and de- THE KINZIE MYTHOLOGY 43 termination, which reveal him as a man of courage and great powers of physical endurance. His letter reads: "Dear Sir: In my last communication from Mount Pleasant county of Shenandoah and state of Virginia, I advised you that I would set out for Chicago as soon as possible, circumstances unforseen by me, and beyond my control prevented my starting for my post until the 4th day of November. On that day I made a move with my family, and arrived here on the 6th of De- cember, on board (although out of order) I reported myself to Genl. William Gark superintendent of Indian affairs for this section of country, and told him that I was determined to go through the Wilderness to Chicago this winter, and that forthwith. "The General observed to me, that he considered it both impracticable and impossible for me to perform the Tour, at that, or this season of the year. In consequence of the Lakes, Rivers, Ravines, Bayous and the immense quan- tities of Ice on the Prairies. Which was completely inundated with water. Side deep to a horse and had become frozen over. And not sufficiently strong to bear me, nor my horse. "I took his admonition as wholesome though in a few days the weather moderated. I came to the conclusion to start. Went to him again, he advised me as before. I told him that I was apprehensive. That if I did not repair to my post. That the probability was, that I would be reported, to the War department, he (the General) observed that the Department could not. Nor did not expect nor require impossibilities, and in case I was reported, he would with all his influence interfere in my behalf. "Notwithstanding all his admonitions, and remonstrances I came to the conclusion to make the Trial. And accordingly started. And with much diffi- culty. And at the hazard of my life reached Springfield, Sangamon County, Illinois, a distance of one Hundred miles in eight days, ruined my horse with Ice. and swimming. I their concluded to return here and remain until the Weather, the Ice. The trails and the watercourses would render it safe, for me to make the second attempt. Gentlemen from Fever river (Lead Mines) and the mails all have ceased to travel. What I have stated, can be sub- stantiated by thousands of persons in this country, and if necessary, to screen me from censure, shall be done to your gratification. "Salt Creek, Macinaw, and every stream from Sangamon to Fort Clark is from one to two miles wide, and no bridges, nor Ferry's, from Fort Clark to Chicago is 160 miles, all Prairies no firewood, the vermillion and the Kanke- kee with other streams say the Illinois, River Du Plain, besides other lakes and rivers, swamps and quagmires innumerable are all insuferable barriers for me. or any other person to encounter until the weather abates. Soon as I can get on I will do so. I have acquainted Governor Cass and Doctor Wol- cott the Indian Agent for the Potawattimies of my situation and intentions who no doubt well know how to appreciate my case. "To you, I look for protection and forgiveness. I would have made De- troit a point. But fearing the lakes would be closed, of the two evils chose this route wich is certainly preferable. "I wrote you in October last respecting a Transfer in my sub-agency. 44 CHICAGO'S TRUE FOUNDER Governor Clark has, or is about making the changes with Mr. Minard. and Major Campbell I must go to Chicago. If you know of any situation in this wasted country that would better my conditions, and place me in the Society of Civilization. I would esteem it a favour, and that favour should be long remembered, and never forgotten. I ask it on account of the Female part of my family, and do hope that if vacancies should occur, that you in your good- ness will confer on me such a one as will hold out greater inducements than the one I now hold. "I have seen in, the public prints that there is some probability of the Lands, on the River St. Joseph, in the Territory of Michigan, going into market. In that case there will bee a receiver of Public moneys wanted. This appoint- ment I would, provided Mr. Rush would receive the recommendation of your- self. Your Brother P.P.B. and a host of others Please consider me as an appli- cant jo* that place, should the law go into effect, as also an applicant for any office in your gift which holds out more advantages than the one I hold, and let me assure you. that any Trust or Confidence reposed in Me. shall never be abused. "Please write me to this place, and should I be gone. The letter or letters can be forwarded to Chicago via Detroit care of Governor Cass, who will for- ward them to me." Sub-Agent Doyle arrived at his post of duty, presumably in the spring of 1828. Some time during that year he was appointed a justice of the peace for Peoria county in which Chicagoland was included. Owing nothing to Dr. Wolcott or his group for his appointment, the sub-agent set about performing his duties faithfully, as per agreement with the secretary of war, — except such as were "unconstitutional" or "derogatory to the laws" of the United States Government. This course of conduct evidently made him a loggerhead to his chief on the question of buying government beef for the Indians at the best competitive price. His relations to Indian Agent Wolcott form an essential part of the story of the infanticide of Chicago in 1829, and are revealed in the memorial of Clyboum & Miller, already mentioned, which constitutes the prologue to this historic drama. This document is preserved in original form at Washington, D. C, in the files of the Indian bureau; and reads in full: "Chicago, State of Illinois, Sept., 11, 1829. "To the Hon. Secretary at War . . . Sir., We the undersined are the people of and the sitizens of this place, ... Who wish to make none, as we think the unlawful hiding (?) and selfish prosedings of Alexander Wolcott, Indian agent for theiPottowatamy Indians at Chicago. "For violating his trust as not doing his duty, as agent for the Indians, and in the emploiment of the U.S.A. . . . We take the liberty, and we think it our duty so to do, — to state some facts. Not only to shew that injustice hath ben done to the Indians . . . But for the preservation of the public Mony. which was gaving to perchace provisions, for the Indians, under his superintendence and to avoid future impositions. . . . THE KINZIE MYTHOLOGY 45 "We do know that said Wolcott, have invaribly made privit conttacts with his friends to furnish the Beef at the Annuities, for the Indians . . . Agreed and paid more money than the Beef could have ben had fore at the same time. . . . "Application have often Ben made to said Wolcott, to furnish the Beef, for the Indians, . . . His answer is you are to late I have made a contract. . . . This year he was serlisited to advers it and the Contract with the Loist Bider — To which he utterly refused application, was then made, to sub-agent, whoes answer, that he wisht to perchase Beef for the Indians as low as it can be had for according to save. . . . And said sub-agent, Alexander Doile, Made enquire was the Loist good Beef could Be had for. "After Being informed that the sitizens of this plase was anxious to furnish good Beef, for two dollars per hundred. Said Doile, went to said Wol- cott, and informs him what was proposed to him. And stated to said Wol- cott, that there was several applicants who was verry anxious to furnish. And that it was right to advertise, to the Loist Bider This request said Wol- cott rejected — And agreed with his Friends, for foure dollars and fifth cents per hundred. And was previously informed that Beef could be had for half that mony. . . . "We do not only assent that the Indian agent at this plase have agreed with his friends for doble the price that he knew Beef could have Ben Bought for, But he is doing all that is in his power to disincourage sitizens from setling in the visinity of this plase. "We Believe that it can be proving that he both counseled the indians not to pay for the depridation, which they committed on the property of the sitizens of this Country . . . Just claims he hath treated with contempt . . . And we the informants think that such a person, is not the proper one to handle public funds. When he is surely guilty of doing injustice Both to Indians and Whits . . . and we do further assent, that said Wolcott., have Ben in the practice of calling the Blackmsith and striker and saving the enterpitper to servisis or labour to his privit use and intrest — such as taking care of and pro- viding for a large stock of horses, cattle & sheep., when at the same time the Indians was waiting for there work to be done. "The Blacksmith stats that when in the hay feel he was asked By an indian to go and mend his gun — the smith told the indian that he was ordered to work in the hay field, and the indian returned home or went his way with his gun unmended. . . . We dont wish to truble you with a leanthy detail of these facts., But we barly make none to your Honor., that such is the truth. And we stand ready to substantiate the same if thought proper to Becauld upon having in view our individual rits., and that of government. "In refferance to our virasity and standing in sasiety we would Refer you Honor To Mr. A. Vabinn and Doct Finly and others who was stationed at Ft. Dearborn last winter. "The hole of the above statements we take the liberty of referring to Hones consideration. "We are your OB. servents, "Clyboum & Miller. 46 CHICAGO S TRUE FOUNDER "Beef furnished at the annuities of Sept. 1829. "Say 4500 4^p— pr hundred, $202.50 "Say 4500 2p " " 90.00 "Loss to government 112.50" Sub-Indian Agent Doyle is now revealed in association with a group of pioneers hostile to Dr. Wolcott, and giving damaging evidence against his chief to the secretary of war. Doyle might have been gratified at this tribute to his fidelity to duty, which he had assured to Secretary Barbour. But, unfortunately, his good friend had passed out of the national cabinet, and the new secretary of war was John H. Eaton; whose career in office was filled with tribulations be- cause of alleged irregularities in connection with the management of Indian affairs. The stage is now set for the drama of iniquity which was enacted at the physical birth of Chicago in 1829. Whatever Dr. Wolcott's intentions were regarding the seizure of "Cob- web Castle," and the permanent maiming of the canal town about to be created, he did not, apparently, wish to have the critical eyes of his subordinate observ- ing his operations. Consequently, Sub-Agent Doyle was sent into banishment with a nine months leave of absence, extending from October 1, 1829 to June 30, 1830. The last recorded act of Mr. Doyle was the marriage of Lieut. David Hunter to John Kinzie' s daughter, Maria Indiana, previously mentioned. During his furlough, reports circulated to the effect that Sub-Agent Doyle had been removed from office, — which were untrue, as the war department afterwards stated. Because of these reports, and other circumstances beyond his control, Mr. Doyle did not again appear in Chicago until after the arrival of Indian Agent Owen; who aided him in his long agony of efforts to collect his back salary. All of Doyle's letters, which are preserved, subsequent to 1831, are concerned with his despairing exertions to get his money, — which the gov- ernment frankly admitted was due him, but which the irregular bookkeeping of Dr. Wolcott, added to his other chicaneries, made immediate settlement impossible. Two weeks after Dr. Wolcott got rid of his watchful subordinate, the staff of the Illinois and Michigan canal commissioners arrived to lay out the physical town of Chicago. Their advent found the Kinzie family dominating the entire situation. There were Dr. Wolcott and his wife; Mrs. John Kinzie, widow of the old trader; Mrs. Linai T. Helm, whose divorce from Lieutenant Helm was then progressing favorably at Peoria, and who was Mrs. John Kin- zie's daughter, Margaret McKillip; Lieutenant David Hunter, commandant at Fort Dearborn, and married to Maria Indiana Kinzie; John H. Kinzie, sub- agent at Fort Winnebago, a week's journey from Chicago; and Robert A. Kin- zie, youngest son of the Indian trader, and resident of the settlement, active in operations connected with the Indian administration. To each and every one of these persons, the coming of a white man's town meant the breaking up of a closed corporation that had controlled or influenced the conduct of Indian affairs for the prior twelve years through government offices. The removal of THE KINZIE MYTHOLOGY 47 the Fort Dearborn garrison; as well as the abolition of the Indian agency; had been officially considered and freely predicted during the proximate months of 1829. This had only one meaning for the indolent and scheming Indian Agent, Dr. Wolcott, — his removal from Chicago. To the Kinzie family, it meant their separation; to Lieutenant Hunter, his removal from a rather delightful post of duty. The canal commissioners had come to lay out the great waterway metropo- lis at the head of the Illinois and Michigan canal; the dream city of Illinois statesmen, which was to control the nation's commerce; the Queen /City of the Mississippi Valley. They surveyed Section 9. One mile square seems small enough to contain a municipality which had so brilliant a future. From the sale of the town lots, the treasury of the canal was to be furnished with funds to initiate the waterway. Chicago was to start the enterprise as a going concern. Section 9, with its 640 acres of land cut up into town lots, could bring in a goodly amount of cash for preliminary operations. It was the imperative duty of the canal commissioners, Edmund Roberts, Gershon Jayne and Charles Dunn to en- sure the largest quantity of prospective funds possible from the townsite. But an evil genius presided over the birth of the canal metropolis; and Chicago had not a friend among the midwives who ushered it into existence. When the official plat of Chicago was filed, nearly a year later, it was found that the town had been given only three-eights of Section 9. Of the two hundred and forty acres within its limits of State, Madison, Desplaines and Kinzie streets, fully one half was a swamp of "bottomless mud," as the early residents used to say. This portion of the midget town was unfit for human habitation; and certainly could bring in no respectable revenue to build the canal. Only a narrow tier of lots on both banks of the river from State street west remained of the princely birthright of Chicago. When these lots were placed on the market, the Missouri Republican had the following statement, according to the Illinois Intelligencer, which quoted it on November 13, 1830: "Town of Chicago — About one hundred lots in this town situated on the Chicago river and at the head of the contemplated Canal from Lake Michigan to the Illinois river have recently been sold by the Canal Commissioners. The net sum arising from the sale is about $5,000 for which no credit was ex- tended. The lots comprise one-third of the town; the remainder will hereafter be offered for sale, whenever the wants of the emigrants may require it." The meagre amount of money received from the sale of the choicest lots in the new canal town caused deep disappointment to the friends of the water- way throughout the state. The financial fiasco delivered a deadly blow to the enterprise from which it never recovered. The Illinois and Michigan canal lost its glamour to the statesmen of southern Illinois; and most of its fascina- tion to the public. Examining the purchasers of the land on Section 9, outside of the town limits, it is found that eighty acres on State street between Kinzie and Chicago avenue, went to Dr. Wolcott for the beggarly price of $1.62% an acre. This price was little better than the cost of Indian land, which was lo- cated ten miles from the townsite, and sold for $1.25 an acre. Dr. Wolcott 48 CHICAGO'S TRUE FOUNDER was thus enabled to obtain the equivalent of 256 town lots at an average price of $5.00 per lot. The general average sale price of lots within the townsite was $50.00 per lot, or ten times the price paid by the Chicago Indian Agent. In addition to this advantage Dr. Wolcott secured for himself the whole of Block 1, within thei town, upon which stood the government agency buildings; and these houses were worth more, at the time, than the entire eighty acres he pur- chased. The price he paid for the eight lots in Block 1 is given by Andreas in his History of Chicago at $692.00, which included "Cobweb Castle." One of the canal commissioners, Edmund Roberts, secured the eighty acres lying along Halsted street, from Kinzie street to Chicago avenue. It is listed for Benjamin B. Kercheval, sub-Indian agent at Detroit under Governor Lewis Cass; and a government official for many years in the country of the Potawatomi. The land was sold to Mr. Kercheval for $1.25 an acre. This parceling out of the best part of Section 9 among themselves, to the great disadvantage of Chi- cago and the canal enterprise, can scarcely be condoned. The town was al- lotted 768 lots, while outsiders were given the remaining 1,280 in Section 9. One half of the town, lots were worthless at the time, leaving only 300 that could be used by the canal commissioners for raising revenue, as stated by the Missouri Republican. The whole scheme of laying out the town of Chicago is shot through with official dereliction. This enterprise of putting the water- way metropolis in a permanent iron mask was the final act of Dr. Wolcott's life. He purchased the property on September 30. He died on October 23, little more than three weeks afterwards. Before he passed away, he and his associates succeeded in reducing Chi- cago's land revenue from a possible $102,400, from the sale of 2,048 lots in Section 9, to less than $10,000, which resulted from the actual sale of the canal land in that section of one mile square. To what extent Dr. Wolcott was responsible for this debacle of evils that came upon the canal enterprise in Chicago, the reader is left to judge. Certain it is, that the things which were done in Chicago in 1830 sadly deflated the canal scheme; and prepared the way for its final repudiation as a statewide project three years later. If the sale of land in the, canal metropolis, — which was the most valuable holding of the commissioners, — could bring only $5,000, then, indeed, the Illinois and Michi- gan waterway was a sorry undertaking. If Chicago could not produce enough revenue from land sales to pay the office overhead expenses of the canal com- missioners, then, the marine highway was a dead proposition. Properly handled, and honestly administered, the physical creation of Chi- cago might have netted the canal commissioners some considerable portion of $102,400. Such a sum would have galvanized the citizens of Illinois. It might have changed the course of canal history. It would have converted many "rail- road" enthusiasts to waterway promoters. It would have conferred financial respectability upon the Illinois and Michigan canal; and might have won the support of Senator Kane and his lieutenant, Mr. Owen. These influential gen- tlemen could not have ignored the claims of an enterprise which could reach out into the wilderness and gather in $102,400. But what they actually beheld at Chicago was the wreckage of a magnificent undertaking; and the betrayal of a people. Very likely they both knew the names of the men who had per- THE KINZIE MYTHOLOGY 49 petrated this outrage upon the Illinois commonwealth, and their individual measure of guilt; but they remained mercifully silent. When Representative Thomas J. V. Owen arrived from Kaskaskia to as- sume his duties as Indian agent at the canal metropolis, he carried in his pocket, as it were, a brand new incorporation law, by which Chicago might be incor- porated almost overnight. But he found nothing to incorporate. There were only four dwelling houses in the townsite; and his incorporation statute re- quired one hundred and fifty residents and free holders. The limits of the town had been permanently fixed by law with the filing of the townsite plat in August, 1830. It could not be changed without a government; it could not expand without a population. Most of the town was a prairie swamp. Although Mr. Owen had triumphed over John H. Kinzie, in winning the post of Chicago Indian Agent; he met a still more triumphant Kinzie family when he appeared in the settlement they had so long dominated. They had sequestered his official home, "Cobweb Castle;" and they had tied up his town in a straight jacket. Within two months they all departed with the Fort Dearborn garrison, except Robert A. Kinzie, the family financier. James Kinzie also remained. But he is not usually reckoned among the orthodox members of the Kinzies, because his mother's status as the wife of John Kinzie, the Indian trader, has never been legally nor historically authenticated. Indian Agent Owen was in the wilderness without a home; and he was also without a town in which to exercise his political exertions. But he stood undaunted before what was a supreme emergency, — as so many great citizens have done in the strenuous life of Chicago during the past one hundred years. In view of all the facts associated with the birth of Chicago, it is not to be wondered at that the Kinzie Mythology has buried the name of Chicago's first chief executive in historical oblivion. CHAPTER SEVEN THE NEW INDIAN AGENT ARRIVES FOUR days before the authoress of Wau-Bun departed from Fort Win- nebago with her husband to visit his kinfolk at the Fort Dearborn settle- ment; Thomas J. V. Owen wrote from Kaskaskia to Samuel S. Hamilton, chief of the Bureau of Indian affairs at Washington, that he would "repair to his station with as little delay as possible." His letter of March 4, 1831, indicates that he left his home at the same time as the Kinzies started on their desperate journey; and as they traveled the same distance, about 350 miles, they all ar- rived at Chicago the week of March 15. Indian Agent Owen, being a government officer, appeared at Fort Dear- born to interview the commandant, Lieutenant David Hunter, who held pos- session of Dr. Wolcott's accounts and papers. Mrs. Kinzie and her bridegroom husband went directly to "Cobweb Castle" to meet Mrs. John Kinzie, widow of the old trader; her daughter Mrs. Linai T. Helm; her son, Robert A. Kinzie; and Mrs. Wolcott, who were making their home in the sequestered agency house. Mrs. John Kinzie s other daughter, Mrs. Hunter, was living with her husband at the garrison. The succeeding weeks witnessed the enactment of an odd drama. The Kinzies quaking in their boots, no doubt, because their ill-gotten home might be reclaimed by the Indian bureau, to which it properly belonged. The new Indian agent filled with anxiety because he must bring his family to this deso- late outpost of civilization, where he would have no place to shelter them. In his first interview with Lieutenant Hunter, Mr. Owen heard the bad news that he had no home, in all probability. This was a shocking state of affairs. If the deplorable impasse was brooded over in some melancholy by Mr. Owen; and spoken of in hushed whispers by the members of the Kinzie family; that would be natural. If the fighting politician from Kaskaskia, the late sheriff of Ran- dolph county, girded himself for a stiff battle to protect the government's hold- ings; that would have been characteristic of the iron- willed Welshman, son of Major Ezra Owen, the Indian fighter. And if John H. Kinzie abstracted from the official papers of his brother-in-law, Dr. Wolcott, all unpleasant references to the acquisition of "Cobweb Castle;" that would have been an act inspired by the human instinct of self-preservation. Had he not done so, he might well be classed as a dunderhead. This episode merits some consideration. Hardly had Dr. Wolcott passed away, before John H. Kinzie was exploring his official records and papers. That he had no authority to take over these government documents is evident. They were the property of the Chicago Indian agency, and he had no official con- nection with the Chicago department of Indian affairs. Scrutiny of them is revealed in a hurried and incomplete report he made to Governor Cass under 50 THE NEW INDIAN AGENT ARRIVES 51 date of November 12, 1830, now on file in the Indian Bureau at Washington. Wau-Bun says on this subject: "As soon as he could leave his family, my husband returned; and it was fortunate he had delayed no longer, for the winter now began to set in, and with severity." Sub-Agent Kinzie's perilous delay at Chicago, with the most terrible winter in history fast taking hold of the land, and a journey of 350 miles before him, must be ascribed to his urgent need for examining the accounts of his brother- in-law in which his family had become so deeply involved. Twenty days after Dr. Wolcott's death, he reported: "I have the honor to transmit herewith the accounts and vouchers of the late Dr. Alexander Wolcott, Indian agent at this place, for the Quarter ending 30th September, 1830 — including triplicate receipt for $25,000 in specie paid to Potawatamie Indians on account of sundry treaties. "You will also receive a receipt for 2000 lbs Tobacco, 2,400 lbs Iron, & 500 lbs steel delivered to Potawatamie Indians, on reservation near Carey Mis- sion, a receipt for 50 barrels of Salt, and two vouchers (Bourbonnai and La- framboise) for services in giving notice to Indians to attend payment; $26, which was the Doctor's salary from 1st to 23rd, is to be placed to his (Dr. W's) credit. "The accounts current is not closed, believing that Drafts might have been drawn without memorandum being taken thereof. "In haste, "His Excellency Very Respectfully, Sir, "Lewis Cass, Yo. Obt. Servt. "Detroit. John H. Kinzie." In the concluding paragraph of the above report, the slipshod bookkeeping methods of Dr. Wolcott are revealed, — issuing money orders without record- ing them. There were other delinquencies which snarled up agency affairs for several subsequent years. It is to be noted, however, that Mr. Kinzie? kept silence on an item of $48.63 for repairs to the agency building, in which his mother was then liv- ing, and which his sister, Mrs. Wolcott claimed as private property. The in- adequacy of this high-speed report of Sub-Agent Kinzie appears from the fact that two and a half years later, the government was* asked to pay, and did pay, $744.83 to the widow of Dr. Wolcott on a claim that this amount had been paid out by Dr. Wolcott during the quarter, July 1 to September 30, 1830. It may be that Sub-Agent Kinzie assumed the right to take over these Chicago records in the hope that his application to Governor Cass and the secretary of war for the post of Indian agent at Chicago, would go through successfully. It is likewise a fair conclusion that he took Dr. Wolcott's official papers with him when he returned to Fort Winnebago; to which, his brother- in-law, Lieutenant Hunter, might doubtless amiably agree. When the sickening news came to Mr. Kinzie that the Kaskaskia man won the appointment, the possession of these records, 350 miles from where they ought to be, would neces- sarily cause him anxiety. He might find it difficult to explain to Governor Cass 52 CHICAGO'S TRUE FOUNDER / / P''??rj? /r. ^& sz^c-+~a«*~-<__^ ^-*»-^ &*+*s?z. i*£^-c_ ^J2L«2> \S- T^ sTl*~-x. -«^-^wv-*»->0' - REPAIRS TO "COBWEB CASTLE" $48.63. The above document indicates that the Agency Buildings were the property of the United States Government three months before Dr. Wolcott died; as shown by the notation: "Repairing Agency buildings . . . $48.63." (Lewis to Porter- Files of the Indian Bureau.) When the Wolcott Estate claimed "Cobweb Castle" as private property, Mr. Owen was left without a home in the wilderness. THE NEW INDIAN AGENT ARRIVES 53 why he had taken possession of these records without authorization. On the other hand, Commandant Hunter in Fort Dearborn would be in a state of consternation for permitting the government official records to pass from his possession. Certainly, we now know, and mayhap Lieutenant Hunter knew, that Sub-Agent Kinzie was the last person in the world to be entrusted with these records, because of his deep personal interest in them operating adversely to the interest of the Bureau of Indian affairs. If these assumptions are true, and the Kinzie Mycologists have not enlightened us, though they had all the facts, — then, there would be a sensible explanation of the madness of John H. Kinzie to get to Chicago during that frightful winter of 1830-31. That he exposed himself and his new bride to be shot to death by the guns of Fort Winnebago sentries, under orders from Major Twiggs, is admitted by Mrs. Kinzie herself. No normal man would run the risk of such a tragedy, or such a threat, unless he were motivated by a frenzy of extraordinary intensity. However, he arrived in Chicago in good season, apparently, and the records were delivered to the new Indian agent on demand. All these official and business matters, discussed in the foregoing para- graphs, were beneath thq stream of life at Chicago in the brief weeks of Mrs. Kinzie's visit here. They did not intrude their unpleasant faces in mixed company, nor militate against the prevailing joy of the 1831 social season. Chicago has ever been a magnanimous and genial host; and the pioneers who pirouetted gracefully in the cotillions at Fort Dearborn were not without their equivalent of the modern grand opera season. Wolf Point merrymakers missed no opportunity to woo enchantment from the presence of distinguished visitors ; and the fiddle and fife and Virginia reel were important in the broad- casting of joy to the maids and matrons, the gallants and the grim frontiersmen of the settlement. Settlers witnessed the coming of a brand new bride, young John Kinzie's wife, who became the "wonder and admiration" of her family, and the whole community, no doubt, "for the dangers I had seen," she afterwards wrote. Here was a social personage. Married into one of the first families, the Kinzies; gifted to an unusual degree in painting and polite letters; a daughter of the envied east, of education and refinement; a charming woman of pleasing manners and sprightly conversation; she was the scintillating queen of the ball, and "to the manor born," a lady of quality. She alone would have made the season a social success. But the settlers got another thrill in the coming of the new Indian agent, the highest peace officer of the United States government in Chicagoland. Thomas J. V. Owen was a member of the Illinois General Assembly. He had, with his fellow legislators, created Cook county, which was at that moment being organized by its citizens. Gossip had certainly preceded his coming, for his selection had been made in the previous January. He was a trained executive, and able administrator, having served Randolph county as sheriff and treasurer more than seven years with public approbation. He was a man of strong char- acter and impressing dignity; of courtesy and unfailing tactfulness; whose personal rectitude and invincible self respect caused every person who ever 54 CHICAGO'S TRUE FOUNDER wrote of him, with knowledge of his character, to mention his name with some- thing akin to reverence. The new Indian agent was an educated and cultured gentleman; married into a French family of Kaskaskia, whose distinguished lineage is coeval with the name of Illinois. Down in that French settlement, he had become inured to social forms and the gallantry inseparable from the Gallic people of the Fleur de Lis. He was a man of courage and straightforward uprightness; son of an honored pioneer of this state, who had served the Legislative Council before the State of Illinois was born. He was a man's man, and a perfect gentleman, unless his recorded history is all wrong. To such a cavalier as Thomas J. V. Owen, and to such a lady as Juliette A. Kinzie, the enchanted residents of the Indian trading post around Fort Dearborn paid their homage in social eclat. Commandant Hunter at the Garrison, afterwards General Hunter, preserved the traditions of the United States Army. Romance owes much to the military garrisons on the borderland of civilization; for military officers of the United States Army have a code of social ethics as binding as the moral law. To say that Indian Agent Owen, a high government officer, and a man of irreproachable antecedents and culture, was fittingly introduced to the social life of Fort Dearborn is merely to say that the military commander of the garrison was a gentleman. It would be a graphic moment for a romantic writer when he might describe Juliette A. Kinzie, the Winnebago bride, stepping the light fantastic with the well mannered gallant from Kaskaskia at a Fort Dearborn military ball given in their honor. The authoress of Wau-Bun could not have known at that happy period of her life, the ruthless cupidity of her folks-in-law, which is the shame of Chicago's primeval history. That she should implicitly deny she ever knew Indian Agent Owen in the bridal memories of her enchanting book, is one of the many reasons historians grieve when reading Wau-Bun. She was given the opportunity, and she had the literary gifts, to write the Aenead of Chicago; the coming of Chicago's first chief executive; and to win undying fame. It is true, that in describing the social gaieties of his advent where the new Indian agent was the guest of honor, she must eulogize a man who made her husband look rather futile and subordinate; and praise the victor over her vanquished spouse. That would, perhaps, be expecting too much; for the loss of the agency appointment must have been a bitter disappointment to both herself and her husband. Furthermore, in the emotions of wounded pride, the pen of Juliette A. Kinzie might well refuse to write a panegyric to the man who deprived her of the honor of being the first First Lady of Chicago. John H. Kinzie was Chicago's second chief executive, and his wife surrendered to Mrs. Owen an honor that could come to only one woman in Chicago history. It should be remembered that Mrs. Kinzie wrote Wau-Bun twenty-five and a half years after her first visit to Fort Dearborn settlement. She had the full panorama of intervening events before her mind, and she knew the eminent place Mr. Owen occupied in the founding of the municipality. Her refusal to write his name into her book, indicates how wantonly she spurned the gift of the gods, — the glory of being the Mother of Chicago History. And today, THE NEW INDIAN AGENT ARRIVES 55 Wau-Bun is universally condemned because it is not an accurate, reliable, or even truthful recital of facts she knew. After securing from Lieutenant Hunter the official records of his prede- cessor, Indian Agent Owen wrote to Governor Cass, under date of April 18, 1831, a tactful letter regarding the Wolcott accounts, that ends with a promise of his own fidelity, — which was never violated. It reads: "Sir. In conformity with instructions, I have the honor herewith to trans- mit to the War Department (through your Excellency) a list of all the Books and effects, in relation to the agency, which have been turned over to me, by Lieut. David Hunter to whose care they were committed, since the death of Doctor Wolcott, a statement of which is herewith enclosed. "Upon an examination of the official correspondence between the Depart- ment, yourself and my late predecessor, I can nowhere discover that it has ever been made a part of his duty, to make out a statement of annual or quarterly estimates to meet the necessary disbursements incident to the agency. I had by some means imbibed the impression that this was the duty of the Agent, and if so, will you please inform me, and transmit a form, as also the amount of the usual estimates for each specific object. "I presume, that it will not be required of me to make out quarterly accounts current from the period of Doctor Wolcott's death, up to the time of my appointment inasmuch as the Books furnished me with no data by which those accounts could be correctly furnished. Will you please to inform me on this subject. "This new theatre of public life upon which I have recently entered, will I fear, make me very troublesome to you, for a short time, but from my Knowl- edge of your Character as derived from others, I flatter myself with the belief, that it will be pleasing to you to give an inexperienced individual (in Indian Affairs) all the aid and information in your power necessary to the correct discharge of the duties of my appointment. It is, Sir, my most ardent desire to discharge my duties faithfully to the Government, and to mete out strict justice to that portion of the Indians committed to my protection, and should I err, the error will emanate from the head alone. "I shall set out immediately for Kaskaskia for my family and will be permanently located at this place, by the first of June." After looking over Chicago, Mr. Owen decided that he would remain there; and he accordingly transmitted his resignation as a member of the General Assembly to Governor Reynolds on March 23. There was one spot in the new townsite which held a personal interest for him, — Lot 5 in Block 9, which he purchased in the following year for the sum of $39.00. He thus became one of the pioneer property owners of Chicago. His lot stood at the southwest corner of Block 9, on Carroll street, between Clinton and Jefferson streets. Records of its subsequent transfers have been destroyed up to 1877. Chicago's newest citizen also took a lively interest in the affairs of Cook county, which he helped to establish; and which was then in process of organiza- tion. That he made an impression on the county commissioners is evident, for they appointed him the first superintendent of schools of Cook county. This office he generously surrendered a little later, to help persuade that distinguished 56 CHICAGO'S TRUE FOUNDER early citizen, Richard J. Hamilton, to take up his residence in Chicago and accept the post of probate judge. Hamilton had been appointed from downstate, and he was not certain that his appointment would please the citizens of Cook county. Neither was he at all sure that he could earn a living in Chicago, or that the climate would be beneficial to him. Not only did Indian Agent Owen persuade Mr. Hamilton to cast his lot with the young metropolis; but the two men formed an association in friendship and business which continued until the passing away of Mr. Owen. Throughout the coming years, the names of Hamilton and Owen were inseparately linked in public affairs and real estate transactions. Scarcely had Thomas J. V. Owen finished a tour of inspection of his "new theatre of public life," than he was called upon to demonstrate his sagacity for evading the traps and pitfalls of designing men, which characterized his official conduct as Indian agent. He wrote a letter to Governor Cass telling of a suspicious communication he had from Abraham Edwards, United States sub-agent at Carey Mission, near Niles, which was attached to the Chicago agency. This letter was dated from Chicago, April 19, 1831, and reads: "Sir, I received a letter from Doct. A. Edwards, requesting the appointment of a Mr. Simmerwell (with a salary of $400 per annum) as teacher for the Potawatamies at Carey Mission, in which capacity it seems he is now acting, and having no knowledge of the extent of my official powers on a subject of this character, I have postponed a compliance with his request until I can be informed of the propriety and correctness of such an appointment, and whether the same would be sanctioned by the Department, will you, sir, have the good- ness to give me your viewS fully upon this subject." The above communication, and the subject considered, launched Mr. Owen swiftly on his active career as Indian agent. Sub-Agent Edwards was much the same type of public officer as Dr. Wolcott had been. It was to Edwards that Wolcott paid the salary of Alexander Doyle, when that Chicago sub-agent was dismissed on a nine months' vacation prior to the seizing of "Cobweb Castle." This diversion of public money was highly irregular and wholly unwarranted by law. In the files of the Indian Bureau of 1832 there will be found a state- ment of this fact, when Doyle was trying to collect his unpaid salary. The 2nd auditor wrote; "The claim of Mr. Doyle cannot be objected to. He was the S. Agt. for the time chgd in the account. & no evidence appears that he has been paid any part of the sum claimed." "It appears from Dr. Wolcott's acct settled in this the 2nd Aud. office, that he paid A. Doyle his salary as Sub- Agt at Chicago for 1 Sept. 1829, from that time he paid A. Edwards the salary of S. Agent at the same place." By this procedure, Edwards collected two salaries, — one from the money belonging to A. Doyle, and a second as his own pay for sub-agent at Carey Mission. Another conniving episode engineered by Edwards and Wolcott involved L. L. Johnson, blacksmith at Carey Mission from September 1, 1830 to December 31, 1831. Wolcott had appointed Johnson to be the blacksmith at Carey Mission, or, as it was now called, the St. Joseph sub-agency. THE NEW INDIAN AGENT ARRIVES 57 This was an official and formal appointment, a government obligation under the Chicago Treaty of 1821. Dr. Wolcott, however, made no record of it. Johnson learned of this bad bookkeeping after he had reached the verge of starvation; and was making frantic efforts to get his money through Indian Agent Owen. On February 5, 1832, he accused Sub- Agent Edwards of collecting and keeping the money that was due him as a smithy at St. Joseph's agency. One paragraph reads: "I must inform you that I not long since received a letter from Col. Owen of Chicago he informs me that Governor Porter Informed him that the money that was Due for 1830 was drawn by you, Sir. if this has been the Case as I know I never gave any orders for So doing nor did you Ever name the like to me nor doe I harber the opinion that you wold be Capable of Such a thing." Edwards sent Johnson's letter to his old chief, now Secretary of War Cass, and complained that "Governor Porter does not understand this business or he would have ordered the Agent at Chicago to pay this demand." He made no denial of the blacksmith's accusation; but blandly presumed Cass would take care of the situation. The Simmerwell episode, alluded to in Mr. Owen's letter to Governor Cass, is a simple matter to explain; although it involved a complex condition of affairs at St. Joseph's Mission. When Dr. Isaac McCoy abandoned the Carey Baptist Mission at Niles, which he had founded under the Chicago Indian Treaty of 1821, he left behind Mr. Simmerwell to act as superintendent of the remnants of the mission after 1828. In that year the United States Government, under treaty stipulations made with the Indians, turned the mission, or school, over to the Catholic Church, with the educational fund provided in the treaty of 1821. Consequently there was no existing authorization for the appointment of Mr. Simmerwell as Indian teacher residing — in Sub- Agent Edwards, in Indian Agent Owen, in Superintendent Cass, in the Bureau of Indian Affairs, or in the United States Government itself; because there was no treaty provision for the appointment nor any funds to pay the teacher. It would have required a special act of Congress to justify the appointment of Mr. Simmerwell; because the government had no educational fund for these Indians outside of moneys appropriated under treaty obligation. Sub-Agent Edwards knew all these facts. He was a well informed man, and a smart one. He had many commanding qualities which won him respect for administrative ability. He also had some intimate and personal relations to Governor Cass through which he was permitted to take uncommon liberties with his official responsibilities. One might shoot at random and hit the truth squarely, by surmising that Edwards chuckled to himself at the prospect of entrapping the inexperienced Indian agent at Chicago into making an illegal appointment in favor of his friend, Simmerwell. Though Owen's appointment of Simmerwell would have had no warrant in law, yet it could be used to establish a fair claim for services already rendered; and a good natured govern- ment might be relied on to grant the claim of the extra-legal teacher of the Potawatomi Indians at St. Joseph's Mission. To the poverty stricken Mr. Sim- 58 CHICAGO'S TRUE FOUNDER merwell the sum of $400.00 paid into his hand at one time would have repre- sented a fortune. At this point in the story an amazing coincidence presents itself, which reveals Mr. Owen's uncanny discernment of irregularity in official conduct. The $400.00 asked by Edwards for services already performed by Simmerwell, repre- sents almost exactly the sum of money lost by the Baptist superintendent through the rascality of somebody in the government employ. Exactly two months prior to the receipt of the Edwards recommendation by Mr. Owen, February 18, 1831, Robert Simmerwell told the following lugu- brious tale to Governor Cass. The letter was dated at Carey, and reads in full: "Sir, according to the 2nd article of the Treaty of St. Joseph made Sep. 20, 1828, Col. A. Edwards Sub Agent of Indian Affairs bought of me seventeen head of cattle seventy hogs and one horse all amounting to three hundred and fifty three ($353.00) dollars, the vouchers for which was sent to Dr. Wolcott at Chicago by Col. Edwards for payment, but the man employed to carry the vouchers received a check on the Detroit Bank in Co. Edwards' favor changed it for cash and absconded. "I would respectfully solicit such information as you can give, as to the manner I am to expect my pay. "For further information realtive to this matter I would refer you to Col. A. Edwards now at Detroit." Once more there appears the black magic of Mr. Edwards in connection with the disappearance of somebody's money. If Governor Cass interviewed Mr. Edwards on the subject, during the succeeding six weeks he was investigat- ing the matter, he said nothing about it in his blunt reply to Mr. Simmerwell, dated from Detroit, March 31, 1831. His letter reads: — "Sir: In answer to your letter of the 10th ult. I can only say, that as I am utterly ignorant of all the circumstances attending the loss to which you refer, it is out of my power to give you any advice respecting the course you ought to pursue. "It is very clear that the United States are not liable, as they have already paid the money, upon your voucher. If this voucher was sent by an unfaithful person to procure payment, and the money converted by him to his own use, the government certainly cannot be held responsible." The curt response of Governor Cass was based upon the following facts. The stock sold by Mr. Simmerwell to the wily Mr. Edwards belonged to the Carey Baptist Mission. Dr. McCoy declares emphatically in his book Baptist Indian Missions, to which the reader is referred, that all money and all property held by the mission or the missionaries belonged to and was held by the Baptist Board of Missions in the east. This organization financed the Carey Mission. Even Dr. McCoy's handsome salary of $3,500 a year as a surveyor of Indian lands west of the Mississippi river for the United States Government, during several years; as well as his son's salary and that of other missionaries he employed as assistants and chainmen and in other capacities; all went directly, he said, to the general board with headquarters at Boston. Consequently, Mr. Simmerwell could not have been the owner of the stock he sold to Mr. Edwards. It is not easy to explain how the government voucher given in payment for THE NEW INDIAN AGENT ARRIVES 59 this stock could have been made out in the name of the Sub-Agent Edwards who purchased the cattle, hogs and the horse. The voucher should have been made out to the Baptist Board of Missions, if the transaction were regular; and the check in payment ought to have been made out, likewise, to the owner of the stock, the general mission board of the Baptist Church. Only the honesty of Mr. Edwards guaranteed that Mr. Simmerwell would get his money. But when the personal check of Mr. Edwards was cashed at the Detroit Bank, the money vanished into the pocket of an unnamed absconder. That Robert Simmerwell was in desperate need of funds was known to both Governor Cass and Sub-Agent Edwards. If they mercifully devised the scheme of getting him $400 through Mr. Owen's unawareness, their conduct might be condoned on the broad grounds of humanity and charity. But this straight-laced Kaskaskian was not easily diverted from rectitude in his official conduct. Mr. Owen won the regard of Governor Cass by his deftness and prudence in handling the Edwards proposal. Evidence of this came when the Indian agent made his first official visit to the Detroit superintendent, a few months later. The governor entertained him with many evidences of good will and esteem. Mr. Owen in. writing about this to Senator Kane from Detroit, under date of July 18, 1831, said: "Dear Friend Kane: I embarked aboard the schooner Marshall Ney at Chicago on the 4th inst. and arrived here on the morning of the 14th. On the succeeding day I was introduced to His Excy. Govr. Cass and we entered into a full and free conversation in relation to the duties appertaining to my agency. "I find the Govr. to be just such a man as I shall like to transact business with. I am indeed much pleased with him. I accepted an invitation to tea, he introduced me to his family and indeed in every respect treated me with marked attention." The tone of the above letter is the nearest approach to enthusiasm ever manifested by the austere and dignifid Indian Agent of Chicago in some two hundred and fifty letters written by him which are in possession of this writer, in photostat. The letter, however, from which the above excerpt is taken is in the archives of the Chicago Historical society. Other portions of it will be noted as this narrative progresses. Fortunate it was for Mr. Owen that he won the instant friendship of Governor Cass, who stood as a friend in need the following year when the Indian agent was unfairly attacked by General Winfield Scott, who brought the cholera plague to Chicago. Immediately after Mr. Owen's visit to Detroit, Lewis Cass was appointed secretary of war by President Jackson. He thus became the supreme director of the Bureau of Indian Affairs at Washington. This happy circumstance provided the Chicago man with three influential friends at the seat of government, the secretary of war, and Senators Kane and Robinson. Through that powerful triumvirate, Mr. Owen was enabled to defeat the savage purpose of Governor John Reynolds of Illinois, who tried to destroy the Potawatomi during the Black Hawk war in the following year. Some weeks prior to his visit to Governor Cass, the new Indian agent was introduced to a phase of life in Chicagoland, which constituted, perhaps, 60 CHICAGO'S TRUE FOUNDER the most vexatious experiences of pioneers, — Indian depredations. These curious mischiefs furnished many acute problems to early Indian administration. In fact, Indian depredations constitute a special study, involving some first principles of social life among the redmen. The Indian was a tribal citizen. He lived in a community, which owned in common all property belonging to the tribe. While the individual redman might possess in his own right the fruits of his own prowess or industry; yet the title to his goods seems to have been a loose tenure that might be violated with impunity. If an Indian desired his brother's shirt and seized it; nothing much could be done about it. To the redman, therefore, the taking of another's property without the owners' consent, — known as stealing — was not the grave crime known to white men. If an Indian took possession of a white man's horse, he simply created a financial obligation against his tribe; which the tribe expected to pay for, was willing to pay for, and did pay for, when the seizure was definitely fixed upon a tribal member. White civilization has been developed economically upon the sacred rights of property; the sovereign title a man holds to his material possessions; and the privilege he enjoys of killing anybody who tries to take them from him unlaw- fully, — if that be the only means by which to make him desist. The moral expression of this fundamental right says: "Thou shalt not steal;" "Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's goods," as written in the Ten Commandments. The history of Indian depredations tell the story of the inevitable conflict between the white man's idea of property ownership and that held by the individual savages. In this conflict, the white pioneers were at a decided dis- advantage. They could scarcely ever follow up a criminal prosecution subsequent to an Indian theft, in a manner to bring successful results without arduous labor, much loss of time, and great danger to themselves, in many instances. If a settler lost a horse worth $60, he might eventually recover the horse or the $60. But he could not recover damages for any grievous consequences of the theft. The result of this inequitable situation was the generation of a sort of mass vengeance against the Indians that resulted in deplorable retributions by the long suffering frontiersmen. Historians fulminate against agents of the government for their leniency in allowing white claims against the Indians. No doubt, many white men did prosecute unjust claims against the redmen, and secure compensation for losses they did not suffer. On the other hand, the individual losses of white settlers through Indian thievery represent vast sums never recovered. Indian Agent Owen's effort to collect the Galloway claim for stolen horses, is given with some fullness here, because it represents a typical case of losses suffered by an early Chicagoan. Furthermore, it presents one of the first depositions made before a justice of the peace after Chicago had become a physical town in August, 1830. Additional interest is found in Mr. Owen's official letter on the subject, because it was written to Hugh L. White, secretary of war, and indicates that Secretary Eaton had been removed from office at the date of the letter, June 10, 1831. The reader is informed, at this point, that the James Galloway, who is mentioned by Mr. Owen, was the father of Mrs. THE NEW INDIAN AGENT ARRIVES 61 Archibald Clybourn, of whose family there is extended mention in the History of Chicago by Andreas. The Indian agent's letter reads: "Sir, Herewith, I enclose the depositions of Messrs. Hawley and Marquis, in relation to the claims of a Mr. Galloway against a band of Pottawatomie tribe of Indians, for depredations committed upon his property, the amount of dam- ages claimed by Mr. Galloway is $54.50 and the Indians are unwilling to make him any allowance, and as I am informed persist in urging their innocence, the depository however speak for themselves, and were this day presented to me with a view of having the amount retained, out of their annuities, but as I have recently entered upon the discharge of the duties of the agency and being entirely unacquainted with the reputation of the deponent, I feel unwilling to allow the claim, unless instructed to do so, by the proper Officer of the Government. Mr. Galloway therefore requests of me to transmit to the War Department the said depositions and ask your early decision thereon. "will you have the goodness to inform me whether I am fully authorized to decide upon the validity of such claims of this character, as may come before me and confirm or reject them, as may appear most proper from the nature of the evidence presented." One of the depositions enclosed by the Indian agent was an affidavit taken by one of the most famous characters in the life of early Chicago, John Baptiste Beaubien. He was a veteran fur trader, and lived, at the time, north of Madison street, where the Chicago river emptied into Lake Michigan. This deposition was subscribed and sworn to by William Marquis on October 9, 1830, before Justice of the Peace Beaubien; and reads: "State of Illinois, "Peoria, "County. "Personally appeareth before me William Marquis and deposeth and sayeth that about the 7th or 8th of May in 1830 that he started out amongst the Potta- wattamie Indians in search of 2 horses which the said Indians had taken from him, and by enquiring at the first village be came to for his Horses he was informed that some days previous an Indian from Fox River had stopt at that village with two American Horses and had gone on toward the Waubash but after enquiring the description of the Horses he found that they were not his. "So he returned and the next day after he returned home he went to a distant neighbors house to see if he could get any information of his Horses, and upon his arrival there learned that the Horses he had heared of at the village where he had been was two Horses supposed to have been lost from Mr. Galloway at Chicago by the above named tribe of Indians. "The deponent further sayeth that on further search for his two Horses he was informed by an Indian interpreter that was living amongst the Indians that the Horses he had heard of at the first village he had been too was the Horses lost by Mr. Galloway, so after his return home he went to Mr. Galloway and found that Mr. Galloway was out in search of his horses and the man living in Mr. Galloway's farm employed him, the deponent, to go and see if he could get the Horses. 62 CHICAGO'S TRUE FOUNDER "So he went and when he arrived at the village where he had before heard of the Horses after searching the village through he found the Indians had just arrived at that village with the Horses. And he found the horse to be the same Horses, Mr. Galloway had lost. The Indian by the name of Shawanibany who had been using the Horses. Had them hampered near the Camp. "The horses was very much fatigued and their backs was wet with sweat and one of their sides bleeding where it had been rubbed with a pack or kegg. And when he the deponent demanded the Horses the Indian was very unwilling to give them up but he got the horses and taken them home. Further the deponent sayeth not." Three years after his horses were stolen, when the Chicago Indian Treaty was negotiated, James Galloway was awarded $200. And it was two years more before this treaty was ratified and the award paid in the fall of 1835. By the end of summer, 1831, Indian Agent Owen was in full stride with the little group of pioneers in Fort Dearborn settlement; organizing develop- ments and improvements, physical, social, religious and educational. He was a man of action as well as inspiration. He could get men to do things; and he could get things done. He could lead; or he could follow. Either course was agreeable to him, so long as an enterprise was accomplished. The energy of his spirit and the sagacity of his judgment appear to have touched every civic undertaking, — when the history of this period is read with understanding. A creative force of power and purpose; of intelligence and idealism came to Chicago when the new Indian agent, Thomas Jefferson Vance Owen, arrived in March, 1831. CHAPTER EIGHT PRECURSORS OF NOTRE DAME UNIVERSITY THOMAS J. V. OWEN and Rev. Stephen T. Badin, famous Indian mission- ary, initiated an educational enterprise in Chicago in 1831, which even- tuated in the founding of Notre Dame University. Father Badin was the first resident priest in the Chicago Indian Agency. The chain of events which asso- ciated these two men in that undertaking is revealed in government docu- ments preserved in the files of the Indian Bureau at Washington. This hitherto unwritten chapter of Chicago's educational history has a substantial background of facts to support a detailed narration of the plan from which the South Bend school was evolved. Representative Owen is recorded in the Journal of the House of the Seventh General Assembly of Illinois, 1830-1832, as one of the legisla- tive committee appointed to "incorporate Illinois College," December 24, 1830. This educational institution is the oldest college in Illinois. It is lo- cated at Jacksonville, and celebrated its centenary October 12-15, 1929. The distinction conferred on Representative Owen by this legislative appointment ranks him as one of the pioneer promoters of education in this state. Some three months later, Mr. Owen arrived in Chicago to assume the post of United States Indian agent, just as the government of Cook county was being set up. He was chosen by the board of commissioners as Cook county's first school commissioner. This appointment is attested by Richard J. Hamilton in a public letter to the Democrat, when he was seeking the office of Recorder, 1835. He says: "The office of school commissioner was then (1831) held by Colonel T. J. V. Owen, who resigned." On July 4, 1831, after settling his family in Chicago, Indian Agent Owen paid his first official visit to Governor Lewis Cass of Detroit, who was super- intendent of Indian Affairs in the northwest. In a letter written during that visit from Detroit, already noted, he tells Senator Kane that he had a "full and free conversation" with the governor regarding affairs in his agency, and relates: "I attended Divine Worship this morning at the Roman Catholic chapel, commenced by his reverence G. Richard some years ago. This building was originally designed to have been one of the most splendid and magnificent churches in the United States, but the old man has exhausted all the funds which he could by any means derive from his congregation, as well as his own private means, and it yet remains in a rude and unfinished condition. Bishop Fenwick left here a few days since for Cincinnati." Pere Richard, mentioned above, was well known to Senator Kane, for he had represented the Territory of Michigan in Congress some years prior to this date, being the only Catholic priest ever elected a congressman in the United States. He was acting as Vicar General at Detroit under Bishop Fenwick, 63 64 CHICAGO'S TRUE FOUNDER head of the diocese of Cincinnati. He was also, in a manner of speaking, under the supervision of the Chicago Indian agent, because he was the offi- cially appointed teacher of the Indians at St. Joseph Mission and was in the pay of the government. These Indians belonged to the Chicago agency then in charge of Mr. Owen, and he was evidently investigating the con- dition of the St. Joseph Indian school, which had been something of a storm center for several years past. A brief notice of this educational institution for civilizing the Potawatomi forms a natural part of Chicago's history, because it was the successor of the Carey Baptist Mission, founded under stipulation of the Chicago Indian Treaty of 1821. Rev. Isaac McCoy established the Carey Mission, and after endless heroic endeavors to convert the Potawatomi, abandoned the enterprise in 1828. He then went to the country adjacent to Missouri as a government sur- veyor, leaving behind Robert Simmerwell, 11 one of his associates, as superin- tendent. Under a new treaty with the Indian made at St. Joseph in 1828, the government turned over the educational fund of $500 a year to Rev. Gabriel Richard as head of the Catholic church organization in Detroit. The name of the center was then changed from the Carey Baptist Mission to St. Joseph Mission, or as it was officially known, the St. Joseph agency. Pere Richard was a member of the Society of St. Sulpice, known as "The Sulpician Fathers." This organization, whose headquarters were in France, dis- pensed the funds gathered for foreign missions by the Society for the Propaga- tion of the Faith. Very considerable sums were expended in America in the days when it was a missionary country. Headquarters for the United States were at the Sulpician seminary in Baltimore, Maryland. Immediately after the Treaty of 1828, by which the St. Joseph school was secured, Pere Richard set about getting some one to conduct the mission. In 1830, he secured a member of his own society, Rev. Stephen T. Badin, who had been a mis- sionary in Kentucky for something like thirty-seven years, and appointed him as head of the St. Joseph Mission. Father Badin was the first Catholic priest ordained in the United States. The ceremony was performed by Archbishop Carroll on May 23, 1793, at the Sulpician seminary in Baltimore. When Indian Agent Owen visited Gov- ernor Cass at Detroit in July, 1831, the priest had been just one year in the Chicago Indian agency. Enroute for home by way of Niles, Mr. Owen met Father Badin, and discussed with him, as the official director of the government Indian school, the educational affairs of his Indian charges. And at this visit a momentous enterprise was planned. Here in the mission house, which was built by Rev. Isaac McCoy, one of the most heroic pioneers of the Baptist church in America, — the founder of municipal Chicago with the first Catholic priest ordained in the United States germinated the idea of Notre Dame University — a Catholic college in the Chicago Indian agency. Between the two men, there already existed a bond of mutual interest, for Indian Agent Owen was born in the Blue Grass State and had resided there until he was eight years old, while Father Badin had traversed every section of Kentucky on his missionary labors for more than PRECURSORS OF NOTRE DAME UNIVERSITY 65 a generation. The old priest had an extensive acquaintance among the pioneers of his late missionary field; and it is not improbable that he knew some of Mr. Owen's kinsfolk. On the subject of establishing a school at Chicago, Father Badin was in a position to give excellent counsel; for the Choctaw Indian Academy of Kentucky was then flourishing under the direction of its founder, Col. Richard M. Johnson, and had received large grants of money from the Indians of many tribes for educating their children. The Kentucky institution was remarkable for the wide scope of its design in securing students; and was well known to all Indian agents and educational leaders in the west. The St. Joseph missionary was not a stranger to Chicago, at the time of Mr. Owen's initial visit. The priest had come to the Fort Dearborn settle- ment in October, 1830, and performed many baptisms there, three months after coming into the country. In a letter written for the Annals of the Propa- gation of the Faith (6:154) Father Badin thus describes his journey to Chicago: "I am on my way to Chicago or Fort Dearborn on the west shore of Lake Michigan in the state of Illinois, fifty miles from here; no priest has been seen there since eight (nine-Ed) years ago, when Mr. Richard paid the place a visit. Along the entire route I shall not come across a single house or hut. I am waiting here for a party of good Catholic Indians, Chief Pokegan at the head of them, who are charged with the carrying of my chapel equip- ment. I had started out without them in order to avail myself of the com- pany of two Canadians, whose services I engaged as interpreters, and who by this time must have arrived in Chicago; where I intended to celebrate the divine mysteries on Holy Rosary Sunday; but fearing that my Indians would not come up in time, I stopped at the river Calamic (Grand Calumet-Ed) in the hope of receiving my chapel this evening or tomorrow morning. Besides, if I had continued on my way with the two Canadians, I should have found it necessary to sleep in the open, a thing I thought nothing of at one time — but when a man is beyond sixty, he must avoid that sort of thing, unless he be accustomed to live like the Indians and traders, to whom it is all one whether they sleep indoors or outdoors. "Man proposes, God disposes. My party of Indians arrived three days too late, and I was put to the necessity of spending the night in the woods ten miles from Chicago. I found there another band from the Kickapoo tribe, who live in an immense prairie in Illinois, along the Vermillion river at a distance of about one hundred miles from Chicago. Some time before, these good people had sent their compliments to Chief Pokegan, telling him at the same time that they envied him the happiness of having a pastor." Father Badin doubtless showed Indian Agent Owen his entries made for Chicago baptisms in the famous record book, which was supposed to have been lost or destroyed for the past seventy-five years. It is now preserved in the archives of Notre Dame University. Permission was given by Very Rev. James A. Burns, C.S.C., Provincial of the Congregation of Holy Cross, to quote the following: 66 CHICAGO'S TRUE FOUNDER BAPTISMS IN CHICAGO— 1830 "Chicago. "Oct. 7, 1830. Philippe, child of J. B. Beaubien — Josette La Framboise. Henry, younger brother of preceding Philippe. Marie Louise, child of J. B. Beaubien & J. La F. Marguerite, child of same. Jean B. Letendre, son of J. B. Letendre & Josette (Sounagesse) . Jean B. Beaubien avant ordoye (Has baptized-Ed.) Jean David, son of Mark Beaubien and Monique Nadau. Celestin, son of Mark & Monique B. "Oct. 12, 1830. Helene Maria, child of Jean B. Beaubien & Josette La Framboise. Jean Baptiste La Framboise, child of Joseph La Framboise and Therese Peltier. Ambroise, son of same. "Oct. 17, 1830. Helene, child of Billy Caldwell & de Nanette. "Oct. 18, 1830. Joseph, son of Joseph Thibaut & de Charlotte. John, son of Alexander Robinson & de Catiche. David, son of same. Maria Ann, daughter of same. Susanne, daughter of Billy Caldwell. Monique, daughter of Pierre Molere and Angelique Vandette. Agatha, daughter of same. Joseph, same parents. Joseph, son of Claude La Framboise & de Nacouche. Elizabeth, daughter of Billy Caldwell and Nan. Henri, son of Lizard Ebert and Evangeline Reed. "Oct. 28, 1830. Marie Isabelle, daughter of Charles Lucier and Isabelle Plante. Walter, son of William Brookfield and Emma Lolliet. "Sept. 26, 1831. Marie, child of John Potier and Victoire Maranda. Helene, daughter of same. Etienne (Stephen-Ed), son of Mark Beaubien and Monique. "Sept. 28, 1831. Michel, son of Joseph La Framboise & Therese Peltier." The above document answers decisively the question as to who was the first Catholic baptized by Father Badin in 1830 at Chicago. Gurdon S. Hub- bard stated in the Chicago Evening Journal of April 29, 1882, that Father Badin baptized in Chicago Alexander Beaubien and his two sisters Monique and Julia and also the mixed blood Potawatomi chief, Alexander Robinson. Their names do not appear in Father Badin's record. It is possible that the famous chief Robinson was baptized by Rev. Ga- briel Richard of Detroit, already spoken of in the preceding paragraphs, who PRECURSORS OF NOTRE DAME UNIVERSITY 67 came to attend the Treaty of 1821 at Chicago. He celebrated Mass at "the house of a Canadian" on that occasion, and without doubt performed some baptisms; for he was invited to come to the treaty by one of the Catholic Potawatomi chiefs from St. Joseph, Michigan. However he mentions no bap- tisms in his article printed in the Annals of the Propagation of the Faith (3:342) in which he tells of this visitation in September, 1821: "Fifteen days later, thirty days in all from Mackinac, I arrived at a post called Chicago, near a little river of the same name, ten leagues to the north- west of the southernmost point of Lake Michigan. I said Mass in the house of a Canadian and preached in the afternoon to the American garrison. "Business of another kind brought me to Chicago. I had been invited by one of the Potawatomi chiefs, who lived near the old Jesuit mission of St. Joseph, situated on a river of the same name, to be present at a treaty in Chicago which the Indian tribes were going to make at that place with his Excellency, Governor (Cass). Contrary winds having detained me two weeks or twenty days longer than I expected, it fell out that the treaty was over (when I arrived). I had hoped to be able to support the Indians in the petition which they were going to present and which they did actually pre- sent for a Catholic priest at St. Joseph like the Jesuits. The outcome of it all was that they were given a Baptist missionary." Detention of Father Richard for twenty days from the treaty grounds at a critical time, deprived the St. Joseph Indians of their supreme advisor, spokesman and influential friend at the Chicago Indian Treaty of 1821. It also thwarted for nine years the natural desire of these redmen to receive religious ministrations from a clergyman of their own Faith. However, the above letter reveals that the plan of Indian Agent Owen to establish a Catholic educational institution at Chicago in cooperation with Father Badin was a product of the soil. All conditions present at the time favored the enterprise. Leaving Father Badin at St. Joseph's Mission to work out their plan with the Potawatomi, or "Wood" Indians, as they were known; Mr. Owen returned to Chicago and set to work deligently. He enlisted the services of Probate Judge Hamilton in presenting the plan for an Indian school in Chicago to the citizens of the town. The entire community gave its sanc- tion to the enterprise, when it was ascertained that the institution would pro- vide education for whites as well as Indians. Judge Hamilton sponsored the citizens' group; Indian Agent Owen officially represented the department of Indian Affairs; and Father Badin formally was the organizer and beneficiary under the proposed grant embodied in a petition to the government asking permission to establish the school. In the closing days of September, 1831, when the United Tribes were gathered at Chicago for the payment of their annuities, Billy Caldwell and Alexander Robinson, together with Indian Agent Owen, Father Badin and Probate Judge Hamilton, secured from the Indians a grant of four sections of their land upon which to found the institution. Early in October, Mr. Owen forwarded to the President of the United States, through his political sponsor, Senator Elias Kent Kane, the petition of 68 CHICAGO'S TRUE FOUNDER the United Tribes asking permission to make "a religious and school estab- lishment" at Chicago. The document was signed by forty persons, almost the entire population of the settlement in 1831. The original is preserved in the files of the Indian Bureau at Washington, D. C, and reads in full: "We the undersigned, Sau-ka-nash and Che-ge-pin-quay, (Billy Caldwell and Alexander Robinson-Ed.) chiefs chosen at the epoch of the Treaty of Prairie du Chien by the Chipways, Ottaous and Poutaoutomies Indians, of the waters of the Illinois, Millewake, and Manitouak rivers — having been author- ized by the above Tribes of Indians to locate a quantity, not to exceed four sections, of their own lands, on the Northwestern boundary line between the United States and Indians lands, running from the Lake Michigan to Rock River, where the line crosses the Chicago or Aux-plaines River, as surveyed by Lucius Lyon — In order to make an useful religious and school estab- lishment of a Roman Catholic clergyman, for the purpose of education in general, and instruction and civilization especially for themselves and their children; to erect on said land the necessary buildings, and to procure suitable teachers — Provided the President of the United States and Senate will au- thorize us, the above Chiefs, to make a survey and conveyance of said lands, for the purposes above recited. — "Therefore, We the Chiefs above named and undersigned, pray His Ex- cellency the President of the United States and the Senate to authorize us, the chiefs aforesaid, to make the survey and conveyance aforesaid for the pur- poses aforesaid, and as in duty bound will ever pray &c. "Done at Chicago, Illinois; this third day of October, 1831. "Shau-Ka-nash His "Che-ge-pin-quay mark. "We, the undersigned, certify that the above named Sau-ka-nosh and Chee-ge-pin-quay are chiefs of the Chipways, Ottaouas and Poutouatomies In- dians, of the waters of the Illinois, Millewakee and Manitouak Rivers — and further do heartily concur in the above petition. Signers to the petition were Th. J. V. Owen, Indian Agent, Chas. Dunn, J. B. Beaubien, Nichls. Boilvin, and James F. Kinzie. The document is in the handwriting of Father Badin, identified by a copy he made of it several years later, which is also in the files of the Indian Bureau. Upon the reverse side of this original memorial, an auxiliary petition appears, which is in the handwriting of Mr. Hamilton; and reveals the promi- nent part he took in the enterprise. The reverse inscription reads: "Whereas the prayer of the petition has for its object not only the Indians in particular, but also Public Utility in general, and the instruction of Amer- ican people, and "Whereas the lands to be appropriated to the same belong to the In- dians, who cannot out of millions of acres make, it is conceived, a more useful appropriation, and no sacrifice of money or property belonging to the United States is embraced in this case, it is confidently hoped and expected that the prayer of this Petition will be readily granted. PRECURSORS OF NOTRE DAME UNIVERSITY 69 We. /it mJtrtyMp, fcui -fa. . noik *-3 Cu*. fade, of 3*)>&»4 Z 6<+fcjf«*6jj€e7Z~4 efH,«S *»*>- /*~Dt, oh &l Mf* tfafa*. »&V4*V>er,<»Ats*- %*. Am cxo»u 4kt- c/uetyo or JuA-f&***4 #<**-»',<*♦ twyJ 6y t^ud^s &**. _ J*. or?>t* ti >~*Kc **• u4t£*A rtUyou4 aJ SJ^gl e*UJini*^**^r fij> d. fan****. 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AvCtx>* ft* f*^ S* % Sd^^t. hot tee**. *t~ t6*A<'Jv<~iU>U. *ju> iMoutb ore cusC*~ *)wrii*+ *<**" fa**J py ftu^frfeU;*^ 4*3 £r*M4f,ort-*U* 4h± eJPiU, *f- fa* fesitfMJ o/ZrtjtuJ for /M"J fat** W*. ,/ JU SelD /*„, i^Uluf **> 6JU>'"j iu^ t cr a^rt^ld*. ryLcZ/^J U2 t U ^r^neJiJ 4 y t<^ fa c*^***- yio*. pf- (Ux. Urol** y i^^c* a^r^al?) *<3 Us*l*l,jy 6*uZ> wlU Wt*r yr+y . FATHER BADIN ASKS RECOGNITION FROM CONGRESS. Petition of Father Badin for land in recognition and recompense for his services during the Black Hawk « War. The land later given him is now the grounds of Notre Dame University. PRECURSORS OF NOTRE DAME UNIVERSITY 77 contained the stipulation that a College should be erected upon the site within two years after it was transferred to any person or organization. In 1842, this section of ground was given by the Bishop of Vincennes to Very Rev. Edward E. Sorin, head of the Congregation of Holy Cross. Here he founded the Uni- versity of Notre Dame du Lac — the famous Notre Dame University of South Bend, Indiana. Returning now to the Treaty of Tippecanoe, the success of which has been officially ascribed to Indian Agent Owen, the last word on the Badin- Owen seminary of learning in Chicago will be written. Chief Ashkum of the Potawatomi tribe was given a reservation at that treaty consisting of two sec- tions of land. These were ultimately located at the site of South Chicago. One of the sections was donated by Chief Ashkum to Rev. Louis De Seille, a Bel- gian missionary, who succeeded Father Badin at St. Joseph Mission in 1833. It is not known when the Indian chieftain donated this land, but it was prior to 1837, and, therefore, before Father Badin had secured the section of land on which Notre Dame University stands. Father De Seille died in 1837. Andreas in his History of Cook County states that Chief Ashkum's land grant to Father De Seille was transferred to Father Sorin, the founder of Notre Dame University. Later on, the heirs of the Indian chief confirmed the title to Father Sorin, and it became the Notre Dame Addition to South Chicago. Facts and documents presented in the foregoing chapter show an unbroken chain of events, which justify the statement that Notre Dame University is the final resultant of the Badin-Owen seminary of learning planned for Chi- cago in 1831, by Chicago's first Chief Executive, Thomas J. V. Owen, and the first Catholic priest ordained in the United States, Rev. Stephen T. Badin. CHAPTER NINE OWEN'S BLACK HAWK WAR CASUAL readers of Illinois history will be amazed to learn that a Black Hawk war never happened. The extermination of whites in the north- west, intended by that famous Sac chieftain, was frustrated by Thomas J. V. Owen. What did happen, was a series of savage reprisals upon white settlers, in May, 1832, by the Sac Indians to avenge the murder of their flag of truce bearers by Stillman's drunken soldiers. This act was followed immediately by the only engagement with the white military forces, in which the Indians of- fered battle. And what Black Hawk's warriors did to those white scoundrels at "Stillman's Run," is a fair index of what they might have done, and could have done, to Governor Reynolds' militiamen. If the Saukees had waged an aggressive war upon those untrained, undisciplined, rebellious, and poorly officered soldiers, wandering aimlessly about the Indian country of Illinois; the results would have constituted one of the major calamities of history. From June 1, when the Sacs determined to return home to the west bank of the Mississippi, but were not allowed to do so; up to August 2, when they were nearly all slaughtered in trying to get across the river to their own lands; the Saukess had opportunity, at one time and another, to exterminate the entire white population of northern Illinois. There was one three weeks when, as the historian Andreas says, "the settlers were left to defend themselves against the aroused and merciless foe." The true Black Hawk War was a grand military enterprise, from the red- men's point of view. It was projected upon a magnificent scale. It contem- plated white annihilation; and restoration of Indian land to its rightful own- ers. As these owners were pretty well massacred on August 2, their right of possession has never been adjudicated by the United States Court of Claims. However, there are writers of history who say that if the question had been fought out in the Court of Claims, the Indians might have won the case. Chief Black Hawk's military strategy further contemplated an alliance with the United Tribes of Potawatomi, Chippewa and Ottawa Indians, sup- ported by the British in Canada, of whose friendly co-operation there was no doubt in the mind of the red generalissimo. Contact with the British was a big problem, because a long stretch of country intervened between the home of the Sacs and the promised land of the Britishers beyond the eastern borders of Michigan territory. That problem, however, was capable of ready solu- tion by means of the Great Sauk Trail. This ancient Indian highway crossed Illinois, touching the southern tip of the present Cook county. From there it passed into Indiana, where it veered north, and continued through the land of the "Wood" Indians of the Potawatomi tribe in Michigan, onward to Canada. 78 OWEN'S BLACK HAWK WAR 79 The Indian campaign was admirably conceived. With an abundance of military supplies obtainable from the British, the Great Sauk Trail would fur- nish an avenue of communication by which war materials could be brought into the Indian country. Intimate knowledge of this trail, with numerous and de- vious detours, gave the redmen a paramount advantage in using it. 15 The real Black Hawk War, as planned by that eminent chieftain, was com- pletely frustrated by two white men and five Indian chiefs. These persons were: Indian Agent Owen, at Chicago; Father Badin, missionary at St. Joseph, Michigan; Keokuk, head chief of the Sac and Fox Indians; Alexander Robin- son, chief of the "Prairie" Indians of the Potawatomi tribe; Billy Caldwell, chief of the Ottawa tribe; Pokegon, chief of the "Wood" Indians of the Pot- awatomi in the St. Joseph country, and Shabenai of Ottawa. Chief Keokuk dealt the first blow to the war federation of Black Hawk by refusing to have anything to do with it, except to oppose the plan as folly that must eventually lead to destruction. Granting that the proposed cam- paign would be successful for a time, he realized that the white soldiers of the Great Father, as numerous as leaves of the forest, could eventually crush any number of Indians that might be rash enough to oppose the government. Keokuk was a lover of peace and a wise son of the woodlands. Perhaps he had heard some strong words spoken by Indian Agent Owen on behalf of the Great Father at Chicago in September, 1831, which gave courage to his prudence. At any rate, he parted company with Black Hawk on the propo- sition of fighting Uncle Sam and killing all his paleface children in the north- west. And so, the great Sac chief set out alone to conquer. Keokuk, furthermore, sensed the fatal weakness of Black Hawk's military enterprise. It was this: he had not secured the definite and formal alliance of the United Tribes — with the single possible exception of Big Foot, the Potawatomi war chief living at the site of Lake Geneva; and some of the Winnebagoes leaders of northern Wisconsin. These latter Indians would doubt- less have joined the Sac warrior if the United Tribes could have been secured to the war federation. Black Hawk himself realized the need of the Pot- awatomi, and he believed that after crossing into Illinois his personal influence would be strong enough to win their formal alliance. He was almost right in this presumption. When he entered Illinois, therefore, he did so on the pretext that he and his tribesmen, with women and children, were paying a visit to their kinsfolk the Winnebagos. Prior to May 12, a little more than a month after initiating his grand enterprise, Black Hawk had tried and failed to secure Mr. Owen's Indians as allies. He knew then that his big war was over. Immediately he determined to conciliate the white warriors, and get himself out of his difficulty with as little damage as possible — and maybe, get enough provisions to feed his hun- gry tribe. Finding Major Isaac Stillman encamped near him, he sent a small party of his braves bearing a flag of truce to the American camp. Two of the flag bearers were killed on sight; two taken prisoners; and the other fled back to Chief Black Hawk. Indian Agent Owen's part in breaking up the war federation will now be narrated. He first heard of the proposed war of extermination at an- 80 CHICAGO'S TRUE FOUNDER nuity time, September, 1831, in Chicago. During this gathering of the United Tribes, some 4,000 in number, Mr. Owen, Father Badin, Caldwell, Robinson, and Pokegon, were industriously circulating among the redmen, winning their consent to establish the Chicago educational institution, spoken of in a pre- vious chapter. Naturally, these men made a thorough canvass of the tribal leaders, for gaining the unanimous approval of the Indians to the project — as stated in their memorial to the President on the subject. In their rounds among the Indians, discovery was made that emissaries of the Sac tribe had come to Chicago, sponsored by Big Foot, to arouse a war spirit among the United Tribes for the general war against the whites. Mr. Owen, in characteristic fashion, set to work at once to combat the idea of a hostile alliance; and Black Hawk's messengers had a finis written to their mission in short order. "Through the firmness of Colonel Owen and the in- fluence of the friendly chiefs," says the History of Chicago, "no hostile al- liance had been effected. " The second move made by the Indian Agent Owen to break up the proposed federation of Black Hawk was to sponsor the cause of the Chippewa tribe, living in Wisconsin west of Milwaukee. These redmen were roused to fury over an injustice perpetrated against them the previous year at Washington, when a treaty was made with the Menominee Indians by which a fair sized section of Chippewa land had been taken from them by alleged fraud. They were infuriated at this action of the government, and were in a warlike mood. Mr. Owen's letter on the subject explains the situation clearly. It was ad- dressed to Governor Porter of Michigan, dated at Chicago, December 20, 1831, and reads: "Sir: At the payment of Indian annuities at this place last September, the Chippewas residing on the Man-i-to-auk river when in council with me protested in the most positive manner, against the ratification of the treaty made last winter at Washington City, between the U. S. and some of the Chiefs of the Menominee Tribe. "They allege that a portion of the lands embraced in the Treaty, did not belong to the Menominee and consequently they had no power to cede it to the United States. That it belongs to the three nations, of Potowatomies, Ot- taways and Chippewas and actually includes some of the villages of the latter. They express a desire that their Great Father the President, will examine into the subject, and not permit their lands to be sold by tribes to whom it does not belong, without their approbation." Two years later, at the Chicago Treaty of 1833, the Chippewas expressed their gratitude to Mr. Owen for his zealous efforts to right what they con- sidered a great injustice to them. That they were ready to go to war with the Menominee was also brought out in a manner that left no doubt of their determination to get their land restored to them. The friendly relations existing between the Chippewa Indians and Mr. Owen, which grew out of his efforts to help them, placed him in a strong po- sition to counteract the influence of Black Hawk. And there need be little doubt felt that the Indian agent used the situation to its best advantage in OWEN'S BLACK HAWK WAR 81 binding these redmen to peace and friendship with their Great Father at Washington. The Ottawa Indians in Michigan were too far away from the Sac coun- try, and too well organized for peace, to offer much attraction to Black Hawk as allies in his contemplated war of extermination. Neither the Ottawa nor the Chippewa Indians, therefore, were good prospects for the cause of the hostile Sacs. There remained, then, only the "Wood" Indians of St. Joseph and the "Prairie" Indians of Chicagoland, both Potawatomi, to be handled in effecting a smashup of the war enterprise of Black Hawk. By far the most telling blow delivered against the successful prosecution of the intended war was struck by the St. Joseph Indians, who refused per- mission to the Sacs to cross their country over the Sauk Trail. This com- pletely cut the Sacs off from communication with the British in Canada, and extinguished all hope of getting war munitions into the zone of conflict in Illinois. Credit for this should be given to Pokegon and Father Badin. It was the service performed, in this phase of the projected war, that furnished the foundation for Father Badin's request to the government to give him the St. Joseph reservation for his mission center. His memorial sent to Congress in October, 1833, has been reproduced in a previous chapter. The service consisted, he said, of "containing the said Indians in the bonds of morality, peace & amity with the United States during the war of Black Hawk, as is well known to the Indian Agents, to the Commissioners of the United States, who have made the late Treaty, and to many other persons." Father Badin's part in preventing the successful formation of a hostile confederation is well authenticated. His great influence with the St. Joseph Indians is revealed in a notable manner when he saved the life of Chief Topenebe. Topenebe was the supreme head of the United Tribes. Without his sanction and consent, given in formal council, no alliance was possible be- tween the Sacs and the three tribes he controlled. The old chief, and he was very old at this time, was a confirmed inebriate. During the days of strong pressure brought to bear upon him to go to war in the latter part of May, Topenebe stabbed to death Chief Nanakay, in a fit of drunken rage. Nanakay was a noble young chief, greatly loved and respected by his fellow tribesmen. So intense was their indignation at the wanton killing of Nanakay, that after proper deliberation, the Indians determined to put Topenebe to death for his crime. When the time for execution arrived, Father Badin addressed the Indians and made a powerful plea for the life of the old chief. He begged them to show mercy to the head of their nation, as they might expect the Great Spirit to have mercy upon them. His interposition was successful, and the life of Topenebe was spared. Father Badin notes the occurrence in his record book early in June, 1832, corresponding exactly with the time Black Hawk's proposal was under consideration. 12 Further evidence of the missionary's peace acti- vities at this period is found in the Annals of the Propagation of the Faith. In one communication he states that he must close his letter, because he had 82 CHICAGO'S TRUE FOUNDER just received word that his Indians were in trouble, and he was obliged to hurry back to St. Joseph. Father Badin had gathered about his mission center at St. Joseph Indian agency a considerable body of Potawatomi, known later as the "Religious band." Acting Governor Mason speaks of them in a letter to Secretary Cass of the war department on June 9, 1832, thus: "The Pottawatimies have cre- ated some suspicions on the St. Joseph, from the fact of having collected in bands, as they say, for the purpose of promoting temperance and religion, as their young men are becoming intemperate. They have also neglected to plant corn this spring. I consider them perfectly friendly." One and a half years later, at the Chicago Indian Treaty, Governor Por- ter gave this "Religious band" distinguished consideration; and assured them that they might have a special missionary to accompany them west, a "Black Robe" of their own choosing. This priest was Rev. Benjamin Mary Petit, who went with them in 1838. The body of Father Petit now lies in the ancient chapel at Notre Dame University. Among Father Badin's devoted followers in the "Religious band" was young Chief Nanakay. The date on which he was stabbed to death by Chief Topenebe is not known, or, at least, is not available, but it was some time in the latter part of May, as already stated. Black Hawk's hopes for the success of his enterprise were completely shattered when three hundred of his Sac warriors reached the vicinity of Chi- cago, and held a council with Mr. Owen's Indians at the Big Woods. Here the great war was to have been inaugurated by an attack on Chicago. Rumors of this reached Mr. Owen, and he wrote to the superintendent at Detroit on May 24, saying: "... it seems that the Sacs are concentrating at the Big Woods, about forty miles from this place, and, it is probable, they will make an effort to reduce this post." Further on in his letter, the Chicago Indian Agent says: "I have this day held a council with many of the principal chiefs of the three nations, and am clearly of the opinion, that we have nothing to fear from them." Andreas referring to this council, says: "At this council Colonel Owen addressed the Indians. He pointed out the absolute folly of any alliance with the hostile tribe; he showed them the certainty of ultimate defeat, and the disastrous results to them which would follow should they needlessly take up arms in a cause not their own — a loss of their annuities, probably followed by the destruction of their tribes or their forcible removal to beyond the Mississippi. Big Foot addressed the council, detailed the common grievances of the Indians, told of the many instances of injustice and unfaithfulness on the part of the Government which his tribe had suffered, and gave it as his conviction that the present was a favorable time to make common cause in seeking with knife and tomahawk redress for their cumulated wrongs. "His speech was favorably received by many of the young men, but the stanch opposition to the foolhardy stroke for vengeance proposed by Big Foot was made by both Caldwell and Robinson. Their influence in the tribe, backed by their eloquence, together with the decided and fearless talk of Colonel OWEN'S BLACK HAWK WAR 83 Owen, who represented the Government, decided the council in favor of peace, much to the chagrin of Big Foot and his immediate followers." Caldwell and Robinson were in the employ of Colonel Owen, who en- gaged them constantly in his official duties. They were both on the Indian agency pay roll, and their activities were initiated and supervised by the Chi- cago Indian agent. Andreas would convey the impression that Big Foot took his defeat with sullen resignation. The facts seem to have been otherwise. They indicate that Colonel Owen gained complete ascendency over the Lake Geneva chieftain. In fact, Big Foot immediately set about to dissuade Black Hawk from any fur- ther endeavors to carry on his contemplated military enterprise. Ten days after the Chicago Indian agent told of the council with the redmen, he addressed Stevens T. Mason, acting governor of Michigan, telling him of the good of- fices of Big Foot. The letter was dated June 3, and reads in part: "Maw-gaw-set or Big Foot, one of the principal Potawatamies chiefs, five days since, sent one of his young men to the Sac Indians, with the white wam- pum and a message desiring them (the second time) to leave the country, that the Potawatamies might return with safety to their respective villages and plant corn before the season was too far advanced. The Sacs replied, that they were preparing to march, and if they could get across to the West Side of the Mississippi, they would do so immediately; . . ." The plain meaning of the above letter is that Colonel Owen had become master of the situation. He had blocked the Great Sauk Trail as an avenue of communication with the British; and he had confirmed the loyalty of the United Tribes towards the United States. The Black Hawk War, as the Sac chief planned it, was at an end. Chicago was not attacked. Three hundred Sac warriors, practically all the fighting braves of the Saukees, left the Big Woods — [Where Aurora now stands. — Ed.]; and they were seventy-five miles away on June 3, the writer of the letter said. They never came back. When the powerful war chief, Big Foot, pledged the fealty of his tribe to Colonel Owen, at the council in Chicago above mentioned, the great war federation of the Sacs received its death blow. "Not a single Indian receiving annuities at this agency has been engaged with the hostile Sacs," was the report made to the Indian Bureau by the Chicago Indian agent. Had General Atkinson, commander of the United States army in the field, adopted the energetic and sensible measures advocated by Colonel Owen, the subsequent disasters to the Sac Indians might not have happened. Owen's letter of June 3, which is mentioned above, indicates that Black Hawk was himself largely responsible for the tragic finale of August 2. On this sub- ject, the letter says: "Gen. Atkinson is now at the Illinois rapids, with a very small force, Gov. Reynolds having discharged nearly all the militia which had been or- dered out by him at the commencement of hostilities. . . . "Gen. Atkinson expects to be able to take the field by the 15th of the present month, with a force sufficient to cut off the enemy, should he reach them before they make their escape. My own opinion however is that if the Indians are anxious to return beyond the Mississippi, they will embrace the 84 CHICAGO'S TRUE FOUNDER present propitious moment as there is now nothing in the way to prevent them. A small body of Regulars are stationed at Dixon on Rock River, but the In- dians will easily avoid them, if so disposed. If they escape and are not pur- sued even beyond the Mississippi, they will continue to annoy our frontiers the whole summer, by means of small marauding parties which they can send among us with great facility unless effectual measures are taken to prevent such an occurrence." Evidently, the bad judgment of Black Hawk was responsible for his final misfortunes. He had a clear field to get back home on the western side of the Mississippi all during the month of June and early July. His conduct of the unfortunate expedition into Illinois, after the collapse of his war federation at Chicago, indicates that he made a desperate effort to get into Canada through the Chippewa and Winnebago country, but failed. Collecting his scattered tribe — how he did it has never been explained — he took the trail with them for home. While crossing the Mississippi, one hundred miles north of where he had entered Illinois, his tribe was trapped in the water and defeated. History's final verdict upon the uprising of the Sac Indians must be founded on the following authenticated facts: 1. Black Hawk, war chief of the British band of Sac Indians, planned and attempted to execute the extermination of white settlers in the northwest by a general federation of Indian tribes, who occupied the country of Wis- consin, Illinois, Indiana, and Michigan. 2. This military enterprise had for its first great objective, a hostile al- liance with the United Tribes of Potawatomi, Chippewa and Ottawa Indians. 3. For the successful prosecution of the intended war, the Great Sauk Trail was to be used as an open avenue of communication with the British in Canada, who were expected to — and who had promised to, it is said — fur- nish the sinews of war to the savages. 4. After the United Tribes had joined the federation, the Winnebagoes and Menominees would join the alliance against the whites of the northwestern country. The following facts happened: 1. Rev. Stephen T. Badin, government Indian teacher at St. Joseph, Michigan, influenced the "Wood" Indians of the Potawatomi to refuse permis- sion for the use of the Great Sauk Trail, which passed through their lands, to the Sacs; effectively blocking the proposed avenue of communication with the British in Canada. 2. Thomas J. V. Owen, Indian agent at Chicago, secured for the United States the loyalty of Big Foot, most powerful war chief of the United Tribes, at a council in Chicago in May, 1832. Prior to this time, Big Foot had been the principal promoter of Black Hawk's war federation among the Potawa- tomi. His defection broke the back of the war alliance contemplated by Black Hawk. 3. Because the United Tribes refused to join the hostile alliance against the whites, both the Winnebagoes and the Menominees could not be persuaded to join the war federation in any considerable numbers. Had they done so, OWEN'S BLACK HAWK WAR 85 communication with the British could have been established through their lands. 4. Following his failure to secure these allies, Black Hawk tried to sur- render, but was not permitted to do so by the whites. In a desperate retreat across the Mississippi river, almost his entire band was slaughtered on August 2, at the mouth of Bad Axe river. During the danger period to Chicago, when the Black Hawk War fed- eration was frustrated, Indian Agent Owen stood alone as the representative of the United States War Department. Neither Governor Reynolds nor Gen- eral Atkinson of the regular army gave him any assistance whatsoever. Gov- ernor Porter of Michigan, his superior, who was superintendent of Indian Af- fairs in the northwest, was absent from Detroit from the prior October to June 1, 1832. When he returned to Detroit to conduct Indian administra- tion, the Sac federation had collapsed. During Governor Porter's absence, his office was filled by the Secretary of Michigan Territory, Stevens T. Mason, 13 a young man just turned twenty-one years of age, and known as "The Boy Governor of Michigan." Acting Gov- ernor Mason was not organized for swift and vigorous action, and did not get Michigan troops into the region of the Chicago Indian agency until June 11, long after Black Hawk's warriors had departed from the Big Woods. There was not a single squad of federal or state troops in Chicago during the month of May, when hostilities of Black Hawk's war alliance were scheduled to begin with an attack on Fort Dearborn: and when Colonel Owen wrote: "An effort will be made to reduce this post" . . . "tonight a blow will be aimed at this place" . . . "we are in imminent danger." Within ten days after the above words were written, the Potawatomi war chief, the refractory Big Foot, had become Mr. Owen's messenger of peace to Black Hawk's warriors. That is authenticated history. CHAPTER TEN GOVERNOR REYNOLDS WAR TO SHIELD the name of Governor John Reynolds from stigma for causing the massacre of the Sacs, — men, women and children, — Illinois newspapers, which he generally controlled, entitled his assault upon the peaceful Potawatomi, the Black Hawk War. Historians have accepted this designation. The conflict should be called: Governor Reynolds' War. He conceived it; planned it; inaugurated it; and did the first killing. He brought United States troops into the field through false official statements. He supervised the war personally; and was paid for his services. He ordered out one hundred and seventy-three companies of militia against a possible five hundred Saukee fighting men. As a grotesque finale, he demanded, and he received, from the federal government payment for his personal services as commander in chief of the Illinois militia. 14 Only one man, high in official life in Illinois, defied John Reynolds' designs for wholesale murder; and that person was Thomas J. V. Owen, Indian Agent at Chicago. And because Mr. Owen did stand out against Governor Reynolds' War, — openly, officially, valiantly, and effectively, the Potawatomi tribe was saved from annihilation. Any person wishing to examine the documented facts which sustain the above statements, may do so at leisure, by studying the references given in this chapter in connection with published state papers of 1831 and 1832. Appalling consequences to the Potawatomi followed in the wake of Governor Reynolds' proclamation, in which he called out one hundred and seventy-three companies of militia. White destroyers started aggressions on their own initiative to carry out the design of the proclamation. Widespread conster- nation among the Potawatomi is related by William Marshall, Indian Agent at Logansport, Indiana, in a letter to Governor Porter of Detroit, in which he declares that "the whites were driving them in every direction." His message reads: 9 "Sir, The Proclamation of Governor Reynolds in which he says: "I AM OF THE OPINION THAT THE POTT AW ATT I MIES AND WINNEBAGOES HAVE JOINED THE HOSTILE SACS, AND MAY ALL BE CONSIDERED AS WAGING WAR AGAINST THE UNITED STATES': has caused much excitement on the frontier settlements of Indiana. "Immediately after the proclamation had reached the Country adjacent to the Indian country, several volunteer Companies were organized and obtained permission from the Governor Of Indiana to march in aid of the frontier settle- ments. I was apprehensive that the Potawattimies then hunting in small parties in different parts of the country were in danger of being killed by the whites, which would be attended with consequences exceedingly unpleasant. To prevent 86 GOVERNOR REYNOLDS WAR 87 such an occurrence, I thought it advisable to call the Indians to their village. "Many of them, from fear of menace from the whites, collected near this place and have expressed a desire to remain in the vicinity of this Agency until the difficulty in Illinois shall have subsided. They are perfectly friendly, sober and much alarmed at their distressed situation. I shall be under the necessity of giving them something to subsist upon until this clamorous alarm shall have been suppressed, for the whites are driving them in every direction." In the Chicago region the governor's proclamation encompassed the friendly Potawatomi with so many dangers, that Indian Agent Owen wrote to the superintendent of Indian Affairs at Detroit, on May 27: "I have found it absolutely necessary to call in all my Indians with their families and to locate them near this place, they would be in imminent danger both from the Sacs and Militia were they permitted to roam at large over the country." He sent a similar message to Elbert Herring, head of the Bureau of Indian Affairs at Washington, on June 21, saying: "Such is the prejudice of the whites against even the friendly Indians, that their safety requires that they should continue immediately in the vicinity of this place. They have been compelled to abandon villages, fields, and hunting grounds, for the present, and have no means of subsistence." The same story of tragedy to the Potawatomi was sent to Secretary of War Cass by Acting Governor Mason of Michigan, who said: "Should the excitement continue much longer I am afraid we shall have to turn the tables and protect the friendly Indians. The Agent at Chicago has been compelled to collect all the Indians in his Agency, and encamp them near the Fort, to prevent the Militia from attacking them. I have found it necessary to send a quantity of provisions from this place to prevent their starving. I have no idea that our pugnacious Military men, can be induced to believe that there is no danger in this Territory, as long as there is a Sac on this side of the Mississippi." John Reynolds' War against the Indians of Chicagoland started the day he was inaugurated governor of Illinois, December 6, 1830, when he officially denied the sovereign right of the Potawatomi over their own lands. His war ended in complete defeat on January 20, 1833, when Indian Agent Owen successfully challenged Governor Reynolds' last lying declaration to the President of the United States that the Potawatomi were engaged in hostile acts of depre- dation against the whites on Bureau Creek, near Peoria, Illinois. Between the two dates above mentioned, Governor Reynolds carried on as chief executive of the state, a continuous series of aggressions against the Chicago Agency Indians; and clearly revealed his design to have them exterminated in order to seize their vast property holdings within the country of Illinois. Governor Reynolds' War contemplated, as its first principal objective, an invasion of Illinois by the Sac and Fox Indians. Without such an overt act, it would be impossible to entrap the Potawatomi and exterminate them. Keokuk, head chief of these tribes, refused to be led into this ambush. But Black Hawk fell a victim to the sorcery of the white men who persuaded him to undertake this suicidal enterprise, a long time before he had his alleged war federation organized. 15 88 CHICAGO'S TRUE FOUNDER That Black Hawk was induced to come into Illinois by white men, is a fact of history. That Governor John Reynolds immediately issued a declaration of war and called out some 17,000 militiamen, on the strength of this tribal migration of the Sacs, is well known. He had such a multitude of soldiers m, the field that he could not feed them; and they were so ungovernable they would not submit to military rationing. That the governor discharged practically all the armed forces of the state at the most critical moment late in May, — when Black Hawk was negotiating with Big Foot for a hostile alliance, — is a fact of history. That John Reynolds permitted the Sac Indians to remain in Illinois, practically unopposed, long after they had declared their determination to retreat homeward on June 1, is a fact of history. That Governor Reynolds exposed all of northern Illinois to the pillage of these savages, — had Black Hawk intended such atrocities, — all during the month of June, is a fact of history. That Black Hawk twice offered his surrender through bearers of a flag of truce, on May 12, and on August 1, and was not permitted to do so, is affirmed by the history of that period. That Governor Reynolds, commander in chief of the white military forces, never attempted nor ordered the seizure of some six or seven hundred Sac women and children and old men, who were living in villages in and near Illinois; — that they might be hostages for the good behavior of Black Hawk's warriors, is a fact of history. Through his militia and the regulars under General Atkinson, practically the entire tribe of Sac Indians was at his mercy and might have been taken prisoners at any time. Yet, this simple measure to terminate the alleged "invasion of Illinois" was never taken. History's final verdict on Governor Reynold's War must be, by the docu- mented facts presented, that he did not meditate a conflict with the Sac Indians, because military operations were not required to assuage Black Hawk. That Indian chief wanted food for his hungry tribesmen. But John Reynolds did design to exterminate the Potawatomi Indians, and was prevented from doing so by the stalwart opposition of Thomas J. V. Owen, Indian Agent at Chicago for the United Tribes. Failure to seize Big Foot, war chief of the Potawatomi, and notorious throughout the Indian country for his efforts to aid Black Hawk, — if historians are to be believed, — amounted to criminal negligence on the part of Governor Reynolds and General Atkinson, if they held the conviction that the Lake Geneva chief was "waging war against the United States." John Reynolds' War against the Potawatomi started active operations aggressively after Lewis Cass, superintendent of Indian Affairs at Detroit, had been removed from the country in the summer of 1831 by appointment in the Jackson Cabinet as secretary of war. The Indian Bureau was represented at Detroit in the spring of 1832 by a youngster just emerging from adolescence, Stevens T. Mason. It was represented in Chicago by a newly appointed Indian agent, Thomas J. V. Owen, whose inexperience might safely be counted on to lead him into some form of indiscretion in his official conduct prejudicial to his GOVERNOR REYNOLDS WAR 89 Indian charges. It could scarcely be apprehended, at the time, that this Kaskaskia ex-sheriff would reveal such eminent capacity for administration as would enable him to withstand the onslaughts of Governor Reynolds, backed by the entire military and legislative powers of the State of Illinois. That these powers were exerted to destroy the Potawatomi; and that Indian Agent Owen completely frustrated them; are two facts of record, verified by state papers of Illinois and the national government. In the spring of 1832, therefore, the Indians of Chicagoland seemed to be in the worst possible condition to defend themselves against white aggression. The seizure of their lands looked easy. The same diabolical ruthlessness that had burned the Sac village at Rock Island, in 1831, and forced these redmen to make a treaty of relinquishment under the muzzles of Governor Reynolds' white muskets, was to be repeated in the lands of the United Tribes. Governor Reynolds' designs are written in the legislative records of the Seventh General Assembly. Representative Owen heard the new governor, at inauguration time, Decem- ber, 1830, when discussing government roads, state: "I am aware, that some of these roads may, probably, pass in the northern part of the State, over a section of country to which the Indian claim has not teen extinguished. This Indian claim ought not, in my opinion, to prevent the State from exercising her sovereignty over it. "These Indians, from their dependent and helpless situation, claim our commisseration and sympathy, but they cannot claim to exercise the sovereign* independence of a nation^ within out limits, contrary to the rights of our state government." The new governor's words were ominous to Representative Owen, who was, at the moment, an applicant for the post of Indian agent at Chicago. If the chief executive of Illinois did not recognize United States Indian treaties, which were based upon the sovereignty of Indians over their own lands, and the absence of state jurisdiction, then John Reynolds and Thomas J. V. Owen must defend two issues of statecraft that were absolutely irreconcilable. Three years later, Indian Agent Owen stated the contrary doctrine, in a letter to the Indian Bureau at Washington: " . . . . the jurisdiction of the State or Territorial laws has not been extended over the Indian Country within this Agency." On January 10, 1831, Governor Reynolds asked the General Assembly to clothe him with czarlike powers to call out any number of militiamen he desired to punish bad Indians. He said to his "Fellow citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives": "I would recommend the passage of a law on the subject, which would vest the Executive on all proper occasions, with a discretionary power, to call out a sufficient force of the militia to protect the citizens from Indian depre- dations, and to enforce the administration of the laws on them; or remove them from the territory which they have sold the government." This "discretionary power" he used during the following summer of 1831, by burning the village of Black Hawk at Rock Island, and driving that chief and his people back across the Mississippi. Then followed a treaty of coercion 90 CHICAGO'S TRUE FOUNDER by which the Sacs and Foxes agreed to relinquish all claims to their lands on the east side of the Mississippi. It was for violation of this treaty, in the spring of 1832, that Governor Reynolds once more declared war on the Sac tribe. Having secured control of the state militia in January, 1831, Governor Reynolds next initiated the greatest political exploit of his career. Through this venture he secured 30,000,000 acres of the land of the Saukees, lying between Rock River and the Mississippi, to be distributed by the United States Govern- ment among "those organized militiamen, mounted militiamen, and rangers, who defended this frontier during the late war, under the authority of Congress." Request for these lands, known as "the military tract" was made by the General Assembly of Illinois to Congress, in a memorial, which may be read in the House Journal of that year. With such a magnificent grant of land in prospect, it is easy to understand how John Reynolds could immediately call out a host of militiamen, numbering some 17,000, to "Kill the Saukees" who might endanger this bonus to old soldiers. Present day residents of the "military tract" speak with shame of the later distribution of these granted lands, because the "war heroes" were deprived of them with quite as much artful villainy as the Saukees had been. There are numerous official documents of that period, — some of them very lengthy and impossible to quote or digest in this brief chronicle, — which relate the activities of John Reynolds in building up a strong war party about himself. Military respectability would thereby be gained for aggressions against the Potawatomi, by which their lands might be confiscated. Almost any disaster to these Indians could then be condoned as "war measures"; and officially sanctioned by the Illinois commonwealth. Governor Reynolds' War against the Potawatomi was founded upon the land-greed of the settlers and the political ambitions of the Illinois chief executive. The settlers were determined to obtain possession of the land of the Indians. They cared not, it would seem, by what means this possession might be obtained. Governor Reynolds was the political foe of United States Senator Elias Kent Kane, head of a powerful and well disciplined political organization. It would have been a mighty blow against the Kane organization, if Governor Reynolds could have discredited Thomas J. V. Owen, one of Sena- tor Kane's valued lieutenants; and have him ousted from the new political stronghold at Chicago. Politically, then, the Black Hawk War was a contest between Governor John Reynolds and Indian Agent Owen. In its civic or social aspect, it was a mad mass movement of land-hungry whites to seize Indian lands. From a military, point of view, it had no necessity whatsoever; because the peaceful migration of Black Hawk and his tribe to the east side of the Mississippi river was a matter solely for the United States Government. It was nothing more than a serious problem of administration for the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the war depart- ment, at the head of which was Secretary Cass, one of the greatest Indian administrators of his time. This brings up an amazing aspect of the situation as it existed at the time. When the Saukees crossed the Mississippi on April 6, they almost walked into the waiting arms of Brigadier General Henry Atkinson, of the United States GOVERNOR REYNOLD'S WAR 91 Army, who had been sent to Fort Crawford by Secretary of War Cass. His mission was to protect the Sacs and Foxes against the hostile Menominee. When the entire tribe of Saukees, therefore, appeared on the scene, General Atkinson was not visibly disturbed at the "invasion of Illinois," which caused John Reynolds to call out 17,000 militiamen to suppress. Four days later, April 10, General Atkinson wrote a very sensible letter on the subject to Sub- Agent John H. Kinzie, at Fort Winnebago, from the "Headquarters of the Right Wing, West Department, Fort Crawford." This letter reads: "Sir, I have the honor to advise you that I have been instructed by the General in Chief to settle the differences, between the Sacs and Foxes, and the Menominee. I have accordingly brought a military force as far as Rock Island for the purpose of enforcing the stipulations of the treaty of peace between these tribes, made in 1830. "I have to direct, that you will communicate this fact to such of the Menominees as may be within your reach, and advise them to remain quiet till the results of my efforts are made known. And to say to them, further, that the troops will be interposed should they attempt to move against the Sacs and Foxes, who reside on the west side of the Mississippi, before my exertions to adjust the difficulty are at an end. "I take this occasion to inform you the Black Hawk band of Sacs, joined by 100 Kickapoos, crossed the Mississippi to the Illinois side on the 5th inst. and have passed up on the east side of Rock River, towards the Winnebago Prophet's village, where it is presumed they will locate themselves with a deter- mination of holding the country. "They probably may not intend committing any positive act of hostility, yet this is doubtful. You will inform the Winnebagoes of your agency, of the movement of the band of Sacs, and advise them to hold no intercourse with them. Any information you may acquire as to the location and conduct of the disaffected Sacs, you will communicate to me as early as possible at Rock Island, also the temper and feelings of the Winnebagoes in relation to the subject." General Atkinson, therefore, was placed, by Governor Reynolds in the sorry predicament of fighting the very Indians whom he had been sent to protect; and to use as allies the Menominees, whom he had threatened to use his troops against if they should attack the Sacs. His "dilatory tactics," during the summer of 1832 which have been condemned rather severely, may be accounted for on the theory that he was sent to guard the Sacs (not to kill them) and that is what he seems to have been; trying to do. If he had a force strong enough to chastise the Menominees in case they attacked the Saukees; he certainly had troops sufficient to battle Black Hawk, had that warrior been waging war against the United States. For eleven weeks after the Saukees crossed the Mississippi, General Atkinson refrained from definite military operations against them. During this period he was accurately and frequently informed of the movements of the Sac chieftain, by Indian Agent Owen at Chicago, Sub-Indian Agent Kinzie at Fort Winnebago, and Henry Gratiot, 16 sub-Indian agent for some Winnebagoes at Rock Island. CHAPTER ELEVEN OWEN SAVES CHICAGO CHICAGO'S tribulations during the Black Hawk War covered a period of four weeks. They produced a nightmare of woe; but no casualties. What might have happened had Providence sent a less resolute or sagacious administrator of Indian affairs than Thomas J. V. Owen is tragic to contem- plate. Only a master dramatist could do that subject justice. Sketch the situation with historical facts as a guide. There were three hundred Sauk savages on the war path within forty miles of the town, in the Big Woods, near Aurora. They held a council and a great feast with the Potawatomi in the middle of May. An attack on Fort Dearborn settlement was in preparation. "Tonight a blow will be aimed at this place," wrote Colonel Owen to Governor Porter on May 18. "There is reason to believe, that we are in imminent danger," he continued, in another paragraph. What happened in the Big Woods during the week of May 18? What stopped the Saukees dead in their tracks? Why did they abandon the proposed "reduction of this Post," as Indian Agent Owen put it? Why did they leave the vicinity of Chicago at the end of May, never to return? Why did Black Hawk's warriors promise to retreat immediately across the Mississippi, after their war council near Aurora? These are questions that should be answered truthfully, after the passing of one hundred years of political hatred and so- cial prejudice against the savior of the white men and the savior of the redmen of northern Illinois — Thomas J. V. Owen. Let Colonel Owen tell his own story from the tomb. On May 12, 1832, he informed Elbert Herring, head of the Office of In- dian Affairs, Washington City, of the situation thus: "A few weeks since it was rumored, that the British band of Sacs and Foxes headed by the famous Chief Black Hawk, were recrossing to the East Side of the Mississippi & locating themselves at or near the old Sac Village on Rock River, and from the general tenor of their conduct no doubt seemed to be entertained of their determination to commence hostilities. "Mr. Caldwell, interpreter for this Agency, possessing extensive influ- ence over the Potawatimies, set off immediately to some of their villages, in the vicinity of Rock River, with a view of ascertaining whether they entertained any intentions of joining the Sacs in the event of a rupture between them and the whites. He returned a few days since, perfectly satisfied of their entire disposition to remain upon terms of continued friendship with our Government. "On this morning, I was visited by a deputation from the United Tribes of Potawatimies, Ottawas & Chippeways, with repeated assurances of their at- tachment to their Great Father and his people, and promising in the strongest terms neither to aid nor to protect the Sacs in their present movements. They are in a state of great alarm, lest Black Hawk and his party, when pursued by 92 OWEN SAVES CHICAGO 93 Gov. Reynolds & the militia under his command should throw himself among them, & thus involve them, (the Potawatimies &c) in the same general ruin with themselves. "To guard against an occurrence of this kind, Mr. Kercheval & Mr. Cald- well have gone to the Potawatimi Villages in the vicinity of Rock River, in order to induce them to remove East of the Fox River, that they may be out of the way of both parties. "I have also dispatched an express to Gov. Reynolds, giving him all the information derived from my Indians & requesting him to cause the Officers under his command to proceed with caution, and before they strike (if at all) to endeavor to discriminate between the friendly and the disaffected Indians. "I have been to Peoria myself & directed the Indians heretofore belong- ing to the sub-agency at that place to remove upon their own lands bordering on Lake Michigan. "I am required to make my communications to the War Department through the Superintendent of Indian Affairs at Detroit; but aware that Gov. Porter is still detained in Pennsylvania by reason of Severe illness, I have thought it not improper to address this communication directly to yourself." The above letter of Indian Agent Owen is documentary evidence that Governor John Reynolds knew the Potawatomi were not at war with the United States when he issued his villainous proclamation, spoken of in the previous chapter. This knowledge was derived by the governor from the highest officer of the Bureau of Indian Affairs in Chicagoland, Colonel Owen, through an official communication to him. The knowledge was established upon the declaration of Billy Caldwell, the most influential chief of the United Tribes, and their spokesman to the Government. This letter also gives the information that Caldwell was in the employ of Indian Agent Owen; that he was in the pay of the government as inter- preter; and that his missions amongst the Indians at this period were directed by Colonel Owen. Additional information is contained in the above letter re- garding Gholson Kercheval, mentioned therein, which states: "Mr. Kercheval received and accepted of the appointment of sub Indian Agent on the 1st inst; reported himself to me and is now engaged in the dis- charge of the duties thereof." As Mr. Kercheval organized the "Chicago Militia" on May 2, the day after he assumed the duties of sub-agent it is evident that Indian Agent Owen set him to his first task, the formation of "Chicago's First Defenders," as An- dreas calls them. These citizens and improvised soldiers, doubtless accom- panied Colonel Owen to Peoria in the vicinity of the war zone of the Sacs; and, it may be presumed, some of them accompanied Sub-Agent Kercheval and Interpreter Caldwell in their reconnoitering expedition, mentioned in Col- onel Owen's letter. Further tidings of impending doom came to the Chicago settlers a week after the above letter was written. Addressing an official communique to Governor Porter at Detroit, under date of May 18, the Chicago Indian Agent said: j *{ "At 11 o'clock last night an express arrived at this Post from the friendly 94 CHICAGO'S TRUE FOUNDER Potawatimies stating that a skirmish had taken place, near Semnicon, or Paw- paw Grove, between the hostile bands of the Sacs and a scouting party of the Militia; which resulted unfavorably to the latter. The Sacs, it is said, lost six men, and the whites about fifteen. "This express also stated that they were approaching the frontier settle- ments, between Fox River and the River du Page, with a determination to destroy all that might chance to fall in their way. The Potawatimies en- deavored to dissuade them from pursuing their contemplated designs, but to no effect. They replied that having gone so far, they had no hope to escape, and thus they were resolved on selling their lives as dear as possible. "It was seriously believed, that on this night a blow would be aimed at this place. Upon receiving this information I immediately dispatched run- ners in various directions to apprize the people of the danger which threatened them, and they have collected in the Garrison to the number of about 150 effective men, pretty well armed, with plenty of ammunition & provisions; but encumbered with about 300 helpless women and children. "Tonight, various and contradictory reports have reached us, from all which, however, there is reason to believe, that we are in imminent danger, unless relieved by the troops now in pursuit of the Sacs. "I am much pleased to see, that the Indians of this Agency have fully evinced their determination to render no aid to the Sacs in this matter. They are now preparing to remove their families on the River des Plaines within twelve miles of this place, for their better security in the event of an attack from the enemy." During the four weeks prior to the dispatch of the above letter, since a short while after Black Hawk had crossed the Mississippi on April 6, re- ports had been coming into the Chicago region of an Indian war. Almost as soon as they reached Indian Agent Owen, he was active in getting in touch with the leading members of the Potawatomi; and had Billy Caldwell on his way to the scene of the invasion on the western side of Illinois, as noted in his letter of May 12. His first concern was for an adequate working staff. There had been no sub-agent with him since December, as, it would seem, N. D. Grover had left the post of sub-agent. Colonel Owen had recommended Gholson Kerche- val, almost a year before as a person qualified for the appointment. Mr. Kercheval now was appointed, and ready for duty on May 1. On May 2, thirty-seven volunteers signed up to serve under the cap- taincy of Col. Owen's new sub-agent, according to a muster roll reprinted from the Fergus Historical Series. The roll reads: "We, the undersigned, agree to submit ourselves, for the time being, to Gholson Kercheval, Captain, and George W. Dole and John S. C. Hogan, first and second lieutenants, as commanders of the Militia of the town of Chicago, until all apprehension of danger from the Indians may have sub- sided." Names signed are: Richard J. Hamilton, Jesse B. Brown, Isaac Harmon, Samuel Miller, John F. Herndon, Benjamin Harris, S. T. Gage, Rufus Brown, Jeremiah Smith, Heman S. Bond, William Smith, Isaac D. Harmon, Joseph OWEN SAVES CHICAGO 95 Laframboise, J. W. Zarley, David Wade, William Bond, Samuel Ellis, Jeddiah Woolley, George H. Walker, A. W. Taylor, James Kinzie, Davied Pemeton, James Ginsday, Samuel Debaif, John Wellmaker, William H. Adams, James T. Osborne, E. D. Harmon, Charles Moselle, Francis Labaque, Michael Ouil- mette, Christopher Shedaker, David McKee, Ezra Bond and Robert Thompson. The above company of "Chicago's First Defenders," served with Colonel Owen until after his return from Peoria, having been in service for three weeks. On May 18, the inhabitants formed a second military company, it appears, from a letter on that subject sent to Secretary of War Cass, dated at Fort Dearborn, May 25, which reads: "Sir, From the alarm that arose from the reports from Rock River, the inhabitants of this place formed a voluntary military association on the 18th inst. for the purpose of defense, and which I have the honor to command. Since that time the post has been filled with Refugees from the Country in every direction, flying from scenes of bloodshed and devastation unsurpassed in the history of Indian warfare ..." The above letter was signed by John S. C. Hogan, Capt. 111. Militia, Com. Ft. Dearborn. One week after he was elected captain, he sent an ur- gent call for help to Col. A. Huston of the Michigan militia, asking for 300 mounted men to defend Chicago. Captain Hogan's letter concludes: "I refer you to Col. Owen's letter to Col. Stewart [sub-Indian agent at Niles. — Ed.], and if you conclude to send aid, You cannot be too quick about it." This letter reveals an amazing situation — John Reynolds had utterly aban- doned Chicago to its fate at the hands of the Sacs. In the moment of supreme peril the governor had discharged the militia under his command, and had left the settlers in Chicagoland with no protection whatsoever on the part of the State of Illinois. Although Governor Reynolds had 17,000 militiamen under his control, it does not appear that a single soldier of his command aided Chicago when 300 Sac warriors were within forty miles of Fort Dearborn. Colonel Owen, therefore, appealed to the Territory of Michigan, as his letter of May 18, already quoted, indicates. The letter to Col. Stewart, mem- tioned by Captain Hogan, was sent by Indian Agent Owen on May 21, and it gives a vivid picture of the heroic settlers standing ready to meet a savage foe. It reads: "Sir: Your dispatch of the 19th Inst, is received. "The nature of the intelligence communicated on the night of the 17th to me was of that alarming character which made it proper that prompt means should be taken to ensure the safety of the people and the Country. Hence the reason of sending you the express of the 18th. We have, however, on this evening ascertained, that some of the intelligence was greatly exaggerated, and much of it, the mere Vision of fancy produced by the fear of a few in- dividuals; and nearly the whole of the surrounding country being now within the walls of this Fort, with about two hundred men well armed, we feel ourselves competent to withstand any force whatever that may venture an attack. Consequently, it is unnecessary for the Militia of Michigan to pro- ceed to this place. "I presume the Regular troops from Niagara will be here in due time. 96 CHICAGO'S TRUE FOUNDER I would advise the people of St. Joseph to remain in a state of preparation for defence, for a short period, at least. Should anything occur, you will be apprized of it without delay. "For your promptness in this business, accept my thanks, and the dis- position to aid us by our neighbors of Michigan is highly appreciated." In a postscript, Col. Owen adds that Mr. Caldwell had just arrived from his expedition to Rock River, reporting that the Illinois Militia had engaged the Sacs at the mouth of the Kish-wauk-ke on May 14, and lost eleven men, killed, and three wounded; with five Indian casualties. Another battle was expected on the 15th, about 80 miles northwest of Chicago. The letter was sent to Sub- Agent Stewart for transmission to George W. Hoffman, acting adjutant to General J. W. Brown, commander of Michigan Militia. St. Joseph, or Niles, was military headquarters for the Michigan troops. It stood directly across the Great Sauk Trail, the Indian highway to Canada. The military strategy, therefore, which had closed the British ave- nue of communication; garrisoned Fort Dearborn with 200 well armed set- tlers; and won over War Chief Big Foot to abandon his alleged friendly alliance with Black Hawk; was instrumental in causing the Sac warriors to pause at the Big Woods, and, in fact, to abandon their hostile activities around Chicago. We know these facts clearly now; but the refugees at Chicago, on May 24, 1832, knew only the dire dangers which threatened them with the scalping knife and the tomahawk; and their property with destruction. Indian Agent Owen and Captain Hogan wrote a joint letter from Chicago to Col. Huston on that date, which reads: "Sir: At a crisis like this, we deem it important to give you such intelli- gence of the movements of the hostile Indians as we are, from time to time, enabled to gather. "On day before yesterday, Mr. Lawton in company with seven friendly Potawatimies was surprised by a party of about 30 hostile Sacs and Kickapoos which were found in ambush in one of the Groves of timber on the waters of the Fox River, and were made prisoners. Mr. Lawton, however, from the circumstance of finding among them some with whom he had been acquainted, and his known character among the Indians, together with the aid of some duplicity prevailed upon them, after detaining them about 2 hours, to let them go. "I have seen Mr. Lawton, and he says that they told him distinctly that they had not yet killed any person, but had burnt some houses & declared their intention to commit further depredations on our frontiers. "A man returned from our horse party last night. He says, that six houses were burned on this side of the Fox River, and it was reported that 3 men were killed on Indian Creek. We do not apprehend any immediate danger of an attack upon this Post. But until the party of horsemen under Genl. Brown returns, we are unable to form anything like a correct opinion on the subject. "In the meantime, we would admonish you to be on the watch, and hold in readiness 250 or 300 effective mounted men, well armed, to march to this OWEN SAVES CHICAGO 97 place in the event we should find it necessary to dispatch an express for them." Scarcely had the courier departed with Col. Owen's letter, printed above, when the party of mounted men under Gen. Jesse B. Brown, sent out by the Chicago Indian agent and Captain Hogan a week previously, returned to Fort Dearborn. They brought tragic news, which must have chilled the hearts of the residents and refugees, huddled together in the garrison and among the townspeople to the number of some six or seven hundred. Immediately, Indian Agent Owen wrote to Col. Stewart a letter for Adjutant General Hoffman, and almost the same letter to the superintendent of Indian Affairs at Detroit. The Stewart communication reads: "Dear Sir: The Party of mounted men, who left here some days since, has this moment returned, and bring us intelligence of the most painful and alarming character in relation to the fourteen settlers upon the waters of Fox River. "On the 22nd Inst; they reached the settlements on Indian Creek, and found fifteen persons most inhumanly murdered. They immediately set to work, and buried those unfortunate victims of savage cruelty, and from thence proceeded to this place by way of Walker's Station, on the Du Page, and con- ducted the people that where there to this place. "Our whole frontier country is invaded, and presents one continued scene of destruction from the Des Plaines (ten miles west of this) to Fox River. From all they could discover it seems that the Sacs are concentrating at the Big Woods, about 40 miles from this place; and, it is probable, they will make an effort to reduce this Post. "The people here are very solicitous for their safety, and are anxious that additional forces should be procured from some quarter. "Having no command in the Militia, I am not authorized to demand assistance from Col. Huston ; but if 3 or 4 hundred Volunteers could be raised, immediately from the Regiment to scour the Country between this place and Fox River, it would be productive of incalculable good. Provisions can be had here, and I have no doubt, but the Govt, will amply compensate them for their Patriotic Conduct. "I have this day held a council with many of the principal men of the three Nations, and am clearly of the opinion, that we have nothing to fear from them. You will communicate this to Col. Huston." Chicago seemed helpless and alone in a wilderness of hostile savages on May 24, 1832. Within a radius of fifty miles and more, the country was overrun by Black Hawk's warriors, with a minimum number of three hundred, and a maximum number counted only by the terrified imagination of pros- pective victims. Seven hundred men, women and children waiting for what atrocities might come to them, were massed in confusion, and woes that are not to be described, at Fort Dearborn. Only the friendly Potawatomi stood between the Sacs and the whites. Here, there, and everywhere, they ran hither and thither at the command of their protector, Indian Agent Owen; striving with unfailing loyalty to prevent the destruction both of their own tribesmen and their white friends. This moment was most auspicious for John Reynolds to discharge his 98 CHICAGO'S TRUE FOUNDER forces and go home; leaving northern Illinois a prey to the ferocity of the Sacs. Surely now, the Potawatomi would be embroiled; those peaceful red- men whom he had condemned to death by his proclamation: "The Potawatomi are at war with the United States." What could now be more certain than the doom of this branch of the United Tribes; their immediate extermina- tion; and the seizure of their lands! From the successful termination of this atrocious wickedness a kindly Providence intervened. Exactly in what form this intervention happened — not even Indian Agent Owen seemed to know. There was only one man who could explain it, and some day his version of the grand finale may be offered to the public. He is Father Badin, the "Black Robe" teacher of the Indians at St. Joseph. He had extraordinary influence with the "Wood" Indians. He was Chief Poke- gon's friend and counselor. He had saved the life of Chief Topenebe from the well merited vengeance of his fellow tribesmen; and for such a service an Indian would make an adequate acknowledgment. Topenebe, head chief of the United Tribes, was the supreme voice that said to Black Hawk: "You cannot use the Great Sauk Trail through our country; we will not join you in a war upon the white children of our Great Father; we will do what our Father, Indian Agent Owen tells us." If Topenebe did not say that himself, somebody of equal authority con- veyed his ultimatum to the Sac Indians in the Big Woods, as they made their plans to attack Chicago. And Black Hawk's warriors departed at once for their homes across the Father of Waters; that we know now. Although the Sac warriors were on their way homeward from the Big Woods convocation with the Potawatomi on May 29, Indian Agent Owen with a group of citizens, on that date, sent a joint request to Sub- Agent Stewart to obtain from the Acting Governor of Michigan a sufficient force to protect the settlers in Chicagoland. This communication reads: "Sir, We have been so situated at this place heretofore, that it has been impossible for us to know what course to pursue, or what rumors to give credit to, but our situation at present, as nearly as we can understand it our- selves, is as follows: "The inhabitants of this country, are all at this time, within the walls of the Garrison with their families, and the force in the Garrison is sufficient to defend it. The Potawatomie Indians we have the utmost confidence in; they have all removed from their villages between this place and Rock River, and also on Fox River, and are located within twelve miles of this, with their families, acting under the guidance and direction of Mr. Owen; but the frontiers between the Du Page and the mouth of the Fox River are entirely exposed. The property of the inhabitants is left at their respective dwellings, and is subject to be destroyed, or burned by the Indians at any moment; and it is for the protection of the property and the inhabitants on the Du Page and Fox River frontiers that we are desirous of having a force, and an efficient one, of from three to five hundred mounted men, well armed and equipped, and we have full confidence that with such a force, could it reach here in a short time, we could commence offensive operations, and terminate this harrassing and destroying war." OWEN SAVES CHICAGO 99 The communication was signed by Richard J. Hamilton, Th. J. V. Owen. Gho. Kercheval, Jos. Napers, R. A. Kinzie, J. S. C. Hogan, Daniel Bailey, H. Semple, and J. B. Beaubien. The above letter was sent on June 7, to Stephen Tollason, by General Brown from St. Joseph, Michigan, with a recommendation that "a respectable force" be sent to "exterminate those vile savages"; and stating that he had sent on General J. R. Williams to Chicago with a force of "some two or three hundred mounted men." These Michigan troops arrived on June 11, with 120 men, Mr. Owen stated in a letter of June 11, to Secretary of War Cass. The memorial of Indian Agent Owen and the other Chicagoans was trans- mitted to Secretary of War Cass by Governor Porter under date of June 12, at least his name is signed to it. But the reply was addressed to Acting Governor Mason, who had written him on June 8. Evidently the Chicago memorial exerted considerable influence at Wash- ington. It seemed to indicate to the secretary of war that both General Atkinson and Governor Reynolds had bungled terribly and utterly failed to conquer a few hundred Sac Indians. Urged by considerations that justified extreme meas- ures, President Jackson ordered Brigadier General Winfield Scott to Illinois, with a large force and positive instructions to end the war immediately. Secre- tary Cass wrote to Acting Governor Mason, on June 18: "General Scott has been ordered to Chicago with a considerable force of regular troops, which, with the mounted men, authorized to be raised by a late act of Congress, and the Militia that may be called into service, will, it is hoped, enable him to terminate the war upon the frontier." Just before the arrival of Governor Porter to take up his duties at Detroit, Acting Governor Mason, under date of June 8, had sent on the Chicago mem- orial. That is why the reply of Cass was sent to Mason, rather than to Governor Porter. Mason had written to Cass: "I enclose you copies of letters recently received by express from Chicago. You will see the present state of things there. Gen. Atkinson has not been heard from since the 15th May. I have sent an express to inform Mr. Owen of the information received by Gov. Reynolds' proclamation calling out 2,000 additional militia. On the 1st instant not one had been heard of at Chicago. I have directed an express to send or go through to Gen. Atkinson and ascertain where he is, and how situated." Secretary Cass replied also to Governor Porter on the same subject of the Chicago memorial for Michigan troops. This letter written June 21, says the Government had taken the Black Hawk War situation in hand. After telling Governor Porter how to meet Mr. Owen's request for provisions, funds, presents, contingencies, etc., made necessary by the Sac invasion; the secretary of war says: The proposition contained in a letter from a number of gentlemen at Chicago, to Mr. Stewart, it is not necessary to accept, as the President is determ- ined to collect at Chicago an imposing force of regular troops, together with the six companies of mounted rangers, recently authorized to be raised, and such militia forces, if any be necessary, as will enable General Scott to act promptly, and vigorously. 100 CHICAGO'S TRUE FOUNDER The Chicago memorial of Mr. Owen and his associates, which was the S. O. S. that caused the war department to leap into the conflict with amazing suddenness and zeal, was born of a new terror that seized Chicago residents. Incredible as it may seem, Governor Reynolds and General Atkinson were driving Black Hawk and his Sac warriors back toward Chicago and the Territory of Michigan; instead of driving them out of Illinois and westward across the Mississippi river. It was to "repel the invasion of Black Hawk" and to "drive the invaders from the soil of Illinois" that 17,000 militia men were called out. Brigadier General J. W, Brown, of the 3rd Michigan brigade, informed Acting Governor Mason of this astonishing situation in a letter dated May 26. At this critical time Chicago was in imminent peril from the three hundred Sacs gathered in the Big Woods. General Brown was then on his way to relieve the refugees at Fort Dearborn. His letter reads: "The receipt of the within by Express has changed my operations. Mr. Brookfield, the bearer of Mr. Owen's letter is an intelligent man, and was sent last week from this place to obtain information. I have just had a long con- versation with him. "He informs me, that Gen.l Atkinson is west of the Indians with about 1 7,000 mounted men, and has prevented their crossing the Mississippi, which will drive them through Michigan. "I have ordered the 8th Reg. under Col. McNair to this place. I shall, under present circumstances, collect my whole force at Niles, and until the arrival of Maj. Gen'l Williams shall be governed by circumstances. "I have sent for the Principal Potawatimie Chiefs to meet me tomorrow at the old camp Mission near the residence of Col. Stewart, and will inform you of the result. The public property at Chicago, I fear, is in danger. The supplies for the troops have just arrived there, and no men to protect them." By the time Governor Reynolds' War against the Potawatomi had collapsed in its first big offensive, the indignation of Thomas J. V. Owen against the Illinois chief executive had reached white heat. Both men had been residents and neighbors in Kaskaskia, and Mr. Owen knew John Reynolds as well as any man in the state. Both men had been political antagonists in the bitter campaign of 1830, and Mr. Owen knew the ruthlessness of this master demagogue. Both men had met in armed neutrality in the Seventh General Assembly, when the governor's party attempted to have Representative Owen expelled because he had or was about to get a federal appointmnt. Owen knew John Reynolds' designs against the Potawatomi from the time he had conducted him before the joint session to be inaugurated, as one of the "Committee of the whole House," and heard Reynolds challenge the sovereign rights of the Indians to their own lands. Owen was never deceived, nor in the dark for a moment, as to Reynolds' purpose in issuing his proclamation, that the Potawatomi might be considered "as waging war against the United States." Any man placed in a virtual death-trap, as Mr. Owen was at Fort Dearborn, with "three hundred helpless women and children" refugees, had abundant justification for his wrath against the man he held responsible, — John Reynolds. He unburdened himself in no uncertain terms in a letter to Senator Kane, OWEN SAVES CHICAGO 101 written from Chicago and dated June 6, 1832, which is preserved by the Chicago Historical Society. It reads in part: "From all the information I have been able to obtain I am inclined to believe that the Sacs are receding from the frontiers in the neighborhood of this place, and endeavoring to effect a retreat across the Mississippi rivet. "John Reynolds, after publicly asserting by proclamation to the people that my Potawatamies were engaged with the Sacs in their hostile movements, has discharged all his forces and returned home in utter disgrace. He will, in a short time, hear from me upon this subject through the medium of the public Gazette." Some weeks later, Illinois citizens were thunderstruck when Reynolds was pilloried in the public press by Indian Agent Owen, through a vitriolic article in the Springfield Herald. Alexander P. Field, secretary of state, 1829-1840, writing to Ex-Governor Ninian Edwards on July 24, 1832, speaks of the Owen castieation and his own reply to it. This letter appears in the "Edwards Papers," and reads: "Dear Gov: — Myself and Col. Duncan both handed in pieces to the editors of this paper in your favor and moderately arraigning Mr. Breese, they refused to publish either for the reason, as that Mr. Breese was a great friend, and I expect yet to have a scrape with the darned rascals. Reynolds ought not to have such a set about him. "I called on them to know the reason they had not defended Reynolds against Owen's attack. Their reasons were that they kneiv nothing about it. I defended Reynolds in a short article, signed, A Citizen." Mr. Field's apology for Governor Reynolds' declaration of war against the Potawatomi, was published, as noted already, on July 23, 1832 in the Vandalia Whig and Intelligencer. It is reproduced here from a copy of that newspaper preserved by the Congressional Library of Washington, D. C. The article reads in full: "For the WTiig & Intelligencer. "To Mr. T. J. V. Owen: "You have been endeavoring, since the commencement of the present Indian hostilities, to make an impression on the public mind, that the dear Pottawatamies, for whom you are agent, have been grossly and ungenerously charged with having either connived at, or participated in, the murders of some of our defenceless frontier settlers; and in consequence of your supposed sacred- ness of character, being a professed friend of the present administration, some reliance has been, no doutt, placed in your statement. But regardless of all truth and that dignity of principle that should always characterize the conduct of gentlemen occupying a high station under the authority of the Federal Government, you have made a base and malignant attack against the Executive of this State, while in the service of his country as Commander-in-Chief of the militia of Illinois, for having ventured an opinion that was predicated upon the strongest and most obvious presumptions, that the band of Indians for which you are said to be agent, were concerned and participated in that massacre of our defenceless inhabitants. "And you cannot deny that many of the scalps, supposed at one time to have been taken by the Sacks and Foxes, were found in the villages inhabited 102 CHICAGO'S TRUE FOUNDER and owned by the Potawatamies, and that your principal war chief, Wa-pon-sa,^ has at this time many relations with the hostile bands. Could Governor Reynolds, or any other individual, who felt the least solicitude for the safety of our exposed frontier, been deaf to such proofs and silent in regard to truths whose friendship for us, to say the least, was even doubtful? At this time, sir, the whole body of militia under the command of General Atkinson are disposed to look upon your favorite band, headed by their great war chief, as treacherous and unfaithful. Is it not then unpardonable in you, sir, as a federal officer, without ever having taken the pains to inquire into the true causes which induced the Governor to suspect the fidelity of your tribe, to publish an unjustifiable and unmanly attack against the Executive of a sovereign and independent State. For this I unhesi- tatingly say you should be dismissed from office; and unless General Jackson [President of the United States. — Ed.] has become a stranger to those principles by which he has always been governed, you and every other officer alike offend- ing will receive at his hands a salutary and warning lesson. (Signed) A CITIZEN." In the above article, the criminal guilt of Governor Reynolds is clearly indicated by his zealous advocate. Nowhere in his communication does Secretary Field state, directly or indirectly: "Mr. Owen, you have not told the truth about the Governor." He describes the Owen philippic as a "base and malignant attack" and declares that its publication was "an unjust and unmanly attack." But he does not allege that it was a falsehood. Certainly, if Indian Agent Owen had published an untrue statement of facts regarding the governor's conduct of the war, Mr. Field would have alluded to such a grave matter of criminal libel, calumny, slander and defamation of character against John Reynolds which would have constituted an offense of the first magnitude. Mr. Field admits, in his article, that Governor Reynolds issued his war manifesto against the Potawatomi without the sanction of the United States government ; in defiance of protests by Indian Agent Owen ; and upon a founda- tion of "obvious presumptions," without any clearly proven facts to justify a virtual sentence of death against nearly 5,000 peaceful and friendly Indians. Very gingerly the editor of the Vandalia Whig and Intelligencer, next day, published Mr. Field's defence of Reynolds. He had no desire, apparently to court the wrath of Indian Agent Owen, and wrote the following editorial in self defence: "In today's paper will be seen an article addressed to Mr. T. J. V. Owen, Indian Agent at Chicago, intended, as it purports, to correct some erroneous statements made by that gentleman in a late number of the Herald, wherein the executive of this state is unjustly censured. The writer of the article alluded to having been engaged in the expedition, it is reasonable to presume, that he was correctly informed of the disposition and movements of the Potawatamie tribe of Indians, whose conduct has been very suspicious, and that in making the correction, he has been guided solely by the truth, without any reference to political matters. Indeed, we hope so. "It is evident that the campaign has not been conducted in a manner to give very general satisfaction; or the high expectations of success in repelling the Indian invasion on our frontier, which we formed, been realized. The cause OWEN SAVES CHICAGO 103 of failure, we have no doubt, will be attributed to some of those in the service, and it is to be hoped, that the blame may rest upon the guilty. "Our distance from the scene of action, and the difficulty we labor under in getting correct information in relation to this matter, induced us to forbear to make any statement tending to implicate persons engaged in the campaign. We have so far relied on the authority of publication as to copy an article, a week or two since, censuring Gen. Posey for neglect of duty, and we are under the necessity this week of contradicting it. "When informed of the truth of these matters, we shall not fail to lay them before the public, it whatever shape it may appear." Mr. Owen's spirited communication was written in words too pungent for the Springfield Journal, a. newspaper friendly to Governor Reynolds, — who was, by the way, a public man of wide popularity in his time among the common people of Illinois. The editor gives the only existing insight into the vigor of Mr. Owen's castigation of the governor, or the defensive replies the article evoked. Under date of September 22, 1832, the editor said: "We have received a communication containing strictures upon the publi- cation made by the Indian Agent at Chicago, in relation to a remark contained in a proclamation of Gov. Reynolds, issued after the Stillman affair, in which an apprehension was expressed that the Pottowatomies had joined the enemy. "At the time the proclamation was issued, his excellency stated what he supposed to be the fact; which he had an undeniable right to do. "When the article from the Indian Agent replying to the Governor's proclamation was first published, it struck us as being exceedingly misjudged and discourteous — We regarded it in the light of a public attack by an officer oj the general government, on the chief magistrate of our State. Had the Agent confined his remarks to the point in controversy, and had stated that the Gover- nor had been misinformed, we should have considered that his course had been just and his object praiseworthy. There was nothing in the case which required the personal and exceptionable reflections in the publication of the Indian Agent; and on this subject, we have never yet heard an opinion dissenting from ours. "With respect to the communication referred to, we must say it is quite too acrid for the columns of the Journal. We are sincerely of the opinion, that no good could result from its publication to any party concerned." In so far as it might damage his own character and reputation, Governor Reynolds agreed with the editor of the above named newspaper; because he aided in blotting out from the face of the earth every copy of the Springfield Herald from May to October, 1832. In this way, Indian Agent Owen was prevented from telling posterity what his personal opinion was of the conduct of the Black Hawk War and the gubernatorial instigator of this grotesque military enterprise. The Herald seems to have been the only newspaper which openly accused the governor of personal responsibility for the mismanagement of the campaign. For this candor it was destroyed; and extirpated from the source materials of Illinois history. In later years John Reynolds industriously gathered information for his book My Own Times. This information included the Herald article by Indian Agent Owen, and doubtless many other strictures made upon the conduct of the 104 CHICAGO'S TRUE FOUNDER former governor and commander in chief of the Illinois Militia in the Black Hawk War. But the author of My Own Times expunged all this section of state history. What part he played in destroying historical evidence against him, is not easily ascertained. But this much is known: John Reynolds possessed the evidence. He concealed it in My Own Times, of which he was the author. The evidence has been destroyed. By eliminating the damaging testimony contained in the Herald, posterity has been deprived of a document which, without doubt, revealed clearly John Reynolds' design of exterminating the Potawatomi and seizing their lands, — a scheme that was rendered abortive by Thomas J. V. Owen, the savior of Chicago. Speculation as to the contents of the Indian Agent's article in the Springfield newspaper must be founded upon the well established character of Mr. Owen for (1) propriety of official conduct, (2) legal rectitude of his official acts, (3) thorough knowledge of the laws and regulations controlling his adminis- tration, (4) precise statement of reasons which inspired his performance of duty in any particular case, and (5) his devotion to "the public service". Indian Agent Owen was well aware that the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 controlled the situation in Chicagoland regarding Indian relations. This funda- mental statute declared a clear mandate as to immunity of the Redmen, in the words which follow: "The utmost good faith shall always be observed toivard the Indians .... and in their property, rights, and liberty, they shall never be invaded or disturbed unless in just and lawful wars AUTHORIZED BY CONGRESS:' Mr. Owen knew that Congress had not authorized a war upon the Potawatomi; and, consequently, Governor Reynolds was violating the funda- mental law of the land in invading and disturbing these Indians in their "property, rights, and liberty". It is conceivable that Indian Agent Owen wrote the Herald castigation as a warning to the state's chief executive that every act of his aggression against the Indians not "authorized by Congress" created a liability against the commonwealth of Illinois. This liability might bring about heavy indemnities, should the injured persons ask, through the courts, that the State of Illinois make atonement. The "personal and exceptionable reflections" contained in the Herald article, as noted by the editor of the Springfield Journal, were perhaps Mr. Owen's masterly summation of the legal reasons for the governor's culpability under the Northwest Ordinance. If the Indian Agent's indictment of John Reynolds were sound in law and logic, that would be indeed "too acrid for the columns of the Journal" and "no good could result from its publication to any party concerned"; because it involved the State of Illinois in jeopardy of claims for war reparations. Had Governor Reynolds submitted his "war measures" to Indian Agent Owen's supervision, — as it was his duty to do, — he would have established a legal proof that he was acting in concert with the lawfully constituted repre- sentative of the United States in the Indian country of Illinois. Such sub- mission to federal authority would have proved the governor's good intentions OWEN SAVES CHICAGO 105 to conform to the mandate of the Ordinance of 1787. But Secretary Field's censorious contribution in the Whig and Intelligencer becomes a virtual pleading of "Guilty" on behalf of his eminent protege; for it derides, despises and defies the Indian Agent: and, thereby, sets up a proof that Governor Reynolds' war was not only not authorized by Congress, but it did not have even the sanction of the United States Indian Bureau. As a dire consequence of this, Mr. Owen well knew that the State of Illinois was without an adequate defense in an action for violation of the Northwest Ordinance by its own chief magistrate. Certain it is that Indian Agent Owen made some statements in the Herald article, which were so overwhelmingly adverse to the cause of Governor John Reynolds that it was deemed expedient to extirpate them from the eyes of men and to eliminate them as source materials of the legitimate history of Illinois. Reynolds, in his book, My Own Times, refers to the proclamation after Stillman's defeat by saying: "I wrote out the orders by candle light for the new troops, on my own responsibility, without the requisition of the General Government." And in another place, he says: "I reflected, also, on the great responsibility of levying troops at my own instance. But the danger to the frontiers was so pressing that I decided on the 16th of April, to call out a large number of volunteers. I did this on my own responsibility, as I had not then received any requisition from General Atkinson, who commanded the regular forces at Rock Island." Considered in the light of the Northwest Ordinance of 1787, the military operations initiated in 1832 by Governor John Reynolds constituted an outlaw war which had not been authorized by Congress. CHAPTER TWELVE CHOLERA, CALUMNY AND GENERAL SCOTT WHEN Major General Winfield Scott reached the Indian country with 1,000 soldiers of the United States Army, his entire command was wiped out as a fighting unit by the Cholera. He came to put a speedy end to the Black Hawk War; but the Asiatic plague put a swifter termination to his magnifi- cent designs for military glory. Not a soldier of his command ever took a part in the vanquishment of the Sacs. Never, perhaps, in American military history has there been so terrifying a visitation of Providence as this devastation of an army sent to wage an unholy war against a few hundred half starved savages who had been defrauded of their natural and legal rights. "Seldom have we known an instance of so disastrous a result to an expe- dition, undertaken in the highest mood of expectation, as in this case; without seeing an enemy, without the consolation of victory, or the excitement of battle, hundreds of brave men have dropped down and died; and of a force of 1,000 well equipped troops, which scarcely three weeks ago left this city, not 400 will probably reach Chicago. Of the 220 who accompanied Gen. Scott, not more than one third are fit for duty. Of the 400 who were with Col. Twiggs not one fifth remain." The above requiem was sent out by the Detroit Journal, and was copied by eastern newspapers. The quotation is taken from The National Gazette of Philadelphia of July 27, 1832. Responsibility for this holocaust of soldiers rests squarely upon the shoulders of General Scott, whose mad ambition to perform a military feat could not be restrained by reason, prudence, humanity nor plain common sense. He drove his soldiers at a killing pace. The troops from Old Point Comfort traveled 1,500 miles in twelve days. Cholera attacked his command at Detroit. This did not stay his headlong race to Chicago. Prudence might have urged him to debark near Detroit and hospitalize his sick troopers where medical supplies were abundant. Common sense might have urged him to be alert against a pestilence which was then killing its victims in New York City at the rate of 1,172 in seven days. Humanity might have urged him to take pity on the young lads, whose terror of the plague turned them practically insane and made military discipline as inept as a mandate to the dwellers of the jungle. Reason might have told him that to leave two thirds of his soldiers behind him was equivalent to abandonment by their commander in chief. Nothing could stay General Scott's determination to move forward to the seat of war. He packed 400 men in the Sheldon Thompson, leaving his surgeon in chief, Dr. Josiahl Everett behind with Col. Twiggs in the Henry Clay. This ship never got farther than Fort Gratiot. Here Col. Twiggs landed his stricken troops, who were in a state of insubordination. More than half of them at 106 CHOLERA, CALUMNY AND GENERAL SCOTT 107 once deserted and died by the score on the highway between that point and Detroit. General Scott's reasons for pushing his command onward were, he said: "The appearance of this disease among so considerable a portion of the troops destined for the field under my command, presents several serious and difficult questions for my decision. I cannot thin the infected vessel by trans- ferring a portion of the troops from her to another transport without spreading the evil, nor would I be willing to land them or a portion of them among our inhabitants even had I permission to do so. "To Fort Gratiot — the double objection applies; for, besides the neighboring inhabitants, the garrison there would probably take the infection, and the garri- son will, in a day or two, be called for by the third or fourth steamer engaged below to take troops and supplies to Chicago. The same thing may be said of Mackinaw. In the meantime the boat is too much crowded, having about 400 souls on board, and the infection is spreading. Her crowded state is in part owing to lieutenant colonel Twiggs' collecting about 60 recruits more than he or I expected." Before General Scott reached Lake Huron, the captain of the Sheldon Thompson made so vigorous a protest against the crowded condition of his boat that the commanding officer ordered two of his six companies aboard of her to disembark at Fort Gratiot. "The weather being hot, and having some appre- hension of cholera, I yielded," wrote the general on July 11, from Chicago. "Fort Dearborn is now one entire hospital," he wrote. "We arrived off this place last night and landed all the troops this forenoon .... At this moment we have seventy-seven seized with the same disorder, and nineteen deaths." Through the clear blue water of Lake Michigan the bodies of these nineteen victims could be seen lying on the bottom of the lake. The captain of the Sheldon Thompson moved his vessel to escape the horrifying sight; whilst boatmen rowing about the ship brought to land, no doubt, the news that the lake was covered with dead bodies. Four days later, General Scott reported that out of one hundred and ninety men, he had lost fifty-three by death, and seventy-seven by sickness through the ravaging disease. All morning on July 1 1 the seventy-seven stricken troopers were seen getting from the boats to Fort Dearborn. Consternation spread throughout the settle- ment. "The female portion of the town," it was later observed, was in a frenzy of terror. Indian Agent Owen waited long into the night of July 10 to confer with General Scott, but was unable to do so. At daylight he visited him with some leading citizens and discussed (1) the war; (2) the cholera; and (3) employ- ment of a dispatch rider to take the general's letters to Detroit. As all three subjects became the base of some acrimonious statements by General Scott in his official communications, it is important to know that: (1) Indian Agent Owen gave General Scott all the information in his possession regarding the disposition of the Potawatomi toward the hostile Saukees; and their determination to stand loyal to their Great Father and give no aid to the warriors of Black Hawk. This information was the last word on 108 CHICAGO'S TRUE FOUNDER that subject. General Scott, therefore, had complete knowledge of the state of mind of the Potawatomi. (2) General Scott admonished Mr. Owen and his associates to have the inhabitants remove their families to a place of safety from the cholera. Indian Agent Owen informed the commanding officer that he was going to take his family part way to St. Louis; and that he would return immediately as soon as they were safely bestowed. (3) Mr. Owen recommended Robert A. Kinzie as a trustworthy person to convey General Scott's official letters to Detroit. With the entire population ready to scatter in all directions from the plague, it may be imagined that to obtain the services of a horse and courier was a difficult problem. Payment for such a service, at such a time, in the dire situation the general found himself, was not, or should not have been, a subject for parsimonious haggling. No specific payment seems to have been agreed upon. However glorious may be the military repute of General Winfield Scott, his character as a man may be estimated by his conduct in regard to the three subjects he discussed with the Chicago delegation the morning after he arrived. (1) Four days after Mr. Owen informed him of the Indian situation in complete detail, General Scott reported to Secretary of War Cass: "He (Mr. Owen) would have been a great resource to me in obtaining information as to the temper and designs of the Pottawatimies, and other Indians. I am at a loss to whom to apply for information on this head." (2) In the same letter General Scott makes the slanderous statement: "A few of the inhabitants have returned here; but not the Indian Agent, Mr. Owen. He went off on the 11th and is not expected back whilst there is any danger from cholera." Inasmuch as Mr. Owen had assured General Scott of his immediate return as soon as his family was safe, the general's statement was afterwards revealed to be a clear piece of mendacity, — or such a case of forget- fulness as to make it clear that his mental faculties were completely bewildered by his harrowing misfortunes. (3) When Robert A. Kinzie presented a bill for $60 in pay for a horse and rider to carry the commanding officer's message to Detroit, General Scott repudiated the account. He requested the Indian Bureau to refuse payment of the amount named, and make payment in the sum of eight dollars. Immediately after his conference with General Scott on the morning of July 11, Indian Agent Owen set about with vigor to safeguard the residents and Indians. Having on hand a large quantity of provisions for the Potawatomi, he delivered them in bulk; and ordered the redmen to their villages. They fled like frightened blackbirds. All day Wednesday, he was occupied with these last duties. Thursday morning he left Chicago with his family, and reached Holland's Grove on July 16. Here he wrote a letter to his friend, Charles Lamb, formerly of Kaskaskia; which he forwarded to Springfield. He then returned to his post of duty at Chicago, as he had assured General Scott he would do; while Mrs. Owen, with her three boys, Thomas, William and George, aged eight, five, and two years respectively, continued their journey. Mr. Owen's letter from Holland's Grove appears in the Sangamo Journal CHOLERA, CALUMNY AND GENERAL SCOTT 109 of July 26, 1832. It was dated from that place on July 16, and the printed text of it follows: "My Dear Sir: My family are flying from the cholera. It has made its appearance in Chicago, among the troops of maj. General Scott, who arrived at Fort Dearborn on the night of the 10th inst. in the Steamer Sheldon Thompson. Eighteen soldiers died in about 30 hours, and when I left Chicago, on Thursday morning last, there were between 30 and 40 cases. Every family has left Chicago, and gone in different directions to escape from the malignant disease." General Scott reported that three residents of the town had died from cholera on July 19, and on that same day Mr. Owen, the Indian Agent had returned. The general himself, therefore, is authority for the statement that Mr. Owen did return to his post of duty as quickly as he had promised to do so. He consumed four days in getting to Holland's Grove; and three days in return- ing. This evidence is important in view of the later controversy that raged around the facts in the case. Mr. Owen's absence "of a few days" was prompted by regard for his family at a time of extreme danger to them. The fact that he returned at all to face the pestilence in Chicago is evidence of high courage and devotion to his official responsibilities. Indian Agent Owen's flight from the plague was broadcast throughout the state by letters. The Illinois Advocate of Edwardsville, on July 24, said: "We have received a letter, dated at Fort Walker, Head Quarters of a battalion of rangers, under command of Major Buckmaster of this place, which states that Col. T. J. V. Owen, Indian Agent at Chicago, had arrived at that place, with his family, from Chicago, who brought the information that Gen. Scott arrived there on the 11th, with 18 companies of U. States troops, having the cholera, 17 of whom died before 9 o'clock next morning, and that several new cases had occurred. Report says that the inhabitants all left the place within three hours of the arrival of the troops (and before landing, we infer.)" Political enemies at once got busy and spread reports that Col. Owen had deserted his post because of fright and cowardice. The Detroit Courier was the worst offender in this regard and stated in its issue of July 19: "When the express left Chicago on the 12th, the disease was believed to be abating. As soon as the troops appeared, and it was known that cholera was aboard, the inhabitants fled in every direction, including Col. Owen, the Indian Agent, who with his family, had deserted his post, and was on his way to St. Louis." When the Courier arrived in Chicago with the calumnious charge that Mr. Owen had fled from his post of duty, there was an indignation meeting of the citizens. They knew the charge was false because the Indian Agent had already returned and was then performing his duties in their midst. They did not know, at the time, that General Scott himself was the author of the slander. Immediately a group of them sent a refutation of the charge to Secretary of War Cass, in which they gave a very thorough vindication of Mr. Owen's courage and loyalty. Their joint letter, in addition, gives a vivid picture of the terror of the inhabitants, especially the women folk, when General Scott brought this living death among them. 110 CHICAGO'S TRUE FOUNDER The communication to the secretary of war reads: "Sir, In the Detroit Courier of the 19th inst. is contained an article in relation to the movements of the Army under the command of Major General Scott, and the introduction of the cholera at this place by the General's troops, and among other things it is stated, that in the general panic which prevailed among the Citizens, Col. Owen, the Indian Agent at this place had deserted his post and was on his way with? his family to St. Louis. "From what source the Editor has obtained his information in relation to the conduct of Col. Owen on that occasion we know not, but it becomes our duty, and it is imperiously demanded of us as an act of Justice towards a faithful and vigilant public officer, whose conduct in the present emergencies meets the unqualified approbation of his countrymen, — to turn aside from him by a plain statement of facts the shaft of Calumny which has been directed against him by an unknown hand. "Upon the landing of General Scott from the Sheldon Thompson, which was on the night of the 10th instant about 11 o'clock, it was reported through the town that the cholera was on board, and before Col. Owen took any steps towards leaving the place he and some of the citizens waited upon General Scott at his headquarters to ascertain the facts in relation to the rumour, but was not enabled to have a conference with him until daylight, when he confirmed the rumour, and from the general tenor of his remarks the Citizens thought them- selves admonished to take their families to some place of safety, although he stated he did not believe it contagious. "No person other than those who witnessed it, can imagine the panic and consternation which seized upon the female part of the town; and no person other than one entirely reckless and regardless of the Welfare of his family would have done otherwise than remove them. The character of the disease was unknown, only so far as it was known and believed to be one of the most appalling maladies that had ever scourged the human family, and before Col. Owen left, it was distinctly understood, and he had repeatedly asserted that he should return so soon as he had conducted his family through that part of the road that was considered dangerous, and this, Sir, he accordingly did. "The Indians, as soon as they heard the report, were seized with even more panic than the citizens, and in a short time not one was to be seen. From all these circumstances it seems to us, Sir, that no man in his senses would have done otherwise than Mr. Owen did." The letter was signed by Richard J. Hamilton, Robert A. Kinzie, James Kinzie, John S. C. Hogan and George Walker. Secretary of War Cass hurried from Washington immediately upon receipt of General Scott's letter informing him of the calamity that had befallen his troops. He arrived some time prior to July 29 at Detroit. There Mr. Owen addressed a dignified statement of his official conduct; and paid some caustic compliments to his unknown calumniator. His letter to Cass reads: "Sir, Mr. Kercheval Sub Agent has this moment arrived, by whom I learn that you are at Detroit, and also that representations emanating from high author- ity had reached you, highly prejudicial to me as a public officer, therefore, respectfully beg leave to lay before you a brief statement of facts. CHOLERA, CALUMNY AND GENERAL SCOTT 111 "From the commencement of our present Indian difficulties to the present day I have made use of all my exertions, so as to manage my agency as best to comport with the interest of the Government, and I regret that an absence of a few days only, when there was not an Indian to be seen here, should have given rise to unnecessary representation. "When Gen. Scott arrived, he sent for me, and without the least delay, I immediately waited upon him. He requested my place of residence, for his headquarters. I yielded at once. He inquired of me the situation of the country occupied by the enemy. Being unacquainted with it myself, I could not possibly give the Gen. satisfactory information; but referred him to Stephen Mack, Esq., and others who were personally well acquainted with the country. An officer present took down their names. "Suitable persons to carry expresses were the next subject of inquiry; and of these there were none whom I could recommend for that service, but referred him to the Messers Kenzie (James and Robert) and told him that if it were possible they would procure one, — the truth is every person suitable for service of that kind were already with Messers Caldwell and Robinson, "I must be greatly mistaken if I did not distinctly say to Gen. Scott 'that I should accompany my family on their way towards St Louis, as far as the mouth of the Fox River (75 miles) and return immediately. I was well aware that the public interest could not suffer the least, otherwise I should not have gone one night from my station. So soon as it was known that Cholera was on board the Sheldon Thompson, the Indians encamped here were furnished with provisions and dispersed by me, lest this disease might be contagious. "I was a stranger to the character of this awful malady, and I felt that the safety of my family was a paramount duty, and more especially when it was impossible that any results injurious to the public interest could possibly accrue, from the course which I intended and did pursue; and Gen. Scott him- self, although he gave it as his opinion that the cholera would soon subside, yet he recommended the propriety of sending our families to the settlements in the country, for a short time at least. "In conclusion I will only remark, that I can justify my whole course of conduct as an officer of the Government, and that too, by the evidences of citizens, whose character for veracity and strict integrity stands as fair, as those who have chosen to take it upon themselves to make any representations in relation to my official conduct." Secretary Cass arrived in Detroit at a fortunate moment for Indian Agent Owen; for he was enabled to obtain first hand and authentic information regard- ing the false charge made by General Scott. Great excitement prevailed in official quarters, for Mr. Owen's influence with the Indians and his superb control of them during the past hectic weeks of apprehension made his presence highly necessary. His "desertion" of his post, as alleged by Scott, was little less than a tragedy to the administration of Indian Affairs at Chicago. Governor Porter expressed the department's concern in a letter ordering Sub-Agent Gholson Kercheval to hurry to Chicago and take up Mr. Owen's duties. Under date of July 23, he said: "Sir, In every letter received within the last week from Chicago, it is 112 CHICAGO'S TRUE FOUNDER stated that Thomas J. V. Owen, Esquire; the Indian Agent at the post, had left the place, and up to the 18th, had not returned. Major General Scott complains of the great inconvenience he is put to on this account. "You know that provision has been made by the Department of War under the Act of Congress, for such of the friendly Indians as may seek protec- tion within that Agency, and Col. Owen was authorized to draw requisitions on the Assistant Commissary for provisions for this purpose to an amount not exceeding 40,000 rations, which provisions he was directed to issue on Col. Owen's requisitions. A weekly report was to be transmitted to the department by Col. Owen, showing the number of friendly Indians at his Agency, dis- tinguishing the tribes to which they belong, and the (number) of men, women, and children and so forth. "I cannot conceive how Col. Owen can reconcile it with his conscience to leave his post at such a time. He should be on the ground, attending not only to all his duties as heretofore, but rendering every possible aid to General Scott, when so much might be done by a person acquainted with the country, the inhabitants round about, etc., towards alleviating the wants of the sick, procuring messengers to ride express, etc. What has become of the Indians; whether they have been left without provisions; are now starving or how the other concerns of the Agency are getting along; I have no information. Col. Owen obtained no permission to leave his post. He has not informed that he has gone away; nor do I know when he will return. "Under these circumstances I require you to repair forthwith to Chicago; and there take charge of the Indian Agency; and all matters relating thereto; and perform the several duties which Mr. Owen would be required to do, were he there. I hope this order will put you to no inconvenience. But if it should you will see the motive which dictates it; and I know you will cheerfully obey it." Mr. Owen had not informed Governor Porter either of his going with his family nor of his return; since he was accustomed to quick trips out into the Indian country wherever danger threatened. His absence of a few days, there- fore, was in the nature of routine administration; for he was a man of action, rather than of words. The success of his Indian management was, in fact, due to his swift energy in getting things done. Sub Agent Kercheval was at the time on the important mission of conciliat- ing the Potawatomi, with Billy Caldwell and Alexander Robinson, in the danger zone of contact with the Sacs, whither he had been sent by the Chicago Indian Agent. Big Foot at Lake Geneva, the tribes about Milwaukee; the Chippewas in southern Wisconsin; and the Potawatomi in the region of Peoria and the Rock River; all required attention to prevent Black Hawk from getting a foothold amongst them. Meanwhile in Washington Assistant Secretary of War John Robb was in a state of internal commotion in the absence of his superior, Lewis Cass. Mr. Robb believed that the Chicago Indian agency had been abandoned by Mr. Owen, on the word of General Scott, and felt something should be done about it. He, therefore, wrote the following bit of sparkling idiocy on July 30, to Mr. Kercheval: CHOLERA, CALUMNY AND GENERAL SCOTT 113 "Sir: In consequence of the departure from Chicago of Mr. Owen, from a causeless fear of the cholera, the Department has to require of you your best exertions to obtain such information respecting the acts and temper of the several tribes within your agency, as Major General Scott may desire. You will also avail yourself of every opportunity of aiding him in his operations." Cholera victims were dying at the rate of 350 per day in the east when John Robb wrote the above letter. The chief executive of Pennsylvania, Gov- ernor George Wolf, at the time, issued a proclamation urging the people to petition Almighty God to remove the pestilence from his commonwealth, saying: "It having pleased the Sovereign Ruler of the Universe, in the course of his just and wise providence, to visit our beloved country with a desolating pestilence dominated the Spasmodic or Asiatic Cholera, and believing that mercy is a distinguishing attribute of the Deity, that he exhibits his strange works of judgment by the infliction of chastisements upon his creatures, because of their transgressions for the benign purpose of causing them to turn from the evil of their ways and to fly to Him, as to their sure refuge and rock of Salvation The governor then set August 8, 1832, Thursday, as "a day of fast, humiliation and prayer, imploring God in Heaven" to free and deliver his people from the terrible affliction that had come upon them. At such a time, in a welter of death, desolation and terror that writers say was past all description, Assistant Secretary of War John Robb stated that Mr. Owen had left his post from tf a causeless fear of the cholera." That phrase deserves to stand for all time as the classic American expression of bureaucratic imbecility. The turmoil in the Department of Indian Affairs, and the havoc that nearly wrecked Mr. Owen's high reputation at Washington, caused by the babbling General Scott, came about through the pernicious habit of the general in accepting gossip and unverified rumors as truth and incorporating them in his official reports as his own firm opinion and belief. He wrote 15,000 words of goose quill letters about the Chicago cholera situation, to extol his own conduct, to bolster his judgment, to magnify his courage, to sweeten his ruthless inhumanity, and to justify his sacrifice of men and treasure of the Government. Throughout this Niagara of words there runs the egotism of this vainglorious soldier, General Winfield Scott, whose arrogance is as pitiful as his vanity; and whose cruelty is everywhere apparent. He maligned another great Chicagoan, Major William Whistler, in a manner that citizens of this great metropolis may never condone. Writing to Secretary Cass from Buffalo on June 27, 1832, enroute to Chicago, he said: "Major Whistler, I know, to be entirely inefficient, therefore, shall certainly leave him in command, in the rear, at Chicago." Now it happened, in "the devious ways of Providence," that Major Whistler brought his command of two companies of troops from Fort Niagara to Fort Dearborn without the loss of a single man through Cholera. Even in contact with the infected troops of General Scott, Major Whistler lost only two or three soldiers of his companies. Had Major Whistler's healthy, vigorous, and well 114 CHICAGO'S TRUE FOUNDER handled troops not been in Chicago to take care of Scott's stricken soldiers, it might well be believed that the latter's command would have been totally exterminated by the plague. And yet, in the records of the United States War Department stands the unchallenged defamation of this princely soldier: "Major Whistler, I know, to be entirely inefficient." Major Whistler came from a distinguished military family. His father, Captain John Whistler, built the original Fort Dearborn, as it is called, or Fort Chicago, as the military records name it, in 1803. His son, became General J. N. Whistler of the United States Army. His two brothers, Washington and George, became eminent engineers. General Scott's condemnation of Major Whistler originated, no doubt, in Whistler's demand that his soldiers be transported from Buffalo to Chicago by water. He refused the summons of Acting Governor Mason to march over- land to Fort Dearborn, "because it might fatigue his troops"; for the cholera was raging in the east and spreading rapidly along the Great Lakes. Major Whistler was too merciful a man to expose his soldiers to death unless ordered to do so from his superiors in Washington. This was only military common sense, because sick soldiers cannot fight, and dead soldiers are a liability to the government and an aid and comfort to the enemy. It was General Scott's unfortunate lack of common sense that almost exterminated his command, as the Detroit Courier indicated in its issue of July 19, speaking of the arrival of his troops in that city: "The intense heat that for a few days prevailed, and which of itself was sufficient to debilitate the finest system, has been followed by a corresponding coldness . . . much of the sickness of the troops may be attributed to excessive fatigue, extreme warm weather, and their necessarily uncomfortable situation on board a steamboat." The relative "efficiency" of General Scott and Major Whistler, may be judged from the fact that Whistler's troops had no casualties until they were obliged to take care of Scott's stricken troopers. General Scott's major losses from cholera and desertions is reported in The National Intelligencer of August 2, 1832, as follows: Commander No. Men Col. Twiggs 208 Cols. Payne, Whitney, Brooks. ....... 142 Col. Cummings 80 Col. Crane with General Scott 220 Total 650 General Scott escaped censure for his slanders upon the official character of Indian Agent Owen and Major Whistler; but his assault on his own brother- in-arms, Col. L. K. Twiggs, got him in plenty of trouble. When the hapless Col. Twiggs lay prostrate at Fort Gratiot, almost dying with cholera, General Scott wrote him a savage letter of reprimand for landing his troops. Col. Twiggs had many friends, who believed his military conduct above reproach. When he en Deserted 156 (30 deserters died) 20 4 Died . ... 44 . ... 26 . . . . 26 . ... 76 180 ....172 CHOLERA, CALUMNY AND GENERAL SCOTT 115 arrived in New York City and gave his version of the affair, there was such a reprobation of the severity of his superior officer, that General Scott found it necessary to make an official retraction, and a most complete apology. His letter to Secretary of War Cass of November 5, 1832, is among the war de- partment archives. As it bears an intimate relation to the Chicago catastrophe, and to the calumny made upon the name of Col. Owen, it is reprinted here in full for what value it may have as a document of local history. It reads: "Sir: In a letter or letters which I had the honour to address you from Chicago, in July last, I remember to have strongly condemned the conduct of lieutenant colonel Twiggs in landing the troops from the steamer Henry Clay, at, or near Fort Gratiot, instead of standing on, for Chicago, the destination of the detachment. I cannot quote the words used by me as my correspondence of that period is momentarily in the hands of my late staff, at Fort Monroe. "That condemnation was expressed — 1. On a short note, dated the 7th or 8th of July, from lieutenant colonel Twiggs himself, in which he stated that he had landed the detachment on his own responsibility, and that he had, (which was strange to me!) received no orders for his government; 2. On a rumour, thro' an unofficial channel, that he had acted in a panic, and had refused to permit my instructions to be put on board of his boat; 3. From apprehension that his conduct, in stopping by the way, would influence other steamers and detachments, in his rear, and thus defeat the whole purpose of the expedition entrusted to my command. "My indignation was certainly great, and I continued to express myself as highly displeased with him till since my return to the east. "Before seeing that officer I had casually learned, from several who were with him, particulars which had changed in part my opinion of his conduct. He himself, is now in this city, and has given me a full report of all the circumstances which governed his decision on that trying occasion. On this report, I am now fully persuaded that I have done him much injustice, and am, therefore, anxious to make every atonement in my power. "In the steamer, Sheldon Thompson, I passed the Henry Clay on the 5th of July, near Hog Island, and calling for lieutenant colonel Twiggs and Dr. Everett, ordered the former to stand on, as soon as the boat had received her fuel, and to enquire for instructions from me, at Fort Gratiot. Two letters con- taining instructions, from me, were left there accordingly. Col. Twiggs came up to that place [Fort Gratiot] the day of my departure — the 6th, and imme- diately sent lieutenant Brown ashore to get my instructions. (Italics by the editor.) "It happened, I know not how, that those instructions were sent from the Fort on board a little steamboat I had left there, to be thrown on board the Clay in passing down the river; and lieut. Col Twiggs has shown me two letter/ with the Detroit post-mark on them. He states, — and there has been no time when I would have disputed his word, that these letters came back to him several days afterwards, when he was on a bed of sickness, and after the Clay had refused to take his troops again on board. He also says, and in this, captain L. Whiting, accidentally present, fully supports him, that it was through no fault of his that the small steamboat did not throw my letters on board of the Clay. 116 CHICAGO'S TRUE FOUNDER "In respect to the panic, the officers before alluded to, as well as captain Whiting (than whom none are entitled to higher credit) assure me that Lieut, col. Twiggs was uniformly firm and military in his deportment. "I have stated that Lieut, col. Twiggs reported to me, soon after he had landed, that he had taken that step on his own responsibility. I find now that he merely meant to say that he had not called a council of his officers, in which he was right, but had he sent me a copy of a note from Dr. Everett, now shown as demanding that the troops should be landed, as essential to the safety of all, I never should have denounced a decision formed on that strong pro- fessional opinion. I am in the habit, myself, when on duty with troops, of pay- ing great deference, and even of yielding my own opinion, on matters deeply affecting health and life, to the advice of the medical staff, and in this instance, the Surgeon was not only of the highest professional standing, but also clothed with the imposing designation of 'medical director of the Army.' "I will not say that, had this very strong medical opinion been sent to me, at the time, that I would have fully approved of the landing, because I was extremely anxious to preserve our citizens from the danger of contagion, and had expressed that anxiety by cautioning lieut. col. Twiggs not to hold un- necessary intercourse with either the Fort of the inhabitants in passing Gratiot; and because I was, at Chicago, infinitely vexed at the prospect of being deprived of so many troops; but now looking back calmly at the circumstances of the moment, I do approve of the decision in question. "I do not hold that an act, right at the time, under all the circumstances, can be rendered wrong by subsequent events which could not have been rea- sonably foreseen or apprehended. Hence it is useless to to discuss the question — whether fewer men would not have been lost by standing on, than were lost by landing. The latter course caused a disperson from panic, among the recruits, and consequently, of many deaths among the deserters. These desertions and deaths, when I heard of them, increased my indignation against lieut. col. Twiggs. In this, however, as he could not well have foreseen such consequences, I did him an injustice." The above absolution of Col. Twiggs by General Scott must be considered in connection with the following facts: (1). Dr. Josiah Everett became a victim of the cholera and died at Fort Gratiot on July 15. He, therefore, could give no evidence as to the time nor the circumstances under which he wrote the alleged order shown to General Scott demanding the landing of the troops. If the note was dated, that very important fact was not alluded to by General Scott. (2) . If Col. Twiggs landed his troops upon the virtual order of Dr. Everett, he did not land them upon his own responsibility, as he stated to General Scott in his letter of July 7, in which he said: "The responsibility of the whole matters rests on me." He states in the same letter: "It is my opinion as well as Doct. Everett's that it would be unsafe to embark again on board of the steamboat now with us," but Col. Twiggs does not mention that the original landing was done with the advice and consent, as well as the written order, of the highest medical authority in the Army. Nor was any such evidence or official order pro- CHOLERA, CALUMNY AND GENERAL SCOTT 117 duced from July 7 to November 5, although General Scott had continuously denounced the landing in army circles the intervening four months. (3). The only person who could give testimony on the subject without prejudice was the skipper of the mail boat [attached to Fort Gratiot — Ed.] who was instructed to throw Scott's two letters on board the Henry Clay. This skipper could testify why he did not put the two letters aboard the Clay when he met her coming up the river. He could state why he did the unbelievable thing of sending them back to Detroit, eighty miles away, for transmission back to the garrison commander at Fort Gratiot, — the station for which the skipper was acting as messenger. This mail boat captain was the only man who knew all the facts; but his testimony was not wanted, — it appears. General Scott's condemnation of Col. Twiggs, Major Whistler, and Indian Agent Owen, seems to have been based on the same foundation as his exonera- tion of Col. Twiggs, — that is, his own credulity and arrogance, which made reason subservient to his inordinate vanity. Scott's shattered troops left Chicago some days after their commander in chief, about July 29. The general left in company with a few officers and learned on August 7 at Prairie du Chien that the Black Hawk War was over. The Saukees had been defeated at Bad Axe five days before he assumed command of the army. General Scott's unfortunate disposition to malign others and praise himself made him an object of public censure; and caused newspapers to flail him rather unmercifully as the years went by. Like all persons who are slaves to approba- tion, when he was treated to a dose of his own medicine of disparagement, he was grieved. On a visit to Chicago, August 4, 1844, Scott attended church when the regular preacher was absent and a sermon was read by Isaac N. Arnold, as the latter relates in Early Days in Chicago. The subject of the Arnold sermon was "Vanity," which the author says was "a weakness for which General Scott, with all his great qualities, was notorious." In an interview, later on, the general had this to say: "The world and the newspapers call me vain. Perhaps I am, and perhaps I have done some things of which a man might justly be proud, if not vain — of this posterity will judge. But it seems to me the newspapers are harsh in their judgments." No better example of Scott's vanity could be cited than a letter he wrote to Secretary of War Cass from Buffalo, N. Y., July 27, 1832, two weeks before his arrival in Chicago. The first two paragraphs read: "My Dear Sir: I had not time, at New York, nor at any intermediate point, to make you my hearty acknowlegments for your private note which accom- panied your official communication. In looking over the latter again, I do not find that a word could be added, or a word taken away. It tells me distinctly what I am expected to do in all probable and important matters, and it gives me ample means and authority to do what is enjoined. It is a real happiness to act under instructions of that character. The work shall be done, and well and quickly done. "The compliment made to me, in your message to my wife, was ingeniously calculated to soothe her, and she needed consolation, for she was under a 118 CHICAGO'S TRUE FOUNDER previous cholera-panic. I am, therefore, doubly thankful for the well timed flattery to myself — intended for, and coupled with, as it was, with Mrs. Scott." From the above letter it is evident that President Jackson had empowered Secretary Cass to clothe General Scott with plenary powers to subdue Black Hawk. In justice to the general it must be kept in mind that the full pressure of the national administration was urging him on; and Scott responded with extraordinary energy. Critics in the eastern states were denouncing the Govern- ment for the situation in Illinois; while the dilatory tactics of General Atkinson and the wholesale mischiefs for which Governor Reynolds was responsible, placed the President and the War Department in a humiliating position. 4 * 5 It may be said that the entire eastern seaboard states had become aroused with curiosity and acute interest in the struggle in Illinois. Here was a combat in which a governor with 17,000 militiamen at his beck and call, aided by a military force from the United States Army, seemed unable to chase out of Illinois one Indian chief and three hundred and fifty of his braves who had brought their wives and families into the country with them. Never, perhaps, did a city capitalize so bountifully on a great calamity as Chicago did on the cholera plague and the extermination of more than one half of General Scott's army of eighteen companies, numbering close to a thousand men within the short space of two weeks. The dead soldiers, and the manner of their death, gave such a tragic sensationalism to the news that the entire country was thrilled with the drama of death that had just happened at the canal town. The survivors of Scott's command, practically all from the eastern part of the United States, told marvelous tales of Chicagoland on their return from the valley of death. All during the winter these soldier propa- gandists related the vast empire's wealth in newly acquired Indian lands; and the promise of homesteads for all who would come west. And thousands came. Emigrants began to arrive early in the spring of 1833; and soon the tidal wave of new settlers overflowed Illinois and the country that soon became Wisconsin. Most of them passed through Chicago; but comparatively few remained there. Capital followed emigration. Chicago's biggest advertisements were the cholera plague and the Black Hawk War; its greatest asset was the Illinois and Michigan Canal; its greatest prophecy of wealth and power was its location in the Mississippi Valley, the center of transportation, trade, commerce, and the flow of travel east and west. CHAPTER THIRTEEN OWEN THE TREATY MAKER THOMAS J. V. OWEN held a commanding influence over the United Tribes of Potawatomi, Chippewa and Ottawa Indians. His administration reflects an invincible firmness toward the redmen on matters of principle and ordetly government; combined with a disposition to take infinite pains to satisfy their legitimate desires and provide for "their little wants." He stood prepared and eager to fight any white man who prevented justice to his "red children"; from the President of the United States to the most incorrigible trader or bootlegger. His letters show there were times when he had to do both. An instance of his wrath appears in a letter he wrote to B. J. Laughton, Belle Fontaine, (near Riverside) on May 31, 1832, when the hostile Saukees were near Chicago, and greedy traders sought to sell the Indians whiskey, — a crime of peculiar infamy at the moment. Mr. Owen wrote: 10 "Mr. Forbes informes me that the Indians procure whiskey in large quan- tities from this place. I have just taken measures to guard against it. I am told that Francis Bourbonis has just started with two kegs. Tell him, if you please, that it is my request that he deposit it in your house until this affair is over. If he distributes it among the Indians here, he may rest assured that I shall spare no pains to punish him by law." So deep was his sense of outrage against the degredation of the savages by the white man's whiskey, that Indian Agent Owen declared himself in favor of the death penalty for bootleggers. In a letter to Elbert Herring, head of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, of October 25, 1833, the evil ways of the whiskey smugglers are related: "Sir, By the 13th Section of your circular of 6th May, 1833 containing instructions for the government of Superintendents and Agents connected with the Indian Department, it is made the duty of such Agents as reside in the Indian country, to which the State or Territorial jurisdiction has not been extended, to furnish particular statements of the number of persons engaged in the traffic of liquor to the Indians etc. "In answer to that part of your Circular, I have the honor to state, that there is no individual within the limits of my agency and within the Indian Country engaged exclusively in that traffic. Indeed there are but few persons now engaged in the Indian trade, such as are, have procured license and entered into bond agreeably to the intercourse Act of 1802; and although I am disposed to believe, that most of them Secretely manage to convey small quantities of liquor into the Indian Country, it is evident that the use of it among them [the Indians] is very limited, were it otherwise difficulties would exist among themselves, and they would at once complain to their agent and request his interposition to have it Seized, — for although most of them are the slaves of 119 120 CHICAGO'S TRUE FOUNDER intemperance, there are many among them who are sober and sturdy, and who are anxiously making efforts to reform their people. "I am at a loss to suggest any mode by which ardent spirits can be excluded from the Indian Country, for the trader, disposed to deal in the article, has cunning and management enough to keep it so concealed as to elude the search of the most vigilant officer. "Could the punishment of death be inflicted upon such as violate ths present laws in relation thereto, and the testimony of the Indian admitted upon the trial of the accused it would put an effectual stop to the Traffic. But these are measures evidently too rigid and inconsistent with the views of the Govern- ment." Long before the date of the above letter, Mr. Owen had given up all ex- pectation of saving the Indians from the white man's liquor. It was the one impassible barrier to friendly intercommunication between the two races, for it was the father of many evils. "Certain it is," he wrote to Governor Porter on March 10, 1832, "that the Indians and the whites, in this country, cannot long remain neighbors, and be at peace, unless it were possible to prevent the intro- duction of ardent spirits among them, and this I believe to be a moral im- possibility." Echoing the sentiments above expressed by Indian Agent Owen, a group of reputable and experienced Indian traders and merchants sent a memorial to Governor Porter, about this time, asking that government inspectors be detailed to cure the evils of bootleg whiskey. The communication reads: "The petition of the undersigned Indian traders and others respectfully represents: "That your petitioners for a series of years have beheld with great con- cern and sorrow the introduction of whiskey and other spiritous liquors among the Indians, which has produced an almost total prostration of their moral faculties, poverty, suffering, and evils of every kind. Although the laws, inflict- ing penalties on persons who sell ardent spirits to the Indians, are sufficiently severe if they were enforced, yet experience has shown us, that they sleep in the Statute book unexecuted, and your petitioners are unacquainted with a single prosecution for a breach of them, although the infractions of them is a subject of daily occurrence. "Your petitioners entertain no doubt that your Excellency would adopt any practicable plan which would arrest this destructive evil, producing such rapid deterioration of the indian character in all its aspects. That the surest and only mode according to their belief, is the appointment of a confidential and trust worthy person, to be stationed at every post, resorted to by Traders for the sale of their goods to the indian tribes, whose duty it should be to search and inspect all goods sent thither, and to seize and confiscate all forbidden liquor." The above petition was signed by John Biddle, H. K. Avery, J. Kearsley, H. Griswold, Edwards Brigham, P. Davis, Jr., M. Palmer, T. S. Wendell, W. & F. Brewster, Elliot Gray, John Noble, Shubl Conant, B. H. Laughton, B. Compeau, John R. Williams, A. M. Hurd & Co., Johnson Niles, Darius Lamson, W. L. Newberry, Jno. Owen. OWEN THE TREATY MAKER 121 Walter L. Newberry, named above, later laid the foundation for the New- berry library of Chicago. B. (Barney) H. Laughton, who is often called Lawton, had an establishment near Riverside. B. Compeau was Father Badin's traveling companion and lived at St. Joseph's Mission, near Niles. Shubal Conant was formerly a member of the trading firm of Conant and Mack. John Noble, with his brother, Mark, was a pioneer Chicago butcher. The others were identified with the Indian trade in various places throughout the northwest. Absence of the well known Indian trader and Chicagoan, later on, Gurdon S. Hubbard, indicates that the American Fur Trading company was not sympathetic with the effort to exterminate the profitable system of securing Indian trade through whiskey payments or firewater bribes. Mr. Hubbard relates in his autobiography the custom in vogue among traders to use ardent spirits in securing Indian trade. He defends his own use of it on the grounds that the Indian traders! in the St. Joseph country employed it effectively; and he had to compete with them. Indian Agent Owen's vigorous denunciation of those who debauched the Indians with trading whiskey; and the above quoted petition to Governor Porter, indicates that the better element among white men was organized against it. Besides the big task of stopping bootleg whiskey getting into the Indian country through traders, Mr. Owen wrestled with another difficulty almost as hopeless of amendment, — the jumping of ceded lands by white settlers. Upon these ceded lands, to which the Indians had relinquished title, the redmen were allowed to live, hunt, trap and fish, so long as the country had not been sur- veyed or opened to settlement by the government. The United States guaranteed the Indians unmolested possession of ceded lands, usually for a definite number of years. Despite this solemn promise to the redmen, the United States found itself unable to stop numerous invasions of the ceded lands by impatient white settlers. All manner of strife and discord resulted from this usurpation by white men of the lands occupied by Indians. In fact, it was this kind of injustice that most angered Black Hawk and engendered the bad blood of the Saukees against the whites in western Illinois, which finally developed into the Black Hawk War. The situation existing on the lands ceded by the United Tribes at the Chicago Treaty of 1833, is explained by Mr. Owen in a letter dated January 19, 1835. He gives a clear exposition of this subject to Elbert Herring, head of department of Indian affairs: "Sir, I conceive it my duty to call your attention to a subject which seems to me to be of some importance to the government. "By reference to the 2nd Article of the Treaty of Chicago of the 26th and 27th of September, 1833, it will be seen that the Indians agreed to remove from all part of the land ceded which is within the State of Illinois, immediately on ratification of the Treaty. But to be permitted to retain possession of the Country North of the boundary line of said State, for the term of three years, without molestation or interruption, and under the protection of the laws of the United States. . . . . hundreds of Individuals have already traversed the Country, selected situations, and avow their determination to remove thereon in the 122 CHICAGO'S TRUE FOUNDER Spring, at all hazards. They are determined to disregard the rights of the Indians and to locate themselves in any section of the Country ceded, that they may choose to select, and they do not hesitate to say that the Government will not remove them by force." The "individuals" alluded to, however, were mistaken, for the Chicago Indian Agent was not a man to be trifled with. In reply to the above letter he was given permission by the war department to use an armed force 17 from Fort Dearborn to oust these invaders from the ceded Indian lands in Wisconsin. This vigorous measure secured the redmen from being overwhelmed completely in the peaceful possession of their ceded hunting grounds; although it could not protect them entirely from the audacity of the land-hungry pioneers. Mr. Owen's intrepid championship of the Potawatomi is related in a pre- vious chaper, in which his head-on collision with Governor John Reynolds of Illinois is set forth. The courage he displayed in this encounter; added to success in holding the Indians friendly to the government in the Black Hawk War; established him as a man of uncommon ability in the administration of Indian affairs. This period marks the turning point of his career toward distinguished service. Thomas J. V. Owen had arrived. Henceforth, widespread esteem throughout Illinois and rewards of merit from his government came to him in continuous succession. Immediately after the close of the Black Hawk War, the government set about to remove the redmen from Indiana, a measure that recent events made imperative for Indian welfare. A treaty with the Indians was called to be held at Tippecanoe. Mr. Owen was invited to represent the United Tribes, in a letter from the United States commissioners, dated at Logansport, Indiana, August 18, 1832. The letter reads: "Sir, We have been appointed by the Government (together with Mr. Crume of this State) Commissioners to treat with the Indians owning lands in Indiana, and with the Potawatomi owning lands east of the Au Plaines and Illinois rivers in the State of Illinois, & with the same tribe in the Territory of Michigan living south of the Grand river; — and would thank you to invite the Potawatamies of your agency living on the land mentioned to attend at Lake Min-en-kouk-kee, near Tippecanoe river on the 10th of October next, when we shall expect and be pleased to see you and the Potawatamies designated. "Respectfully your Obt. Servts Jonathan Jennings. _ J. W. Davis : Commissioners. Returning from the treaty, Mr. Owen reported to Governor Porter, under date of November 6, that: "The Commissioners have concluded three distinct treaties, one with the Prairie, one with the St. Joseph Potawatamies, and the other with the Wabash Potawatamies, and have succeeded in extinguishing the native title to four million acres of land." But he said nothing of his own part ,in making this treaty a success. This modesty of the Chicago Indian Agent has been the despair of his biographer. Had he told his own virtues and related his own great deeds, or had his children done so, there is little doubt that his name and fame would not have been so greatly obscured in the past seventy-five years of Chicago's written history. That trait of self concealment exists to this OWEN THE TREATY MAKER 123 day among his descendants, for this phrase: "The Owens don't talk about themselves" has baffled numerous attempts of this biographer to get the family traditions. The Tippecanoe Treaty Commissioners, however, were loud in their praise of Mr. Owen's services. Under date of October 30, 1832, they sent a letter to Secretary of War Cass from the "Treaty Grounds, Tippecanoe river," in which they acknowledged the services of the Chicago Indian Agent as follows: "Sir, We take pleasure in representing to the Department the high estima- tion in which we hold the exertions and influence of Col. Owen, Indian Agent at Chicago, in producing a favorable result to the negotiations just concluded, at this place, with the Potawatamie Indians. "We do not deem it derogatory to the exertions of other gentlemen from whose influence we received much aid, when we express the opinion, that, without the cooperation of this gentleman, we conceive it very doubtful whether a result so favourable to the Government could have been produced. "In conclusion we will say, from our association with Col. Owen, that we look upon his as an active and efficient public officier, and as such is entitled to the confidence of the Department." The letter was signed by J. W. Davis and Mark Crume, as commissioners. Young Chicago had a supreme interest in the Indian treaty of Tippecanoe; and modern Chicago will learn, for the first time through this biography, why Indian Agent Owen was so successful in his "exertions and influence" in gaining 4,000,000 acres of land for the white settlers. His dynamic energy and con- tagious enthusiasm came from three big ideas he had for the development of the infant city he was building. They were: ( 1 ) Establishing large numbers of half-breed Indians as citizens and voters on homesteads around Chicago and St. Joseph, Michigan. (2) Establishing Chicago as an educational center of considerable magni- tude, by founding a "seminary of learning" for Indians and whites in coopera- tion with Father Badin. (3) Creating a permanent settlement from which to draw students, land endowments, funds, and favorable influence for the proposed school at Chicago. Potawatomi around Chicago and at St. Joseph were, for the most part, attached by tradition and practice to the faith of the Black Robes, — and these redmen were participants in the Treaty of Tippecanoe. They willingly lent favor and aid to the design of the Chicago Indian Agent and the St. Joseph Missionary for their educational enterprise, which had already received the approbation of their Great Father, the President of the United States. Many of the chiefs who signed the Treaty, extinguishing title to 4,000,000 acres of their land, did so in the firm belief, and by the formal promise of the United States Government's commissioners, that some 100,000 acres would be given as grants to certain specified persons named in the Treaty. Had this solemn promise not been given by the commissioners, Mr. Owen declared later, these chiefs would not have consented to the sale of their land and the treaty negotiations would have been a failure. This fact was attested by the commissioners themselves, in their letter to Secretary of War Cass, who said: "Without the cooperation of this gentleman, we conceive it very doubtful 124 CHICAGO'S TRUE FOUNDER whether a result so favourable to the Government could have been produced." Unfortunately, however, Fate played a scurvy trick upon Mr. Owen, Father Badin, and the little town of Chicago. Whether by deliberate intent or the lack of legal acumen, — and that will never be known, — the United States Commissioners did not insert in the language of the completed document making the grants, that "the consent of the President" was made a part of the grant. By the omission of these five words, those grants of land were rendered inef- fective to convey title; for by act of Congress no Indian tribesman could sell his land without the written consent of the President of the United States. Knowing nothing of this flaw in the Treaty of Tippecanoe, for which he had labored so zealously to bring to a conclusion, Indian Agent Owen returned to Chicago in a triumphant spirit. His colonizing scheme was accomplished. The educational establishment would now follow; and Chicago would be a seat of learning. Prospects looked bright. Disillusionment came shortly after the Treaty had been ratified by Congress. Indian Agent Owen approved several land sales under the Tippecanoe grants. When he sent on these sale documents to Washington for official approval, he received the astounding information, that he had no right to permit these sales. He got another shock when he was told that the persons who had bought these lands were violators of an act of Congress and were subject to fine and imprisonment. Immediately he wrote a vigorous letter to Elbert Herring, Commissioner of Indian Affairs at Washington, setting forth his views boldly on the validity of the Tippecanoe grants. It was a direct challenge to the good faith of the American Government in the matter of treaty making. Although his words were dignified and restrained, yet his high indignation at the inherent iniquity of the proceedings flames throughout the communication. It was written on August 24, 1833, and reads in full: "Sir, By the 1st Article of the Treaty of Tippecanoe of the 25th Oct. 1832, the Potawatamie Tribe of Indians ceded to the United States a tract of Country included within certain described boundaries, and by the 2nd Article of the same Treaty the Courts of the U. S. and the Indians agreed that there should be reserved from the cession aforesaid certain described tracts, to individual Indians and half-breeds. The Treaty is entirely silent in relation to the Presi- dent's approbation to the sale or lease of any of said reservation. Under these circumstances, the question arises, whether these people can legally sell their reservations, to individuals wishing to purchase, either with or without the con- sent of the President; or whether the right of purchase is vested alone in the General Government. "Under the firm conviction, that upon the ratification of the Treaty, the party became vested with a bona fide title, and had full power to convey, I have in a few instances sanctioned the sale of these reservations, knowing that the purchase was made in good faith and that the grantor had received for his land a fair equivalent. The cases alluded to are, first the sale of Misc-e-maung to Richard J. Hamilton, on one section to include the village of said Misc-e- maung, and, second, the sale of Claude Laframboise to John H. Kinzie and David Hunter, of one section on Thorn creek. OWEN THE TREATY MAKER 125 "I have just been told that these purchases would be viewed by the De- partment as a direct violation of the 12th Section of the intercourse act of 1802; and the purchasers were guilty of a misdemeanor, and were liable to punishment by fine and imprisonment. "I was always of the opinion, and still am, that the section of the act referred to was intended to prohibit persons from going into the country, the Indian title to which had not been extinguished by Treaty, as provided by the Constitution, and buying, leasing, or otherwise obtaining a grant of land from any Indian, Nation or Tribe of Indians; or, to illustrate more fully my views; "Suppose, that before the cession of the Tract of country in question, 'A' had purchased a section of land of an Indian, he unquestionably would have violated the law, because the Indian having no title to the land other than an interest in common with the tribe, he could not legally convey, and the white man purchasing under such circumstances would assuredly act in direct violation of that Section of the act referred to. "But, where individual reservations have been made, within the boundary of a ceded tract, either to a pure Indian or a half-breed by Treaty Stipulation and with the consent of authorized Commissioners and the Chiefs of the Tribe, here the original Indian Title becomes extinct: and the individual, in my opinion, obtains a title in Severalty, and is vested with full power to convey. "If, however, I have misconstruced the law, and erred in sanctioning the sale of these reservations, I must ask the indulgence, not only of the Head of Indian Affairs, but of the President and Secretary of War, to impute it to the want of a proper understanding of the true meaning of the law referred to." One month after writing the above letter, Mr. Owen made a brave attempt to undo the "great injustice" resulting from the unfortunate wording of the Treaty of Tippecanoe. Measures he adopted to right the wrong will be discussed in a proper place in the succeeding chapter. It will be sufficient to say here, in speaking of his ability as a treaty maker, that he gained such esteem at Washington that he was selected to be one of the three commissioners to ne- gotiate the famous Treaty of Chicago of 1833. Because this treaty has been presented to posterity as a monster fraud upon the Indians; and because Chicago historians have never had the courage to tell the truth about it; this author will present the full history of that celebrated treaty from government documents. CHAPTER FOURTEEN CHICAGO INDIAN TREATY OF 1833 TWO eyewitnesses to the Chicago Indian Treaty negotiations of 1833 have handed down accounts of what took place in the little town one hundred years ago. One of these writers was Charles J. Latrobe, described by the historian Quaife as "a cultivated English gentleman." From the pen of "the talented Latrobe, who was a keen-sighted spectator of the proceedings," flowed a sneer- ing and contemptuous recital of the treaty negotiations, and the setting and atmosphere of the treaty grounds. His scorn of the "degraded savages" was, very likely, not more profound than his disdain of the Americans themselves. And yet this Britisher is the person elected by Andreas and other Chicago his- torians to tell posterity of the dramatic and epochal Treaty which marks the end of Indian dominion in the land of Illinois. The second chronicler of the Treaty negotiations was William Lee D. Ewing, speaker of the House of Representatives of the Illinois General Assembly, who was secretary to the Treaty Commissioners. Secretary Ewing prepared for the Bureau of Indian Affairs a "Journal of the Proceedings of a Treaty between the United States and the United Tribes of Pottawotiamies, Chippeway & Ottowas." This record, of something like 25,000 words, is preserved in the archives of the Indian Bureau at Washington. It contains the official minutes of the various meetings between the Commissioners and the Indians. From this Journal, as a source of documentary evidence, the reader may take testimony of unquestionable rectitude. Between the scurrilous diatribe on a brave-hearted pioneer town made by the gadding Englishman, Latrobe ; and the dignified report of the United States Commissioners' secretary, Mr. Ewing ; there could be only one honorable choice of selection. Latrobe desired to write a snappy story; more than he yearned to tell the truth. If he were a writer of standing and reputation, his professional instinct would have urged him to interview the Commissioners. That is what an honest chronicler would have done, out of respect to the Nation which he was visiting, and which was one of the parties to the momentous Treaty. If he were a "cultivated English gentleman," as alleged, he would have been accorded a conference by Governor Porter, Indian Agent Owen, or Mr. Weather- ford, the three representatives of the United States. They would have enlightened him upon all phases of the negotiations required by his literary needs, or his desire to know the facts in the case upon which he was to pen a permanent document of history. Evidently, Mr. Latrobe preferred to get his facts from the same source he got his atmosphere and inspiration, — the rabble and the muck. When Andreas was writing his History of Chicago in 1883, there were living in Chicago, he says, John Bates, Philo Carpenter, Gurdon S. Hubbard and A. D. Taylor. These persons, in addition to Col. Owen's sister-in-law, 126 CHICAGO INDIAN TREATY OF 1833 127 Mrs. Gholson Kercheval, were present in the little town when the Treaty ne- gotiations were under way. They knew infinitely more of the real facts and purposes of the Indian treaty than Latrobe. Yet Mr. Andreas preferred to publish the insults of a "cultivated English gentleman," rather than the accounts he might have gotten from his own neighbors and fellow townsmen of Chicago. Three years before the appearance of the Andreas history, Rufus Blanchard of Wheaton, Illinois, published Discovery and Conquests of the Northwest, in 1880. This historian views the Chicago Indian Treaty of 1833 through the eyes of Latrobe, accepting the tradition of earlier historians of its abundant iniquity. He names various persons living in 1880 who eagerly gave him data on early Chicago, but whose views on the Treaty, if they gave them, do not appear in Blanchard' s history. This kowtowing of American historians to the superficial and disdainful observations of a "cultivated English gentleman," who toddled about rather aimlessly for two or three days, has prevented lovers of history from learning just what happened in Chicago at the time. Milo M. Quaife, who produced Chicago and the Old Northwest in 1913, perpetuates the Latrobe damnation of the great treaty, and apologizes for him by saying that he was "habituated to another manner of life than that which prevailed upon the American frontier." The American version of the Chicago Indian Treaty will now be given. It shows that the Indians made a mighty good bargain, — and at making bargains, when he was sober, the wily redman was a past master at the game. "Let me tell you, madam, it is not so easy a thing to cheat the Indians as you imagine. I have tried it these twenty years, and have never succeeded." This was the reply made by M. Rolette, according to Wau-Bun, to a lady who deplored: "I would not be engaged in the Indian trade; it seems to me a system of cheating the poor Indians." According to a census prepared by Indian Agent Owen and reported by him to the Bureau of Indian Affairs, there were 5,806 members of the United Tribes who participated in the treaty negotiations, through their chiefs and headmen who represented them. Potawatomi numbered, 4,489; Ottawas, 864; and Chippewas, 453. It is believed that all of these Indians were present on the treaty grounds; certainly all their chiefs and headmen were active in the negotiations. The Potawatomi consisted of two tribes, the "Wood" and the "Prairie" Indians. The "Wood" Indians lived in the country around St. Joseph, Michigan. They were the most important and influential group, in respect to personnel, because To-pe-ne-be, the principal chief of the United Tribes, and Po-ke-gon, second principal chief who opened the treaty negotiations, had their residences and villages at St. Joseph, near Niles. Commissioners appointed to represent the United States were, George B. Porter, Governor of Michigan Territory, and superintendent of Indian Affairs in the northwest; Thomas J. V. Owen, Indian Agent at Chicago; and William Weatherford of Morgan County, Illinois, who was a member of the General Assembly. The secretary to the Commissioners, as already noted, was William Lee D. Ewing, lieutenant governor of Illinois. Secretary Ewing was appointed by Commissioners Owen and Weatherford, a majority of the board. Governor 128 CHICAGO'S TRUE FOUNDER Porter did not vote for Mr. Ewing. In fact, there had been a deadlock over the choice of a secretary. The Bureau of Indian Affairs wrote a pretty sharp letter stating that if a secretary were not immediately chosen, the government would authorize Governor Porter to name that officer. 9 The selection of Mr. Ewing followed at once by the two Illinois men on the board. Friendship for the lieutenant governor is indicated by a resolution introduced by Representative Owen before the House of Representatives thanking the Speaker of the House for his conduct during the session of 1830-1831. Detroit newspaper accounts charge Governor Porter with conducting the Indian Treaty negotiations for his personal advantage; and for claiming credit for Mr. Owen's work. These criticisms from a hostile newspaper might indicate the nature of the contest over the secretary. Governor Porter was an able lawyer and a strong administrator; such a man as might arouse hostility by his inde- pendence of conduct in a territory where he had been a stranger until his appointment as chief executive in August, 1831. He came from Lancaster, Pennsylvania; but did not assume active discharge of his duties in Michigan until June, 1832. This long absence from his post, especially during the most critical stage of the Black Hawk War, and other causes, tended to make him unpopular. From the government's point of view, however, he was an able repre- sentative. Secretary of War Cass, who controlled the Bureau of Indian Affairs at Washington, made a strong team by selecting Commissioners Porter and Owen, — for the Chicago Indian Agent had wide influence among the United Tribes. He had demonstrated exceptional ability in administering their affairs, as well as treaty making powers of the first magnitude at Tippecanoe in 1832. Thus, the interests both of the Government and the Indians would seem to have been favorably ensured. William Weatherford, the third commissioner, was a downstate political personage, then doorman of the House of Representatives. He seems to have been a minor figure in the treaty proceedings. His selection may have been a gesture of courtesy to Governor John Reynolds of Illinois, who had been pester- ing the United States in season and out of season for two years to remove the Indians from the state. Governor Porter wrote to Chicago in May, 1833, asking about Mr. Weatherford. Mr. Owen replied briefly: "Col. Weatherford resides at Franklin Post Office, Morgan County, Illinois," indicating no en- thusiasm on the subject. High spots in the Chicago Indian Treaty of 1833 were these: (1). The United Tribes possessed 5,000,000 acres of land which were rapidly becoming of no use to them for sustenance or profit, because game and fur bearing animals were rapidly becoming extinct. (2). The United Tribes exchanged these lands for 5,000,000 acres on the west side of the Mississippi river, where game and fur bearing animals were relatively abundant. (3). In addition to an equal acreage of land, the United States paid $1,000,000 under the treaty stipulations to secure an extinction of the Indian title to these lands ceded by the redmen. (4) . The United Tribes were surrounded by white settlers. These land-hungry immigrants destroyed them with whiskey; drove away their game and fur CHICAGO INDIAN TREATY OF 1833 129 bearing animals; entangled them in all manner of strife; invaded their property; and through political pressure as voters almost succeeded in having them exterminated during the Black Hawk War, by the Governor of the State. Their removal became an absolute essential to their safety and continued welfare. (5) . Indian Agent Owen held the firm conviction, based upon tragic experience, that if the United Tribes were not removed beyond the Mississippi, they would be destroyed by the hostile whites. The only moral obligation resting upon him in the Treaty negotiations was to secure a square deal for his Indian charges, in the final contract they made with the United States. Payment of $1,000,000 was stipulated to be made for the purposes enumer- ated below: A. Exploring new lands, removal, goods and subsistence for one year. $225,000 B. Annuities $14,000 for twenty years 280,000 C. Erection of mills, houses, shops, and for agriculture 150,000 D. Educational purposes, as directed by the President 70,000 E. Schedule A. Sums payable to individuals in lieu of reservations 100,000 F. Schedule B. Sums paid by the government for claims against the United Tribes 175,000 Grand total $1,000,000 Some historians grow elequent in denouncing the iniquities of Schedule A and Schedule B, under which the government paid out two hundred and seventy-five thousand dollars. Milo M. Quaife seems to be especially aggrieved over the distribution of the various sums paid to individuals for reservations and for claims. Their chief lamentation over this portion of the treaty payments seems to be that the money and goods, $65,000, received by the Indians at the time of the treaty did not do them much good. For this alleged misfortune, it is plain to be seen, neither the United States nor the three commissioners could be held accountable. The propensity of white pioneers to commit larceny is well established by history and tradition. It made little difference whether the victims of their covetousness were the redmen, the white men, or the Great Father at Washington himself. Doubtless the Indians were fleeced of their money at the time of the Chicago Treaty; but it would not be justifiable to bemoan the victimizing of redmen and be callous to the contemporaneous frauds upon white men. An Indian was fully as capable of taking care of himself from larceny as a white man of the same virtue and intelligence. And Poor Lo was no more helpless in the hands of bootleggers than the white man has been during the past decade of the "noble experiment." Schedule A of the Chicago Treaty represented the cash equivalent of 500 sections of land; worth roughly speaking twenty- five or thirty cents an acre. The Indians had assented to giving certain persons reservations of land, a com- mon custom at treaty negotiations. At the Chicago treaty, however, the com- 130 CHICAGO'S TRUE FOUNDER missioners considered the land more advantageous than its cash equivalent. Hence they gave these grantees the money value instead of the property. Con- sidered as a promotional cost in getting the treaty successfully concluded, it was a reasonable sum. The government usually set aside, or permitted the com- missioners to set aside, in making a treaty with Indians, an expense item for what is called in modern times the overhead cost of doing business. Considered as a straightaway commercial proposition, the Chicago Treaty presents three men with $1,000,000, who wish to get an exchange of 5,000,000 acres of land. There were a multitude of persons vitally interested in prevent- ing the deal; and an equal number whose only interest was to derive a personal profit in cash from the transaction. Only a simpleton would believe that the army of traders and merchants in the Indian country were going to let their business be taken away from them without making every exertion in their power to prevent such a catastrophe. Who could blame them! Only eleven months prior to this time, at the Treaty of Tippecanoe, Indian Agent Owen had brought success to the government in swapping 4,000,00 acres of Potawatomi land in Indiana, Michigan and Illinois for a similar quantity in the west, with a bonus of $1,300,000. In this Treaty, $111,879 was paid out in claims. At the Tippecanoe Treaty grants of land were given of 140,960 acres at the instigation of the Indians to favored individuals. As this land was in well settled sections, its total value was not far from $100,000. In these two treaties, — at Tippecanoe and Chicago, — the government gave the Potawatomi approxi- mately $2,000,000 as a bonus for 9,000,000 acres of their land, with the same acreage on the west of the Mississippi river. If that was a fraud upon the "poor, helpless, degraded, and ignorant savages," it was the most benignant form of iniquity known to man. There are vast tracts of Michigan land today, that would not sell for $1.00 an acre in parcels of any considerable magnitude. Considering Schedule A of the Chicago Treaty once more as a cost of promotion to the government, and a successful means of getting the Treaty accomplished, it justifies itself because 75 per cent of the $100,000 involved was paid to Indians and half-breeds who were members of the tribes of the United Nations. Assuming that $25,000 was paid to persons who assisted in the successful consummation of the treaty negotiations, — that is white persons, — there can be no moral grounds for challenging either the justice or the good sense of such payment for services rendered to the government. The United States was under the dire necessity of putting the treaty through in order to save the Indians from the white savages who were determined that they should either be removed or destroyed. Since the lives of these Indians were at stake, — and they were at stake, there is no doubt about that, — the price of their salvation at $25,000 was a small fee to pay to their would-be-executioners, the whites Schedule B apportioned $175,000 to pay sundry claims against the Indians, which the redmen agreed were justly due and properly payable under the Treaty stipulations. Against Schedule B, Chicago historians open wide the flood gates of their wrath. Andreas in his History of Chicago publishes the following anathema: (Italics by the Editor.) CHICAGO INDIAN TREATY OF 1833 131 "Originally $150,000 was provided for the payment of claims acknowl- edged to be justly due, and by a supplemental treaty $25,000 additional. Schedule B, following shows that $175,000 was apportioned to claimants sufficiently numerous to constitute nearly a complete census of the white male population of the Northwest, , 18 "It is not believed that these claims were audited on the part of the Indians, although they acknowledged them to be justly due by the formality of accepting the treaty of which the schedule was a part. "It was an apportionment of the ready money of the tribes among all the whites who could bring a claim against an Indian. The honest debtor and the unjust and dishonest claimant absorbed the fund. How large a portion of it represented robbery, theft, and perjury will never be known until the great book is opened on the last day." The above bit of perverted and sanctimonious rhetoric contains a number of statements that are not true. THERE WAS AN AUDIT MADE OF THESE CLAIMS, according to a statement written by Richard J. Hamilton, under date of October 8, 1833, at Chicago, which reads: "I do hereby certify that as one of the Agents of the United Nations of Chippewa, Ottawa and Potawatamie Indians, appointed by them to aid in adjusting the claims presented against them at the Treaty between the said United Nations of Indians and the Government of the United States, concluded on the 26th and 27th days of September, 1833 at Chicago in the State of Illinois, I was specifically instructed by Billy Caldwell and Alexander Robinson, two principal chiefs of said Nations, not to admit of any portion of the claim of the American Fur Company unless the said company accepted of the allowance made to them at the said Treaty, as payment in full of all claims and demands they had against the said Nation of Indians, and against Gurdon S. Hubbard 37 and James Kinzie, and that I stated these instructions to the United States Com- missioners, and assented as one of the Agents aforesaid to the allowance made to the said Company upon these conditions, and upon none other." The statement of that eminently respectable Chicago pioneer, Richard J. Hamilton, first probate judge of Cook county, that the claims against the Indians enumerated in Schedule B were audited, stands in direct contradiction to the declaration of Mr. Andreas. The truthfulness of the Andreas statement is further challenged by no less an authority than the Senate of the United States. At the conditional ratification of the Chicago Indian Treaty, a resolution was adopted on May 22, 1834, which states that an audit of these claims is to be made by a commissioner appointed by the Senate. It reads in part: "2nd. All the debts mentioned in Schedule B in the same Article, and which are specified in Exhibit E [same as schedule B — Ed] to the Report of the Committee, to be examined by a Commissioner to be appointed by the President, with the advice and consent of the Senate, and the individuals to be paid only the sums found by said Commissioner, to have been justly due." Since the President of the United States and the Senate concurred in ascertaining the just amounts due under Schedule B, through their own 132 CHICAGO'S TRUE FOUNDER commissioner, the statement of Mr. Andreas that these claims were not audited becomes wholly false, erroneous and malevolent. The ratification of the Chicago Indian Treaty was a public document in 1883, when Mr. Andreas produced his history, and he declares that he examined every "available source of infor- mation" on the early history of Chicago. For nearly a year these claims against the United Tribes were audited by the Senate of the United States. If any of them "represented robbery, theft and perjury", as Andreas says, the entire responsibility rests upon the President of the United States and the Senate and not upon Mr. Owen and his associate commissioners. Since these claims were paid by the United States, more than two years after the Treaty was signed, following an exhaustive investigation, it seems to be a most felonious accusation to declare that they were a fraud upon the Indians and "represented robbery, theft and perjury". Rapacity of the Kinzie family in pyramiding claims against the Indians for alleged losses and services of the famous trader, John Kinzie, is well explored by the historian Quaife. "The dubious character of the claims presented and allowed at this treaty is still further exemplified by the role played in it by the heirs of John Kinzie", he relates. "There is no room for doubt", he says in another place, "that a large proportion of the grants to individuals under these two (Schedules A and B) heads were improperly made". Inasmuch as these claims were audited and approved by the United States, which had voluntarily accepted their obligations, the case of this diligent prosecutor, Mr. Quaife, must be nolle prossed for lack of incriminating evidence. Certainly the Government had a right in justice and equity to pay its own money for services rendered in putting over the treaty successfully. Visions of essential criminality, which obsessed the mind of this historian, came from reading the corrupted history of the treaty, of which there has been an overabundance in Chicago lore and chronicles. In justice to the Kinzie family their own defence of their claims should have been presented a long time ago. There was a great scandal following the signing of the Chicago Indian Treaty. Governor Porter was accused in a printed pamphlet, issued at Detroit, of sharing in the money allowed to the Kinzies and the Forsyths, and of serving his selfish ends to advantage in numerous ways. This attack was challenged by Robert A Kinzie, John H. Kinzie, R. A. Forsyth and Benjamin B. Kercheval. The two Kinzie men were sons of John Kinzie, the Indian trader. Forsyth was a nephew of John Kinzie, Kercheval was the brother of Gholson Kercheval, sub-Indian agent at Chicago, and an officer of the Indian Department for many years. These men sent a letter to the United States Senate, dated from Detroit, January 10, 1834, which Mr. Quaife must have read, though he did not see fit to print it in his book. It is preserved in the original in the files of the Indian Bureau at Washington. Mr. Quaife says of these records: "These comprise a great mass of manuscripts and records pertaining to the relations between the United States and the Various Indian tribes, preserved in the Pension Building at Washington. For the most part they have been used but little, if at all, by historical writers." Mr. Quaife does not explain why he, too, concealed this vast body of Chicago history; why he entered into the conspiracy of silence to CHICAGO INDIAN TREATY OF 1833 133 keep Indian Agent Owen buried forever in his tomb of historical oblivion. That historian whose book was published by the University of Chicago, had access to all the Washington documents and letters presented in this volume. The defence of the Kinzie claims reads in full: "The Hon. The Chairman of the committee on Indian Affairs in the Senate of the United States: — "Sir. The enclosed document has just been placed in our hands. It is said to have been ushered into existence from one of the presses in this city. Of its paternity we are, of course, in ignorance, but, if correctly informed, a copy has been transmitted to you under signature. We hope that such is the fact, and that the paper bears a respectable name, as in that event, we may at the proper time, before a competent tribunal be permitted to confront our accuser, and place him in such an attitude before the country, as to give full scope to inquiry, and subject him to all legal consequences. Meantime we offer no apology to you, Sir, in this communication. We call upon you to institute the most rigid investigation. — We challenge the proof. "Governor Porter is the party nominally assailed, and the charges and specifications preferred against him consist in brief of the allowances made at the recent Treaty to the 'Heirs of Forsyth and Kinzie, and of Gov. Porter's supposed participation in them. The accuser seems to have overlooked the fact, that if there were truth in the imputation, Colonels Owen and Weatherford are obnoxious to the same charges. But it is not our purpose to attempt a vindication of the commissioners, nor of Gov. Porter, except so far as to repel the imputations leveled against ourselves. These gentlemen may exhibit the fruits of their actions to the Government without fear of results. We may be permitted to say, however, in respect to Gov. Porter that we believe the insinuation of his having participated directly or indirectly with any one, in any allowance made at the Treaty for goods or otherwise, is without shadow of foundation in truth ; the intimation that he 'shared' with us, or either of us, we pronounce a libel. "The amounts allowed to the undersigned respectively, for which we beg leave to refer to the schedules accompanying the Treaty, were for various and distinct considerations. The appropriation to each of the children of the late Robert A. Forsyth and of John Kinzie were for debts bona-fide due the descendents, and for depredations committed on their property. "Those two gentlemen were many years in the habit of daily intercourse with the Indians by whom they were held in high regard. They were both long engaged in trade with the natives, and their losses were severe. Both rendered the tribes important services, and at periods too, when no corresponding benefits were received. Their pecuniary losses and their personal services constitute the basis of these allowances to their children. The Indians were desirous of extinguishing these claims by reservations of land, but acquiesced in the wishes of the Commissioners to substitute pecuniary allowances in lieu of reservations. There is one exception to the above — the amount allowed to James Kinzie was intended as a tribute to himself and mother who was a captive among the savages, and with her son sustained sufferings and privations incident to that appalling situation. (His mother was Margaret McKenzie, by her companionate marriage to John Kinzie — Ed.) 134 CHICAGO'S TRUE FOUNDER f^»^!t*C tts?y*r+ J^^C^ ^, +^0ariO&4Uy* A LONG BURIED SECRET. The above document makes the startling revelation that John Kinzie's companionate wife, Margaret McKenzie, was living in Chicago in 1812; and that she and her son were prisoners among the Indians. Also, that Mrs. McKenzie had two children killed at "The Massacre of Chicago." Why have the Kinzie Mythologists suppressed this remarkable fact of early Chicago history! CHICAGO INDIAN TREATY OF 1833 135 "The allegation that Robert A. Forsyth received $3000. or any other sum 'as an Indian Chief, is an untruth. "The amount of $1300 stated as additional to $3000 allowed him is also untrue. "The sums said to be held in trust for 'certain Indians', were granted to several individuals of Indian descent, with one exception — A sum was granted to Mrs. McKenzie who was at 'the massacre of Chicago' — where she left two children, victims of the tomahawk. She escaped with the loss of her property, bringing a wounded infant, who is now living. 36 Robert A. Forsyth nor either of us have any interest in these allowances. "The separate allowance to Robert A. Kinzie of $1,216. was for advances made to the Indians previous to the treaty, and stands in the same situation with many other accounts of merchants with whom these Indians deal at Chicago and elsewhere, which were allowed in the Treaty, being goods etc. furnished by him within the two last years. "It is alleged that Robert A. Forsyth was one of the committee who made the allowances. This is not true. The Indians were well aware that many unfounded claims against their tribe would be presented. To guard against imposition, they selected Col. R. J. Hamilton and Maj. Robert A. Forsyth and requested permission that they should be present before the commissioners when the claims were examined. The Commissioners acceded to this request — These persons did what was required of them by the chiefs — The Com- missioners after hearing, made the decisions on every claim which was allowed. "The allowances to 'Robinson and Caldwell' were made to them as chiefs, and at the express solicitation and direction of their Indian brethren. Joseph Loranger it is alleged 'never had goods in the Indian Country'. This is untrue. He has been in constant trade with and among the Indians for the last 19 years. He does not owe Robert A. Forsyth $3000. nor did he assign to him any claim whatever. "It is not true, that the goods furnished by John H. Kinzie and Mr. Kercheval under former treaties amounted to $100,000. "Nor is it true that Gov. Cass ever gave to the Indian Agent the furnishing of goods, or ever considered it a perquisite of office appertaining to Agencies. Such a construction would be in direct violation of the act regulating trade and intercourse with the Indian Tribes, and contrary to an express rule of the Indian Department. "It is not true that Governor Porter ever stipulated to give to Kercheval and Kinzie, or either of them a per diem allowance for their trouble in the purchase of goods. "It is not true that he ever made any allowances to them or either of them of a percentage. The advance on the New York invoices to cover transportation, freight and all incidents was made by competent judges as a fair basis of allowance. The advance was less than had been allowed at former Treaties ; and in support of this assertion, reference is made to the Indian Office. "It is not true Kinzie and Kercheval have ever received from Governor Porter nor the Commissioners, 'the' nor any contract to furnish horses. No such 136 CHICAGO'S TRUE FOUNDER contracts were made. The horses were furnished by a great number of individuals at prices fixed by the appraisers appointed by the Commissioners for that purpose. "It is not true, that John H. Kinzie obtained the furnishing of goods at the Wabash-forks — no goods were furnished there. Under the Treaties held in October 1832, by Gov. Jennings, Dr. Davis, and Mark Crumes Esqr. it was stipulated that goods should be delivered to the Potawatamies of Notawaseppi, Chicago, and of the Potawatamie mills. Mr. Kercheval furnished the goods at the former place and Mr. Kinzie at the two latter. "It is not true that John H. Kinzie furnished any goods at the Chicago treaty. "The undersigned do not feel called upon to notice at large the statements in regard to the deceased Messrs. Forsyth and Kinzie. The former has been dead twenty years; and the latter six. Whether Mr. Forsyth ever had '$500 worth of property' in his life, does not seem to us a very pertinent inquiry in its bearing upon the matter submitted to you. His son however who administers the Estate has only to point to the Records of Wayne County to disprove the statement. "The late Mr. Kinzie was indeed at the Massacre of Chicago, but unfor- tunately for the purposes of this writer, it was not as a leader of the savages. When the troops under Capt. Heald evacuated that post, Mr. Kinzie and his daughter, now Mrs. Helm, who with her husband, the late Capt. Helm, then a Lieutenant and attached to the command were in company, Mr. Kinzie was at the side of Capt. Heald when that gallant officer was wounded. Mrs. Helm was also wounded, and her horse was shot from under her. We have reason to believe that the survivors of that melancholy affair were indebted, in some degree at least to the personal exertions of Mr. Kinzie, for their escape — but we ought not perhaps to say this much. You will we trust, find our excuse, in the matter spread before you. "We have to add, that if Lucius Lyon Esqr. will 'vouch for the correctness' of the statements of this writer, as alleged, we pledge ourselves to furnish him with an early opportunity of so doing on his return to this place. In the interim, we shall take the liberty of using the references furnished by our accuser. "We ask no better — To them and to the committee we cheerfully leave the case, and subscribe ourselves, "With high respect, "Yo. Obt. Servts, "B. B. Kercheval. "R. A. Forsyth. "Jno. H. Kinzie. "R. A. Kinzie." The above letter was sent to Hugh L. White, chairman of the committee on Indian Affairs. He immediately wrote to Lucius Lyon for a statement on the Kinzie-Forsyth claims. Mr. Lyon was the government surveyor and later became the first senator from the State of Michigan. His letter to Mr. White gives evidence that the government was fully apprized of the possibility of fraud in CHICAGO INDIAN TREATY OF 1833 137 the claims presented to the commissioners at the Chicago Treaty. He suggests a reexamination of each claim for sums involving $1,000 or more; showing that the allowance and payment of the claims had now passed completely into the hands of the United States Senate. Mr. Lyon did not hesitate to say that some of the claims were fraudulent. His letter was written at Washington, (D.C.) on February 17, 1834, and reads in full: "Sir: Agreeably to your request I have looked over the list of claims allowed at the late Treaty and according to the best of my knowledge and belief, most of, and perhaps nearly all of, the allowances of sums less than $1,000 are just, while above that amount I do not hesitate to express my belief that many of the allowances are unjust and improper. "I believe there ought to be a revision of all allowances of $1,000 and upward, and that the $3,000 assigned to R. A. Forsyth out of the reservation fund (Schedule A — Ed.) ought to be struck out entirely, as a fraud committed on the Indians. "It will be recollected that the $100,000, 'Schedule A' referred to in the 3rd article of the Treaty, was intended to be given to different Indian chiefs and to the half-breeds of the Pootawattomie & Chippeways in lieu of reservations of land which are generally expected by them, or some of them, whenever they sell any portion of their country, "Major Robert A. Forsyth, who is a Paymaster in the U.S.Army, is neither an Indian nor a half-breed, nor has he, in so far as I have been informed, ever had anything to do with the Indians who sold the land to the government. Yet he was appointed one of the committee to make the division of the $100,000 and his name appears in the schedule opposite the sum of $3,000, allowed himself, out of that fund, (Schedule A.) besides all the allowances made to himself and his family out of the fund set apart for the payment of claims (Schedule B.) against the Indians." Despite the adverse recommendation of Mr. Lyon, the Senate allowed R. A. Forsyth's name to stand on both Schedule A and Schedule B. These two allowances were for $3,000 each, a total of $6,000, indicating that either Robert A. Forsyth had rendered important services during the treaty negotiations, or else that his father had lost considerable money. He was a different person from Major Forsyth. On this subject the reader will be interested to read a letter written by one of John Kinzie's partners, stating that the famous trader at the time of the Chicago massacre in 1812, owed some $30,000 to his two partners. As this letter is one of the many early Chicago documents that have been sedulously concealed by local historians, it appears in this volume, perhaps for the first time in any printed book. It was written by William Smith, September 26, 1834, to Lewis Cass, Secretary of War, from Fort Erie, U.C. It is important because it gives evidence that John Kinzie, was in partnership and was financed by a British gentleman of Upper Canada. The letter reads: "Sir, Having had the honor of a temporary acquaintance with you in Detroit, especially on the awful day of the conflagration of that ancient City; when myself and the late Robert A. Forsyth, (then partners in the Indian 138 CHICAGO'S TRUE FOUNDER Trade at Chicago) received favours at your hands which I shall always be grateful for. "I have now to beg leave, to state to your Excellency, that by the Chicago treaty the Indian Tribes were bound to make compensation to those Traders who had suffered by their depredations, or loss, by Debts contracted by them. "The late John Kinzie being then trading at Chicago under the Firm of John Kinzie & Co ; which Firm consisted of J. Kinzie, R. A. Forsyth and myself, and was largely indebted to Forsyth and Smith, say $30,000 or thereabouts, — considering myself justly entitled to a proportion of the aforesaid compensation. "I beg leave to lay the subject before your Excellency, for your consideration as it may be advisable to address the Commissioners ; but I do not wish to place any impediment in the way of the Heirs; on their making me a reasonable overture. — "I trust your liberal sentiments will pardon my intruding myself upon your notice." In the voluminous written propaganda of the Kinzie family respecting their celebrated paterfamilas, the reputed "Father of Chicago" there seems to be no data on the British association of John Kinzie; of the debt of $30,000 he owed; nor of its liquidation. From all the documentary evidence in the hands of the government relating to the Chicago Indian Treaty of 1833, it is evident that when Schedule A and Schedule B were passed through the government laundry of investigation, they were washed clean of any defilement of "Robbery, theft and perjury". If the Indians were defrauded by the Treaty, the fraud was committed by their Great Father at Washington. If the United States was defrauded, the fraud was perpetrated by the United States Senate. As far as the great Treaty itself is concerned, it stands officially clothed in the white garments of innocence and rectitude. Yielding to the spell of enchantment cast upon them by the Britisher Latrobe through his charming and vicious narrative on the Chicago Indian Treaty, local historians have grieved much that the poor savages were, in a manner, coerced to part with the lands of their forefathers by a brow-beating government. Like that garrulous Englishman, whose "heart bled for them in their desolation and decline", Chicago historians bemoan the sad fate of the redmen who were virtually compelled to give up their homes, and to go to a strange country of which they knew nothing. Andreas thus relates their tale of woe: "It was a most important matter for both the Indians and the Government; but to the former most momentous, since it involved the extinction of not only the 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 that must follow resistence. They knew quite well that they had no alternative. They must sell their lands for such sum and on such terms as the Government agents might deem it politic or just or generous to grant. The result of the treaty was what might have CHICAGO INDIAN TREATY OF 1833 139 been expected. The Indians gave up their lands and agreed for certain consider- ations, 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." 19 Neither Mr. Andreas nor any other Chicago historian has related what the Indians themselves thought about the Treaty of Chicago. Certainly if it was the thing of infamy portrayed by local writers, the United Tribes should know something about the catastrophe which happened to them. What do the Indians say? Fortunately for the good name of Mr. Owen and his associates, who negotiated the treaty; and for the honor and justice of the United States, there is such a document existing. It is a letter written by the distinguished Indian leader and spokesman, Billy Caldwell to Indian Agent Owen, October 3, 1834. Chief Sau-ko-nosh, (Billy Caldwell's Indian title) was answering Mr. Owen's request that the United Tribes permit the government to change the boundary lines of the country given them under the Chicago Treaty. It seems there had been an error in the survey, and the government found it could not deliver a portion of its contract. For this blunder the "poor, degraded, ignorant and helpless savages" imposed a penalty of $13,000 on their Great Father. This clever deal is known as the Amended Treaty, signed at Chicago on October 1, 1834. A discussion of the letter will follow its presentation. The reader's attention is directed to the splendid intelligence revealed by this Indian negotiator, Caldwell, who had been unanimously chosen by the United Tribes as their principal spokesman, with Alexander Robinson, who was Chief Che-ge-pin-quay. The communication of Sau-ka-nosh to Indian Agent Owen reads: "Father, It is with feelings of the deepest regret that we learn from you, that the late Treaty between the United States Government and the United Nation, Ottowa, Pottouattamie and Chippewa Indians made and concluded at this place in the month of September, 1833, has not been ratified, in consequence of an unwillingness to give us the whole of the country granted by said Treaty. "The Treaty was not of our seeking; it was solicited on the part of the United States, and we acceded to the proposition that was made to use on the part of the Government by yourself, our late Father, Gov. Porter of Michigan and Col. Weatherford, and in doing so, we were influenced by no wish of our own to part with our country, nor to profit by the sale; but with a desire and a disposition to further the views of the Government, and to interpose no obstacles in the way of carrying into effect the policy of settling the Indians west of the Mississippi. "It would require but little foresight to see that in a few years we were to be surrounded by our white brethern, and their vicinity to us, experience has taught us to believe, is to result in no good to us. We were willing, there- fore, to make every sacrifice to meet the views of our Great Father the President and of the Government, and to avoid collision with our white brethern; but it seems these are not satisfactory; other demands are made of us which we must comply with before this Treaty can be ratified, that is we must surrender to the 140 CHICAGO'S TRUE FOUNDER United States a portion of the country ceded to us by the United States by the said Treaty, and that portion, too, which is admitted to be the best and most favorable for cultivation, and the most eligibly located for hunting, and to receive in lieu thereof an equal number of acres neither so well situated for agricultural purposes, nor yet so good for hunting, without an offer of any additional consideration as an equivalent for the difference in the value of the property proposed to be exchanged. This, Sir, we cannot and will not agree to, but we will propose as follows: "1st. We will surrender the piece of land desired and accept as an equivalent, for such surrender, four hundred sections (256,000 acres) of land to be selected by us within the boundaries of the country ceded by the late Treaty at Chicago: "Or, "2nd. We will surrender the country desired and accept that proposed to be given us "by the United States, provided they will give us, Twenty cows and Calves, Thirty Yoke of good four year old oxen, Twelve ploughs with Chains and other suitable appurtenances thereto, Two four horse teams and six waggons with the necessary harness, Gearing & c. Also that they shall send with us Ten practical farmers for four years to aid and instruct us in cultivating the soil (the farmers to be paid by the United States) and also furnish us with such farming and other utensils, as well as carpenters' tools, such as hoes, rakes, shovels, harrows, sickle, scythes, hammers and axes, and as will enable them to use the horses and oxen to advantage, and to keep the utensils in repair: "And provided further that the United States Government pay to Gholson Kercheval of Chicago for us, the sum of two thousand dollars in Cash. We 49 feel indebted to Gholson Kercheval for his good conduct in our behalf and in behalf of our people, during the late war between the U.S.Government and the Sac and Fox Indians. He rescued two of our young men who had been taken prisoners, thus saving their lives at the hazard of his own life. He was foremost in the deputation to secure a peace for us and our people and we think the sum we require to be paid him is small enough for the services he has rendered us. "3rd. We wish and claim, that, if any reductions are made of the claims allowed by us to be due our white brethren, the amount of the same may be sent to you, father, that they may be disposed of by us as we shall direct and think proper. "We utterly disclaim any disposition as we before stated, to interpose any obstacle in the way of the Government of the United States in carrying into effect its views in relation to us, but aver that we are influenced by the same feelings and motives that induced us to enter into the late Treaty; but it does seem to us, with all due deference to the United States Government, that their interpretation of a Treaty, and ours, is very different. "It seems to us that it should have been ratified precisely as made, by both parties, or rejected in toto. It is incurring on our part great responsibility to alter in the least any of the stipulations of that Treaty, as it was made with the assent of our young men after much deliberation and reflection and it would be extremely difficult to get that assent again, without incurring an expense CHICAGO INDIAN TREATY OF 1833 141 that we are by no means able to bear and which we are not called upon to incur by any sense of duty." The above document, which is the official declaration of the United Tribes on the subjects mentioned, answers many of the slanders uttered against the Chicago Indian Treaty. The letter of Chief Sau-ko-nosh, however, should be considered in connection with the contemporary letters of Indian Agent Owen and the Amended Treaty itself. Because of their length, they will not be reproduced verbatim here. They all indicate that the Indians were in full accord with the government and the treaty commissioners on the general plan of removal; and that they felt no deep pangs of grief because they must abandon the lands of their fathers. The hearts of Latrobe and his sychophants might have "bled for them in their desolation and decline", because their "souls evidently clave to their birth- right" ; but the Indians themselves did not feel outraged at the excellent barter and trade they concluded so successfully. Neither were these "poor Indians" of Latrobe much dejected because their Great Father suffered an additional assessment of $13,000 because he did not watch his step in examining the western surveys. Indian Agent Owen confirms the fact that the United Tribes were much better satisfied with their western lands than the Chicago historians have been. And the good news that these Indians grew prosperous and wealthy in the succeeding generation in their new home in the west, suggests that the Latrobe group of writers fostered a prejudice which was not inspired by commisseration for the redmen nor a yearning for their happy welfare. 20 Indian Agent Owen sets forth the situation to Secretary of War Cass under date of July 23, 1834, as follows: "I flatter myself that there will be no difficulty in procuring the consent of the Indians to a change in the boundary line of the lands allotted to them by the late Chicago Treaty, in conformity with the resolution of the Senate on that subject; I shall avail myself of the earliest opportunity possible to ascertain, when you will be informed of the result. "The most conspicuous Chiefs of the Tribe with whom I have already conversed on the subject assure me that the Indians are prepared to conform to the wishes of the Government and to emigrate west of the Mississippi as soon as the monies are furnished them. They conceive it entirely unnecessary (as I informed Gov. Porter by letter dated 30 April last) to send an exploring party to look at the country, as they are not only desirous but extremely anxious to leave a Country in which the game & other means of sustenance have become exhausted. "In the event that I succeed in obtaining the assent of the Indians in writing, to the proposed change of boundary, will it still be necessary that I should cooperate with Col. Pepper in conducting a party to explore the Country west? Although I have stated to the Indians the necessity of looking at the Country preparatory to moving, yet they say (and perhaps properly) that they are satisfied with the Country as represented to them by Genls. Clark and Ashley (who passed through here on their way to St. Louis) and as they are willing to accede to the proposed change of boundary, and also to move the very moment means are furnished, that it is useless to undergo the toils and 142 CHICAGO'S TRUE FOUNDER fatigue of an unprofitable journey, but if the Government require that they should absolutely sent a deputation, they will not hesitate to do so." When the Chicago Indian Treaty of 1833, with the Amended Treaty of 1834, is considered honestly from the viewpoint of the redmen who negotiated it with the Government and the commissioners, there is no reason for regarding it as a gloomy fraud upon the Indians. This great drama of the passing of the Potawatomi from Chicago has been smudged with obloquy. The sheer malice of historians is apparent. Their principal statements defaming the Treaty are falsehoods. They have consistently refused to let the Indians tell their own story of their own Treaty. Government documents telling all the important facts relating to this memorable convention have been suppressed. Even the grants of land made by the United Tribes to their own tribesmen and women, persons of their own blood, have been assailed as something essentially dishonest and dishonor- able. Money paid out under the authorization of the United States Senate, they aver, "represented robbery, theft and perjury". Subsequent progress of these Indians in education, agriculture, civilization, and financial security, as a direct result of the Treaty at Chicago, have been excluded from their histories. For the best part of a century these writers have portrayed the Treaty as a thing of infamy and shame, — to further their own designs. 52 Authentic documents, however, prove the Chicago Indian Treaty to have been an excellent trade for both Indians and the Government. It was negotiated with patience and fairness; and the Indians were satisfied with it. Indian Agent Owen, who was chiefly responsible for its happy termination, lived and died in honor and public esteem. Indeed, he sacrificed his life in carrying the Treaty into effect. And no writer in the past one hundred years has dared to say that he was other than a man "of unblemished integrity and moral character." The Journal of the Chicago Indian Treaty appears in the Appendix. CHAPTER FIFTEEN OWEN'S CHICAGO PLAN IT IS possible to reconstruct the design of the town which Mr. Owen had in mind in 1831, and which may be called the Original Plan of Chicago. His activities, as related in letters and other sources of information, trace the partem clearly. Scattered about the country adjacent to the town, he intended to establish colonies of half breed Indians, settled on substantial estates received from government land grants, who would constitute the more progressive and in- telligent members of the Indian nation transformed into citizens. Mr. Owen's choice of the north side as the exclusive residence district was made in June, 1831, when he purchased a house at the corner of North Clark street and the river. Richard J. Hamilton, who brought his family, a few months later, established his residence one block east of the Owen home. The two men were closely associated in business and civic projects. Here they located Chicago's first public school; 30 and here the first board of town trustees dug a well at public expense and put in the first town pump. In this part of town in 1836, William B. Ogden erected the first house built in Chicago from plans drawn by an architect. It was located in the center of the block bounded by Rush, Ontario, Cass and Erie streets. 47 Indian Agent Owen could not, nor could anyone else, foresee the wave of immigration that was to flood the canal town within two years. His task was to develop a population large enough to meet the legal requirements of incorporation, from materials at hand. He went about this program in an interesting way, — by making citizens from half breed Indians. He wrote a letter to Governor George B. Porter, successor to Governor Cass, under date of January 5, 1832, in which he seems to be clearing the ground for this move. Governor Porter's response is not known. The letter reads: "Dear Sir: I address you for the purpose of soliciting your opinion upon a question which presented itself at the payment of Indian annuities last fall. 'Within the limits of my agency there resides a number of persons who are usually denominated half-breeds, and among them, there exists a very de- cided distinction, a portion of them have assumed entirely the habits, manners and customs of the whites, consider themselves entitled to the rights of Citizen- ship, and hold themselves amenable to the laws of the Country; another Por- tion have adopted the Indian mode of life, they move in the same sphere with the native Indian, and like him rely upon the rifle and the chase for Sustenance; the latter description of persons, owing to their peculiar situation I considered as entitled to a distributive share of the annuities, as indeed, did the Indians themselves. "A few of the class described, contended that they were equally entitled 143 144 CHICAGO'S TRUE FOUNDER to their proportion, but the Indians did not so readily recognize their right, and I consequently refused to pay them, believing as I did, and still do, that the parties to the several treaties, under which these annuities are payable never contemplated that the persons in question, should be entitled to any part there- of, and I think this may be strongly inferred from the fact that they almost universally have reservations of land decreed to them by treaty Provision. "My desire is to know of your Excellency the views entertained by you upon the subject, in order that I may know how to act in case of Similar occurrences." Mr. Owen's letter above, at the close of the second last paragraph, illumi- nates one of the questions which has vexed some historians. That is, — the giving of land grants to half breeds in return for a quit claim relinquishment of their rights to annuities. As the United Tribes owned some five million acres of land, and numbered less than six thousand souls; the custom of the government in buying off claimants who had abandoned tribal life by giving them land grants seems a very sensible arrangement. It had the effect of keeping all the money paid out as annuities within the tribal members. Still greater benefits arose from this custom not only to the Indians but to the settlers. All Indian administrators of this period were pretty well convinced that civilization of the red men in tribal groups was a hopeless task; and they scanned their repeated failures with melancholy. But they did discover, in the course of time, that Indians who quit tribal life and adopted the white scheme of civilization, became dependable citizens, well qualified to meet the demands of Caucasian obligations to society. No two names are more honored in Chicago's early history than Alexander Robinson and Billy Caldwell, both half breed chiefs who had adopted American social customs. Caldwell, especially, was zealous to have the Indians adopt the manner of living of their white brethren. Indian Agent Owen sought to gain from Governor Porter an official de- cision on the status of half breeds. Such a pronouncement would have cut off these persons definitely from tribal affiliation. They could no more be classed as wards of the government; but would become immediately incor- porated in the citizenry of the state. It was a smart way to create a consider- able number of citizens for the infant town of Chicago. Furthermore, these new citizens would be endowed with homesteads of respectable proportions, the title to which could not pass from them except by their individual consent and sanction. There is considerable evidence of a broad plan entertained by Mr. Owen, Vicar General Richard, Father Badin, Chiefs Robinson, Caldwell, Pokegon, and others, to wean the Indians from tribal life through taking up homesteads and securing a livelihood by agriculture instead of trapping and the chase. This comprehensive scheme had long been in process of develop- ment, and the Chicago Indian agent adopted it when he took over the ad- ministration of Indian affairs at the Fort Dearborn settlement. An important document of early Chicago reveals Mr. Owen's attach- ment to this plan of getting Indians into agricultural activities; rather than continuing to depend upon the fur business for a livelihood. He wrote a OWENS CHICAGO PLAN 145 report to Governor Porter, under date of October 10, 1831, in which he dis- couraged a subsidy by the government to bolster up the fast dwindling fur trade of Chicagoland. The communication is self-explanatory and reads: "Sir. Under date of 13 June last, I received from his Excellency, Gov- ernor Cass, State Superintendent of Indian Affairs, a communication, enclosing a resolution of the Senate of the United States of March 3, 1831, requesting the President to cause to be collected and reported to the next Stated Session of Congress, the most authentic information which could be obtained, em- bracing the following subjects: Viz: "Number and names of American citizens who have been killed or robbed while engaged in the fur trade, since the late War with Great Britain, the amount of the robberies committed and at what place and by what tribe; also the number of persons who annually engage in the fur trade, the amount of Capital employed, and the amount of proceeds in fur, hides, pelts, money, etc. Also the disadvantages, if any, which these branches of trade labour under and the means for their relief and protection. "It is proper I presume for me to confine my inquiries to the limit of this Agency, I therefore proceed to communicate all the information which I have been able to obtain upon these several subjects. "In relation to the number of persons killed, I have not been able to learn, that any American Citizen in the fur (or Indian trade) has been killed by the Indians since the late War with Great Britain. Two Robberies have been committed, one upon a gentleman by the name of James Kinzie, and the other upon a Mr. Claude La Framboise, the former of goods to the amount of $1,000, to his trading on Milwaukee River, and the latter of some goods to the amount of $500, while engaged in trade on the Illinois, both of these robberies were Committed by bands of the United Tribes of Pottowatamies, Ottawas and Chippewas. "The number of persons who now annually engage in the Indian trade exclusively, is much diminished, there being not exceeding Six persons en- gaged this Season within the limits of this agency, and the amount of Cap- ital employed is about $1,500, the proceeds, consisting almost entirely of furs and pelts alone, I am informed will average about 50 per cent advance upon the capital employed. 1 do not conceive that the fur trade of this region can be better pro- moted by any new arrangement than under the present regulations" Mr. Owen's statement that six or seven thousand red savages, constantly the victims of white aggression and inhumanity, had committed no murders upon Indian traders during the prior fifteen years, is evidence submitted to a candid world of a high order of good conduct on the part of the United Tribes. Mr. Owen's informants available for interrogation numbered James and Robert A. Kinzie, John B. Beaubien and Mark, his brother, Gurdon S. Hubbard, who attended the annuity payment, Stephen Mack and the St. Joseph trader, Bertrand, all dwellers in that country during the period under investi- gation. Millions of dollars in annuities and fur trade capital had passed unmolested through the Indian country during the years named. The reader is directed to observe that these peaceful red men were the 146 CHICAGO'S TRUE FOUNDER Indians whom Governor John Reynolds sought to annihilate in the ensuing year as enemies of the State of Illinois. Representative Owen and his fellow legislators, during the previous win- ter in creating Cook county, authorized its commissioners to acquire eighty acres of land on the lake front from the Government, where the garrison was located. An effort was made by the county board to enter this land, the south- western fraction of Section 10, but the entry was not allowed by the Govern- ment. James Herrington, a "practical surveyor," with a yen for promoting big real estate ventures, attempted a majestic addition to the town by request- ing Congress to give Chicago the entire seventy-five acres of Fort Dearborn military reservation, for the use and purposes of Cook county. His memorial was accompanied with a copy of the Thompson map of 1829, to which was added the garrison property with streets named as follows: Madison, Monroe and Jackson; which streets are now State street, Wabash and Michigan ave- nues. This map and the venerable memorial penned by Herrington, were found by this writer in the Senate library at Washington, and he brought back a photostat copy of the original for preservation in Chicago, where it origi- nated more than a century ago. 38 Herrington fared forth forty miles south to Hickory Creek, and forty miles west to Naperville; to circulate his petitions, and they were returned to Chicago with signatures of most of the white settlers in Cook county. Three petitions were circulated in the three election districts of Cook county; and seventy-four names of pioneer men appear signed to the triplicate memorial. Signers in the Chicago precinct are: Julius Perrin, James Laurence, Mark Noble, Elijah Wentworth, Sr., E. D. Harmon, James Dumphy, C. F. W. Bailey, A. Clybourn, James Herrington, Enoch Thompson, Thomas Clybourn, Richard Johnson, John Wellmaker, Jerramiah Smith, W. H. Adams, Joseph Perkey, Willaim Jewett, Benjamin Harris, James Gonsolvus, Poient Grehn, Judrithan Smith, Samuel Ellis, Liman Smith, John K. Clarke, G. W. Finley, and Jeremiah Brownville — a total of 26 persons. Signers in Du Page precinct are: Jonathan Boardman, Mathias Smith, John Miller, Israel P. Blodgett, Harry Boardman, Robert Strong, Stephen J. Scott, Walter Stowell, Isaac Scarritt, Richard M. Lunt, Peter Hickoff, Jos. Na- pers, Perce Hawley, James Shaw, Willis Scott, Isaac Murray, Leslie Peet, Henry Ballet, Nelson Murray, Joseph Curtis, Christopher Skedkoe, Rich. G. Ham- ilton, Williard Scott, Esq., — a total of 23 persons. Signers from the Hickory Creek precinct are: Samuel Miller, Lewis Kerche- val, Judges of the Commissioners Court of said County of Cook; Armstead Runyon, Thomas P. Hovells, R. Wies, L. H. Aekin, John McMannomy, David Fram, Edward Pam, Caleb Osborn, James McDeed, John McDeed, Henry Watkins, Benjamin Maggand, James Say res, John S. Hall, Charles Fruiend, Eben Story, James Woolf, Robert A. Davidson, William Gougen, George Pet- ti John, Canon Fruiend, Jacob Petti John, and Jacob Hanline, — a total of 25 persons. As the land of the Indians approached north of the town to within ten OWENS CHICAGO PLAN 147 VjMSS ffiH.ES] MB w rag • «*RB3 FPffM FRTl FF7S1 Effl WWEPCTEIRKS S s-a Oo S 3 o £ n~o «■ * M w r (S WW w «< H OT3 Sill » ou: 148 CHICAGO'S TRUE FOUNDER PV>1 \g ^ §1 8s o ri 8 8. Is OWEN'S CHICAGO PLAN 149 miles of Fort Dearborn, Cook county held no jurisdiction there, and conse- quently there are no signers from that region. Indian Agent Owen and Probate Judge Hamilton did not sign the Her- rington memorial, realizing, no doubt, its futility. Fort Dearborn ground was used for military purposes, and there were rumors of Indian troubles from the country of the Sacs at the time of the last annuity payment in September in Chicago. The proper procedure, in Mr. Owen's opinion, was to get the war department to abandon Fort Dearborn as a military post. After that relin- quishment, the property would be available for civic purposes; but not before. His contribution, therefore, to the first movement for a greater Chicago, was to write a strong letter to Senator Kane, urging the discontinuance of Fort Dearborn for garrison uses. Mr. Owen's letter on this subject was dated from Chicago, December 31, 1831, and is preserved by the Chicago Historical Society. It reads in full: "Dear Sir: Rumor says that the Hon. Secretary of War contemplates send- ing troops to this place the ensuing spring, the citizens here, however, are much in hopes that the report is without foundation. Indeed, there are many good reasons why the troops should not be sent here. "In the first place, the fort is going rapidly to decay, the picketing is al- most useless, and the quarters occupied by the soldiers are in a state of great delapidation. The apartment used by the officers heretofore, need many re- pairs before they would be suitable to receive them, and, in short, it would not cost more to build a garrison entirely anew, than it would to repair the old one. "Chicago is also growing rapidly into notice, and consequently the tide of emigration is flowing to this point. The old barracks afford a convenient asylum for persons emigrating with their families to the northern part of the State, and they are constantly filled with this description of persons, particularly during the summer and fall seasons of the year. "In addition to these reasons, there exists no earthly necessity for troops at this place. If the Govt, would select a suitable point on the northern bound- ary of this State between Lake Michigan and the Mississippi river, and build a new garrison, it would, I conceive, be of much greater utility than to expend a large sum in repairs on Fort Dearborn with a view to occupying it as a mili- tary post. The truth is, a step of this sort on the part of the Genl. Govt, will put a check on the growing prospects of Chicago, for a short period at all events, and I hope the Honorable Delegation from the State of Illinois will oppose the measure. "Should the Secretary of War carry the contemplated design into effect, it will be necessary to make an appropriation at the present session of Congress to build houses for the Indian Department here — an agent's house, a black- smith shop, and dwelling for interpreter and blacksmith as well, as the houses heretofore built for these purposes by the U. S. are now claimed and held as individual property. 50 "Please give my best respects to Hon. J. M. Robinson, your colleague, who I sincerely hope will use his influence in preventing the reoccupation of Fort Dearborn. This is not a feeling confined exclusively to myself, but it is 150 CHICAGO'S TRUE FOUNDER the great desire of the people generally that the troops should not be sent here again. "We are all in good health — no news — the winter is very severe. We have reed no President's message and it is uncertain when we will, as we almost despair of getting a mail route from Niles, M. T. to Chicago. "My love to Aunt Kane and family." The desired effect followed Mr. Owen's letter to Senator Kane; and the design of sending a garrison to Fort Dearborn seems to have been abandoned. However, Indian Agent Owen's persuasive arguments got President Jackson into plenty of trouble. Because Secretary of War Cass did not carry out his contemplated plan of sending a garrison to Fort Dearborn in the spring of 1832, there were no troops in Chicago when that trouble maker, Chief Black Hawk, invaded Illinois in April. Hence he could not be checked immediately. Needless to say, the Herrington memorial of the citizens of Cook county to extend Chicago to the lake front in 1831, had no immediate result in effecting that purpose. It was not until eight years later, that the government relinquished the Fort Dearborn property and ordered it surveyed and sold as an addition to Chicago in 1839. Chicago's business district on Lake and South Water streets, the latter now Wacker Drive, was established between Dearborn and Wells streets, be- cause of the activities of the Indian agent and the large floating population existing around Fort Dearborn. After the erection of Mr. Peck's store near the garrison during annuity time in 1831, other business places sprang up like mushrooms. The Indian uprising of the following year resulted in further concentration of activities about the fort and the newly located center of Cook county government at the town square, where the modern city hall and county building are located. Real estate sales during 1831 as recorded with the Chicago Title and Trust Company numbered fifty-two town lots. The names of purchasers and number of lots sold to each are: James Kinzie, 9; John B. Beaubien, 9; Samuel Miller, 6; J. S. C. Hogan, 4; Robert Kerr Richards, 3; Thomas Hartzell, 3; John Wellmaker, 2; Elijah Wentworth, 2; Gholson Kercheval, 2; Mark Beaubien, 2; William A. Bell, 2; Stephan Mack, 2; Alexander Robinson, 1; Edmund Roberts, 1; Amos Foster, 1; Edmund Roberts and P. Menard, Jr., 1; Thomas J. V. Owen, 1; Thomas J. V. Owen and Richard J. Hamilton, 1 — a total of 52 sales to eighteen persons. A rough census of Chicago's inhabitants and property owners for this year may be struck off by adding together the eighteen lot owners above named to those printed by Andreas, making thirty-nine. To this total may be added the names of persons who signed the Badin-Owen petition and the memorial of James Herrington, counting only those names that do not appear in the list of lot purchasers. The former gives twenty-three new names; and the Her- rington memorial gives sixteen. This makes a grand total of seventy-eight residents and free holders, or more than half the number required by the new Illinois incorporation law sponsored by Mr. Owen during the previous session of the General Assembly. Counting one-half the above total as residents whose dwelling places were OWEN'S CHICAGO PLAN 151 located within the townsite, and allowing five persons to a family, it will be seen that Indian Agent Owen could count one hundred and fifty persons avail- able for incorporation at the end of his first six months of activity in the canal town. However, the canal commissioners had squeezed the little townsite into two hundred and forty acres, not much larger than a good sized farm, one-half of which was a swamp. Indian Agent Owen intended to place his family in the house he pur- chased at North Clark street and the river, in June, 1831. But with the re- moval of the troops, the Indian Bureau allowed him to take up his quarters in the garrison. With the filching of "Cobweb Castle" from the Indian de- partment, the United States Government cleaned out Fort Dearborn and placed Mr. Owen in charge of the war department property. Residence of the Indian Agent at the garrison determined the location of Chicago's business district. Here most of the new settlers came, as Mr. Owen stated, and found an asylum. The Loop was quite congested in the summer of 1831. Here hundreds of homeseekers pitched their tents, surrounded by their covered wagons, horses, dogs, and sometimes cattle, hogs and forage wagons. Many of them stayed within the garrison while seeking a permanent location in the town, or re- plenishing themselves with goods to take to the interior settlements toward which they were headed. Consequently, the headquarters of the Chicago Indian Agent became the center of activity. Here came the Indians and the traders to counsel with the representative of the Government. Here came the citizens to hold councils with their leader. Here came the new merchants to be near the army of cus- tomers passing through the town. And here was a choice piece of property which the citizens eagerly desired, and which many of them believed belonged by inheritance to Chicago — the Reservation. Fort Dearborn was about two hundred and fifty feet, more or less, from the present Michigan avenue; where the river bent southward and sent its waters as far as Madison street. Across the river eastward, between the fort and the lake, there existed, at that time, a considerable body of farm land. This was the famous sand bar — later washed away after the harbor was built. Between the fort and Wolf Point there were no dwellings on the south side of the river. The land was on a level with that watercourse, and covered during a great portion of the year with water and mud. Doubtless, the early citizens must have pondered whether or not there was sufficient dirt in Cook county to fill it up, for it was then unfit for the habitation of man. Something had to be done about that. Charles Dunn, one of the canal commissioners who had laid out the tiny townsite in 1829, was resident in the community in 1831. Perhaps he regretted that the town had not been laid out a mile square in the first place; but nothing could be gained by post-mortem medi- tations. The town must be developed as it stood. Canal commissioners made a gift to Chicago of ten acres of ground — twenty lots scattered at various places about the town. Eight of them were in Block 39. Here the citizens decided to lay the heart of Cook county at the edge of the ooze on Clark street, and here was the official seat of government 152 CHICAGO'S TRUE FOUNDER for the county. The other lots donated by the canal commissioners were sold to get money for public buildings. At the time of the annuity payments to the Indians in 1831, under the supervision of Indian Agent Owen, George W. Dole, merchant, was located at Wolf Point; and he gained a competitor with the arrival in July of P. F. W. Peck. This pioneer arrived on the ship Telegraph with a stock of goods, and "erected a small log store near the fort." From this date the commercial center of the settlement became fixed at the east end of the town and there it has remained ever since. Messrs. Mark Beaubien, James Kinzie, Elijah Went- worth, Samuel Miller, Gholson Kercheval, all business men at Wolf Point, became differentiated from the "quality group" at the east end of the town. Near the garrison were Messrs. Owen, Hamilton, Peck, Robert A. Kinzie, Her- rington, J. B. Beaubien, Dr. Harmon, and others who were fast coalescing into what became the "aristocrats" of the town, as E. O. Gale indicates in Remi- niscences of Early Chicago and Vicinity. At the termination of Mr. Owen's first year of activity, April, 1832, his Chicago Plan was fully initiated and was developing rapidly. Wolf Point, the old Indian trading center at the river, was the hotel section at the western edge of the town. The business district had been definitely fixed on South Water street, now Wacker Drive, just south of Indian Agent Owen's home on the north side of the river. Fort Dearborn was a public "asylum" for newcomers, and they were a multitude. The entire body of citizens had become welded into a single-minded community, dedicated to the immediate expansion of the embryonic city, according to the original Plan of Chicago. CHAPTER SIXTEEN OWEN'S CONTRIBUTION TO CHICAGO CHICAGO'S first Chief Executive must be viewed in the light of that initial determination which urged him to stay in March, 1831. He faced a prospect of immediate hardships and unknown antagonisms in an In- dian country, where friendships or hostilities of local people might be vital to his existence. He had won the Indian Agency appointment by defeating two of the most influential and widely known men in the redman's country of the northwest, — John H. Kinzie and Gurdon S. Hubbard. If the Kinzie family was powerful enough to seize "Cobweb Castle" and keep it as private prop- erty under the very nose of the United States Bureau of Indian Affairs; what disasters to an unwelcome Indian Agent might they not bring upon him through their savage friends! Mr. Owen was too resolute to turn his back upon a task he once tackled with earnestness, — and that is the true Chicago spirit. He asked himself: "Will I stay?" The answer was: "I will!" Within the first seven months after bringing his family to his "new theatre of public life," as he called it, Indian Agent Owen had received from President Andrew Jackson approval to establish a "seminary of learning" in Chicago, with a donation of land ten times as great as the area of the original town, 2,560 acres. Chicago's first educational promoter was Thomas J. V. Owen. When he passed away, he left seven school houses in the town. Throughout the four and one-half years of his energetic and pursuasive leader- ship he was intimately associated with Richard J. Hamilton in promoting the development of education. Hamilton, Owen, and John T. Temple com- posed the first delegation to attend an educational convention from Chicago. The delegates were elected at a public meeting convoked in the Presbyterian church, November 24, 1834, to attend the Educational Convention at Van- dalia, held on December 25. Chicago's first Chief Executive was the father of civic unity in this com- munity. From the time of his advent he welded the inhabitants into an or- ganism of associated endeavor, through which all big tasks were accom- plished. And that is the spirit of Chicago to this day. When all of Mr. Owen's important activities are grouped within a single picture, they disclose his all pervading mastership of design, purpose, and execution. An Owen enterprise had a pattern all its own. The logic of their totality is irresistible in presenting the conclusion that he was a great civic leader. Local historians have unanimously refused to assemble Mr. Owen's pub- lic acts in one comprehensive story. Andreas in his History of Chicago gives one hundred and thirty biographical sketches of pioneers. His biography of Thomas J. V. Owen comprises twelve and one-half lines. Why did this historian refuse to give Chicago's first Chief Executive an adequate biographi- 153 154 CHICAGO'S TRUE FOUNDER cal sketch? Why does he always "play him down" as the newspaper men phrase that type of suppression? The answer to this historical conspiracy of silence and subnormal nar- ration is: Because a comprehensive recital of the achievements and enter- prises of Thomas J. V. Owen would have eclipsed every other pioneer of early Chicago. It would have ruined the "Kinzie Mythology." It would have been a social catastrophe for some of the first families of Chicago; not because it would have minimized the honor justly due to numerous remark- able citizens, but because historically it would have outranked them all. Mr. Owen was Chicago's first railroad promoter. On August 7, 1833, a public meeting was called in Chicago, in which "Col. T. J. V. Owen was called to the chair." On motion by Richard J. Hamilton, the assemblage resolved to appoint "five persons ... to draft a preamble and resolutions" asking Governor Reynolds to call the legislature in special session for the "immediate commencement of the Rail Road be- tween the navigable waters of the Illinois river and Lake Michigan." On this committee appear the names of Mr. Owen, Mr. Hamilton, Mr. Temple, Mr. E. S. Kimberly, and Major Henry S. Handy of Fort Dearborn. Mr. Owen's vision of the supremacy of a railroad over a canal to meet the needs of transportation in Illinois, stamps him as a man of foresight and economic judgment. Had death not cut short his career, and that of Sen- ator Kane, it is likely that the Illinois and Michigan Canal would never have been built. Instead, Chicago would have become a railroad builder and a railroad center twenty years before its infant transportation system ap- peared. Had all the money, time, talent and heroic endeavor expended upon building and maintaining that wretched little ditch of water, — that was filled by pumps, — been bestowed upon railroad building, Chicago would have gained transportation leadership in Illinois in its youthful days. When the first locomotive entered the city of Chicago, the Illinois and Michigan Canal be- came obsolete. To Thomas J. V. Owen, the canal was obsolete in 1833. Chicagoans learned a long time after Mr. Owen died that destiny had fore- ordained Chicago to be the railroad center of the western country. Mr. Owen's commiseration for persons in distress, and his open handed hospitality, — which have ever glorified the municipality he founded, — are re- vealed in his aid to the celebrated Polish Exiles who passed through Chicago in August, 1834. He headed the committee which had been appointed at a public meeting to draft an appeal to the citizens of Illinois on behalf of these victims of tyranny. The Polish Exiles had been granted a section of public land in Illinois, and were journeying thither. The "kind civilities and attention" of neighboring citizens were asked, and the following justification for this appeal given: "The misfortunes of the inhabitants of Poland are well known: the miseries of a long and bloody struggle for Liberty against the hordes of tyr- anny and despotism have wasted their resources and expended their substance. "But this is not all; their domestic firesides have been violated by the ruthless soldiery of their oppressors, and they themselves driven into Exile to a Country whose language they do not understand; and entirely without OWENS CONTRIBUTION TO CHICAGO 155 those immediate and active resources so necessary to place them in a situation independent of the assistance of our fellow citizens. We commend them, therefore, to you, fellow citizens, as they have been commended to us, by many of the most respectable citizens of the different towns through which they have passed, on their route thither: knowing as we do, that the patriotic feel- ings of the citizens of Illinois will never fail at being exemplified in practice and sincerity, toward the descendants of those heroes, who spent their blood and treasure in establishing our independence. "Let us then show some return — show that we recognize in them the defenders of their rights and their liberties against a despotism more cruel than that under which out! fathers suffered, and which their fathers so nobly aided us by their valor and heroism in exterminating from the free soil of the United States." It is not surprising to see in the Chicago Democrat of September 10, 1834, from which this excerpt is taken, that Mr. Owen's alter ego, Richard J. Hamilton was chairman of the public meeting, which cheered the Polish Exiles on their way. Chicago has enjoyed in the past one hundred years a peculiar quality of religious amity combined with civic concord. This has existed in the midst of strenuous competition of the Creeds as militant as it has been gracious. Brotherhood of the faiths in material affairs was introduced into Chicago life by Thomas J. V. Owen. It has been a continual benediction, in its unifying consequences, creating that extraordinary good will among church denomina- tions for which Chicago is preeminent. Religious accord began in 1831 when all Chicago joined in an effort to establish a Catholic school promoted by Father Badin and Mr. Owen, with the energetic cooperation of Mr. Hamil- ton. Further testimony of broad fellowship among pioneer citizens is il- lustrated in the part played by Messrs. Owen and Hamilton in promoting the First Baptist church, a building erected in Chicago for the exclusive use of religious groups. These two gentlemen owned a lot on the northeast corner of Franklin and Lake streets. On May 9, 1833, there came to town a physician from Washington, D. C, Dr. John T. Temple, holding a contract to carry mail from Chicago to Fort Howard, Green Bay. Andreas says he arrived early in July, but that is probably the date his family came. Dr. Temple was an "earnest Baptist Christian." It would seem that as soon as he arrived, he had purchased from Owen and Hamilton lot 5 in block 20 above mentioned. Upon the rear lot Dr. Temple, through a public subscription, erected a two- story building, the lower floor for religious services, and the upper floor for a school. It was rented to other religious denominations which desired to wor- ship in it, and was used by the Methodists, Presbyterians and Baptists. This was the First Baptist church. As Dr. Temple was a stranger in Chicago, and his "Temple building" was ready for church services on August 16, six weeks after his family ar- rived, it would seem that Messrs. Owen and Hamilton had a large share in getting the subscription fund of $900.00 raised. Early church history states that the "Temple Building" stood at the corner of Franklin and South Water 156 CHICAGO'S TRUE FOUNDER streets, just north of lot 5, block 20. If this be the fact, it would indicate that Mr. Temple erected his building on a lot which he did not own, in order to enhance the value of the property he had just purchased from Owen and Hamilton adjoining that edifice. Chicago's religious liberality of ancient days extended the warm hand of fellowship to the struggling Methodist colony through the Catholics. Col. Owen was a strong admirer of Rev. Jesse Walker, the veteran Methodist mis- sionary of Chicagoland. As one of the United States Commissioners of the Chicago Indian Treaty of 1833, he obtained for "Father Walker" the sum of $1,500 in recompense and acknowledgment of services given to the In- dians. After the treaty was conditionally ratified by the Senate in May, 1834, the Methodists immediately began preparations for building their first church. Doubtless through President Owen they secured permission to erect this Meth- odist Episcopal Church of Chicago, as it was called, at North Clark street and the river. It is nowhere stated clearly whether this first house of worship was erected on the east side or the west side of Clark street. If it was built on the east side, it was on the lot where Col. Owen had his dwelling house. If it was built on the west side of Clark street, it stood on a lot owned by Pierre Menard, one of the most prominent Catholics of early Illinois. Early Methodist chronicles state that the "Methodists had been pursuaded to build their new church north of the river where the city was to be located." As Messrs. Owen and Hamilton intended to establish the best residence sec- tion on the north side; and as Mrs. Hamilton was a member of the Methodist church; these two busy and enterprising gentlemen seem to have had a de- cided influence in locating the first Methodist church of Chicago. The Thomp- son Map of the town published by Andreas shows the name of P. Menard on lots 1 and 8, of block 3, at North Clark street and the river, on the west side of the street. Records with the Chicago Title and Trust company show that lot 4 in Block 2 was transferred by warranty deed to Thomas J. V. Owen on June 3, 1831, "with house thereon." Prior to building their own church, the Methodists worshipped at times in the council house of the Catholic chief, Billy Caldwell. One of the surprising consequences of Col. Owen's activities on behalf of other religious denominations than his own was, — he lost completely his historical status as a Catholic. In the Catholic Church in Chicago, by Gilbert J. Garraghan, S. J., a letter written to Bishop Rosati of St. Louis by the new pastor of St. Mary's congregation on June 4, 1833, is reproduced, which reads: "Many Protestants, even of the most distinguished of Chicago, appear to be much in favor of the Catholic religion, in particular Mr. Owen, 48 the Indian Agent, as also the doctor and several respectable families who come to Mass every Sunday and assist at it with much respect." Father St. Cyr makes his own unconscious apology for the above mis- statement, which otherwise would be an incomprehensible inaccuracy. He declares, in the first paragraph of the same letter: "The fact is that I have no acquaintance as yet with the people of Chicago and do not know how they stand as to the establishment of religion in their town." He had been in the town only five weeks when he penned the above his- OWENS CONTRIBUTION TO CHICAGO 157 torical excommunication of a zealous member of his flock, Mr. Owen, whose name headed the memorial to Bishop Rosati which brought Father St. Cyr to Chicago. By the priest's own admission, he had not made sufficient contacts with his congregation to ascertain their religious affiliations. Father St. Cyr made other historical statements quite as amazing both in their inaccuracy and his unchallenged acceptance of their truth. One of these is quoted by Father Garraghan in the words of Archbishop Ireland, who said Father St. Cyr told him in 1866: "I visited several times the Lincolns in their home in southern Illinois. The father and stepmother of Abraham Lincoln were both Catholics. How they became Catholics, I do not know. They were not well instructed in their religion; but they were strong and sincere in their profession of it. I said Mass repeatedly in their house. Abraham Lincoln was not a Catholic; he never had been one, and he never led me to believe that he would become one. At the time Abraham was twenty years old or thereabouts, a tall, thin young fellow, kind and good natured. He used to assist me in preparing the altar for Mass. Once he made me a present of a half dozen chairs. He had made those chairs with his own hands, expressly for me; they were simple in form and fashion as chairs used in country places in those days used to be." Father Garraghan shows that nothing was wrong in Father St. Cyr's statement to Archbishop Ireland, except this, — the Abraham Lincoln mentioned by the pioneer Chicago clergyman was a cousin of the Great Emancipator. This Abraham Lincoln lived in Hancock county, Illinois, and was baptized by the Jesuit Father Quickenborne. Another error of Father St. Cyr occurs when he states to Bishop Rosati, speaking of the Catholic seminary of learning promoted by Messrs. Owen and Hamilton: "As to the land which the Indian chiefs are reported to have prom- ised, we cannot count on it, seeing that Mr. (Rev. — Ed.) Badin, to whom the Indians made the promise, did not fulfill the conditions of the contract." The reader has been informed in a previous chapter, there were no con- ditions attached to the Badin-Owen land grant. President Jackson informed Col. Owen, through the Bureau of Indian affairs, that he would approve the grant as soon as a survey was made and a deed presented to him. Apparently this survey was never ordered. One more example of this priest's inaccuracy in the statement of facts to which he was an eye-witness, is the remark he makes in a letter to Bishop Rosati on September 16, 1833, during the Chicago Indian Treaty negotia- tions: "More than 1,000 Indians are gathered here for the payment." He must have meant 1,000 Catholic Indians, for the United Tribes had more like 5,000 members present. He also says: "Yesterday I said Holy Mass four miles from Chicago before a congregation of converted Indians recommended to me by their pastor Mr. Deseille, who could not accompany them to the treaty, as he is the only priest at St. Joseph." Even more remarkable is the fact that Father Badin must have been pres- ent in Chicago during the treaty. He had much to do in getting the four sections of land the Indians had granted him for the Badin-Owen school, and he indicates that he had consulted the treaty commissioners.* 5 Father St. 158 CHICAGO'S TRUE FOUNDER Cyr seems to have had no contact with Fathet Badin, for he does not men- tion the famous missionary's ptesence to Bishop Rosati. Taking all of Father St. Cyr's lettets in their aggregate of gossipy information and poverty of gen- uine "news value", it is evident that he did not know much about the life around him in its historical aspect. Indian Agent Owen's affiliation with St. Mary's congtegation appears from a petition to Bishop Rosati early in April, 1833, in which his name leads the signers. It reads: "We, the Catholics of Chicago, Cook Co., 111., lay before you the neces- sity there exists to have a pastor in this new and flourishing city. There are here several families of French descent, born and brought up in the Roman Cath- olic faith and others quite willing to aid us in the support of a pastor, who ought to be sent here before the other sects obtain the upper hand, which they very likely will try to do." Considering the independent tone of the above communication, and its total lack of "lay submission", the astonishment of Bishop Rosati in getting it is not surprising. On the same day he received its dictatorial contents, he wrote to Bishop Flaget of Bardstown, Kentucky, in whose diocese Chicago was located: "Having received a petition of the Catholics of Chicago, who regarded me as their diocesan bishop and demanded of me a priest, showing the danger of losing a concession of two thousand acres of land which the chiefs of the Pot- tawatomies with the consent of the government have made to the Catholic Church, by virtue of the powers of Vicar General, which you have given me, I will send Mr. St. Cyr, but on condition that when the limits of the diocese are fixed I can recall him." Chicago Catholics dispatched, with the petition, Anson H. Taylor, who brought some verbal exhortations not contained in the formal petition, and effectively presented them to the St. Louis Vicar General. He returned in twelve days to Chicago, bringing with him the new pastor, Chicago's first resident priest. Signers to the appeal for a pastor, with the number of Catholic mem- bers in their respective families, were: Thomas J. V. Owen, 10; J. B. Beau- bien, 14; Joseph Laframboise, 7; Jean Pothier, 5; Alexander Robinson, 8; Pierre Le Clerc, 4; Alexis Laframboise, 4; Claude Laframboise, 4; Jacques Chassut, 5; Antoine Ouilmet, (?); Leon Bourassa, 3; Charles Taylor, 2; J. Bt. Miranda and sisters, 3; Louis Chevalier and family, 3; Patrick Walsh, 2; John Mann, 4; B. Caldwell, 1; Dill Saver, 1; Mark Beaubien, 12; Dill Vaughn, 1; James Vaughn, 1; J. Bt. Rabbie, 1; J. Bt. Poulx, (?); J. B. Tabeaux, 1; J. Bt. Durocher, 1; J. Bt. Brodeur, 1; Mathias Smith, 1; Antoine St. Ours, 1; Bazille Desplat, 1; Charles Monselle, 1; John Handorf, 1; Dexter Apgood, (Hap- good) 1; Nelson Peter Perry, 1; John S. C. Hogan, 1; Anson H. Taylor, 1; Louis Francheres, 1; (On reverse side) Major William Whistler, 6. There were a total of thirty-seven signers, with family members making 128. Consideration of the petition to the Bishop of St. Louis, with adequate attention to the psychology of the text, leads to the opinion that it was the work of a master strategist. Certainly the composer of it knew how to ener- OWENS CONTRIBUTION TO CHICAGO 159 gize the episcopal mind of Bishop Rosati, who made an instant decision to send Father St. Cyr to Chicago within twenty-four hours after receiving the "demand", as he styles its high-pressure supplication. The celerity with which this religious group obtained a pastor illustrates young Chicago's power to get things done in a hurry. And this is one more of modern Chicago's char- acterestics, bequeathed by Mr. Owen. The petition bears internal evidence that it might have been the joint work of Thomas J. V. Owen and Rev. Stephen T. Badin. Father St. Cyr gave a final contradiction of his first reference to Indian Agent Owen, regarding his religious affiliation, in his last notation regarding early Chicago's most notable citizen. This was his entry in the parish register, now preserved by the Paulist Fathers in Chicago. It reads: "Oct. 17. Thomas J. V. Owen. Died Oct. 15. Today I performed the rites of the Church over his corpse." 21 Mr. Owen was Chicago's first professional politician in point of time as well as excellence. Political life is the natural road to statesmanship; and Civil Government should offer the most honorable career to citizens of a representative Democracy. Public welfare as a science devoted to human betterment endows public office with nobility. Chicago's first Chief Executive exemplifies this concept of service. Almost like a religion was his dedication to the public interest, — for which he lived; and for which he died. In his first letter from Chicago, April 18, 1831, he says to Governor Cass: "It is, Sir, my most ardent desire to discharge my duty faithfully to the Government, and to mete out strict justice to that portion of the Indians com- mitted to my protection." And in his last letter, — thiry-one days before he died, — he related that all his duties has been faithfully performed. When calumny assailed him for taking his family from the cholera zone, and he was charged with " deserting his post of duty", the dignified reply he made to his official superiors was: "I was well aware that the public interest could not suffer the least, otherwise I should not have gone for a single night from my station". In local affairs, Mr. Owen preferred the role of master politician. After one term as president of the town board of trustees, he stepped aside in favor of John H. Kinzie, late sub-agent of Indian affairs at Fort Winnebago. Mr. Kinzie decided in 1834 to become a permanent resident of Chicago. His ex- perience, wealth, ability, and his influence in national circles at Washington, were needed by the new community, and the Indian agent welcomed the man from whom he had most to fear. That John H. Kinzie became Chicago's sec- ond chief executive must be considered, in the light of contemporary events, as a tribute to Mr. Owen's civic loyalty. In political team work with Judge Hamilton, Owen was the national figure and Hamilton the local one. The latter was, at one time, probate judge, clerk of the circuit court, notary public, clerk of the Commissioners' Court, recorder of deeds, school superintendent, and county commissioner of school lands. It was Mr. Owen, on the other hand, who called a great public meeting of "Friends of the National Administration" for the election of Presi- dent Van Buren. He seems to have been then at the peak of his political 160 CHICAGO'S TRUE FOUNDER career in Chicago. He did not live to see Mr. Van Buren voted into the presidency. This meeting is described by the Democrat of May 20, 1835. The same newspaper on August 5, following, contained Mr. Owen's declaration of political faith. It seems that while the Indian agent was con- fined to his bed with a dangerous illness, the opposing political party used his name to its own advantage during the summer of 1835 when the campaign was warming up. Mr. Calhoun tells the story thus: "The reason that the aristocracy are so strongly opposed to Conventions is that the purse proud aristocrat — the men who fill all the offices are, in a convention, put on a level with the laboring man, the farmer or a mechanic. This does not at all agree with their ruffle shirt notion — they want the priv- ilege of saying themselves, who shall be permitted to be a candidate for office!! "The opponents of the Democratic party have been using the name of our distinguished fellow citizen, T. J. V. Owen to keep themselves in countenance in their opposition to the candidates of the Democratic party. "No man stands higher, and deservedly so, among our political friends and the community generally, than Col. Owen. We feel great pleasure, therefore, in laying his note below before the community: "To the Editor of the Chicago Democrat, "Sir, Understanding that my name is used before the public, coupled with the representation that I am opposed to the doings of the Democratic party, and will not support its measures, I have to request that you will say that I am, and always have been attached to the Democratic party — that I always have gone, and always shall go with my political friends, in political ques- tions, and that any use of my name coupled with a representation different from this, is wholly gratuitous and unauthorized — and further that I am de- cidedly in favor of the Convention System, believing that it is the most Re- publican and Democratic mode of getting candidates for office before the people. "July 30, 1835. "Th. J. V. Owen." The full stature of Chicago's first professional politician is revealed in the above straightforward declaration of his policies and principles. It is a thumb-nail biography of his political life; documentary evidence that cannot be assailed. It testifies that Thomas J. V. Owen was first, last, and all the time, a party politician; that he gave unswerving loyalty to his political group; and that he considered this fidelity a claim to honor among his fellow citizens. That was the creed of the Kane organization, which had sent him to Chicago. That was the unifying principle which made the Kane group the first coher- ently organized political body of Illinois, — the head of which was Owen's friend, protector, and most ardently loved leader. It was Representative Owen's contribution to the reelection of Senator Kane by the Seventh General Assem- bly that won for him the first prize of patronage from Senator Kane, — the Chicago Indian Agency appointment. Kane's triumph was as glorious as it seems to have been unexpected; and the reward given to Representative Owen must have been some measure of his service. At the moment of Senator Kane's most important achievement, however, Representative Owen revealed his independence in political action. He defied the entire Kane organization in casting his vote for Thomas Mather for sen- OWENS CONTRIBUTION TO CHICAGO 161 ator, which shocked his friends. "Some of our people are clamorous, they say, because Owen voted for Mather. I hope the cause of his voting can be satisfactorily explained to those concerned," wrote Hugh H. Maxwell to Sen- ator Kane in congratulating him on his reelection on January 3, 1831. Speak- ing of Kane's victory in another paragraph, he says: "In my view of the mat- ter, when you come to understand it properly, you will be astonished at the results in this county." Historical candor compels the observation here, that Thomas J. V. Owen did everything which the Kane organization did, as one of its leading field workers. There was no escape from such responsibility. But if he were ever guilty of political iniquity, perfidy in office, personal aggrandizement, folly of administration, misuse of the vast funds he distributed, malfeasance, misfeasance, or non-feasance, history has mercifully buried them with his bones. There is no trace of any form of misconduct by Thomas J. V. Owen in any written or printed, letter, document, report, or tradition that is in existence. This almost repellent rectitude has been a historical misfortune for Chicago's first Chief Executive. It makes him appear an unhuman paragon of virtue, having little appeal to the quick sympathy for human frailties that enchants the imagination, and too often bestows immortality upon the seven deadly sins. Chicago's first great Democratic leader reveals in his declaration of prin- ciples, quoted above, a political situation in early Chicago which merits con- sideration. His outspoken repudiaton of misrepresentations made by political opponents in the use of his name leaves nothing unsaid as to finality of his anathema. Yet he makes no criticism of their conduct. He gives them no verbal castigation. His disapproval is even gracious; his tolerance most be- nign; for Richard J. Hamilton seems to have been among their number. Dis- creetly enough, the communication was withheld until the local elections were over one week or more. Democrats and Whigs could now unsnarl themselves from town politics, and Mr. Owen piloted the Van Buren group, the Demo- crats; — so prudence was his watchword. The acute local situation, alluded to, arose from an application for a new charter for Chicago made by the town trustees, — John H. Kinzie, Gurdon S. Hubbard, Ebenezer Goodrich, J. K. Boyer, and John S. C. Hogan. Mr. Owen's political organ, the Democrat, challenges the good faith and civic righteous- ness of this expansionist program, — ostensibly for a greater Chicago. To avoid becoming boggled in controversy, the simple statement will be made that the new charter which the Illinois legislature granted in the spring of 1835, and which went into effect two weeks before Mr. Owen's political letter appeared, — gave the town trustees power to grant wharfing privileges. Less than one month after Mr. Owen died, Chicago's first big political grafting enterprise was born. It was an exploitation scheme, by which tax free land was leased on the river front for one thousand years less one to in- dividuals for wharfing purposes. It involved usurpation of the powers and rights of the Canal Commissioners by the town of Chicago, and precipitated twenty years of bitter controversy. The monstrous performance of granting leases for nine hundred and ninety-nine years on the river front, was, — so the Democrat alleged, — the hidden motive for asking a new charter from the 162 CHICAGO'S TRUE FOUNDER legislature by the town trustees. Naturally, Mr. Owen's strait-laced notion of proper conduct in public office, caused him to frown on such a subversion of civil government. Yet, he was dangerously ill all summer; he had a hercu- lean task in getting the Indians removed; he was deeply involved in securing the election of President Van Buren; — a national political enterprise; and some of his friends had become bewitched with the new charter. It is sufficient to observe here that as soon as the General Assembly realized the incredible powers it had given the town of Chicago in the 1835 charter, it immediately revoked these powers of granting wharfing privileges to the year A. D. 2035 and upwards. Wharfing privileges began innocently enough in December, 1833. Mr. Owen, who was president of the board of trustees, initiated them by per- mitting owners of lots facing the river on Water street, to cross the street and erect docks. They were privileged to use all but eighty feet of Water street. In this manner some valuable construction work on the docks could be ac- complished. These improvements might be appropriated by the town when- ever it saw fit to pay the owners for the same. Such privileges cost the lot owners fifteen dollars a year. Under the new charter of 1835, the wharfing privilege of a lot at the corner of Dearborn street caused it to increase in price from $9,000 in the spring to $25,000 in the succeeding winter. The annual rental of these wharfing lots was one barley corn, — a single grain of corn. Thomas J. V. Owen's greatest gift to modern Chicago is the lake front. As originally planned by the Canal Commissioners, the center or nucleus of the town was at Wolf Point, on the west side of the river, about where Lake street meets Canal street. Immediately upon Mr. Owen's arrival, however, he became the center of municipal life. Soon the old Indian trading center at Wolf Point became the outskirts of the town. In the reminiscences of E. O. Gale, Mr. Owen and his group of "aristocrats" are mentioned and their acti- vities to move the center of community life toward the lake are vigorously commented upon by one of the tavern keepers at the Point. Delegations of redmen were constantly coming and going to visit their "Father"; Indian traders and merchants had their own peculiar problems to thrash out with the Indian agent; citizens were at all times conferring with him on development schemes; and all these persons created a market for business houses which sprang up at the eastern edge of the town. Where Owen was, there was Chicago after 1831. All religious organizations were persuaded to center their activities on Lake street between Franklin and State streets. For some time, the Methodists clung to Jesse Walker's meeting house at Wolf Point; but even these churchmen finally came across the river, first to John Watkins' school house on Mr. Owen's lot at North Clark street and the river, and then to the "Temple Building" at Franklin between Lake and South Water streets. The acquisition of City Hall Square, Clark, Randolph, La Salle and Washing- ton streets, with the grouping of churches and business houses just north of this property, established the permanent center of Chicago. This, together with a vigorous endeavor to acquire the Fort Dearborn property, which began in 1831, placed Chicago squarely on the lake front. CHAPTER SEVENTEEN OWEN— FOUNDER OF CHICAGO CHICAGO was a municipal chaos from March, 1831, to August, 1833. The Canal Commissioners were given legislative authority to lay out the physical town in 1829 and to give it a name, but not to govern it. Cook county, organized in March, 1831, created no administrative machinery to conduct the town's affairs. Chicago's only local government, at that period, was the government of Thomas J. V. Owen, the Indian agent. As administrator for the Bureau of Indian Affairs, he bcame endowed by common consent with a paramount authority in civil government. This unofficial but definite protector- ate he exercised in a commanding way during the Black Hawk War, when all citizens looked to him for guidance and leadership. His letters breathe a consciousness of supreme directive control. They constitute a volume of evidence on his power to command by recommendations as modest as they were energizing. Captain J. B. F. Russell expressed this gift Mr. Owen possessed of winning obedience: 'With the Superintendent, I can with pleasure serve and aid him in all his public duties. His intimations would equal his commands ;" he informed the war department. Evidently the Indian agent retained this influence in the community until he passed away. It explains that inflection of respect and popular worship in written and printed documents where the name is mentioned of Thomas J. V. Owen. Even his political enemies and contemporary critics used his name with prudence and no little degree of caution. That he was a personality of outstanding rectitude, becomes a conviction as contemporaneous history is examined. In the spring of 1833, the canal town got a shock. Once more Chicago's enemies tried to destroy it. This second attempt on its life can be charged to Governor Reynolds, without much fear of an historical heresy. John Reynolds was a political enemy of Senator Kane and of Indian Agent Owen, — and the governor was a canal advocate. Mr. Owen was a railroad promoter. The net result of their rivalry, — without giving specific persons undue credit, — was the passage of a legislative act in March, 1833 completely abandoning the project of the Illinois and Michigan Canal. The waterway was now a dead issue. There would be no marine highway from Lakes to Gulf. The magnificent dream that had brought forth Chicago was ended. Chicago woke up to discover that it was no longer a canal metropolis because there was to be no canal. Even the board of canal commissioners had been snuffed out of existence. However, if the Vandalia politicians imagined they had stopped Chicago, they were to be soon disillusioned by the vigorous leadership of Thomas J. V. Owen. The incubus of the Illinois and Michigan Central had been removed from the neck of the town. The waterway mirage, which had promised a national eminence Mr. Owen knew it never could deliver, would no more distract the minds of citizens from earnest work on practical things. "Build 163 164 CHICAGO'S TRUE FOUNDER a railroad", was his first inspiring suggestion. "Incorporate the town", was his second. "Move the Indians farther west", was his third. "Let any man who wants to build have the use of the unsold canal lots", was his fourth. "Sell the school section land", was the fifth. There is not a jot of evidence that Mr. Owen personally was the first to make these proposals; or that he ever made any one of them. But they were all carried out under his leadership. He directed their evolution and final accomplishment, — always with the aid of his inseparable coworker Probate Judge Hamilton. It is relatively a matter of small consequence whether or not he suggested these measures; it is of historical importance that he engineered their accomplishment, — that is, all but one, the railroad. He called a mass meeting on August 7, 1833, for the purpose of asking Governor Reynolds to convene the General Assembly for initiating construction of a railroad, and he presided at that meeting. This has been sufficiently noted. 84 When the resolution reached the governor it bore the name of Thomas J. V. Owen. Owen, the intrepid Indian agent who had held John Reynolds up to public scorn in July, 1832, for his conduct of the Black Hawk War! Could Governor Reynolds forget that castigation in the Springfield Herald? Not if he were human, — nor the kind of a human he was. It goes without saying that the legislature was not convoked at the behest of this powerful young leader of a hostile political group, the Chicago Indian agent, — Kane's energetic lieutenant. It would be interesting to know just what Governor Reynolds said when he received Chairman Owen's resolution. He must have been filled with spluttering rage, which his uncouth vocabulary was fully competent to express. Apparently it required three months for him to quiet down, for he did not reply to Mr. Owen and Mr. Kimberly, president and secretary of the mass meeting, until November 2. And then he said: "No!" It would cost the tax- payers too much, he indicated. 53 Sale of the school land in Section 16, Madison street to Roosevelt road, and from State to Halsted streets, brought the sum of $38,865, — a small fortune for the little community. The sale has been generally criticised, because Chicago property became immensely valuable within a few years. It is asserted that the revenue from this land could have financed Chicago's schools, had they been rented or leased. There were one hundred and forty four blocks in the school section. Mr. Owen purchased Blocks 105 and 108; and two individual lots, in Blocks 84 and 23. Blocks 105 and 108 ran from Clark street to the river at Taylor street. Lot 1 in Block 84 was on the south side of Jackson boulevard, between Market and Franklin streets; and the family interest in it was sold by his widow in 1853 for $27,500. Lot 3 in Block 23 was at Adams, Desplaines and Monroe street, which he sold in 1835. The sale of the school lands was approved by the townspeople, for the signatures of ninety-five residents appeared on the petition asking Commis- sioner of School Lands Hamilton to make the sale. The property was disposed of at auction on October 20-25, 1833. There were urgent reasons why this land should be sold at the time, in order to get the school system operating. Critics of this sale forget to mention that all original land sales had ceased in the town. By this is meant that the canal commissioners' office had been abol- OWEN— FOUNDER OF CHICAGO 165 ished by the legislature in March, 1833. All unsold lots within the townsite were property of the Illinois and Michigan Canal. Only those lots that had been already sold could be taxed for revenue by the town or county. There was, in consequence in Chicago in 1833, a very large quantity of unowned and unproductive property, and both the town and Cook county were in sore need or funds to carry on. Poverty and necessity, rather than the lack of fore- sight, caused the school land to be sold in 1833. The need for revenue in- creased for the succeeding two years, and had much to do with securing favor for the new charter in 1835 by which wharfing privilege were leased for practically one thousand years. This astonishing procedure, itself, reveals how hard driven the town trustees were to get funds. With the demise of the canal commission, and cessation of the sales activi- ties of the commissioners, a curious situation developed in the little town, in 1833. All manner of buildings, houses, stores and churches, were erected upon unsold lots with no official or owner authorized to prevent it. St. Mary's church was so erected by recommendation of Col. Owen to Father St. Cyr. The First Presbyterian church, the First Methodist church, and the "Temple building", likewise, seem to have been placed on lots not owned by those religious bodies. The result of this ease in securing building sites caused one hundred and sixty buildings to be erected in Chicago in 1833. It later on made the house moving business highly profitable. There is little doubt that Chicago's first Chief Executive took full advantage of this unusual condition of property to obtain citizens, — for each new resident became one more pros- pective incorporator. Upon Mr. Owen, however, rested the unasked responsi- bility of local government. With a large influx of emigrants and a building boom to accommodate those who wished to remain, it may well be imagined that civil administration was in a state of anarchy. Something had to be done about that. Religious history in the town of Chicago began as the first effort made by Thomas J. V. Owen to organize local control through the medium of church groups. They were the original units of orderly government. Multitudes of emigrants were arriving, seeking homes somewhere. For the time being they were residents of Chicago. Oppressive problems of administration must be met and solved by non-legal devices. A disorganized population must, of necessity, be orderly arranged. This was accomplished effectively in the spring of 1833. In late March, Mr. Owen had one hundred and twenty-two Catholics grouped about the idea of securing a permanent pastor and forming a con- gregation. This resulted in St. Mary's church. Father St. Cyr arrived May 1. On May 9, that "earnest Baptist Christian", John T. Temple was in town and bought a lot from Messrs. Owen and Hamilton. This man infused with zeal became the nucleus of the Baptists, who had a meeting house in operation five weeks after Dr. Temple's family arrived. Four days after Dr. Temple purchased his lot at the northeast corner of Franklin and Lake streets, Rev. Jeremiah Porter landed from a boat in the harbor. He got busy right away with Deacon John Wright. With seventeen soldiers from Fort Dearborn, eight Chicago Congregationalists, and one Presbyterian, Philo Carpenter, he 166 CHICAGO'S TRUE FOUNDER organized the first "Presbyterian" church group on June 26. Methodists had been functioning under Rev. Jesse Walker for two years and more. Though few in numbers they had with them Mrs. Richard J. Hamilton, as an active adherent, and were a vigorous civic unit for law and order in the community. Early in the spring of 1833 Indian Agent Owen had received the good news from Washington that Congress had appropriated $25,000 to improve the Chicago harbor, or rather to build it. Community life was speeded up and energy intensified at the prospect of developing the marine entrance separate and apart from the canal scheme. Abandonment of the Illinois and Michigan waterway by the state legislature gave tremendous importance to the harbor improvement. Twice had Congress passed bills to improve Chicago harbor, 1831 and 1832; but they had been vetoed by President Jackson, perhaps by request of Senator Kane. It was not until the State of Illinois had voted water- way transportation out of existence that the Government began to create Chicago harbor. Senator Kane's pamphlet on the operation of "Steam carriages in Great Britain" had been generously distributed in Illinois; and Mr. Owen had practically converted Chicagoans to the railroad idea during the summer. All energies in the community were pointed to an independent evolution of the town; and expansion of its own powers. Chicago's first Chief Executive accepted the challenge of isolation thrown down to its citizens by the state; and during the past one hundred years this independence from downstate con- trol has been maintained. Chicago was on its own. When the month of July arrived, Mr. Owen had eleven fellow townsmen sufficiently enthusiastic over the plan of an organized government to make the Illinois Incorporation Statute workable. These historic incorporators deserve a word. In the order of their recorded enumeration mention will be made of them and their relation to the infant metropolis. JOHN STEPHEN COATES HOGAN, was postmaster at Chicago and a justice of the peace. He succeeded Jonathan N. Bailey, first postmaster, November 2, 1832, after the latter, who was his father-in-law, removed to St. Louis. Mr. Hogan kept a mercantile establishment at the corner of Lake and South Water streets, the latter now Wacker Drive; under the firm name of Brewster, Hogan & Co. Here Mr. Bailey had established the post office. John S. C. Hogan was one of the most active men in public life at the time. Public confidence in his popularity and ability was demonstrated in 1832 in the Black Hawk War, when he became commandant of Fort Dearborn with the rank of Captain. Governor John Reynolds having refused to send aid to Chicago, the citizens organized a military company in early May, apparently under the military jurisdiction of the Michigan militia. Captain Hogan made his reports to Detroit. His company was not recognized by Governor Reynolds, which explains why there is no record of it in the military annals of this state. His reports, however, have been reproduced elsewhere. As the store of Brewster, Hogan & Co., comprised an area of forty by twenty feet, his home must have been elsewhere. It was probably at the southwest corner of La Salle and Washington street, where he bought a lot on March 3, 1833. He was one of the organizers of St. Mary's congregation. C. A. BALLARD came to town some time in the spring of 1833. He OWEN— FOUNDER OF CHICAGO 167 bought one half of Mark Beaubien's lot 4 in block 31, at the northeast corner of Lake and Market streets, just across the way from that famous tavern keeper's place of business. He qualified as an incorporator by being a resident and a free holder. GEORGE W. SNOW arrived in Chicago in 1832. He was appointed town assessor and surveyor in December, 1833. He became locally famous by inventing a type of building, described by Architect J. M. VanOsdel in the Inland Architect, according to Andreas, who quotes him thus : "Mr. Snow was the inventor of the 'balloon frame' method of constructing wooden buildings, which in this city, (1883) completely superseded the old style of framing with posts, girts, beams and braces. The great rapidity in construction and the large saving in cost, compared with the old fashioned frame, brought the 'balloon frame' into general use. It is conceded that a frame with every part spiked together offers a greater resistance to lateral force than any other method of construction. As an evidence of its power to resist such force, it may be stated that the 'Bull's Head Hotel', built by Matthew Laflin in 1848, at the Junction of Ogden avenue and Madison street, was a three-story 'balloon frame' of large dimensions. Standing upon the open prairie, with hardly a building within a mile of it, this structure was exposed to the fierce, unbroken prairie winds, yet remained unshaken for many years, until it was taken down to give place to the Washingtonian Home, which now occupies its former site." From the above tribute to a great Chicagoan, George W. Snow, one of the charter members of the municipality, it is discovered that in the pell-mell, helter-skelter activity of Chicago's first building boom in 1833, a new type of architecture was evolved. RICHARD J. HAMILTON was probate judge of Cook county and re- quires no further mention here. JOHN T. TEMPLE, also has been discussed considerably. It may be in- teresting to remark at this point, that Dr. Temple and Mr. Snow with John H. Kinzie and W. H. Brown were credited with having the four most pre- tentious houses in Chicago, from an architectural viewpoint, in 1837. JOHN W. WRIGHT is unknown under the middle initial "W". There was an active churchman, John Wright, in the settlement. He was a strong supporter of Rev. Jeremiah Porter, and was "one of the praying men of the village." His son, John S. Wright, eighteen years old at that time, later be- came publisher of the Prairie Farmer; and was one of Chicago's great pioneer citizens. Since Deacon John Wright had been a resident for a year he was a qualified incorporator. GEORGE W. DOLE was Chicago's first meat packer. He arrived May 4, 1831, and erected the first frame building used for business in the town. It stood at the corner of South Water street, now West Wacker Drive, and Dearborn street. His name is interwoven into Chicago's history. HIRAM PEARSONS arrived in Chicago in the spring of 1833, according to Andreas. However, he purchased the east half of lot 4 in block 18, the northeast corner of La Salle street and the present West Wacker Drive, on August 21, 1832, which is presumptive evidence that he was in the town 168 CHICAGO'S TRUE FOUNDER then. Had he been an outsider at that time, he would most likely have pur- chased an entire lot. Mr. Pearsons in 1837 was city treasurer and alderman from the present Gold Coast district. Being both resident and property owner he was eligible as an incorporator. ALANSON SWEET built the famous Tremont House in 1833. It stood at the northwest corner of Lake and Dearborn streets. He came to the town in 1832 and was one of the Naperville members of the military company of Black Hawk War fame. The Tremont House stood on lot 8 in block 17, which was purchased by Richard M. Sweet from Mark Beaubien, October 16, 1833. The relation between Alanson and Richard M. Sweet is not known. Frag- mentary history leads to the conclusion that Richard M. Sweet sold his claim near the present town of Wheeling to George Strong for $60 in October, 1833, and came to Chicago where Alanson had been living since his removal from Naperville settlement. Upon his arrival he purchased the lot, and Alanson built the hotel. Indian Agent Owen was instrumental in the erection of this noted hostelry. He had notified squatters on Indian lands that they must re- move themselves or he would take a military company from Fort Dearborn and drive them off, as these lands had not yet been sold to the United States. As a result Richard M. Sweet sold his claim to George Strong. The latter defied the guns of the government's soldiers as well as the tomahawks of the outraged Potawatomi, and maintained his trespass until the Indian tribes were removed. DR. EDMUND STOUGHTON KIMBERLY was one of Chicago's pio- neer members of the medical profession. He was one of the founders and trustees of Rush Medical college, March 2, 1837; and president of the board of education 1848 to 1850. He arrived in town in 1832. On June 3, 1833, he purchased lot 4 in block 5, corner of Franklin and Kinzie streets, north of the river. He served at numerous public meetings as secretary in Mr. Owen's time. THOMAS J. V. OWEN was the United States Indian Agent. MARK BEAUBIEN was the famous hotel keeper and real estate promoter of infant Chicago. RUSSELL E. HE ACOCK, the only person to cast a negative vote on incorporation that is recorded, lived five miles south of Chicago at what was known as "Heacock's Point." As he was neither a property owner at the time, nor a resident, he was legally disqualified from taking any part in incorpora- tion. The presence of his name among the Chicago charter members is without any justification from a legal point of view. Squire Heacock, who was an attorney and justice of the peace of Cook county, was a rugged non-conformist to prevailing opinion of the time. He probably demanded that his negative vote be counted against incorporation ; and it was entered to please the belliger- ent gentleman and conciliate his good will. From the above sketches of the twelve incorporators of Chicago, it is evident that they all stood qualified by the most rigid test, — residence for six months, or residence with property ownership, for a shorter length of time. No warrant exists for stating, — or even imagining, — that these thirteen persons were the whole number present at the epochal meeting when Incor- OWEN— FOUNDER OF CHICAGO 169 porated Chicago was founded. There were some three hundred residents in the town, bona fide Chicagoans; while the number of transients must have been large. Neither is there any evidence of prior formal or informal meet- ings to organize a local government. Indian Agent Owen bore a heavy weight of responsibility in the matter of civic administration, as already stated. Perhaps the most pressing necessity to get the thing done at the time arose from the coming negotiations for the Chicago Indian Treaty of September. Almost tragic consequences impended unless there was some semblance of orderly gov- ernment during this treaty making. Few public men in the history of Chicago faced such a tremendous task, single handed and alone, as Chicago's first Chief Executive did as the days drew near when the treaty was to be made. Here are the dramatic facts of the situation. Indian Agent Owen was going to distribute $140,000 in cash to some five thousand savages; who were privileged to do whatever they chose with the money as soon as it was in their hands. These funds were stipulated under the Treaty of Tippecanoe in part. The St. Joseph or "Wood" Indians were to get $15,000 as annuities; also the Wabash Potawatomi, the same amount. The Chicago Potawatomi, or Prairie Indians were to get $20,000 annuities and $30,000 in goods. In addition, the entire United Tribes were to receive some $60,000 in goods as soon as the treaty was signed. Besides the payments under the Tippecanoe Treaty, Mr. Owen paid out each year approximately $28,000 in annuities and goods under various other Indian treaties. As treaty time approached, therefore, the prospect of letting five thousand and more redskins have approximately $168,000 in cash and goods, side by side with all the whiskey that could be brought to Chicago, was a cause for deep apprehension, — not alone to the United States Indian agent, but to every thinking inhabitant of the town who knew the situation. What might happen was deplorable to think about. Their worst fears were not realized, it is true, only because a shipload of whiskey was delayed by adverse winds and did not reach Chicago until after the treaty was over. Mr. Owen, however, could not anticipate such a fortunate dispensation of Providence in July, 1833, — unless it was he himself who caused the delay of the whiskey ship, which is not improbable. He had received his appointment as one of the three treaty commissioners; and knew in a general way the amount of money that was to be apportioned by the commissioners. Anticipating a large financial increment to the present wealth of residents and merchants in Chicagoland, the inhabitants must have been in a mental state approaching frenzy. Nine months prior, Indian Agent Owen had taken an important part in consummating the Tippecanoe Treaty in Indiana, October 20, 1832. The Chicago Treaty was to be almost a duplicate of that; and he knew just where the hardest work was going to be, — combating selfish traders and whiskey peddlers. These were the two great public enemies. Camp Tippecanoe was in the Indian country, where the United States exercised authority. But in Chicago the situation, as regards organized government and regulation, was a jungle of lawlessness. It is true, the treaty negotiations and cash payments would be made on quasi government property, — section 10, between Lake 170 CHICAGO'S TRUE FOUNDER Michigan and what is now State street. Here Indian Agent Owen could protect his red charges; and the treaty commissioners could exercise their own regulations. But once the commissioners crossed State street and entered sec- tion 9, on which the town was laid out, they had not a vestige of authority as United States officials. This land belonged to Illinois. That was the danger zone. Here the bootleggers could set up their dram dispensaries, under the eyes of the government commissioners, and carry on their trade with not a single governmental agency to constrain them to proper conduct. If there was some haste to incorporate Chicago, — self preservation on the part of the residents justified it. If twelve incorporators seem too small a number, out of three hundred inhabitants, to perform so important a function of free people; this might mean unanimous consent rather than a feeble loyalty to Chicago or a minimum of public interest. The job had to be done now and it had to be done right, — that is the Chicago way; and that is the way Chicago's first Chief Executive did it. It would have been treason to the town to let the coming horde of white plunderers descend upon the community and find no organized government to check its rapacity. Indian Agent Owen had to choose between incorporation and vigilance committees. To serve his purpose in this hour of need, he had his own Illinois In- corporation law, which he had helped to legislate in the Seventh General Assembly in January, 1831. Strange to say, local chroniclers do not publish the text of this statute under which modern Chicago was created. Even the prolific Andreas, who prides himself on the wealth of "detail" in his History of Chicago, deemed it expedient not to publish it. Perhaps he thought this Incorporation law gave the little town too great a dignity, — and in publishing it he might offend. It is a fact that the Original Town of Chicago was a completely organized civic community, possessing every basic function required for self government; and that modern Chicago was created in August, 1833. The city charter, authorized in 1837, merely expanded the powers already conferred upon the incorporated inhabitants of the town. It was a change in form but not in substance. The village of Oak Park and the town of Cicero bear evidence that they possess all the fundamental powers required by a self-governing corporate body politic, — and they are not cities. The major text of the Illinois Incorporation statute is reproduced here from Laws of Illinois, a tiny and rare volume preserved by the Chicago Law Institute. It reads: "Incorporation. "An Act to Incorporate the Inhabitants of Such Towns as may wish to be incorporated. "In force March 1, 1831. "Sec. 1. Be it Enacted by the People of the State of Illinois represented in the General Assembly, That whenever the white males over the age of twenty-one years, being resident of any town in the State, containing not less than one hundred and fifty inhabitants, shall wish to become incorporated for the better regulation of their internal police, it shall be lawful for said resi- dents, who may have resided six months therein, or who shall be owner OWEN— FOUNDER OF CHICAGO 171 of any freehold property therein, to assemble themselves together, in public meeting, at the court house or other place in said town, and when so assembled, they may proceed to choose a president and a clerk of the meeting from among their own number, both of whom shall be sworn, or affirmed by any person authorized to administer oaths, faithfully to discharge the trust reposed in them as president and clerk of said meeting; provided, however, that at least ten days public notice of the time and place of holding such meeting, shall have been previously given by advertising in some newspaper of the town, or by setting up written notices, in at least three of the most public places in the town. Sec. 2. The residents, as aforsaid, of any town having assembled as directed in the first section of this Act, may proceed to decide by vote, viva voce, whether they will be incorporated or not, and the president and clerk, after their votes are given in, shall certify under their hands, the number of votes, in favor of being incorporated, and the number against being incorporated ; and if it shall appear that two-thirds of the voters present, are in favor of being incorporated, the president and the clerk shall deliver a Certificate of the state of the polls to the board of trustees, to be elected, as hereinafter provided. Sec. 3. Whenever the qualified voters, under this Act, of any town, shall have decided in the manner herein provided, that they wish to be incorporated, it shall be the duty of the clerk of the Meeting, at which they shall so decide, to give at least five days public notice to the said voters, to assemble at the court house, or some other public place in such town, to elect by viva voce vote, five residents and freeholders of such town, for trustees of the same, who shall hold their office for one year, and until other trustees are chosen and qualified; at which first election, the president and clerk of the first meet- ing shall preside, or in the case of absence of either of them, some suitable person shall be appointed by the electors present to fill such vacancies. And at every succeeding election for president and trustees, the preceding board of trustees shall direct the manner in which the same shall be conducted. Sec. 4. The board of trustees of any town, elected agreeably to the pro- visions of this Act, shall choose a president out of their own body, and the president and trustees aforesaid, and their successors in office, shall thence- forth be considered in law and equity, a body corporate and politic, by the name and style "the president and trustees of the town of " and by such name and style shall be forever able and capable in law and equity to sue and be sued, to plead and be impleaded, to answer and be answered unto, defend and be defended in all manner of suits, actions, plaints, pleas, causes, matters and demands, of whatever kind or nature they may be, in as full and effectual a manner, as any person or persons, bodies corporate, or politic can, or may do, and may have a common seal, and may alter the same at their pleasure. The said president and trustees shall require their clerk to keep a fair journal and record of all proceedings, and record all by-laws and ordi- nances which they may make, in a book to be provided for that purpose. Sec. 10. Whenever a president and trustees shall be elected for any town as herein directed, it shall be the duty of the president and clerk of the first meeting, provided for in the first section of this Act, to deliver to them 172 CHICAGO'S TRUE FOUNDER a certified statement in writing, of the polls at said first meeting; and it shall be the duty of such president and trustees, to deposit the same with the clerk of the County Commissioner's Court, of the proper County to be entered of record, in his office: and before entering upon their duty, to make an oath to discharge their duty according to their best ability. Approved Feb. 12, 1831. The above Incorporation statute furnishes authentic testimony that the municipality of modern Chicago was created by the citizens of the town, August 5-12, 1833, under the leadership of Thomas Jefferson Vance Owen; because it was through the legislative power vested in them that the first meeting was held at which the citizens voted to make themselves an incorpo- rated body. And since that time no essential change has been made in Chicago as a self-governing organism. No new fundamental powers or functions were given to the citizens by the charter of 1835 nor by the city charter of 1837. The former charter increased the trustees from five to nine; and gave them power to lease wharfing privileges; the latter city charter of 1837, changed the trustee system to the aldermanic; none of which constituted essential alter- ations of incorporated powers or functions residing in the municipality. Early Chicago chroniclers do not state where the first meeting was held when the citizens incorporated themselves in August, 1833. The most suitable place existing at that date was the Temple Building, which had just been completed, at the corner of South Water and Franklin streets. Dr. Temple was one of the leading men in the community. He was closely associated with Messrs Owen and Hamilton; and doubtless his church building was the center of interest. It had a large assembly hall on the second floor later used for a school. This was ideal for such an impressive civic function as the creation of the municipality. Notice of the great event appeared for ten days in written announcements at the principal public places, — which were, the postoffice, Mark Beaubien's tavern, the hotels at Wolf Point on the west side of the river; and the hostelry north of the river just west of the present site of the Merchandise Mart. There were some notable citizens of early Chicago who never explained why they did not vote at that incorporation meeting. While Mr. Owen, it seems, demanded a rigid set of qualifications as to six months' prior residence or ownership of property with present residence within the town limits; still there were numerous men who could have responded to these demands and who did not vote. They certainly knew that the meeting was going to be held; and it is a fair presumption that many of them were present. There has been a unanimous and mysterious silence regarding this abstinance from voting by some prominent pioneer men, who might have given posterity a good reason for it, if such a good reason existed. Sub-Agent Gholson Kercheval did not vote as an incorporator, but did cast his ballot at the election of town trustees on August 10. With the Indian treaty coming on, he must have been a very busy man. There was a large council house to be built, and other duties which could furnish him a reason for not attending this meeting. James Kinzie, also, was not a voter for incorporation, but he was for OWEN— FOUNDER OF CHICAGO 173 the trustees. He was an Indian trader and had large interests in the coming treaty, at which he received $5,000. So he may have been out among the Indians getting things lined up with the chiefs and headmen. Philo Carpenter, the druggist and temperance worker, had many years to explain why he did not vote at the incorporation meeting, and thus become immortal; but he never did so in any public or impressive manner. He later opposed the sale of the school land, and rather set his opinion adversely to the general judgment on this matter. His status as Chicago's first great tem- perance leader should have made him zealous to get a civil government started before the intended deluge of whiskey arrived for the Indian treaty. As Col. Owen was one of the most terrifying enemies the bootlggers had at that time, the two citizens had a common interest of paramount importance in controlling the liquor traffic. The Indian agent, therefore, was entitled to Mr. Carpenter's support in getting a government going; but did not get it. Philo Carpenter's combination drug store, hardware emporium and general merchandise estab- lishment, was half a block from the Temple Building, on South Water street. He must have been vigorously occupied from morning till night in that build- ing epidemic of the summer of 1833; and so there might be set up a fair excuse for him as an absentee voter. Robert A. Kinzie lived within the town limits, so he was a qualified voter. He entered as a candidate for trustee at the election of August 10, but was defeated. The Incorporation law required that trustees be selected from "residents and freeholders". John B. Beaubien lived without the town limits. His son, Madore B. Beaubien, however, could not be excused, if he were in town at the time, for not voting at the incorporation meet- ing; for he was elected one of the first trustees in the town. His vote was the smallest received by any one of the trustees, — thirteen out of a total of twenty-eight. His father, also a candidate, received five votes. Madore was a half breed Indian, and not a serious minded citizen. He later left Chi- cago with the Potawatomi. He is the only half-breed Indian, perhaps, ever to become a member of Chicago's supreme governing body. He was a popu- lar fellow and loved pleasure and hunting more than he did business. Anson Taylor and his brother, Charles H. Taylor, did not become in- corporators, though Charles voted at the election on August 10. Anson was a church builder and Charles was a hotel man. They lived in Chicago many years but have not made known to posterity why they were absentee voters at the first incorporation meeting. Stephen F. Gale, a voter at the August election, is not among the in- corporators. Andreas says he arrived in June, 1833. If he did, he was not a qualified voter at the incorporation meeting. It would seem that the re- quirements set up by President Owen and Clerk Kimberly at the incorporation meeting were more inflexible than at the first election. Stephen F. Gale pub- lished the first law book in Chicago in 1839: "The Public and General Statute Laws of the State of Illinois". He, therefore, had an opportunity to explain why he did not vote to incorporate Chicago. He likewise became prominently identified with the railroad interests of the city in later years. John Watkins, Cook county's first public school teacher, who was em- 174 CHICAGO'S TRUE FOUNDER ployed by Messrs Owen and Hamilton, was a qualified but absentee incor- porator; though a voter at the election on August 10. His dereliction of duty as a citizen is not to be explained. John Miller, did not vote for incorpora- tion. He was a business man and prominent resident; and a candidate at the election for trustees. From a careful examination of the names of men who did not vote to create the municipality of Chicago, the conclusion becomes most persuasive that there is an untold story about that incorporation assemblage. The record of twelve votes cast on the part of qualified residents and freeholders present, shows that incorporation won unanimously, — because Russell E. Heacock was not a qualified voter under the Illinois Incorporation statute. Yet, some five days later, twenty-eight qualified electors voted for trustees. This situation raises the question: Were the residents of Chicago unan- imously in favor of incorporation? That question answers itself: They were not! A town government would involve the citizens in all manner of taxes and other costs incidental to a regularly organized government. Every new community has a considerable body of members who oppose taxes and public improvements. It is human nature to put off the evil day of tax responsibility as long as possible. Every business man in Chicago in 1833 must have been reaping a harvest. The promise of exorbitant profits during the Indian treaty negotiations a few weeks hence, when a flood of money was to be poured into the town by the Indians, was enchanting. Opponents of incorporation, — just at that time, — might have thought the moment inopportune. Assuming that there was considerable antagonism to the immediate creation of a town, what became of it? That question is answered very easily, if it be also assumed that Russell E. Heacock was the leader of the opposition. He was a lawyer, though not a brilliant one, — according to that distinguished member of the pioneer bar, Grant Goodrich, — and he must have known that he was not a qualified voter for incorporation. Nevertheless he seems to have insisted that his negative vote, the only one recorded, be officially counted. If he opposed his wits against Indian Agent Owen, former member of the General Assembly and a master craftsman in the game of politics, he was most adroitly outmaneuvered. Squire Heacock's advice to the opponents of incorporation, under Section 2 of the statute, would be to attend the meeting but not to vote. The law stated clearly that two -thirds of the voters present determined the question either in the affirmative or the negative. Since there were sixteen men in Chicago at the time qualified to vote who are not enumerated in the list of incorporators; there could have been at least sixteen in the negative and twelve in the affirmative. President Owen may have accepted this organized opposition demurely and aquiesced graciously in the refusal of sixteen qualified voters to cast a ballot on the question. After the polls were closed, however, Squire Heacock and his party learned to their dismay that the only qualified voters present, in the eyes of the law, were voters who voted. Any man refusing to vote automatically disqualified himself. Mr. Owen could do nothing else, under the statute, as president of the meeting except to certify that twelve votes had OWEN— FOUNDER OF CHICAGO 175 been cast for incorporation, — and by courtesy, one vote against the proposition. This view of the incorporation matter goes far to explain why Squire Heacock's prestige as a lawyer dwindled immediately after the incorporation of the town. "He made more money as a carpenter than he did as a lawyer", Grant Goodrich says of him, and precedes this statement with: ". . though the first on the ground, he was soon crowded out by the younger and more active members of the profession". The actual fact seems to be that Attorney Heacock bungled terribly at that incorporation meeting and the community never had much respect for his legal judgment after that date. Chicago had perhaps three hundred residents in August, 1833, which meant about sixty families, — or heads of families who were possible voters. One third of this number had not been in town for six months at the time of the creation of the municipality. With a possible vote of forty, and twelve votes cast, that would mean two thirds of the vote stayed home, — a very large number relatively. It is not easily credible that a meeting advertised for ten days on so vital a question as the incorporation of the town would have had a stay-at-home vote of 66 2/3 per cent. There must have been an oppo- sition group. They seem to have been so thoroughly beaten by President Owen, that not one of them in all Chicago history has boasted of the part he took in trying to stop the incorporation of the town in 1833. Perhaps, six weeks later, during the treaty they all woke up to the wisdom of getting an organized government established. They did not realize the danger they were menaced with, in early August; but Col. Owen did. Had not the cargoes of "firewater" been kept away from the treaty grounds while negotiations were in progress, there would have been an orgy of drunkenness of unparalleled dimensions in the little town with enough major casualties to fill a cemetery. The Owen Charter of Chicago of 1833, reads: "At a meeting of the citizens of Chicago, convened pursuant to public notice given according to statute for incorporating towns, T. J. V. Owen was chosen President, and E. S. Kimberly was chosen Clerk. The oaths were then administered by Russell E. Heacock, a Justice of the Peace for Cook County, when the following vote was taken on the propriety of incorporating the Town of Chicago, County of Cook, State of Illinois. "For incorporation — John S. C. Hogan, C. A. Ballard, G. W. Snow, R. J. Hamilton, John T. Temple, John W. Wright, G. W. Dole, Hiram Pearsons, Alanson Sweet, E. S. Kimberly, T. J. V. Owen, Mark Beaubien — 12. "Against incorporation — Russell Heacock. "We certify the above poll to be correct. "Signed. T. J. V. Owen, President. "Ed. S. Kimberly, Clerk/' The above certified statement was handed in by President Owen and Clerk Kimberly to the board of trustees of the town of Chicago at their first meeting, which was held on August 12, 1833. It was then turned over to the county clerk to be recorded. What happened to it after that time is not known from historical annals. However, Bert M. Massey of Chicago informed the author of this biography that the "Owen charter is still in existence". He did not know in whose hands it was. It had been offered to him, he said, by an 176 CHICAGO'S TRUE FOUNDER agent who was trying to negotiate a sale for the owner of it. It was probably among the papers of Richard J. Hamilton, clerk pro tern of the board of trustees of Chicago at their first meeting, to whom it was given by Messrs. Owen and Kimberly as by law instructed. Among other official papers which disappeared are the school records kept by Mr. Hamilton from 1833 to 1837. Chicago's first election took place, after a five days' notice, on August 10, from 11 A. M. to 1 P. M. There were twenty-nine voters present, but one of them, John Miller, did not cast a ballot because he was a candidate. It was held at the home of Mark Beaubien. Thirteen candidates offered themselves for the office of trustees; Owen, Dole, Beaubien, father and son, Hamilton, Miller, Kimberly, James and Robert Kinzie, Temple, Carpenter, Wright and Hogan. The five successful candidates and their votes were: T. J. V. Owen, 26; G. W. Dole, 26; Madore B. Beaubien, 13; John Miller, 20; E. S. Kimberly, 20. Scattering vote was; Robert Kinzie, 9; J. B. Beaubien, 6; James Kinzie and John T. Temple, 5 each; R. J. Hamilton, 4; John Wright, 2; and Philo Carpenter, 1. The vote of 26 for Col. Owen and 4 for Col. Hamilton, reveals the comparative standing of the two men in the opinion of Chicagoans of 1833 as leaders in the community. While these distinguished citizens performed numerous public duties and carried out many enterprises together, a knowledge of facts of the time leads to the conclusion that Col. Owen was always the directing genius of their undertakings and the Chief executive in carrying them out. Names of the eighteen citizens who did not vote for incorporation but took part in the election were: J. B. Beaubien, William Ninson, Philo Carpenter, George Chapman, Mathias Smith, David Carver, James Kinzie, Charles Taylor, Eli A. Rider, Dexter A. Hapgood, Gholson Kercheval, Stephen F. Gale, Enoch Darling, W. H. Adams, John Watkins, James Gilbert and John Miller. Other residents, business or professional men, who did not vote at either the meeting to incorporate or at the election of August 10, were: Peter Pruyne, druggist, came early in 1833; P. F. W. Peck, merchant, and John Bates, Jr., auctioneer, 1832; Jabez K. Botsford, speculator and capitalist, and Morris Bumgarden, 1832; Tyler K. Blodgett, brickmaker, spring of 1833; Benjamin Hall, 1832; Dr. Valentine A. Boyer, physician, 1832; Dr. Philip Maxwell, February, 1833; — a total of nine. Just how many of these persons were qualified voters by reason of six months in the town cannot be stated. It is evident from known facts that Chicago fully met the legal requirement of "one hundred and fifty inhabitants" when incorporated, which, of course, would include the families of its permanent residents. Among these resident families of the town in 1833 should be enumerated a considerable number of half breed Indians who had abandoned tribal life. While the qualified voters must be "white males", there was no such legal requirement for "residents" in the Incorporation law. "One hundred and fifty inhabitants", therefore, included all those persons with permanent homes in the town of Chicago. All intimations by historical annalists that Chicago had barely enough inhabitants to satisfy the Incorporation statute must be considered as ignoring authenticated data on the subject of population. Col. Owen was a OWEN— FOUNDER OF CHICAGO 177 strict advocate of legal formality. He had been sheriff of Randolph county for seven and a half years county treasurer, as well; United States pension agent for one year; member of the General Assembly for one session; and United States Indian agent for two and a half years prior to the creation of the municipality. He surpassed every other citizen in the town in practical knowledge of political forms and legal propriety. He had long been experienced in executing political enterprises; and developing public opinion to support them. His services in Illinois courts, for county judges, circuit court judges, probate judges, criminal court judges; with advocates and prosecutors in numerous suits at law in Kaskaskia, gave him an intimate working knowledge of legal statutes superior, without a doubt, to that of any other resident of Chicago in the days of incorporation. And when he brought forth the town of Chicago he created it without a flaw in its legal structure. Upon this triumph rests his fame as the true founder of modern Chicago. Confirming this title, the first governing body of this municipality on August 12, 1833, elected him President of the Board of Trustees. Thomas Jefferson Vance Owen became Chicago's first Chief Executive. CHAPTER EIGHTEEN CHICAGO'S FIRST GREAT CITIZEN TWO days after Thomas J. V. Owen had brought about the creation of municipal Chicago, under the Incorporation statute which he had spon- sored in the Seventh General Assembly, he made his first big political move in the new stronghold of the Kane organization. It was worthy of his genius as Senator Kane's field general in northern Illinois. He called a mass meeting of citizens to promote the immediate build- ing of a railroad from Lake Michigan to the waters of the Illinois river. The meeting was held, as noted, 34 on August 7. At this first meeting of the in- corporated inhabitants of Chicago, resolutions were adopted demanding that Governor Reynolds call the legislators in special assembly to authorize the construction of the railroad. Chicago's first professional politician fully disclosed himself in this auda- cious announcement to the statesmen of Illinois that Chicago v/as now on the political map. By no stretch of the imagination can it be assumed that Thomas J. V. Owen was so simple-minded as to believe that the governor would call a special session of the General Assembly at his request. He knew John Reynolds too well for that. It does no violence to historic truth to declare that Governor Reynolds was the bitterest political foe Col. Owen had in Illinois. Both men had exerted their power to destroy each other. John Rey- nolds by involving the Potawatomi in war against the United States; Indian Agent Owen by destroying Governor Reynolds' reputation as an administrator of public affairs. And it might be noted here, that John Reynolds never again was governor of Illinois, although he was in state politics for the next twenty years. Col. Owen's railroad meeting, however, did impress his fellow citizens with his powers of leadership. And it it significant that the canal enterprise remained a dead issue in Chicago as long as he lived. Three days after this meeting of August 7, Mr. Owen was elected one of the five trustees of the town, — receiving all but two votes cast by the twenty-eight electors. And five days later, he was chosen to head the local government, as President of the Board of Trustees. Besides his election as president, and presentation of the original Charter of Chicago to the trustees, the only business done was to set the first Wednesday of each month, at 7 P. M., as meeting time for the Board at the house of Mark Beaubien. The first business meeting after organization of the Board was fixed for September 4, 1833. At that session a free ferry was established across the river at Dearborn street. This was a necessary preparation for the coming Indian treaty. The council house being on the north side, "opposite Fort Dearborn", and the resi- dence part of the town on the south side, the first municipal gesture made by Chicago was to provide adequate transportation for its numerous coming 178 CHICAGO'S FIRST GREAT CITIZEN 179 visitors. Ordinarily in early days, it was customary to charge a license fee to the person authorized to operate a ferry. Chicago's municipal transit service was free to citizens; hence the ferryman was obliged to get his revenue from strangers. Just how many days it required a stranger to become a resident is not clearly known. Hence the operating policy of the free ferry cannot be given. This much is certain, — that it was intended to develop the north side. On this subject an unwritten chapter of early Chicago history can be sketched. Mark Beaubien informed the father of E. O. Gale, according to the latter's Reminiscences oj Early Chicago, that Messrs. Owen and Hamilton proposed to build the town on the north side of the river, where both of these gentlemen lived. Col. Owen bought his home at the east corner of North Clark street and the river in June, 1831. He received a warranty deed. This warranty title was never relinquished either by Col. Owen or his family. He had the deed recorded in June, 1835 four months before he died. Eight months after his death, Richard J. Hamilton secured from the "treasurer of the Canal" a "receipt" for this property, lot 4, block 2, in the Original town of Chicago. This was done while the estate of Col. Owen was being probated. Col. Owen's widow and her sisters reiterated for many years that they had been "cheated out of their property." They made this statement in East St. Louis when they lived there, — more particularly, Charlotte, the last of the Hotchkiss sisters to die. Concerning this matter, Mrs. Elizabeth Joergensen, a neighbor to Col. Owen's widow, and at whose home Charlotte lived, said: "Charlotte always said they had been cheated out of their estate. She said they owned the property on which the City Hall was built in Chicago." Mrs, Joergensen's statement was confirmed by Frank Owen of St. Louis, already mentioned. He told this writer: "My Dad's grandfather owned the property where the City Hall is built in Chicago, — at least that is how I got it. Some friend of his was taking the papers to the state capital, or the court house or the land office, when the building burned down. I never got the thing straight in my own mind, — but there was some kind of shenanigan done with the papers, by my great grandfather's friend, and the folks never got the right kind of a title. I used to hear the family talking about it; and I heard what those lawyers said who came from Chicago with Judge Ewing. But I was only ten years old, and didn't know what they were talking about." From this family tradition, it is apparent that Mark Beaubien meant President Owen intended the City Hall 25 to go on the north side, and the County building on the south side of the river. After the first business meeting of the Board of Trustees on September 4, 1833, the Chicago Indian Agent busied himself with the great treaty. On August 12, the day he was elected Chicago's first Chief Executive, Mr. Owen had written to Governor Porter at Detroit: "Sir, Enclosed I transmit my draft in duplicate dated this day, on the Secretary of War, Payable to your Order, for Fifty-Six Thousand dollars on account of the Indian Annuities payable at this Agency, for the service of the year 1833, which you will please cause to be endorsed and placed to my credit in the Bank of Michigan." 180 CHICAGO'S TRUE FOUNDER The above money was in the hands of the Indian agent when the treaty opened on September 10. In addition he had rations, supplies, presents, and other requisites for 5,804 members of the United Tribes who attended the negotiations during the ensuing three weeks. These represented perhaps $65,000. This writer intended to get a full statement of the costs of the treaty from the department of public accounts at Washington, where all the records are still preserved. But the heads of that department are so terrified at the number of persons seeking "to dig up claims against the government," that they made a comprehensive research so difficult it was abandoned. Enough facts are available, however, to show that Chicago was "born with a silver spoon in its mouth," to use an overworked metaphor. In this little town of three hundred inhabitants there was enough money paid out in cash, expended on provisions, horses, housing, allotted for claims and gifts to "sundry individuals," to make the inhabitants feel that they were swimming in wealth. They enjoyed golden days in Chicago during September, 1833, when the municipality was only six weeks old, and a million dollar treaty was being made, which involved over $400,000 in actual cash at ratification. No wonder the town had a real estate boom. Chicago men and women who received money from that treaty were; John H. Kinzie, $5,000; Robert A. Kinzie, $5,000; James Kinzie, $5,000; Mrs. Alexander Wolcott, nee Ellen M. Kinzie, $5,000; Maria Hunter, nee Maria Kinzie, $5,000; Mrs. Linia T. Helm, nee Margaret Kinzie, $5,000; John H. Kinzie for heirs of Joseph Miranda, $250; Rev. Jesse Walker, Methodist preacher, $1,500; John H. Kinzie trustee for Josette Ouilmet, $200; John H. Kinzie trustee for Miranda children, $800; Robert A. Kinzie trustee of John Bt. Cloutier's children, $600; Victoire Pothier and children, $700; Gholson Kercheval trustee for Alexander Muller, $800; Joseph Laframboise and children, $1,000; Angelique Chevallier, $200; Josette Chevalier, $200; Th. J. V. Owen trustee for George Turkey's children, $500 and for Jacques Chapeau's children, $600; Claude Laframboise' children, $300; Antoine Ouilmet's children, $300; Mrs. Welsh, $200; Alexander Robinson's children, $400; Billy Caldwell's children, $600; Alexander Robinson, $5,000; Billy Caldwell, $5,000; Madore B. Beaubien, $300; Charles Beaubien, $300; Josette Beaubien's children, $1,000; Josette Beaubien, $500; John and Mark Noble, $180; Brewster, Hogan & Co., $343; John S. C. Hogan, $50; Russell E. Heacock, $100; Charles Taylor, $187; George W. Dole, $133; Thomas Hartzell, $400; Gurdon S. Hubbard, $125; 37 Mark Beaubien, $500; John Wright, $15; James Galloway, $200; William Marquis, $150; Louis Chevallier, $112; M. B. Beaubien, $400; Jedruthan Smith, $60; Philip Maxwell, U. S. A., $35; Tyler K. Blodgett, $50; James Harrington, $68; Richard J. Hamilton, $500; Richard J. Hamilton, trustee for children of Elizabeth Miller, wife of Samuel Miller, $800; Antoine Ouilmet, $800; John Bt. Beaubien, $250; Laframboise & Bourassa, $1,300; John K. Clark, $400; Gholson Kercheval, $2,000, and George E. Walker, $1,000, under the amended treaty, — grand total, $62,408. Duplicated names are for Schedule A and Schedule B, the former gave cash in lieu of land grants; and the latter, cash for claims against the United Tribes. At the second business meeting of the Board of Trustees, therefore, CHICAGO'S FIRST GREAT CITIZEN 181 October 4, 1833, the people of the town and its vicinity wete ticher by $62,408. While the possession of the money was delayed until the treaty had been tatified, early in 1835; yet the title to it was clear, and the fortunate ones doubtless imagined they would get it immediately. In addition to the cash taken in during the treaty time, September 10 to October 7, — when the last record was made in the Journal of the Treaty, — the assets of the citizens had increased amazingly. The psychologic effects of this increment in wealth caused property buying to speed up. This resulted eventually in a land boom, which urged William B. Ogden to declare that the people of Chicago were crazy. It has already been stated that the board of canal commissioners had been legislated out of existence early in the previous spring. Consequently the only property within the original town that could be bought or sold was composed of the lots that had been purchased before the General Assembly killed the canal enterprise. This property, of course, included those lots donated to Cook county by the canal commissioners. 24 According to the records now preserved by the Chicago Title and Trust company, there were not more than one hundred and fifty lots within the original town to which title had been relinquished by the canal commissioners. There were three hundred and four- teen, which could not be sold nor bought nor leased. As most of these were in the present loop district, where Chicago's historic mud was most plentiful, Col. Owen recommended upon all occasions, it would seem, that citizens erect houses and other buildings upon them. This policy was a blessing to the community, because residents from sheer necessity constructed some kind of roads and pathways in the prairie swamp. Notwithstanding this generous measure, the beginning of the year 1834 found Chicago with a real estate famine on its hands. The battle now began for possession of the one hundred and fifty marketable parcels of property on which the title could be handled. As might be expected, frontage foot prices started skyward. Lots in the original town doubled their purchase price every month. Far and wide spread the news of mounting real estate values, bringing settlers and speculators in large numbers. Newcomers wanted business property; and they had brought money to pay for it. During the succeeding twelve months real estate sales became feverish and prices delirious; while actual ground values were lost sight of. By the time the canal commission was again established, — after Col. Owen's death, — the lot on which stood St. Mary's church had advanced from, perhaps, $50.00 in 1833 to $10,000 in 1836. This was one of the largest increments to original values on a single lot. Ranging downward, similar augmented valuations were quoted. While Col. Owen lived there was some semblance of sanity preserved in property valuations; but after he became stricken with his fatal illness in June, 1835, all restraints were thrown off; and the wild craze ran on unchecked until it collapsed in 1837. Much of the intensity of the land craze was due, without a doubt, to the payment of $275,000 after the ratification of the Chicago Indian Treaty in its amended form early in 1835. Chicagoans received their allotment of some $63,000 under that treaty; and immediately the government land office was established at Chicago. While considering the subject of real estate in Chicago during Mr. Owen's time, some attention should be given to an erroneous yarn of Mrs. Juliette A. 182 CHICAGO'S TRUE FOUNDER Kinzie in her family propaganda book Wau-Bun. This irresponsible woman has poisoned the sources of Chicago history with numerous falsehoods and facts that never happened in the manner she described. Here is the story as quoted from Wau-Bun: (1901 edition — Ed.) — "The return of our brother, Robert Kinzie, from Palestine (not the Holy Land, but the seat of the Land Office), with the certificate of the title of the family to that portion of Chicago since known as 'Kinzie's Addition', was looked upon as establishing a home for us at some future day, if the glorious dreams of Dr. Harmon, and a few others, should come to be realized. One little incident will show how moderate were the anticipations of most persons at that period. "The certificate, which was issued in Robert's name (he representing the family in making the application), described only a fractional quarter-section of one hundred and two acres, instead of one hundred and sixty acres, the river and Lake Michigan cutting off fifty-eight acres on the southern and eastern lines of the quarter. The applicants had liberty to select their complement of fifty-eight acres out of any unappropriated land that suited them. " 'Now, my son', said his mother to Robert, 'lay your claim on the corn- field at Wolf Point. It is fine land, and will always be valuable for cultivation; besides, as it faces down the main river, the situation will always be a convenient one.' "The answer was a hearty laugh. 'Hear Mother', said Robert. "We have just got a hundred and two acres — more than we shall ever want, or know what to do with, and now she would have me go and claim fifty-eight more*. ' 'Take my advice, my boy,' repeated his mother, 'or you may live one day to regret it'. " 'Well, I cannot see how I can ever regret not getting more than we can possibly make use of.' And so the matter ended. The fifty-eight acres were never claimed, and there was, I think, a very general impression that asking for our just rights in the case would have a very grasping, covetous look. How much wiser time and twenty years have made us!" If the above incident ever happened, it indicates that John Kinzie's widow was both "grasping and covetous" in urging her son to take somebody's "corn- field" away from him. Since the land at Wolf Point had been planted and was used for corn-land, it was in the pre-empted possession of another person. Robert Kinzie, therefore would have had a fine scrap on his hands in ousting the squatter, — an undertaking in those days that was filled with hazard. But that is beside the question. If Robert A. Kinzie told his mother anything in reply to her impossible suggestion, it was that the "corn-field" at Wolf Point, "looking down the main river", was in Section 9; that it belonged to the Illinois and Michigan Canal Commission; that it could not be pre-empted; that it had been laid off into town lots; and that if it were still unsold, the only way to get possession of it was to buy it as town lots. All land from the river west to Halsted street was included in the Thompson map of Section 9. Beyond Halsted street, which was then unnamed, the land belonged to the United States, as every alternate CHICAGO'S FIRST GREAT CITIZEN 183 section had been retained by the government in the land grant to the Illinois and Michigan canal enterprise. 26 Mrs. Juliette A. Kinzie's utter mendacity is revealed in another paragraph relating to "Chicago in 1831," in which she says: "There was still another house on the north side of the river, built by a former resident by the name of Miller, but he had removed to 'Riviere du Chemin' or Trail Creek, which about this time began to be called Michigan City. This house, which stood near the forks of the river, was at this time vacant." The authoress of Wau-Bun leads her readers to believe that she did not know the first name of her own brother-in-law. The house she speaks of was occupied by Samuel Miller, whose wife, nee Elizabeth McKenzie, was the half- sister to John H. Kinzie, husband of the writer of Wau-Bun. At the time spoken of, 1831, Samuel Miller was head of the board of Cook county commissioners and was living in Chicago. He was a well known tavern keeper and trader, operated the Miller House, referred to by Mrs. Kinzie the authoress. He operated the ferry which Mrs. Kinzie must have used when she went to hear Rev. William See preach the sermon she derides so charmingly in her book. During her visit, Samuel Miller was organizing the government of Cook county and was one of the busiest and most important men in the settlement. Yet Mrs. Kinzie states that Samuel Miller did not live in Chicago and that his house was vacant early in the year of 1831. During President Owen's administration the first code of laws of the municipality was enacted on November 4, 1833. At the same meeting the Democrat was designated as the official newspaper of the town. In its first issue of November 26, Chicago's maiden effort at expansion appeared in an ordinance enlarging the original limits of the town from those fixed at organization by the Thompson survey, — State, Desplaines, Kinzie and Madison streets. By Chi- cago's first ordinance, the east boundary remained at State street on the south side of the river and was extended to the lake on the north side; the south boundary was pushed from the present Madison street to Jackson boulevard; the north boundary was extended to Ohio and Cook streets; and the west bound- dary was fixed at Jefferson street. The main purpose of this ordinance seems to have been to get the Kinzie property within the town limits, as well as a few tiers of lots north of Kinzie street. This movement is further evidence that Mark Beaubien was right when he stated that President Owen and his group intended to build the town north of the river. On February 11, 1834, three months after the above ordinance was passed, the trustees decreed that all the land from Chicago avenue to the present Roosevelt road, east of State street, except the military reservation, should be within the town limits. Chicago was in a merry mood during Thanksgiving week of 1833. Every- body was prosperous and joy reigned supreme. Wedding bells added to the general gaiety. In the initial number of the Chicago Democrat, November 26, the first marriage announcements of municipal Chicago appeared. One of these reads: "Married, In this village on Monday evening, the 25th inst., by Hon. R. J. 184 CHICAGO'S TRUE FOUNDER Hamilton, Gholson Kercheval, Esq., of the Indian Department, to Miss Felicite Hotchkiss, daughter of Miles Hotchkiss, Esq., of Kaskaskia." 27 Miss Hotchkiss was the sister of Chicago's first First Lady, Mrs. Emeline Hotchkiss Owen, wife of the president of the town. The bride was just rounding her twentieth year; and was a bewitching young person, whose charming person- ality remained with her to the evening of her life. The bridegroom was Sub- Indian Agent under Col. Owen; and had earned a name for himself during the Black Hawk War. It was to him that the citizens in May, 1832, promised to give obedience as volunteer militia. Miss Felicite had come to live with her brother- in-law, perhaps when Mrs. Owen returned from Kaskaskia after the cholera scare in 1832. She was one of the ten persons in Col. Owen's family, registered in the memorial to Bishop Rosati asking for a resident pastor for the Catholics. 51 Gholson Kercheval was a strong minded man; intrepid, energetic and of pioneer boldness. He remained in Chicago for some twenty years and was a prosperous real estate operator. Like his brother, Lewis, his nature was rather arrogant and, in matters of family discipline he was something of a despot. He took the gold fever about 1850 and determined to go to California. He demanded that his wife should accompany him. She refused to go to an un- chartered wilderness. Her refusal enraged him. He left without her. Never after that time did he communicate with his wife in any manner whatsoever. She grieved for many years, but continued faithful to her vows of marriage and remained the deserted wife. She never sought a divorce because her love en- dured. Mr. Kercheval grew wealthy in California, but lost his fortune; and died a poor man in 1875. His death occurred in San Francisco; and he is buried in Sacramento, California, in a lot belonging to a distant relative, Reuben Kercheval. Gholson Kercheval had two children, Benjamin, the second child died in infancy; Walter Gholson Kercheval, the elder, died in Chicago on April 18, 1883. He was marine editor of the Chicago Tribune at the time. He is well remembered by E. C. Dorman, a compositor on that newspaper, (1933) who said of him: "Kercheval was Marine Editor of the Chicago Tribune. He was a good one. He had quite a reputation at the time. His copy was almost perfect. He kept up his membership and dues in the Typographical Union, and was entitled to be buried by the Union." All local newspapers carried stories of Mr. Kercheval's death and funeral. He lived at 203 V2 Clark street. In his obituary notice, Thursday, April 19, the Tribune states that "flags were at half mast from a number of business houses and from numerous vessels in the river." His mother, Felicite Hotchkiss Kercheval was living at his home when he died and remained in Chicago for some years thereafter. She died in St. Louis, December 19, 1893; and is buried in Sts. Peter and Paul's cemetery in that city. At the time Andreas published his history, 1883, Mrs. Gholson Kercheval resided in Chicago. The historian might have obtained from her a first hand account by an eye-witness of the organization of the town. She was the sister- in-law of the founder of municipal Chicago; she lived at his home; she knew her facts from observation; her son was a widely known newspaper man. But Andreas ignored her very existence. Early in President Owen's administration, Chicago set to work in a lively CHICAGO'S FIRST GREAT CITIZEN 185 way on the "things of the mind." The inhabitants had been thotoughly organ- ized back of the Catholic seminary since the fall of 1831, as an educational center with far flung affiliations for both whites and Indians. The following fall, after the Black Hawk War was disposed of, Col. Owen and School Com- missioner Hamilton started John Watkins on Cook county's maiden school in a log barn north of the river. In the fall of 1833, Watkins was installed in a new school on President Owen's lot, corner of North Clark street and the river, just east of Clark street. In September of the same year, Miss Eliza Chappel, established an "infant's school" in the log house where John Wright had a store near the military reservation. Miss Chappel and Rev. Jeremiah Porter im- mediately began a romance which ended in their marriage. She left the little log school, where she started as soon as the new Presbyterian church was dedi- cated, and taught her pupils in that church from January, 1834. Her scholars thereafter included children up to twelve years of age. She taught there until the next winter, when she resigned. She married Mr. Porter in the winter of 1834-1835, and they both left Chicago for Peoria. Even higher education blossomed in the pioneer town on December 17, 1833, when Granville T. Sproat of Boston, Massachusetts, presented to the inhabitants his "English and Classical School for Boys." This school was a private, tuition institution, and was conducted in the Temple Building, which was the First Baptist Church of Chicago. Andreas, the historian, leads his readers to believe that this Temple Building was a sort of joint proprietorship edifice, with the Presbyterians and Methodists. But it was no such thing. It was the First Baptist church, and was so called in early days. Writers on pioneer Methodism state that the First Baptist church was at South Water and Franklin streets, 89 which was the location of the Temple Building. It was owned by an individual, John T. Temple, who was, Andreas says, "an earnest Baptist Christian," and it was rented, by courtesy, to the Presbyterians until their own church was ready for Divine worship in January, 1834. Regarding the Sproat classical school, there is an interesting side light in connection with Father St. Cyr, which has mystified Catholic writers. On November 23, 1833, five days before he left his little flock for what they thought was a complete abandonment, the priest wrote to Bishop Rosati: "Another motive which induces me to make a trip to St. Louis is that next Thursday we are going to open a school in which three languages, French, English and Latin, are going to be taught. Mr. Kimber(?) who is forty years old, will be in charge; he is a good singer and speaks English, French and Latin very well, but as we cannot find here the books needed by the children, I will take advantage of the journey to secure them." The above was the first, and it was the last, mention made in any of Father St. Cyr's letters regarding a classical school. 22 As the priest knew little English, and could neither preach it nor understand it sufficiently well, it may be that he misunderstood the character and intent of the "English Classical School for Boys" which was established three weeks later by Mr. Sproat. It is amazing that Father St. Cyr should have quitted Chicago at this prosperous period following the close of the Indian treaty, when money was 186 CHICAGO'S TRUE FOUNDER so abundant in the town. The inhabitants had contributed generously to build the Watkins school, the Temple Building, St. Mary's church, the Presbyterian church, and had bought $39,000 worth of school land to start Cook county's educational finances on a sound basis. Ratification of the treaty was expected in rhe spring of 1834, when $63,000 was to be distributed to persons in the Chicago territory. With all this money in sight the young priest, who seems to have been rather a diffident and pessimistic person, left comparative opulence in Chicago to "do a little begging in St. Louis." The citizens of that city were building their Catholic Cathedral, and had little left to contribute to the pioneer congre- gation in the canal metropolis. One detects almost a note of despair in the entry made by Bishop Rosati in his private diary: "I have decided to keep Father St. Cyr in St. Louis all winter." Although the young pastor of St. Mary's was a deeply religious man, of a cloistered and retiring nature, who endeared himself to his parishioners in the coming years; he was without that pioneer aggressiveness required in the rough frontier village, where forwardness and self-assertion were needed for the material edification of his religious institution. In the hurly-burly activity of Chicago, where Father St. Cyr scarcely knew his own flock, his little knowledge of English made general acquaintance impossible. Catholics, Methodists, Baptists, Presbyterians, and men of no creeds inter- married and mingled together in all manner of secular and religious activities. The young French cleric was hopelessly bewildered. Noth- ing in the quiet life of his native country, France, or the secluded days of seminary life in the St. Louis diocese, prepared him for the turmoil and non- sectarian existence of the life around him. As a man among men in the strenu- ous and unorganized community of Chicago he was handicapped greatly. His letters to Bishop Rosati breathe a deep spiritual quality; but show no vigorous designs of stalwart character and self-determination. He was a good priest but a woeful administrator in secular affairs Thomas J. V. Owen was the first leader of the Cook County Democracy. During the holidays of 1833-1834, when politicians at Vandalia were initiating the state campaign for the coming summer, President Owen journeyed to the state capital. Here with the leaders of the Kane organization, among whom he had long been an "efficient" field general, he held political pow-wows regarding candidates for governor. His presence in Vandalia is revealed by Senator Kane in a letter written to Mrs. Kane on January 14, 1834, the original of which is in possession of this writer. It says in part: "I hear from Vandalia almost every day. Owen is there. I suppose he will visit Kaska (Kaskaskia — Ed.) before he returns to Chicago." Since the senator's "almost daily" letters had to do with politics, it need cause no surprise that Mr. Owen was on the ground. The importance of the Vandalia conferences is evident from the fact that Mr. Owen had not yet gone to see his family and numerous friends in Randolph county where he had been politically active since his seventeenth year. There was one eminent — or notorious — gentleman in Illinois whose po- litical barometer showed storms a-brewing, in 1834, and that was Governor CHICAGO'S FIRST GREAT CITIZEN 187 Reynolds. Not only had the governor attempted to exterminate Indian Agent Owen and all his Potawatomi in 1832, but he had refused the demand of Chicago citizens to call a special session of the General Assembly to start a railroad in Cook county. Something had to be done about that. Apparently Owen did it. His attack on the governor in the Springfield Herald of July, 1832, had pretty well demoralized the former wide popularity of John Reynolds. Reelection of the present Chief Executive was, naturally, the big theme in political conversations. The fact that the war governor did not announce as a candidate to succeed himself, bears its own evidence. Having expressed the will of the Cook County Democracy, at Vandalia, President Owen returned and waited three months to make the next move. On March 3, 1834, he wrote to his superintendent, Governor Porter of Michigan: "Business of some importance to myself may require me to go to Kaskaskia early in April. And I should like to be absent about four weeks. Could I have the liberty of going if it becomes necessary by leaving my official business in charge of some responsible individual until the return of G. Kercheval or myself? Your answer as soon as convenient is very desirable." Absence of any correspondence of Indian Agent Owen from April 1 to April 30 indicates that he attended the "business of some importance" in southern Illinois. It must have been business of pressing interest which would induce the Indian agent to leave his post when his sub-agent was absent. The political conclaves in April resulted in putting forward Joseph Duncan of Jacksonville as the standard bearer for the Democratic party. Since Mr. Owen publicly avowed that he had always been loyal to the Democratic party, in July, 1835, his candidate in the 1834 election for governor was Joseph Duncan. When the Cook county votes were counted, August 4, 1834, the results showed: Joseph Duncan, Democrat, 309; William Kinney, Whig, 210; Robert K. McLaughlin, 10; James Adams, 8. From the first state and county election held in Cook county, the year after Mr. Owen's coming, the Democratic party was continuously successful during the succeeding twenty- two years. When Chicago's first Chief Executive finished his term of office, the United States Government had saddled upon him the difficult task of practically ne- gotiating the Indian Treaty all over again. He stepped aside in favor of John H. Kinzie, who was elected his successor, as president of the town, and devoted his major attention to the new treaty — known as the Amended Indian Treaty of 1834. This was an arduous assignment, for it involved winning the consent of the chiefs of the United Tribes to relinquish a large portion of the territory ceded to them under the 1833 treaty and accept new boundary lines. To the citizens of Chicago, it meant a considerable delay in ratification of the treaty and some lengthy delay in getting the money awards made to them under it. Should the Indians refuse to accept the new boundary lines of their western home, it might mean the entire treaty would go by the board; and the inhabitants of Chicago suffer a consequent loss of nearly $63,000. It was a trying situation to Indian Agent Owen, late President of the Town of Chicago, and now menaced with humiliation and some inevitable disgrace if the Amended Treaty with the United Tribes did not go through successfully. 188 CHICAGO'S TRUE FOUNDER Chicago historians have done a grave injustice to Indian Agent Owen by suppressing important historical facts associated with the Amended Indian Treaty of 1834. Andreas is particularly vicious in affirming his thesis that: ^The Indians gave up their lands and agreed for certain considerations, most of which did not redound to their profit, to cede all their lands to the Govern- ment." In a foot-note, he gives the false impression that the Amended Treaty of 1834 was made on October 1, 1833, thus: "An amendatory treaty, made October 1, and signed by the United States Commissioners and a minority of the chiefs and headmen of the tribes number- ing only seven, of whom Caldwell was one, changed the boundaries ..." His statement that the amendatory treaty was signed by the three United States Commissioners is especially atrocious, because one of these commissioners, Governor Porter, was dead when the Amended Treaty of 1834 was negotiated by Indian Agent Owen. The third commissioner, William Weatherford, lived in southern Illinois, and took no part whatsoever in making the Amended Treaty. Mr. Owen gave an excellent reason why there were so few chiefs signatory to the Amended Treaty. Under date of August 22, 1834, he wrote to Secretary of War Cass: "Sir, On the 4th instant I held a council with about twenty of the principal chiefs of the Ottowa, Chippeway, and Pottawatamie Tribes of Indians on the subject of the alteration of the bounds of the District of Country assigned to said Tribes by the Treaty of Chicago of 26 Sep, last. And after having fully explained the whole subject to them, instead of assenting to the proposition on the Senate (as I had reason to believe they would, from assurances which they had previously given me) they retired and held a short consultation among themselves, and returned for answer, that they submitted the whole subject to Billy Caldwell their principal Chief . . ." Immediately after this general council, Chief Saukonosh, who was Billy Caldwell, and Indian Agent Owen went to Washington and ironed out any difficulties the Indians might have regarding the country included in the new boundaries fixed by the Senate. When they returned, the subject was once more presented to the principal chiefs of the United Tribes, and the Amended Treaty was framed by Billy Caldwell and six other of the leading chiefs of the three nations, in conjunction with Indian Agent Owen. Three days later, October 3, Mr. Owen wrote again to Secretary Cass from Chicago: "Sir, After several efforts I have at length succeeded in obtaining from Caldwell and Robinson, (or Tshee-tshee-been-quay) and other chiefs of the United Tribes of Ottowas, Chippewas and Pottawatomies, something in the character of their assent, on behalf of said tribes, to a change in the boundaries of the lands assigned them west of the Mississippi. The document is herewith enclosed and by reference thereto it will be seen that they require the Little Sioux river to be their northern boundary, until their five million acres shall be regularly assigned them by the Government, to this I did not suppose there could be any reasonable objection. "They have also required as indemnification for what they conceive to be a difference in value between the tract relinquished by them and that to be CHICAGO'S FIRST GREAT CITIZEN 189 received in lieu of it, the sum of thirteen thousand dollars in cash — ten thousand of which is intended by them to be appropriated to the purchase of domestic animals and farming utensils, and the other three thousand to the objects specified in the agreement. "I am decidedly of the opinion that nothing better can be done for the interest of the Government than to accept of the proposition contained in the enclosed paper. I endeavored to have the two thousands dollars, which they propose to give Mr. Kercheval, either included in the ten thousand dollars, or stricken out, but they pertinaciously refused to do either, hence I am obliged to receive the proposition as it stands . . ," 29 From the documents presented above, it will be seen that not only was the Amended Treaty of 1834 negotiated by Mr. Owen alone, on the part of the Government, but also that the new treaty was made with the entire consent and by the direct will of the United Tribes — represented by Billy Caldwell as their principal chief and six other leading members of the tribes. Following his successfull negotiation of the Amended Indian Treaty of 1834, Indian Agent Owen was rewarded with an increase in salary from $1,500 to $2,000 a year. He was also appointed "Superintendent of Removal of the Indians," which was his title when he died. It was under his personal direction that the United Tribes were started on their general migration to their new homes on the Missouri river. And it was through the arduous labors of this removal that his health became undermined and his promising career terminated. Mr. Owen was a wealthy man when he died, according to all traditions in the family. On this point, the most authentic information comes from Mrs. Blanche Kercheval Carr of Philadelphia. She is the granddaughter of Gholson Kercheval, and the daughter of Walter G. Kercheval, the one time Tribune marine editor. Mrs. Carr stated to this biographer: "My mother told me that Col. Owen, the Indian Agent was a wealthy man when he died." However, she does not know how he accumulated his wealth. Mrs. Col. Owen, who lived for many later years in Springfield, had considerable means. There was scarcely a term of the Sangamon County Circuit Court when some member of her family and herself were not involved in a suit at law for sums ranging from $150 to $3,500. Most of these suits were for loans, mortgages, property disputes, and other matters relating to money deals. In addition to Mr. Owen's salary of $2,000 in 1835, and his stipend for acting as one of the three United States Commissioners at the Chicago Indian Treaty of 1833, he bought and sold twelve lots in Chicago prior to his demise. 80 Another lot was sold for $27,500 by his widow in 1852-53. His family declare that he owned and operated a farm in Chicago. Revenue from a good sized farm near the town might be considerable. Trade in horses for the Indians and the endless caravans of covered wagons containing emigrants and their families yielded handsome returns. Provisions, especially cattle and hogs on the hoof, required a place to keep them, where fodder might be supplied until slaughtering day. Mr. Owen, being a farmer of former days, could take advantage of such opportunities in live stock trade. His most abundant revenue, however, must have come from building and 190 CHICAGO'S TRUE FOUNDER the rapid exchange of lots. It is evident that lots were bought and sold in Chicago between 1833 and 1835 on bills of sale, without formal record until a permanent owner became possessed of them. Mr. Owen was an enthusiastic real estate promoter, and encouraged the building of houses and business establishments on unsold canal lots. There were numerous buildings bought and sold without record, because they were not attached to the land on which they stood and it is likely that the Indian agent increased his assets in that manner. With an increase in population from about 300 in 1833 to more than ten times that number in 1835, the homes and business establishments erected in those two years furnished large profits to the enterprising builders of the thriving town. The foundations of many Chicago fortunes were laid in those primitive days. As Mr. Owen had turned over most of his property holdings be- fore he passed away; and his widow sold out all his personal property soon after his death, she did not suffer in the real estate catastrophe of 1837 and thereafter. It can easily be explained, therefore, that in such a boom as struck Chicago after 1833, he could have become a wealthy man — and thus verify the tradition in his family. SUMMARY As the FOUNDER OF CHICAGO, Thomas J. V. Owen brought about the incorporation of the municipality, under an Illinois statute which he himself guided through the General Assembly as Representative from Randolph county; and the text of which endowed the inhabitants with corporate powers by vir- tue of their own will and free determination. As CHICAGO'S FIRST CHIEF EXECUTIVE, he organized the first gov- erning body of the town and the first code of municipal laws, while Presi- dent of the Board of Trustees of Chicago in 1833-34. As CHICAGO'S FIRST GREAT EDUCATOR, he initiated the estab- lishment of a university of learning; fostered public and private schools; se- cured a permanent school fund; and brought Chicago schools in contact with the state with the first delegation representing the town at the Vandalia state educational convention in 1834. As CHICAGO'S FIRST GREAT LAY CHURCHMAN, he promoted and encouraged the formal establishment of the Catholic, Baptist, Presbyterian and Methodist religious groups; advising the erection of Chicago's first churches upon free land belonging to the Illinois and Michigan Canal Commission; and procuring for that celebrated pioneer clergyman, Rev. Jesse Walker, a grant of $1,500 in recognition of his services in the cause of religion in Chicagoland for nearly thirty years prior to 1833. As CHICAGO'S FIRST PROFESSIONAL POLITICIAN, he became Chi- cago's national figure in political life; organized the Cook County Democracy; established a standard of conduct in public life never excelled and seldom equalled by any other chief executive of Chicago in the past one hundred years or its history; and inaugurated that political prestige and independence of Chi- cago which has been constantly maintained throughout the last century. CHICAGO'S FIRST GREAT CITIZEN 191 As CHICAGO'S FIRST RAILROAD PROMOTER, Mr. Owen organized the citizens in support of building a railroad from Chicago to the Illinois river instead of digging a canal to meet transportation needs; and requested Gov- ernor Reynolds to support the plan by calling a special session of the General Assembly in 1833 to authorize the immediate construction of this railroad. Had Mr. Owen's railroad plan been carried out, Chicago's transportation pro- gram would have been advanced twenty years; and the Illinois and Michigan Canal would never have been built. The canal was the only big undertaking of Chicago which has not contributed to its greatness. As CHICAGO'S FIRST PATRON OF THE PRESS, Mr. Owen is credited with the inspiration and support which brought the Democrat into existence in November, 1833; and this honor is accorded him by the editor and publisher, John Calhoun. As CHICAGO'S FIRST GREAT CITIZEN, Mr. Owen, through his own family and that of his wife, associates Chicago with the birth of the State and the Nation, for his father was one of the founders of Illinois, and his wife's great grandfather prevented Chicagoland from being incorporated into the Dominion of Canada, by financing the recruiting of the Kaskaskia regiment of George Rogers Clark in 1789. THE SPIRIT OF CHICAGO is the spirit of Thomas Jefferson Vance Owen, whose courage, vision, energy, idealism, benevolence and hospitality became incorporated in the municipality which he founded in 1833. CHAPTER NINETEEN OWEN DIES— A MARTYR TO DUTY THOMAS J. V. OWEN died on October 15, 1835, at his home on North "Clarke" street and the river. His death was caused by an affection of the lungs from which he had been suffering since the previous May. The pulmonary disease attacked him in the midst of arduous exertions for the removal of the Indians westward under the terms of the Chicago Treaty of 1833. That his malady became fatal was due to a bitter personal quarrel between two United States Army officers who had been appointed to aid Mr. Owen in removing the Red men across the Mississippi river. These military gentlemen sacrificed the interests of the government, the welfare of the Indians, and the life of Mr. Owen, because they could not compose a difference of opinion as to which one of them had authority over the other. Their dispute seems at this day the quintessence of triviality. Its melancholy consequence brought a civic tragedy to the infant metropolis of Chicago. They will both be permitted to tell their own story to the readers of this narrative, so that a just verdict is possible. The two principals in this dispute were Captain J. B. F. Russell, disbursing agent (pay master) for removal of the Potawatomi Indians, and Captain Wil- liam Gordon, assistant agent for removal of the Potawatomi Indians, both of the United States army. Captain Gordon was assigned by the War Department to assist Mr. Owen, whose official title, on January 1, 1835, had become Super- intendent of Removal of the Indians. Captain Russell had been appointed by the government to take over Mr. Owen's duties as Indian Agent at Chicago, in case ill health prevented the latter from performing his official functions. The government red tape which infuriated Captain Russell appears in letters written by Mr. Owen to General George Gibson, Commissary of General Subsistance, Washington, D. C. On June 1, 1835, he wrote: 9 "Sir: In obedience to your instructions, of the 25th of March last, I have the honor to report, that on this day the exploring deputation provided for by the Treaty of Chicago, started on their expedition West, under the Charge and conduct of Capt. William Gordon, Assistant Emigration Agent. "I the more readily entrusted Capt. Gordon with this duty knowing the confidence reposed in him by the Department, and I flatter myself that the expedition will be judiciously conducted. "The party consisted of forty Indians, and an interpreter, together with three others nominated by them under a provision of the Treaty. A list, or roll, of the whole party, as organized, I have the honor to enclose herewith. "The probable necessity of my personal presence at the Agency, before the return of the party, and the bad state of my health, induced me to remain behind. From present indication, I infer that no actual removal will take place, until the Indians shall have received the goods, provisions, and annuities due 192 OWEN DIES— A MARTYR TO DUTY 193 them the present year. A few families could be induced to go but their number, it appears to me, would be too small to justify the Expenditure of a Sum of money which would be nearly sufficient to meet the expenses incident to the removal of a much larger party. If the annuities can be paid early, I feel confident that a very large number will remove West next autumn." Mr. Owen's breakdown in health came about largely through his labors to organize this exploring party, as appears in a letter he wrote one week prior to the above communication. At that time he seems to have been wholly unaware of any possible hostility between Captains Gordon and Russell. His letter dated at Chicago, May 25, is addressed also to General Gibson. It reads : 9 "Sir: I have taken measures for the organization of the exploring expedition provided for by the Treaty of Chicago. On the 22nd and the 23rd inst, I held a Council with about one hundred and fifty Indians, among whom were the most influential Chiefs of the Nation, and after two days exertions, such as I have rarely heretofore met with in the transaction of business with Indians, I prevailed upon thirty-eight to enroll their names as members of the party. This day was fixed upon by me, as the time of their departure, but as several of the Indians who engaged to go, desired to return to their villages first, I postponed the time until the 31st inst. And although great inclination was at first manifested by the Indians and some of their advisers to defeat the organization of the party, I flatter myself that by the day now fixed, they will be in readiness to start. The precise number that will go, cannot now be ascertained, it will probably be between 35 and 50. "I was compelled to hold this Council twelve miles from Town, that the Indians might be Sober, and in a condition to understand the views and wishes of the Government, and their own interests, and I have been obliged to incur some expense, for the payment of which no provision has been in the Estimate furnished me. It was necessary to employ two messengers to collect the Indians, and to supply them, when assembled, with provisions. This was done, and as I have adopted the only mode, by which the party could be organized, I hope Capt. Russell will be authorized to pay these expenses. "Capt. Gordon is here, and was present at the Council, and I am happy to say that I found in him an able auxilliary. Capt. Russell arrived two days ago, and this morning the saddles, bridles etc. reached us." Indian Agent Owen, doubtless, enjoyed a feeling of relief when the last Potawatomi Redskin disappeared across the Des Plaines river with the exploring party, on June 1, in charge of Captain Gordon and attended by Captain Russell as paymaster. It had been a strenuous task to fight off the trouble makers, white and red, who sought to defeat the purpose of the government in getting the Indians across the Mississippi river. The necessity of a speedy transfer of the Potawatomi into their western home to avert all manner of disasters to them from the greedy white men who wanted their lands, had caused Mr. Owen much anxiety since the previous January. He had been especially concerned for the welfare of his Indians beyond the northern boundary line of Illinois, as these members of the United Nation were privileged to remain on their lands three years after the ratification 194 CHICAGO'S TRUE FOUNDER of the Chicago Treaty. As the treaty had not yet been ratified by the United States Senate in January, Mr. Owen strongly urged the government to abrogate that privilege, for the benefit of the Indians, and to require that all the tribes should remove immediately after the ratification of the treaty. His letter on this subject was written on January 19, 1835, addressed to Honorable Elbert Herring of the Bureau of Indian affairs at Washington, and it reads: 9 "Sir: I conceive it my duty to call your attention to a subject which seems to me to be of some importance to the government. "By reference to the 2nd Article of the Treaty of Chicago of the 26th and 27th of September 1833, it will be seen that the Indians agreed to remove from all that part of the land ceded which is within the State of Illinois, immediately on the ratification of the Treaty: 'But to be permitted to retain possession of the Country North of the Boundary line of the said State, for the term of three years. Without molestation or interruption, and under the protection of the laws of the United States.' Under this state of things permit me, respectfully to suggest the propriety, of the adoption of some measures by the General Government for the extinguishment of the right of possession secured to the Indians by the provisions of the Treaty. The necessity of this course appears to me to be obvious, for many reasons. In the first place had the Indians no right of possession to any part of the land Ceded, they could be induced to Emigrate with less reluctance, than they now can; and in the Second place, hundreds of individuals have already traversed the Country, selected situations, and avow their determination to remove thereon in the Spring, at all hazards. They are determined to disregard the rights of the Indians and to locate themselves in any section of the Country ceded, that they may choose to select, and they do not hesitate to say that the Government will not remove them by force. "I have thought proper to give you my views, and to apprize you of the fact, that if something of this kind is not done, that the most rigid and efficient measures will have to be adopted by the War Department to prevent the contemplated intrusion upon the rights of the Indians." Later on in the spring the Chicago Treaty was ratified by the United States Senate, and on April 13, 1835 Mr. Owen acknowledged his new appointment as "Superintendent of Removal of the Indians". After that period he applied himself diligently to effect the immediate transfer of the Potawatomi tribes across the Mississippi river. Apparently it was a difficult task to organize the exploring party and the usually vigorous and untiring Indian Agent, in writing of it in his letter to General Gibson of May 25, made his first complaint of the hard work involved by saying: " 'after two days' exertion, such as I have rarely heretofore met with in the transaction of Indian business, I have prevailed upon thirty- eight to enroll their names as members of the party." Nature was taking its toll from Mr. Owen. He must pay a heavy penalty for his determination to get the task of the moment done. His spirit was stronger than his flesh, and when June 1 arrived and the exploring party had departed, Mr. Owen was ready for a long rest. But Fate and two mutually jealous army officers intervened to prevent OWEN DIES— A MARTYR TO DUTY 195 his tired body from recuperating. Internecine warfare developed quickly after the exploring party had started between Captains Gordon and Russell. Some- how, it would seem, word of this discord was relayed back to Mr. Owen at Chicago. He knew that disruption of the exploring party would play havoc with the government's purposes in removing the Indians out of Illinois; and he delayed not a moment. This great public officer made an instant decision by which he chose death in preference to neglect of duty. He set out at once on horseback to overtake the Gordon-Russell party. One hundred miles through the wilderness Mr. Owen traversed before he came upon the exploring party. And another one hundred miles back to Chicago he drove his weary body, bringing with him Captain Russell who had abandoned the task assigned him by his superior officer, the Secretary of the War Department. On June 15, after the heroic Indian Agent had collapsed and lay upon his bed stricken with a deadly illness, Captain Russell transmitted the following childish explanation of his conduct to the war department. His letter was written from Detroit and was addressed to General Gibson, Washington, D. C, it reads: 9 "Sir, I have the honor to report that after my arrival at Chicago (22nd May) — and Exploring party of Forty-five chiefs and principal men of the Potawatamies and Ottawa was organized by Col. Owen and the Horses and their equipment delivered to them pursuant to your instructions, I purchased the necessary quantity of subsistence stores for the pack horses, and assisted Col. Owen in every other particular, which could secure the efficiency of the party, agreeably to the views of the Department. "After the distribution of all the articles by the Superintendent he felt himself obliged to relinquish the idea of accompanying the party west in consequence of ill health, he then thought himself obliged by his instructions to turn over the party to Capt. Wm. Gordon. On this arrangement being made, I felt my position in respect to the party, materially altered, believing that I was not placed on this duty as Distributing Officer subjected to the command and direction of every citizen. "My appointment as I understand was predicated upon my being associated, and required to co-operate with the Superintendent recognized by the Depart- ment and not any or every one that might contingently be placed in his situation. With the Supert. I can with pleasure serve and aid him in all public duties, his intimations would equal his commands, and no conflicting interest, or opinion would occur, but in the absence of the regular Superintendent I consider his mantle of right ought to fall on my shoulders, as the proper representative of the Government. If Capt. Gordon can properly take the place of the Supert. why, according to the principal of rotation or graduation of rank, could not the 2nd Asst. Agent, on the 3rd and so on through all the grades which compose a party of Emigrating Indians, and thus subject a military officer to be controlled by some one, that you would not place in the command of a party. "I however consented to go with the party organized as above, at the sacrifice of my feelings, that no impediment should be in the way, on my part to the successful termination of the expedition — I continued with the party 196 CHICAGO'S TRUE FOUNDER for five or six days, until I was made a mere cipher of Capt. Gordon assuming the whole controle, making what disposition he chose of the public property, issuing of provisions, making bargains or contracts with Ferrymen, entering into an arrangement with a Tavern Keeper to keep a Horse that had become lamed, and the discharging of a Teamster and his waggon, and a pack man, thus deranging the whole plan of the exploring party, as organized and turned over to him by the Supert. "Finding myself of no use to the expedition, I requested Col. Owen who overtook us, about one Hundred miles west of Chicago, to permit me to turn over to Capt. Gordon the public funds intended for that object, and thus be relieved from my unpleasent situation in the party. Under the existing feelings between Capt. Gordon & myself, the Supt. considered the course I proposed the best, and accordingly directed Capt. Gordon to receive the funds, and receipt for it. "(Your instructions authorizing me, in turning over funds to Capt. Gordon, when the interest of the Service should require it) "I have given above, a statement which I hope will be a sufficient and satisfactory explanation for the course I have taken — The views I have enter- tained regarding my position in the party, are respectfully submitted to your decision. On leaving the party I immediately started for this place, to report myself to the Secretary of War, and the Reasons for the course I had taken — he has directed me to return to Chicago to assist Col. Owen in the necessary arrangements for the departure of a large party of Indians which is expected will emigrate immediately after the payment of the Annuity — an Estimate for which I have forwarded." In reply to the above letter, General Gibson, under date of July 22, 1835, politely informed Captain Russell that his abandonment of the exploring party was accepted by the War Department without disfavor; but he tactfully indicates to Captain Russell that he is utterly and entirely wrong and has misinterpreted the whole situation. His letter reads: 9 "Sir, I have received your letters of the 5th & 15th June & 2nd July. You report your return to Chicago after having proceeded with the exploring party one hundred miles west of that place. "The reason for your return is the anomalous position in which you found yourself in your connection with the exploring party, at whose head Col. Owen had, in consequence of his own ill health, placed Mr. Gordon the Asst. Agent. I have no objection to the course you have felt it incumbent upon you to pursue, — I only regret there was any necessity for it. "In making the arrangement for Captain Gordon's accompanying the exploring party as conductor, in case Col. Owen could not do so, it was believed the same degree of efficiency would be endured, whilst no anticipation of a possible want of harmony was indulged, because it was believed, that either of those gentlemen would not fail to adhere to the instructions, and at the same time pursue such a course as with like dispositions on your part, promote a good understanding between you. "I will here correct a misapprehension into which you have fallen. You seem to suppose it was optional with Col. Owen to give the conduct of the party OWEN DIES— A MARTYR TO DUTY 197 to Mr. Gordon, or not, and that on the same principle, if C. W. Gordon chose he could delegate his authority to subordinates of a lower degree etc, so that the party as well as yourself might be placed under the control of some one that this office would not place in the command of a party.' I will remark on this, that the assistant agent, before referred to, is made in my instructions to Col. Owen, an exception to a rule. This will be apparent to you from the fact that I provide in instructions against the possibility of not being able to go west, by directing him in such case to transfer his functions to the other person. Nor, is it in the light of a superior to you, that this or any other agent is to be viewed: The superintendent is your equal and if you carry into effect his requisitions, it is only because of the necessity, in pursuance of the plan, that the pay agent should be distinct from him whose duty it is to direct the mode of expenditure. It was not in fact intended to create in the two offices, subordination so much as co-operation, if the latter exists according to the rules laid down in the regulations and instructions, the result to the service will be all that has ever been required. "So much for your remark upon the inconvenience you might be subjected to, by a transfer of the power of the superintendent to another. You will there- fore, see, that the particular case by which you felt yourself aggrieved, was spe- cially provided for ; and I should not suppose had you not fortunately specified the particular acts at which you felt yourself aggrieved, that you ought to have taken exception to that provision — particularly as you were furnished with a copy of the paper containing it, before you left this city. But, I am satisfied, according to the facts stated by you, that you had cause for the course you took, and that Mr. Gordon must have misapprehended the views of this office. That gentleman would, with proper information, certainly see nothing inconsistent with entire efficiency in the plan of operations laid down for the guidance of agents, and of course would then by no means attempt their violation. Inasmuch, however, as the Secretary of War has by his order directed you to perform the duties of superintendent in case Col. Owen should be unable to do so, no like difficulty can hereafter arise. "Whenever it becomes necessary for you to assume the duties of super- intendent, you will promptly inform me of the fact." Captain Gordon's unfitness for the leadership of Indians, who knew no such thing as military discipline, became apparent as his journey westward progressed. When he reached Black Snake Hill, Upper Missouri, six of the party refused to go farther and returned. He wrote to Mr. Owen on July 14, as follows: 9 "Sir: I have just time to inform you that I am here with the exploring party. "The Indians' horses having become greatly exhausted from the journey, owing to the unexampled quantity of rain which continued to fall upon us during the whole of our journey, and to the disinclination of the Indians to preserve them, I was forced to stop from the 4th to the 11th inst at Fort Leavenworth, for the purpose of securing them. "It has been the object of some few of the Indians belonging to the party, to throw every obstacle within their power in the way of a successful perform- 198 CHICAGO'S TRUE FOUNDER ance of the trip. They have been several times on the verge of turning back, and yesterday six of them did so. "I have now, however, fairly entered the Indian country with what are left, and anticipate no further trouble than what we shall necessarily have to undergo from the exhaustion of our horses. As however there can be no retrograde movement made without absolute mutiny, which I do not apprehend, I feel warranted of final success. You may look for me at Chicago about the 1st of September." Troubles multiplied for Captain Gordon daily, however, and in a letter to Mr. Owen written from "Near Council Bluffs, Upper Missouri" on July 27, the military leader placed all the biame upon Che-base, an Indian from St. Joseph, Michigan. As the "Wood" Indians of St. Joseph had become antago- nistic to the Chicago Treaty after the government compelled them to accept a change in the boundaries of the country assigned them by the treaty, of which Captain Gordon knew nothing perhaps, he was a victim of conditions for which he was not responsible. This letter, however, from another aspect is an important historical docu- ment. It must have been highly gratifying to Mr. Owen to learn that the new country of the Indians was fully equal to the lands they sold to the government by the Chicago Treaty two years previously. This letter reads: 9 "Sir, Twelve of the Indians belonging to the party have through sheer cowardice determined to abandon the further prosecution of (the) objects of the expedition. They have accompanied it thus far with the greatest reluctance, and have constantly endeavored to sow the seeds of discord and discontent among the others with a view of defeating entirely the objects of the expedition. Under this state of facts, I have thought it advisable to consent to their return. Mr. Robinson who has exercised all his influence in furtherance of the objects of the Expedition, as well as the other gentlemen attached to the expedition have advised to this course. I have allowed them to retain their horses, saddles, Bridles, etc, on the condition of their delivering them to you on their arrival at Chicago, or in default of doing so to be responsible for the payment for them out of their annuities. Accompanying I send you a paper which they have signed to that effect. "As the Indians who leave the party will doubtless make a prejudiced, false, and unfavorable report of the Country, I deem it necessary to State that the Country, so far as we have examined surpasses the highest expectations of all those who were disposed to give it an imprejudiced and impartial examina- tion, and that on their arrival at Chicago I have no doubt but they will give a favorable report of it. There is no country on earth better adapted to the residence of the Indians. The land in point of fertility cannot be excelled, fine and extensive groves of superior timber are abundant, besides the margin of the river, which has invariably a skirt of timber varying from 3 to 10 miles wide, good springs are in great profusion, Deer, Elk, Bear, Turkies, etc. abundant. "The St. Joseph Indian Che-base, has been exceedingly troublesome on the whole route, and to him in a great degree may be (attributed) all the discontent and difficulties. His conduct has been uniformly bad, so much so, that I had on one occasion to inflict a slight personal chastisement upon him. OWEN DIES— A MARTYR TO DUTY 199 "Owing to the feebleness of our horses we will not be able to reach Chicago quite so soon as I had anticipated, perhaps by the 10th of September we will reach there" Meanwhile Mr. Owen lay prostrate on his bed of sickness from June to early August, unable to meet the most important task of his career, the transfer of the Potawatomi from the land of Illinois to their Western home. He seems to have been acutely conscious, however, that the bitter hostility between Captains Gordon and Russell jeopardized his entire program of activities relating to removal of the Indians. He was obliged temporarily to relinquish his office to Captain Russell, but with the last annuity payment coming on he made a desparate effort to again assume charge of the removal of the Redmen. On August 12, 1835, he wrote to General Gibson, Washington, D. C.: 9 "Sir: I have the honor, as well as the gratification to report, that I have so far recovered my health as to discharge the duties of my appointment, which duties I resume on the 10th instant. "Tomorrow I meet the Indians in Council, preparatory to the payment of their annuities, and before they separate, I shall hold another talk with them upon the more important subject of Emigration, upon which occasion every possible argument will be used to induce as many as can be prevailed upon to remove at once without delay. "I entertain great hopes that a very considerable number will migrate this fall. Much, however, depends, upon the feelings, views and representations of those constituting the Exploring party, which I hope will arrive in a few days." Indian Agent Owen's brave attempt to undertake once more the duties of superintendent of Indian removal placed upon his shattered health too great a task. On August 1 3, the United Tribes were in Chicago ready to receive their final annuity payment under the treaty. In setting that date for the distribution of funds to the red tribesmen, Mr. Owen confidently believed that Captain Gordon and his exploring party would have returned from the west. But to his disappointment, and after ten weeks had elapsed, there was no news from the exploring party. It was a disheartening situation, for the golden time to organize the Indians for removal across the Mississippi river was at the annuity payment. It was imperative that the United Tribes in Illinois be removed immediately to secure their own welfare, for the Chicago Treaty required that they emigrate at once after its confirmation by the United States Senate. This confirmation had taken place early in the previous spring of 1835 and deplorable consequences might ensue from hostility of the whites if the Indians remained in the Chicago territory another winter. Two weeks Mr. Owen's hands were tied in helpless impotence. Then came the dreary letter of Captain Gordon, dated July 27, which has been already quoted. Upon receiving it, the Chicago Superintendent of Removal, indited a letter to Washington, under date of August 26, informing General Gibson of his dilemma resulting from Captain Gordon's failure to perform his allotted task within the time limit set by the government. The disgruntled savages who had abandoned the exploring party were now in Chicago, headed by the mischief -making "Wood" Indian, Che-base, of St. Joseph. Their adverse 200 CHICAGO'S TRUE FOUNDER propaganda aiming to prejudice the United Tribes against the lands over the Mississippi river gave Mr. Owen strenuous employment to combat it. The letter reads in full: 9 "Sir, Enclosed herewith I have the honor to transmit the copy of a letter from Capt. Gordon Asst. Agent dated Near Council Bluffs Upper Mo. July 27th, 1835. "The Indians referred to, have arrived here, and as was anticipated by Capt. Gordon, are taking pains to prejudice the Indians (who are now assembled to receive their annuities) against the Country assigned them, I have however adopted measures to counteract any effect their misstatements might have until the return of of the balance of the party, which I regret to perceive will not probably take place until the 10th or 15th of next month, indeed the Indians who left them on the 27th and have just arrived say that they will not be here for a month to come. "This is the more to be regretted, as it will have the effect to delay the departure of those desirous to migrate this fall to so late a period, that I fear it will greatly diminish the number of emigrants we had hoped to secure. "Although the State of my health is such, that I cannot be as efficient or as serviceable as I could desire still what influence I may have will be exerted to induce as many to remove this fall as possible. "I cannot perceive why Capt. Gordon should delay his return beyond the time allowed by the Department, he has an Extract from the instructions by which he must see that ninety days is the extent of time allowed for the performance of the whole trip, and I did suppose that sixty or seventy days at most, would have been sufficient to enable the Indians to satisfy them- selves as to the general character of their country, and return. It is possible however that the Asst. Agent in examining and exploring the whole country, may have some object in view, which in his opinion may be calculated to advance the interest of the Service in future. "I do not feel myself authorized to issue requisitions on the disbursing agent, in favor of the four persons who accompanied the Expedition under a provision of the Treaty, for a longer time than ninety days, unless I should be differently instructed. Upon this point please inform me." In the full vigor of his physical powers it would have been no small exertion for Mr. Owen to overcome the disastrous consequences of Captain Gordon's open rupture with the "Wood" Indians. In his enfeebled condition, which he laments in his letter, these labors further sapped his vitality. But he made the supreme effort of his life. His gallant heart drove his weakened body to perform the duty he knew must be performed. In the second last letter of his life, written by his own hand, he tells of his victory. This letter states that he met the Indians in Council on September 2 and obtained their promise to start for the West on September 21. He had triumphed over all obstacles, but at the cost of his life. On September 21, Mr. Owen was dying. In his letter of September 8 to General Gibson, Mr. Owen applies for a leave of absence which he was destined never to enjoy. His letter reads: 9 "Sir, On the 2nd Instant, while the Indians, were assembled for the purpose of receiving their annuities, goods, and provisions, I took occasion to OWEN DIES— A MARTYR TO DUTY 201 have a long interview with them on the subject of their removal West, the Council was very numerously attended and the Indians were generally sober. Everything was said to them, that would likely induce them to go, the impossibility of their remaining here and the advantages of an early emigration was particularly alluded to, in a manner which I hope had a beneficial effect. Nothing was omitted which seemed to me as proper to say on the occasion. "The Council finally ended with a promise on the part of the Indians that they would meet me at a point twelve miles west of this place, on Monday the 21st of this Month, when all who purpose going this fall, will be prepared to start without delay; at that time and place, I expect a large collection of Indians, and I have strong hopes of making up a large emigrating party, but these hopes may possibly be blasted, on the return of the balance of the Exploring party. The unaccountable delay of this party together with the non-arrival of part of the Indian goods, until the last of August has produced unexpected confusion and delay in our intended operations. The payment of annuities was not complete until the 5th Inst, and it was then necessary to give the Indians time to return to their respective villages, to prepare their families for removal and to meet us at the place agreed upon, this required at least 15 days, hence the reason of fearing the day of meeting as late as the 21st of September, we cannot reasonably calculate upon getting fairly off until near the first of October. "In the meantime Captain Russell and myself, are making such preparations as will prevent delay after the Indians shall have collected. "My health being much impaired, I have been advised by all my friends to spend the coming Winter in the South, with this view I have applied to the Secretary of War, for a leave of absence; as but one emigrating party will be organized this fall. Captain Russell is entirely willing, and fully competent to take charge of it, and with the aid of the other gentlemen connected with this business, I have no doubt but the public interest will be as well subserved as if I was to conduct the expedition in person." The last letter written by Mr. Owen at the close of his strenuous life informs his superior officer, Elbert Herring, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, that all his duties have been faithfully performed. It was written on September 14. All goods have been issued; the annuities all paid; and "The Indians have now all departed for their homes," he said. One week later, September 21, when the final drama of exodus was to take place, and the Potawatomi were to bid farewell forever to Chicagoland, Captain Russell rings down the curtain upon the official life of Thomas Jefferson Vance Owen, in a letter addressed to General Gibson, Commissioner General of Sub- sistence of the U. S. Army, Washington, D. C, which reads: 9 "Sir, I have the honor, to forward herewith my accounts connected with the Exploring party of Pottawatamie — I have delayed forwarding them, await- ing for the return of the Exploring party, and in hope also that Col. Owen would be well enough, to sign my abstracts, which I was desirous he should do — but I fear he is too low, even to rise from his bed. "On the return of the Party, Capt. Gordon stated to Col. Owen, that he should obey no order or direction from me, that he had heard that by appoint- 202 CHICAGO'S TRUE FOUNDER ment of the Secretary of War, I had been placed in the Superintendence of this agency, and the removal of the Indians — that he should return to St. Louis, and there wait orders from the Department. He has failed to furnish me any account of his disbursements, which prevents me from including his, in mine, as you directed in your instructions — I paid over to him on my leaving the Party $3544. "In consequence of his leaving here, I have appointed Doc. Miller Asst. Agent, to be employed under me in the removal of as large a party of Indians, as we can obtain, to move off in a few days. "I wish the Comm. General to believe that my leaving the Exploring party under the circumstances I did, and the conduct pursued by Capt. Gordon, will render it impossible for me ever to be associated with him again. "I have by authority of the Secretary of War, assumed the duties of special agent and Superintendent of Removal, and Indian Agent, as Col. Owen's state of health prevents him from attending to those duties. His life is despaired of, by his physician." Thomas J. V. Owen died three weeks later. His fellow townsmen paid their last respects to his memory on the day of the funeral. He was buried with the rites of the Catholic Church by Father St. Cyr, pastor of St. Mary's Congregation, which he had been instrumental in organizing. 21 He had passed his thirty-fourth birthday, April 5, 1835, a little more than six months before his passing away. His grave was discovered by this writer, after a long search, in Oakwood Cemetery, Springfield, Illinois. Chicago's tribute to its first chief executive appeared in the Democrat of October 21, 1835. John Calhoun, editor and publisher of Chicago's first news- paper, has testified that his success in maintaining this pioneer paper was largely due to the substantial encouragement given him by Mr. Owen. The editor eulogized his friend and political associate in an editorial, which reads: "COL. THOMAS J. V. OWEN. "In a new place like this, which has almost grown up in a night, where men possessing all the social and moral virtues are continually going and coming, and one gets barely acquainted with the estimable qualities of one citizen before his attention is attracted to another, it is seldom that a whole community feel the loss of one individual when he passes away to his last resting place. "Col. Owen is one of those cases in which the loss of a single individual in such a community is felt by all the members. All feel that it will be difficult to fill his place, either as a public officer or as a citizen; and all sympathise deeply with his family, and his more particular friends, in the loss which they have sustained by his death. "His funeral was attended by a large concourse of citizens on Saturday last." Mr. Owen's unceasing devotion to what he termed the "public interest", brought his promising career to an abrupt close in the prime of his life and the full vigor of his uncommon talents. His name was almost revered by his fellow Chicagoans as his character and administrative powers developed before their admiring eyes. His Government honored him with ever increasing respon- sibilities; and accepted his official statements as the foundation for many impor- OWEN DIES— A MARTYR TO DUTY 203 tant decisions in Indian Affairs. Had he given up his post of duty in the spring of 1835, when his health failed, the Potawatomi might have fared badly, — but his own life would undoubtedly have been prolonged. In the words of a warm friend of his family, in later years at Springfield, Abraham Lincoln, — he gave "the last full measure of devotion" to the Red children of the forest who had been committed to his care, and whom he had saved from extermination. But because two United States Army officers fought over the rag doll of their respective rank; because they failed to cooperate in the momentous task assigned them by the war department; Indian Agent Owen became a martyr to his duty. His widow was the executor of his estate. 30 Cook county probate records were destroyed by the fire of 1871, hence it is not known how large an estate he left. Mrs. Owen immediately sold all his personal property, and removed to Springfield in 1837, where she lived until about 1875, when she removed to East St. Louis, where she died in 1883. She is buried beside her husband in Oakwood cemetery, Springfield. 26 Because the forebears of this remarkable woman played an important part in bringing the commonwealth of Illinois into existence, the amazing narrative of her family will now be told. CHAPTER TWENTY EMELINE HOTCHKISS OWEN THERE is no more enchanting story in Illinois history than the brilliant and heroic adventure of George Rogers Clark in capturing Kaskaskia from the British forces in 1778 with a handful of soldiers from Virginia, and there is no more important fact in the history of the Mississippi Valley than this, — that Clark maintained possession of this conquered territory until 1783, when the Treaty of Peace between the United States and England settled its permanent ownership. General Clark was enabled to hold the country through the distinguished services and loyalty of the Kaskaskia regiment, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel John Montgomery. A new chapter will now be added to the history of Illinois, with this in- troduction: — The recruiting of the Kaskaskia regiment of George Rogers Clark was financed by Antoine Peltier, Sr., the great grandfather of Emeline Hotch- kiss Owen, wife of the founder of Chicago. Documentary evidence of this service exists in the files of the United States Senate library at Washington. The original copy of Colonel Montgomery's acknowledgment of the obligation is preserved. It reads: "Kaskaskia, April 1, 1780. "Exchange, $1,714. "At sight of this, my first of exchange, second of same tenor and date not paid, pay to Mr. Antoine Peltier, or order, the sum of seventeen hundred and fourteen dollars, being for so much money given in to me for the use of the recruiting officers at this place, and oblige. "Your obedient, humble servant, "John Montgomery, "Lieutenant Colonel." Had the above loan not been made to Colonel Montgomery, the entire Mississippi Valley would now be in Canada. Testimony on this point is fur- nished directly by the Congress of the United States, in the! House of Repre- sentatives Bill 179 of March 28, 1850. In that Bill the following statements are made: "General Clark and Colonel Montgomery, enabled the United States to insist in the treaty of peace of 1783 upon the boundaries of the United States to include the country northwest of the Ohio, and between the river Mississippi and the Lakes. "The State of Virginia did, 1784, relinquish to the United States the ter- ritory northwest of the river Ohio, which had been acquired and maintained by the Illinois regiment under command of General Clark and Lieutenant Colonel Montgomery." 204 EMELINE HOTCHKISS OWEN 205 Two amazing statements will now be made. (1.) Antoine Peltier has never received proper credit from Illinois historians for this distinguished service to the United States; (2) for one hundred and fifty years, the United States Government has defaulted on the payment of the bill of exchange of Colonel Montgomery. The debt remains unpaid until this day of grace in 1934. No circumstances can diminish the glory of George Rogers Clark; nor min- imize the grandeur of his military exploit with Colonel Montgomery; yet Con- gress has declared that the Northwest Territory was won from England because Mrs. Owen's great grandfather made that possible. Why has the debt to Antoine Peltier not been paid? Virginia refused to pay the Montgomery Bill of Exchange, because it had ceded the Northwest Territory to the United States in 1784. Answer was made that since the United States now owned the territory, they should pay the cost of conquering it, by virtue of a solemn compact made with the State of Virginia. Response was made by the United States that they had agreed to repay Virginia all the money it had actually paid out for conquering the Northwest. Since Virginia had not paid the Montgomery Bill of Exchange to the Peltier estate, the United States were under no obligation to pay it. It was a Virginia debt. Virginia countered with the declaration that the Peltier debt was just, be- cause it represented actual cash loaned for conquering the Kaskaskia country. It certified through its legislature that the claim was valid and binding; and that it constituted a moral and an actual obligation upon the honor and good faith of the United States. You've got the land; you pay for it, — was Virginia's final answer to Congress. This biographer received extraordinary privileges of research from gov- ernment officials in Washington, through the friendship and influence of Rufus C. Dawes, President of the Century of Progress. He therefore declares his inno- cence of any intention to develop a new claim against the United States. He was admonished, to bear in mind that the courtesies extended to him were for his- torical investigation; and that he must not use the opportunities given him so generously to gather evidence upon which x a claim should be based against the Government. At this point, then, he must protest that the Peltier documents presented in this volume are an integral part of Illinois history. To omit them would be disloyal to the group of distinguished Chicago gentlemen who have sponsored the biography of Chicago's first chief executive. Acknowledgment is now made of a letter of introduction given this author by Mr. Dawes, directed to Congressman C. R. Chindblom, under date of January 22, 1931, of which the following is a copy: "Dear Mr. Chindblom: This will introduce Mr. James R. Hay don, for a long time connected with the Chicago Journal of Chicago, and a well known newspaper man. "Mr. Hay don is engaged in writing the history of Mr. Owen, an early settler of Chicago and its first Chief Executive. He desires access to the library of Congress and other sources of original material and for that purpose feels that he will require some introduction. 206 CHICAGO'S TRUE FOUNDER "I regard Mr. Hay don as entirely worthy of this attention on your part and hope you will guide him and make the way as easy as you can for him. "Yours very truly, "Rufus C. Dawes." The above letter acted like a magic wand upon official Washington. It opened to the writer the entire catacombs of "old records" of the Library of Con- gress, the Senate library, the Indian Bureau, the Navy department, the General Land Office, the Army archives in the State, Army and Navy building, the Munitions building, the United States Court of Claims; and other depositories of military papers; — where much unwritten history has reposed for the past one hundred years since Thomas J. V. Owen lived and wrote and performed high service in infant Chicago. The historical completeness of this research investigation is due to that kindly and understanding gentleman, Rufus C. Dawes. Reverting to the Peltier claim, interest will be accentuated by a recital of circumstances associated with bringing it before the highest tribunal of the nation, and securing its incorporation in the official records of the United States. Thomas J. V. Owen was greatly enthused over the "seminary of learning" he intended to establish at Chicago. It seems to have been his intended purpose to combine the idea of the Illinois College, the Catholic plan of Father Badin, and the genetal educational scheme of Hon. R. M. Johnson who founded in Kentucky the Choctaw Indian Academy. This Academy, by the way, received $5,000 under the Chicago Treaty of 1833, from Mr. Owen and his associated commissioners. Indian Agent Owen was filled with plans and contrivances for getting finances to establish his school when the time arrived. In the summer of 1832, during the cholera epidemic, Mrs. Owen took her family to St. Louis, where steamboat service gave her easy access to her old home in Kaskaskia. The fact that she made this long journey with her children and practically alone, indi- cates there was another purpose in view besides fleeing to safety from the plague. The time was not long after the death of her grandfather, Antoine Peltier, Jr., whose daughter, Felicite, had married Senator Elias Kent Kane. While Mrs. Owen was visiting her aunt Kane, she doubtless described vividly the educational establishment which Mr. Owen was bringing into being at Chicago, and which President Andrew Jackson had personally approved. Most important of all considerations was the financing of this seat of learning. Although Mrs. Kane and Mrs. Owen were both zealous and active workers for the Catholic cause, they had no great personal wealth available for this purpose. The senator's wife, in her own right, held one half share in the estate of her father, Antoine Peltier, Jr.; but the senator himself was so poor in worldy goods that in his will he ordered his house in Kaskaskia to be sold to pay his funeral expenses. (This will was not discovered until 1851, when the will was pro- bated — Ed.) In this situation, it is believed that counsel was held with a staunch old friend of the family, Pierre Menard. Mr. Menard is a celebrated figure in Illinois EMELINE HOTCHKISS OWEN 207 history. He was the first lieutenant governor of Illinois. In private life he was the wealthiest Indian trader and property holder in the Mississippi Valley. He was a banking institution in himself. Though he spurned paper money, he held a prodigious quantity of bills of exchange and other written money obligations representing things of concrete value and productive investments. He was a loyal Catholic and a munificent benefactor of institutions of that Faith. 22 It was Pierre Menard who contributed the funds required to build and maintain the Kaskaskia Academy for girls under control of the Visita- tion Nuns. After the flood of 1844, this academy was removed to St. Louis, where it remains a flourishing institution to the present day. It is a tradition that any one who wished to finance a productive enterprise found a ready and generous supporter in the first lieutenant governor of Illinois. Now it happened that Pierre Menard held at the time of Mrs. Owen's visit to her former home, certain obligations arising from Revolutionary War claims for supplies furnished the Kaskaskia regiment of George Rogers Clark, amounting at that time to $37,695. 28 1/3, the exact amount of principal and interest. There had been much protesting of these claims by Virginia for no valid reasons, as afterwards developed. It would appear that Menard con- sidered them uncollectable. But these ancient debts took on a new significance in the family council at Kaskaskia in the summer of 1832. Mrs. Kane also held her grandfather's unpaid Bill of Exchange, signed by Colonel Montgomery for $1,714, upon which more than fifty years of interest had accumulated. Under the scrutiny of Senator Kane, who was one of the most brilliant lawyers of early Illinois, the claims of his wife and Pierre Menard became infused with a high degree of actual value. Mrs. Kane was a woman of uncommon strength of character, of com- manding intelligence, and a most capable administrator, according to the testi- mony of her grand daughter, who still lives in St. Louis, Mrs. Mary F. Koerner. Her wish was law to the senator, who loved his family with extraordinary de- votion, according to his obituary notice. Mrs. Kane, therefore, immediately assigned to her illustrious husband the task of collecting these claims from the United States. That she was the instigator of this long, long enterprise, Senator Kane himself testifies in a letter he wrote to her from Washington. This letter is one of the few written by the senator which have been preserved. It was presented to the writer of this biography by W. W. Kane of Pinckneyville, Illinois, a grandson of the Senator Kane, for the purpose of aiding in the pro- duction of this work; and with the understanding that it would be placed among the archives of Chicago with an institution that would treat it honorably. The letter reads: 28 "Senate Chamber, Jany., 14, 1834. "My Dear Wife: I received a letter this morning from Mr. Hotchkiss (father of Mrs. Owen — Ed.) stating that you were all well. "I have as yet received but one letter from Maria (his favorite daughter — Ed.) since I left home. She certainly must have written oftener and yet it is passing strange that I do not receive them. 208 CHICAGO'S TRUE FOUNDER "The session is now half over and I delight in the expectation of soon being on my way home, where during the spring and summer I mean to be very industrious. "The hope of getting your bill through this session is almost hopeless — It is before the committee whoi are opposed to it. Pope is here and looks very blank about it. "I hear from Vandalia almost every day. Owen is there. I suppose he will visit Kaska (Kaskaskia — Ed.) before he returns to Chicago. "This is the dullest session of Congress I have ever witnessed. Nothing new. My father's family is well except Elizabeth who is quite sick. They all send love to you and children. "Kiss my dear children and believe me affectionately to be, Felicite. "Your Kane." Some time after the date of the above letter, March 11, the Virginia legis- lature passed an act to ascertain the validity of these claims of Peltier and Menard. On March 15, Commissioner John Smith of the legislative committee reported the claims were adjusted. On May 13, 1834, a committee of the United States Senate reported: "The committee is of opinion that the United States are under a moral obligation to pay this debt, according to their resolution promising to pay cer- tain expenses incurred by the States in acquisition of Western lands which should be ceded to the United States. For the reasons in detail, which have led the committee to this conclusion, they refer, for the sake of brevity, to the report in the case of Pierre Menard. The committee report herewith a bill." The bill mentioned above died on the calendar at the end of the session in May. It was, however, again introduced on December 18, 1834; and reads as follows: "23d Congress. 2nd session. S. 59. "In the Senate of the United States. Deer. 18, 1834. A Bill. "For the payment of a debt due to the heirs of Antoine Peltier. "1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives 2 of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That 3 the Secretary of the Treasury be authorized, and is hereby 4 required to pay to the heirs of Antoine Peltier, late a citizen 5 of the State of Illinois, the sum of six thousand three hundred 6 and forty-eight dollars and ninety cents, out of any money in 7 Treasury not otherwise appropriated, being for money fur- 8 nished for the use of the Illinois regiment under the command 9 of General George Rogers Clark, and for which Lieutenant 10 Colonel John Montgomery drew a bill of exchange on account 11 of the State of Virginia in favor of the said Antoine Peltier." EMELINE HOTCHKISS OWEN 209 For thirty years Congress haggled over payment of this debt. It was in- troduced in the 23rd Congress by Senator Kane, who carried it on until his death in 1835. Pierre Menard carried it on in the 24th, 25th and 26th Con- gresses, until he died in 1844. Edmund Menard, his son, carried on in the 28th, 29th, 30th and 31st sessions of Congress. In 1850, William H. Bissell, later governor of Illinois, was a congressman from that state. During this session of 1856, Congress attempted to evade the responsibility involved in this claim by turning the whole matter over to the Commission on Claims, now known as the United States Court of Claims. Congressman Bissell was the son- in-law of Senator Kane, having married Elizabeth Kintzing Kane. He carried on the prosecution of the Peltier claim until he died in I860. For seven years, the Commission on Claims brooded over the payment of this debt, trying to hatch out some form of a conclusion. It faced a peculiar dilemma. Virginia, which contracted the debt declared that it was valid and just. The Congress had certified many times during the previous generation that the payment of the debt was a moral obligation, as well as legal one by virtue of the agreement made with Virginia. What possible adjudication was there by the Commission of Claims? If Congress did not intend to pay this debt until Virginia first paid it, there was nothing the Commission on Claims could do about that. And so, without giving an opinion, or rendering a judgment on the merits of the case, it threw off all responsibility by writing down in its record book the curt message to posterity: "DISMISSED, DECEMBER 14, 1863." Thirteen years prior to that date of abdication, the committee on Revo- lutionary Claims of the House of Representatives, announced: "Your committee, therefore, entertaining no doubt in regard to the justice of the claims and the obligation of the United States to liquidate the same, report said bills back to the House without amendment, and recommend thair passage. That was on March 28, 1850. Sixteen years before the above admonition was made to pay this debt, the committee on the judiciary of the Senate, under date of April 4, 1834, turned in a comprehensive argument to the senators setting forth the last word on the question of the validity of the Peltier claim. This judgment of the supreme tribunal of the United States Senate leaves nothing unsaid on the merits of the case. The judiciary committee's report says: "That the petitionary presents an account against the State of Virginia, settled, adjusted, and certified by the lawfully authorized commissioners of that State, duly examined and approved by the governor, as will fully appear by document marked number 1. "That account arises upon bills of exchange drawn by Lieutenant Colonel John Montgomery, holding his commission from the State of Virginia, acting under the command of General George Rogers Clark, upon the treasury of Virginia, for supplies furnished at Kaskaskia. . . . "The authority of General George R. Clark, his bold adventure and suc- cessful attacks on the posts of Kaskaskia and Vincennes, the conquest of the British forces, and the occupation of these posts by the forces of Virginia, under 210 CHICAGO'S TRUE FOUNDER the command of General Clark and Colonel Montgomery, are notorious histori- cal facts. "These bills were drawn for supplies furnished to the Virginia troops em- ployed in the conquest and occupation of the country northwest of the Ohio from the crown of Great Britain, during the revolutionary war. They were irresistible claims upon the justice and good faith of the State of Virginia. As such, the claim has been adjusted, liquidated, and duly acknowledged by that State. If the Congress of the United States shall refuse to pay the amount so liquidated, the State of Virginia must pay. "Is the government of the United States under a moral obligation to pay- this debt of the State of Virginia? "By the resolve of the Congress of the 10th of October, 1780, (Journals of Old Confederation, 3rd vol., p. 535.) that confederation engaged 'that the necessary and reasonable expenses which any particular State shall have incurred since the commencement of the present war in subduing any British posts, or in maintaining forts or garrison within and for the defence, or in acquiring any part of the territory that may be ceded or relinquished to the United States, SHALL BE REIMBURSED. . . " The final conclusion of the learned brief on the question was: "If the State of Virginia shall pay the debt, then Virginia will have just demand upon the United States for reimbursement. The United States having received the consideration, and promised to Virginia to pay the debt, cannot, in good faith, insist upon the circuity and delay that Virginia shall be the first to pay and the United States the last." Having given the high authority upon which the validity of the Peltier and Menard claims rested, the solicitor for the plaintiff in the Court of Claims in 1850 pleaded the grave injustice done to the claimants by refusal of the gov- ernment to perform its sacred obligation: He said: "Your petitioner shows that the long delay in paying these claims has been ruinous to the parties. All the witnesses to the original transaction have passed away. Many of the papers relating to these and additional claims have been lost or destroyed, and it only remains to the Government now to defeat these claims for want of technical proof to consummate the injustice under which they have so long suffered. "The papers in this case were included with those of Pierre Menard and Antoine Peltier, by the action of Congress, and thus combined, were referred by resolution of the House at the last session to this court." In the dreary years after Mrs. Owen lost her fortune, and lived in genteel poverty in East St. Louis, the payment of the Peltier claim would have been a visitation by kindly Providence to relieve the distress of herself and two sisters, Mrs. Gholson Kercheval and Charlotte Hotchkiss, who shared her humble abode. Some hint of the tragedy of long deferred hope may be gained from the state- ment made to this writer by Mrs. John E. Julius of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She is a great grand daughter of Emeline Hotchkiss Owen. Speaking of her father, Benjamin Franklin Owen, Mrs. Julius said: "I was at his bedside when he passed away. He was the kindest man I EMELINE HOTCHKISS OWEN 211 ever knew. Just before he died, he turned his head sideways, and his face, I thought at the moment, bore a striking resemblance to the dying Christ on the Cross. A little while before that final posture of death was taken, he looked up into my face and whispered in short hoarse syllables: 'Daughter — you have been a dutiful child — to your mother and me. God bless you. Keep up your courage. Never give up your right — to the Owen Inheritance. Some day God — will raise up a man — who will get you the inheritance — you have been cheated of. The merciful God — will not let injustice — go on forever. Man is unjust — but God is just. Good bye dear — take good care of your poor mother.' "And then he turned aside, as I told you, whispering some further words I could not understand. In a little while he was dead." The faltering sentences of this dying man came from the lips of the great, great, great grandson of Antoine Peltier, — patriotic Illinois pioneer who saved Chicago from becoming part of the Dominion of Canada. How has Chicago repaid this debt? Answering that question requires the narration of a more surprising tale than the repudiation of the Peltier claim by the United States; for the Owens, now living in St. Louis, declare that Chicago has defrauded them of a vaster inheritance than the Kaskaskia debt due to their famous ancestor. They make the bewildering statement that the elder Marshall Field was about to pay the heirs of Chicago's first Chief Executive $1,000,000 to secure a clear title to the land upon which his mercantile establishment stood. Before this could be accomplished the great fire of 1871 destroyed all real estate records. After that catastrophe, there seems to have been no necessity for this clearance of title, alleged by the family. The sensational statements of the heirs of Thomas J. V. Owen have been diligently investigated by this writer, within the facilities accorded him, but with little success. Before presenting the results of recent research, the claims of the family will be set down here. Frank J. Owen of St. Louis, eldest son of Mrs. Benjamin Franklin Owen, made the following written declaration to this writer in that city on May 14, 1930: "There is a tradition that Thomas J. V. Owen, Indian Agent at Chicago, owned a portion of the land upon which Fort Dearborn was built, or land adjoining the Fort grounds. The Beaubien family bought property nearby. "When I was about ten years old, (1885 — Ed.) two lawyers came from another city with Attorney Peabody, later Judge Peabody of St. Louis, to get authorization to institute legal proceedings to establish the rights of the heirs of Thomas J. V. Owen to the property. Mrs. Mary E. Owen, wife of Thomas T. V. Owen, Jr., (of Springfield — Ed.) refused to sign this authorization; and the case was not prosecuted. Also, it is said, Mary E. Owen revealed that Zeno Owen, son of George S. Owen, was not of age. (Signed) "Frank J. Owen." From this author's note book of May 6, 1930, the following excerpt is taken: "Today I met Mrs. Benjamin Franklin Owen, widow of B. F. Owen, the son of George S. Owen of Kaskaskia. (Third son of the Indian Agent. — Ed.) 212 CHICAGO'S TRUE FOUNDER She lives down stairs in her own two flat building at 4021 Botanical avenue, St. Louis. Her daughter, Mrs. W. S. Boody lives up stairs. She married B. F. Owen when he was 21 years old, November, 1874. "Mrs. Owen stated that Col. Thomas J. V. Owen owned and operated a farm in Chicago adjoining Fort Dearborn. This farm he permitted the govern- ment to use 'during the war', that is, the Black Hawk War of 1832. The govern- ment retained the land. Upon this farm land now stands the store of Marshall Field and Company. She stated that Marshall Field, at one time, to clear the title was about to pay $1,000,000 to the heirs of Col. Owen, but the big fire came and destroyed the records. T have heard that the papers were actually in the court house at the time of the Chicago fire,' she said. "About forty-five years ago, all the heirs had signed up except Mrs. Thomas J. V. Owen, Jr., of Springfield, who insisted that she get her own share and her son's share in addition. She refused to sign — and the efforts to establish the family claims ended. The family was never able to finance the litigation required to secure their rights to this property." Research into this complex problem yield the following results. General Scott made a requisition for Col. Owen's home when he came to Chicago in July, 1832, because the cholera prevented him from occupying Fort Dearborn. He used Col. Owen's home as his headquarters from July 11 to the time he left Chicago, about July 31. 23 Testimony on this point is given by Mr. Owen himself under date of July 29, 1832, in a letter to Secretary of War Cass, in which these sentences appear: "When Gen. Scott arrived, he sent for me, and without the least delay, I immediately waited upon him. He requested my place of residence, for his head- quarters, I yielded it at once." Perhaps Col. Owen believed that when General Scott took military posses- sion of his home for a headquarters, the government thereby became the perma- nent owner of the property. That he did hold some such opinion becomes evi- dent from the fact that he never sold the property he held at the corner of Clark Street and the north river bank. Records at the office of the Chicago Title and Trust company show that he bought this property in June, 1831. On June 20, 1836, five years later, and nine months after his death, the "Treasurer of the Canal" transferred the lot to Richard J. Hamilton. Mr. Owen got his warranty deed from Daniel Newton on June 25, 1831, "with house thereon." If Col. Owen held this view of confiscation by General Scott he was entitled to reimbursement, according to an Act of Congress providing for payment to persons whose property had been taken over for military purposes after 1830. However, while this record may show the possibility of a claim against military usage of property, it does not further the research, because General Scott's head- quarters were on the north side of the Chicago river, where Col. Owen's home was located. The Marshall Field store is on the south side of the river. Did Thomas J. V. Owen own a farm on the south side of the Chicago river? That question seems to be answered in the affirmative by Col. Owen himself and J. N. Balestier, author of the Annals of Chicago. The Chicago Indian Agent wrote in a letter to B. H. Laughton of Belle Fontaine, near Riverside, on May 31, 1832: t( l will kill some beef fori these EMELINE HOTCHKISS OWEN 213 people and send to you tomorrow with the weight & you will apportion it to the best advantage." 10 As Mr. Owen had been reared on his father's farm in Williamsburg Town- ship, near Kaskaskia, and occupied his own for two years after his marriage, he was familiar with the killing of stock. Furthermore, his remarkable precision in the use of English make it apparent that he did the killing himself of the beef sent to Laughton. If some one else butchered the beef, the Indian Agent would have said: "I will have some beef killed". Where was the Indian Agent's Farm located? 32 Mr. Balestier says on this point; in his lecture before the Chicago Lyceum on January 21, 1840: "One of these houses is still occupied by Col. Beaubien, and was formerly the property of the Fur Company. About 80 rods to the south of that, there formerly stood a house occupied by Col. Owings, the Indian Agent, but the remorseless lake has washed it away." The location of Mr. Owen's farm, if he owned and operated one, is fixed by the historian Andreas in his biography of John B. Beaubien. He says: "In 1823 the fort was evacuated, and remained for several years without a garrison. The U. S. Factory house, just outside the south wall, was sold to the American Fur Company, and again sold by the company to Mr. Beaubien for $500. He moved into this building, and resided there until he left Chicago for his farm on the Desplaines, in or about the year 1840." In another chapter, Andreas says: "The homestead of Colonel Beaubien was where now is the southwest corner of South Water street and Michigan avenue". If Col. Owen's house was 80 rods south of that his farm was located between the lake and the western edge of the Fort Dearborn reservation at State Street; and would include the land upon which the Marshall Field store is now situated. Prosecution by William H. Standish, a Chicago lawyer, of the Beau- bien claim before Congress took place after Mrs. B. F. Owen in St. Louis had been visited by the Chicago lawyers. At this date the widow of the Indian Agent was living in East St. Louis, and Mrs. B. F. Owen was well acquainted with her. It was from Emeline Hotchkiss Owen, herself, that the information was obtained that Col. Owen owned and operated a farm in Chi- cago, which included the site of the Marshall Field store. Mrs. Col. Owen possessed a trunk in which she kept many records of her numerous property holdings, and among these papers there was considerable evidence regarding the "Owen Inheritance," in Chicago. This trunk was in the possession of Charlotte Hotchkiss, the sister of Mrs. Col. Owen, until Charlotte died, August 6, 1901. She lived with one James Gore, it is said, who sent her to the hospital for a time. When Charlotte re- turned from the hospital, Gore had moved from St. Louis, taking her trunk with him. Thus bereft of her possessions, as well as an abiding place, she was sent to the Poor House, July 13, 1901, and died some weeks later. She had nothing with her when she entered that institution, it was officially reported. She was admitted from 3155 North Second street, St. Louis; where a factory 214 CHICAGO'S TRUE FOUNDER now stands, but which was the site of a boarding house many years ago, resi- dents thereabout said. Charlotte was seventy-four years old when she died. For many years she visited and made her home at 443 North Seventh street, East St. Louis, with a Mrs. Elizabeth Joergensen, who still lives at the ripe age of eighty-three years. This lady's daughter, Mrs. J. M. Harder, was a young girl when Mrs. Col. Owen lived near them on Illinois avenue, between 7th and 8th streets, with her sister, Charlotte and Mrs. Gholson Kercheval. "These three old ladies always reminded me of lavender and old lace", she informed this writer. "They were so dainty and genteel, and when they walked one would think they floated on air. They were very aristocratic in feeling, and dressed exquisitely; for they had many clothes from their days of riches, though they were then rather in straightened circumstances. They had much jewelry and silver. For many years after the older sister died (Mrs. Owen — Ed.), they became greatly reduced in means. After Mrs. Kercheval died, Charlotte lived with us. I remember she had a trunk filled with valuables, such as clothes, papers and family silver. I recall she once sold some table spoons, one of which bore the imprint of nails from a horse's hoof. I was told that when they were leaving Chicago at the time of the cholera plague (1832), they were in such a hurry that everything was bustle and confusion. One of the spoons was dropped and a horse stepped on it. The jeweler who bought the spoons placed them on a scale and paid Charlotte the exact amount of money they weighed, — they were so pure and so beautifully made. He put the spoons on one scale and the silver money on the other. "Charlotte would never allow anyone to see what was in one of her trunks where she kept her family papers. She had a stack of these. I often would come upon her pouring over them. She once said to me: 'Ah, my dear, if we had not been cheated out of our property, I could buy many silk dresses and much jewels. I would not be so poor as you see me today'. "I never knew what became of her trunk, but I imagine the family she lived with kept it. She left my mother's some time before she died, in fact, quite a while. This man, — I don't know his name, who took her, — exercised some sort of a spell over Charlotte, — she was rather a flighty person anyhow. He promised to take care of her. I never could understand how such an un- couth person as this man could attract her. She did not come to see mother often after she left us. She acted as if she thought we were intending to do something that would injure her, — at least that is how it appeared to me. Mother went to see her once when she was sick, and made such a fuss that the people sent her to a hospital. The next thing we knew she was dead, and had been buried some time. Poor old Charlotte! How she did guard that trunk of hers! You would think there was a fortune concealed in it." This research investigator enjoyed one brief hour of triumph on December 6, 1931, when he learned that a box factory owner in St. Louis, Henry Gore, was the son of James Gore, the man who took Mrs. Owen's trunk with its precious records of early Chicago history. But Henry Gore, after he was located through the Mississippi Club, 3900 Broadway, quashed all hopes aroused by his presence on earth. He declared that he had not been reared in his own home, EMELINE HOTCHKISS OWEN 215 because his father was rather a hard person; who caused him to seek shelter from strangers. He did not recall Charlotte Hotchkiss, distinctly, if at all. He had never seen this trunk, knew nothing about it, did not possess it. Henry Gore was told that his father, James Gore, was in St. Louis at the time of Charlotte's death, — although the box maker said his father had left St. Louis. Authority for this writer's statement came from Mrs. B. F. Owen, who stated that James Gore had asked her if she could furnish the funds to bury Charlotte. In answer to this statement, Henry Gore declared that he knew little of his father's affairs, and, during the old man's lifetime, cared less; for their relations had not been friendly. His general conversation confirmed the opiniorr of old Mrs. Elizabeth Joergensen who grew voluable with indignation at her memories of James Gore. "Ach! that Irishman! He was no good. I could not speak to him I am so angry when I come to his house to see Charlotte. He was so hard — so rough. He speak so insulting to me. Ach! ach! I do not wish to speak of that Irish- man". And she continued her remarks in a foreign tongue, which must have been eloquent. It should be stated, however, that aside from the grave offenses of being Irish, rough spoken, and hard boiled, Mrs. Joergensen, gave this writer no information about Mr. Gore that would be libelous if printed. That he was a tough hided railroad man, and took care of Charlotte Hotchkiss, until some time before she died is the sum total of information that can be offered here. Perhaps, in his own rugged fashion he was doing a work of mercy. If any of his heirs are living and have this trunk of family records, they will be abun- dantly repaid for the care of them during the past thirty years and more. Certainly if James Gore knew the value of these papers, he need not have allowed the last daughter of Miles Hotchkiss to be buried in the Potter's Field of the St. Louis Poor House. CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE OLDEST FAMILY IN ILLINOIS EMELINE HOTCHKISS OWEN, Chicago's first First Lady, sprang from one of the oldest families in Illinois. Her kinship to Antoine Peltier is recorded in the Kaskaskia records of the Church of the Immaculate Conception. These documents are preserved in the original in the archives of the St. Louis University. What was sup- posed to have been a complete digest of them was made by Edward Gay Mason, president of the Chicago Historical society, in 1881, when he pub- lished Kaskaskia and Its Parish Records. Unfortunately, Mr. Mason suppressed all information he found in these ancient data regarding the marriage of Chicago's first Chief Executive, as well as the genealogy of Mrs. Owen and her famous ancestors. In the Kaskaskia records the name Peltier is spelled Pelletier. Also it is "dit Antaya," meaning, "also known as Antaya." That is to say, Pelletier, by some French custom, became Antaya. Evidence that it was so used occurs in the census of 1825 where Antoine Peltier is registered as Antaya for the town of Kaskaskia. Just what Antaya means, this author cannot say. Adopt- ing the spelling of Peltier instead of Pelletier, the Kaskaskia Parish records show: "Doza, Maria Anne, wife of Antoine Peltier dit Antaya; . . . mother of Antoine Peltier Antaya who weds Charlotte Bienvenu Delisle, Jan. 4, 1780." "Bienvenu, Charlotte, wife of Antoine Peltier dit Antaya; mother of two children; 1781, 1789. Charlotte Bienvenu was the daughter of Antoine Bienvenu, spoken of in the History of Randolph, Perry and Monroe Counties as "one of the early French settlers of Kaskaskia." In another place, it is said he was one of the few men of wealth who joined the Kaskaskia colony. Antoine Peltier, Jr., had two daughters, Felicite, who married Elias Kent Kane; and Francoise, who married Miles Hotchkiss, the father of Mrs. Col. Owen. Both the civil and the parish records of Kaskaskia were destroyed, to some extent, between 1812 and 1818. For this reason the marriage of Felicite Peltier to Mr. Kane does not appear in the existing records of the Church of the Immaculate Conception. Mrs. Kane's baptism is thus recorded: "Antaya dit Peltier, Felicite, daughter of Antoine Antaya and Char- lotte Bienvenu; Bapt. 1790." Mr. Peltier's second daughter, Francoise, is mentioned thus: "Hotchkiss, Francoise Peltier dit Antaya, wife of John Baptiste Miles Hotchkiss, children, 1800, 1802, 1807, 1805, 1809, 1812, and 1814." Charlotte Hotchkiss, as has been noted, was born in 1827; since she was 216 OWEN FAMILY GROUP 1. Thomas J. V. Owen, Jr., eldest son of the Chicago Indian Agent. Born, July 23, 1824, at Kaskaskia, Illinois. Prominent druggist of Springfield. Fought in the Mormon and Mexican wars. Died, March 19, 1876. 2. William F. Owen, second son of Chicago's founder. Born in Kaskaskia, 1827. Died a prisoner of war at Libby Prison, it is said of starvation, on February 13, 1864. 3. George Savinian Owen, born at Kaskaskia, February 18, 1830. Tradition says he was assassinated because he called his best friend a coward for not joining the Union forces, July 22, 1864. "George Owen was the handsomest man I ever saw alive," said an aged Kaskaskia lady, as quoted by her daughter now living in St. Louis. Owen had a fractured hip and could not join the army; and so he fought, with or without the consent of his fellow citizens, so furiously and so often that tradition says he was Kaskaskia's most celebrated bad man. 4. Commander Elias Kane Owen, born in Chicago, November 21, 1834. President Lincoln entered him in the United States Navy in 1848. Midshipman, December 7, 1848. Passed midshipman, July 15, 1854. Master, September 15, 1855. Lieutenant, Sep- tember 16, 1855. Lieutenant Commander, July 16, 1862. Commander, July 25, 1866. Retired, June 9, 1876. Died at Kaskaskia on April 7, 1877. He was senior officer of the Navy Court Martial, 1873. As Commander of the steam sloop Seminole he served a year in Panama, 1868-1869. First native born Chicagoan to become a United States Naval officer. 5. William H. Owen, son of Thomas J. V. Owen, Jr., of Springfield. "I never had a chance in life. I was reared in wealth and luxury and among folks that were called aristocratic. I could not play nor mingle with young people I liked. And so, my life has been a failure," he complained to his cousin, Mrs. Blanche Kercheval Carr of Philadelphia. He died February 9, 1903. 6. Harry Zeno Owen, son of William F. Owen. Only living grandson of the founder of Chicago. Home, Mancos, Colorado. 7. Benjamin Franklin Owen, son of George S. Owen. Reared and died in St. Louis. 8. Elias Zeno Owen, youngest son of George S. Owen. After an all day celebration of the birth of this son, the father was assassinated. "Why are so many people at the house," his mother feebly asked, during the progress of the funeral of her husband. "They have come to see your baby," she was told by her kindly neighbors. Two weeks later, after baptizing the baby Elias, the parish priest informed the mother of the tragedy that had come to her. She bore the afflication with the high courage and dignity of her distinguished ancestors. Zeno Owen, as he called himself, was a prom- inent railroad ticket broker in the 1890's, with offices in St. Louis. The Author was assistant to a ticket broker in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1892 and corresponded almost daily with Zeno Owen through exchange of railroad tickets. 9. Mrs. Peri M. Owen Kinsley, daughter of Harry Zeno Owen, living at Mancos, Colo- rado. 10. Roger Welborn Owen, son of Harry Zeno Owen. Smithsonian Institute archeologist. Living at Mancos, Colorado. 11. Frank J. Owen of St. Louis. Son of Benjamin Franklin Owen and great grandson of the founder of Chicago, Thomas Jefferson Vance Owen. His mother, Mrs. B. F. Owen, who died in March of this year, knew Emeline Hotchkiss Owen in her latter days and attended her death bed. Mr. Owen's grandmother, wife of George S. Owen, was Mary Jeanette Burr, one of the famous Burr family of Revolutionary days. 12. Richard Benbow Owen, son of Elias Zeno Owen, now lives in St. Louis, where he was born. His mother, Caroline Lorina Mowrey Owen, lives in Detroit, Michigan. 13. (Upper figure) Nina I. Owen Walker, daughter of Harry Zeno Owen lives at Man- cos, Colorado. (Lower figure) Dorothy B. Owen, same residence. 14. Gertrude E. Owen Noland, daughter of Harry Zeno Owen, also of Mancos. 15. Clifton E. Owen, son of Frank J. Owen of St. Louis. 16. (Upper) Richard Benbow Owen, Jr., age 8, son of Richard Benbow Owen. (Lower) Roger Corey Owen, age 5, same father. OWEN FAMILY GROUP (See Opposite Page) OLDEST FAMILY IN ILLINOIS 219 seventy-four years old when she died in 1901. The baptismal record of Mrs. Col. Owen is written: "Hotchkiss (Hokise), Emelie, (In another place, Amelia — Ed.) daughter of John Miles H. and Francoise Peltier, b. 1807." The names of the twelve children of Miles Hotchkiss were: Guillaime (William), Lucile, Julia, Emelie, Gais, Aurelia, Felicite, James, Baptiste, Albert, Beale and Charlotte. These were given to this writer by Mrs. Blanche K. Carr of Philadelphia. Since Antoine Peltier, Jr., the grandfather of Mrs. Col. Owen, was mar- ried in 1780, the year after the Kaskaskia regiment was recruited, it seems certain that his father, Antoine Peltier, Sr., was the person who furnished the money used by Col. Montgomery. This view is chosen, not only because of the youth of the 1780 bridegroom, but because Pierre Richard, Sr., was another Kaskaskian who supplied the Kaskaskia regiment with the sinews of war. His son, Pierre Richard, Jr., 7 married the sisters, Felicite and Francoise Pel- tier, the former in 1765 and the latter in 1769, both daughters of Antoine Peltier, Sr. After Senator Kane had, in 1834, initiated the collection of the Vir- ginia debts to his wife's great grandfather through Congress, the claims of Pierre Richard, Sr., and of Joseph Placey, were eventually presented to the United States Commission of Claims. These, together with the Pierre Menard debt all were merged into one suit for collection; and were all dismissed in 1863, as already noted. Placey and Richard furnished supplies to the Kaskaskia regiment after it went into action. Before these supplies could be furnished, however, Antoine Peltier, Sr., sponsored the recruiting of the historic regiment, prior to the date of all the other claims. Pierre Menard's vouchers were for money furnished to Col. Montgomery by Nicholas Lachance and John Serault immediately after the formation of the regiment in the fall of 1779. The relation of Lachance and Serault to the forbears of Mrs. Col. Owen have not been investigated. They were likely among that large group of former Kaskaskians who left the town when the British seized it from the French and became officially possessed of it by the Treaty of Paris in 1763. These persons went across the Mississippi to St. Genevieve, Mo. Just at what period Mrs. Owen's pioneer ancestor, Antoine Bienvenu ar- rived at the French colony in southern Illinois, is not known. Kaskaskia was founded in 1700 or thereabouts. Some time between that year and 1763, when the British took possession of it, is the date of his arrival. The family of Chicago's first First Lady, therefore, has been continuously resident in Illinois for the past one hundred and seventy years and more. One member of this family is Charles True Adams, the noted bridge expert of Chicago. He is the seventh generation of the pioneers, Antoine Peltier, Sr., and Antoine Bienvenu. His father is Attorney Samuel Adams of Chicago, a descendant of Samuel Adams, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. His mother, who was Elizabeth Koerner, is the daughter of Mrs. Mary F. (Gus- tavus Adolphus) Koerner of St. Louis; who is the daughter of Maria Louise Kane, the favorite child of Senator Elias Kent Kane. Mrs. Koerner's father- in-law was Lieutenant Governor Gustavus Koerner of Illinois, 1853-57. Mrs. 220 CHICAGO'S TRUE FOUNDER Koerner lived in the executive mansion at Springfield from 1857 to the death of her sister's husband, Governor Bissell. Her father, William H. Kinney, son of Lieutenant Governor Kinney of Illinois, 1826-1830, married Maria Kane, first cousin to Emeline Hotchkiss Owen. Senator Kane has two other grandchildren living in Illinois. They are Elias K. Kane and Dr. W. W. Kane, both of Pinckneyville. The latter has presented this writer with two letters written by the senator and his father. The first of these has been reproduced elsewhere. The letter of Elias Kane, father of the senator, has never before been seen in print. It was written to the widow shortly after the death of Senator Kane in Washington; and is important to Illinois historically because it portrays the devotion in which her first secretary of state was held by President Andrew Jackson and Vice Presi- dent Martin 28 Van Buren. It describes the last hours of the distinguished senator: "Washington, Jan.y 22, 1836. "My dear daughter, I know it will require all your fortitude and resignation to bear up under your heavy bereavement. You have indeed lost an invaluable hus- band, and I have lost a very very dear son. "It was the decree of heaven to take him from us & hard as it is we must submit to the divine will. On you, my dear daughter, devolves the im- portant duty of taking charge of your large family and of bringing them up in the best manner you can. How has he left his affairs? I have no means of knowing, he never informed me of his situation as it regarded his prop- erty. I very sincerely hope he has left enough to maintain his family decently. If this should prove not to be the case, you will have the goodness to let my dear Maria inform me of it as soon as you can ascertain the situation of his affairs. "I have nothing to depend upon but my salary, but whatever I can do for you I shall consider it my duty to do. You must consult your friends on the course you must pursue as regards the management of the property. If he has left no will (and presume he has not) it will probably be necessary for you to take out letters of administration, but of this your friends will be able to advise you. "All of my dear son's effects here will be carefully packed up and sent to you by Doct'r Linn on his return home. "I am now writing by candle light in the room where your precious husband died and I can hardly realize his death yet — he was taken from us so suddenly & so unexpectedly that it appears to me almost like a dream. His disease, the doctors all say, he brought with him, and it was a most in- sidious one, for he appeared well on his arrival, and had no pain during his sickness. His brain was evidently affected from Wednesday preceding his death & had hardly a moment of interval of reason during the last two days before his death. "I always knew he was highly esteemed by those that knew him, but I did not know the full extent of his very highly esteemed & respected char- acter by all of the most leading & eminent men of our Country until after his decease. OLDEST FAMILY IN ILLINOIS 221 "The President sent almost every hour in the day & late at night to in- quire how he was, & Mr. Van Buren was almost constantly at our house & on the last night until twelve O'C, and when I told him he was dying & there was no hope left, he burst into tears and sobbed aloud. "To lose such a son in the prime of his life is hard indeed for a father, but to lose such a husband is still more afflicting. May God in his infinite mercy give you fortitude to bear up under your severe affliction. "It would have given us all great consolation to have had Maria come on with him and attended him during his last sickness and death. We all expected her to accompany him, but he told us when it came to the pinch you would not part with her. It would have been a melancholy satisfaction to the dear girl to have been with him. "No parent ever loved a child with more ardent affection than he did Maria. Give my love to all the children and believe me to be, "Your affectionate father, "Elias Kane.'* Attached to the letter is this statement: "This is a copy of the original letter in my possession, I having found the letter with other old letters in the garret of the old Kane home at Kaskaskia in the summer of 1887 in company with my friend Mr. A. W. Vernon, now of Bradford, Penn. (Signed) "W. W. Kane." Senator Kane's home still stands on Kane Hill near Kaskaskia' s watery grave at the bottom of the Mississippi river, about six miles from Chester, the county seat of Randolph county. The vault where he was buried, after his body was brought from Washington, D. C, is not a great distance from the old homestead at the very peak of a magnificant bluff overlooking the Father of Waters. The concrete tomb is now the property of the State of Illinois. In reply to an inquiry for information regarding his grandfather, Dr. W. W. Kane sent to this writer a statement of facts regarding his family, under date of November 19, 1931. To preserve this history of the Kane family in permanent form, the letter is introduced in part: 28 "While making a search I came across a box of scraps which my wife had preserved, and looking through these I found the Elias Kane letter written to my grandmother about the death of my grandfather, Elias Kent Kane. You can imagine my feelings as I handled this old letter which I have had in my possession for 44 years. . . . "You ask me about my grandmother, Mrs. Elias Kent Kane's marriage and her death. "I am sure she was married in Kaskaskia and by the Catholic Church, as she was a devout Catholic. There must be some Church record of it. (County and Church records for 1816 destroyed.— Ed.) She died July 22, 1851, at Kaskaskia, that is at the old home on the hill opposite Kaske. She was buried in the vault on the Kane Hill. She was 52 years of age at the time of her death. "My father was 20 years old when his mother died in 1851. A short time after her death, he, with an older brother, went to Belleville, Illinois, 222 CHICAGO'S TRUE FOUNDER and joined a large company and went to the gold fields of California. They remained there four years, returning in 1855 to Belleville, where the next year, my father married my mother, Mary E. Watson. My mother was a Cumberland Presbyterian, and my father was a religious man and a frequent attendent at Church services and was never affiliated with any church till late in life. I have most of my information from my mother, who had a keen memory. "My grandfather Elias Kent Kane was first buried in the Congressional Cemetery at Washington, where the Government erected a monument, which was still standing in 1892, when I visited the place. About a year after his death and burial, my grandmother had his body removed to the vault at the old home at Kaskaskia. My mother told me that grandma Kane could not rest content till his body was removed to consecrated ground." Senator Kane's last will is recorded in Chester court house. It was dis- covered a short time after Mrs. Kane's death, sixteen years after the senator died. It is reproduced here, partly, to verify his devotion to his wife and re- gard for her competent abilities as an administrator, as well as to indicate his comparative poverty. It reads in the first and fourth paragraphs: "In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. "I, Elias Kent Kane of Randolph County, State of Illinois, being in good health, and of sound mind, but being about to leave my dear home for Wash- ington City and appreciating the hazards and uncertainty of life, have and do hereby make this my last will and testament. I wish to be buried upon the place on which I reside unless it be the will of God to take my life at so great a distance therefrom as to render the removal of my body too expensive. I will and bequeath all my estate, real and personal, to my dear wife, Felicite, to be by her used and disposed of as she may think proper. It being my in- tention to invest her with as full and perfect a control thereof as I should have, were I living. . . . "Item 4th. It is my advice that the brick house and lot in the village of Kaskaskia be sold to pay my debts." . . . "Oct 25, 1828." Through the long years of his distinguished services to the State of Illinois, Senator Elias Kent Kane never accumulated enough wealth to keep his debts paid. The first secretary of state, the brilliant statesman who wrote the Con- stitution of Illinois, the political sponsor of Chicago's first Chief Executive, wrote his own epitaph in his last will and testament. Emeline Hotchkiss Owen's father, Jean Baptiste Miles Hotchkiss, was born in Connecticut, in 1773 or 1774, according to his great granddaughter of Philadelphia, Mrs. Blanche Kecheval Carr. There is little doubt that he was one of the colony of Acadian French, descended from the victims of British cruelty, who were torn from their farms and homes in Canada at the "little village of Grand Pre," described in Longfellow's poem Evangeline. These French peasants were scattered along the Atlantic coast, one group being landed in Connecticut. Miles Hotchkiss — as he always wrote his name — came to the Kaskaskia French colony some time prior to the year 1799. In that year he married Francoise Peltier at the Church of the Immaculate Concep- OLDEST FAMILY IN ILLINOIS 223 tion. Francoise, or Frances, was then eighteen years old. Her sister, Felicite, who married Senator Kane, was ten years younger. The marriage of Miles Hotchkiss into one of the leading and wealthy families of Kaskaskia indicates his social status and ambition. He became promi- nently identified with public affairs at an early period. When John Kinzie and his associated traders were establishing Indian trading posts in and around the southern shores of Lake Michigan, the father of Mrs. Col. Owen was en- deavoring to get the Territory of Illinois created by Congressional act. His name appears on a "memorial from certain inhabitants of Indiana," dated January 17, 1806: "Suggesting the expediency of a division of the Indiana Territory and the erection into a separate territorial government of that ex- tent of country allotted in the fifth article of the compact between the original states and the inhabitants of the Territory northwest of the Ohio to form the Western States, and for the modification of the compact so as to admit of slavery within the limits of said Territory." — (Catalogue of Government publications.) There were several such memorials presented to Congress after the be- ginning of 1800, but the above seems to have been the final one which secured action by the national legislature. The request was at first denied because of "expense" by the general government. On June 17, 1806, according to McDonough's History of Randolph Mon- roe and Perry Counties, (1883) : "A memorial of sundry inhabitants of the counties of Randolph and St. Clair in the Indian Territory," was sent to Congress for the purpose above stated, bearing the names of William Morri- son, Robert M., Samuel, and J. Morrison, Miles Hotchkiss, William Crawford, Antoine Peltier, Shadrach Bond, Sr., and others. From this government document evidence is produced that both Mrs. Col. Owen's father and grandfather were among the original citizens of the Terri- tory of Illinois when it was established in 1809. In that year, when Emeline Hotchkiss Owen was two years old, her future husband, eight years of age, arrived in Illinois with his father, Ezra Owen from Kentucky. Their later mar- riage united two of the oldest families in the commonwealth of this State. It links Chicago's first Chief Executive and Chicago's first First Lady with the very cradle of Illinois; and associates Chicago with the Revolutionary War as it was fought out upon the soil of this State. Authenticated documents, therefore, make Emeline Hotchkiss Owen Chicago's most historic woman. With the city, the state, and the nation, her name is inseparably interwoven. 1. Her great grandfather Antoine Peltier, Sr., financed the recruiting of the Kaskaskia regiment of George Rogers Clark, which won for the United States the entire northwest territory as by the British ceded in the treaty of peace to the American Confederation of States. 2. Her father, Miles Hotchkiss, and her grandfather, Antoine Peltier, Jr., signed the memorial to Congress which brought about the establishment of the Territory of Illinois, in 1809. 224 CHICAGO'S TRUE FOUNDER 3. Her husband, Thomas Jefferson Vance Owen, founded the incorporated municipality of Chicago, 1833. 4. Her father-in-law, Major Ezra Owen, trained the soldiers who fought the Indians of Illinois in the War of 1812; and avenged the Massacre of Fort Dearborn upon the Potawatomi savages who committed that perfidy. 5. Her youngest son, Commander Elias Kane Owen, a native Chicagoan, became a Commander in the American Navy. 6. The immortal Abraham Lincoln was her friend and family counsellor. He took her son, Elias, with him when he went to Congress in 1848, and entered the lad of fourteen in the Annapolis Naval Academy. Her son, T. J. V. Owen, Jr., of Springfield, was one of Lincoln's pallbearers. 7. Her aunt, Felicite Peltier, became the wife of Senator Elias Kent Kane, first secretary of state, writer of the Constitution, and one of the illustrious statesmen of Illinois. 8. Her father's family, and her husband's family, took an active part in the foundation of the State of Illinois, 1818. 9. Her first cousin, Maria Louise Kane, married the son of William Kinney, lieutenant governor of Illinois, who become a distinguished citizen of Belleville, Illinois — William C. Kinney. 10. Another first cousin, Elizabeth Kintzing Kane, married Governor Wil- liam H. Bissell, first Republican governor of Illinois; with whom she lived in the executive mansion for three years. 11. Her eldest son, Thomas T. V. Owen, Jr., of Springfield, Illinois, fought in the Mormon war and the Mexican war. 12. Her second son, William F. Owen, served with the Union army in the Civil war, and died of starvation in Libby Prison in 1864. 13. Her youngest son, Commander Elias Kane Owen, commanding the Fifth Mississippi squadron in the Civil war, helped to destroy the Confeder- ate power in the west, and to capture "one thousand miles of coast line," as the records say, in the Mississippi Valley. 14. EmeHne Hotchkiss Owen is the only woman whose name is signed to the Chicago Indian Treaty of 1833, its supplements and auxiliaries. 81 15. Her husband, Thomas Jefferson Vance Owen, Chicago Indian Agent, is reported in state papers as being the chief instrument by which 9,000,000 acres of Indian lands were given to the whites in the Treaty of Tippecanoe and the Treaty of Chicago, 1832 and 1833. "BOY FRIEND" OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN In 1848, Congressman Abraham Lincoln of Springfield, took his "boy friend," Elias Kane Owen, to Washington and had him entered in Annapolis Naval Academy, at the age of fourteen years. The lad became Commander Elias K. Owen, head of the Fifth Mississippi Squadron; the first native born Chicagoan to become a United States naval officer. (From a Daguerreotype in possession of the Author.) ubrary OF VN '^my JJ* "■UNOls CONCLUSION TRUE ORIGIN OF CHICAGO CHICAGO had a noble origin. It was an imperial city by prenatal design. From its inception, it had a regal destiny. Conceived and created by a group of illustrious downstate citizens, it was established to command the northern terminus of the Lakes to Gulf waterway, and to gather tolls from the nation's commerce that was expected to pass over this marine highway. The pioneers who brought forth Chicago out of nothing were the same group of statescraftsmen who founded the State of Illinois in 1818. Modern Chicago did not arise out of the muck and degredation of an Indian trading post through any genius for initiative of the settlers at Wolf Point; nor was it evolved in any manner from the activities of the settlers at Fort Dearborn. That person reads local history all askew, who believes that Chicago was at any time a struggling hamlet of hardy pioneers hewing their slow progress upward inch by inch against Nature's obstacles. The canal metropolis was an integral part of the Illinois and Michigan Canal scheme. In a way, it was the heart of this enterprise because it was the financial center of the project. Chicago had clap-board houses before it had a municipal government. It had shingle roofs before it had a code of laws. It was making bricks before it began to make ordinances. And it invented a new type of architecture, the balloon frame — before it built the first dog-pound. It was born a young Colossus with amazing powers of self-development; with titanic energies and a dominating will for enterprises of heroic character. Chicago wrested from its elder sister, Galena, the political supremacy of northern Illinois. It defeated its most active competitor, Michigan City, in the latter's efforts to link the Mississippi with the country of the St. Joseph river through the Wabash river canal. And after the General Assembly finally decided to build the Illinois and Michigan waterway, Chicago conquered every attempt to locate the northern terminus of the Lakes to Gulf highway in the territory of the Grand Calumet. These were some of its conquests in the days of its formative period — a period teeming with magnificient enterprises when it laid the founda- tion of its seat of government as empress of the Mississippi Valley. There is no more glorious period in the city's history than those embryonic years when that master showman, Destiny, was rearing this civic hippodrome with which it was to astonish the world. Lovers of Chicago will receive a new vision of enchantment as they study events of those dramatic years when Thomas Jefferson Vance Owen was the master spirit of the community. When the townsite of Chicago was laid out in October, 1829, by James Thompson of Kaskaskia, official surveyor for the board of canal commissioners, there were four dwelling houses within its borders. He indicated the location of these homes upon the first official map made of modern Chicago. A copy of this original map is preserved in the library of the United 225 226 CHICAGO'S TRUE FOUNDER States Senate at Washington, D. C; where it was discovered by the writer of this biography. The map is attached to, and is part of, a communication ad- dressed to Senator Elias Kent Kane, member of the upper house of Con- gress from Illinois, and his colleague, John R. McLean. This communication was written by Sidney Breese of Kaskaskia, secretary pro tern of the board of canal commissioners, and it dated from that place on December 29, 1829. The distinguished gentleman became a United States senator in 1843 and when he died in 1878 was a member of the Illinois Supreme court. Chicago's political history began when Sidney Breese sent that document to Washington. He catapaulted the new canal town into the whirlpool of Illinois politics, where it has remained ever since. He initiated the first political conflict in which the destinies of Chicago were interwoven; and started the political civil war between the "upstate" and the "downstate" groups, which has divided the state for the past one hundred years. Because the Breese memorial represents the first effort to secure federal aid to Chicago, and because of its momentous consequences, the* primeval map is reproduced and the text of the communication quoted in full: "Board of Commissioners of the Illinois and Michigan Canal. Secretary's Office. "Kaskaskia, Dec. 29, 1829. "To the Honbl. Elias Kent Kane & John McLean — "Senators. "Gentlemen: At a meeting of the Board of Canal Commissioners of the Illinois and Michigan Canal, Convened, by appointment, at this place on Wednesday the 16th inst., by an order of said Board entered in their minutes, the Secretary pro tern was directed to address our Senators and Representatives in Congress, on the subject of an early appropriation by Congress, of money for the improve- ment of the Harbor at Chicago. "In obedience to that order, I respectfully suggest to you the propriety of calling the early attention of Congress to that subject, with a view of obtaining an appropriation of money or other means immediately available, sufficient to construct such works at the entrance of the Chicago river as may prevent the accumulation of sand there, so that a convenient and sure inlet may at all time be had into Lake Michigan and the river. "The expense of such works is estimated by Doctor Howard (at the head of the Engineering Corps that have been operating on the line of the Canal) at about $50,000. As he is probably now at Washington City, you are respect- fully referred to him for more minute information on this subject, than is, at present, in the power of the Board to give. "Cols. Post and Paul, experienced engineers, who first examined this sub- ject, in their able report made in 1824 (See report, page 18) recommended a double mole or wharf, such as are constructed on the shores of all sea-port towns, having a space between them of, say 40 feet, for the passage of vessels TRUE ORIGIN OF CHICAGO 227 from and to the Lake. They estimate the expense at about $57,000. This object once effected, they say, the Chicago river for five or six miles in length, will afford one of the finest and most secure harbors in the world, for here vessels drawing from 15 to 20 feet of water may ride perfectly secure from the de- structive effects of storms and tempests. "I enclose for your examination, a plat of the Chicago river and Lake Michigan, being a Copy of the one made from actual survey, by the surveyors accompanying the Commissioners on the late expedition. You will see from it the nature of the obsrtuction to a safe entrance into the Chicago river. It is considered of first importance to the success of the Canal, that there should be a good harbor on the Lake, or rather at Chicago, and if the General Govern- ment will undertake to make one, it will not only ensure a speedy sale of our Canal lands, but will greatly promote the interests of Commerce. "I am requested by the Board to mention the fact, that during their short stay there, in the month of October last, three vessels arrived at that place, partly laden with salt from Onondago, and that large numbers of waggons and teams were there from the head-waters of the Wabash and the settlements on the Illinois river to convey away that article into the interior. 'It is pretty well ascertained that the donation of lands will not be sufficient to complete the work unless a higher price is obtained for them than can reasonably be expected. An appropriation of money by Govt, to make the harbor would enhance the value of these lands, and would inspire a confidence that the work would be accomplished. "Our citizens generally take a lively interest in this matter, and great hopes are entertained, that you may be successful in your application to Congress, and they feel assured that you will use your best exertions to that end. By order of the Board. "Sidney Breese. "Secretary pro tern." The above communication must have acted like a galvanic shock to Senator Kane. Examined in the light of contemporary events the whole setup of the proposition appears to have been a political challenge to the senior senator from Illinois. 1. It requested an appropriation of $50,000, "immediately available," to improve a harbor in the wilderness which did not exist; at a townsite which had not yet been officially platted nor placed on record, containing, by official count as per a map submitted, only four dwelling houses; where no man lived of any political consequence whatsoever. 2. This large appropriation was asked by the same group of individuals who had laid out the town of Chicago mostly upon a prairie swamp; leaving five eighths of Section 9, containing the choicest land, outside of the town limits to be sold for little more than Indian lands ten miles from Chicago. 3. The canal commissioners requested the appropriation through Sidney Breese, a dynamic leader of the senator's political foes, and the arch-enemy of President Andrew Jackson, whose approbation of the measure was essential to its success. "Sidney Breese, the reviler of Jackson, and who General Jackson dis- missed from office, has turned editor of the Democrat," was the characterization 228 CHICAGO'S TRUE FOUNDER given to the "secretary pro tern of the canal commissioners," by the Vandalia Intelligencer on June 5, 1830. 4. The Breese memorial came to Senator Kane at the inception of a campaign for his reelection to the Senate. Success in obtaining the appropriation would redound to the benefit of his political adversaries; while failure to get the measure through Congress would be used to destroy the senator's prestige. Since the canal enterprise was controlled by Senator Kane's political adversaries, the preposterous demand for a $50,000 harbor before the commissioners had realized a single dollar of finances to initiate the project, might conceal a sinister purpose. Illinois politics, one hundred years ago, was a warfare in which no mercy was asked and no quarter given. A significant event now happened. The "mandate" of the Illinois citizens was obeyed. A bill was passed by Congress making an appropriation for the Chicago harbor, in 1831. President Jackson, the warm friend of Kane, vetoed it. It was passed again in 1832. Once more President Jackson vetoed it. Finally, after Illinois had repudiated the Illinois and Michigan Canal project, an ap- propriation of $25,000 was secured from Congress in 1833. Chicago was in politics. Sixteen years prior to the date of the memorial, Elias Kent Kane had arrived in Illinois and established himself in the law business. He found citizens as well as politicians enchanted with the Illinois and Michigan canal enterprise. No other measure of statescraft had the national importance, federal approba- tion, and universal support which the waterway secured. No other question of internal improvement promised richer benefits to the commonwealth. The canal was to be the backbone of prosperity in Illinois; an artery of national commerce; the foundation of trade supremacy. At the head of the waterway a gateway city was planned through which would pass the commercial wealth of a rich nation. This city was to be Chicago, — although the name of this port of entry was not selected until the townsite was laid out, platted and recorded. It must ever be kept in mind that the canal commissioners not only laid out the physical town of Chicago, but they also gave it a name, which they had authority to do. They might have called it Jackson City, in honor of President Jackson; or they might have named it Bond City, in honor of Governor Bond. They chose the name Chicago, for that word had the highest publicity value in selling canal lots — the main business of the commissioners. As a young law graduate, Kane had read the inaugural message of President Madison in 1814, which adverted to the Lakes to Gulf waterway and disclosed its importance to the development of the country. The Niles Register, under date of August 2, 1814, had the following tribute in its news columns: "By the Illinois river it is probable that Buffalo, in New York may be united with New Orleans by inland navigation, through Lakes Erie, Huron and Michigan, and down that river to the Mississippi. What a route! How stupen- dous the idea! How dwindles the artificial canals of Europe compared to this water communication! If it should ever take place, — and it is said the opening may easily be made, — the Territory (of Illinois) will become the seat of an immense commerce, a market for the commodities of all regions." There had been a succession of political events in Illinois from the time TRUE ORIGIN OF CHICAGO 229 Kane cast his fortunes in this state in 1814 to the day he received the Breese memorial in early January of 1830, which foreshadowed the importance of Chicago. Foremost among these was the part this city played in the organiza- tion of the State. As a territory, Illinois extended from Randolph county to the Canadian border. The hearts and minds of pioneer citizens were aglow with enthusiasm when the prospect of statehood promised to give them control of their own commonwealth with all its powers and privileges. But their dream of an inland empire containing the Lakes to Gulf waterway was turned into a nightmare because the north end of the canal would be several leagues beyond the limit of the new State of Illinois. This resulted from a mandate of the Ordinance of 1787 which fixed the northern boundary on an east and west line touching the southern tip of Lake Michigan, passing through the present town of Gary, Indiana. Illinois would furnish some ninety per cent of the right of way from Lake Michigan to the Mississippi, but it would have a subordinated control because the gateway city at the northern terminus would dominate the marine highway. Statesmen pondered over this situation with grave concern and not much hope. Finally a brilliant artifice was proposed: "Let us move the northern boundary of the new state sixty miles beyond the line fixed in the Ordinance of 1787; and ask Congress to amend the Ordi- nance when we petition for statehood. By this plan we will get control of the Lake Michigan terminus of the canal; and Chicago Portage will be within the new State of Illinois." This proposal was carried into effect. Congress amended a section of the great Northwest Ordinance, and Chicagoland became the property of Illinois. Immediately thereafter began that relentless conflict between the scheme of civilization set up by John Kinzie for the Indians of Illinois, and the Anglo- Saxon civilization which proposed to make Illinois a white man's country. These two diametrically opposed modes of life in Illinois culminated eventually in that senseless catastrophe known as the Black Hawk War of 1832. John Kinzie's plan, as proposed to President James Monroe in 1817, and recorded in another chapter, had for its essential features: 1. A dedication in perpetuity of the lands in northern Illinois as Indian hunting grounds. 2. Complete exclusion of white men from this territory, except to those who held an official permit of entry issued by the United States Government. 3. Use of the Chicago Portage for transportation of furs and other articles of Indian trade; without, however, limiting traffic through the portage to the commerce of redmen. 4. A monopoly of the Indian trade to persons designated by the United States Government as traders. 5. Military control of the Indian country by armed forces with a garrison at Fort Dearborn. Illinois public men lost no time in getting started on their plan for state development through Caucasian settlement. Its essential features were: 1. Remove all Indian tribes from Illinois. 230 CHICAGO'S TRUE FOUNDER 2. Let the United States Government buy the lands of the redmen and sell them to white settlers at a low price fixed by Congress. 3. Build the Illinois and Michigan Canal. 4. Lay the foundation of a commercial metropolis at the mouth of the Chicago river where the waterway will have its northern terminus. It was inevitable that the Caucasian civilization should triumph over the Kinzie plan of an Indian Utopia. After eleven years of vigilance to prevent white men from settling in the Indian country in northern Illinois, John Kinzie died in 1828 realizing that his scheme was an utter failure. Northern Illinois did not become an Indian traders' paradise, as he desired. He passed away in poverty, leaving an estate composed mostly of his last year's income from a sadly diminished trade in Indian commerce, which was collected from the American Fur Company. Five years after the death of this celebrated friend of the redmen, " Shaw-nee- aw-kee," the Silverman, the last tribal acre of land in Illinois had been relinquished to the United States Government by the United Tribes of Potawatomi, Chippewa, and Ottawa Indians. The big year for the waterway came in 1827 when it was made what seemed a practical certainty. Congress granted to Illinois, on March 2, "a quantity of land equal to one half of five sections in width, on each side of the proposed route, each alternate section being reserved to the United States." The total grant was 284,000 acres, of which 113,000 acres was fertile prairie land. In the year 1828, the General Assembly provided for the appointment of a board of canal commissioners; giving them power to sell canal lands and to establish towns along the canal route. The commissioners appointed were Dr. Gershom Jayne of Springfield, Edmund Roberts of Kaskaskia, and Charles Dunn, who resided in various towns at one time and another. He lived in Chicago in 1831. These were the commissioners who laid out the Town of Chicago in 1829; filed the plat of the townsite on August 4, 1830; and made the request for a $50,000 harbor at Chicago as an overture to the performance of their official duties. It is apparent that the entire body of public men who took a constructive part in this enterprise worked together in mass action for the undivided pur- pose of securing a water transportation highway through the state. But with the coming of the Breese memorial to Senator Kane at New Year's time in 1830, this bond of Illinois unity was cleft in twain. This disruption can be traced by the facts bearing on the subject. In January, 1830, Senator Kane had been in the upper house of Congress for five years and his term of office was to expire March 4, 1831. He was the first political "boss" to gain supremacy in this state. His organization supported national issues growing out of the administration of President Jackson. His control over his group was absolute; his severe discipline was unchallenged by his followers; and his will was sovereign. As a man he was loved devotedly by his adherents; while the hostility of his adversaries never touched his personal character. Opposed to him and his organization was a group of public men, who were rather loosely associated under the magnetic leadership of Governor TRUE ORIGIN OF CHICAGO 231 Ninian Edwards, 1826-1830, whose political career was drawing to a close. It was a heterogenous aggregation of talented and powerful men, who lacked only that united strength which comes from an undisputed and vigorous leader. Governor Edwards had appointed the members of the board of canal com- missioners, of which board Sidney Breese had in some manner gotten himself appointed "secretary pro tern." These two armies, with their followers rather loosely enlisted, faced each other in battle array in January, 1830. In the ensuing campaign of the summer, Senator Kane fought for his political life in the bitterest conflict of his career. Annihilation of his political supremacy was the definite objective of his antagonists, who had apparently organized a successful coalition against him. With the death of his colleague, Senator McLean in October, two months before the legislative vote would be taken, the strength of the coalition reached its peak; for McLean had fathered Kane's advent into national politics and he had a powerful following. "I hope and believe we shall succeed in securing your election, — " wrote Lieut. Gov. William Kinney, "but it will have to be done in spite of such a host of intreagours and corruption as never inflicted Vandalia or any other place." 10 Instead of meeting defeat, however, Senator Kane was triumphantly reelected when the General Assembly met in December, receiving forty-two out of fifty- two ballots cast by the legislators of both houses. This gave him six years more of political supremacy. He died before his term was ended, at the zenith of his power. It is significant that within a few weeks after Kane's reelection the General Assembly ousted two of the three commissioners who had sent the Breese com- munication, and appointed others to take their places. That, however, is a mere incident in the epic story of the deflation of the canal enterprise and its eventual repudiation by the downstate citizens of southern Illinois. Looking backward through the previous twelve months it is apparent that the backbone of Illinois unity was broken over the canal proposition in the following manner. When Senator Kane received the proposal on behalf of the canal commis- sioners, backed by a solid body of citizenry; the commercial development in the wake of the waterway, as well as the political prospects of a great city at the Lake Michigan terminus, became subjects of intensive study to him as the senior senator from Illinois. He was obligated to take a definite stand in favor of, or opposed to, the Illinois and Michigan canal. The conduct of his group justify the statement that he decided to oppose the canal. He did not believe it was the best means of meeting the rapidly growing demands of transportation following the tide of emigration westward. The senator had been an eastern man before he came to Illinois. He was in close touch with commercial development in the Atlantic coast states. He learned, and he saw, the new type of transportation known as rail roads, which had been imported from England. This system of traffic movement had in- herent powers of adaptation to transportation needs. It could adjust itself any- where and at any time to a call for service. It could do something that canals could not do, follow the course of emigration, no matter in what direction the tide of settlers might turn. The ancient belief that "transportation follows waterways" was responsible for much of the support behind the Illinois and 232 CHICAGO'S TRUE FOUNDER Michigan Canal. To challenge that fixed tradition was a dangerous experiment in the Mississippi Valley a century ago. It may be recorded here that Senator Kane was the first American statesman to risk his public career in a wager for the success of railroads as against canals. Throughout Illinois during the year 1830 there was developed a considerable body of public opinion favoring rail- roads in preference to a canal to meet the coming demands of transportation. Propaganda on behalf of the "iron horse" reached such a degree of effectiveness by February, 1831, that the General Assembly instructed the newly appointed canal commissioners to investigate the merits of railroads and report whether a canal or a railroad was the better system of transportation for Illinois. From that time until the senator's death, four years later, the Illinois and Michigan canal was brought to a standstill. In fact, it was abandoned altogether in 1833 by the legislature; and passed away as a statewide enterprise. Southern Illinois definitely adopted railroads for transportation development. The political consequences of a canal and a harbor at Chicago with a thriving city of new settlers in the northern part of the state, caused Senator Kane, no doubt, to peer into the immediate future and extend his organization into this land of promise. Galena was then the most important political center in northern Illinois, and its leading public men were attached to the leadership of Governor Edwards and the state organization which he represented. Senator Kane sent to Chicago, under federal appointment as Indian agent, Thomas Jefferson Vance Owen, one of his vigorous and popular lieutenants, whose home was at Kaskaskia. The statement cannot well be challenged that the new Indian agent was sent to build a political stronghold for the Kane organiza- tion in Chicago. Owen had sacrificed his means of livelihood to ensure the reelection of Senator Kane, 10 and the handsome reward he received immediately thereafter bears evidence that his contribution to this victory must have been considerable. Indian Agent Owen was Chicago's first railroad promoter. He handled the Chicago end of the statewide movement which resulted, a few years later, in the first epoch of railroad building in Illinois. One of these steel highways was the Galena and Chicago road, now a part of the Chicago and Northwestern railway, the first railroad chartered in Chicago, which received its charter in 1836, a few months after his death. Another was the Illinois Central road, chartered a few days later. Mr. Owen's activity in railroad promotion is attested by the Vandalia Advocate, which printed the article reproduced herewith in its issue of Sep- tember 28, 1833. The reader is reminded that the General Assembly in March of that year voted down both a railroad and a canal and repealed the acts of 1829 and 1831 under which the waterway had been initiated. The article reads: "PUBLIC MEETING. "Illinois and Michigan Railroad. "At a numerous and respectable meeting of Citizens of Cook county, held at Chicago, Aug. 7, 1833, Col. T. J. V. Owen was called to the chair, and Dr. E. S. Kimberly appointed Secretary, when, "On Motion of Col. Hamilton, it was: TRUE ORIGIN OF CHICAGO 233 "Resolved, That a committee of five persons be appointed to draft a preamble and resolutions, addressed to His Excellency the Governor of the State of Illinois, having for their object a convention of the Legislature, for the purpose of considering the propriety of the immediate commencement of the Rail Road between the navigable waters of the Illinois river and Lake Michigan. "Col. R. I. Hamilton, Dr. T, J. Temple, Major Henry S. Handy, Col. T. J. V. Owen, and Dr. E. S. Kimberly, were appointed: when the meeting adjourned to meet again on the 30th day of August. "At an adjourned meeting of the Citizens of Chicago, the 31st day of August, Col. R. I. Hamilton presented, from the committee appointed for that purpose, the following preamble and resolutions: "The committee appointed to draft a preamble and resolutions, having for their object a call upon the Governor of the State, to convene the Legislature the ensuing winter, for the purpose of adopting some measures for the speedy commencement of the Rail Road from Lake Michigan to the navigable waters of the Illinois river, report the following: "Whereas it is a generally conceded fact, that the Rail Road from Lake Michigan to the Illinois river, is a work of great and vital importance to every portion of the State but more especially of immediate and direct interest to the Northern and Middle part of it, your committee deem it entirely unnecessary to enter into any argument to enforce these truths, as it is a subject which has been before the people of the State for the last eight or ten years, in all the various shapes that it could possibly be made to assume, — And inasmuch as its nationality and importance has been acknowledged by the General Govern- ment, in making to the State one of the most valuable grants of land for its construction that has ever been made for any similar work of that character, and has furthermore made a liberal appropriation for the commencement of a harbor at Chicago, which is but a link in the same chain of communication; "Therefore, in justice to our sister States that have made us these donations, and acted so liberally toward us, and in good faith toward the General Govern- ment, it is a duty, the faithful discharge of which is imperiously enjoined upon us, to commence the immediate construction of the work, and bring it to a close at as early a period as possible; or say to our sister States, your liberality has been improvidently bestowed, we have not the enterprise to apply the means you have placed in our hands, nor the liberality to suffer others to do the same. "And as a delay of a year might result in serious injury in impairing public confidence in our intentions in relation to this all important subject: And in- asmuch as it is confidently believed the benefits resulting to the States from a speedy commencement of the work, in additional and increased emigration, investments of large amounts of capital in agricultural, manufacturing, and commercial interests of the State, together with the additional weight of char- acter and the independence it will give, which is already considered in fertility of soil, salubrity of climate, and commercial advantages superior to any of the western States, would far outweigh any expense that would attend a session of the Legislature of sufficient length to effect the object proposed. "And although it might seem to reflect upon the political consistency of the Legislature to ask them in so short a time, to adopt a measure they have 234 CHICAGO'S TRUE FOUNDER so recently rejected, yet when we reflect upon the great change which has taken place in that portion of the country contiguous to the work, and the unparalled influx of emigration which it is every day acquiring, and in the astonishing improvement which has been made since the opening of the season, and which could not have been anticipated by the most sagacious politicians, and the great disadvantage that portion of the country alluded to labour under from with- holding the canal lands from the market, and the rapid progress that is now making in the construction of the harbor at Chicago under the direction of one of the most experienced and faithful and indefatigable public offices in the service of the government; and which work so intimately connected with the Rail Road, has been commenced since the last session of the Legislature, and which when completed (in connection with the Rail Road) will render entire the great chain of communication from the City of New York to the City of New Orleans, by way of the Lakes, presenting a work for magnitude and commercial facilities exceeded by none in the world, and in addition to these considerations, and when we admit that there were in all probability exceptional features and imperfections attached to the bill presented to the last Legislature, and that public mind, for the reasons stated, is now more favorably disposed to the work, your committee are induced to believe that the most fastidious on the subject, cannot think this call untimely, nor in the smallest degree calculated to reflect upon the consistency of the Legislature: Therefore: "Resolved, That the Governor of this State be respectfully requested to convene the Legislature the ensuing winter, and to recommend to it the adoption of such measures as will have for their object the immediate commencement of the construction of a Rail Road from Lake Michigan to the navigable waters of the Illinois river. "Resolved, That our sister Counties who are interested in this work, or who feel friendly disposed to it, be respectfully requested to cooperate with us in this call upon His Excellency the Governor of the State of Illinois. "Resolved, That a copy of the proceedings of this meeting, with the pre- amble and resolutions as above, be transmitted to the Governor of the State, and each editor of a public print in the State, as well as each county clerk in the adjoining counties. "Thomas J. V. Owen, "E. S. Kimberly, Secretary." Chairman. The above newspaper article reveals how completely public favor had been won over to railroads throughout the state, since Chicago citizens were ad- vocating their construction as transportation highways. Had Governor Reynolds heeded this call and responded to its proposal he would have advanced railway building in Chicago by fifteen years. Vigorous propaganda in favor of railroads throughout the state resulted in the withdrawal of many influential public men from the support of the Illinois and Michigan Canal. Sidney Breese, who was so ardent an advocate for a canal in 1830, had become an equally zealous promoter of railroads five years later. His position is fully revealed in a letter written by him on October 16, 1835, and reproduced in the History of Chicago, by Andreas. This communication TRUE ORIGIN OF CHICAGO 235 stands today as a historic document testifying to the split that had taken place in Illinois between the North and South, when the canal project was revived in that year. Those portions which indicate the disruption of two decades of unity and cooperation are quoted below: "Having some leisure from the labors of my circuit, I am induced to devote a portion of it in giving to the public a plan ... (of railroads) . . by which the North may get their long-wished-for canal, and the southern and interior counties a channel of communication quite as essential to their prosperity. In doing so, I have not stopped to inquire if my motives may not be assailed, and myself subjected to unkind remarks, believing, as I do, that the subject is of so much importance as to throw all personal considerations into the shade "This would be doing equal and impartial justice to three of the most prominent portions of our State, and would create a unity of effort and concert of action that would overcome every obstacle "No sectional objections can operate successfully against the project To avoid jealousies and heart-burnings, let the expenditures on both works (the canal and the rail- roads) commence at the same time and be prosecuted with equal energy "Let then the South, the interior and the North unite, — let the project be submitted at the coming session, let the loan be authorized, and let us all enter upon it with that determined spirit which should characterize all great undertakings Here is shown the picture of the divorce that had taken place between Chicago and "Egypt". When the Illinois and Michigan Canal was revived in 1836 it was no longer a statewide enterprise. It had become a sectional project, a commercial scheme to benefit the "North". It was now parochial; a local undertaking, a Chicago venture; and such it remained unto the end of its days. Senator Kane and Indian Agent Owen, without a doubt, realized the calam- ity that was about to happen, — the estrangement of Chicago from that powerful political group of southern Illinois who controlled the General Assembly and would continue to dominate it for many years to come. Railroads would bind Chicago to the rest of the state if this vigorous young giant would give its power to promote that form of transportation. Unified endeavor would result in political friendship; and mutual benefits would cement permanent good will. But downstate pressure in favor of railroad building could not overcome the mass momentum drift toward a waterway. Chicago was a canal town; born of the canal; and canal-minded during the first twenty years of its life. It was the magnetism of the great waterway that had attracted, or had been responsible, for the coming of many of its inhabitants. These newly arrived settlers were aliens to Illinois. And so it came to pass when Senator Kane and Indian Agent Owen died within sixty days of each other in the latters months of 1835 the last strong bond of cooperative endeavor was broken between Chicago and southern Illinois. And although they left no successors, nevertheless, their homeland of "Egypt" and downstate remains the political master of the waterway metropolis which it had created in 1829 as the first concrete endeavor to build the Illinois and Michigan Canal. That is the true story of the origin of Chicago. APPENDIX INDIAN TREATY JOURNAL PRELIMINARY DIGEST FIRST DAY OF THE TREATY— SEPTEMBER 10, 1833 Commissioners Owen and Weatherford, present. Governor Porter, ab- sent. Commissioners appoint Richard J. Hamilton of Chicago Commissary for supplying and issuing provisions to the Indians, and William French, assistant commissary. SECOND DAY OF THE TREATY— SEPTEMBER 11 Commissioners Owen and Weatherford, present. Governor Porter absent. Commissioners appoint William Lee D. Ewing of Vandalia, secretary of the board of commissioners. THIRD DAY OF THE TREATY— SEPTEMBER 12 ! Commissioners Porter, Owen and Weatherford, present. Indians did not appear in sufficient numbers. FOURTH DAY OF THE TREATY— SEPTEMBER 13 Commissioners Porter, Owen and Weatherford, present. No business. FIFTH DAY OF THE TREATY— SEPTEMBER 14 Commissioners Porter, Owen and Weatherford, present. Governor Porter tells the Indians that their Great Father, the President of the United States, has sent the three commissioners to treat with them over the sale of their lands. He does not specify what lands he wishes them to sell. Some days later the Indians challenged him on this point and declared they did not know what lands their Great Father wished them to sell. Governor Porter became incensed at this, and informed the Indians that he had stated clearly what lands the United States wished to purchase — but he was in error. The text of the Treaty proves that the Indians were right on the point they raised. Governor Porter and Commissioner Owen both warned the redmen to beware of wicked men who would give them evil advice; and especially pleaded with them to abstain from whiskey. Way-mick-say-go, a Chippewa chief, made the first big move on the part of the Indians. He demanded to know if the lands which the Menominee had wrongfully sold to the government, and which were the property of the 237 238 CHICAGO'S TRUE FOUNDER Chippewas, were going to be restored to them. This deal had aroused bitter feeling on the part of the Chippewas. Governor Porter replied that the Chippewas would receive full value for any lands wrongfully taken away from them. Way-mick-say-go thereupon chal- lenged the authority of the commissioners and demanded evidence of it. He was told that the Indians would be furnished with copies of the commis- sioners' authority. On the whole the redmen had the advantage of the negotiations on their opening day of the treaty — the first day on which any business of importance to the Indians was considered in joint assembly. SIXTH DAY OF THE TREATY— SEPTEMBER 16 Commissioners all present. Indian diplomacy now makes its appearance with the announcement by Way-mick-say-go that the man who would plead their cause was to be Ap-te- ke-zhick. Whenever the redmen were forced into a difficult position they named a new spokesman to plead their case. Ap-te-ke-zhick informed the commissioners that the United Tribes did not wish to sell their lands; that they did not intend to treat with the commissioners. The reason he gave was that they feared "some great evil" would befall them. This "great evil," it should be understood, was the Sioux tribe — which the Potawatomi greatly feared. The proximity to this tribe in the new country was a subject of dread to them. Better to stay with bad white men than mix with the savage Sioux. Indian strategy had the desired effect of disconcerting the commissioners, who seemed to believe that the redmen actually did not intend to sell their lands. Governor Porter, thereupon, assured the assembly that the government would protect them in the new country, erect mills, open farms, and give them a year's support. Ap-te-ke-zhick now stated an important historical fact. He said that if the Indians liked a new country better than the one they occupied, they would leave the land of their fathers and go to the new country. This dis- proves the blather of some Chicago historians that the hearts of the United Tribes were wrenched with grief because they had to leave the lands of their forefathers in Illinois. The red spokesman, declared that if his people had visited the new lands the government wished to exchange, they would con- sider selling their present holdings. But under no circumstances would they sell until they had visited the new country. Decidedly the Indians had the better of the negotiations on the sixth day of the treaty, when their second major offensive was carried to success. SEVENTH DAY OF THE TREATY— SEPTEMBER 18 Three commissioners present. Governor Porter announced that because some of the bands were not at the Council, negotiations would be postponed. He said the signal gun from Fort Dearborn would announce to the Indians when the next Council would be held. INDIAN TREATY JOURNAL 239 EIGHTH DAY OF THE TREATY— SEPTEMBER 19 Commissioners and many chiefs and headmen present. More Indian strategy. Way-mich-sa-go informed the commissioners that new spokesmen had been appointed. These were Billy Caldwell and Alex- ander Robinson. "They are our chief counselors," said the shrewd Way-mich- sa-go, "Whatever they say and do we agree to." One after another the chiefs of different tribes subscribed to the appointment of Caldwell and Robinson. This meant further delay, but the commissioners were helpless. NINTH DAY OF THE TREATY— SEPTEMBER 21 Commissioners and chiefs and headmen all present. The commissioners expected that Caldwell and Robinson would have a report to make on behalf of the United Tribes. They were greatly disappointed, at least Governor Porter was, to learn that the redmen had separated into three or more groups with different spokesmen for each group. Chief Pokegon of the St. Joseph "Wood" Indians announced that his tribe did not know what lands the commissioners wished to buy. This was literally true, for Governor Porter had not specifically named the lands the government desired to purchase. Other tribal leaders expressed the same thought: "We do not know what land our Great Father wants to buy," said Shaw-we-na-pe-nay. Governor Porter misunderstood the Indian strategy of barter and trade. He imagined the redmen were trifling with the government, and delivered an in- dignant address which had the nature of a threat. But he did tell the Indians exactly what they wanted to know, — namely the specific lands the government wished to buy. He stated that their Great Father wished to buy all their land of every description and wherever located. He should have done this in his first address to the tribal chieftains. He informed the savages that provisions were just about exhausted. That was enough for the Indians. They knew the negotiations must close. During the succeeding five days, therefore, the red leaders got down to business and ironed out all their problems. These were strenuous days for Col. Owen, who is credited with the major part in bringing the negotiations to a successful consummation. Apparently the Indians secured every advantage they had worked to obtain. TENTH DAY OF THE TREATY— SEPTEMBER 26 Commissioners and chiefs and headsmen all present. Governor Porter presented the Treaty which had been prepared and which was familiar, it would seem, to all the red leaders. But he went over the terms of the Treaty in detail. Afterwards the Indian chiefs and headmen signed it — all except the "Wood" Indians of the St. Joseph country. There were seventy-seven signatures attached to the Treaty of September 26. 240 CHICAGO'S TRUE FOUNDER ELEVENTH DAY OF THE TREATY— SEPTEMBER 27 Three commissioners present. It transpired during this day's negotiations that the "Wood" Indians had been threatened with violence if they assented to the Treaty made on the previous day. Governor Porter announced that the government would take severe measures against those who had threatened the Indians. John Baptiste Chandonai, a "Wood" Indian acknowledged that he was the man alluded to as having threatened his red brothers. Governor Porter gave him a blunt lecture as to what he might expect if he carried out his threats. A Treaty was then signed on the part of the St. Joseph Indians, which was supplementary to the Treaty made the day previous; and to all intents and purposes the same and part of it. From September 27 to October 7, the commissioners were engaged in examining claims against the Indians and performing other business, as will be seen by reading the Treaty Journal. The original text of the Chicago Indian Treaty of 1833 will now be re- produced in full. FIRST DAY— SEPTEMBER 10 "JOURNAL of the proceedings of a Treaty between the United States and the United Tribes of the Pottawottamies, Chippeways & Ottowas. "Chicago, Cook Cty, Illinois September 10th, 1833. "At a Treaty begun and held at Chicago in the County and State afore- said, on the 10th day of September in the Year of Our Lord one thousand eight hundred and thirty-three by and between his Excellency George B. Porter, Governor of the Territory of Michigan, Col. Thomas J. V. Owen, United States Agent for the United Tribes of Pottawattamies, Chippewas & Ottowas, and Col. William Weatherford of the County of Morgan and State of Illinois aforesaid, Commissioners on the part of the United States and the Chiefs and Head-men of the said United Tribes of Pottawatamies, Chippewas & Ottawas: "Present — Commissioners Thomas J. V. Owen and Mr. Weatherford. Gov- ernor George B. Porter, being absent, the Commissioners present appointed Richard J. Hamilton, Esq. of Chicago, Commissary for supplying and issuing provisions to the Indians and William French, assistant Commissary. "When the Board of Commissioners adjourned until tomorrow morning 10 o'clock." SECOND DAY "Wednesday, September the 11th, 1833. Board met pursuant to adjournment. Present — Commissioners Tho. J. V. Owen and Wm. Weatherford. George B. Porter absent. INDIAN TREATY JOURNAL 241 Whereupon the Commissioners present appointed William Lee D. Ewing of Vandalia, Illinois, Secretary to the Board of Commissioners; whose warrant of appointment is as follows: Chicago, Cook Cty, Illinois, September 11th, 1833. Col. Wm. Lee D. Ewing, Sir, You are hereby appointed Secretary to the Commission consisting of his Excellency George B. Porter of the Territory of Michigan and the under- signed to treat with the Ottoway, Pottawottamie & Chippeway Indians. Yr. Obt. Servts. Tho. J. V. Owen ) William Weatherford ] Loms< "There being no further business, the Board of Commissioners adjourned until tomorrow morning 10 o'clock." (The original Journal now continues in the handwriting of Sec. Ewing, and Governor Porter attends the treaty councils for the first time.) THIRD DAY "Thursday, September 12th, 1833. Board of Commissioners met pursuant to adjournment. "Present — His Excellency Geo. B. Porter, Tho. J. V. Owen and Wm. Weatherford. "The Indians not having assembled in sufficient numbers to proceed with the Treaty — "It was determined by the Board that the hour of 10 o'clock A. M. on Saturday next be fixed as the time when the Treaty shall commence. "Whereupon the Board adjourned until tomorrow 3 o'clock P. M." FOURTH DAY "Friday, September 13th, 1833. "Board of Commissioners met pursuant to adjournment. "Present Geo. B. Porter, Tho. J. V. Owen and Wm. Weatherford. "There being no business the Board adjourned until tomorrow 10 o'clock." FIFTH DAY OF THE TREATY "Council House, Chicago, Illinois. Saturday, September 14, 1833. "Board of Commissioners met pursuant to adjournment — Present — His Excellency Geo. B. Porter, Col. Thomas J. V. Owen & Col. Wm. Weatherford. "The Chiefs and Head men and the Indians generally of the United Tribes of Potawatamies, Ottowas and Chippeways being also present. "A fire being kindled in the Council House, and the pipe of peace being 242 CHICAGO'S TRUE FOUNDER lit, it was first smoked by the Commissioners and then by the Chiefs and Head men — "After which His Excellency Geo. B. Porter addressed the Indians sub- stantially as follows: " 'My children — I arise to say to you, open your ears and listen to what I have to communicate to you — open your hearts and receive it. ' 'We bless the Great Spirit my children, for a clear sky and a bright sun. We think the Great Spirit has been kind to his red and white children, that he has allowed them to assemble here. The day is auspicious of good results. We are happy to observe, my children, that you have not listened to the bad- birds which have been flying around you, but have come up to the Council of your own free will. ' 'We approach you all, my children, as friends. We take you fast by the hand, and offer you our best advice. ' 'Your good father, Gov. Cass, whom you all know has been taken to Washington by your Great Father, the President of the United States to aid in the great Council, and to assist him in all things concerning your interests and happiness. ' 'Your Great Father, the President of the United States, has a perfect knowledge of the condition and interests of his red children and has been a great deal amongst them. He loves them, and does all he can for their hap- piness and good. In that part of the Country where your Great Father lived all the red children loved him as children do their father, and knew him to be a good man. "Your Great Father shewed the solicitude he felt for your welfare when he took your late good Father Gov. Cass into his Council to advise and consult with, concerning the happiness and interests of all his red children in the United States. " 'You all know your good Father Gov. Cass and he knew your wants and what would be for your good. Your Great Father having Gov. Cass in his Council to advise with will do every thing for the good of his red children, and never advise them against their best interests. "Your Great Father has heard your complaints and has afforded them an attentive ear. He has heard that you are surrounded on all sides. That the white man is making daily encroachments on your Territory. Your Great Father ever attentive to the complaints and wants of his red children has sent Commissioners to enquire into the truth of these complaints — to apply a remedy to the evil and act for your good. " 'Hearing that his red children were anxious to free themselves from the evils which surrounded them, your Great Father has sent these gentlemen, (Col. Owen and Col. Weatherford) and myself to learn from yourselves whether you desire to sell your lands or not. He wishes, through us, to con- sult you in order that he may act in accordance with your wishes and interests. Your Great Father believed that the most certain way of arriving at your views on this subject, was to commission us to advise with you face to face. We are here for that purpose. " 'He has sent us a description of your country and authorized us by his INDIAN TREATY JOURNAL 243 commission to treat with you. We have in your presence and by your sanc- tion lit up the council fire. We have lit the pipe of peace. We have smoked together. We are all all friends. Our hearts are one and united. We love one another. No evil feelings exist amongst us. If any bad birds have been flying around us, we have closed our ears to their wicked advice. 1 'We have assembled in Council under auspicious influences. Above us beams a bright sun and a clear sky. The council which our lips will utter is the advice of our hearts. We speak to you as counsellors, admonishing you, for your happiness. ' 'We submit what we have said to your consideration and hope that it may receive the decision of your deliberate judgment. Reject all evil council and decide for yourselves. We have not come here of our authority but have been sent hither by your Great Father the President of the United States to speak his words to you. ' 'We have already told you, that your Great Father loves you and knows more about everything that concerns his red children than any war chief in the great nation of the white people. 1 'You have all heard of your Great Father General Jackson. He was a great war chief during the late war with the British. When his red children would not open their ears to his good advice and hearken to his council, he made war against them and chastised them. The white people grateful for his great services and the good he has done them, have made him the first chief of their country. ' 'Your Great Father is an old man, but before he dies and is buried with his fathers, he wants to see all his red children made happy and removed far be- yond the evils which now surround them. He rejoiced when he heard that you wanted to sell your lands. He has great experience and wisdom in all things that concerns the interests of his red children & believes that he knows what is for their good. He has therefore appointed us to meet you in council and treat with you. ' 'Your Great Father believes that if all his red children were removed beyond the Mississippi river, 'the Father of Waters' — beyond the vicious influence of intercourse with the white man, that there would be fewer disasters among them and that they would be happier. ' 'You once lived in peace and happiness in this country; in this you have been interrupted by the approach of the white man. You complain that the white man has pressed too closely upon you — that he has environed you on all sides and deprived you of the pleasures of the chase. Your Great Father therefore believes, that if you will all consent to go across the Mississippi then you will live much better — and that he will be a shield to you against any farther molestation from the white man and protect your lands from his en- croachments. ' 'Your Great Father has not directed us to tell his red children, that they shall sell their lands, but leaves them to decide according to their own deliber- ations. Consult then with one another and with your chiefs and head men and invoke the great spirit to enlighten you with his council that you may de- cide rightly. Your young men must take council from the experience & wis- 244 CHICAGO'S TRUE FOUNDER dom of the chiefs and headmen. Let the old men and chiefs recount to their children and young men the peace and happiness they enjoyed in times past in this country and how difficult is their condition now. " 'Return then my children, to your encampments — smoke with one an- other, let the words which I have spoken sink deep into your hearts — ask the Great Spirit for his council and determine whether you will listen to the ad- vice of your Great Father as uttered by us and sell your lands in this country and remove to another. " 'If you determine to sell your lands the Commissioners now before you are authorized by instructions from your Great Father to give you the full' value of them. Moreover, you shall have as much and as good a country beyond the Mississippi as that which you now possess. You have my children, heard all that I have to say at this time. ' 'Tomorrow is the day that the white man worships the Great Spirit — on that day therefore nothing will be done in council. We shall not expect you to give us an answer before the next day. Your Great Father the Presi- dent of the United States has appointed the chief on my left (Maj. Bender) the war chief of this country. When he fires the great gun at the fort, let my children assemble at the council house immediately.' "(The Governor then gave some instructions about the quantity of pro- visions & tobacco and pipes to be issued.) ' 'Your Great Father, my children has long since appointed your good father Col. Owen to attend to whatever concerns your happiness & interests. It has been told to me that he is a good father to you, and gives his devoted attention to all your wants. " 'It is usual in Council with our red children to appoint one person to speak the word of the Commissioners to them, but your Father is here who will also speak to you, and I wish you to hear what he has to say to you. " 'Give us an attentive ear to what we have to say to you and return us an answer on Monday morning! "Col. Owen Commissioner and Agent, then addressed the Indians in sub- stance as follows: " 'My children, The words which have been spoken to you by your Father the Governor of Michigan Territory, and to which I am proud to see that you have listened with the most profound attention, contain the joint views and sentiments of the three Commissioners. " 'My children — The character of your Great Father, the President of the United States, and his feelings and views relative to his red children have been amply and correctly pourtrayed by your Father, who sits on my right — (The Governor of Michigan.) " 'My children — It is to improve your happiness and to better your condi- tion that your Great Father has commissioned us with his authority and sent us hither to treat with you for the purchase of your land. And as your immediate Father, deeply interested in your prosperity and welfare, I cannot forbear to advise and entreat you, as you love and reverance your Great Father, the President of the United States, and as you respect the Commissioners present, to open your ears and keep them open that you may hear good council — and INDIAN TREATY JOURNAL 245 in your meetings amongst yourselves, deliberate with a view to your own happi- ness and interests and give us the result of those deliberations, in answer on Monday. Let me entreat you to reject the insidious councils of wicked and evil disposed persons, " 'My children — I will detain you in council no longer and in reference to the subject under your consideration, I need add no more to what has already been addressed to you.' "(Col. Owen then gave the Indians particular instructions concerning the mode of applying for and drawing of provisions — That they should draw rations by villages. That the Head of each village should give in the number of persons belonging to their respective bands and draw and distribute to the head of each family in just proportion.) " 'My children. We wish you punctually to observe this request.' "Gov. Porter added some remarks on the same subject and observed. " 'My children, — There is one matter which should be deeply impressed upon your minds. That no whiskey or spirits of any kind should be drank. If we wanted to cheat you, my children, out of your lands and destroy your lives and health, we would give you so much whiskey as you could desire. Your Great Father advises you to abstain from it. It does great harm. We entreat you to prohibit your young men from the use of it until the Treaty shall be concluded. You must understand us, my children, we are not angry with you. We advise you for your welfare and happiness. Wicked white men, we are aware, secretly furnish you with whiskey. Every day affords us evidence of its evil consequences. ' 'Tomorrow we worship the Great Spirit. We hope you will observe the usages of the white man on that day. Do not permit your young men to get drunk. All I say to you, my children, is as your friend. May my words not be forgotten but abide in your memories. "When Metawa, a Chippeway chief, addressed the Indians substantially as follows: ' 'We have heard the words of our Fathers. They are good and we will hearken unto them. They shall abide in our memories. Our white brethren called us together at Prairie Du Chien some time ago as they do now. ' 'We looked around us then and we saw our poverty. We had no man to take the lead in our councils. We placed our eyes upon one man who was a good man because he worshipped the Great Spirit. We made him our chief counsellor. Two years ago something (Keahgo) made its appearance toward the setting sun which was dark and gloomy. It obscured the sky with its clouds. We cried aloud: "What evil is coming upon our people." ' 'Our Father (Col. Owen) sent our chief counsellor to enquire into the cause of this strange appearance. He found that the clouds of war and adversity had darkened the sky. They burst around him and had nearly destroyed him. " 'But these clouds of war and adversity have passed away and a clear sky and bright sun now shed their beams of peace upon us as a happy people. ' 'We and you my white brethren (addressing the Commissioners) can now sit in peace and fear no danger.' "Way-mick-say-go a Chippeway chief said: 'Listen to me my Fathers. 246 CHICAGO'S TRUE FOUNDER Here are your children. We have opened our ears and listened with deep attention to the words you have spoken to us and the words of our Great Father who had sent you hither. " 'My Father, I, and our chiefs and warriors wish to know whether my speech concerning the sale of our lands by the Menominees has been answered or not. We placed this subject before our Father here and we are anxious to hear what answer has been made to us. I fear our warriors will not be satisfied without some explanation of this business. The Menominees sold a part of our Lands to our Great Father. Was our speech answered or not? Our young men want to know. The Menominees will not tell us, how much of our country they sold.' "Gov. Porter said — 'Your Father (Col. Owen) wrote to your Great Father on this subject. He has invested us, his Commissioners, by his instructions with full power to act on it. Your Father attended strictly to the business. We have full power to adjust it. " 'Besides I have been two moons amongst the Menominees, have acquired information in relation to the subject — am fully advised and prepared to settle the business satisfactorily. The Menominees whilst at Washington sold lands to your Great Father as far south as the Millwaukee river. But if you are entitled to any part of the lands sold to your Great Father by the Menominees, and can satisfy us of it, you shall be amply paid for it. ' 'Your Great Father will not surfer impositions to be practised on his red children but will do them full Justice in all things. We fully disclosed to you the wishes of your Great Father. There is no necessity of any further speech upon the subject now. We will hear you in council on this subject at another time.' "Way-mick-say-go said: 'My Fathers — You say our Great Father has sent you and given you authority to treat with us. Our chiefs and warriors want to see the evidence of the authority with which you say you are clothed by our Great Father.' "Gov. Porter replied. 'We do not part with our authority. It has been entrusted to us by your Great Father the President of the United States. In due time you shall be furnished with copies of all such papers as may be necessary to you.' "When the Board of Commissioners adjourned until Monday 9 O'clock A. M." SIXTH DAY OF THE TREATY. "Council House, Chicago, Illinois. Monday, September 16, 1833. "Board of Commissioners met pursuant to adjournment. "Present Geo. B. Porter, Thoas. J. V. Owen and William Weatherford. "The chiefs and head men and Indians generally of the United Tribes of Potawattamies, Ottowas and Chippeways being also present. "Gov. Porter directed Mr. Rice, Interpreter, to inform the chiefs and INDIAN TREATY JOURNAL 247 Head men that the Commissioners were ready to hear what they had to say to them — When "Way-mick-say-go arose and said: " 'You have come here Fathers as Commissioners from our Great Father, and have called our chiefs, Warriors and young men together in Council to ascertain from us whether we are willing to sell our lands or not. You shall now hear from your red children on that subject. " 'My Fathers — We have united our hearts and made our tongues one, that there may be no confusion, and that our words may be the better under- stood by you. The Potawattamies & Otto was are our younger brothers — We are all united. We have appointed our man to speak our words and the wishes of our hearts on the subject about which we are called here to consult. What- ever he may say to you — the words which he utters on this occasion, will be the words of all and shall never be broken.' "Ap-te-ke-zhick said: " 'My Fathers — Your red children are thankful to you and our Great Father that you have come hither to learn the truth concerning our willingness to make sale of our lands as our Great Father heard the news that his red children were willing to sell their country, he has commissioned you with authority to council with us and learn the truth. Your red children are glad that you have made the proposition. We have consulted together on the subject. ' 'When our Great Father heard that his red children wanted to sell their lands he thought that they poor and unhappy. That his red children wanted to sell their lands and go to another country. And he said: "I will send my Commissioners to know — To hear their wants and afford them relief, and to consult and advise with them." You, the Commissioners of our Great Father shall now hear what his red children have to say on this subject. ' 'You, my Fathers, will see with your own eyes what we shall do, and hear with your own ears what we say. Our ears have been open to your words — they have sunk deep into our hearts. Your red children are thankful for your good advice. We have never closed our ears to the council of our Great Father. We have never refused to do anything he has advised us. You tell us the country is good beyond the Mississippi, toward the setting sun, and that game is plenty. Your red children support themselves principally by the chase. We are glad to hear it. When our Great Father, however, heard that we wanted to sell our lands and remove from our country, your red children are afraid that he opened his ears to a bad bird — All your red children were not together, and did not consent that such word should be sent to our Great Father. ' 'Your red children after much counseling together as you advised us to do, two days ago, have made up their minds not to treat with the Commissioners of our Great Father and not grant his request to sell our lands. " 'Our hearts were troubled and we looked to the Great Father who made the earth for advice, and he has disposed us to make this answer to the proposi- tion of our Great Father, the President, that we cannot now sell country. Your red children are unfortunate, — they are poor, and if we have to sell all our lands and go where you advise us, some great evil might happen to us. Here 248 CHICAGO'S TRUE FOUNDER the Great Spirit allows us to live in peace amongst ourselves, with the white man and all. We are happey here. " 'My Fathers — You have heard through me the words which your red children had to say on this subject. They will ever be the same. We have no more to say. We hope you will close the Council and pay us our annuities." We wish to return to our wigwams. " 'The Potawattamies, Ottowas & Chippeways and the whitemen are like four brothers — all united — They love each other. When we were at Prairie Du Chien you told your red children that whatever they said to you should be taken for truth. That the Great Father would believe the words of his red children. We now request that you will fulfill your promise and believe the words of your red children. ' 'The Ottowas and Potawattamies are our younger brothers and have chosen me to speak their words on this occasion — that there may be no confu- sion, and that a blessing from the Great Spirit may descend upon it. ' 'You advised us, my Fathers, to counsel with one another about selling our lands. We have done so. We may hold councils from day to day, but your red children will always speak the same words — will come to no other conclusion than that which they have repeated to you. " 'I bid farewell to you, my Fathers, and to our Great Father the President of the United States. The white Wampum which I hold in my hands is the emblem of the purity of our hearts & of the sincerity of our declarations of love, and intentions toward our white brethren. And the blue ribbon is emblematic of the clear and unclouded sky of happiness and prosperity which is above us. May it ever continue. " 'My Fathers — When the words of my speech sink into your hearts, think of us and have compassion on your red children. " 'We have lost many horses — we have no provisions in our wigwams and have left our corn fields & should be glad that the council would close that we might return to them.' "Gov. Porter said: " 'The Commissioners of your Great Father, my children have listened with an attentive ear to the words which have been spoken to us. We believe that you have not well considered the words which we spoke to you on Saturday — We are of the opinion that you have not had full time to properly understand the very important proposition which your Great Father has made to you by his Commissioners. There are many circumstances which show these words to be true. Among the rest, — our red children were particularly requested to appear at the Council House immediately after the war chief of this country caused the great gun to be fired. You did not come, but asked for time to advise with and consult each other. This shows that you have not fully counseled with your own hearts as to the advice given you by your Great Father. " 'We therefore advise you and we think it right that you council again and more freely amongst yourselves. ' 'We have not, my children, any wish to keep you one moment beyond a proper time from your wigwams, but are unwilling that you should go away unadvised of the great anxiety of your Great Father the President upon the INDIAN TREATY JOURNAL 249 subject about which he has sent us hither — and until you fully reflect upon this matter in reference to your best interests and happiness. No question, my children, so vitally affecting your prosperity & happiness has ever before come under your consideration. It involves the happiness of your children, therefore, it should not be hastily disposed of. Is there, my children, any one of your chiefs or old men, who tell you that you now live as happily as you did in times long since gone by! Look around you and contemplate your present condition. Do you not see and know that you cannot remain in this country much longer and expect to enjoy the happiness that your fathers, and even you, in your youth, did? That peace, happiness and prosperity which you all enjoyed formerly have fled from you forever, if you persist in remaining here. Your Great Father, my children, knew this and sent us to advise with and endeavor to restore peace and comfort to your possession. No bad bird, as you say, ever told your Great Father that you wanted to sell your lands. Whenever we counsel with your chiefs and old men, they admit that our words are true and that you ought to sell and remove to another country, and that they do not live so happily now as in former times. Hearing this your Great Father sent us to talk to you. ' 'We ar© not sent here, my children, by your great Father because he wants more lands but because he feels a deep interest for the welfare of his red children, and wishes them to hearken to the advice of experience. " 'By the advice of his great Council he has set apart a country for all his red children beyond the Mississippi river. That country is as good as this. If you should determine, my children, to sell us your country, your Great Father will not hurry you away. You will be allowed time to examine the country appropriated for your use. It is not merely the opinions of the Commissioners that this country is a good one. It is known to be so. Look at the southern Indians, your Ohio red brethren, and all others who have gone to this country beyond the Mississippi. They say it is a good country, abounding in game and plenty — good water and everything for the comfort of our red brethren. ' 'When you tell me, my children, that some great calamity will befall you, if you go from this country to the west, you seem to forget that your Great Father loves you and will protect you. Your Great Father, I repeat, does not wish to hurry you away. You can remain here the next summer and plant corn, whilst a deputation chosen from amongst your best men can go and examine the country set apart for you by your Great Father, and see with your own eyes whether our words are true or not. ' 'Your Great Father, my children, believes that the sooner you remove and take possession of new homes across the Mississippi, that the sooner you will be happy, contented and prosperous. He knows that is for the good of his red children and would not advise them against it — And altho, — it will greatly promote your happiness the sooner you sell your lands and remove, yet this is a question to be settled by Treaty. If you should sell, your Great Father will send a good man with you provided with everything for your com- fort and substance. He will furnish you with provisions for the first year, until you open fields and plant corn. We giwe you this explanation of the wishes and intentions of your Great Father. " 'It is the word of your Great Father that you cannot live longer in this 250 CHICAGO'S TRUE FOUNDER country in prosperity and peace. The game and all other sources of support for his red children have disappeared before the white man. He says to his red children arise, take your families and go westward and you shall not be deceived. You shall have a good country there as you possess here and be fully paid for your lands. Your Great Father will shield you and protect you, erect mills and open farms for you and give you provisions for a year's support. " 'My children — Having now understood more fully what are the wishes of your Great Father return to your camps and ponder well the words which have been spoken to you. " 'Let me again, my children urge upon you the example of those Indians who have gone before you. Are they not contented and happy? Are they not prosperous and flourishing? They are. And so could you also be my red children if you could but profit by their example. ' 'We have no motives or object in detaining you longer than necessary. We also wish to be away. But we are bound to explain fully this matter to you. Whatever monies and goods or other things which may be due you are now here and shall be punctually and strictly paid to you. " 'From the deep interest which you my children as well as ourselves must feel in the just decision of this great question, the Board of Commissioners will adjourn until Wednesday, the day after tomorrow. ' 'I again call your attention to this subject & entreat you to advise with and consult your chiefs and Head men so that you may arrive at a proper understanding of your Great Father's proposition.' "Ap-te-ke-zick said: ' 'Your red children fathers, will be compelled to remain here until you pay us our annuities. " 'But if we were to stay many days we can speak no other words than such as you have already heard from us. ' 'We have answered the question of our Great Father — Your eyes have seen our lips utter it, and your ears have heard it. We can give no other answer. Your red children never take their families and move to a new country without first having seen it, then if we like it better than our own, we leave the land of our fathers and occupy it. If we had seen the country you propose to give us, and had liked it, then we would have determined whether we would sell you our country or not, and not until then will we sell. Our country is yet large. I again say we must go and see the country beyond the Mississippi before we can sell our lands. " 'If you had come to us my Fathers long ago and said to us, "go and see this country which we want to give you for yours"; then perhaps we would have been ready to sell you our lands. But now we are not. " 'Your red children my Fathers are unfortunate. Horses have been stolen from one another. Some of our young men get drunk. We wish to disperse them and return to our wigwams that these evils may no longer exist. " 'Our Great Father does not wish to see his red children spill each others blood. You tell us that his council to us is to be at peace with one another. We wish to be so. We will hearken to his good counsel. " 'Should you keep us five days our words will be the same and remain INDIAN TREATY JOURNAL 251 unbroken — We have taken counsel from the Great Spirit and he has told his red children not to sell their lands. We wish to return to our wigwams and say no more on the subject.' "Gov. Porter said: " 'It is not our wish or intention to detain you, my children, here unneces- sarily long. There is no danger of accidents and disasters happening among your young men, if you will give them good advice. Do not allow your young men to drink whiskey. We have heard with great attention what you have said to us. The day is dark and gloomy, and unsuitable for wise counsels. There is no clear sky nor bright sun. If we had concluded a Treaty and our councils were closed we would not yet let you depart. ' 'We would have to pay your annuities, and preparatory to this, a list of all your names will have to be taken. 1 'We feel convinced, my children, that the good advice of your Great Father will be most seriously considered by you. Do not hastily reject the counsels of your Great Father, who feels so deeply interested for your welfare — Who loves you and advises you only for your good. " 'Invoke the aid of the Great Spirit to enable you to arrive at just conclu- sions on this momentous question — Consult your own judgment and return to the Council House on the day after tomorrow — and if my red children then refuse to Treat with us, the necessary preparations will be made for paying off your annuities. I repeat the request that you come early to the Council House, that the council may be closed before the going down of the sun.' "Col. Owen said: " 'My children — It is my most earnest wish when you return to your encampments that you let the words which have been spoken on this occasion be impressed deeply upon your hearts — that they be allowed to occupy your exclusive thoughts. You have already been told that the subject which we have at the instance of Great Father, presented to you for your deliberation is of great importance. " 'My children — As you value your own prosperity — as you love and hope for the welfare of your children who are growing up around you, I entreat you not hastily to reject the wise counsels of your Great Father. As you value the health and good conduct of your young men, hearken to his good words — open your ears to the admonitions of his wisdom and experience. Be not in haste. Hasty deliberations never produce wise conclusions. Everything concerning yours and the happiness of your children is involved in the just and right understanding of the proposition of your Great Father. We have strong con- fidence in the discernment & judgment of our red children — and believe that you will yet open your hearts and receive the salutary counsels of your Great Father. "Ap-te-ke-zhick said: ' 'You have written down my speech — You will see what I have said tomorrow and the next day — My words shall be unaltered. I will then say the same.' " 'Gov. Porter said: 'You will think better of it.' 252 CHICAGO'S TRUE FOUNDER "When the Board of Commissioners adjourned until Wednesday, 9 O'clock A. M." ______ SEVENTH DAY OF THE TREATY. "Council House, Chicago, Illinois. Wednesday, September 18, 1833. "Board of Commissioners met pursuant to adjournment. "Present— Geo. B. Porter, Tho. J. V. Owen and Wm. Weatherford. The chiefs and Head men not being generally in attendance. "Gov. Porter said: 'We have heard that some bands are not ready to come into the council. They wish more time to deliberate. The weather is unpropitious. The Great Spirit seems to be angry. Last night you heard the Thunder and saw the Light- ning. When we are ready to go into council the great gun at the fort will be fired. When you hear it hasten to the Council House. We are not yet deter- mined whether we will go into Council tomorrow or not.' "When the Board of Commissioners adjourned." EIGHTH DAY OF THE TREATY. "Council House, Chicago, Illinois. Thursday, September 19, 1833. "Board of Commissioners met pursuant to adjournment. "Present — Geo. B. Porter, Tho. J. V. Owen & Wm. Weatherford. Many of the Chiefs and Head men being also present. "Gov. Porter said: 'You have requested us my children to meet you at the Council House. We have done so and are now ready to hear what you have to say. "Way-mich-sa-go said: 'Fathers — You shall now hear what my Chiefs, Warriors, young men, women and children do say. When you called us into Council at Prairie Du Chien we were troubled and knew not what to do. We then appointed these men (pointing out Caldwell and Robinson) our chief counsellors — We are one flesh — They have been reared amongst us. So long as they live, they were chosen to manage our business. Whatever they say and do we agree to. They will take time and counsel together and determine what shall be done.' "Puck-quick-a-nin-nee said: 'My Fathers — I am an Ottowa. Listen to me. I can never go contrary to what my older brothers, the Chippeways and younger brothers the Potawat- tamies may do. There is no difference of opinion amongst us.' "Ap-te-ke-zhick said: 'I agree to what my brothers the Ottowas & Chippeways have said. Our words shall be the same.' "Gov. Porter said: 'The Commissioners, my children, are much pleased at what you have INDIAN TREATY JOURNAL 253 said. You have opened your ears to good advice and are now going to do your business rightly. ' 'Your Great Father knows Messrs Caldwell and Robinson are two good men — have ever given you good advice — are incapable of giving any other. It is a matter of great pleasure to the Commissioners that the Chiefs and Head men of the Chippeways, Ottowas and Potawattamies are of one mind. We are happy to see them acting together like a band of brothers. And it is a matter of still greater gratification to us, that you hold us fast by the hand. ' 'We told you, my children, when we first came here not to listen to any bad birds, but to open your ears to the Counsels of your Chiefs and old men. We did not tell you whom to appoint to counsel with us on this proposition of your Great Father, but knew that you would determine wisely. Having now made your selection we are satisfied and will willingly go into council with them whenever they are prepared. We hope that you will continue of one mind — that you will act together like a band of brothers. That it will be for the good of my red children, is not only my opinion but is the opinion of your Father Col. Owen as also of Col. Weatherford. When the Chiefs whom you have appointed are prepared, we are ready to go into council with them.' "Ap-te-ke-zhick addressing himself to the Indians said — That "we have the same confidence in Caldwell and Robinson now that we had when they were first appointed to manage the concerns of the United Tribes. We hope that it may be continued. All the bands united in appointing them — The St. Joseph Indians have the same confidence in them that we have. ' 'The Great Spirit considers us one, and that our three fires should always act together.' "Gov. Porter said: 'We believe that the Great Spirit will give good advice to his red children.' "When the Board of Commissioners adjourned." NINTH DAY OF THE TREATY. "Council House, Chicago, Illinois. Saturday, September 21, 1833. "Board of Commissioners met pursuant to adjournment. "Present— Geo. B. Porter, Tho. J. V. Owen and Wm. Weatherford. The Chiefs and Head men of the United Tribes being also present. "Gov. Porter said — 'We are ready to hear what our red children have to say.' "Pou-Ka-gon said — 'My Fathers, you call us your friends. You know we are so. I will now tell you some little of what our Chiefs and Old men think. I have heard them express their words. This is the condition of us who have yellow skins. You have white skins. We are ignorant and know but little and have for that reason appointed a man to assist us in our councils. ' 'You will open your ears to that man, who will tell you our wishes & feelings on the subject given to us by our Great Father the President of the 254 CHICAGO'S TRUE FOUNDER United States for our consideration. He will aid us and our older brothers, the Chippeways with his counsels to manage our business for the benefit of our children. " 'Some of us are called "Wood Indians," although we are Potawattamies, and others are called "Prairie Indians". You have, my fathers, asked us to sell our land to our Great Father. We do not know what land you want. We have small tracts of land. We do not know whether you want these small pieces, or what lands. We wish to know which it is you want. I have no more to say.' "Gov. Porter said — 'Whom have you appointed to aid you in your coun- cils?' "Pou-Ka-gon said — 'The spotted river Indians have appointed J. Godfrey and Alexis Coquillard to manage their business, and the Prairie Indians have appointed Joseph Laframboise to assist Caldwell and Robinson.' " Shaw- we-nah-pe- nay — a Chippeway Chief, son of Me-ta-wa — said 'I have been called on to speak. Many of the Indians are now in their camps. I shall be called on to tell them what has been said here by our brothers the Potawat- tamies. You have all heard what they have said. They have chose good counselors to help them in the management of this business, that it may be settled for the good of themselves and children.' "(After a pause of some minutes) "Gov. Porter enquired if they had anything more to say. "Pou-Ka-gon replied, 'Nothing more at this time.' "Shaw-we-na-pe-nay addressing himself to the Indians said — 'We are ignorant. We do not know the wishes of our Great Father. We are situated like our brothers the "Wood Indians". We do not know what land our Great Father wants to buy. Our Fathers here have not told us.' "Ma-che-o-tah-way said — 'I have told our young men to listen to my words — We live a great distance from here — Our wigwams are the greatest way off. We will agree to whatever our brothers will do in the business about which we are now in council.' "Gov. Porter said — 'My children — Listen to the words which I am now about to speak to you. Seven days have elapsed since first we met in council at this place. We then explained to you all fully and plainly, the instructions of our Great Father under which the Commissioners acted, and the country which we wanted you to sell. We did suppose, that after what was said to you at that time, you held your Great Father fast by the hand and that you had opened your ears to his good advice; but now, at the end of seven days, you come and ask us, what we want and affect ignorance of the proposition made to you by your Great Father through us. ' 'You have not my children listened to the wisdom of his advice. " 'My red children — The Commissioners wish you to fully and distinctly to understand that they will not be trifled with. Your Great Father who com- missioned us to act for him never plays "fast and loose" with his red children nor any one else. He will not allow himself nor his Commissioners to be trifled with. INDIAN TREATY JOURNAL 255 ' 'Your Great Father is the greatest war chief that any of you have ever seen. Yet he loves his red children — He knows and consults their wants and wishes and always gives them good advice. You have all heard of him and his great deeds, and you know that when the red men had trouble he gave them good advice. But when his red children refused to hearken to the words of his council, and listened to the bad birds — he went among them and made war against them. The greatest war chief amongst all the red men cannot count so great a number of scalps as your Great Father can. They were forced to come in and implore his mercy. ' 'Your Great Father told his red children, that, if they would for the future behave as dutiful children should, he would forgive them, and extend the arm of protection over them and make again happy. For several years you lived happily here, but you all know, my children, that during the last year some of your red brethren between here and the Mississippi river listened to bad birds, closed their ears to good counsel and acted most wickedly. In their case your Great Father did, what on such occasions he always does. He first gave these wicked men good advice; but they refused to listen to it. He then sent one of his war chiefs among them. The recollection of the consequences are still fresh in your minds. When the war was over with these wicked red men, your Great Father treated with them at the cannon's mouth and upon such terms only as his humanity dictated. " "After this Gov. Reynolds of Illinois appointed certain commissioners who together with the War Chief (The White Beaver) whom your Great Father had appointed held a council with your chiefs and Head men, when your chiefs said to the White Beaver and the Commissioners of the Governor that you were surrounded beset on all sides, that the game was fast disappearing from your hunting grounds. That you were unhappy, and that you believed that it would be better for you to remove across the Mississippi river to the country which your Great Father would set apart for you. " 'It was not therefore as some of your speakers have said that bad birds spoke those things to your Great Father. ' 'When he heard from the White Beaver (the War Chief) and received the report from the Commissioners of the Governor of Illinois, your Great Father thought deliberately on the words they had spoken to him. He under- stood the interests of his red children and commissioned us to treat with you. We came not here of our own will, but were sent hither to speak the wishes of our Great Father. We have his words in writing now in our possession which say that it is for the good of his red children, that he advises them to remove beyond the Mississippi river. ' 'Your Great Father by the ? of his council has provided a country for you. In this country, part is wood land and part Prairie — Good water abounds. It is very much like the country you now live in. If you remove now, those of you, that pursue the chase, will find game abundant, and those, who would be willing to plant corn, will find that they can raise as good corn there as here. ." 'Your Great Father the President instructed us, his Commissioners, to come hither and tell all these things to his red children. 256 CHICAGO'S TRUE FOUNDER " 'He instructed us to tell you, that he wished you to sell your lands and that he would pay you for them. Where this land lay and which it was, we fully explained to you at the first council held at this place. We have not wished, nor have we attempted to keep you in ignorance of the extent or boundaries of the country which we wished you to sell. We have furnished Mr. Caldwell with our Maps of the country, that he might explain more satis- factorily to you, the full extent and meaning of the proposition which your Great Father the President through us has submitted to you. The Commissioners will again explain to you the boundaries of the country sought to be purchased. It begins about twelve miles north of this place, (Chicago) on the shore of the Lake (Michigan) thence the line runs west about seventy miles; thence north to the southern end of Lake Winnebago; then to the Milwaukee river, thence down the same to the said Lake and with the Lake shore south to the beginning. Besides this, you own small reservations at Pou-Ka-gon's village, one at the village of To-pe-ne-be and some six or seven sections on Fox river. These are the lands which your Great Father instructed us to buy of you. ' 'You have, my children, told your Great Father what you were willing to sell these lands and we are authorized by his commission to treat for them. We repeat to you, that your Great Father cannot be trifled with. At the end of seven days counseling we are astonished that you tell us, you are ignorant of what we want. We want you to hearken to our words, when we declare to you, that your Great Father never speaks with a forked tongue — that he never tells his red children a lie. " 'My children — You have told us that you were ignorant of what your Great Father wanted. We have but one simple proposition to repeat to you. Will you listen to the good advice of your Great Father and sell your lands or not? " 'If you wish us to send word to your Great Father, that you designed to deceive him and make him ashamed, to tell us now, that we may understand you. Twelve days you have been eating the bread and meat which your Great Father provided for you. We can delay no longer. Provisions are consuming and are nearly exhausted. You must speedily tell us whether you will treat with us nor not. " 'Meet together consult & answer us as soon as possible, and yet we do not want to hurry you, so, that you cannot do your business correctly. But much time has been spent doing nothing and something must be done quickly. At the first council, you had a plain exposition of the wishes of your Great Father. We told you, we wanted to buy all your lands, & that it was the word of your Great Father that it would be for your good. He said that his white children were surrounding you on all sides. This he knew. He knew further, that this state of things would produce quarrels among his white and red children — quarrels would occasion depredations & recriminations, from which the worst consequences must surely follow. You are not ignorant. You know what calamities befell the Sacs and Winnebagoes during the last year. You have been told if you remove to the west, mills will be erected for you, imple- ments of husbandry and subsistance for a year will be furnished you. Besides you will be removed free of all expense. If you do not accept the proposition INDIAN TREATY JOURNAL 257 of your Great Father and take possession of the country he offers you, it may happen that you will forever lose the opportunity, and other Indians not under my superintendence will get it. " 'You have been told that if you accept the proposition of your Great Father & sell your lands, you will not be hurried away, but that you can plant corn and remain here until a Deputation of your most faithful men accompanied by an Agent of your Great Father can go, look at this country beyond the Mississippi river and return and report to you concerning it. " 'We now say, if after mature consultation among yourselves you are determined not to sell all your lands — which is the anxious wish of your Great Father — let us know how much you can sell. You have told us that you have chosen friends to assist you with their counsel in making a treaty. We have no objections whom you consult as friends, or whose advice you seek, but your Great Father instructs his Commissioners to treat with none but the Chiefs and Head men of his red children. We expressed to you our great satisfaction, when you informed us you had chosen Caldwell & Robinson, whom you had appointed your chief counselors at Prairie Du Chien, to treat with us — But we are constrained, my children, to say to these Chiefs that this business must no longer be delayed. These friends whom you have just chosen to advise with, consult and take their opinions about your concerns, but they are not Chiefs and we cannot treat with them. The instructions of our Great Father forbid it. There can be but two parties to this Treaty. Yourselves, Chiefs, and Head men constitute one party; and the Commissioners on the part of your Great Father the other. We do not mean to say that we prohibit you from taking counsel with the men you name, or that we have objections to them, but our talk and business must be with the Chiefs and Head men only; and your Great Father will speak to you by none other but his commissioners. You ought to give full confidence to the words of your Great Father and his Commissioners, for he nor they can speak directly to their red children. " 'If we repeat to your Great Father that you will not lend an attentive ear to his good advice, and place no confidence in the words of his Com- missioners he will undoubtedly be angry with his red children. ' 'We again repeat to you that your Great Father understands what is for your best interests and if you obstinately refuse to listen to his Commissioners, you must abide the consequences. What they may be I will not say. All promises, he has faithfully fulfilled — all his obligations made at every Treaty have been fully and satisfactorily complied with — Have you therefore any right to suspect that your Great Father will not deal fairly and honorable with you? Although, you have heard the words of many who pretend to be and call themselves your friends, yet beware of their insiduous councils. You cannot be ignorant of the wishes of your Great Father. Therefore, turn a deaf ear to the wicked advice of interested men. There is not a Chief or principal man among you, but admits the advantage it would be to you to remove beyond the Mississippi river. Now is the time for you to make your selection. If you pass this opportunity by, it may happen that when you most want it, you may be unable to get it. When therefore this council is broken up, return to your encampments, make up your minds and give us an answer as speedily as possible. 258 CHICAGO'S TRUE FOUNDER We have now a clear sky and business can be done auspiciously. Although, you do not give us an answer, we know that many Chiefs and Head men are ready and willing to treat with us. " 'There is one subject, my children, to which I invite your attention. Let my words be remembered by you. On the reservations at Pou-Ka-gon's village and at Notta-way-sip-pe, we hear every day of complaints of depredations com- mitted by the Indians on the property of the neighboring white men — Claims in a year or two for hogs alleged to be killed by you will be created against you which will consume your annuities. This will produce bad blood between you and the white men, and the next thing we hear of, murder and war have, broken out among you. When your Great Father sends his warriors amongst you, there will be no time to make a treaty. Your Great Father now loves his red children — wants to treat with them and pay the full value of their land. " 'Does not the experience of the last year satisfy you that it is too late to treat at the cannon's mouth? Two years ago, your Great Father wished to treat with the Sacs and Foxes — but they refused to listen to his wise counsels. They opened their ears to the wicked and designing, and after they were cut to pieces by his warriors, he treated them as he pleased. " 'You have, my children, now to consider whether you will treat with us or not. As friends seriously interested for your happiness & welfare, we advise you to hearken to the counsels of your Great Father and accept his proposition. We furthermore advise and entreat to prevent your young men from drinking whiskey that you may be able to consider and determine this great question which we have presented to you. We repeat to you, and we wish you to open your ears to our words, that this business must not be delayed from day to day. ' "We have heard, my children, that you want us first to arrange with the Chippeways the difficulty which has been occasioned as you say, by the Menom- inees having sold to your Great Father a part of the lands of the Chippeways. We explained to you at our first council the instructions of your Great Father on this point. Your Great Father sent us here to treat with the United Tribes of the Potawattamies, Ottowas & Chippeways which we have so repeatedly described to you. He has informed his Commissioners that he understands the difficulty and has instructed us to enquire into it, and if it is found that the Menominees have sold land which was the property of his red children the Chippeways, they should be satisfied for it. Ab-be-te-ke-zhick, one of your speakers, asked us for our instructions on this subject & we gave Caldwell a copy of them. ' 'This must convince you that your Great Father will do you justice. But in order that you may be fully instructed on this subject, we will give you, my children, further information concerning it. " 'Eight years ago there was great trouble among the red men. Your Great Father knowing this appointed your late good father Gov. Cass for all the tribes of Indians on this side of the Mississippi river and Gov. Clark for certain Tribes on the other side of that river. These two men met at Prairie Du Chien in the month of August 1825, where they entered into council with the Sioux & Chippeways, Sac & Fox, Menominee, Ioway, Winnebago, and a portion of the Ottowa, Chippeway & Potawattamie tribes of Indians for the purpose of settling INDIAN TREATY JOURNAL 259 the boundaries of these several Tribes or Nations of Indians. At this Treaty the boundary of the Menominees was stipulated to extend as far south as the Millwaukee river. When all the Tribes agreed that this should be the boundary of the Menominee country, you cannot think hard, that your Great Father made the purchase from the Menominees extending to the Millwaukee river. He paid them for the land to that place — But as the Millwaukee and Manetowalk bands were not present at the Treaty of Prairie Du Chien, it may be that the true boundary of the Menominee country was not correctly represented to the council. When your Great Father was informed that the Millwauky band set up a claim to this land, he directed us to investigate the matter. But we are not otherwise to treat separately for it. " "I have now done. You understand now at all events, what we want. The instructions of your Great Father to us being to purchase all your lands, we therefore, expect an aswer to this broad proposition. Answer our enquiry that we may inform the President what has been done.' "Shaw-we-nah-pe-nay said: 'I am directed by our Chief Caldwell to say to our younger brothers the Potawattamies, that we have opened our ears to what has been said to us, but not knowing the minds of one another on the subject, we will meet in council with our Chiefs, Warriors and Head men and make up our minds whether we will agree to the proposition of our Great Father or not.' "Col. Owen said — 'My children — As your immediate father, feeling deeply concerned for the happiness of the red men, I implore you, to open your ears to the words which your father Gov. Porter has spoken to you, this evening. " 'Instead of going to the whiskey shops and filling your bottles, to get drunk upon — return to your encampments, sleep and rise early on tomorrow and take each other's counsel upon the great question which your Great Father has commissioned us to offer for your consideration. The Governor has left no matter unexplained upon which you are called to act. You cannot any longer tell us that you do not lcnow what we want. If you cannot sell all your lands, what objections can you raise against selling a portion of them? " 'Hearken to the counsels of your Great Father and act wisely. Look at the welfare of yourselves and children. I have no more to say.' "Gov. Porter said — 'Tomorrow is the day on which the white man wor- ships the Great Spirit. On the next day come into council as soon as the great gun fires.' "When the Board of Commissioners adjourned." TENTH DAY OF THE TREATY. "Council House, Chicago, Sept. 26, 1833. "Board of Commissioners met pursuant to adjournment. "Present — Geo. B. Porter, Tho. J. V. Owen and Wm. Weatherford. "The Chiefs, Warriors, and Head men generally also present. "Gov. Porter said — 'My children, You are informed of the contents of 260 CHICAGO'S TRUE FOUNDER the paper which I hold in my hand & which embraces the principles of the Treaty which we have just concluded — but if you desire that it shall be read it shall be done. "(The Chiefs signified a wish to hear the general features of the Treaty explained) "Gov. Porter said — 'My children, open your ears and listen to what we are about to say to you. It is now several days since we met in council and since we communicated to you the purpose which brought us together. " 'Your Great Father commissioned us and sent us here to treat with you for your lands. We explained to you at large his wishes and advice on former occasions. We are pleased to find that you have acted toward your Great Father like good children — that you have opened your ears to his wise counsels, and that you have taken time to deliberate and settle down upon the principles of a Treaty mutually advantageous — You informed us in general council whom you had chosen to aid you in your business. These men we have counseled with, the result of which is the written Treaty which I now hold in my hand, and present for your acceptance. It is ready to receive the signatures of your principal men. The Commissioners read it to your Chiefs and Head men yesterday, and again today. ' "They caused it to be read and explained to them. It was perfectly satisfactory. " 'By this Treaty, my children, you cede to your Great Father all your lands between Lake Michigan and the Mississippi river. ' 'You have made no reservations. You agree to remove. " 'It provides that your Great Father set apart for your use and occupancy beyond the Mississippi river as much land and as good land as you have here. " 'It provides in addition that your Great Father cause you to be paid the sum of $1,000,000. The payment of which is to be made in various ways. " 'As your Chiefs and Head men have directed, one part is appropriated to the payment of all just claims and debts which may be brought against the nation. " 'Another part, to be distributed among such friends as you directed should have reservations and which by a provision of the Treaty is prohibited. " 'A part is to be used for quieting the claims of the Chippeways to certain lands which they alledge were sold to your Great Father by the Menominees and which they claimed as their own. " 'A part is to be appropriated to be used toward the purchase of goods and which are to be distributed amongst you — a portion now and the balance next year. " 'A part is reserved for annuities, to be paid you when you go beyond the Mississippi river to live. These annuities are to continue for twenty years and no longer. " 'It is provided that another part be used for the erection of Mills, Black- smiths shops, Indian houses, for the support of physicians &c8tc. " 'These, my children are the chief provisions of this Treaty. But if you wish the Treaty shall be read and explained to you.' INDIAN TREATY JOURNAL 261 "Gov. Porter directed the Chief Robinson to enquire of the Indians whether they wished the Treaty to be read by paragraphs to them or not. "Having answered that they did not wish it, the "Gov. proceeded further to explain the provisions of the Treaty. ' 'You are required by this Treaty, my children, to remove beyond the boundary line of Illinois within one year. ' 'Your Great Father will pay the expenses of a deputation (which deputa- tion is to consist of such persons as you may select) to visit and report concern- ing the country set apart for you beyond the Mississippi river — And when under the provisions of the Treaty you make yourselves ready to remove and take possession of your new houses, your Great Father will pay the expense of such removal and furnish the necessary provisions for one year's sustenance. "The Gov. having concluded. The Commissioners first aigned the Treaty in presence of the officers of the Post, and a large asemblage of citizens; after which the Chiefs and principal men came forward and successively acknowl- edged their signatures. 52 "When the Board of Commissioners adjourned." ELEVENTH DAY OF THE TREATY. "Council House, Chicago, Illinois. "Friday, September 27, 1833. "Board of Commissioners met pursuant to adjournment. "Present Geo. B. Porter, Thos. J. V. Owen and William Weatherford. "The Chiefs and Head men of the St. Joseph and Notta-way-se-pe bands of the United Tribes of Potawattamies, Ottowas and Chippeways, being also present. "Gov. Porter said — 'Yesterday a Treaty was concluded by which the Prairie Indians ceded to their Great Father all the lands which they owned west of Lake Michigan. In this Treaty, you, the "Wood Indians" did not join. ' 'Your brothers of the Prairie, however, are willing, if you come in and sign a Treaty which we have prepared to allow you to participate in all the benefits of Yesterday's Treaty. ' 'We are pleased, my children, that you have at last opened your ears to the wise councils of your Great Father and have consented to sell your lands. We have accordingly prepared a Treaty, which cedes all the lands you own in Michigan Territory. Your two reservations, south of Grand river — the one at Not-a-wa-se-pe, and the other opposite the town of Niles, on which are the villages of To-pe-ne-be and Pough-Ka-gon. ' 'We will now explain, my children, the general principles of the Treaty — which we have drawn up with the consent of your Chiefs and Head men. " 'All which Major Forsyth has done towards the effectualization of this Treaty with you, has been under the authority and instruction of the Commis- sioners. At all Treaties, heretofore held with you by your late good Father Govr. Cass, he has been present. ' 'Yesterday and today, Major Forsyth explained to you, all that we wished to communicate on the very important subject about which we have been 262 CHICAGO'S TRUE FOUNDER called here to consult. I will now read and explain to you the articles of the Treaty to which your Chiefs and Head men have agreed.' "(Here Gov. Porter read and explained very minutely the features of the Treaty — after which he proceeded as follows.) " 'I have heard, my children, that some persons have threatened you, with violence in the event of your agreeing to a Treaty. Your Great Father, my children, has the power and will to defend and protect you. If any man threaten you for listening to his good advice, inform me of it, and measures shall be taken to prevent any injury to you. I live at Detroit, at no great dis- tance from you. Advise me of any threats, or violence that may be uttered of practised upon any of you, and having the power and the means of punish- ment, it shall be done. I will punish any man who threatens or maltreats you. It shall not be done with impunity. " 'On account of religious principles, we have learned that some of you would like to go (when you remove) to L'Abre Croche. ' 'To show you the goodness of your Great Father towards his red chil- dren, we promise that you may go there and that you annuities shall be paid there. " 'It is, however, the advice, and anxious wish of your Great Father as well as of the Commissioners that you act here together like a band of brothers, and all go beyond the Mississippi. ' 'You can then worship the Great Spirit as free from molestation or hindrance, as you can where you now reside. If you wish to be accompanied thither by a Catholic priest you can have him. The great spirit prescribes no particular religion for the observance of his followers. " 'Should you determine to remove at once beyond the Mississippi, it will not be long, we feel assured, before your friends at L'Arbre Croche will follow you. ' 'I have explained, my children, all that it is necessary for you now to understand. Nothing has been kept back or concealed. All has been fully disclosed to you.' " "John Baptiste Chandonai said — " 'My fathers, allow me to say a few words to you. " I understand from what you have said, that I am the person alluded to, as having threatened the Indians. Altho, I have not been personally named, / feel what has been said. I am, it is true, an Indian, but I have the feelings of a white man.' "Gov. Porter replied, 'You were not named by me personally — I named no one — but, am not displeased that you feel it and understand the allusions which I have used as applicable to yourself. Thou are the man. I once had a good opinion of you. I received this impression from the favorable repre- sentations of your friend Major Forsyth — But if any evil counsel, or worse feeling, has, at any time during the progress of this Treaty, influenced your conduct and you have been guilty of the accusations uttered against you, by so many mouths, you have no other alternative, but to bear the odium con- sequent upon such conduct, and in the event, of any attempt being made to execute your threats, to feel the consequences. We are prepared for any INDIAN TREATY JOURNAL 263 personal and official responsibility, and fearing no threats uttered against our- selves we are determined to interpose our arm against any menaced danger to defenceless Indians.' "After which The Treaty was signed and witnessed in due form by re- spective parties. "When the Board of Commissioners adjourned." TWELFTH DAY OF THE TREATY. "Chicago, Saturday, 28th September, 1833. "Board of Commissioners met pursuant to adjournment. "Present — Geo. B. Porter, Tho. J. V. Owen and William Weatherford. "Ordered: That B. B. Kercheval, David R. Porter and Pierre Menard Esqrs: be requested to serve as purchasers and appraisers of horses for the use of the Indians. "Also ordered: That Benj. B. Kercheval, Robert Stuart and Madison F. Abbott Esqrs. be respectfully requested to act as appraisers of goods and merchandise furnished for the use of the Indians. "To which request the above named gentlemen agreed to comply. "When the Board adjourned." THIRTEENTH DAY OF THE TREATY. "Monday, September 30, 1833. "Board of Commissioners met pursuant to adjournment. "Present— Geo. B. Porter, Tho. J. V. Owen & Wm. Weatherford. "Whereupon the Board proceeded to investigate the claims of individuals which had been presented and filed against the Indians — At which the Com- missioners continued until 11 O'clock P. M. "When the Board adjourned." FOURTEENTH DAY OF THE TREATY. "Tuesday, October 1st, 1833. "Board of Commissioners met pursuant to adjournment. "Present— Geo. B. Porter, Tho. J. V. Owen and Wm. Weatherford. "The Board resumed the investigation of claims — at which, they con- tinued until 10 O'clock P. M. "When the Board adjourned." FIFTEENTH DAY OF THE TREATY. "Wednesday October 2nd 1833. "Board of Commissioners met pursuant to adjournment. 264 CHICAGO'S TRUE FOUNDER "Present— Geo. B. Porter, Tho. J. V. Owen and Wm. Weatherford. "The Board continued the investigation of the claims against the Indians- "When it adjourned until tomorrow." SIXTEENTH DAY OF THE TREATY. "Chicago, Thursday, October 3rd 1833. "The gentlemen appointed to receive and appraise the goods, which were stipulated to be delivered at this Treaty, having performed that duty and made their report to the Board of Commissioners — "The goods were then distributed under the supervision of the said Commissioners to the Indians with all possible equality and justice and to the entire satisfaction of all having any agency in the business — and espe- cially to the satisfaction of the Indians. "The gentlemen appointed to purchase and appraise the horses agreed to be delivered to the Indians by the Articles of the Treaty having performed that duty, the number stipulated for, at this place (Chicago) were accordingly delivered under the supervision of Gholson Kercheval Esq. Sub-Indian Agent." SEVENTEENTH DAY OF THE TREATY. "Chicago, Friday, October 4th 1833. "Board of Commissioners met pursuant to adjournment. "Present — Geo. B. Porter, Tho. J. V. Owen and William Weatherford. "The Board proceeded with, and concluded the investigation of the claims against the Indians, a Schedule of which is appended to the Treaty, concluded on the 26th and 27th Ultimo. "The distribution of goods amongst the Indians was this day concluded." EIGHTEENTH DAY OF THE TREATY. "Chicago, Saturday October 5th 1833. "The Board of Commissioners were vigilantly engaged all this day and until a late hour of the night in the adjustment of the business of the Treaty — the settlement of accounts and the examination of invoices of goods fur- nished by different individuals to the Indians, in compliance with the pro- visions of the Treaty." NINETEENTH DAY OF THE TREATY. "Chicago, Sunday the 6th Oct. 1833. "The Board of Commissioners were employed on this day as on yester- day: when, "At 6 O'clock P. M. INDIAN TREATY JOURNAL 265 "Certain, of the principal Chiefs and Head men of the United Nation of Chippewa, Ottowa and Potawattamie Indians assembled at Gov. Porter's quarters and signed stipulations connected with the Treaty, relative to fur- nishing the Indians with goods, provisions and horses in this year. "On which occasion, the Commissioners bestowed medals on certain Chiefs. "Col. Owen, in bestowing a Medal on E-to-wan-cote, Said — 'As one of the representatives of your Great Father, E-to-wan-cote, I invest you with this Medal. It is the emblem of "Peace & Friendship". It is bestowed upon you, in the illustrious name of your Great Father, as proof of his love for you and as an evidence of his confidence in your attachment to the American Gov- ernment. ' 'Receive it and let your conduct hereafter show that you deserve to wear it.' "Col. Owen, in continuation, enquired of the young Chief, if he had not in his possession a Spanish or a French medal. "To which Ap-be-te-ke-zhick for the Chief replied — That E-to-wah-ke- zhick, a Chippewa Chief had taken it from him. ' 'Take this Medal' — Col. Owen remarked — 'It is the gift of your Great Father. Let no man take it from you. Defend and cherish it — and may it always keep alive in your memory the Giver of it and a strong attachment to the Government over which he presides.' "Col. Owen, in the name of the President of the United States, also, invested a young chief called Wa-be-me-mee or the 'White Pigeon' with a medal accompanied with appropriate ceremony and remarks. "Ap-be-te-Ke-zhick, addressing himself to the Commissioners — said — " 'My fathers, I will tell you what my people want. They all wish, that you will give our friend and Chief — Sau-ko-nosh — a medal, that we may look upon him with increased pleasure, and that he may smile upon us, his breth- ren, as the sun shines upon the earth. We believe that our friend and Chief will not be displeased with us, for what we have said. We have the greatest confidence in him. It grows stronger every day. It will continue with our lives. Wherever we find him, there we are sure to find peace, friendship & a clear sky. ' 'We want our Great Father to be informed of the wishes of his red children concerning Sau-ko-nosh and that he will always be considered our Chief.' "Gov. Porter said — 'We are pleased at the words which you have spoken. We hope that they are the words of all, and that they may never be for- gotten. We, as well as your Great Father have great respect for your friend and Chief Sau-ko-nosh, and do hope that your ears will ever be open to his good advice. Listen to him — continue to respect him and in doing so, you will please your Great Father as v/ell as promote your best interests. And in order that your may be satisfied of our great respect for your friend and Chief and the love which your Great Father bears him, I will, in the presence of the other Commissioners, and chiefs now here, bestow upon him one of our largest and finest Medals.' 266 CHICAGO'S TRUE FOUNDER "Gov. Porter — when presenting the medals said — " 'Mr. Caldwell, I present you with this Medal. It is the pure emblem of the respect which your Great Father entertains for you. We most fer- vently hope that no act of your life will forfeit that respect. We most con- fidently believe that no such act will ever occur,— but that this Medal will grow brighter and your attachment to your Great Father and the Government over which he presides will strengthen to the last hour of your life. " 'It is the anxious wish of your Great Father, as well as of all good men, that you exercise the great influence which you possess over his red children, for their prosperity and happiness, and for the welfare of those who are to supply your places before many years. "Sau-ko-nash, (alias Caldwell) addressing the Indians said, 'You see that our Great Father by his Commissioners here, has bestowed upon me a Medal as evidence of his love and good wishes, for the welfare of his red children. You, my brothers, have caused this thing to be done. Let it be so — I have ever been your friend and will ever continue to be so. When you first called me to act as your friend and counsellor, we were in great trouble. We were surrounded by a Great Fire, but the Great Spirit protected us and we escaped unhurt. You have known me for years during all which time Sau-go-nosh has been foremost with his counsel and aid, when trouble came upon you. Let us now open our ears to the wise counsel of our Great Father. Let us take up our families and place them all beyond the great Mississippi. But, (he continued) it must not be forgotten that your principal Chief is not myself, but he who sits in our presence (To-pe-ne-bee) . We must look to him and respect him as our principal man. He inherited his rank from his father who is dead. It is his by right of birth and should be pro- tected in its possession. ' 'In the days after we separate, I shall go to the West and examine the country which our Great Father has set apart for us, and after I make a selection, I will return to you and give you a faithful account of it. I hope that I shall be able to satisfy you all and make your hearts glad, and that you will rejoice we have opened our ears to the advice of our Great Father and sold him our lands on this side of the Mississippi river. I hope we will all willingly remove to that country and that we may grow into a great Nation and be prosperous and happy. I will go before you and strew the way with wampum. I will open a plain way for you to travel on without trouble or hindrance. Wherever I may meet our red brethren of other nations, I will hold them fast by the hands and cause them to be our friends, and open their arms to receive us, when we leave the lands of our fathers and remove thither. " 'Listen not to the wicked advice of bad white men — Reject their unwise counsels, but open your ears to your Chiefs and listen to their words.' " TWENTIETH DAY OF THE TREATY. "Chicago, Monday, October 7th 1833. "The Board of Commissioners were engaged this entire day and until INDIAN TREATY JOURNAL 267 a late hour of the night in adjusting and settling certain accounts and claims which accrued during the progress of the Treaty. "Having at a late hour of the night concluded their business, and certi- fied all the accounts and abstracts connected with the Treaty, adjourned sine die. "In evidence of the correctness of this Journal We have hereunto sub- scribed our names the 7th day of October in the year of Our Lord, one thou- sand eight hundred and thirty thtee. "Attest "Wm. Lee D. Ewing "Secry to the Commission." "G. B. Porter. "Th. J. V. Owen. "William Weatherford. (End of Treaty Journal) 500 CHICAGOANS OF 1833 Editor's Note: There were four classes of inhabitants in Chicago when the munic- ipality was founded by Thomas J. V. Owen in 1833. Residents within the Original Town. This class included those who lived between State and Desplaines, Madison and Kinzie streets. They were the incorporators. Residents outside of the Original Town. This class included those who lived east of State, west of Desplaines, south of Madison, and north of Kinzie streets. Transients. This class included those who lived in the Town of Chicago or vicinity, for a more or less lengthy period and did not remain permanently; but whose names appear in early chronicles of Chicago. Legal Residents. These were property owners who were non-resident; but, according to the Incorporation Statute, were qualified incorporators. The subjoined assemblage of names is offered to the readers of this volume to indicate the very considerable number of persons who lived in and around Chicago when the municipality was established. It is intended to correct an error of statement, which has been handed down rather perversely by Chicago historians, that "Chicago's population hovered dangerously close to this minimum" of 150 inhabitants as required by law. While the Incorporation Statute permitted only "white males over twenty-one" to vote for in- corporation, it made no conditions regarding the age, sex or color of inhabitants. These might be men, women or children, white, black, red or half breed. Obviously, not all the names of Chicago's inhabitants of that period have come down to us. Thomas J. V. Owen, founder of municipal Chicago, was a highly trained, well qual- ified public officer; who was never in the dark as to the legal rectitude of his official acts. As he had taken the census of 1825 of Randolph county, it is strongly presumptive that he made a census of some kind to determine whether or not the town had one hundred and fifty inhabitants before he carried through the incorporation of Chicago. He was that kind of a man. After inspecting the five hundred names printed herewith, the reader may judge what was the probable population of Chicago in 1833. Abbott, Constant Adams, J. Adams, Mrs. H. Adams, W. H. Aekin, L. H. Allen I. Anderson, J. W. Atkins, Eliphalet Austin, William G. Axtel, Almond B Babcock, Charles Beben, Joseph Bailey, C. F. W. Bailey, Jonathan N. Baldwin, Russell Ballard, C. A. Ballet, Henry (Naperville) Banskey, Joseph Barnes, Hambleton Barnes, Joseph A. Barrows, Mary Bates, John, Jr. Baxley, Captain J. M. Beaubien, John Baptist Beaubien, Mark Beaubien, Mark, Jr. Beaubien, Madore B., Trustee Beckford, Beers, Anthony Beggs, Reverend Stephen R. Bell, William A. Bemis, Aaron Bender, Major George Bennett, Hiram Bennett, H. S. Bennett, Thomas Benton, A. P. Bernard, Epolite J. Bertrand, B. H. Bickerdike, George 268 Blodgett, Avice Blodgett, Israel (Naperville) Blodgett, Israel P. Blodgett, Tyler K. Blood, Sullivan Boardman, Harry (Naper- ville) Boardman, Jonathan (Naper- ville) Boilvin, Nicholas Bond, Ezra Bond, William Bonna, Augusted Bourassa, Leon Bowen, Hiram 500 CHICAGOANS OF 1833 269 Botsford, Jabez Boucha, Henry Boyer, John K. Boyer, Dr. Valentine A. Bradford, Harriet Brady, S. P. Breed, Ad. T. Breed, Art Briscoe, Benjamin Britton, Joseph Brodeur, J. Bt. Brookfield, William Brooks, Henry Brooks, Samuel L. Brown, Mrs. Elizabeth Brown, Mrs. Cynthia Brown, James Brown, Jesse B. Brown, Lemuel Brown, Rufus Brown, Samuel Brown, William H. Brownell, Jeremiah Brush, Henry L. Bronson, Myron K. Bumgarden, Morris Burbie, Cynthia Burk, James Burnett, Timothy Burtis, Richard Caldwell, Billy; Chief Saukonosh Calhoun, John Camp, Samuel G. J. D. Campbell, James B. Carpenter, Gilbert Carpenter, Nathaniel Carpenter, Philo Carrier, Lamira Carrier, Laura Carver, David Carver, Daniel Casey, E. W. Caton, J. Dean Catram, O. P. Center, E. W. Chandler, Joseph Chapman, Benjamin Chapman, C. H. Chapman, George Chappel, Eliza Chassut, Jacques Chevalier, Cuis Chevalier, John Baptist Chevalier, Louis, Sr. Childress, James Childs, Luther Church, Henry Church, Thomas Clark, Elijah Clark, George H. Clark, T. B. Clark, Dr. W. Clark, Gustavus Clarke, Alfred Clarke, Dr. H. B. Clarke, John K. Cleveland, H. J. Cleveland, William P. Clevinger, Daniel B. Clybourn, Alexander Clybourn, Archibald Clybourn, Thomas Cobb, Silas B. Cohen, Peter Cole, Mrs. Julia Cole, W. C. Conger, Thomas Converse, J. P. Cooley, William Covell, T. R. Crane, Betsy Crane, Ebenezer Crissy, William Curry, John Curtis, Joseph Darling, Enoch Davidson, Robert A. Davis, John L. Dagenet, Noel Debaif, Samuel Delano, Loving Desplat, Bazille Devoe, Samuel Dickson, David Dimmick, E. Dodemead, David Dole, George W. Downer, J. Downer, Stephen E. Dumphy, James Dunn, Charles Durocher, J. Bt. Egan, William Bradshaw Ebereden, Samuel Ebert, Lizard Ellis, Samuel Elliott, William Elston, Daniel Ewing, G. W. Fake, Jacob Fay, H. K. Farron, Dean Field, P. Filer, Alson Finley, G. W. Ford, Ebenezer Foster, Amos Fisher, Robert Fleming, R. N. Flint, A. W. Foot, S. Forrister, Jane Foster, Alburn Foster, Caleb Fowle, Major John Fowler, Alva Fram, David Frame, David P. Francheres, Louis Frazer, William H. Freeman, Reverend Allen B. Friend, Aaron Frique, Peter Fruiend, Canon (Hickory Creek) Fruiend, Charles (Hickory Creek) Freeman, Ford Fullerton, Alexander N. 270 CHICAGO'S TRUE FOUNDER Gage, Stephen T. Gale, Stephen F. Galloway, James Ganaby, Lewis Gargyl, Orinda Gilbert, James Ginsday, James Gobb, J. P. Gonsolvus, James Haddock, E. W. Haight, D. S. Hall, Benjamin Hall, John S. Hamilton, Mrs. R. J. Hamilton, Richard J. Handorf, John Handy, H. T. Hanks, Warren Hanline, Jacob Hapgood, Dexter J. (Ap- good) Harkness, J. P. Harmon, C. Harmon, E. D. Harmon, Martin D. Harmon, Isaac Gooding, Joseph A. Gooding, William Goodrich, Ebenezer Goodrich, Pomeroy Goss, Oliver Gougen, William Grant, O. Graves, Dexter H Harmon, Isaac D. Harmon, Samanthia Harmon, Samuel Harris, Benjamin Harrison, Benjamin Harrison, L. D. Harrison, Wooster Hart, Reuben Hartzell, Thomas Hatch, Luther Hawley, Perce (Naperville) Hays, Isaac Heacock, Russell E. Herndon, John F. Herrick, R. E. Heslington, George Hickof, Peter (Naperville) Gray, Dane Green, William B. Grehn, Poient Griswold, Eben Groover, David Grover, N. D. Gurin, Byron Guy, John Hill, Edward Hill, Irad Hills, Levi Hix, Jonathan Hoffman H. B. Hogan, John Stephen Coates Hollenbeck, Clark Hopkins, Nathan Hotchkiss, Felicite Hovells, Thomas P. Howard, A. H. Howard, Philip Hoyt, Thomas Hutchins, Nathan Hugunin, Hiram Hunter, Edward E. Hubbard, Ahisa Idie, Christopher Jackson, Charles Jackson, Lucinda Jackson, Samuel T. Jewett, William Johnson, George I Ingersol, Chester J Johnson, Richard Johnson, Seth Johnson, Mrs. Seth Johnson, William S. Jones, B. Ingraham, Isaac Jones, William Jones, Williard Juneau, Solomon (Founder of Milwaukee) Kercheval, Gholson Kercheval, Lewis Killigoss, Isaac Kimball, Waller Kimberly, Dr. Edmund Stoughton Kingsbury, Julius J. B. Kingston, Paul Kinzie, James F. Kinzie, Robert A. Knapp, Ira O. Knickerbocker, A. V. Labaque, Francis Lacey, J. S. Laducier, Francis Laframboise, Alexis Laframboise, Claude Laframboise, Joseph Lafton, Lewis Lake, David Lake, Lewis Laughton, Bernard H. (Bar- ney Lawton) (Riverside) Laurence, James Leach, Truman Lee, James W. Letendre, J. B. Lewis, J. W. Lewis, P. J. Lorse, Jacob Losier, Oliver Loyd, A. Lucier, Charles Lumbard, Hiram Lunt, Richard M. (Naperville) 500 CHICAGOANS OF 1833 271 Mackel, James Mack, Stephen Makie, James Maggand, Benjamin Manall, Charles Mann, John Marquis, William Marshall, Chester Marshall, John Martin, Laurent Mason, Mathias M Maxwell, Dr. Philip Meeker, Joseph S. Merians, Mary Miller, Charles Miller, John Miller, Samuel Miner, Miranda Miner, F. T. Miranda, John Baptist Molere, Pierre Monreau, John Monselle, Charles Montgomery, L. W. Moore, Peter Morgan, E. Morrison, Orsemus Mulford, E. H. Mulford, James H. Murray, James Murray, Nelson Murray, Isaac McCarty, N. McDale, Alexander McDaniel, A. Mc McDeed, James (Hickory Creek) McDeed, John (Hickory Creek) McMannomy, John McKee, David N Napers, Joseph (Naperville) Ninson, William Natta, J. V. Noble, John Newberry, Walter L. Noble, Mark Northrop, F. B. Norton, Nelson R. Osborn, Caleb Ouilmette, Antoine Ouilmette, Michael Owen, Emeline Hotchkiss Owen, Thomas Jefferson Vance Pam, Edward Parsons, T. E. Patterson, Jacob G. Pothier, James Pease, C. H. Pearsons, Hiram Peck, P. F. W. Peet, Leslie Perkey, Joseph Perrin, Julius Perry, Nelson Peter Pettijohn, George Pettijohn, Jacob Phelps, Noah Plumer, S. F. Plympton, Lauretta Peol, Green Poor, J. H. Porter, Reverend Jeremiah Pothier, (Potier), Jean Poulx, J. Bt. Powell, George Pratt, Oscar Price, Jeremiah Pruvis, Joshua Pruyne, Peter Pugsley, Augustus Rabbie, Jean Baptiste Reed, J. W. Rexford, Stephen Rice, Susannah Richard, Robert Kerr Richey, Thomas H. Rider, Edith R Rider, Eli A. Rinhart, James H. Roberts, Edmund Robinson, Alexander, Chief Che-che-pin-quay Robinson, Robert Roult, John Rowley, Calvin Runyon, Armstead (Hickory Creek) Russell, J. B. F. Rutherford, Salmon Ryan, Thomas Sanford, Rathburn Sargents, John K. Saver, Dill Sayres, James Scarrit, Isaac (Naperville) Schermerhorn, J. F. Secor, Jean Baptiste Scott, Philip See, Reverend William Scott, Stephen J. ( Naperville )Selver, Walter Scott, Willard ' Sergents, John L. Scott, Willis " " Sewell, John 272 CHICAGO'S TRUE FOUNDER Shapley, Morgan L. Shearman, H. C. Sherman, Silas W. Shedkoe, Christopher (Nap- erville) Sherwood, Stephen Shier, William Sloan, Douglas Smith, Chester Smith, E. K. Smith, H. C. Smith, Jeremiah Smith, Judrithan Smith, Leman Smith, Mathias Smith, S. W. Snow, George W. Sprague, David Spring, Giles Sproat, G. T. Stafford, B. P. Stearns, Pamer St. Cyr, Reverend J. M. I. Stule, H. S. Steele, Ashbel Steele, Richard Street, Ebenezer Steward, James Stewart, John Stinson, S. C. Stoner, George Story, Eben Stout, Samuel Stowell, Ralph Stowell, Walter Strong, Robert Sweet, Alanson Sweet, Richard M. Tabeaux, J. B. Talcott, Mancil Taylor, Anson H. Taylor, Augustin Taylor, Charles Taylor, Mrs. Charles Taylor, Mary Taylor William T. Teal, William Temple, Lewis Temple, Peter Temple, John T. Thibeaut, (Thibaut) Joseph Thompson, Enoch Thompson, John Thompson, Kobes Thompson, J. L. Thorn, Piatt Thrall, E. L. Tuller, Alden Tuller, Elan Turner, George F. Tuttle, J. B. U. Updyke, T. J. Vanderberg, M. Vanderwerker, Adam Van Eaton, David Vandine, John Van Horn, John Van Zandt, W. Vaughn, Dill Vaughn, James Wade, David, Walker, George H. Walker, Hugh Walker, Reverend Jesse Watkins, Henry Watkins, John Ward, Mrs. Ruth Warden, Peter Warren, Daniel Wayman, Samuel Webb, Loiza Welch, Michael Welch, Patrick Wellmaker, John W. Wells, Delaney Wenthworth, Elijah, Jr. Wenthworth, Elijah, Sr. West, H. C. Whistler, Major William Whitcomb, Aaron Whitehead, Henry Wilbourn, John S. Wies, R. Willsee, Philip Wilson, John Wilcox, Captain de Lafayette Wilcox, Mrs. S. G. Williams, Eli B. Williston, Robert Wisencraft, Charles Wooley, Jeddiah Woodruff, A. Woolf, James (Hickory Creek) Wrickey, Thomas H. Wright, John Wright, John S. Wright, Samuel Wright, Timothy Wright, Walter Y. Young, Richard M. Z. Zarley, J. W. NUMBERED REFERENCES In the text of this biography all important sources of the materials used have been noted, as a convenience to the reader. Where the origin of the information is not given, references are intro- duced by numbers. These numbered references are contained in this section of the work. Extensive use has been made of the files of the Indian Bureau at Washington where several hundred of Indian Agent Owen's communications are preserved. These files are elaborately indexed, giving the writer, the receiver, the date, and the nature of each communication. Where no allusion is made to the source of information, the context should offer an easy guide to an investigator who wishes to verify the text. The author has presumed to use information contained in standard works of history without giving references, in many cases, to avoid prolixity. He assumes that any person wishing to check up on the data given, will be familiar with the ordinary historical information current on the topic in which he is interested. The author has much knowledge in his possession that has not been incorporated in this volume. Where overwhelming evidence has justified him in drawing conclusions, or in having fixed opinions, these conclusions and opinions have been given freely; — though they have no more validity than the facts upon which they are founded. Chicago historians of an early day narrated Mr. Owen's activities mostly from accounts given by Richard J. Hamilton, who was associated with Chicago's First Chief Executive in an intimate way. Had Mr. Hamilton given a comprehensive, truthful and accurate recital of all the important facts he knew regarding Indian Agent Owen, much of the information given in this volume might have been recorded seventy-five years ago. As an example ot lost history, mention may be made of the school records prior to 1837. Mr. Hamilton had charge of these records from 1831 to 1837. They contained, no doubt, many references to the part played by Mr. Owen in the early development of schools in the Town of Chicago. For twenty-three years after this period Mr. Hamilton lived in this city and had ample opportunities to perpetuate the facts of Chicago's early school history from memory. If they were actually "lost" as has been indicated by tradition, School Commissioner Hamilton might have minimized this historical catastrophe ; but he did not do so except in a very limited way. The title of "Colonel" is properly attached to the name of Indian Agent Owen because of his military services at the time of the Black Hawk War. At one time he stated that if he could be supplied with 350 well armed and mounted men he would end this distressing trouble on the frontiers, by taking the field against the Saukees. However, by his own statement, he had no command in the militia of Michigan ; and certainly none in Illinois nor in the United States army. Consequently his title of "Colonel" must be considered as an honorary one, although well earned by actual service in war. The spelling of the word "Potawatomi" as used in the author's text is taken from the standard form adopted by the Smithsonian Institute of Washington, D. C. In all documents reproduced in quotations, the spelling of the name of this tribe is reproduced just as it was used by the writer of the particular document. Billy Caldwell's Indian name, as written by himself in various documents, was Saukonosh. There is no document bearing the popular spelling of Sauganash, as far as this author has been able to ascertain. In the Chicago Indian Treaty of 1833, Caldwell spelled his name, Saukonosh. In the Journal of this Treaty, Secretary Ewing spelled the name Saukonosh. In the Supplementary Treaty made September 27, by the "Wood" Potawatomi of the St. Joseph country, Caldwell again signed his name Saukonosh. There is one definite exception to this spelling, which merits some explanation. Caldwell signed his name Shaukanash to the Badin-Owen petition for four sections of land upon which to estab- lish a Catholic school in the Chicago region. As the text of this petition was written by Father Badin, and the priest wrote Caldwell's name as Sau-ka-nash, it is probable that Caldwell signed the petition with Shau-ka-nash in order to conform to the spelling used by Father Badin. But in all other cases, where he wrote his name and spelled it of his own volition, Caldwell used Saukonosh as his Indian name. There are numerous documents bearing the name of Chief Saukonosh, written by his own hand. The reader should keep in mind that there is no standard way, except arbitrary choice — for spelling a Redman's Indian name. Since none of the United Tribesmen could write his own name, except Chief Saukonosh, the English spelling of his gutteral cognomen was subject to the skill of the white man who reproduced the sound in English characters. Take the case of Alexander Robinson. His name appears in the Badin-Owen petition as Che-ge-pin-quay. In the Chicago Indian Treaty of 1833 it is spelled: Che, che, bin, quay; both in the "Prairie" and the "Wood" Indians' treaty, as written, doubtless, by Secretary Ewing. The document accepting the Amended Treaty of October 1, 1834, bears the name: Tshee-tshee-beeng-quay ; which spelling occurs in one or more of Indian Agent Owen's official letters; and illustrates one white man's idea of reproducing the sounds of Robinson's Indian name in English syllables. 273 274 CHICAGO'S TRUE FOUNDER Andreas states that "'Robinson's Indian name was Che-chee-bing-way, or. as one historian spells it, Che-che-pin-gua.' " However, he does not inform his readers who told him that was the way to spell Robinson's Indian name; nor does he give the historian's name who furnishes an alternate spelling. This author considers Che-che-pin-quay as the best combination of English letters to reproduce Robinson's Indian name, because it harmonizes fairly well with the various spellings as used by Mr. Owen, Father Badin, Secretary Ewing, and Andreas. The reader is free to use any one of the five spellings given herein for Chief Robinson's Indian name and he may defend his choice by authentic documents. Indian Agent Owen's spelling: Tshee-tshee-beeng-quay, is perhaps the most exact reproduction of the sounds composing Robinson's name; while Father Badin's: Che-ge-pin-quay, is likely the simplest reproduction of these sounds in conversation. In reproducing letters and documents, the author has retained the spelling and punctuation of the original without alteration whenever these letters or documents are enclosed in quotations. The reader, therefor, need not be disturbed to find a variety of ways for spelling the same name or word in quoted matter, especially the name of the Potawatomi and certain Indian chiefs. REFERENCE NUMBERS Ref. A. Page 2. Files of the Adjutant-General's office, Springfield, 111. Ref. 2. Page 2. State archives — Centennial Library, Springfield, 111. Ref. 3. Pages 3, 6. Nellie Kinzie Gordon in The Fort Dearborn Massacre says John Kinzie carried a knife with which to "defend" himself against Lalime. Andreas in the History of Chicago gives the traditional family account that Kinzie was unarmed. The date of the tragedy has not been re- vealed by the Kinzies, though they knew it. No reason has ever been given for concealing the date. John Kinzie fled to Milwaukee to escape the wrath of the settlement, and to recover from a wound he is said to have received in the deadly encounter. The time of the tragedy corresponds pretty closely to the date when a band of Indians descended upon the Chicago settlement, April 6, 1812, and killed two men at Lee's place. It is stated that they were "Eleven Winnebagoes, ' and not Potawatomi. The Winnebago country was in what is now northern Wisconsin. There is much untold history connected with the killing of Lalime which the Kinzie Mythology has never revealed. Victoire Mirandeau's father, with whom Kinzie took refuge in Milwaukee after the homicide, doubtless wrote an account of what happened in his diary. But his diary was destroyed after he died. Mirandeau was working at the fort when the killing took place. Ref. 4. Page 5. Consult any good history of the Black Hawk War. Ref. 5. Page 10. "Kentucky Land Grants," various publications can be found in any well equipped library dealing with this subject. Ref. 6. Page 11. State archives, Centennial Library, Springfield, 111. Ref. 7. Pages 17, 219. Randolph County took care of a certain pauper for years, whose name was Pierre Richard. The County Commissioners Court regularly provided the sheriff with money for this purpose, in 1823 and thereabouts. He seems to have been the only person so favored with the beneficence of the community. Perhaps he was a scion of the family of Pierre Richard who helped George Rogers Clark, as related in Chapter Twenty-one. 8. Page 21. See Chapter Twenty-one. Pages 29, 87, 193, 195, 196, 197, 198, 199, 200, 201, 202. Files of the Indian Bureau, under names, date and topic. Pages 170, 214, 232, 233. Letter book of Elias Kent Kane, Chicago Historical Society. Page 65. Robert Simmerwell was a cutler by trade, and was the official blacksmith at Carey Mission. See Baptist Indian Missions by Rev. Isaac McCoy. Ref. 12. Page 82. Archives of Notre Dame University Library. Ref. 13. Page 86. Life and Times of Stevens Thomson Mason by Hemens. Mason was sworn in as Sec- retary of Michigan Territory by Governor Cass, July 25, 1831. On August 6, following, George B. Porter became Governor to succeed Cass. Porter left for Lancaster, Pa., his former home on October 13. He returned to his duties at Detroit, June 11, 1832. In the meantime Mason acted as governor. Ref. 14. Page 87. State Papers — Reynolds — Centennial Library, Springfield, 111. Legislative proceedings 1831-1832. Ref. 15. Pages 80, 88. White men in Illinois furnished scalping knives and tomahawks to the Saukee savages to butcher white men, women and children. William Marshall, Indian Agent at Logansport, under date of July 26, 1832, reports to Secretary of War Cass the capture of a con- signment of war supplies intended for the hostile Sacs of Black Hawk. The letter reads in part: "... They took from him two kegs of powder, 100 lbs. of lead, 22 Tomahawks, 40 Scalping knives and 200 flints. The Individual said he was a citizen of Illinois, had purchased the articles at Detroit, and would not surrender an item unless compelled by force of arms to do so. That he had a right to travel through the country clandestinely, and should at all times do so, whenever . 8 . 9 . 10 . 11 REFERENCES 275 he thought proper. That if they persisted in taking his goods, he would inform the proper authorities thereof, and have them severely punished for their rash attempt. My men, however, paid but little regard to his threats. They took the articles, brought them to me, and are now here expecting advice from the Department. An Indian, in whom I have the utmost confidence, informed me that about the same time 5 or 6 Sauks were seen prowling about the Kankakee swamps." In this rendezvous there were two "almost imperceptible" roads, "exceedingly cirtuitous," by means of which the warriors of Black Hawk made contact with munitions brought from Canada, Mr. Marshall's letter relates. The document reveals what might have happened had the "Wood" Indians permitted the use of the Great Sauk Trail through their country for conveyance of war materials. Ref. 16. Page 92. See voluminous reports of Sub-Indian Agent Henry Gratiot, files of the Indian Bureau. Gratiot's district was in the war zone. He reported that the Saukees flew the British flag ; and he kept Governor Reynolds and General Atkinson informed of the movements and dis- positions of the hostile Sacs. Gratiot had no difficulty, it seems, in locating Black Hawk at any time. It seems incredible that Black Hawk could settle his entire tribe; cross the state of Illinois with three hundred and more warriors ; hold a council with the Potawatomi at the Big Woods ; return practically unopposed from the Chicago region ; gather up his tribe of men, women and children and cross Wisconsin to the Mississippi river ; unless General Atkinson and Governor Reynolds virtually permitted him to do so. Ref. 17. Page 199. A copy of the War Department's order giving Indian Agent Owen permission to use troops from Fort Dearborn is preserved in the Chicago Historical Society archives. Ref. 18. Page 132. There were about two hundred and fifty claimants named in Schedule B of the Chicago Indian Treaty. The population of Cook county alone was 3,265 in 1833, says the Chicago Democrat of November 25, 1835. Mr. Andreas does not state what was the population of the Northwest at that time. His evident purpose in publishing the statement was to cast odium upon the Treaty rather than to state a historical fact. Ref. 19. Page 140. Congress appropriated $15,000 in 1828 to defray the expenses of an exploring party of Potawatomi under Rev. Isaac McCoy "to visit the country west of the Mississippi," as stated in a letter of authority sent to Mr. McCoy by Thomas L. McKenney of the War Department under date of June 10, which is preserved in the files of the Indian Bureau. See Baptist Indian Missions by McCoy. The perversity of Mr. Andreas in permitting his staff to defame the Owen Indian Treaty is a shocking example of what harm can be done by a writer of history who is "without honor" and does not "intend justice." See the letter of Captain Gordon to Indian Agent Owen, July 27, 1835, (Chapter 16): "There is no country on earth better adapted to the residence of the Indians." Ref. 20. Page 142. See Government reports on the prosperity of the United Tribes in the western country after they left Chicagoland: Potawatomi in the West. Ref. 21. Pages 159, 203. Father St. Cyr's parish record book is preserved by the Paulist Fathers of St. Mary's Parish, Chicago. Ref. 22. Pages 186, 208. Catholic Church in Chicago by Rev. Gilbert J. Garraghan, S. J. of Loyola Uni- versity, Chicago. Ref. 23. Page 213. Owen to Cass, July 29, 1832 — letter reproduced in Chapter 12: "He (Gen. Scott) requested my place of residence, for his headquarters. I yielded at once." Ref. 24. Page 182. Patent granted to Cook county, November 10, 1831, for lots 1 to 8, inclusive, in Block 39; lots 3 and 5 in Block 19; 3 and 5 in Block 20; and lot 8 in Block 21. Block 39 is where the City Hall and County building now stand. Blocks 19, 20, 21, ran from La Salle street to the river north of Lake street. Ref. 25. Page 180. Charlotte Hotchkiss stated that the Owen property was located where the Chicago City Hall was built. She evidently referred to the City Hall which Mr. Owen intended should be built on the north side of the river. As Richard J. Hamilton had a receipt for the Owen lots issued to himself in 1836 while the Owen estate was in course of probate, it might seem that he was the "friend of the family" referred to in the family tradition of the "Owen Inheritance." About this time Mr. Hamilton and James Herrington purchased the section of land where the Geneva Court House stands, and for a considerable time these two gentlemen owned the Town of Geneva, Illinois. Ref. 26. Pages 184, 204. Henry Hamilton in The Epic of Chicago doubtless based his recital of this episode on an article which appeared in the Chicago Daily News of October 31, 1931, in which it is stated that "Robert Kinzie could have had land under the World's largest building." Wolf Point was on the west side, and, of course, looked "down the main river." It makes no difference how the ambiguous phrase "down the river" is interpreted, as it appears in Wau-Bun, both the land under the Merchandise Mart and at Wolf Point belonged to the town of Chicago and could not be subject to a preemption claim. Title to the land was held by the Illinois and Michigan Canal through federal grant, and the State of Illinois could not permit preemption rights to stand against this property. Ref. 27. Page 185. In the same issue appeared the notice of the marriage of John Bates, Jr., to Miss Harriet E. Gould, on November 13, 1833. This couple celebrated their golden wedding in Chicago on November 13, 1883, as announced by the old Chicago Times. Ref. 28. Pages 208, 220, 221. The two letters mentioned are preserved among the archives of Loyola Univewity Library, Chicago, as well as the letter of Dr. W. W. Kane to the author. 276 CHICAGO'S TRUE FOUNDER Ref. 29. Page 190. Sub-Agent Gholson Kercheval was the brother-in-law of Indian Agent Owen. This document reflects the high character of Mr. Owen as a public officer. He doubtless held the opinion that since Mr. Kercheval's services to the Potawatomi were performed in line of duty as sub-agent, he should not accept so large a gratuity from these tribesmen as a reward for a public service. The grateful Indians, however, were determined to make this gift to their good friend, Mr. Kercheval, and Indian Agent Owen's protests were of no avail in preventing them from carrying into effect their generous intention. Ref. 30. Pages 144, 190, 204. Property holdings of Thomas J. V. Owen in Chicago as recorded with the Chicago Title and Trust Company were: Lot 4, Block 2, warranty deed from Daniel Newton, "with house thereon," June 3, 1831 ; recorded, June 20, 1835. The warranty title was never transferred by the Owen Family. On July 5, 1836, while Mr. Owen's estate was in course of probate, the "Treasurer of the Canal" gave a "receipt" for this property to Richard J. Hamilton. Upon this "receipt" the present title to the property rests — not upon^the original warranty title held by the Owen Family. At the time Mr. Hamilton took out this "receipt" he had ceased to be probate judge, according to the historian Andreas. In 1835 he was elected Recorder of Deeds for Cook county. One of the real estate entries on Mr. Owen's property obscures the title as it seems to indicate that he bought only the house which stood on the lot. It is difficult to understand why Mr. Owen should have taken out a war- ranty deed on a house, or why he should have taken the trouble to record this warranty deed four years after he made the purchase from Daniel Newton. If lot 4 in block 2 were an unsold canal lot, one would expect the treasurer of the canal to have issued a "patent" to Mr. Hamilton on July 5, 1836. Since only a "receipt" was given, it would indicate that another person was the original buyer of this canal lot. Since the canal lots were sold for cash in September, 1830, Mr. Owen's lot could not have been forfeited to the treasurer of the canal unless Daniel Newton failed to pay for it. In this case, it would be most astonishing that such an alert person as Mr. Owen, who was "a wealthy man" in 1835, and who bought numerous parcels of Chicago property, should have failed to purchase for his family the lot on which his house stood in case or default by the original buyer. The descendants of the Indian agent now living in St. Louis, declare that they were swindled out of their property by some "friend of the family," on the authority of the widow of Col. Owen, who resided in East St. Louis for some five or six years before her death. The Indian Agent's home stood at the southeast corner of North Water street and Clarke street, 180 feet on Clarke and 80 feet on North Water street. Lot 5, Block 19, northeast corner of Lake and Wells streets, by warranty deed from the Cook county commissioners, April 3, 1832. Sold to Peter Bolles, August 21, 1834 by warranty deed. Lot 8, Block 21, purchased by Thomas J. V. Owen and Richard J. Hamilton, April 5, 1832, Cook county commissioners. Sold to John S. C. Hogan, November 8, 1832. Located on old South Water street between Franklin and Market streets. Lot 5, Block 20 northeast corner of Lake and Franklin streets. Original Town, warranty deed from Cook county commissioners to Thomas J. V. Owen and Richard J. Hamilton, April 5, 1832. Sold to John T. Temple, May 9, 1833. Upon the rear lot, Mr. Temple built the "Temple Building," which was the First Baptist Church in Chicago. Lot 3, Block 23, School lands, Monroe, Adams and Desplaines, 101 feet on Monroe, "Patent from Governor of Illinois," dated December 7, 1835. Sold by Thomas J. V. Owen to Amos C. Ham- ilton, warranty deed, May 21, 1835. Lots 8 and 9, Kinzie Addition, Block 10, second and third lots on Old Michigan, now Austin avenue, running north toward Illinois street. Bought from Robert A. Kinzie, March 22, 1833 "with other lands." Sold in 1857 by Mrs. Owen. Lots 4 and 9, Block 12, Kinzie Addition, bought from Robert A. Kinzie, March 22, 1833. Sold to Arthur Bronson, August 8, 1833, By Mr. Owen. Located near State street and Austin avenue. Undivided quarter of the west half of northwest quarter of Section 9, from Kinzie street to Chicago avenue, on North Halsted street. Mr. Owen bought this forty acres jointly with Samuel Russell from Mark Noble on September 30, 1833. On October 25, 1833, Mr. Owen sold his one half interest to Samuel Russell. This tract became the Russell and Mather Addition. In 1835, Gurdon S. Hubbard, in associa- tion with Russell and Mather sold one half of this property for $80,000, "sight unseen," at public auction in New York City. Mr. Owen sold his one-half interest for $800. Lot 1, Block 84, school lands, located on south side of Jackson boulevard, between Franklin and Market streets, 99 feet on both streets, bought from school commissioner Hamilton, October 28, 1833 for $15,200. Sold by Mr. Owen's widow and children in 1853 for $27,500. Blocks 105 and 108, between Griswold street, (first street west of Clark) and the Chicago river. Block 105 cost Mr. Owen $160.00 and block 108 cost him $335.50. Purchased October 24, 1833. Sold May 21, 1835 to Elijah K. Hubbard, who lived in Middletown, Connecticut. In addition to these real estate holdings, Mr. Owen erected some buildings, as he indicates in a letter to Senator Kane, (Chicago Historical Society) saying that he did not wish to leave Chicago as he had been to considerable expense in building. Ref 31 Page 225. On the Amended Treaty of October 1, 1834, the name of E. M. Owen appears as a witness. This document is in the form of a communication addressed to Thos. J. V. Owen, U. S. Indian Agent" and was signed By Billy Caldwell and six Indian chiefs, who had been "specially delegated with power and authority to effect this negotiation." The photostat in possession of the author of this narrative is a reproduction of a handwritten copy of the original on file in the Indian Bureau at Washington. Mrs. Owen usually signed her name "Em. Owen, with the "m" slightly separated from the "E" and a copyist might easily read it "E.M.Owen. There was no other person in early Chicago named "E. M. Owen," as far as this writer has discovered. REFERENCES 277 Ref. 32. Page 214. Mrs. Carr says Indian agent lived just outside the garrison. Ref. 33. Kane Letters, Chicago Historical Society. Ref. 34. Pages 165, 179. An account of this railroad meeting, taken from the Vandalia Advocate of September 28, 1833, is reproduced in the "Conclusion" of this volume, page 233. Ref. 35. Page 157. See Father Badin's communication to Governor Porter, given in Chapter VIII., page 77. 36. Page 136. The astonishing declaration by the brothers, John H. and Robert A. Kinzie, that there was a Mrs. McKenzie at the Massacre of Fort Dearborn, has caused the author of this biography much perplexity of mind. All writers on this mysterious tragedy give the names of the women present at the fight as (From Quaife) Mesdames Fielding Corbin, Heald. Helm, Lee, Holt, Burns, Simmons and Needs. Mrs. John Kinzie, wife of the Indian trader, was in Chicago but not at the battle; and she did not lose any children. The allusion of the Kinzie brothers, in the de- fense of their claims, seems to be to Mrs. Catherine McKenzie, whose name appears in Schedule B of the Chicago Indian Treaty opposite the sum of $1,000, which was held in trust for her by R. A. Forsyth. Since Forsyth signed the Kinzie defense document, his joint statement that Mrs. McKenzie was at the massacre and lost two children, cannot be challenged except on the assumption that it was a plain falsehood intended to deceive the United States Senate as it must have already deceived the treaty commissioners at Chicago. Another bewildering statement, is that James Kinzie and his mother, Mrs. Margaret McKenzie (Hall), were captives among the Indians and "sus- tained sufferings and privations incident to that appalling situation." James Kinzie was nineteen years of age at the time of the Fort Dearborn catastrophe. His mother had been a captive among the Indians from her tenth to her twentieth year, approximately, 1778 to 1788. After she had been ransomed from her captors by Indian Trader John Kinzie, she became his companionate wife; and her son, James, was born in 1793. If she were in Chicago in 1812, with three young children, (two of whom were doubtless in the fatal wagon in which twelve were killed) she might have effected her escape by appealing to the Indians that she was a squaw. She spoke the Indian tongue and had been reared among the savages, and certainly knew what to say to an Indian in appealing to his protection. However, since her name was Margaret, while the treaty beneficiary was Catherine McKenzie, whose identity the Kinzie Mycologists have not revealed, the very matter itself enjoins a formal conclusion at this time. This reference is offered to show once more how the early history of Chicago has been perverted by persons who knew the historical facts but who have refused to tell the whole truth about them. Ref. 37. Pages 132, 181. Gurdon S. Hubbard's good faith and honesty are assailed by the man who employed him, Robert Stuart, head of the American Fur Company, under date of August 26, 1834, in a letter written at Mackinac and addressed to Secretary of War Lewis Cass. The letter reads in full: "Dear Sir: On 4th inst. I took the liberty of addressing a few lines to you respecting the claim which was allowed us at the Chicago Treaty last fall ; but having rec'd. no answer: and finding that Col. Owen & Mr. Caldwell are on their way to visit you; I beg leave once more to bring the subject before you ; that it may be understood in all its bearings viz: "G. S. Hubbard, was engaged as clerk, or trader, to the Am. Fur Co., on salary, from the year 1818 until he took an interest in the trade he carried on, which continued until 1832-33 — and in the courses of which he became indebted to us, say $6,000, part of this was loss on Indian trade- part for goods, debts, & real estate we made over to him — for his loss in Indian trade. He put in his claim in the name of Noel Vasseur, for say $3,000; and reed. $1,800 at the Treaty of 1832, beside a claim of say $7,500 for his private account. Thus you see that care was taken of what he was interested in: and in presenting our claim last fall, no part of the loss on the trade in which he was interested was included. (Hubbard was allowed $5,573 at the Treaty of Tippecanoe — Editor.) "Yet he succeeding in inducing the chiefs to believe otherwise, and got them to request, (by their Agent, Col. Hamilton) that the commissioners should pay our claim of $21,491 — on condition that we should relinquish all claim we might have against Hubbard. This I knew nothing of, until two of the commissioners had left Chicago, which prevented of course a proper understanding being had. I called on the Indian Chiefs, Caldwell and Robinson, & explained the subject to them, upon which they expressed their surprise, & stated that they understood from Mr. Hubbard, that the debt he owed us, formed part of the claim against the Indians ; that it was on that ground alone they interfered. "Thus you perceive the injustice done us through the whole proceeding: for in the first place, the chiefs would not have interfered at all, had they known Hubbard's debt formed no part of our claim, but was merely a private transaction of our own. Then they (as you will see by their cer- tificate herewith) requested the commissioners to admit our whole claim of $21,491, on the con- dition of our releasing Hubbard; but we were allowed only $17,000, and the condition of release still attached. "The chiefs afterwards offered us % of their trade west of the Mississippi to make up for our loss, provided a certain trader should go to conduct it ; but he now declines, as they do not go west this fall, as was then agreed on — may I beg for advice from you in the premises, especially as I am informed the Senate has made some resolution adverse to our claim, unless we release Hubbard — we are willing to release him on being paid the difference between the $21,491 which the chiefs required to be admitted and the $17,000 which was allowed by the Commissioners. Can this be got from the Indian annuities & or how. I hope you will excuse the liberty I have taken, & believe me to be with respect and esteem, Dear Sir: "Yours truly, "Robert Stuart, "His Excly. Lewis Cass." "Agt. Am. Fur Co. 278 CHICAGO'S TRUE FOUNDER WU»^ ^Lt^JUb ****«*+ ~tft*» iJ^lL %+*, banc #L SaO; TttictU, &fa£~ *f AjU**^ a*+-i/L *W«^^- s£t£ %kJ2* d£&* &**£j^l **^t& 44 'my £>* Uh^A**j ^th/bc* JkrttuJ' &~/>~+y dj^cf^i*- *&&> 4t£t**-mm*A~ /*t+JM*&~'2u*~ //^r-r-A/- foot, j Ax_^fi**f,~4»4- r^fiuu f/ ^uCL- c&*~-* *r£* ML)/ /*> AftUt^J- fa t/*U+> C<6c&n~ th- ifH/**^, fat- *Lf*U~ct- &A*J*r^-*S Mj4r* fat-Jo*** Jb*^ , a**--*^ £ rtux> t«jttc&^, d-~$6 ^h^»^lJ /tuJU^ii /&t<1lI*< fya*f~->f VfA^rf*** &kAJc~~, b^ty^, s»~* *4&^ tyijL **M^f»u t o*v*^c<~ju* */*^2u**r &<■ * c^uuu^ut- %*&*rjfctu y ' Otntue., t fa+ Hkfaju, 0>fair~* rf e£/y*4~,4lfa4r^ THREE SIDES TO THIS STORY. Richard J. Hamilton affirms that the Indians instructed him "not to allow any portion of the claim of the American Fur Company" unless Gurdon S. Hubbard and James Kinzie were absolved of their debt. Commis- sioners Owen and Weatherford declare Hamilton said the Indians instructed him to REFERENCES 279 &&**J>, tr6. /". /tJ3 i&fr) HkM <£&&* //*^tfj / /ktL 4»ji<*tf»u t c/ufc dirt, ithotu, 4t&^ UstL a/i^^, <&foz*o *- fr**. AJUtikzj ziUtr /-^r-r^> o£*£*it«J &a~/X