606.1 C43TS The Story of OLD FORT DEARBORN and its connection with A Century of Progress INTERNATIONAL EXPOSITION CHICAGO 1933 A CSNTJft/ SCMIOWCSOS &oG>. I Q RATEFUL acknowledgment is made herewith to Doctor Milo M. Quaife of the Burton Library of Detroit. Michigan, author of "Chicago and the Old North- west." for assistance in the prep- aration of this study of Old Fort Dearborn. We are also under special obli- gation to the authorities of the Chicago Historical Society for the use of documents and illustrations in their possession. James Alton James. Northwestern University. Chairman of the Com- mittee on History of "A Century of Progress." o £ ^ O ^ ^The^ Story of Old ForL^ ^Dearborn-* FORT DEARBORN, the first completed unit of A Century of Progress, has sprung up over night in sunny safety, typifying the long march from wilderness to sky-scraper, from candlelight to electricity, from oxcart to airplane. No fear of des- perate Indians, no battle with the wilderness, no slow and tedious struggle with ineffective tools and crude materials impeded the progress of this building. Its log embattlements rise serenely amid the tumultuous noises of a great city, looking away from the topless towers of modern man's mechanical genius to face the blue waters on the shore of which more than one hundred years ago, its counterpart was built by laboring hands of pioneers, hurrying to secure a place of protec- tion against the Red Man and the silent terrors of the wilderness. The new fort stands on Leif Eriksen Drive at 26th Street, not far from the site of the Dearborn Massacre. To have placed it upon the original location would have been impossible. That ground is now covered with sky-scrapers costing millions of dollars for construction, as against the few paltry hundreds that went into that historic first structure. Thoughts race back a century and inherited memories become real, when one steps through the massive log gate into the stockaded inclosure of Fort Dearborn, a faithful reproduction of the pioneer fort. Double rows of log palisades, ten and five feet in height are so arranged that the blockhouses command not only the space with- out the four walls, but also that between the two palisades. Had an enemy scaled the outer barrier he would have found himself in a cul-de-sac which could be swept at every point by rifle and cannon. At the northeast and southwest corners of the inclosure stand blockhouses — their topmost points of vantage reached by ladders. Narrow slits are in the walls through which the soldiers might train their guns. To the left of the entrance gate are the soldiers' bar- racks, and at right angles and on opposite sides of the parade f3] LIBRARY B. CF I. IIRSANA-CHAMPAIG? ground are the officers' quarters, two stories high with shingled roofs. On the east side are the commanding officers' quarters — just south of the building which housed the supplies. Between this building and the northeast blockhouse is the powder magazine. In the center of the grounds the lofty flagpole flies our country's flag. Materials for the original fort were simple and easily obtained. But for the reproduction much study and effort were required. Norway pines were brought from Wisconsin to furnish logs for the stockades and the buildings. Stone that had lain in the open many years, and so had a weathered effect, was used for the fireplaces. Hammered iron hinges were especially blacksmithed for the doors and the gate. Sheets of glass as full of flaws as possible were chosen to give a semblance to the crude little windows of a century ago. The seventy-foot flagpole was not easy to find. But at last a tall straight spruce of required height was spotted near Shawano, Wisconsin, and brought by truck to Chicago — the last touch to com- plete the fort. Only eight weeks for the task, as compared with more than six months spent in erecting the original. It is fitting indeed, that in an Exposition whose theme is that of "A Century of Progress," the first step should have been the repro- duction of a famed and essentially pioneer undertaking. For "A Century of Progress" will portray the dramatized story of the last one hundred years as science has moulded it. Here will be seen the nature and significance of scientific discoveries as they affect the life and happiness of mankind ; the story of industrial changes ; the opening up of new frontiers as migration . moved westward; the amazing epic of electricity — a little sun in a glass bottle — a voice in Paris heard in Hong Kong — dancing figures on a screen. Here, too, will be pictured the growth of agriculture dependent upon scientific discoveries; great industrial plants learning lessons of effi- ciency from the quiet of a research laboratory ; and the development of the educational and social life of humanity. War Clouds Gather \%A.R between the Americans and the Indians was inevitable. War that was to culminate on that fateful fifteenth of August, 1812, in the "Massacre of Fort Dearborn." War that was to open finally and forever to the white man all roads into the rich and vast western region. The drama of that struggle to gain and hold this territory dates back to the earliest trappers, and to in- triguing councils of great powers foreseeing the coming wealth of the west. Spain, France, England, America, no one of these but [4] had eyes for this far-lying richness. No one but would put the tongue in the cheek when a treaty was not to his advantage. On the far outskirts of these wary assemblies, gathered the Red Men, grim in their purpose to keep their homes — to maintain their tribal independence. War! There could be no other outcome! An Advantageous Location JtIANY of the factors that operate today to make Chicago the third city of the world, were in evidence in the latter part of the eighteenth century, and were responsible for this wilder- ness site becoming the center of a long struggle. How early ad- vantages of its location were realized is shown in records, where the paths of priests, trappers, Indians, ar.d explorers all led to this marshy place by the lake, with its winding, sand-choked river. Its geographic importance then, as now, was due primarily to its strategic location, both for war and for commerce. Lake and river communication, north, east, south, and west, with the possibility in the minds of the earliest settlers that the old Chicago Portage would some day be replaced by canals, making a lake to the gulf waterway — gave hostages to commerce. The background of lake, the river, the flatness of the country, afforded protection from the enemy, so that it was practically impossible for a garrison to be taken by sur- prise. A fertile surrounding country meant food in abundance. No more did the pioneer need than means of transportation, pro- tection from his enemies, and an adequate supply of game, fish, grains and fruits. As early as 1673, Louis Joliet was impressed with the ease of communication between the Great Lakes and the Gulf and even had in mind a project to connect Lake Michigan with the Illinois River by means of a canal, doing away with both the romance and inconveniences of the famous Chicago Portage. French trappers and traders passed through on their way to adventure and gain. Over the Portage, and down the Illinois through Lake Peoria, north and south they traveled, but always com- ing or going to Chicago, where there seems to have been not only a landing place, but something of a permanent settlement. At the southern end of Lake Michigan in those days was a thriv- ing Indian village where more than four hundred Pottawatomies took advantage of this choice location. With them or near them, sometimes for a few weeks or days, sometimes for periods of years, various white families made their homes. [5] With all these interests, advantages, and possibilities it is not strange that Chicago became a recognized trade-center as early as the Revolutionary War. The city itself had its beginnings in those stormy days and owes much of its early security to George Rogers Clark, "whose stubborn retention of the grip upon this region which he had gained in 1779 was the principal factor in securing it to the United States in the negotiations which resulted in the treaty of 1783." The long contest between Spain, France, Great Britain and Amer- ica for possession of the Northwest came again to a head at the close of the Revolutionary War, when an effort was made to limit the boundaries of the new nation on the west by the Allegheny Mountains. The withdrawal of the British troops, the demands of the American government, combined to make the problem of the Northwest exigent. Desire to retain control of the fur trade, and necessarily of the Indians as well, played its part in the melee. While undoubtedly dreams of unfounded riches in the far west still teased the imaginations of people who had looked upon Amer- ica as a land of gold and youth. All these grumblings of conflict, however, could not restrain the rush of settlers that crossed the Appalachian ranges. Fear of the Indians north of the Ohio drove many of the homeseekers to the country south. Then followed the passing of the Ordinance of 1787 and provision for civil government and for the ultimate formation of states in the Northwest. General Arthur St. Clair be- came the governor of this first territory, and with the founding of Marietta the following year, the tide of immigration into the west may be said to have fairly begun. Tribes Disregard Treaties m. HIS did not help the situation with the Indian tribes numbering, all told, 8,000 warriors. Treaties were made and disregarded by a large number of the tribes affected. This may have been due to their misunderstanding of the terms — perhaps to the fact that they had not all been represented in the groups participat- ing in the treaty — and sadly enough, it may have been due to the Indian's knowledge of the fact that the white man did not always hold his treaty obligations sacred. Disturbances multiplied. The national government, exhausted from its eight years' struggle, was reluctant to go into a war. In 1790 the Indians and the Americans were at each other's throats. Boats conveying settlers down the Ohio were stopped and plundered. Marauding expeditions increased. [6] The Governor called for troops. General Josiah Harmar, command- ing the expedition from Fort Washington (Cincinnati) against the Miamis, struck no terror into their hearts. His campaign was deemed a "mortifying failure." General St. Clair's advance came a few months later. With a sick commander, the disorderly and demoralized troops "stumbled northward through the wilderness. At the end of October, with the enemy within striking distance, some sixty of the militia de- serted in a body and the unfortunate commander made the fatal blunder of sending back one of his two regiments of regulars after them." Disaster followed disaster. The end came on November third, 1791, on a branch of the Wabash River. After a terrible defeat the troops retreated in disorder, and "the most disastrous campaign ever waged by an American army against the Indians was at last at an end." "Mad Anthony s" Tactics THEN came Major Anthony Wayne. "Mad An- thony," as he was called. Might he not be expected to cope with the tactics of the savage warriors? He reorganized the ragged remnants of St. Clair's army and spent the winter drilling his troops. He made successful use of scouts — a branch of frontier service of which the unfortunate St. Clair had failed to avail himself. And again — for this was a picturesque and significant group, there came into the picture another character destined also to stand out vividly against the murky background of warfare — even until he found his end at the massacre which laid Fort Dearborn low. William Wells, kidnapped when a child by the Indians, was brought up by Little Turtle, the wise and honorable chief of the Miamis. The chief became attached to the white lad, cared for him as his own son and finally made him his son-in-law. For years, Wells was one of the Indians, living with them, learn- ing their tactics, their methods of warfare and even fighting with them against the whites. At last — no one seems to know why or how — he left his Indian life and returned to his own people with whom he fought against his former comrades. A measure of the calibre of the man is best taken by the un- changing admiration felt for him throughout his life by both whites and Indians. But the significance, from the point of view of Chicago, which attaches to Wayne's successful campaign, culminating in the Battle [7] of Fallen Timbers, is the Treaty of Greenville concluded on August 10, 1795. This treaty brought to an end the long warfare in the Ohio Valley and achieved in reality the boundaries of the Northwest as established in 1783 by the treaty of Paris. The Northwest was won. Moreover, a specific item in the treaty provided for a reserva- tion as follows: "One piece of Land, six miles square at the mouth of the Chikago River, emptying into the Southwest end of Lake Michigan where a Fort formerly stood." "Mad Anthony" Wayne had encompassed the site of Chicago. Fort Dearborn Established i%.LL EVENTS were shaping toward the establish- ment of Fort Dearborn. The value of this site had long been recognized, and the tradition of a former fort persisted, as shown by the phrase in the treaty "Where a fort formerly stood." More than once during the French regime recommendations were made to the French government in favor of a fort at Chicago. The British had proposed establishing British depots along the portages, espe- cially at the Chicago Portage. And Wayne, the successful warrior, realized its strategic importance by his demand that this land be ceded to serve as a site for a future fort. "Two facts, both of great importance in American history, ac- count for the establishment of Fort Dearborn. One was Wayne's victory over the northwestern tribes, the results of which were registered in the treaty of Greenville. The other was the acquisi- tion of Louisiana by the United States in 1803. Probably the first of these would alone have been sufficient to determine the estab- lishment of a fort at Chicago, but the influence of the two combined rendered delay impossible." So general was the consciousness of this need that rumors of the establishment of a fort at Chicago anticipated the actual event by many years. William Burnett, a French trader on the St. Joseph River, wrote during the winter of 1797-98 to the Montreal house with which he traded, that a garrison was expected to be established at Chicago the following summer. He was not discouraged when the next summer passed without action, but wrote again with happy confidence that the garrison would now arrive in the fall. It was not until 1803, however, that the Secretary of War ordered an investigation to be made of the situation. On the morning of July fourteen in 1803, troops set out from Detroit to build and to occupy Fort Dearborn, named in honor of General Henry Dearborn, famous Revolutionary sol- dier and Secretary of War under President Thomas Jefferson, for whom old Fort Dearborn was named. Front a painting in the possession of the Chicago Historical Society. Lieutenant James swearingen, who led the first contin- gent of U. S. troops on the 326 miles march from De- troit to start the construc- tion of Fort Dearborn in 1803. From a portrait in the possession of the Chicago Historical Society. Sa/ttiii.woTi [9] General Henry Dearborn, well known Revolutionary soldier, then Secretary of War. In command of this detachment was Captain John Whistler, no longer a young man, who brought with him his fam- ily, including his married son, William, with his sixteen-year-old wife. Owing to the Captain's infirmities, he was not able to make the journey by land but went with his family, the supplies for the fort, artillery and ammunition on the schooner, "Tracy," to the mouth of the St. Joseph River. The march of the troops to Chi- cago was led by Lieutenant James Swearingen, a youth of twenty-one, who had volunteered to lead the troops on the three hundred and sixty-two mile march to their new location. The troops reached the encampment on the banks of the Chicago River at two in the afternoon of August seventeen. They found themselves on the bank of a sluggish stream, thirty yards wide and eighteen feet or more in depth, where the fort was to be constructed. The water was stagnant and unfit for use owing to the sand-bar at the mouth of the river. This bar was so high and the water so low that the troops were able to cross the river dry-shod and to encamp on the other side a short distance above the mouth. The site for the fort had been chosen at a bend in the river where the bank rose to the unusual height of twelve feet, the highest point on this part of the river where in general the banks were low and marshy. To construct a stockade and a shelter for the troops was the Commander's first task. Young Mrs. Whistler, who has left a number of valuable records, says that there were no horses or oxen at hand, but that the soldiers were compelled to perform the work of dragging the timbers to their required positions. Trees had been cut near the lake, some distance north of the mouth of the river, and were rafted down to the mouth of the river and thence up to the Fort. Work progressed slowly under these circumstances, and when winter came the buildings were still far from completed though operations had been carried on since late in the summer. There had been, of course, the problem of housing until the new structures should be in condition. When the troops arrived in August they found four primitive cabins belonging to some French Canadian traders. One of these, formerly the home of Baptiste Du Sable, was occupied by Le Mai, a half-breed married to a Pottawatomie squaw; another was occu- pied by Ouilmette; and the third by a man named Pettle, of whom little is known. The fourth house, vacant, was the property of John Kinzie, a trader, who had up to this time, only a casual relation- ship with the new community. This house was taken over by Doctor Smith, the first surgeon of Fort Dearborn, who occupied it for the winter. [10] Kinzie, who had been prominent in the old northwest for many years, came to Chicago to establish himself in the spring of 1804, just after the completion of Fort Dearborn. As a boy, in Quebec, he had learned the trade of silversmith. But the business of Indian trader was more profitable in a new country, and he was soon well established. He was friendly with the Indians, who held him in high regard. He lived on the north side of the river almost directly opposite the fort, with his house surrounded by out-buildings and a kitchen-garden. "In addition to these buildings a drawing made by Captain Whistler represents a considerable number of houses and out- buildings ranged around the fort and devoted to various purposes. Among these are houses for the interpreter and for the factor's department, an armorer's shop, a merchant's shop, and a bake shop, besides several stables on the south side of the river. On the north side near the Kinzie place was a Grist Mill worked by horses." Life in a frontier post during peace times was at its best, a dull one. And old Fort Dearborn added to its isolation the privations of all kinds which attended daily life. Privations and Pleasures M. HE summer after the Fort was finished, occupied, and as comfortable as might be, sickness descended upon the little community. Fever and malaria and the attendant ills of impure water, mosquito ridden lands, and inadequate drainage, swept the settlement. More than one-half the men were ill. Not only in Chicago, but in all other frontier posts the fever raged. Captain Whistler wrote that Mrs. Whistler was on the point of death. "She is in constant pain, and frequent bleeding is the only thing that affords her any relief." Friendly Indians for the most part surrounded the new settle- ment; the number of white families outside the Fort, as has been shown, was limited. Food was to be had in abundance and of fair variety and fire wood abounded, but for contact with the outside world, and for the pleasures and thrills of life, there was little op- portunity. One of the chief excitements was the occasional arrival of the brig, "Adams," which constituted the chief part of Com- modore Brevoort's "Navy of the Lakes." And on one never-to-be- forgotten day in the spring of 1805, Kingsbury passed through with a company of troops on his way to superintend the establishment of Fort Belle Fontaine, near the mouth of the Missouri River. Traders, the nomads of the new world, passed to and fro. Sometimes they brought news from the far east as they wound their way westward with goods for trading with the Indians. Returning, they bore in] with them more disquieting word of Indian movements, rumors and ugly underground mutterings. Social life rose to its high tide on the rare occasions of marriages. Once it was the marriage of Sarah, the eldest daughter of Captain Whistler, to James Abbot, a Detroit merchant. The story goes that the ceremony was performed by John Kinzie — ever the handy man in early Chicago, and that the bridal couple spent a honeymoon on an overland journey to Detroit, traveling on horseback and tenting at night. Active diversions for the men were fishing and hunting and oc- casional athletic contests with the Indians. Captain Whistler was reputed to have won a five-mile foot-race, against a Pottawatomie chief who, it was said, had never been defeated. Game of all kinds was. plentiful. Of ammunition there was enough. And later when canoes became common with the whites and saddle-horses were kept, there was more of outdoor life. The most accurate picture of Fort Dearborn itself, is found in a diagram carefully drawn to scale by Captain John Whistler and attached to a written description. The plan of the grounds and buildings is identical with that of the present Fort Dearborn on the grounds of "A Century of Progress." What Captain Whistler thought of the Fort and surrounding country in regard to safety may be easily conjectured from his own words: "The River is not regularly surveyed, but gives a strong Idea of Its Courses it is about six miles in length except in high water, at which time there is no portage to the Illinois River. "The woodland on the reserve lyes on the north and west sides of the Garrison, except a small strip of woods about one mile in length and two hundred yards in breadth, Lying on the bank of the river southwest of the Garrison. Along the Margin of Said Woods is good medow and supplyes the Garrison with hay. On the North and West sides of the garrison there has been a quantity of under- wood and shruby Bushes such as prickly Ash, etc., they are now cut down and cleared off, all within one Fourth of a Mile of the Gar- rison. "On the south and southwest sides of the Garrison is a large par- raria (prairie) on which stands the aforesaid strip of woods as laid down in the Draught and the distance from the Garrison three fourths of a Mile. On the East side is the Lake. There has been a picket fence on the Opisite side of the river northwest of the Gar- rison as laid Down, this fence might serve as a barrier against the Garrison as the pickets were five feet in length, sufficient in thickness to prevent a Musket Ball from doing execution to an Enemy lying behind them. I thought it proper for the safety of the Garrison to have them taken up and replaced with a common [12] rail fence. At this time the Garrison (except the Houses on the Opisite side of the river being somewhat in the way) is perfectly secure from any ambuscade or Barrier. "The Branch that emptyes into the Cheykag (Chicago) is consid- erably the longest and has the greatest current. The parraria on the south and southwest as already mentioned is of great extent." Another means of safety in time of attack was a covered way leading from the northeast corner of the stockade to the river, thus securing to the Garrison a supply of water when under attack, or a possible avenue of escape. Captain Whistler s Regime I HE period of Whistler's command at Fort Dear- born lasted from the summer of 1803, when work on the Fort was begun, until April, 1810, when he was sent to Detroit. His regime was the longest of any officer stationed at Fort Dearborn and in many respects the most important. He not only conducted the pioneer work of establishing the post, but so maintained it that it was described by a visitor in 1809 as the "neatest and best wooded gar- rison in the United States," a fact which did "great honor to Captain Whistler, who planned and built it." This same visitor also records that the men at the Fort were the same who came with Whistler in 1803 and although the term of their enlistment had expired, they had all re-enlisted — a sign that Whistler was a good officer. It is doubtless impossible to refer to any one person as the found- er or the father of a great city, but Dr. Milo M. Quaife in his "Chicago and the old Northwest" says: "No one person can properly claim exclusive right to this title. The event which more adequately than any other signalizes the beginning of modern white settlement here was the founding of Fort Dearborn ; and the man who with more propriety than any other may be regarded as the 'father' of the modern city is Captain John Whistler, who built the first fort and for seven years dominated the life within and around its walls." Captain John Whistler, born in Ireland of English descent, was himself a rover, an adventurer and a dreamer. And the qualities that go to the making of such a man he handed down to dis- tinguished descendants. While yet a lad he ran away from home, joined the army and became a member of Burgoyne's army, being with him when the army surrendered to the Americans at Saratoga. Returning to England, young Whistler was discharged from the [13] army. After a short time, he came again to America, this time to join the American army. He entered the service in 1791 and after leaving Fort Dearborn in 1810, served during the war of 1812. A son, George Washington Whistler, became one of the great engi- neers of his day, building railroads in Russia, where his success led to his being decorated. He is better known, however, as the father of James Abbot MacNeil Whistler, the artist and grandson of the builder of Fort Dearborn. Although the artist himself never saw Chicago, it was said that he took more interest in this city than in any other place in the country with the exception of West Point. Enter Captain Heald A CHANGED atmosphere came into Fort Dearborn with the coming of the new commander, Captain Nathan Heald, who succeeded Captain Whistler. Born in New Hampshire in 1775, he was a much younger man than his predecessor. He comes to us from the pages of history as a much less certain figure. The dramatic quality of the pioneer is missing, the venturesome daring of the Colonial soldier is gone. And while Heald expressed himself as satisfied with the condition in which Captain Whistler had con- ducted the Fort, yet he did not like his new detail. He was dis- satisfied from the beginning and almost at once announced his intention of returning to New England for the winter. He even went so far as to say that if this leave of absence were not granted, he would resign rather than pass the winter at Fort Dearborn. The furlough was granted. He went to New England. He did not resign. And hence after two years more, he was fated to be the officer who led out the troops on the day of the Fort Dearborn slaughter. Returning from his winter in the east Captain Heald stopped at Louisville, where he was married to Rebekah Wells, the daughter of Captain Samuel Wells, and the niece of Captain William Wells, with whom Heald had long been associated at Fort Wayne. Only a year of Fort Dearborn life was theirs, but of that brief period Mrs. Heald has left many written records. She was a woman of great charm, with the ability to win friends everywhere. And again war threatened. The underground rumblings grew more insistent. And this time not only did the frontiersman know himself in danger from Indians, but Americans, generally, realized that war between America and England was once more imminent. America entered half-heartedly. New England was violently op- posed to the war. The west had its own problems, but it was ^ager for the conflict. This section did not depend upon commercial and foreign relations as did New England, and it had a conviction that [14] Captain William Wells, pioneer, scout and warrior, killed in the Fort Dearborn Massacre, fighting to save the women and children of the Garrison. From a woodcut in the collection of the Chicago Historical Society. Mrs. Rebekah Heald, wife of the commandant of the post and a woman of great personal charm, who has left many inter- esting written records of the first pioneers. From a daguerreotype in the possession of the Chi- cago Historical Society. [15] this war might help to settle the Indian question and might also open a way to the annexation of Canada. New War Clouds JtMANY of the Indian tribes turned against the American forces when war was finally declared. They had always been friendly with the British, considering themselves almost pen- sioners of that government, with whose representatives they had traded and from whom they had frequently received substantial aid in the way of stores and even of arms and ammunition. The west had long suspected that these tribes would easily ally themselves with a foreign foe when the occasion offered, and so welcomed a struggle which they believed would settle once and for all the relations of the Indian to both national and local governments. Before the actual declaration of war between England and Amer- ica, sporadic Indian outbreaks had indicated not only a rising tide of enmity but assurance from some source to the Red Man that he was to have assistance. He bore himself with a certainty. Bands of marauders operated boldly and murdered and mutilated without let or hindrance. They came down upon Chicago — a band of Winnebagoes — old friendly relations cast to the winds, and mas- sacred a harmless farmer and a casual French Canadian visitor a few miles down the river. There was panic among the settlers. Captain Heald, unable to learn the identity of the murderers, sev- ered friendly relations with the Indians and closed the gates of the fort to them. John Kinzie and his family moved into the fort. Jouett, the Indian agent, fortified his house and gathered into it the other neighbors. No one seemed to doubt the danger. Then, in the middle of the summer, Pierre LeClaire, a half breed with the easy agility and endurance of a man whom civilization has not softened, walked the ninety miles from St. Joseph in a day and brought the news that war was on between the British and the Americans. This did not tend to ease the situation with the Indians. Further word of American defeat brought renewed confidence to them and heavier hearts to the little band of whites at Fort Dear- born. Then General Hull, Governor of Michigan Territory, who was in command of the army of the Northwest, spoke to Chicago — spoke the fatal word for Fort Dearborn and its people. The order coming to Captain Heald directed him to evacuate the post, to de- stroy all arms and ammunition, to dispose of the goods of the fac- tory to the poor and needy or to friendly Indians "Who may be de- sirous of escorting you to Fort Wayne." [16] Had Hull been familiar with conditions at that time in Chicago he would hardly have assumed that there were friendly Indians de- siring to escort the army after an evacuation of the Fort. Had he understood that the Fort itself was well situated for defense and might easily have held out until such time as sufficient reinforce- ments might arrive and make safe a march through unfriendly ter- ritory, his command might have been different. John Kinzie, it is reported, took issue with Heald and tried, but in vain, to persuade him against evacuating the Fort at least until aid arrived. But Heald was above all else a soldier. He had his orders from his superior officer. He obeyed them. Word had come from Hull on the ninth of August. On the evening of the fourteenth everything was ready for the next morning's march. The preceding day the Garrison was cheered by the arrival of Captain William Wells, their old friend and Indian scout and fighter, and uncle of Mrs. Heald. He brought with him thirty warriors from the Miami tribe and pro- posed to act as escort to the troops on their way to Fort Wayne. The Last Warning INDIANS were gathered around the Fort waiting for their share of the goods to be distributed and doubtless expect- ing that ammunition, guns, and liquor would also fall to their lot. Stores were handed out to them, but their resentment, when they found that the most prized of all the possessions were to be destroyed, may be easily imagined. Great stress has been laid by some writers upon this destruction of goods as being the primary cause of the massacre. Such theories, while built upon reports of the immediate wrath of the Indians, fail to take into account the smouldering animosities of years and the confidence created by war conditions. That they were enraged by the loss of guns and liquor is quite true. But it is also more than probable that even had these goods been delivered to them, the massacre would still have occurred. A warning, too late to be heeded, even if Heald had been willing to pit his judgment against that of his commanding officer, was received that last night. Black Partridge, a Pottawatomie chief, journeyed up from the Illinois river. "Linden Birds" had been singing in his ears, so he said. The white chief should beware of the march. The morning of the fifteenth of August dawned as fair and cloudless as its close was tragic. Ready to march away from the Fort and the cabins which had been their homes for eight years or more, soldiers and civilians, men. women, and children, Amer- [17] 3 icans and half-breeds, all were gathered together. They were to leave behind them not only homes, but means of livelihood, asso- ciations all that they possessed. Ambush and Massacre IT was a small company that sallied forth from the Fort at nine in the morning on this sad hegira — only ninety-six in all. Fifty-five of the regular army troops, including Captain Heald, and Lieutenant Helm, twelve Chicago men who composed Heald's troop of militia, nine women and eighteen children, John Kinzie, who was listed in a class by himself as a neutral and non- combatant, and Captain Wells. Outside the Fort the company was joined by the thirty Miamis whom Wells had brought to act as an escort but who deserted their leader and the Americans at the begin- ning of the hostilities. Through the gates of the Fort and south- ward they marched, Captain Wells and the Miamis leading, scan- ning the horizon with watchful eye, alert to any sense of danger. Following were the troops from the Garrison, then the women and children who were able to walk and the Chicago militia with the baggage wagons guarded by Ensign Ronan and Surgeon Van Voorhis. Those who were unable to walk rode in the baggage wagons. Mrs. Heald and Mrs. Helm were on horseback riding for the first part of the way with their husbands. Cautiously and slowly they traveled along the banks of the muddy river, their line of march paralleling Michigan Avenue of today. On their left was the Lake, a safe barrier against an attack. Be- hind them the Fort — the only place of comparative safety within a hundred miles. Ahead of them, who knew? On their right was a row of sinister sand-hills gray and half barren, running north and south, a complete screen for an enemy. They must have been encouraged for the first half to three- quarters of an hour, these intrepid frontier people. A band of seemingly friendly Pottawatomies was riding to the west of them escorting them on their way. In this band were many individual Indians well known not only to the soldiery, but to private citizens and even to some of the women. These were not the Red Men to be feared — these were friends with whom they had laughed and talked, whom doubtless they had fed when hungry. The sand dunes paralleled the Lake. The troops and their little following came southward on the sands near the water. The Pottawatomies vanished behind the dunes. Perhaps the move went unobserved by the civilians : it is even possible that its sinister intent did not immediately become clear to the soldiery, for the Indians [19] were already in ambush and prepared for attack when Captain Wells, riding in advance, discovered the ambuscade. Wheeling his horse he raced back, waving his hat above his head as a danger signal and urging the troops to advance to a more favorable posi- tion for defense. The Indians now rose silently from among the dunes, "their heads popping up like turtles." Bayonet charges were futile. The whites were outnumbered ten to one. While the battle raged in front, a deadlier conflict, the real massacre was tak- ing place in the rear. The Indians had separated Heald with his regulars from the baggage wagons, and here where the women and children, the non-combatants, were gathered carnage reigned. Women, armed with swords, fought in desperation. Two of them were killed. Most of the children were tomahawked. Captain Wells, fighting his way back to save the women and children was shot through the breast. Wounded again and again, he fought on- — firing even as he lay on the ground, unable to rise. The Indians closed in upon him. He was no longer their old-time friend — but their enemy — and they rejoiced when a final shot wrote finis for a bold warrior. The militia fell. Kinzie was the only white man at the wagons who survived. Captain Heald and the troops in advance were forced to surrender. All of the survivors were taken prisoners by the Indians with the exception of Kinzie, who was not considered a prisoner of war but was merely brought back to Chicago. Still the lust for blood was not sated. Prisoners were tortured, the Fort reduced to ashes. The massacre of Fort Dearborn was complete. Second Fort Rises I HE second Fort Dearborn, built upon the site of the original Fort in 1816, knew a calmer life in a more peaceful country. Rebuilt to serve as protection against hostilities of the Indian tribes, it led a more or less uneventful existence until 1823 when, danger seeming to be passed the order came for its evacuation. "With the Garrison," says Dr. Quaife, "departed most of the life of Chicago. During the next few years little occurred to inter- rupt the monotonous course of existence. Rarely, a new settler, attracted by the presence of relatives who had gone before, or lured westward by the hope of improving his material conditions, would direct his steps to Chicago. Periodically the Indians, who still held possession of the country tributary to Chicago, would assemble to receive their annuities. Finally in 1827 occurred the Winnebago War which for a time furnished excitement for Chicago and led eventually to the reoccupation of Fort Dearborn by a garrison of United States troops." [20] The Fort, reoccupied in 1828, was abandoned in 1831. Curi- ously enough, its last occupancy, beginning in 1831, is of more interest than any except the first. The commander at this time was Major William Whistler, who as a young lieutenant had served in the first fort during its earliest days under his father, Captain John Whistler. The reopening of the Fort and the arrival of Major Whistler followed the opening of the Black Hawk War, which once again threw Chicago settlers into a panic and crowded the narrow walls of the garrison. The greatest alarm and confu- sion ever known in Chicago took place, not only in the settlement but for miles around when the news came that the enemy was on the warpath. But no disturbances occurred in the vicinity of Fort Dearborn. The most deadly enemy of the troops was an epidemic of cholera which played havoc among them. Final Salute Fired THE enemy at last subdued, treaties of peace were concluded which marked the end in Illinois of Indian warfare. The last great Indian Pow-wow — peaceful and dramatic with all of the old time splendor of paint and feathers, dances and war- cries was held in the streets of Chicago in 1835. The pomp and drama of the early Indian made its last stand as the Pottawatomies marched through the streets and out into the country-ways to vanish with the approach of modern civilization. Christmas greens were still on the walls when on the 29th of December, 1835, the last salute was fired, the flag was struck and the last sentry was withdrawn. The fort was evacuated. Chicago, no longer a frontier settlement needing protection from savages, had commenced her march citywards. Signs of this development are to be seen in a description by a traveler in 1837, who writes: "In Dr. Beck's Gazeteer, published in 1823, Chicago is described as a village of 10 or 12 houses, and 60 or 70 inhabitants. In 1832, it contained five small stores, and 250 inhabitants; and now the population amounts to 8,000, with 120 stores, besides a number of groceries; of the former, twenty sell by wholesale. It has also twelve public houses, three news- papers, near fifty lawyers, and upwards of thirty physicians. . . . The Presbyterians, Methodists, Baptists, Episcopalians and Roman Catholics, each have houses of worship. There are likewise one or more insurance companies, fire companies, water-works for the sup- ply of water from the lake, several good schools, and a respectable academy. An extensive brewery, a steam saw and grist mill and a large furnace, are all in successful operation. The building of an [21] Academy of Fine Arts is likewise contemplated, and measures are about being taken to obtain for it a collection of paintings. . . . Chicago is, without doubt, the greatest wonder in this wonderful country. The growth and prosperity of Chicago may be taken as a fair example of the unprecedented increase and advancement of the country. Cities and towns spring up in every quarter and a mighty tide of emigration is rolling far and wide its fertilizing influence." * * [22] Muster Roll of a Company of Infantry Under the Command of Capt. Nathan Heald in the First Regiment of Infantry Commanded by Colonei Jacob Kingsbury from the 20th of April, When Last Mustered, to the 31st of May, 1812. Term of Enlistment, Five Years. No. Name Rank 1 Nathan Heald Captain 2 Lina T. Helm 2nd Lieutenant 3 George Ronan Ensign 4 Isaac N. Van Voorhis... _ Surgeon's Mate 1 Isaac Holt Sergeant 2 Otho Hays Sergeant 3 John Crozier Sergeant 4 Wm. Griffith Sergeant 1 Thomas Forth ..:. Corporal 2 Joseph Bowen Corporal 1 George Burnett Fifer 2 John Smith Fifer 3 Hugh McPherson Drummer 4 John Hamilton Drummer 1 John Allin Private 2 George Adams Private 3 Prestly Andrews Private 4 James Corbin Private 5 Fielding Corbin Private 6 Asa Campbell Private 7 Dyson Dyer Private 8 Stephen Draper Private 9 Daniel Daugherty Private 10 Micajah Denison Private 11 Nathan Edson Private 12 John Fury Private 13 Paul Grummo Private 14 Richard Garner Private 15 William N. Hunt Private 16 Nathan A. Hurtt Private 17 Rodias Jones Private 18 David Kinison Private 19 Samuel Kilpatrick Private 20 John Kelso Private 21 Jacob Landon Private 22 James Latta Private 23 Michael Lynch Private 24 Hugh Logan Private 25 Frederick Locker —Private 26 August Mortt Private 27 Peter Miller Private 28 Duncan McCarty Private 29 William Moffett Private 33 Elias Mills - Private 31 John Needs Private 32 Joseph Noles Private 33 Thos. Poindexter Private 34 William Prickett Private 35 Frederick Peterson Private 36 David Sherror Private 37 John Suttenfield Private 38 John Smith Private 39 James Starr Private 40 John Simmons Private 41 James Vanhorn Private Date i of Enlistment 31 Jan., 1807 15 Dec. 1808 1 Mar., 1811 1 Mar., 1811 22 Apr., 1811 23 Apr., 1811 2 July, 1808 1 May, 1812 6 July, 1812 22 Apr., 1811 1 July, 1811 22 April. 1811 20 Oct., 1807 5 July, 1808 27 Nov., 1810 21 Aug., 1811 11 Apr., 1811 2 Oct., 1810 25 Oct., 1811 26 Jan., 1810 1 Oct., 1810 19 Apr., 1811 13 Aug., 1807 23 Jan., 1811 6 Apr., 1810 19 Mar., 1808 1 Oct., 1810 2 Oct., 1810 8 Oct.. 1810 29 Dec, 1811 9 Dec, 1807 14 Mar., 1808 20 Dec, 1810 3 May, 1812 28 Nov., 1807 10 Apr., 1810 23 Dec, 1810 5 Feb., 1811 13 Apr., 1810 9 Apr.. 1811 24 July, 1811 31 Aug.. 1807 23 Jan., 1811 26 Oct., 1811 5 July, 1808 8 Sept., 1810 3 Sept., 1810 7 Mar., 1811 7 June, 1808 1 Oct., 1810 8 Sept., 1807 2 Apr., 1808 18 Nov., 1809 14 Mar., 1810 2 May, 1810 [ 23] Printed in U. S. A. M 1-31 10M-1