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diff --git a/59624-0.txt b/59624-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..1d5693d --- /dev/null +++ b/59624-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,7954 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 59624 *** + + + + + + + + + + +[Illustration: BRONZE GROUP. (Page 207.)] + + + + + THE + + CHICAGO MASSACRE OF 1812 + + + WITH ILLUSTRATIONS AND HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS + + + BY + + JOSEPH KIRKLAND + + AUTHOR OF "THE STORY OF CHICAGO," "ZURY, THE MEANEST MAN + IN SPRING COUNTY," "THE MC VEYS, AN EPISODE," + "THE CAPTAIN OF COMPANY K," ETC. + + + CHICAGO + + THE DIBBLE PUBLISHING COMPANY + + 334 DEARBORN STREET + + 1893 + + +Copyright: + +Joseph Kirkland. + +1893. + + + +LIBBY & SHERWOOD PRINTING CO. + +CHICAGO. + + + + +AUTHOR'S PREFACE. + + +History is not a snap-shot. Events happen, and the true record of them +follows at a distance. Sometimes the early report is too voluminous, +and it takes time to reduce it to truth by a winnowing process that +divides chaff from grain. This has been the case regarding every great +modern battle. Sometimes, on the other hand, the event was obscure and +became important through the rise of other, later conditions; in which +case, instead of winnowing, the historian sets himself to gleaning the +field and making his grist out of scattered bits of its fruitage. This +has been the case regarding the Chicago massacre of 1812. + +It was only a skirmish and a slaughter, involving the loss of +three-score lives. But those dead men, women and children were the +fore-runners of all the dwellers in one of the greatest cities of +Christendom, the renowned city of Chicago. + +Up to less than twenty years ago it was thought--by the few who +gave the matter any thought--that next to nothing could ever be +found out concerning the events which took place in and about Fort +Dearborn--now Chicago--on August 15, 1812, and the time immediately +before and after that day. All that was then known was contained in +the artless, non-historic narrative contained in Mrs. Kinzie's amusing +and delightful story of her own adventures (1831-1833), into which she +wove, as a mere episode, the scattered reminiscences of members of her +family who had taken part in the tragedy of twenty years before. + +But in 1881, ten years after the Great Fire had wiped out all old +Chicago, and all records of older Chicago, the Historical Society +happily took up the task of erecting a "massacre memorial tablet" on +the ground where Fort Dearborn had stood. William M. Hoyt generously +gave the necessary money, and the Hon. John Wentworth ably and +devotedly set himself about gathering, from all over the land, every +item which could be gleaned to throw light on the dark and dreadful +event. How well he succeeded is shown by his book, "Fort Dearborn," +published by the Fergus Printing Company as number 16 in its admirable +Historical Series; a collection of pamphlets which should form part of +every library in the city. + +Exhaustive as was Mr. Wentworth's research, yet the last word had not +been said. There was--and is--still living, the Hon. Darius Heald, son +of the Captain (Nathan) Heald who commanded the whites on the fatal +day, and who, with his wife, was sorely wounded in the fray. The son +had heard, a hundred times, his parents' story of the massacre; and his +repetition of that story taken down in short-hand from his own lips, +forms the main part of the strictly new matter I offer in this book. + +Much of the contents of the following pages, which has been published +before, is not marked as quotation, for the reason that it is my own +writing, having been included in my "Story of Chicago," published by +the same house which publishes this book. (Many of the illustrations +are also taken from this same source.) On the other hand, much that +is marked in quotation is also my own work; but as it is part of my +contribution to Munsell & Company's large "History of Chicago" which is +still in press, credit is invariably given to the last-named work. + +All I could find, on this fascinating theme, I have faithfully +recorded. If a later gleaner shall find more, no one will be more glad +than will I, to welcome it. + + Joseph Kirkland. + + + + +The Chicago Massacre of 1812. + + + + +TABLE OF CONTENTS. + + +PART I. + +Saturday, August Fifteenth, 1812. + + Scene at dawn; page 19:--Mothers and children; Captain Wells and his + Miamis; his niece, Rebekah Heald; why he blackened his face; the + Dead March; the Fort cattle; Indian follies; 20:--Margaret Helm, the + authority for Mrs. Kinzie's narrative in Wau-Bun; 21:--Ensign Ronan's + insubordination; Rebekah Heald's version as reported by her son, + Darius; 22:--Evacuation of the fort; Captain Heald's force; Kinzie + family; they take boat; 23:--To-pee-nee-be's warning; line of march; + 24:--Pottowatomie "escort;" 25:--Wau-Bun narrative begins; the attack; + 27:--Surgeon Van Voorhees; 28:--Black Partridge rescues Mrs. Helm; + scene portrayed in bronze group; 29:--John Kinzie reports safety of + Lieutenant Helm; Captain Wells's scalp; Indians are kind to Mrs. Helm; + she learns details of the struggle; a squaw tortures a wounded soldier; + 30:--English blamed for Indian alliance; Mrs. Heald's narrative + begins; similar to Mrs. Helm's; the sand-ridges; 31:--Captain Wells + orders and leads the charges; the battle thus foolishly lost; signal + for surrender; 32:--The twelve militia-men; Captain Heald's wound; + 33:--Mrs. Heald's six wounds; particulars of Wells's death; Indians cut + out his heart and eat it; 34:--"Epeconier!"; his noble self-sacrifice; + relics in the Calumet Club; 35:--Mrs. Heald fights for her blanket; + 36:--Stripped of her jewelry; what became of it; articles redeemed and + still in existence; 37:--Chandonnais saves the Healds' lives; wounded + prisoners tortured to death; 38:--Fatal blot on the Indian race; Mrs. + Helm's report goes on at second hand; variance with Captain Heald's; + 39:--The latter casts no slurs; 40:--One Indian kills twelve children + in the baggage-wagon; Mrs. Helm's incredible account of Wells's death; + 41:--True-seeming tale of the Kinzies' escape; doubtful statement + about Mrs. Heald; 42:--Kinzies again in the old house; Indians burn + the fort; they guard the Kinzies, Wabash hostiles come; 44:--Peril + and panic; 45:--Saved by Billy Caldwell, the Sau-ga-nash; 46:--Sukey + Corbin's fate, as told by Mrs. Jouett; 48:--Possibility that a + narrative by Lieutenant Helm may exist, Indian traits; 49:--What is + next to be shown; 50. + + +PART II. + +HOW THE FORT AND CITY WERE BEGUN AND WHO WERE THE BEGINNERS + + Chapter I. The Dark Before the Dawn.--The French + period reluctantly passed over; Chicago reappears in 1778, after + 100 years of oblivion; J. B. Pointe de Saible; 53:--Various spellings + of Chicago; meaning of the word; 54:--Treaty of 1795; building + of the "Old Kinzie House" in 1778; 55:--Who was here then? + Astor fortunes; 56:--50,000 square miles of solitude; Gurdon Hubbard's + observations in 1816; Ouillemette, now Wilmette; Gen. Dearborn + orders the fort built; 57:--John Whistler's company of the + First Infantry comes in 1804 and builds it; John Whistler; 58:--The + schooner Tracy arrives, the "big canoe with wings;" the account + given, in 1875, by Mrs. Whistler; the pioneer, John Kinzie, arrives + in 1804; 60:--State of things for the next eight years; + 61:--Charles Jouett; 62:--Joe Battles and Alexander Robinson; + the Indians and Indian traders; whisky; Munsell's History of + Chicago; 63. + + Chapter II. Building of the First Fort Dearborn.--William Wells + is here in 1803; 65:--Signs an Indian trader's license as + Governor Harrison's agent; Captain Anderson comes down from + "Mill-wack-ie" in 1804; what the fort was like; 66:--Agency + House; 67:--How the Chicagoans passed their time; War + Department records of Fort Dearborn, furnished in 1881 by + Secretary-of-War Lincoln to John Wentworth; 68:--In 1811 Captain + Nathan Heald marries Rebekah Wells; wild wedding journey; + 69:--Gay winter for the bride; John Kinzie kills John Lalime in + self-defence; 70:--Double murder by Indians at Lee's place + (Hardscrabble), on the South Branch; 71:--Graphic narrative in + Wau-Bun; 72:--Man and boy escape and spread the alarm; 74:--Captain + Heald tells the story; Indian traits; 75. + + Chapter III. English and Indian Savages.--Capt. Heald + is inclined to charge the Hardscrabble massacre to the Winnebagoes; + British alliance with Indians characterized; 77:--Its unsoldierly + results; ruin of brave General Hull; 78:--Shame to Lord + Liverpool's government; "Suppose Russia should instigate a Sepoy + rebellion;" wild alarm follows the Lee murders, 79:--Munsell's + history of it; war declared; 80:--Hull sends Winnemeg with orders + to Heald to evacuate Fort Dearborn and fall back on Detroit, + Mackinaw had already been taken; wording of Hull's order differently + given by Captain Heald and Mrs. Helm; 81:--The latter + finds fault with the former; alleges want of harmony in the fort; + 82:--Mrs. Heald denies this, alleging that Ronan thought highly + of his captain; the stammering soldier; 83:--comparative authenticity + of the two narratives; how the Heald story comes to be told + now for the first time; 84. + + Chapter IV. A Long Farewell.--Departure not favored + by sub-officers; soldier suggests "jerked beef;" 85:--Heald's letter + of Nov. 7, 1812, regarding the withdrawal; Wau-Bun to the + contrary; alleged disorder; 86:--Captain Heald's traits; 87:--Heald + and Kinzie have a pow-wow with the Indians; consult between + themselves; agree to distribute goods, but destroy arms and + whisky; Kinzie's liquors; plan carried out; 88:--William Wells + to the rescue; scene of his arrival; 89:--Baseless hopes aroused; + Black Partridge gives up his medal; 90:--This meant war; then + what should have been done? 92:--Mrs. Heald's story of the + preparations; 93:--Surroundings then and now; 94-96:--Saturday + having been already described, the story skips from Friday to + Sunday; 96. + + Chapter V. Fate of the Fugitives.--Every word treasured; + 97:--Heald's escape while wounded are being tortured; incidents + of canoe-travel; omission of record of halt on the St. Joseph's; + kindness of commandant at Mackinaw; 98;--Push on to + Detroit, Buffalo, Pittsburg, and so on home, to Louisville, meeting + with Mrs. Heald's father; unfortunate loss of her written story; + 99:--Wau-Bun story; Sergeant Griffith and To-pee-nee-be; Kinzies + are taken to Chief Robinson at St Joseph's, and later to Detroit; + John Kinzie tries to save his property; 100:--Friendly Indians + helped by Thomas Forsyth to rescue Lieut. Helm and send him to + Detroit; sent on as prisoners to Fort George, Niagara; incivility + atoned for by Col. Sheaffe; the Helms reach their home and + friends; 102:--Mrs. Helm's remarks about Captain Heald; prisoners + and citizens, scattered among the Indians, are alleged to be + generally ransomed; 103:--Fate of Mrs. Burns and baby; child seen + in after years by Mrs. Kinzie; fate of the Lee family; Black Partridge + wants to marry the widow; the young raccoon; 104:--Madame + du Pin; Nau-non-gee and Sergeant Hays kill each other; 106. + + Chapter VI. John Kinzie's Captivity.--America never a + mititary nation; gloomy opening of 1813; early losses and later + gains; 107:--Prisoners ransomed in Detroit; Kinzies try to help + the helpless; 108:--John Kinzie suspected of spying; repeatedly + arrested by the English and released by the Indians; ironed and + imprisoned; 109:--Catches a glimpse of Perry's victory on Lake + Erie; sent on to Quebec; 110:--Strange release; returns to Detroit, + where, with Kee-po-tah, he welcomes Gen. Harrison; 112. + + Chapter VII. Contemporaneous Reports.--Progress of + the press since 1812; Niles' Weekly Register our main authority; + 113:--First published statement of the massacre; the schooner + Queen Charlotte; 114:--Absurd story regarding Mrs. Helm; + 115:--Still more absurd story, signed Walter Jordan; 116:--Possible + leaven of truth; 117:--Nine survivors reported arrived at + Plattsburgh from Quebec; 118:--Familiar names; harrowing tales + they told; 119:--Pitiable fate of Mrs. Neads and her child, Kinzie + family return to Chicago, where the bones of the massacre victims + are buried by the soldiers sent to build the new fort; 120:--Letter + from Fernando Jones; 121:--Solution of the Indian problem + treated; 122:--Present condition of the Pottowatomies; 123:--Wonderful + progress in five generations; speculations concerning + the renewed interest in these old tales; 124:--Sculptured mementoes + of the past slowly being provided by public-spirited citizens; + Lambert Tree, Martin Ryerson and EH Bates; George M. Pullman's + splendid bronze group of the massacre; 126:--Eugene Hall's + verses at the unveiling of the Block-house Tablet in 1881. + + + + +APPENDIX + + + =A.= Pointe De Saible.--First settler, 100 years after Marquette + etc.; 133:--Col. de Peyster mentions him in 1778 in his + "Miscellanies," Burns's verses to De Peyster; 134:--De P. also + mentions George Rogers Clark, 135:--De P's verses; 136:--His + foot-notes, naming Chicago; what is known about De Saible; + 137:--E. G. Mason's remarks about him and Shaubena; 138--Perish + Grignon (Wis. Hist. Soc. Collection) on the same subject; + 139:--Guesses as to the character and fortunes of De Saible; + 140:--"_Point de Sable_," no sand. + + =B.= Fort Dearborn Records at Washington.--Probable reason why + records are scanty; 143:--Letter from Gen. Dearborn, Secretary + of War; statement compiled from the adjutant-general's records; + memorandum of the destruction; order for rebuilding; successive + commanders; evacuation of 1823; 144:--Re-occupation in 1828; + Major Whistler ordered to Fort Dearborn; final evacuation in + 1836; 145:--Demolition of fort in 1856; old paper found, dating + from first fort; familiar names; 146:--One building survived + until the great fire of 1871; the Waubansa stone; 147:--Daniel + Webster speaks from its summit; its later vicissitudes; + 148:--Who were the victims of Aug. 15, 1812? Oblivion the usual + fate of martyrs; 149:--Muster and pay-roll of 1810, the last now + existing; 150. + + =C.= The Whistler Family.--Gardner's Military Dictionary gives + items of old John Whistler, the Burgoyne soldier; suggestion + that in Heald's place he might have avoided the disaster; + his descendants; Mrs. William Whistler and her daughter, + Gwenthlean Whistler Kinzie; Mrs. General Sheridan; 153:--Mrs. + Whistler's visit to Chicago in 1875, 154:--Her reminiscences; + 155:--Whistler descendants in the army; 156. + + =D.= The Kinzie Family.--John Kinzie's origin and youth; + 157:--The Forsyths, Blanchard's story of the McKenzie girls; + 158:--Margaret, mother of some Kinzies and some Halls; + Elizabeth, mother of some Clarks and some Clybourns; 160:--The + bend sinister; John marries Eleanor (Lytle) McKillip and comes + to Chicago; 161:--Extent of his trade; his continued relations + with Detroit; 162;--His daughter-in-law, Juliette (Magill) + Kinzie, writer of Wau-Bun, return after the massacre; 163:--His + losses; pathetic letter to his son, John Harris Kinzie; + 164:--His papers burned in 1871; 165:--Inestimable services + as treaty-maker; their partial recognition in treaty of 1838; + 165:--His hospitality; 166:--Visit of Gov. Cass; 167:--Winnebago + scare; 168:--End of the old pioneer; Hubbard's narrative of his + closing moments; 169:--Disappearance of the ancient mansion; + 170:--Mrs. Nellie Kinzie Gordon; 171:--Heroic death in battle of + John Harris Kinzie, Jr.; 172. + + =E.= The Wells and the Heald Families.--William Wells's + captivity among the Indians; Wa-nan-ga-peth, daughter of + Me-che-kan-nah-quah, and her Wells descendants; 173:--William + fighting on the Indians' side; Rebekah (Wells) Heald's story of + her reclamation of her "Indian uncle;" 174:--His parting with + his red father-in-law; later history of Me-che-kan-nah-quah, or + Little Turtle; his presentation to Washington; 175:--Rebekah + meets Nathan Heald at Fort Wayne; 176:--A. H. Edwards's + anecdotes about Captain Wells; 177:--Family feeling of Wells's + descendants; the Heald massacre relics shown; 179:--Masonic + record of Nathan Heald; his letter of Oct. 13, 1813, reporting + the massacre; 180:--Letter on official business, May 18, 1812; + 181:--Remarks thereon; 182:--Death of his niece, Mrs. Edwards, + while this book is printing; 183. + + =F.= John Lalime.--Portents of the massacre; rivalry between + government and civilian traders; 185:--Factions in the garrison; + traits of John Lalime; 186:--His letters; retort of Main Poc; + Miss Noke-no-qua; 187:--Lalime's attack on John Kinzie; Gurdon + Hubbard's letter about it; Victoire (Mirandeau) Porthier's + story; 189:--Garrison acquits Kinzie but buries Lalime in + sight of the old house; 190:--Discovery of a skeleton in 1891; + 191:--Reasons for thinking it that of Lalime; 193:--Facts + learned from Fernando Jones, Judge Blodgett, Hon. John C. Haines + and others; St. James' church-yard; 193:--Letters from Fernando + Jones, Hon. John C. Haines and Doctors Hosmer and Freer; 194-195. + + =G.= Reminiscences of A. H. Edwards.--Letter to John Wentworth; story + of a girl who was one of the scalped children; bare spot on her + head; 197:--She the daughter of John Cooper who is named in the + muster-roll; 198:--Married a Detroiter named Farnum; 199. + + =H.= Billy Caldwell, the Sauganash.--His traits, good and bad; + 201:--He and Shabonee write a letter about General Harrison; + 202. + + =I.= Farewell War-Dance of the Indians.--Treaty of 1833; Latrobe's + impressions of Chicago; 203:--Ex-Chief-Justice Caton describes + the war dance; 205:--"Farewell Indians!" 206. + + =K.= The Bronze Memorial Group.--Where the massacre occurred; + cumulative testimony identifying the spot; letters from Mrs. + Henry W. King, Isaac N. Arnold, A. J. Galloway, Mrs. Mary Clark + Williams, and Robert G. Clarke; 207-210:--The design of the + group, and the designer, Carl Rohl-Smith: lucky chance gives two + savages, "Kicking Bear" and "Short Bull," to serve as models + for the figures; characteristic bearing of the savage models; + bas-reliefs for pedestal, the fort interior, the evacuation, + the fight, death of Captain Wells; dedicatory inscription; + 211:--Memorial fit to stand for centuries; 212. + + List of Illustrations; 15. + + Alphabetical Index; 213. + + + + +ILLUSTRATIONS. + + + Flag of distress; 14. + Chicago in 1813; 26. + Jesuit missionary; 53. + Me-che-kan-nah-quah; 55. + Gen. Anthony Wayne; 56. + Wm. Whistler; 58. + Mrs. Wm. Whistler; 59. + Charles Jouett; 62. + Redcoat of 1812; 65. + Old Fort Dearborn; 67. + Cabin in the Woods; 71. + Kinzie mansion in 1812; 73. + Human Scalp; 75. + Indian Warrior; 77. + Squaw; 86. + Black Partridge Medal; 91. + William Wells; 94. + Chief Robinson; 101. + New fort, River and Kinzie House (Wau-Bun); 111. + Massacre tree; 18th St.; 113. + Second Block-house in its last days; 120. + Block-House Tablet; 125. + Beaubien fiddle and Calumet; 127. + Emigrants with wagon; 129. + Cock crow; 133. + Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La-Salle; 134. + George Rogers Clark, late in life; 135. + Shaubena; 130. + Map of new Harbor; 148. + Drummer; 148. + Interior of Fort (1850), Lake House in distance; 145. + Waubansa stone and Great Fire relics; 147. + Wild onion; 151. + Gwenthlean (Whistler) Kinzie; 153. + James Kinzie (autograph); 160. + Samuel Miller (autograph); 161. + Juliette Kinzie; 163. + John Harris Kinzie in 1827; 164. + John Kinzie (autograph); 165. + John Harris Kinzie late in life; 166. + Robert Allen Kinzie, 167. + Kinzie Mansion as given in Wau-Bun; 168. + Mrs. Nellie (Kinzie) Gordon; 171. + John Harris Kinzie Jr.; 172. + Indian Mother and pappoose; 173. + Darius Heald with massacre relics; 179. + Massacre tree and Pullman house; 184. + Cyclone; 185. + Skeleton; 186. + The late Calumet Club-House; 196. + Sauganash Hotel; 200. + Me-tee-a, a signer of the treaty of 1821; 203. + Indian War-dance, August 18, 1885; 204. + Chi-ca-gou; 213. + + + + +The Chicago Massacre of 1812 + + +IN TWO PARTS AND AN APPENDIX. + + +PART I. + +Saturday, August Fifteenth, 1812--Narratives of the Massacre. + + +PART II. + +Historical and Biographical--How the Fort and City were Begun, and Who +were the Beginners. + + +APPENDIX. + + A.--John Baptiste Pointe de Saible. + B.--Fort Dearborn in the War Department. + C.--The Whistler Family. + D.--The Kinzie Family. + E.--The Wells and Heald Families. + F.--The Bones of John Lalime. + G.--Letters From A. H. Edwards. + H.--Billy Caldwell, "The Sauganash." + I.--Indian War Dance. + K.--The Bronze Memorial Group. + + + + +PART FIRST. + +SATURDAY, AUGUST FIFTEENTH, 1812. + + +THE morning of Fort Dearborn's fatal day dawned bright and clear over +Lake Michigan and the sandy flat. The "reveille" doubtless was sounded +before sun-rise; and one can imagine the rattle of the drum and scream +of the fife as they broke the dewy stillness and floated away, over the +sand-spit and out on the lake; across the river to the Kinzie house and +its outbuilding, the Ouillemette house; and up stream to the Indian +encampments, large, dark and lowering. Quite possibly the tune then +prescribed was the same as that now used for the drum-fife reveille, +together with the words that have attached themselves to it of late +years: + + Wake ye lazy soldiers, rouse up and be killed, + Hard tack and salt horse, get your gizzard filled. + Then go to fighting--fire your forty round-- + Fall dead and lay there buried under ground. + +If this time-honored (and much hated) tune has come down to us from so +long, the words had on that morning a significance even more perfect +than that ordinarily belonging to them. + +Early the company cooks must have been at work, boiling whole barrels +of salt pork which had been in soak for days beforehand, and as +much fresh beef as could possibly be used before spoiling. Bread had +doubtless been baked and packed earlier in the week, and now all +imaginable preparations for a march of nearly a month must be completed +and the utensils packed and loaded into the company wagons. At each +of the other, smaller households outside the fort similar toils and +cares were going on. How were the lately weaned little ones to be cared +for? Perhaps some parents hoped that they could drive their milch-cows +with the caravan, seeing that grass was plenty and progress would be +necessarily slow. What did the prospective mothers hope and fear? The +wife of Phelim Corbin; how did she arm her soul for the month of rough +travel, with the travail of child birth as one of its terrors? + +Certainly the happiest of the crowd were the unconscious little ones, +sure of love and care, full of hope and curiosity--a round dozen of +them in one wagon, beginning the first journey of their innocent +lives--the first and last. Fancy the mothers tucking them in! The eager +little faces upturned for good-bye kisses! + +All the workers might have spared themselves their trouble. If they +were thinking of their cows, the crack of the Indian rifles soon ended +that care. The food was enough and to spare; not a morsel of it did +they ever eat. The journey of a month dwindled to a tramp of an hour; +and as to the precious children-- + +Captain William Wells had come, with thirty friendly Indians (Miamis) +to guard and help them through their long, lonely tramp to Detroit. +He was a white man, the uncle of the commandant's young wife (Rebekah +Wells Heald), but had been stolen when a boy by the Indians and brought +up by them; had married a chief's daughter and had fought on their side +until, years ago, this same young niece had gone to him and persuaded +him to come back to his own kith and kin. So any fears the helpless +settlers might have felt at first could now surely be put aside--Wells +was so strong, so brave, so well acquainted with the Indians! He could +doubtless keep them in order, either by policy or by force. + +But if all was well, why had Captain Wells blackened his face--that is, +put on the Indian sign of war and death--before starting that morning? +All accounts agree that he did so, and usually it is taken as having +been a sign of consciousness of impending death. Mrs. Helm[A] seems to +have regarded it in this light. The question can never be settled, but +to me it seems to have been an act of policy; an effort to identify +himself with his Miamis and other friendly Indians. Wau-Bun adds the +gruesome and almost incredible story that the start out was made to the +music of the dead march! As Mrs. Helm was on horseback with the column +she must have known, and we can but take her word for it. + +[A] Margaret Helm, wife of Lieutenant Helm, and step-daughter of old +John Kinzie, has hitherto been the main--almost the only--source of +knowledge about the massacre. She told the story twenty years after its +occurrence, to Mrs. John H. Kinzie, who embodied it in her romantic +narrative "Wau-Bun," published about twenty-two years later still. + +The large herd of beef-cattle was left to the savages. This was +probably the most precious gift of all put in their hands by the +abandonment of the post. The liquor, if it had been left, would have +been their bane, and the fire-arms the mere instruments of mutual +destruction. The clothes must wear out, the flour be eaten up, the +tools and furniture useless, the paints and gew-gaws a fleeting joy; +but the herd! This would be self-sustaining, self-perpetuating, a +perennial fount of blessing and mine of wealth. Here were food, +clothing, shoes for this year and all years to come. No tribe or nation +of their race had ever possessed such a treasure. How did they avail +themselves of it? Wau-Bun answers: + + The fort had become a scene of plunder to such as remained after the + troops moved out. The cattle had been shot down as they ran at large + and lay dead or dying around. This work of butchery had commenced + just as we were leaving the fort. + +No more characteristic bit of Indian painting has ever been made than +that given in these few words. Here was the native savage (not ignorant +of wiser ways, for he had had the thrifty white man under his eyes for +four generations) still showing himself in sense a child, in strength a +man, and in cruelty a fiend incarnate. + +Mrs. Helm continues: + + I well remember a remark of Ensign Ronan, as the firing went on. + "Such," turning to me, "is to be our fate--to be shot down like + beasts." + + "Well, sir," said the commanding officer, who overheard him, "are you + afraid?" + + "No," replied the high-spirited young man, "I can march up to the + enemy where you dare not show your face!" And his subsequent gallant + behavior showed this to be no idle boast. + +Unconsciously Mrs. Helm, in this artless tale told to glorify the +younger officer, awakens in our minds a feeling of dislike for him. +That a youth, scarce two years out of West Point, should add an +ill-timed insult to the heavy cares of his senior officer, a soldier +of thirteen years service, must be shocking to every one. Seeing that +within two hours he was to die in action, bravely doing his duty (in +company with his senior similarly engaged and sorely wounded) we can +readily forgive his error, but not without a protest against a foolish +woman's foolish effort to make it out a noble and praiseworthy outburst. + +Mrs. Heald's narrative[B] (though fortified by Captain Heald's letter, +quoted later) seems less probable than the foregoing circumstantial +account in Wau-Bun. She says: + + The fort was vacated quietly, not a cross word being passed between + soldiers and Indians, and good-byes were exchanged. Not an officer + objected to leaving. Nobody objected but Kinzie, who did so for + personal reasons. Everything left was divided among the Indians + who were there, and a party of them escorted the whites out of the + fort, these Indians being the ones who took no interest in the + fight, although they may have known something about it. The general + impression among the officers (and this was Captain Heald's idea + also) was that the Indians who took their share when the things were + distributed at the fort, had no part in the massacre. + +[B] It is a curious fact that all our direct information concerning the +events of that day comes from two women. Mrs. Lieutenant Helm, who has +been already mentioned, and Mrs. Captain Heald. Both these young wives +will receive more detailed mention a little further on. Mrs. Heald's +account has never been published before. I give it as taken down in +short-hand from the lips of her son, the Hon. Darius Heald of O'Fallon, +Missouri, in the summer of 1892. + +Captain Heald's force consisted of fifty-four regular soldiers and +twelve militia-men, and with them departed every white inhabitant of +the little settlement, men, women and children--probably about thirty +in all--ranging in social condition from the prosperous Kinzies to the +humble discharged soldiers who had married and started to make a living +by tilling the soil, etc. + +The Kinzie family was to go by boat, skirting along the lake and +keeping in touch with the land column as long as it should hug the +shore; later ascending the St. Joseph's River to "Bertrand," or +"Parc-aux-vaches," as it was called, in memory of its having been the +cow-pasture of the old French-Canadian settlement and fort which had +stood on the bank of that river a century or so ago. The boat-party +consisted of Mrs. John Kinzie, her son, John H., born at Sandwich, +Canada, July 7, 1803, and her other children--Ellen Marion (later Mrs. +Alexander Wolcott), born in Chicago, December, 1805; Maria Indiana +(later Mrs. General Hunter), born in Chicago, in 1807, and Robert A., +born in Chicago in 1810. Her daughter by a previous marriage, Margaret +McKillip, was, it will be remembered, now the wife of Lieutenant Helm, +and she bravely elected to share the perils of the land-march with her +husband. There was also in the boat the nurse, Josette (misprinted +in Wau-Bun, "Grutte"[C]) Laframboise (afterward Mrs. Jean Baptiste +Beaubien), a clerk of Mr. Kinzie's, two servants, the boatman, and two +Indians as guard. This shows that the boat must have been neither a +bark canoe nor a common "dug-out" or "pirogue," but a large bateau, +capable of carrying these numerous passengers, with corresponding +baggage and supplies. + +[C] In the Story of Chicago is given the following fac simile to show +how readily the name "Josette" might have been read "Grutte." + +[Illustration: Josette (signature)] + +To-pee-nee-be, a friendly Indian, chief of the St. Joseph's band, early +in the morning of the fatal day, had warned John Kinzie that trouble +was to come from the "escort" which Captain Heald had bargained for +with the Pottowatomies in council, and had urged him to go in the boat +with his family. But the old frontiers-man was built of too sturdy +stuff to take such advice. If there was to be danger he must share it, +and if help would avail he must give it; so he rode with the column. + +First rode out Captain William Wells, hero-martyr, marching, probably +consciously, to a doom self-inflicted under the impulse of human +sympathy and soldierly honor. Following him were half of his mounted +escort of Miami Indians, followed in their turn by the volunteers +and such of the regulars as were able to bear arms. Next came the +short train of wagons, with stores, supplies, camp-equippage, women, +children, sick, wounded and disabled. This little caravan contained all +there was to show for eight years of industry and privation. But what +mattered it? Greater savings would only have meant greater loss, and +more men, women and children would only have meant more suffering and +death. + +The rear-guard was composed of the remainder of Captain Wells's +wretched Miamis, such reliance as is a broken reed. The Miamis were +mounted, as were Captain Wells, Mr. Kinzie, Mrs. Heald and Mrs. Helm, +but probably no others of the party. + +The day continued bright and sunny, and the line must have stretched +from the fort (about the south end of Rush Street bridge) perhaps to +the present Madison Street, half way to the point where began the +sand-dunes or low hills which, even within the memory of the present +generation, skirted the shores down as far as the beginning of the oak +woods of Hyde Park. The bateau followed in the rear of the column and +had just reached the mouth of the river (where the foot of Madison +street now is[D]) when a messenger from To-pe-nee-be brought the Kinzie +party to a halt. + +[D] The river then made a turn southward just east of the fort, and +only found an entrance to the lake across the south end of a long +sand-bar, the continuation of the shore of the North Side. + +The column had marched parallel with the Pottowatomie "escort" until +both bodies reached the sand-hills. Then the whites kept by the +shore-road, while the Indians, veering slightly to their right, put the +sand-hills between their crowd and the slim, weak line of troops and +wagons. + +The reports of the fight itself, given by the two witnesses on +whom we must rely, do not differ materially from each other. Mrs. +Helm's narrative naturally treats more fully of the Kinzie family's +experiences; Mrs. Heald's more fully of her own adventures and the +death of her uncle. Neither woman mentions the other; they were +probably separated early. I will give the stories in turn, beginning +with Mrs. Helm's. + +[Illustration: CHICAGO, IN 1812.] + + +MARGARET HELM'S STORY. + + The boat started, but had scarcely reached the mouth of the river, + which, it will be recollected, was here half a mile below the fort, + when another messenger from To-pe-nee-be arrived to detain them where + they were. In breathless expectation sat the wife and mother. She was + a woman of uncommon energy and strength of character, yet her heart + died within her as she folded her arms around her helpless infants + and gazed on the march of her husband and her eldest child [Mrs. + Helm] to certain destruction. + + They had marched perhaps a mile and a half [Fourteenth Street], when + Captain Wells, who had kept somewhat in advance of his Miamis, came + riding furiously back. "They are about to attack us!" he shouted. + "Form instantly and charge upon them." Scarcely were the words + uttered when a volley was showered from among the sand-hills. The + troops were hastily brought into line and charged up the bank. One + man, a veteran of seventy winters, fell as they ascended. + + After we had left the bank the firing became general. The Miamis fled + at the outset. Their chief rode up to the Pottowatomies and said: + "You have deceived the Americans and us. You have done a bad action, + and (brandishing his tomahawk) I will be the first to head a party of + Americans to return and punish your treachery." So saying he galloped + after his companions, who were now scouring across the prairies. + +Mrs. Helm does not say that she heard these words when uttered, nor +is it probable that she could have been within hearing distance of +the very head of the column, or even could have understood the words +unless (what most unlikely) they were uttered in English. The whole +circumstance looks apocryphal--probably a later Indian fabrication. + + The troops behaved most gallantly. They were but a handful, but they + seemed resolved to sell their lives as dearly as possible. Our horses + pranced and bounded and could hardly be restrained as the balls + whistled among them. I drew off a little and gazed upon my husband + and father, who were yet unharmed, I felt that my hour was come, + and endeavored to forget those I loved and prepare myself for my + approaching fate. + +This seems to be the moment where her narrative diverges from that +of Mrs. Heald, who evidently followed the troops, as she was caught +between a cross-fire of the Indians, whom the advance had left on its +flanks and rear, and there received her wounds. Mrs. Helm's subsequent +narrative shows that she was, when rescued, unwounded and near the Like. + + While I was thus engaged, the surgeon, Dr. Van Voorhees, came up. He + was badly wounded. His horse was shot under him and he had received + a ball in his leg. Every muscle of his face was quivering with the + agony of terror. He said to me: + + "Do you think they will take our lives? I am badly wounded, but I + think not mortally. Perhaps we might purchase our lives by promising + a large reward. Do you think there is any chance?" + + "Dr. VanVoorhees," said I, "do not let us waste the few moments that + yet remain to us in such vain hopes. Our fate is inevitable. In a + few minutes we must appear before the bar of God. Let us make what + preparation is yet in our power." + + "O, I cannot die!" exclaimed he. "I am not fit to die--if I had but a + short time to prepare--death is awful!" + + I pointed to Ensign Ronan, who, though mortally wounded and nearly + down, was still fighting with desperation on one knee. "Look at that + man," said I; "at least he dies like a soldier." + + "Yes," replied the unfortunate man, with a gasp, "but he has no + terrors of the future. He is an unbeliever." + +When we read this remarkable dialogue--remarkable as occurring amid the +rattle of musketry on a battle-field where the narrators' friends were +perishing in a hopeless struggle with an overpowering force of savage +foes--we remember that Mrs. Kinzie's book did not assume to be history; +was not written as a grave and literal record of things as they were; +a statement carefully scrutinized to see that no unjust slur is cast +upon any character, even so unimportant a one as the poor wounded, +dying surgeon. Mrs. Helm, on the dreadful day, was a mere girl-wife +of seventeen years, and was a woman of thirty-seven when Mrs. Kinzie +transcribed the artless tale into Wau-Bun, a book which reads like a +romance, and was meant so to be read. + +The utterance of these admirable sentiments while still in sight of +Ensign Ronan, mortally wounded, yet fighting with desperation on one +knee, again puts us in doubt as to Mrs. Helm's location on the field; +but the next part of her story shows that she was not far from the +water. + + At this moment a young Indian raised his tomahawk at me. By springing + aside I avoided the blow, which was intended for my skull, but which + alighted on my shoulder. I seized him around the neck, and while + exerting my utmost efforts to get possession of his scalping-knife, + which hung in a scabbard over his breast, I was dragged from his + grasp by another and an older Indian. The latter bore me struggling + and resisting toward the lake. Notwithstanding the rapidity with + which I was hurried along, I recognized, as I passed them, the + remains of the unfortunate surgeon. Some murderous tomahawk had + stretched him upon the very spot where I had last seen him. + + I was immediately plunged into the water and held there with a + forcible hand, notwithstanding my resistance. I soon perceived, + however, that the object of my captor was not to drown me, for he + held me firmly in such a position as to place my head above water. + This reassured me, and regarding him attentively I soon recognized, + in spite of the paint with which he was disguised, _The Black + Partridge_. + +This picturesque narrative of the rescue of a young bride by a friendly +Indian, has been justly regarded as the one romantic story connected +with that dark and bloody day. It has been the chosen theme of the +story-teller, the painter and the sculptor, and its portrayal in +perennial bronze forms the theme of the magnificent group which has +been designed and modeled by the sculptor, Carl Rohl-Smith, cast in +bronze, and presented (June, 1893), with appropriate ceremonies, to the +Chicago Historical Society, "in trust for the city and for posterity" +as set forth by an inscription on its granite base.[E] + +[E] See Appendix K. + +Mrs. Helm goes on: + + When the firing had nearly subsided my preserver bore me from the + water and conducted me up the sand-banks. It was a burning August + morning, and walking through the sand in my drenched condition was + inexpressibly painful and fatiguing. I stooped and took off my shoes + to free them from the sand with which they were nearly filled, when a + squaw seized and bore them off, and I was obliged to proceed without + them. + + When we had gained the prairie [probably at about Twelfth Street] + I was met by my father [her step-father, John Kinzie], who told me + that my husband was safe, but slightly wounded. They led me gently + back toward the Chicago River, along the southern bank of which was + the Pottowatomie encampment. At one time I was placed on a horse + without a saddle, but finding the motion insupportable, I sprang off. + Supported partly by my kind conductor, Black Partridge, and partly + by another Indian, Pee-so-tum, who held dangling in his hand a scalp + which, by the black ribbon around the queue, I recognized as that of + Captain Wells, I dragged my fainting steps to one of the wigwams. + The wife of Wah-bee-nee-mah, a chief from the Illinois River, was + standing near, and seeing my exhausted condition, she seized a + kettle, dipped up some water from the stream that flowed near [the + slough that emptied into the main river at about the south end of + State Street bridge], threw into it some maple sugar, and stirring it + up with her hand, gave it to me to drink. This act of kindness in the + midst of so many horrors touched me most sensibly, but my attention + was soon diverted to other objects. + + The whites had surrendered after the loss of about two-thirds their + number. They had stipulated, through the interpreter, Peresh Leclerc, + for the preservation of their lives and those of the remaining + women and children, and for their delivery at some of the British + posts, unless ransomed by traders in the Indian country. It appears + that the wounded prisoners were not considered as included in the + stipulation, and a horrible scene ensued on their being brought into + camp. An old squaw, infuriated by the loss of friends, or excited + by the sanguinary scenes around her, seemed possessed by a demoniac + ferocity. She seized a stable-fork and assaulted one miserable + victim who lay groaning and writhing in the agony of his wounds, + aggravated by the scorching beams of the sun. With a delicacy of + feeling scarcely to have been expected under such circumstances, + Wah-bee-nee-mah stretched a mat across two poles, between me and + the deadful scene. I was thus spared, in some degree, a view of its + horrors, although I could not entirely close my ears to the cries of + the sufferer. + +The disgrace attaching to the British government in seeking alliance +with such savages in a war against civilized beings of its own race, +is elsewhere fully treated. One can only wish that those cries might +have reached the women of all England, instead of falling fruitlessly +on those of one poor, exhausted, helpless American girl, and of the red +hell-spawn grinning and dancing with delight at the sound. + +Such is the tale as first given to the world by Mrs. Kinzie in +"Wau-Bun." I will now present the narrative of the same struggle, +defeat, surrender and massacre as often told by Mrs. Captain Heald to +her son, the Hon. Darius Heald, and by him to me. The two are not, in +essentials, contradictory; each completes and rounds out the other. + +After giving the account of the peaceable start from the fort +(inconsistent with Mrs. Helm's story, already quoted, and less +truth-seeming than the latter), she goes on to say: + + +REBEKAH HEALD'S STORY. + + Captain Wells' escort was mounted on Indian ponies. Captain Wells + himself was mounted on a thoroughbred. Mrs. Heald and Mrs. Helm were + also on horseback, the former on her own beloved Kentucky horse. + + They advanced, Wells and his escort getting about a quarter of a + mile ahead, and were jogging along quietly when all at once they + halted, and he turned back and got down pretty close to Captain + Heald--perhaps half the distance. He pulled off his hat and swung + it around his head once or twice, making a circle. As soon as he + saw Wells coming back, Captain Heald said to his wife: "Uncle sees + something ahead of him there. There is something wrong." And when + he made the circle around his head, Mrs. Heald understood the sign, + "We are surrounded by Indians." Captain Wells soon got close enough + to shout "We are surrounded by Indians. March up on the sand-ridges. + There are sand-ridges we ought to get in behind where we can stand + half up and not be seen." Then she saw the Indians' heads "sticking + up and down again, here and there, like turtles out of the water." + They marched up on the sand-ridges, the wagons being put back next + to the lake and the men taking position in front of them. Captain + Wells shouted to Captain Heald, "Charge them!" and then led on and + broke the ranks of the Indians, who scattered right and left. He then + whirled round and charged to the left. This move brought them well + out into the country, and they marched onward and took position about + two or three hundred yards in front of the wagons and a like distance + from the Indians. Captain Heald rather gave way to Captain Wells, + knowing his superior excellence in Indian warfare, Wells having been + trained from childhood by such warriors as Little Turtle, Tecumseh + and Black Hawk; especially by the first two. + +Here to the eye of common-sense, whether soldierly or civilian, the +battle is already gone--lost beyond salvation. The onus of blame +appears to rest on poor Wells, the brave, devoted volunteer. He had +learned war in a school that took no account of the supply-train; in +the school of individual fighters, living on nothing, saving no wounded +or non-combatants; dash, scurry, kill, scalp and run away, every man +for himself--and the devil take the hindmost--in other words the Indian +system. As to this band of whites, what had it to fight for but its +train of wagons with all the helpless ones, all the stores, all the +ammunition, all the means of progress and of caring for the wounded? To +charge the centre of a brave, unformed rabble which outflanks you is +only heroic suicide at best, and when the doing so leaves the train at +the mercy of the spreading flanks of the foe, it is fatal madness. + +To return to the Heald narrative: + + Another charge was made which enabled Captain Wells to get a little + closer to the Indians. He had two pistols and a small gun. His + bullets and powder were kept in shoulder belts, hung at convenient + places, and he generally had an extra bullet in his mouth, which + helped him to load fast when necessary. He could pour in a little + powder, wad it down, "blow in" the bullet, prime and fire more + quickly than one can tell the facts. The Indians broke from him right + and left. The hottest part of the battle lasted but a few minutes, + but Captain Heald's little band was cut down. He gave the signal for + surrender; the chiefs came together and they made a compromise. + +By this time Wells, Ronan and Van Vorhees were killed, Heald had +a bullet in his hip, Mrs. Heald had a half dozen wounds, half the +regulars were killed or wounded, and so far as we now know for certain, +all twelve militia-men. (A doubt about this last named unexplained +mortality, and suggestion as to the probable manner of their death, +will be noted later.) Darius Heald could only say: + + Afterwards, in talking the matter over, Captain Nathan Heald said + that he had no confidence in the Indians, but that he had done the + best he could do; that in fifteen minutes more the last man would + have been killed, as they had no chance at all; his men were falling + rapidly, and he himself was wounded in the hip by a one-ounce ball. + That ball was never extracted, and caused his death twenty years + afterward. + +In any circumstances, one cannot cast blame on a beaten commander, +negotiating with his victorious foes, while bleeding from a bullet +deep-bedded in his hip-joint. In this case, it is not likely that +blame would be due, even if Captain Heald had been unhurt. But for his +surrender, the Chicago Massacre would have been, on a small scale, the +fore-runner of the great Custer slaughter, where not a white man lived +to tell the tale. Every man, woman and child of white blood (except +perhaps the Kinzies and Lieutenant Helm), would now be in oblivion +almost as if they had never been born. Even the "massacre tree" that +stands to-day (1893) in Eighteenth street near the lake, in gaunt, +leafless old age, could only have been identified by the bleaching +skulls, great and small, which surrounded it when General Cass passed +the spot a few years afterward. + +Here we take up again Mrs. Heald's personal story: + + After the fighting commenced, Mrs. Heald turned back and ascended a + little elevation between the army and the wagons. She saw a young, + fine-looking officer fall [probably Lieutenant Ronan] and thought it + was her husband, and was under this impression until after the fight + was over. Just before the surrender, she got up in range of the + bullets coming from Indians on both sides of her. She did not know + whether the Indians aimed at her or not, but she was wounded in six + places, one hand being rendered helpless, the ball passing between + the two bones of her arm. Her son has seen the scar a thousand times. + +I have remarked that Mrs. Heald does not mention the presence of Mrs. +Helm, nor does the latter that of the former. We judge from this, and +from Mrs. Helm's account of her being saved by being plunged in the +lake, that the latter remained nearer the shore than did the other. + + +DEATH OF CAPTAIN WELLS. + + Captain Wells, who was shot through the lungs, rode up and took her + hand, saying: "Farewell my child." Mrs. Heald said to him: "Why + uncle, I hope you will get over this." "No my child," he said, "lean + not." He told her he was shot through the lungs, and she saw the + blood oozing through his nose and mouth. He still held her hand and + talked to her, saying that he could not last five minutes longer. + He said: "Tell my wife--if you live to get there, but I think it + doubtful if a single one gets there--tell her I died at my post doing + the best I could. There are seven red devils over there that I have + killed." + + His horse, which had been shot just behind the girth, then fell and + caught Captain Wells' leg under him. As he did so, Captain Wells + turned and saw six or seven Indians approaching them. He took aim and + fired, killing one of them. They approached still closer, and Mrs. + Heald said to him: "Uncle, there is an Indian pointing right at the + back of your head." Captain Wells put his hand back and held up his + head that better aim might be taken, and then cried "Shoot away!" The + Indian fired, the shot being fatal. They then pulled him out from + under his horse (Mrs. Heald still seated on her horse near by) and + cut his body open, the gashes being in the shape of a cross. They + took out his heart, placed it on a gun-stick and whirled it round + and round, yelling like fiends. The noise drew other Indians to the + spot and they then commenced cutting up the heart and eating it. They + crowded around and the bleeding heart was thrust forward at one after + another. + + Finally an Indian cut off a piece, held it up to Mrs. Heald and + insisted on her eating it. She shook her head. He then daubed her + face with it. She shook her fist at him. Then they called her + "Epeconier! Epeconier!" this being their name for Captain Wells--thus + signifying that she was a Wells--a person full of pluck and fortitude. + +So nobly perished one of the best and bravest frontiers-men, fighting +where he had been summoned by sympathy and affection, not by the orders +of any superior officer. No knight ever set lance in rest under a more +purely chivalric impulse than did this plain, pretending, half-educated +pioneer. Two hundred and fifty miles away he had heard the warning note +of peril, seen the fair young face of his brother's daughter (she who +long before had sought him out among his savage captors and restored +him to his kins-folk), and felt the impulse of manly self-devotion +to save her and her friends from impending doom. He obeyed the noble +impulse and--he died like a man, and somewhere beneath our thoughtless +footsteps his bones lie buried.[F] + +[F] Chicago should not be without a statue of this early hero, martyred +in her service. A miniature exists purporting to give his features, and +as to his form, that could be easily reproduced from description, while +his Indian dress would serve to give grace and dignity to the work. +Among the first streets named, when the village of Chicago was laid out +(1831), was one called after him--for he was not yet forgotten. Part +of the street-the stretch north of the river--still retains the great +name, but the most important portion, that traversing the business +heart of the city, has been arbitrarily changed to "Fifth Avenue," +there being no Fourth or Sixth Avenue adjoining it on either side to +excuse the ungrateful, barbarous innovation. + +In the Calumet Club is preserved the identical hatchet worn by Captain +Wells during the last fight, with authenticating documents furnished +by James Madison Wolcott, of South Toledo, Ohio, his grandson by his +wife Wa-nan-ga-peth (daughter of Me-che-kan-nah-quah or Little Turtle) +through his daughter Ah-mah-qua-zah-quah ("A sweet breeze"), who +married Judge James Wolcott. It is related that Wa-nan-ga-peth received +the news of her husband's death from a stranger Indian who entered, +told the message, laid down the hatchet in token of its truth, and +departed, unknown as he came. + +This narrative of the fight itself, as seen by Mrs. Heald and related +to me by her son, is marked by a style of severe simplicity and good +faith that seems to command confidence in the mind of the reader. +There is no point in the artless story where one is compelled to pause +and make a mental allowance for the bias of the narrator, for her +excitement and the uncertainty such a state of mind might throw over +her accuracy, or even for the errors (save those of omission) which +the lapse of years might have caused. All seems natural, unforced and +trustworthy. The story goes on: + + In the meantime her horse, which had become excited during the tumult + by the smell of blood, commenced prancing around, and an Indian took + him by the bit and led him down to the corral, or Indian camp near + the fort. [This was on the banks of a slough which entered the river + at about where State Street bridge now stands.] Approaching them, an + Indian squaw caught sight of the bright-red blanket which was girted + on over Mrs. Heald's saddle, for camping purposes, and immediately + attempted to take it for her own. Mrs. Heald resisted vigorously, and + although one hand was entirely useless and the other badly injured, + she took her switch and with it struck the squaw such hard blows that + "white welts were raised on her red hide." After this exhibition of + spirit, the Indian who had hold of the horse's bit again shouted, + "Epeconier! Epeconier!" and it is probably this display of daring + which saved Mrs. Heald's life, and perhaps her husband's also. + +Rebekah Wells Heald was evidently worthy of her name. Daughter of +Captain Samuel Wells, niece of Captain William Wells, wife of Captain +Nathan Heald, she was a woman whom the sight of blood could not daunt, +the smart of wounds weaken, or the fear of bereavement subdue. (For +many hours after the battle she supposed herself a widow.) Her son +Darius (her mouthpiece in this narrative) was not born until nine years +after that dreadful day; and now (1893), in his seventy-third year, he +shows the family form and spirit. Tall, stalwart, erect and dignified, +he is a typical southern-westerner, a mighty hunter in the past and a +tower of patriarchal strength in his old age. + + When she was brought in, after being captured and led down among + the Indians, she was stripped of her jewelry--rings, breast-pin, + ear-rings and comb. She was badly wounded, and was cared for that + night (the fifteenth of August) as tenderly as a sister, by two or + three squaws and one French woman, who did everything in their power + to relieve her. She saw nothing of her jewelry till the next morning, + when a brave made his appearance and pranced around, taking great + pains to shew that he was wearing her comb in his scalp-lock--a + performance fraught with difficulties, as he had hardly enough hair + to keep it in, and found it necessary to push it back from time to + time to prevent it from falling to the ground. Poor black Cicely she + never saw again[G]. She had perished with the rest. Her horse, too, + was gone forever. + +[G] See page 70. + +This horse was a thoroughbred, the same one that Mrs. Heald, as a +bride, had ridden from Kentucky a year before. The Indians had always +looked on it with envious eyes, and had employed all means, lawful and +otherwise, to get it from the fort. Now it was theirs by conquest, +and no later efforts availed to recover it. Doubtless among its new +owners its fate was hard and its life short. One winter of starvation, +exposure and abuse would "hang its hide on the fence," even while its +wretched Indian-pony companions were living on in stubborn endurance. + + It turned out afterwards that the Indians took their booty down to + Peoria, to sell and "trade" for whisky, and it found its way quickly + to St. Louis, where Colonel O'Fallon recognized a great deal as + belonging to the Healds, and redeemed it and sent it to Colonel + Samuel Wells at the Falls of the Ohio [Louisville] as a memento of + his daughter and her husband, both supposed to be dead. It reached + there before the Healds did, and the articles are now in possession + of the family; most of them were shown by Hon. Darius Heald in + Chicago, in 1892, when the before-mentioned short-hand transcript + of his mother's story was made, and he and his precious relics were + photographed, making a picture hereinafter presented. (See Appendix + E.) + + The Indian who led Captain Heald down to the camp and claimed him as + his prisoner, was a half-breed named Chandonnais. He afterward found + that Mrs. Heald was still alive, and, it is supposed, ransomed her + from her captor; for, on the morning of the sixteenth, he brought + the husband and wife together. He seems to have connived at the + escape of both, for they found the matter wonderfully easy--boat + and escort at hand and all oversight withdrawn. Years afterward, in + 1831, Chandonnais visited the Healds at their home, near O'Fallon, + Missouri, and Darius Heald remembers his father's meeting and + greeting the brave who had so nobly rescued them. It is thought that + the Indians went off down the lake to have "a general frolic"--in + other words, torture to death the wounded prisoners. + +Here arises before the mind's eye the dim and cloudy vision of horror, +the acme of the tragedy, all the more appalling for its shrouding +mystery. It makes the flesh creep and the hair stand on end. It sears +the heart against the race whereof it was the inborn nature to feel in +the eyes a love for the sight of mortal agony, in the ears an eagerness +for the shriek of despairing anguish. + +The wounded not included! The helpless picked out for torture! The +inflamed hurts to be deepened with a pitchfork and perhaps further +and mortally inflamed with a burning brand! Kindly Nature's passing +lethargy to be quickened into conscious death in frantic anguish! + +The twelve militia-men are never again mentioned. They are as if they +had never been born, lived and toiled, never volunteered, never served, +fought and fell. How is this to be accounted for? Why should their +mortality be twice as great as that of the regulars? Darkness hides the +answer; but it seems not unlikely that the same hellish ingenuity which +held that "the wounded were not included," may also have held that men +not wearing the uniform were not protected by the capitulation, and so +they perished at the stake, surrounded by the "general frolic" which +occupied the savages, good and bad, friendly and inimical, during the +flight of the Healds and Kinzies. + +There was no place on earth for a race which, through all its history, +had found delight in the spectacle of pain, which inflicted torture, +not as a means leading to some ulterior object, but as itself a source +of joy and gladness. The race is still in existence, but the inhuman +part of its characteristics are being refined away, leaving some of its +best traits in the more advanced of its present representatives. Later +on in this volume mention is made of its standing and its prospects at +this time. + +Now to take up again the Wau-Bun narrative. The torturing incident, +already given, evidently ends the story of Mrs. Helm's personal +experiences; all that follows being what others professed to have seen. +Yet (possibly by typographical error) the quotation marks, which began +with the narration, are continued much further on, including paragraphs +wherein she is spoken of in the third person. (See later.) Mrs Helm +says: + + The Americans, after the first attack by the Indians, charged upon + those who had concealed themselves in a sort of ravine intervening + between the sand-banks and the prairie. The latter gathered + themselves into a body, and after some hard fighting, in which the + number of whites had become reduced to twenty-eight, this little band + succeeded in breaking through the enemy and gaining a rising ground + not far from the oak woods. + + The contest now seemed hopeless, and Lieutenant Helm sent Peresh + Leclerc, a half-breed boy in the service of Mr. Kinzie, who had + accompanied the detachment and fought manfully on their side, to + propose terms of capitulation. It was stipulated that the lives of + all the survivors should be spared and a ransom permitted as soon as + practicable. + +Lieutenant Helm made the terms of capitulation? How could that be while +Captain Heald was present? And what is to be done with Captain Heald's +statement of October 7, 1812, less than three months after the event? +It reads as follows: "The Indians did not follow me but assembled in +a body on the top of the bank, and, after some consultation among +themselves, made signs for me to approach them. I advanced toward them +alone and was met by one of the Pottowatomie chief called Black Bird, +with an interpreter." + +The reader will of course choose between the two statements +according to his judgement of probabilities and internal evidence of +truthfulness. Captain Heald certainly cast no slur on Lieutenant Helm, +and appears not even to have entered into the bitterness of feeling +against himself and his unhappy surgeon, which seems to have gone on +rankling through all the twenty years that elapsed between the direful +day and the telling of the story by Mrs. Helm to Mrs. Kinzie. + +Mrs. Helm's expression, "Peresh Leclerc, a half-breed boy in the +service of Mr. Kinzie who had accompanied the detachment and fought +manfully on their side," leaves a possible ambiguity as to whether it +is the boy or his master who fought manfully on the side of the whites. + +Next follows one of the most noteworthy parts of all Mrs. Helm's +narrative, the few words which depict the act of ferocity by which +the occasion has been given much of its picturesque and terrible +individuality: + + But in the meantime, a horrible scene had been enacted. One young + savage, climbing into the baggage-wagon containing the children of + the white families, twelve in number, tomahawked the children of the + entire group.[H] + +[H] See Appendix G for the story of one of the scalped children. + +This harrowing tale is strongly confirmed by Captain Heald's estimate +of losses as given in his letter of Oct. seventh (already quoted), +which he states as follows: "Our strength was about fifty-four regulars +and twelve militia, out of which twenty-six regulars and twelve militia +were killed in action, with two women and twelve children. Ensign +George Ronan and Dr. Isaac V. Van Vorhees, of my company, with Captain +Wells of Fort Wayne, to my great sorrow are numbered among the dead. +Lieutenant Linai T. Helm, with twenty-five non-commissioned officers +and privates, and eleven women and children, were prisoners when we +separated." + +The next part of Mrs. Helm's narrative is remarkably at variance with +the stern, true-seeming and circumstantial account of Captain Wells' +death given by Mrs. Heald. Mrs Helm says (following the statement of +the slaughter of the innocents): + + This was during the engagement near the sand-hills. When Captain + Wells, who was fighting near, beheld it, he exclaimed, "Is that + your game, butchering women and children? Then I will kill too!" So + saying, he turned his horse's head and started for the Indian camp + near the fort, where had been left their squaws and children. Several + Indians pursued him as he galloped along. He laid himself flat on the + neck of his horse, loading and firing in that position as he would + occasionally turn on his pursuers. At length their balls took effect, + killing his horse and severely wounding himself At this moment he was + met by Winnemeg and Wau-ban-see who endeavored to save him from the + savages who had now overtaken him. As they supported him along, after + having disengaged him from his horse, he received his death blow from + another Indian, Pee-so-tum, who stabbed him in the back. + +When we observe the incongruities of this tale (not to speak of its +contradiction by Mrs. Heald's report) such as the witnessing by Captain +Wells of the wagon slaughter (at a time when we know he was far away +inland, fighting at the head of the troops); of his alleged dastardly +flight from the field toward the Indian camp a mile-and-a-half away, +with the avowed intention of killing the squaws and pappooses; his +being overtaken on horseback by pursuing enemies on foot; his being +held up by two Indians while a third stabbed him in the back, the third +being the very one who helped Mrs. Helm to reach the fort; we are only +glad to remember that the narrator did not mean to have us understand +that she witnessed the occurrences she relates. Internal evidence +leads us to suspect that the story came to her from the lips of lying +Indians, eager to magnify to Mr. Kinzie their deeds of valor and of +kindness, and perhaps justify their treatment of poor Wells, alive and +dead. Pee-so-tum may have killed and scalped Wells, but it surely was +not under such circumstances as those above set forth. Not even the +best friends of the Indian claim for him any appreciation of the virtue +of mere veracity. Personal faithfulness of the most touching character +he often showed. Even the keeping of promises, often at the cost of +great personal sacrifice, has been known as a striking and admirable +trait. But "truth for truth's sake" is beyond him--as it is, indeed, +beyond the great mass of mankind. + +The Wau-Bun story of the experiences of the Kinzie family bears +evidences of authenticity and reasonable accuracy, as might be expected +from the fact that Mrs. John H. Kinzie probably got it directly from +her husband's mother, Mrs. John Kinzie, who was alive at the time when +it was first written. + + Those of the family of Mr. Kinzie who had remained in the boat + near the mouth of the river were carefully guarded by Kee-po-tah + and another Indian. They had seen the smoke, then the blaze, and, + immediately after, the report of the tremendous discharge sounded + in their ears. Then all was confusion. They realized nothing until + they saw an Indian come towards them from the battle-ground leading a + horse on which sat a lady, apparently wounded. + + "That is Mrs. Heald," cried Mrs. Kinzie. "That Indian will kill her. + Run Chandonnais," to one of Mr. Kinzie's clerks, "Take the mule that + is tied there and offer it to him to release her." + + Her captor by this time was in the act of disengaging her bonnet from + her head in order to scalp her. Chandonnais ran up, offered the mule + as a ransom, with the promise of two bottles of whisky as soon as + they should reach his village. The latter was a strong temptation. + "But," said the Indian, "She is badly wounded--she will die--will you + give me the whisky at all events?" Chandonnais promised he would, and + the bargain was concluded. The savage placed the lady's bonnet on his + own head and after an ineffectual effort on the part of some squaws + to rob her of her shoes and stockings, she was brought on board the + boat, where she lay moaning with pain from the many wounds she had + received in both arms. + +In this narrative the Indian bargains that he shall have his booty +whether the prisoners live or die. This stipulation indicates the +savage's view of the value of a prisoner. If likely to live, and +therefore exchangeable for ransom, then his life might be spared; if +not, then he belonged to his captor and could be used for the keen +delight of torture. This is probably the idea which inspired the +hellish notion of the exclusion of the wounded from Captain Heald's +capitulation. For the unhurt they could get ransom, therefore they +would spare their lives. But the wounded! Why spare them? They are not +merchantable. Nobody will give anything for a dead man. The dying are +available for only one profit--torture. + + When the boat was at length permitted to return to the mansion of Mr. + Kinzie, and Mrs. Heald was removed to the house, it became necessary + to dress her wounds. Mr. K. applied to an old chief who stood by, + and who, like most of his tribe, possessed some skill in surgery, + to extract a ball from the arm of the sufferer. "No, father," he + replied, "I cannot do it; it makes me sick here," laying his hand on + his heart. Mr. Kinzie then performed the operation himself with his + penknife. + +The discrepancy observable between this account and that of Mrs. Heald +herself, which says that on that night she was cared for by squaws in +the Indian encampment, may be explained away by supposing that it was +on the following day, after the Kinzies had got back to their home on +the north bank, that Mrs. Kinzie caught sight of her friend and sent +Chandonnais to her rescue in one of the boats they always used for +passing and repassing the river, at about where Rush Street bridge now +stands. The fact that no mule could well have been tied where the boat +lay offshore, near the river's mouth, makes this seem the probable +explanation of the incongruity. + +At their own mansion the family of Mr. Kinzie were closely guarded by +their Indian friends, whose intention it was to carry them to Detroit +for security. The rest of the prisoners remained at the wigwams of +their captors. + +Mrs. Helm, Mr. Kinzie's step-daughter, must have been among those once +more housed at the historic building of squared logs built about 1776, +by Pointe de Saible. This house was still standing when the village had +become, in name at least, a city, which it did in 1837. Mr. Kinzie had +planted along its front four poplar trees, and they appear in the early +pictures of Chicago. Doubtless, if one were to dig in the open space on +the east side of Pine Street, at its junction with Kinzie street, the +old roots would be found to this day (1893), and there are probably a +hundred living Chicagoans who remember having seen the house itself. + + The following morning, the work of plunder having been completed, the + Indians set fire to the fort. A very fair, equitable distribution + of the finery appeared to have been made, and shawls, ribbons and + feathers fluttered about in all directions. The ludicrous appearance + of one young fellow, who had arrayed himself in a muslin gown and the + bonnet of one of the ladies, would, under other circumstances, have + afforded matter of amusement. + + Black Partridge, Wan-ban-see and Kee-po-tah, with two other Indians, + having established themselves in the porch of the building as + sentinels, to protect the family from any evil the young men might be + excited to commit, all remained tranquil for a short space after the + conflagration. Very soon, however, a party of Indians from the Wabash + made their appearance. These were, decidedly, the most hostile and + implacable of all the tribes of the Pottowatomies. Being more remote, + they had shared less than some of their brethren in the kindness + of Mr. Kinzie and his family, and consequently their sentiments of + regard for them were less powerful. + +The Wabash Indians must have been smarting with the terrible defeat +inflicted on them only about one year before, when General Harrison, +whose confidential agent poor Wells had been, fought them at +Tippecanoe, on the banks of the Wabash River. + + Runners had been sent to the villages to apprise them of the intended + evacuation of the post, as well as of the plans of the Indians + assembled to attack the troops. Thirsting to participate in such a + scene, they hurried on, and great was their mortification on arriving + at the Aux Plaines [Des Plaines River] to meet with a party of their + friends bearing with them Nee-scot-nee-meg badly wounded, and to + learn that the battle was over, the spoils divided and the scalps + all taken. On arriving at Chicago they blackened their faces and + proceeded toward the dwelling of Mr. Kinzie. + + From his station on the piazza, Black Partridge had watched their + approach, and his fears were particularly awakened for the safety + of Mrs. Helm (Mr. Kinzie's step-daughter), who had recently come to + the post and was personally unknown to the more remote Indians.[I] + By his advice she was made to assume the ordinary dress of a French + woman of the country; namely, a short gown and petticoat, with a + blue cotton handkerchief wrapped around her head. In this disguise + she was conducted by Black Partridge himself to the house of + Ouilmette, a Frenchman with a half-breed wife, who formed part of the + establishment of Mr. Kinzie, and whose dwelling was close at hand. It + so happened that the Indians came first to this house in their search + for prisoners. As they approached, the inmates, fearful that the fair + complexion and general appearance of Mrs. Helm might betray her for + an American, raised a large featherbed and placed her under the edge + of it, upon the bedstead, with her face to the wall. Mrs. Bisson, + the sister of Ouilmette's wife, then seated herself with her sewing + on the edge of the bed. It was a hot day in August, and the feverish + excitement of fear and agitation, together with her position, which + was nearly suffocating, became so intolerable that at length Mrs. + Helm entreated to be released and given up to the Indians. + +[I] Although this, as well as the earlier part of the account (where +Mrs. Helm speaks in the first person) appears in Wau-Bun in continuous +quotation marks, it is manifest that the whole later portion is a +separate recital. Several interesting anecdotes are given in detail, +but for them the reader must look to the delightful original volume +which, though not in the market, can be found in the Chicago Historical +Society's collection, and also in many private libraries, especially +among those Chicagoans who were not burned out in the great fire of +1871. It is to be hoped that some of Mrs. Kinzie's descendants will +cause a new edition to be published for the benefit of later comers, +who will look to it for amusement (and also instruction) concerning +times and scenes so unlike those now around them as to seem to have +happened on another planet, instead of on the very soil they tread. +(Munsell's Hist. Chic.) + +The words used imply that the step-daughter had not habitually formed +part of the family of John Kinzie at Chicago. + + "I can but die," said she; "let them put an end to my misery at once." + + Mrs. Bisson replied: "Your death would be the destruction of us + all, for Black Partridge has resolved that if one drop of the blood + of your family is spilled, he will take the lives of all concerned + in it, even his nearest friends; and if once the work of murder + commences there will be no end of it so long as there remains one + white person or half-breed in the country." + + This expostulation nerved Mrs. Helm with fresh resolution. The + Indians entered, and she could occasionally see them from her + hiding-place, gliding about, stealthily inspecting every part of the + room, though without making any ostensible search, until, apparently + satisfied that there was no one concealed, they left the house. + + All this time Mrs. Bisson had kept her scat upon the side of the bed, + calmly basting and arranging the patchwork of the quilt on which she + was engaged, and preserving the appearance of the utmost tranquility, + although she knew not but that the next moment she might receive a + tomahawk in her brain. Her self command unquestionably saved the + lives of all present. + + From Ouilmette's house the party of Indians proceeded to the dwelling + of Mr. Kinzie. They entered the parlor, in which the family were + assembled with their faithful protectors, and seated themselves upon + the floor in silence. + + Black Partridge perceived, from their moody and revengeful looks, + what was passing in their minds, but he dared not remonstrate with + them. He only observed, in a low tone, to Wau-ban-see: + + "We have endeavored to save our friends, but it is vain; nothing will + save them now." + + At this moment a friendly whoop was heard from a party of new-comers + on the opposite bank of the river. Black Partridge hastened to meet + their leader, as the canoe in which they had hastily embarked touched + the bank near the house. + + "Who are you?" demanded he. + + "A man; who are _you?_" + + "A man like yourself; but tell me _who_ you are"--meaning, "tell me + your disposition, and which side you are for." + + "I am the Sau-ga-nash." + + "Then make all speed to the house; your friend is in danger and you + alone can save him." + +Billy Caldwell, the "Sau-ga-nash," or Englishman, was son of Colonel +Caldwell, a British officer stationed at Detroit, his mother being +a beautiful Pottowatomie girl. He was educated by his father, though +serving his mother's race as a chief of the Pottowatomies. (There were +always many "chiefs.") He fought under Tecumseh against the whites +under Wayne--"Mad Anthony," as he was often called, "Old Tempest," as +Caldwell himself calls him[J]--also at the Battle of the Thames, in +1813, when Harrison fought and defeated the combined forces of British +and Indians, and the famous chief, Tecumseh, was killed. He took part +in the treaty of Greenville, in 1796, and that of Chicago, in 1833; +a long space of historic time, covering a racial struggle of many +thrilling incidents, not a thousandth part of which can ever see the +light. They are buried in blood, smoke, flame and darkness. At this +time, it will be observed, Caldwell was an ally of the English. + +[J] See Appendix H. + + Billy Caldwell, for it was he, entered the parlor with a calm step, + and without a trace of agitation in his manner. He deliberately took + off his accoutrements and planed them, with his rifle, behind the + door, and then saluted the hostile savages. + + "How now, my friends? A good day to you! I was told there were + enemies here, but I am glad to find only friends. Why have you + blackened your faces? Is it that you are mourning for those friends + you have lost in battle?" (purposely misunderstanding this token of + evil designs) "or is it that you are fasting? If so, ask our friend + here, and he will give you to eat. He is the Indians' friend, and + never yet refused them what they had need of." + + Thus taken by surprise, the savages were ashamed to acknowledge their + bloody purpose. They therefore said modestly that they came to beg of + their friends some white cotton in which to wrap their dead before + interring them. This was given to them, with some other presents, and + they took their departure peaceably from the premises. + +The remainder of both the Wau-Bun and Heald narratives is devoted to +the flight from Chicago and the later fate of the fugitives. Before +closing this part of my story, I will give the following bit coming +from another source. + +Near the (present) north end of State Street bridge stood a log house +known to history and tradition as "Cobweb Castle;" a name probably +given to it after the rebuilding of the fort in 1816, and after it +had become superannuated and superseded. Mrs. Callis, daughter of Mr. +Jouett, who came here with him about 1817, says of it: "The house in +which my father lived, was built before the massacre of 1812; I know +this from the fact that 'White Elk,' an Indian chief, the tallest +Indian I ever saw, was frequently pointed out to me as the savage +who had dashed out the brains of the children of Sukey Corbin (a +camp-follower and washerwoman) against the side of this very house. +Mrs. Jouett told her daughter of a frantic mother (perhaps the same +Mrs. Corbin), a former acquaintance of hers, who, on that occasion +fought the monster all the while the butchery was going on, and who, in +her turn, fell a victim herself." + +This would indicate that some of the citizens (beside the Kinzies, +Healds and Helms) got back to the settlement after the collision at the +sand-hills, and that they found at their old homes no sanctuary, no +rest, no mercy, no hope. + +It is to be observed that, as the Jouetts were not on the spot at the +time of the massacre, this part of the story has not the degree of +authenticity attaching to the reports of the Healds and Helms. The +treaty of 1817 gives, among the Pottowatomie signers, the Indian name +of "the White Elk" as "Wa-bin-she-way." + + * * * * * + +Everything connected with the massacre itself, so far as existing +testimony has come to light, has now been told. There is a possibility +that one other document may be hidden away; an account written +by Lieutenant Helm. But this, if ever found, will necessarily be +identical, in all important particulars with the story told by his +widow and printed in Wan Bun.[K] + +[K] Lieutenant (then Captain) Helm is said to have died at or near +Bath, Steuben Co., N. Y., about 1817. His widow married, at St. James +church, Chicago, in 1836, Dr. Lucius Abbott, of Detroit. Therefore any +papers left by the Helms should be sought for in the last named city. + +Edward G. Mason tells me that there is, or was, among the papers of the +Detroit Historical Society, a letter from Lieutenant Helm to Augustus +B. Woodward, Esq., at Washington City, in which the writer says that he +has nearly completed the history of the Chicago massacre, and that he +(Woodward) may expect it in two weeks. The letter was dated Flemington, +New Jersey, June 6, 1814. Mr. Mason thinks the letter intimates that +the publication of the history may subject the writer to court-martial. +Possibly this note may bring to light the lost history in question; a +thing much to be desired. + +The day which dawned so bright has dragged through its bloody hours +and come to its dark and hideous close. The dead, men, women and +children, are at peace. The wounded are suffering the torments of the +pit, the rest are shuddering in the uncertainties that lie before them. +The Indians are riotously happy; for have they not done harm? Have +they not killed, scalped, destroyed, wasted, life and property? Have +they not annihilated the source whence they had been getting arms, +ammunition and blankets, and driven off the men who tried to keep +whisky from them? Have they not made a solitude and called it war? The +goods are scattered. The fort is burned. The cattle are dead or dying. +The soldiers are defeated, slain or held as prisoners, for ransom +if unhurt, for torture if disabled. The babes are brained and their +mothers dead or desolate. What more "happy hunting ground" is possible +to them this side of hades itself? + +In "Wau-Bun," one seems to hear them telling of their individual good +deeds and attributing all evil deeds to each other. For the Indian's +hand was against every man, even all other Indians. Their bloodiest +wars have been between themselves; wars of absolute extermination for +the beaten party Every tribe held its lands by conquest and by force. +Even if we had taken them by the sword, without compensation (which we +never did), they would only have lost their holdings by the selfsame +means by which they had gained them. + +Well is it for the kindlier folk that the cruel did not stick together. +If they had done so, we should be a hundred years in time and a +thousand miles in space further back in our territorial progress. But +they could not combine. "You might as well try to boil flints into a +pudding." + + * * * * * + +It still remains to me to trace, so far as it is not shrouded in +oblivion, the fate of the survivors. But as this leads some distance +into the future, I have thought best to treat the matter separately; +prefacing the story of what followed the tragedy by a short sketch of +what preceded and led up to it. Why did those brave and hapless beings +come here? How came they here? What brought their few and scattered +footprints to the ground since then trodden by millions? + +The following pages will try to answer these questions, beginning with +the very earliest permanent settlement of what is now Chicago. + +[Illustration] + + + + + PART SECOND. + + HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL + + + HOW CHICAGO BEGAN AND WHO WERE ITS BEGINNERS. + + + + +PART SECOND. + + +CHAPTER I. + +THE DARK BEFORE THE DAWN. + + + +[Illustration: EARLY JESUIT.] + +RESOLUTELY, though unwillingly, I pass over the romantic history of +the first century of Chicago's annals, the French period beginning +about 1678, embracing the thrilling story of La Salle, Marquette and +their brave fellow Catholics. Let us take up the tale when, in 1778, +during the Revolutionary war; just as the great George Rogers Clark +was capturing Indiana, Illinois and in fact the whole Northwest, from +the English; one Colonel Arent Schuyler de Peyster (a New York officer +of the British army, in command of Fort Mackinac) wrote some doggerel +verses which bring Chicago into modern history and literature.[L] In +one of his poems he speaks of "Eschikagou" and of Jean Baptiste Pointe +de Saible who lived there, and in a footnote he describes the place +as "a river and fort at the head of Lake Michigan," and the man as "a +handsome negro, well educated, but much in the French interest." + +[L] See appendix A. After the peace. Colonel de Peyster retired to +Scotland and lived in or near Dumfries; and it is in his honor that +Burns wrote his verses "To Colonel de Peyster," beginning + +"My honored Colonel, much I feel Thy interest in the poet's weal." + + +The fort spoken of by Colonel de Peyster, if it had any existence, must +have been a mere stockaded trading-post, for neither by English nor by +French forces had it been built, and as to American forces, there were +none west of the Alleghanies except Clark with his few score of heroic +frontiers-men. Fort Dearborn came twenty-six years later, as we shall +see. + +The word "Chicago" in some of its many forms of spelling[M] had been +in recognized existence for a century, being found in the scanty and +precious records left by Marquette, La Salle and their contemporaries, +though they first call the stream the "Portage River." + +[M] Hurlbut's "Antiquities" discusses the name with great and +amusing particularity Here are some of the variations he gives in +its spelling and its meaning. Chicagowunzh, the wild onion or leek; +(Schoolcraft). Checaqua; a line of chiefs of the Tamaroa Indians, +signifying strong. Chigaakwa, "the woods are thin." Checagou, Chicagou, +Marquette and La Salle. Shikakok, "at the skunk." Chi-ka-go, wild +onion. Chikagou, an Indian chief who went to Paris (before 1752) where +the Duchess of Orleans, at Versailles, gave him a splendid snuff +box. Chicagou, M. DeLigny in a letter to M. DeSiette. Checaqua, "the +Thunder God." Chacaqua, "Divine River." Chicagua or Skunk river (in +Iowa). Chicago, skunk, onion or smelling thing; (Gordon S. Hubbard). +Chicagoua, equivalent of the Chippewa Jikag; "bête puante." Zhegahg, +a skunk. Eschikagou; (Col. De Peyster). Portage de Chegakou. Chikajo. +Chi-kaug-ong; (Schoolcraft). Chicazo, corruption of Chickasaw. + +Much discussion has arisen about the word and its meaning, but the +preponderance of testimony seems to point to the conclusion that the +river took its name from the wild onion, leek or garlick that grew +in profusion along its banks in all this region, and is still to be +found in many neglected spots of original soil. Bold Tonti, La Salle's +faithful lieutenant, speaks of having been nourished during his long +tramp from the Illinois River to Green Bay by a weed much like the +leek of France, which they dug up with their fingers and ate as they +walked--surely the chi-ca-gou. + +The first official mention of the word "Chicago" was in the "Treaty +of Greenville;" a compact made in 1795 between the Indians and "Mad +Anthony" Wayne, who had lately whipped them into a treaty-making frame +of mind. This treaty placed the boundary line between the whites and +the Indians east of the entire state of Indiana, but excepted and +retained for trading posts several isolated sections west of the line, +among them "one piece of land six miles square at the mouth of Chicago +River, emptying into the southwestern end of Lake Michigan, where a +fort formerly stood." + +"Me-che-kan-nah-quah" or "Little Turtle," who took a prominent part in +the making of the treaty, was the father-in-law of William Wells, the +hero-martyr of the massacre, as has been set forth in Part I. + +[Illustration: LITTLE TURTLE--ME-CHE-KAN-NAH-QUAH.] + +Baptiste Pointe de Saible, some time in the last century, built a log +house on the north bank of the Chicago River, near Lake Michigan, +just where Pine street now ends. This modest dwelling existed through +vicissitudes many and terrible. When built, it stood in a vast +solitude. North of it were thick woods which covered the whole of what +is now Chicago's proud "North Side." In front of it lay the narrow, +deep and sluggish creek which forms the main river; and, with its two +long, straggling branches, gives the city its inestimable harbor,[N] +with twenty-seven miles of dock frontage. Beyond it, stretching +indefinitely southward, lay the grassy flat now the "South Side," the +business centre and wealthiest residence portion. Westward, beyond +the north and south branches of the river, stretched the illimitable +prairie, including what at the present time is the "West Side," the +home of manufacturing enterprise and of a population larger than that +of the two other portions put together. And to the eastward lay the +lake; the only thing in nature which Jean Baptiste could recognize if +he should now return to the scene of his long, lonely, half savage, +half civilized sojourn. + +[N] The city has, besides, another harbor along the Calumet lake and +river, some ten miles to the southward, which, when fully improved, +will exceed the first named in extent and value. + +[Illustration: From "Cyclopædia of United States History."--Copyright +1881, by Harper & Brothers. + +GENERAL ANTHONY WAYNE.] + +Suppose him to have built his log dwelling in 1778, the very year +when Colonel de Peyster luckily makes a note of his existence; all +about him must have been a waste place so far as human occupation is +concerned. Bands of roaming Indians from time to time appeared and +disappeared. French trappers and voyageurs doubtless made his house +their halting-place. Fur-traders' canoes, manned by French "voyageurs," +"engages" and "coureurs des bois," paddling the great lakes and +unconsciously laying the foundation of the Astor fortunes, called, +from time to time, to buy the stores of peltry which he had collected, +and leave him the whisky of which he was so fond, but the rest of his +time was spent in patriarchal isolation and the society of his Indian +wives and their half-breed offspring. So far as we know, scarcely a +civilized habitation stood nearer than Green Bay on the north, the +Vermilion branch of the Wabash on the south and the Mississippi on the +west; a tract of nearly fifty thousand square miles. + +Pointe de Saible's occupation ended about with the century, when +he sold the cabin to one Le Mai. Before this time, however, other +settlements had been begun nearer than those above mentioned; and +even in the very neighborhood there were a few neighbors. One Guarie +had settled on the west side of the North Branch; and Gurdon Hubbard +(who came here in 1818) says that that stream was still called "River +Guarie" and that he himself saw the remains of corn-hills on what must +have been Guarie's farm. (The South Branch was called "Portage River" +because it led to the Mud Lake connection with the Des Plaines and so +onward to the Mississippi). Pointe de Saible, Le Mai and Guarie have +died and left no sign, but there was another pioneer of pioneers in the +beginning of the present century who was more lucky. He was Antoine +Ouillemette, a Frenchman who took to wife a Pottowatomie squaw and thus +obtained a grant of land on part of which the pretty suburb of Wilmette +now stands. He did not die till 1829, six years before the final +departure of the Pottowatomies for the further West. + +[Illustration: WILLIAM WHISTLER.] + +The far-seeing plans which inspired our forefathers in making the +treaty of Greenville took shape in 1804, when General Henry Dearborn, +Secretary of War under President Jefferson, ordered the building of a +fort[O] and a company of soldiers arrived to build it, having marched +overland from Detroit under Lieutenant (afterward Colonel) James S. +Swearingen. Their Captain, John Whistler, had led an eventful life. +Hurlbut in his delightful "Chicago Antiquities" says he was "an officer +in the army of the Revolution," and adds: "We regret that we have so +few facts concerning his history; nor have we a portrait or signature +of the patriot." In fact he did serve during the Revolutionary war, +but it was on the British side in the army of General Burgoyne, being +taken prisoner with the rest, and paroled; joining the American army +later in life.[P] With Captain John Whistler came his son, Lieutenant +William Whistler, the latter accompanied by his young wife (of her and +her daughter we shall hear more hereafter), all of whom came around the +lakes on the schooner Tracy. The passengers left the Tracy on arriving +at St. Joseph's, Michigan, and came across the lake by a row-boat. +When the schooner arrived she anchored outside and her freight was +discharged by bateaux, as the river (which made a sharp turn southward +just below where Rush Street Bridge now stands and debouched over +a shallow bar at about the present foot of Madison Street) was not +navigable for lake vessels at that time, or for thirty-one years +afterward. Mrs. William Whistler said that some two thousand Indians +visited the locality, during the schooner's stay, to see the "big canoe +with wings." + +[O] See Appendix B. + +[P] See Appendix C. + +[Illustration: MRS. WILLIAM WHISTLER. + +From a photograph taken during her visit to Chicago in 1875.] + +We further learn from Mrs. Whistler that there were then in the place +but four rude huts or trader's cabins, occupied by white men, Canadian +French with Indian wives. She adds: + +"Captain Whistler, upon his arrival, at once set about erecting a +stockade and shelter for his protection, followed by getting out the +sticks for the heavier work. It is worth mentioning here that there was +not at that time, within hundreds of miles, a team of horses or oxen, +and as a consequence, the soldiers had to don the harness and, with the +aid of ropes, drag home the needed timbers." + +This would indicate that the soldiers had made their long march from +Detroit (two hundred and eighty miles) without wagons or pack animals +to carry tents and rations; or, what is more probable, that the +transportation had been hired, and the outfit had returned to Detroit. + +Next steps upon the scene the true pioneer of the Chicago of to-day; +John Kinzie.[Q] This first of citizens had learned of the proposed +establishment of the military post. Fort Dearborn, and, foreseeing +with his usual boldness and sagacity the advantages to spring from it, +had come over from his residence on the St. Joseph's river, and bought +from Le Mai the old Pointe de Saible log-cabin. Shortly after the +establishment of the fort he brought his family to the place wherein +the name of Kinzie has been always most distinguished. The family +consisted of his wife, Eleanor (Lytle), widow of a British officer +named McKillip, her young daughter Margaret, who afterward became +Mrs. Lieutenant Helm, and an infant son, John Harris Kinzie. They +occupied the old North Side log-house up to 1827--about twenty-five +years--(except from 1812 to 1816, the years of desolation) and it stood +for more than ten years longer; a landmark remembered by scores if not +hundreds of the Chicagoans of this time (1893). + +[Q] See Appendix D. + +For much of our scanty knowledge concerning the years following the +building of the fort we are indebted to Mrs. Julia (Ferson) Whistler, +wife of William and therefore daughter-in-law of John, the old Burgoyne +British regular.[R] + +[R] See Appendix C. + +From 1804 to 1811, the characteristic traits of this far away corner +of the earth were its isolation; the garrison within the stockade and +the ever present hovering clouds of savages outside, half seen, half +trusted, half feared; its long summers, (sometimes hot and sometimes +hotter); and its long winters, (sometimes cold and sometimes colder); +its plenitude of the mere necessaries of life, meat and drink, shelter +and fuel, with utter destitution of all luxuries; its leisurely +industry and humble prosperity; Kinzie, the kindly link between the +red man and the white, vying with the regular government agent in the +purchase of pelts and the sale of rude Indian goods. In 1805 Charles +Jouett was the United States Indian Agent here. He was a Virginian, +son of one of the survivors of Braddock's defeat. How much of his +time was spent here and how much elsewhere we do not know. In Mrs. +John H. Kinzie's charming book "Wau-Bun" he is not even mentioned, +which circumstance suggests that his relations with old John Kinzie +were not cordial; a state of things to be expected, considering their +relative positions. He was an educated man and must have enjoyed the +friendship of Jefferson, Madison and Monroe, judging by his appointment +as Government Agent, first at Detroit, later at Chicago (1804), which +latter post he resigned in 1811, only to be reappointed in 1817. + +[Illustration: CHARLES JOUETT.] + +It is probable that the United States agent was at a disadvantage in +dealing with the Indians, as he would have to obey the law forbidding +the supplying them with spirits; which law the other traders ignored. +In Hurlbut's "Antiquities" a bit of "local color" gives with much +vividness the condition of the prairie in those days. + +"In the holidays of 1808-9 Mr. Jouett (then a widower) married Susan +Randolph Allen of Kentucky, and they made their wedding journey on +horseback in January, through the jungles, over the snow drifts, on +the ice and across the prairies, in the face of driving storms and the +frozen breath of the winds of the north. They had, on their journey, +a negro servant named Joe Battles and an Indian guide whose name was +Robinson; possibly the late chief Alexander Robinson. A team and wagon +followed, conveying their baggage, and _they marked their route for the +benefit of any future travelers."_ + +The government had tried to befriend the Indian in every way. It did +not forbid private traders from dealing with him; but it appointed +agents whose duty it was to sell him goods at prices barely sufficient +to cover cost and expenses. At the same time it forbade, under +penalty, the supplying him with liquor in any quantity, upon any +pretext. Unhappily the last-named kindly effort thwarted the first. +The miserable savage loved the venal white who would furnish him with +the poison. For it he would give not only his furs, but his food and +shelter, his wives and children, his body and his everlasting soul. As +the grand old Baptist missionary Isaac McCoy says, regarding the treaty +of 1821, at which he was present: + +"At the treaty Topenebe, the principal chief of the Pottowatomies, +a man nearly eighty years of age [a long and constant friend of the +Kinzies], irritated by the continued refusal on the part of the +commissioners to gratify his importunities for whisky, exclaimed +in the presence of his tribe: 'We care not for the land, the money +or the goods. It is whisky we want. Give us the whisky.' After the +business of the treaty was concluded and before the Indians left the +treaty grounds, seven barrels of whisky were given them, and within +twenty-four hours afterward ten shocking murders were committed amongst +them." + +To quote from Munsell's History of Chicago: + + Few and meagre are the records of occurrences on the banks of the + Chicago during these quiet years. The stagnation in this remote + corner of creation was in sharp contrast with the doings in the great + world, for these were the momentous Napoleonic years. Austerlitz, + Jena, Eylau, Friedland, Wagram, were fought between 1805 and 1809, + and one wonders whether even the echoes of the sound of those fights + reached little Fort Dearborn. Yet the tremendous doings were not + without their influence; for it was Napoleon's "European System" and + England's struggle against it that precipitated our war of 1812; and + one trivial incident in that war was the ruin of our little outpost. + +The incidents of daily life went on in the lonely settlement, as +elsewhere. + +There was the occasional birth of a baby in the Kinzie house, the fort +or somewhere about, as there were several women here, soldiers' wives, +etc. Those born in the Kinzie mansion and the officers' families we +know about. But these were not all. There were at least a dozen little +ones who first saw the light in this locality, whose play-ground was +the parade and the river bank, whose merry voices must have added a +human sweetness to this savage place; whose entire identity, even to +their names, is lost. The one thing we know about them is how they +died, and that has been told in Part I. + +[Illustration] + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +BUILDING OF THE FIRST FORT DEARBORN. + + +[Illustration: A "red-coat" of 1812.] + +DELAYING our narrative for a moment, we here bring upon the scene +another figure--the most distinguished and heroic of all who were to +play a part in the terrific tragedy which formed its climax--William +Wells.[S] This brave fellow, born of white parents, but early stolen +by Indians, and only restored after arriving at manhood, was a friend +and agent of General Harrison, who was at that time Governor of +the Indian Territory. Captain Wells had come to Chicago in 1803 on +official duty, as appears by a license (which the writer has had the +privilege of inspecting) issued to Jean B. La Geuness, to trade with +the Indians. This paper is still in existence, in the possession of +Dr. H. B. Tanner of Kaukaunee, Wis., having come to him from among the +papers of Judge John Lawe of Green Bay, who was for many years agent +of the American (John Jacob Astor's) Fur Company. The license bears +the name of "William Henry Harrison, Governor of the Indian Territory +and Superintendent of Indian Affairs," and is signed "by order of the +Governor. William Wells, Agent at Indian Affairs, Chicago, August the +30th, 1803." + +[S] See Appendix E. + +This license must have been signed in the old De Saible house. No fort +was here yet, nor any government office or officer, so far as we know. +Indeed, this page records, for the first time in history, the fact that +William Wells was in Chicago before 1812. Eight years later his niece +was to appear on the scene, arriving as the bride of Captain Heald, +then commanding Fort Dearborn. + +But to return to Captain Whistler and the embryo fort. + +A glimpse of early garrison-life appears in the personal narrative of +Captain Thomas C. Anderson, published in Volume IX of the Wisconsin +Historical Collection: + + During my second year [1804-5] at Min-na-wack, or Mill-wack-ie + [Milwaukee] Captain Whistler, with his company of American soldiers, + came to take possession of Chicago. At this time there were no + buildings here except a few dilapidated log huts covered with bark. + Captain Whistler had selected one of these as a temporary, though + miserable, residence for his family, his officers and men being under + canvas. On being informed of his arrival I felt it my duty to pay my + respects to the authority so much required by the country. On the + morrow I mounted Kee-ge-kaw, or Swift-goer, and the next day I was + invited to dine with the Captain. On going to the house, the outer + door opening into the dining-room, I found the table spread, the + family and guests seated, consisting of several ladies, all as jolly + as kittens. + +The fort consisted of a stockade large enough to contain a +parade-ground and all the fort buildings, officers' quarters, barracks, +offices, guard-house, magazine, etc., and also two block-houses, each +built so that the second story overhung the lower, thus giving a +vertical fire for musketry to guard against an enemy's setting fire +to the house. One of these was at the southeast corner and the other +at the northwest. There were entrances on the south side (Michigan +Avenue), and on the north or water side, where a sunken road led down +to the river. Mr. Blanchard, in his "Chicago and the Northwest," says +that the armament consisted of the musket and bayonet, and three pieces +of light artillery--probably the old six-pounder, which threw a round +ball about double the size of a child's fist. + +[Illustration: FORT DEARBORN, 1803-4. (Fergus' Series, No. 16)] + +Beside the fort, the government put up an "Agency House," which stood +on the river bank just west of the sunken road that led from the fort +to the water. Mrs. Kinzie describes this building as an old-fashioned +log-house with a hall running through the middle, and one large room on +each side. Piazzas extended the whole length of the building, in front +and rear. It played a part in the final tragedy, and was destroyed with +the fort on August 15, 1812. + +Munsell's "History of Chicago" gives the following picture at and after +the building of the first fort: + + When the schooner Tracy set sail and slowly vanished in the + northwestern horizon, we may fancy that some wistful glances followed + her. For those left behind it was the severing of all regular ties + with "home," for years or forever. An occasional courier from + Detroit or Fort Wayne brought news from the outside world; a rare + canoe or bateau carried furs to Mackinaw and brought back tea, + flour, sugar, salt, tobacco, hardware, powder and lead, dry goods, + shoes, etc., perhaps a few books[T] and, best of all, letters! But + between-times, what had they to make life worth living? Which of the + compensations kind Nature always keeps in store, for even the most + desolate of her children, were allotted to them? + +[T] John H. Kinzie used to tell how, as a boy, he learned to read from +a spelling-book which was unexpectedly found in a chest of tea, and +that books were associated with the smell of tea in his mind forever +after. + + They had the lake for coolness and beauty in summer; the forest for + shelter, warmth and cheer in winter; masses of flowers in spring, + and a few--very few--fruits and nuts in autumn, such as wild grapes + and strawberries, wintergreen-berries, cranberries, whortleberries, + hazel-nuts, walnuts, hickory-nuts, beech-nuts, etc. There was no lack + of game to be had for the hunting, or fish for the catching. The + garrison had cattle, therefore there was doubtless fresh beef, milk + and butter. So a "good provider," as John Kinzie doubtless was (we + know that he was the soul of hospitality) would be certain to keep + his wife's larder always full to overflowing. + + The garrison officers' families made company for each other and the + Kinzies and Jouetts; the soldiers gave protection and a thousand + other services to all, and the two fifers and two drummers made + music--such as it was. This rude melody was not all they had, + however, for John Kinzie was a fiddler as well as a trader and a + silver-smith ("Shaw-nee-aw-kee," or the "silver-smith," was his + Indian name), and in the cool summer evenings, sitting on his porch, + would send the sound of his instrument far and wide, over river and + plain, through the dewy silence of the peaceful landscape. + + They had love and marriage, birth and death, buying and selling and + getting gain; and, happily, had not the gift of "second sight," to + divine what lay before them; what kind of end was to come to their + exile. + +Mr. Wentworth's Fort Dearborn speech (Fergus' Historical Series No. +16, page 87) quotes a letter he had received from Hon. Robert Lincoln, +Secretary of War under President Garfield. From it we learn that no +muster-roll of the garrison at Fort Dearborn in 1811 or 1812 is on +file at the War Department, but that the general returns of the army +show that the fort was garrisoned from June 4, 1804, to June, 1812, +by a company of the First Regiment of Infantry. In these returns the +strength of the garrison, officers, musicians and privates, is given as +follows: Under Captain John Whistler, June 4, 1804, 69; Dec. 31, 1806, +66; Sept. 30, 1809, 77. Under Captain Nathan Heald, Sept. 30, 1810, 67; +Sept. 30, 1811, 51, and June --, 1812, 53.[U] + +[U] See Appendix B for a muster-roll dated Dec 31, 1810 (the latest +entry which gives names), wherein are shown several who appear later as +victims of the massacre. + +The deficiency of records in the archives of the War Department may +perhaps be accounted for by the fact that the British, after the +so-called "battle" of Bladensburgh, took Washington and burned all the +government buildings. + +In 1811 Captain Nathan Heald, then in command of Fort Dearborn, went +down to Kentucky, where he married Rebekah Wells daughter of Captain +Samuel Wells and niece of William.[V] The newly married pair came up +overland (probably following the trail marked by Mr. Jouett), bringing +the wedding treasures of the bride--silver, etc., and her own personal +adornments, which interesting relics, after vicissitudes strange and +terrible, are now in possession of her son, Darius Heald, and, with +him, are depicted elsewhere in these pages. + +[V] See Appendix E for additional details regarding the romantic +history of the Wells and Heald families. + +Mrs. Heald's narrative of these events, as reported to me by her son, +is as follows: + + In the summer of 1811, Captain Heald, then in command of Fort + Dearborn, at Chicago, got leave of absence to go down to Louisville, + to get married. He went on horseback, alone, traveling by compass. + + They were married, and after the wedding started north on horseback + for Fort Dearborn. There were four horses--two for the bride and + groom, one for the packs and blankets, and one for a little negro + slave-girl named Cicely. This girl had begged so hard to be brought + along that they could not refuse her request, although it was, as + the Captain said, adding one more to the difficulties of making the + long, lonesome, toilsome trip on horseback. They traveled by compass, + as before. The horses were good ones, and not Indian ponies. Those + that the Captain and his bride rode were thoroughbreds, as was the + one ridden by the slave-girl, and they had also a good one to carry + the pack, so that they made the trip in about a week's time; starting + Thursday, and reaching Fort Dearborn on the following Wednesday + night, making about fifty miles a day. Nothing of importance occurred + on the bridal trip; they arrived safely, and the garrison turned out + to receive them with all the honors of war, the bride being quite an + addition to the little company. + + Rebekah was much pleased with her reception, and found everything + bright and cheerful. She liked the wild place, the wild lake and the + wild Indians; everything suited her ways and disposition, "being on + the wild order herself," she said; and all went on very pleasantly. + Among other gayeties there was skating in winter up and down the + frozen river, and Ensign Ronan was a famous skater. Sometimes he + would take an Indian squaw by the hands, she holding her feet still, + and swing her back and forth from side to side of the little stream, + until he came to a place where there was a deep snowdrift on the + bank, when he would (accidentally, of course) loose his grip on her + hands, and she would fly off into the snowdrift and be buried clear + out of sight. + +In 1812 the peaceful quiet was rudely startled, then assaulted, then +destroyed. The first breach of the peace was the killing by Mr. Kinzie +(in self-defense) of one John Lalime, Indian interpreter at Fort +Dearborn.[W] This was early in 1812. It had, however, nothing to do +with the friendliness or enmity of the red-men. + +[W] See Appendix F. + +The second event was of a different kind. A man named Lee.[X] who +lived on the lake-shore, near the fort, had enclosed and was farming +a piece of land on the northwest side of the South Branch, within the +present "Lumber District," about half way between Halsted Street and +Ashland avenue. It was first known as "Lee's Place," afterwards as +"Hardscrabble." It was occupied by one Liberty White, with two other +men and a boy, the son of Mr. Lee. + +[X] This name I find sometimes spelled "Lee," and sometimes "See." + +[Illustration: CABIN IN THE WOODS.] + +This spot was not far from the place where Père Marquette passed the +winter of 1674-75; perhaps the very same ground. (See Munsell's History +of Chicago for a copy of the good Father's journal, with parallel +translation.) Mrs. John Kinzie, first in a pamphlet dated in 1836, and +published in 1844, and later in Wau-Bun, gives an extremely picturesque +account of the alarm, evidently taken down from the lips of those who +had been present; namely her husband (then a boy), his mother, Mrs. +John Kinzie, and his half-sister, Mrs. Helm. + + It was the evening of the 7th of April, 1812. The children of Mrs. + Kinzie were dancing before the fire to the music or their father's + violin. The tea-table was spread, and they were awaiting the return + of their mother, who was gone to visit a sick neighbor. [Mrs. John + Burns, living at about where is now the crossing of Kinzie and State + Streets, had just been delivered of a child.] Suddenly their sports + were interrupted; the door was thrown open and Mrs. Kinzie rushed in + pale with terror, and scarcely able to articulate. + + "The Indians! The Indians!" + + "The Indians! What? Where?" + + "Up at Lee's place, killing and scalping!" + + With difficulty Mrs. Kinzie composed herself sufficiently to give the + information that while she was up at Burns's a man and a boy were + seen running down with all speed to the opposite side of the river; + that they called across to give notice to Burns's family to save + themselves, for the Indians were at Lee's place, from which they had + just made their escape. Having given this terrifying news they made + all speed for the fort, which was on the same side of the river that + they were. All was now consternation and dismay. The family were + hurried into two old pirogues [dug-out tree-trunks] that were moored + near the house, and paddled with all possible haste across the river + to take refuge in the fort. + +Mrs. Kinzie goes on to give the fullest account we have of this initial +murder, fitting prelude to the bloody drama to follow a few months +later. Here is a condensation of her narrative: + +In the afternoon a party of ten or twelve Indians, dressed and painted, +arrived at the Lee house, and according to their custom, entered and +seated themselves without ceremony. Something in their appearance +and manner excited the suspicions of one of the family, a Frenchman +[Debou], who remarked: "I don't like the looks of those Indians; they +are not Pottowatomies." Another of the family, a discharged soldier, +said to a boy (a son of Lee): "If that is the case, we had better get +away if we can. Say nothing, but do as you see me do." As the afternoon +was far advanced, the soldier walked leisurely toward the two canoes +tied near the bank. They asked where he was going. He pointed to the +cattle which were standing among the hay-stacks on the opposite bank, +and made signs that they must go and fodder them and then return and +get their supper. + +[Illustration: KINZIE MANSION--1812] + +He got into one canoe and the boy into the other. When they gained +the opposite side they pulled some hay for the cattle, and when they +had gradually made a circuit so that their movements were concealed +by the hay-stacks, they took to the woods and made for the fort. They +had run a quarter of a mile when they heard the discharge of two guns +successively. They stopped not nor stayed until they arrived opposite +Burns's place (North State and Kinzie streets), where they called +across to warn the Burns family of their danger, and then hastened to +the fort. + +A party of soldiers had that afternoon obtained leave to go up the +river to fish. The commanding officer ordered a cannon to be fired to +warn them of their danger. Hearing the signal they took the hint, put +out their torches and dropped down the river as silently as possible. +It will be remembered that the battle of Tippecanoe, the preceding +November, had rendered every man vigilant, and the slightest alarm was +an admonition to "beware of Indians." + +When the fishing-party reached Lee's place, it was proposed to stop and +warn the inmates. All was still as death around the house. They groped +their way along, and as the corporal jumped over the small enclosure +he placed his hand on the dead body of a man. By the sense of touch he +soon ascertained that the head was without a scalp and was otherwise +mutilated. The faithful dog of the murdered man stood guarding the +remains of his master. + +Captain Heald, writing from the fort, gives a shorter statement, adding +some further particulars: + + Chicago, April 15, 1812.--The Indians have commenced hostilities + in this quarter. On the sixth instant, a little before sunset, a + party of eleven Indians, supposed to be Winnebagoes, came to Messrs. + Russell and See's cabin, in a field on the Portage branch of the + Chicago River, about three miles from the garrison, where they + murdered two men; one by the name of Liberty White, an American, and + the other a Canadian Frenchman whose name I do not know. [Debou.] + White received two balls through his body, nine stabs with a knife + in his breast, and one in his hip, his throat was cut from ear to + ear, his nose and lips were taken off in one piece, and his head + was skinned almost as far round as they could find any hair. The + Frenchman was only shot through the neck and scalped. Since the + murder of these two men, one or two other parties of Indians have + been lurking about us, but we have been so much on our guard they + have not been able to get any scalps. + +[Illustration: HUMAN SCALP.] + + * * * * * + +Among all the tribes of savages met by various immigrations of +Europeans, a thousand differences of arms, implements, manners, +habits and customs were observed. Some were more barbarous, others +less; but there was one trophy one weapon, one trait, invariable and +universal--the bleeding scalp, the sharp scalping-knife, the rage for +scalping. This proves much. It shows that killing was not a mere means +to an end, but the end aimed at. It shows that sheer, unadulterated, +unmitigated murder was the ideal grace of manhood. The brain-pan of +man, woman or child yielded its covering, torn away warm and quivering, +and the possessor was sure of the honor and favor of his fellows, men, +women and children. No woman shed a tear over the locks of a sister +woman; no child over the curls of a baby. + +Savagery the world has ever known, and isolated instances of wholesale +destruction of non-combatants in the drunkenness of victory; but there +is no record of a whole race, consisting of many tribes, spread over +many lands, enduring for many generations, where such diabolism was the +general ethnic trait. + +[Illustration] + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +ENGLISH AND INDIAN SAVAGES. + + +[Illustration: INDIAN WARRIOR] + +THE WINNEBAGOES, we observe, are charged by Captain Heald +with this outbreak of lawlessness. + +The Pottowatomies always averred that they had nothing to do with the +great massacre, and this may be true of the tribe as a whole, but it is +well known that many of its members, as well as the Winnebagoes, had +been engaged with the Ottawas and Shawnees at the battle of Tippecanoe, +less than a year before. The English, ever since the Revolution, had +been seeking their friendship--and our injury--by giving them yearly +presents at Maiden (in Canada, near Detroit), and they placed much +foolish reliance on the red-men's help in prosecuting the war of 1812. +Foolish, because the unspeakable savage was only formidable in sneaking +hostilities against women and children, and against men unwarned and +overmatched; not in a fair fight on equal terms. In all that contest +they were simply murderously hostile. Wau-Bun gives an incident which +displays their animus. In the spring of 1812 two Indians of the Calamic +(Calumet) band came to the fort to visit Captain Heald. One of them, +Nau-non-gee, seeing Mrs. Heald and Mrs. Helm playing battle-door on the +parade-ground, said to the interpreter (probably John Kinzie): "The +white chief's wives are amusing themselves very much; it will not be +long before they will be hoeing in our cornfields." + +The service they rendered England is such as England should blush to +receive. It was the service of inspiring terror in the hearts of the +helpless. Two days after the massacre at Chicago, the unfortunate and +execrated General Hull surrendered Detroit to the British and Indians. +Why did he do so? He had suffered no defeat. He could have crossed +the river and fought them with every prospect of victory. But could +he leave that town at the mercy of fiends who knew no mercy? He could +have given battle at Detroit itself, but the British General (Proctor) +kindly told him that if he should be compelled to assault he would not +be able to control his Indian allies. Now, in case of defeat, Hull's +army could take care of themselves, either as prisoners or fugitives; +but what might become of a thousand helpless, hapless women and +children, and the wounded men he would have on his hands? What would +have become of them? Read further on in this narrative and see! + +So, in an evil hour for himself. General Hull took the merciful course, +and innocent blood was spared. The fall of Detroit was directly due +to non-military caution, a mercifulness that had nothing to do with +the hazard of civilized war and the fate of the army. The unfortunate +commander, a man of undoubted courage, a man who had served his country +through the Revolution, was tried by court-martial and condemned to +death. The sentence was not carried out in form, but in substance it +was, for he lived in obscurity, if not obloquy, and died with a stained +name which is slowly recovering its proper place. + + * * * * * + +Vain is it for apologists to try to shift on to local subordinates the +blame for the shameful course of Lord Liverpool's government. The same +king was (nominally) reigning who had employed these same allies only +thirty years before, George Third was on the throne through both wars; +that of the Revolution and that of 1812. English ears--such as were +sensitive to just and bitter denunciation--must still, in 1812, have +been ringing with the public outcry against the infamy of 1775-82. Even +England's own servants protested against it. Doubtless they felt, as +any gentleman must feel, that he who stays at home in personal safety +and employs base minions to do his murdering, is more contemptible than +are the minions themselves, for they at least take their lives in their +hands when they set out. + +Where stand the guilty in this business? Lower than where we should +stand if we had, during our Civil War, incited the negroes to the +destruction of their masters' families, for the negro cannot be as +cruel as the Indian could not helping being. Lower than Russia would +stand if, in a war along the Afghan frontier, she should scheme for +a new Sepoy rebellion, with its ravishing and maiming of well born +English women. Such women were treated worse than even Dante's fancy +could portray, and yet not worse than were the survivors of the Chicago +Massacre. + + * * * * * + +In the little settlement a wild season of alarm followed the double +murder at Hardscrabble. The surviving civilians, consisting of a +few discharged soldiers and some families of half-breeds, organized +themselves for defense. They took for their stronghold the Agency House +already-mentioned as standing on the river-bank just west of the fort. +The house (as has been said) was built of logs and had porches on both +its long sides. They planked up the porches, leaving loopholes for +firing through, and set guards in proper military fashion. To quote +once more from Munsell. + + As this was outside of garrison duty, it must have required a + volunteer force, organized and armed; and this seems to furnish a + clue hitherto unmarked by any historian, to explain the presence of + "twelve militia" who were mentioned by Captain Heald in his report + as having taken part in the fight of August 15th, and as having been + every one killed. No other mention of these devoted twelve exists in + any form except the grim memorandum of death at the post of duty.[Y] + Evidently they must have been organized and armed under the auspices + of the government force at this time, from the discharged soldiers + and half-breeds, and perhaps included Lee, Pettell, Burns, Russell, + etc., all of whom were probably enrolled and expected pay from the + government, albeit their claim necessarily lapsed with their own + death on that bloody day. In confirmation of this suggestion we have + Mrs. Kinzie's remark (Wau-Bun, p. 244) that Lee, his son, and all his + household, except his wife and daughter, had perished in the affray. + Also her mention of Mrs. Burns and her infant among the survivors; no + word being uttered about the husband and father. + +[Y] See Mrs. Kinzie's narrative and Captain Heald's letter, hereinafter +quoted. + + The Kinzies did not return to their North Side house. Mr. Kinzie + had succeeded Lalime as government interpreter, and doubtless the + garrison needed his services almost continually. There were several + slight alarms and disturbances. A night patrol fired at a prowling + red-man, and a hatchet hurled in return missed its mark and struck + a wagon-wheel. A horse-stealing raid upon the garrison stables, + failing to find the horses, was turned into an attack on the sheep, + which were all stabbed and set loose. These alarms and other things + combined to show that the quiet of the preceding days had come to an + end. The unspeakable Indian had been bribed, tempted and misled by + the miserable Englishman to take up again his cruelties; his burning, + scalping, tomahawking, knifing and mutilation of combatants and + non-combatants alike, men, women and children. + +War was declared by the United States against England on June 12, 1812. +Mackinaw was taken by the British on July 16. Having Detroit to protect +and a force of British and Indians to oppose, General Hull naturally +aimed to mass his forces and abandon all indefensible outlying posts, +such as Fort Dearborn evidently was. Therefore, about August 1st, he +sent by Winnemeg, a friendly Indian, a dispatch to Captain Heald, +ordering him to evacuate the fort and to proceed to Detroit by land +with his command, leaving it to his discretion to dispose of the public +property as he might think proper.[Z] Mrs. Kinzie, in Wau-Bun, says +that the messenger arrived on August 7th, instead of the 9th which +Captain Heald names as the date of his receipt of the order, and adds +that the same letter brought news of the declaration of war (which +had taken place about two months earlier) and of the loss of the post +at Mackinaw. She also gives us a new reading of the dispatch, quite +different from that given by Captain Heald. She says the orders to +Captain Heald were "to vacate the fort if practicable, and in that +event to distribute all the United States property contained in the +fort and in the United States factory, or agency, among the Indians +in the neighborhood." This discrepancy between our two sources of +information becomes important in judging of the blame, if any, +attributable to Captain Heald for the disaster toward which all were +hastening. Guided by the ordinary rules of evidence, we must take +Captain Heald's version as the true one, and believe that the order was +peremptory, only to be disobeyed if the subordinate officer felt sure +that it would not have been given if his superior had been on the spot; +and also that the distribution of goods was, on Captain Heald's part, +a voluntary concession intended to win the favor of the Indian--the +incurable savage. + +[Z] See Appendix E. + +It should here be stated that there is a broad divergence--one might +say a contradiction--between the Kinzie account and the Heald account +of the occurrences of that troubled, appalling, disastrous time. Mrs. +Kinzie says that Winnemeg privately told Mr. Kinzie that the fort ought +not to be evacuated, seeing that it was well supplied with provisions +and ammunition, and advised waiting for reinforcements. Also that if +Captain Heald was to go at all, he should start at once, to get out +of the way of the hostiles by a forced march while the Indians were +dividing the spoil. (How many "forced marches" would it have taken to +make that lumbering caravan safe from pursuit by the red runners of the +wilds?) She says: + + The order for evacuating the post was read next morning upon + parade. It is difficult to understand why Captain Heald, in such + an emergency, omitted the usual form of calling a council of war + with his officers. It can only be accounted for by the fact of a + want of harmonious feeling between himself and one of his junior + officers--Ensign Ronan, a high-spirited and somewhat overbearing, but + brave and generous young man. + +A "council of war" between the captain and his two lieutenants and +(perhaps) the surgeon, to debate an unconditional order received from +the general commanding the division, does not strike the average reader +as an "usual form," nor does any disaffection on the part of the junior +among the officers seem likely to enter into the question, one way +or the other. But the suggestion throws a side-light on the unhappy +state of things at Fort Dearborn. It seems unquestionable that this +young ensign was not in accord with his captain, and that the Kinzies, +especially the young story-teller, Mrs. Helm (who was Mrs. Kinzie's +authority), sided with the junior--as was perhaps natural. To quote +from Munsell: + + It becomes necessary here to call to mind the possible bias which + may have existed in the hearts of the narrators in handing down the + story to Mrs. Kinzie, the writer of Wau-Bun, who probably never saw + the principal actor in it, John Kinzie, behaving died two years + before her marriage with his son, John H. Kinzie. The latter was only + nine years old at the time of the massacre. His mother, however, + Mrs. Kinzie, she did know well, also his aunt, Mrs. Helm [John's + step-daughter], from whose lips the Wau-Bun account of the massacre + was taken down by her. It is quite certain that departure meant + ruin to John Kinzie; for of all the property he had accumulated + in his long, able, arduous and profitable business life, not a + handful could be carried away by land. And the event showed that he, + personally, had nothing to fear from the Indians. + +Here is what Mrs. Heald says about these matters: + + It is all false about any quarrel between Ronan and Captain Heald. + The ensign thought the world of the captain, and gave him a big book + with their two names written it. Among the property recovered after + the massacre was this book, which the Indians thought was the Bible. + They would pass their hands across the pages and point significantly + heavenward; but in fact the book was a dictionary and is still in + possession of the family, having been bound in buckskin to preserve + such part as has not already succumbed to the many vicissitudes. + Occasionally Indians would come and steal horses when the men were + some distance away cutting hay for the winter's supplies, and they + were apt to try to get the scalp of any white person against whom + they had any hard feeling. + + Mrs. Heald recalls a particular case where a soldier, a great + stammerer, was out on picket, and from the block-house window she + saw an Indian try to get between him and the fort. To attract the + soldier's attention Captain Heald had a gun fired, and the man, when + he saw his peril, started homeward, the Indian at the same time + starting to cut him off. The soldier was the best runner, and when + the Indian called out to him some taunting expression, he looked over + his shoulder and tried to shout a retort, but his stuttering tongue + made this take so long that he came near losing his life, though at + last he got in safely. + +In writing the story of the events of that eventful time, there +being but two sources of information--to some extent divergent, even +contradictory--one is tempted to print them in parallel columns and let +the reader take his choice. Each has the same degree of authenticity, +seeing that Mrs. Helm, an actor in the tragedy, told Mrs. Kinzie +the story, who gives it to us; while Mrs. Heald, also an actor (and +besides, a badly wounded sufferer), told it often to her son, the Hon. +Darius Heald, who gives it to us. But as the parallel columns might +prove more controversial than interesting, the plan I have pursued is +the presenting of undisputed facts, and, in case of controversy, the +account which seems most probable, with the adverse side when necessary. + + +NOTE. + + The Heald story is now for the first time made a part of permanent + history. In 1891, while writing the "Story of Chicago," I learned + that Darius Heald, son of Nathan and Rebekah [Wells] Heald, was still + living; whereupon I got him to come to Chicago from his home in + Missouri, bringing all the relics and mementoes of his parents which + he could find. He came, and sat for a portrait with the relics by + his side, and his entire story was taken down in short-hand from his + own lips. The little which was available is included in my "Story of + Chicago," and the remainder I caused to be published in the Magazine + of American History. (See Appendix E.) + +[Illustration: GEORGE THIRD.] + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +A LONG FAREWELL. + + +[Illustration] + +THE departure was not approved by all, if any, of the subordinate +officers. It was urged on Capt. Heald that the command would be +attacked; that the attack would have been made long before if it had +not been for the Indians' regard for the Kinzies; that the helplessness +of the women and children and the invalided and superannuated soldiers +was sure to make the march slow and perilous, and that the place could +well be defended. Captain Heald pleaded his orders, and alleged that +the place was not provisioned to stand a siege. + +Upon one occasion, as Captain Heald was conversing with Mr. Kinzie on +the parade, he remarked: "I could not remain, even if I thought best, +for I have but a small store of provisions." "Why, captain," said a +soldier who stood near by, forgetting all etiquette, "you have cattle +enough to last the troops six months." "But I have no salt to preserve +it with." "Then jerk it," said the man, "as the Indians do their +venison."[AA] (Wau-Bun.) + +[AA] This is done by cutting the meat in thin slices and placing it on +a scaffold over a fire, which dries the meat and smokes it at the same +time. + +Captain Heald, in his letter of November 7th, 1812 (less than three +months after the massacre), says of the Indians: "The neighboring +Indians got the information as early as I did, and came in from all +quarters in order to receive the goods in the factory store, which they +understood were to be given them. The collection was unusually large +for that place, but they conducted with the strictest propriety until +after I left the fort." But Wau-Bun gives a different coloring to the +matter, and with such circumstantiality that there seems necessarily +to be some truth on the other side. Mrs. Kinzie says that there was +dissatisfaction in the garrison amounting to insubordination (as +instanced by the soldier's interference in the captain's talk with Mr. +Kinzie) and increasing insolence on the part of the Indians. The story +runs: + +[Illustration: SQUAW.] + + Entering the fort in defiance of the sentinels, they made their + way without ceremony to the officers' quarters. On one occasion an + Indian took up a rifle and fired it in the parlor of the commanding + officer, as an expression of defiance. Some were of the opinion that + this was intended among the young men as a signal for an attack. The + old chiefs passed backwards and forwards among the assembled groups + with the appearance of the most lively agitation, while the squaws + rushed to and fro in great excitement and evidently prepared for some + fearful scene. (Wau-Bun.) + +(As might be expected, the squaws often showed themselves the most +bitter, cruel and relentless partisans.) + +The feeling will intrude itself that Captain Heald was too truthful, +trustful, brave and good a man to be a perfect Indian-fighter. He had +none of the savage's traits except his courage. He was without guile, +or craft, or duplicity or cruelty. The soul of honor, he attributed +good faith to his foe. A temperate man, he could not conceive of the +insanity of maniacs to whom the transient delirium of drunkenness is +heaven on earth. + +We must remember that there is always a hard feeling between the +military and the civil authority in every Indian post--East Indian or +American Indian--the soldier holding the sword and the civilian the +purse, each slightly envying the other what he possesses, and slightly +despising him for the lack of what he is deprived of. + +At any rate. Captain Heald (by and with the advice of Mr. Kinzie) +concluded not to give the whisky and arms to the savages. He did what +any of us, common-sense, reasonable men, ignorant of the worst traits +of the most cruel of races, might have done. He doubtless reasoned thus: + +"I will destroy the means of frenzy and the implements of murder; then +I will win the grateful allegiance of the Indian by magnificent gifts; +stores that will make him rich beyond his wildest dream of comfort and +abundance. Then I will throw myself and these defenceless ones on his +protection." + +Alas, he did not know with whom he was dealing! What is food and +clothing to a devil demanding drink and gunpowder? He got only +insolence in return for what he gave them, and loud curses for what he +withheld. At the same time Mr. Kinzie could plainly see that if his +whisky was destroyed by the government he might be reimbursed for it, +while if it was left to the Indians the loss would be absolute and +total. + +Captain Heald held a council with the Indians on the afternoon of +Wednesday, August 12, his juniors (according to Wau-Bun) declining his +request to accompany him on the ground that they had secret information +that the officers were to be massacred while in council; so he and +Mr. Kinzie (interpreter) went boldly forth alone. When the two had +walked out, the others opened the port-holes in the block-houses and +trained the guns so as to command the assembly. No attack took place, +and Captain Heald then promised the Indians a distribution of the +goods--whether with or without any express reservations we do not know. +The Indians, on their part, promised to escort the train in safety. +(This would indicate that the promise was made to one tribe, the +Pottowatomies, and that opposition might be looked for from another, +probably the Winnebagoes.) + +After the council, Mr. Kinzie had a long talk with Captain Heald, +whereat it was agreed that all surplus arms, ammunition and liquor +should not be distributed, but destroyed. This is Mrs. Kinzie's own +account, and seems to set at rest the charge of bad faith (in not +distributing all the goods) which has been made by Heald decryers and +Indian apologists. + + On the thirteenth; the goods, consisting of blankets, broadcloths, + calicoes, paints, etc., were distributed as stipulated. The same + evening the ammunition and liquor were carried, part into the + sally-port, and thrown into a well which had been dug there; the + remainder was transported as secretly as possible through the + northern gate, the heads of the barrels knocked in and the contents + poured into the river. _The same fate was shared by a large quantity + of alcohol belonging to Mr. Kinzie, which has, been deposited in a + warehouse opposite the fort._[AB] + +[AB] The italics are not used in the original. Mrs. Heald says that +there was only one barrel of spirits in the fort. + + The Indians suspected what was going on, and crept, serpent-like, + as near the scene of action as possible, but a vigilant watch was + kept up and no one was suffered to approach but those engaged in + the affair. All the muskets not necessary for the command on the + march were broken up and thrown in the well, together with bags of + shot, flints, gun-screws and, in short, every weapon of offence. On + the afternoon of the same day a second council was held with the + Indians. They expressed great indignation at the destruction of the + ammunition and liquor. Notwithstanding the precautions taken to + preserve secrecy, the noise of knocking in the heads of the barrels + had betrayed the operations, and so great was the quantity of liquor + thrown into the river that the taste of the water next morning was, + as one expressed it, "strong grog." (Wau-Bun narrative.) + +William Wells, with the courage and endurance of his red +foster-parents, and the faithful, loving heart of his own race, heard +in some way (at Fort Wayne, where he was stationed) of the proposed +evacuation of Fort Dearborn and the perilous flight to Detroit--nearly +three hundred miles through the lonely "oak openings" of Michigan. His +friends were here--his girl-friend, his own brother's daughter, Rebekah +Wells Heald, was here. The thought of their danger summoned him like +the sound of a trumpet to share it. He came at the head of a band of +thirty Miami Indians, to guide, guard, help in every way the forlorn +hope. It was too late to change the fatal plan, even if he would have +tried to do so. He was a soldier, and obedience to orders was a part of +his training. Besides, he knew the Indians, and they knew and respected +him, and an expedition which would be desperate without his presence, +might be changed by his help to a reasonable undertaking. If the whites +had any friends among the reds, he would be at the head of those +friends to lead them against the unfriendly. + +How the hearts of the troubled little settlement must have bounded as +they saw the help approaching! Fancy the scene! + +On Friday, August 14th, when the sun was sinking in the West, there +came along the lake-shore, stretched out beside the yellow sand-hills +that extended southward clear down to the oak woods now marking the +suburb of Hyde Park, the band of mounted Indians, headed by the good +and brave soldier who knew the Indians as well as they knew each other. +They had tramped all the way from Fort Wayne, one hundred and fifty +miles, charged with the kindly, dangerous task of escorting the entire +Chicago community back along the pathless forest they themselves had +just come through. + +Captain Heald unquestionably felt greatly reinvigorated, for this was +an endorsement of his plan as well as help toward carrying it out. +There could be no doubt at headquarters as to his coming, for here was +an escorted officer arriving to bear him company. There was certainly a +warm hand-shaking between the officers as they came together, and--one +would like to have seen the meeting between uncle and niece! It was +well neither could look forward twenty-four hours. + +Even now the die was cast, and those behind the scenes knew that +all was lost. Black Partridge, a chief friendly to the whites, +had received, for services rendered at the time of the treaty of +Greenville,[AC] a silver medal bearing on one side a portrait of +Madison, and on the other clasped hands, surmounted by tomahawk and +"calumet," or pipe of peace, with the words "Peace and Friendship." +Now he approached Captain Heald and delivered to him the significant +emblem. His words, rendered by an interpreter, were these: + +"Father, I come to deliver to you the medal I wear. It was given to +me by the Americans, and I have long worn it in token of our mutual +friendship. But our young men are resolved to imbue their hands in the +blood of the whites. I cannot restrain them, and I will not wear a +token of peace when I am compelled to act as an enemy." (Wau-Bun.) + +[AC] The treaty wherein the six miles square, which includes Chicago, +was reserved to the whites. + +[Illustration: From "Cyclopædia of United States History." + +Copyright, 1881, by Harper & Brothers. + +BLACK PARTRIDGE MEDAL.] + +This was equivalent to a declaration of hostilities, and a council of +war, with Captain Wells as the most trusted adviser, would now have +been most excellent. A plan of march should have been formed, including +plan of battle, if battle should befall. Many advantages would be with +the whites. For several days they would have the lake as their water +supply and as a protection on one side. They had wagons to carry food, +ammunition and the disabled, and to serve as a cover against musketry. +They had between fifty and sixty armed and drilled regulars, twelve +good militia-men and thirty Miamis, who could have been forced to +fight if they had been properly held in hand--in all about one hundred +men. They had a large supply of beef on the hoof, of which many, no +doubt, were draught-oxen. On the whole, it is safe to say that, had +they had a due sense of the condition of things, they might have made +themselves, if not secure from attack, at least safe from annihilation; +for, once massed behind the wagons, with the lake at their back, the +first onslaught would have met such a rebuff as would have daunted the +fickle Indian, who never perseveres against severe loss, no matter +how great the stake or how heavy the damage he is inflicting on his +enemy. One may now see how the defence should have been conducted when +the fatal onslaught did occur. The wagons massed along the shore, the +troops--regulars, militia and Miami escort, every man and woman who +could fire or load a gun--using these wagons as a breast-work and +defending them and the non-combatants crouching behind them; this would +have discouraged the assailants and given time for a parley, during +which the friendly Indians could have made their influence felt. + +So easy it is to be wise after the event! + +Mrs. Heald herself (through her son) gives us the following narrative: + + General Hull had sent orders to Captain Heald to evacuate the fort + and come to Detroit, where he (Hull) was in command and preparing for + a battle. The messenger arrived at Fort Dearborn about August 10. + The evacuation took place August 15, 1812. The dispatch was brought + by an Indian, and the date of the order showed that the fellow was a + little too long in making the trip. He gave some excuse for this when + the captain read the dispatch. He had gotten lame, or his moccasins + had worn out, or something had occurred which made him a little late. + But after Wells arrived--he came on the 12th or 13th, accompanied by + thirty mounted Miamis--they talked the matter over and Wells said + to Captain Heald: "Captain, that red rascal somehow or other was a + longtime getting here. I fear he has notified the Indians along the + way that the things will probably be distributed here and there may + be considerable of a crowd. I don't fear anything serious, but I had + much rather the Indian had come right straight here. He had no right + to know, unless he was told, what the order was, but he got posted + somehow as to what his business was about." + + At the time Wells arrived there were a few Indians there who had + found out that the fort was to be vacated, and by the time they left + there was a considerable party of them collected, all seemingly + friendly with Captain Heald. Wells had very little idea there was to + be a fight on the way, yet "smelt something in the air." But Captain + Heald's orders were to vacate, and he must obey them unless something + turned up that he could see was not right. They, however, discussed + the probabilities of a siege. They had but few provisions, but little + ammunition, and thought there was but little risk in going. Heald's + orders were to dispose of things as he thought best. There was but + little whisky. He thought what they had (one barrel) ought not to + go into the hands of the Indians, nor should the munitions of war; + and they took the whisky to a well that was inside the enclosure and + poured it in, and what little arms and ammunition was left, besides + what they took with them, was also thrown in. + + John Kinzie, the trader at the post, objected to their going away, + saying that his business would be interfered with--perhaps ruined. + Captain Heald said he was sorry for that, but that he had to obey + orders unless there was something objectionable to keep him from it. + He advised Kinzie, however, not to allow the Indians to get to his + alcohol, of which he had a considerable quantity--to pour it on the + ground or in the river, or do something to dispose of it; that it + would be unsafe, under the circumstances, to let the Indians have + it. Mr. Kinzie suggested that the government might make this loss + good, but this Captain Heald could not vouch for. The spirits were + destroyed. + + * * * * * + +Suppose the veteran, Wells, tired with the tramping, the trifling and +the turmoil, mounted on the roof of the block-house at the northwest +corner of the stockade, and in the shadow of its motionless flag, +pausing, and looking about him--what does he see? + +[Illustration: WILLIAM WELLS.] + +A lonely, weedy streamlet flows eastward past the fort, then turns +sharp to the right and makes its weak way by a shallow, fordable +ripple, over a long sand-bar, into the lake, a half mile to the +southward. At his feet, on the river bank, stands the United States +Agency Storehouse. Across the river and a little to the eastward is +the Kinzie house, built of squared logs by Jean Baptiste Pointe de +Saible nearly forty years ago, now repaired, enlarged and improved by +its owner and occupant, John Kinzie. A canoe lies moored to the bank +in front of the house; when any of the numerous Kinzies wish to come +to the fort they can paddle across; when any one wishes to go over he +can halloo for the canoe. Just west of Kinzie's house is Ouillemette's +cabin, and still further that of John Burns. Opposite Burns's place +[near South State street] a swampy branch enters the river from the +south, and on the sides of this branch there is a straggling lot of +Indian wigwams--ominous sight! The north side of the river is all +wooded, except where little garden-patches are cleared around the human +habitations. The observer may see the forks of the stream a half-mile +to the westward, but he cannot trace its branches, either "River +Guarie," to the north, or "Portage River," to the south, for the trees +hide them. Near him, to the west and south, sandy flats, grassy marshes +and general desolation are all that he can see. (Will that barren waste +ever be worth a dollar an acre?) Beyond, out of sight, past the bend of +the South Branch, is Lee's place, with its fresh blood-stains and its +two grassless graves. + +[Illustration: REBEKAH (WELLS) HEALD.] + +And so his eye wanders on, across the sandy flat, across the Indian +trail, leading west of south, and the lake-shore trail which he himself +came over, and finally rests with relief on the lake itself, the +dancing blue water and the sky that covers it. + +It is said that he who is about to die has some times a "second sight," +a gift of looking forward to the days that are to follow his death. + +Suppose the weary and anxious observer now to fall asleep, and in +dreams to be gifted with this prophetic foresight, and to discern the +change that four-score years are to bring. + +It is 1892. Close at hand he sees the streamlet, now a mighty +channel--a fine, broad, deep water-way, running straight between long +piers out to the lake, and stretching inland indefinitely; bordered by +elephantine elevators, spanned by magnificent draw-bridges, each built +of steel and moved by steam; carrying on its floods great propellers +of 100,000 bushels of grain capacity. Looking north, west and south, +he sees serried ranks of enormous buildings towering for miles on +miles, each one so tall as to dwarf the fort and the block-house to +nothingness. He sees hundreds of miles of paved streets, thronged with +innumerable passengers and vehicles moving hither and thither, meeting +and impeding each other, so that sometimes so many try to pass that +none can pass; all must wait until the uniformed guardians of the +peace bring order out of chaos. Every acre of ground in sight is worth +millions of dollars. + +His dreaming ears must be stunned by the thunder of commerce, his +nostrils shocked by the smell of the vast food-factories, his skin +smutched with the smoke of the burning fuel all about him, to keep +these wheels in motion. Bewildered and dumbfounded, even more wearied +than he had been by his waking view, he would fain turn his eyes to the +east and rest them on the shining calm of the great lake, the dancing +blue water and the sky that covers it. + + * * * * * + +And so we bid him good-bye. Whatever dream visited his tired soul that +Friday night was his last. The next day was the one whereon his heroic +death was to crown his brave, loving, faithful, fruitless effort to +shield the innocent and helpless from a relentless doom. + +As the fatal Saturday has been fully treated in Part First of this +book, I now pass on to the dark days which followed it, and gather up +the details, meager and scanty, of the later life of the survivors, and +their death, so far known to the living world. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +FATE OF THE FUGITIVES. + + +EVERY word bearing upon the adventures of the handful of Chicagoans +left alive on Sunday, August 16th, 1812, has been carefully looked up +and faithfully transcribed. Those words are few enough; the silence and +darkness that enshroud their fate are more pathetically eloquent than +speech could well be. + +To begin with the Healds, who, as we have seen, were brought again +together on the morning of August 16th, by the half-breed, Chandonnais. +Darius Heald continues his report of his mother's narrative, as follows: + + It is thought that the Indians went off down the lake to have "a + general frolic;" in other words, to torture to death the wounded + prisoners. On the night of the sixteenth, Captain and Mrs. Heald, + accompanied by an Indian named Robinson [probably Chief Robinson, + well known in Chicago for many years], embarked in a canoe and, + unmolested, commenced their journey to Mackinaw. Chandonnais' + friendship was no half-way matter. They traveled all that night and + all next day, until late in the evening, when they saw a young deer + coming down to the water in a little clump of bushes to get a drink. + They drew as near the shore as possible, and the Indian lad stepped + out and waded to the shore, skipped down the bank behind the deer and + shot it. Then they pitched camp, dressed the deer, using the hide + as a kneading-board, whereon Mrs. Heald stirred up some flour (they + having brought a little in a leather bag from the fort) into a stiff + paste, which she wound around sticks and toasted over the fire; and + this Captain Heald afterward declared to be the finest bread he ever + ate. + +Here should come in, (according to Mrs. Helm's account in Wau-Bun) +mention of a halt of some days at the mouth of the St. Joseph's river. +It seems to me quite probable that the lapse of time had obliterated +from Darius Heald's memory that part of his mother's narrative; or that +he passed over, in talking to the stenographer, a matter which a timely +question would have brought out. (See the Wau-Bun story, further on.) + + They pushed on to Mackinaw, as Captain Heald said he had no chance + of getting clear except by going to a British officer, and it was + here that his parole was taken. It happened that Captain Heald and + the officer in command at Mackinaw were both Free Masons, and Mrs. + Heald says that they went off into a room by themselves, and that + Captain Heald told his story and asked for help. He said that the + Indians would pursue them, would not be more than twenty-four hours + behind, and that a body would overtake them, and asked the British + officer if he could protect them. The British officer said it would + be a very hard matter in the fix they were in. If the Indians came + down they might be overpowered; but that he would do this: He had a + little "sailer" [a sailing-boat], and he would put Captain Heald and + his wife in that and anchor it near the shore, and as soon as there + were signs of Indians would signal them to start. He then took out + his pocket-book and told Captain Heald to help himself "But," said + Captain Heald, "we may never meet again." "That," said the officer, + "makes no difference. You have a wife and I have no one on whom to + spend money. I can do without it. You take it and use it, and if it + is ever convenient to send it back you may do so." Mrs. Heald says + she never knew why the officer should have been so kind to them, but + laid it to the fact of their both being Masons; but said she "could + never get anything out of him" (Captain Heald), although she tried + more than once, and that she "never expected to get to know Masonic + secrets." + + However, Captain Heald did not take the money of the noble and + generous enemy, for he had at that moment some two hundred dollars, + probably in gold, which his provident wife had sewn in the cuffs of + his undershirt, a circumstance which would indicate that she, at + least, foresaw possible tribulation before they left the fort. + + The Indians came in sight looking one hundred strong, and the British + officer gave the sign for the little boat to move on. They went down + to Detroit, and thence to Buffalo, whence they crossed to Pittsburg + and went down the Ohio River, having procured, through an officer, + some conveyance by which to go down the river, and they then drifted + down, part of the way by boat and part of the way by raft, and in + this way reached Kentucky soil. They reached Mrs. Heald's old home by + night, past midnight, and rapped for admittance. Colonel Samuel Wells + asked, "Who's there?" "A friend," said Captain Heald. "Well, who are + you?" "Well, I am a friend." Mrs. Heald then spoke up and said, "Yes, + two friends." Colonel Wells thought he recognized a woman's voice, + and came to the door and opened it, and found himself face to face + with his daughter, whom he had not seen for nearly two years, whom he + had supposed to be dead, who left him as a bride and returned home + as a wounded prisoner. They had been two months on the way from Fort + Dearborn to Kentucky. + + Before her death, in 1856, Mrs. Heald had dictated to Mrs. Kerr, + her niece, a large number of facts connected with her life. The + manuscript was foolscap, and contained, Mr. Heald thinks, some + hundreds of pages. It was in existence up to the time of the Union + War, and he remembers seeing it wrapped up in a newspaper and tied + with twine, at the Heald residence, in St. Charles County, Missouri, + near the town of O'Fallon. During one of the incursions of Union + soldiers the house was ransacked from top to bottom. Captain Heald's + sword was taken away, and, greatest loss of all, that manuscript then + disappeared, Mr. Heald thinks probably destroyed--burned among other + papers supposed to be of no value. + + A negro boy, who had been raised by Mr. Heald, received word that + that sword had been left somewhere not far from home, and was then + being used as a corn-knife, and he obtained it and brought it back + to Mr. Heald, who recognized it as what was left of his father's old + sword; but alas! the manuscript has never been heard of--probably + never will be. This is the nearest approach now possible to a + reproduction of the facts it contained. + +The Wau-Bun narrative is more circumstantial, if not more trustworthy, +and tends naturally in a different direction. It goes on: + + Along with Mr. Kinzie's party was a non-commissioned officer who + had made his escape in a singular manner. As the troops were about + leaving the fort it was found that the baggage horses of the surgeon + had strayed off. The quartermaster-sergeant, Griffith, was sent to + collect them and bring them on, it being absolutely necessary to + recover them, since their packs contained part of the surgeon's + apparatus and the medicines for the march. + + This man had been for a long time on the sick report, and for + this reason was given the charge of the baggage instead of being + placed with the troops. His efforts to recover the horses being + unsuccessful, he was hastening to rejoin his party, alarmed at some + appearances of disorder and hostile indications among the Indians, + when he was met and made prisoner by To-pee-nee-be. + + Having taken from him his arms and accoutrements, the chief put him + in a canoe and paddled him across the river, bidding him make for the + woods and secrete himself. This he did, and the following day in the + afternoon, seeing from his lurking-place that all appeared quiet, he + ventured to steal cautiously into the garden of Ouilmette, where he + concealed himself for a time behind some currant-bushes. + + At length he determined to enter the house, and accordingly climbed + up through a small back window into the room where the family were. + This was just as the Wabash Indians left the house of Ouilmette for + that of Mr. Kinzie. The danger of the sergeant was now imminent. + The family stripped him of his uniform and arrayed him in a suit + of deerskin, with belt, moccasins and pipe, like a French engage. + His dark complexion and large black whiskers favored the disguise. + The family were all ordered to address him in French, and although + utterly ignorant of the language, he continued to pass for a + Weem-tee-gosh,[AD] and as such to accompany Mr. Kinzie and his + family, undetected by his enemies, until they reached a place of + safety. + +[AD] Frenchman. + + On the third day after the battle, the family of Mr. Kinzie, with + the clerks of the establishment, were put into a boat under the + care of François, a half-breed interpreter, and conveyed to St. + Joseph's, where they remained until the following November, under + the protection of To-pe-nee-bee's band. They were then conducted + to Detroit under the escort of Chandonnais and their trusty Indian + friend, Kee-po-tah, and delivered up as prisoners of war to Colonel + McKee, the British Indian Agent. + + Mr. Kinzie was not allowed to leave St. Joseph's with his family, his + Indian friends insisting on his remaining and endeavoring to secure + some remnant of his scattered property. During his excursions with + them for that purpose he wore the costume and paint of the tribe, in + order to escape capture and perhaps death at the hands of those who + were still thirsting for blood. In time, however, his anxiety for his + family induced him to follow them to Detroit, where in the month of + January he was received and paroled by General Proctor. + + Captain and Mrs. Heald had been sent across the lake to St. Joseph's, + the day after the battle. The former had received two wounds and the + latter seven in the engagement. + +[Illustration: ALEXANDER ROBINSON (in old age). + +Chief of the Pottowatomies, Chippewas, and others.] + + Lieutenant Helm, who was likewise wounded, was carried by some + friendly Indian to their village on the Au Sable, and thence to + Peoria, where he was liberated by the intervention of Mr. Thomas + Forsyth, the half-brother of Mr. Kinzie. Mrs. Helm had accompanied + her parents to St. Joseph's, where they resided in the family of + Alexander Robinson,[AE] receiving from them all possible kindness and + hospitality for several months. + +[AE] This Pottowatomie chief, well known to many of the citizens of +Chicago, was residing at Aux Plaines when Wau-Bun was written. + + After their arrival in Detroit Mrs. Helm was joined by her husband, + when they were both arrested, by order of the British commander, and + sent on horseback, in the dead of winter, through Canada, to Fort + George, on the Niagara frontier. When they arrived at that post there + seemed no official appointed to receive them, and notwithstanding + their long and fatiguing journey, in weather the most cold and + inclement, Mrs. Helm, a delicate woman of seventeen years, was + permitted to sit waiting in her saddle, without the gate, for more + than an hour before the refreshment of fire or food, or even the + shelter of a roof, was offered to her. When Colonel Sheaffe, who had + been absent at the time, was informed of this brutal inhospitality, + he expressed the greatest indignation. He waited on Mrs. Helm + immediately, apologized in the most courteous manner, and treated her + and Lieutenant H. with the most considerate kindness, until, by an + exchange of prisoners, they were liberated and found means to reach + their friends in Steuben County, New York. + + Captain Heald had been taken prisoner by an Indian from the + Kankakee who had a strong personal regard for him, and who, when + he saw the wounded and enfeebled state of Mrs. H., released her + husband that he might accompany his wife to St. Joseph's. To the + latter place they were accordingly carried, as has been related, + by Chandonnais and his party. In the mean time, the Indian who + had so nobly released his prisoner returned to his village on the + Kankakee, where he had the mortification of finding that his conduct + had excited great dissatisfaction among his band. So great was the + displeasure manifested that he resolved to make a journey to St. + Joseph's and reclaim his prisoner. News of his intention being + brought to To-pee-nee-bee and Kee-po-tah, under whose care the + prisoners were, they held a private council with Chandonnais, Mr. + Kinzie and the principal men of the village, the result of which + was, a determination to send Captain and Mrs. Heald to the island of + Mackinac and deliver them up to the British. They were accordingly + put in a bark canoe and paddled by Robinson and his wife a distance + of three hundred miles along the coast of Michigan, and surrendered + as prisoners of war to the commanding officer at Mackinac. + +This, though discordant with the shorter report received from the +Healds, certainly seems to have sound basis of truth. I have no doubt +that the Captain and his wife did halt at St. Joseph's and that John +Kinzie had something to do with their further journey to Mackinac. +Wau-Bun proceeds: + + As an instance of the procrastinating spirit of Captain Heald it may + be mentioned that even after he had received certain intelligence + that his Indian captor was on his way from the Kankakee to St. + Joseph's to retake him, he would still have delayed another day at + that place to make preparation for a more comfortable journey to + Mackinac. + +Mrs. Helm's acuteness in finding flaws in Captain Heald is quite +interesting. But as this Kankakee information must have come entirely +through Indian channels, and as the savage plan is ever to strike +first and warn afterward, I am prone to suspect that he applied the +"personal equation," and made light of the tale; and that there was in +fact little in it to frighten a brave man and his heroic wife. (_Per +contra_, see the Mackinaw incident.) + + The soldiers, with their wives and surviving children, were dispersed + among the different villages of the Pottowatomies, upon the Illinois, + Wabash and Rock River, and at Milwaukee, until the following spring, + when they were, for the most part, carried to Detroit and ransomed. + +We should like to believe the hopeful views here given regarding the +fate of the remaining prisoners. In truth, this account is as well +authenticated as is that given in the Niles' Register, as copied from a +Plattsburgh (N. Y.) newspaper, and given later in this work. + + Mrs. Burns, with her infant, became the prisoners of a chief who + carried her to his village and treated her with great kindness. His + wife, from jealousy of the favor shown to the white woman and her + child, always treated them with great hostility. On one occasion + she struck the infant with a tomahawk, and narrowly missed her aim + of putting an end to it altogether.[AF] They were not long left in + the power of the old hag, after this demonstration, but on the first + opportunity carried to a place of safety. + +[AF] Twenty-two years after this, as I was on a journey to Chicago +in the steamer Uncle Sam, a young woman, hearing my name, introduced +herself to me, and raising her hair from her forehead, showed me the +mark of the tomahawk which had so nearly been fatal to her. (Mrs. +Kinzie, in Wau-Bun.) + + The family of Mr. Lee had resided in a house on the lake-shore, not + far from the fort. Mr. Lee was the owner of Lee's Place, which he + cultivated as a farm. It was his son who ran down with a discharged + soldier to give the alarm of "Indians" at the fort on the afternoon + of the 7th of April. The father, the son, and all the other members + had fallen victims on the 15th of August, except Mrs. Lee and her + young infant. These were claimed by Black Partridge and carried to + his village on the Au Sable. He had been particularly attached to a + little girl of Mrs. Lee's, about twelve years of age. This child had + been placed on horseback for the march, and as she was unaccustomed + to the exercise, she was tied fast to the saddle, lest by any + accident she should slip off or be thrown. + + She was within reach of the balls at the commencement of the + engagement, and was severely wounded. The horse set off on a full + gallop, which partly threw her, but she was held fast by the bands + which confined her, and hung dangling as the animal ran violently + about. In this state she was met by Black Partridge, who caught the + horse and disengaged her from the saddle. Finding her so much wounded + that she could not recover, and that she was suffering great agony, + he put the finishing stroke to her at once with his tomahawk. He + afterwards said that this was the hardest thing he ever tried to do, + but he did it because he could not bear to see her suffer. + + He took the mother and her infant to his village, where he became + warmly attached to the former--so much so that he wished to marry + her; but, as she very naturally objected, he treated her with the + greatest respect and consideration. He was in no hurry to release + her, for he was in hopes of prevailing on her to become his wife. In + the course of the winter her child fell ill. Finding that none of the + remedies within their reach were effectual, Black Partridge proposed + to take the little one to Chicago, where there was now a French + trader living in the mansion of Mr. Kinzie, and procure some medical + aid from him. Wrapping up his charge with the greatest care he set + out on his journey. + + When he arrived at the residence of M. du Pin, he entered the room + where he was, and carefully placed his burden on the floor. + + "What have you there?" asked M. du Pin. + + "A young raccoon which I brought you as a present," was the reply, + and opening the pack he showed the little sick infant. + + When the trader had prescribed for its complaint, and Black Partridge + was about to return to his home, he told his friend his proposal to + Mrs. Lee to become his wife, and the manner in which it had been + received. + + M. du Pin entertained some fears that the chiefs resolution might + not hold out, to leave it to the lady herself whether to receive his + addresses or not, so he entered at once into a negotiation for her + ransom, and so effectually wrought upon the good feelings of Black + Partridge that he consented to bring his fair prisoner at once to + Chicago, that she might be restored to her friends. + + Whether the kind trader had at the outset any other feeling than + sympathy and brotherly kindness, we cannot say--we only know that in + process of time, Mrs. Lee became Madame du Pin, and that they lived + together in great happiness for many years after. + +So disappears, from earliest Chicago annals, the name of Lee. The +father had been a householder, living somewhere about where the +new Public Library is now building, and his farm was (after Père +Marquette's "cabinage") the very first settlement on the West Side of +the South Branch or "Portage River." His son escaped from the murderers +at "Hardscrabble" in spring, only to perish, with his father, during +the massacre, or perhaps in the "general frolic" that followed. Then +the widow becomes Mrs. du Pin and we hear no more of the Lees. There is +a grim completeness about the domestic drama. On Friday it has father, +mother, son, daughter and baby, on Saturday, father and son are killed +in battle (or by torture) and daughter mangled by a horse's feet and +finished by a tomahawk; a few months later the puny baby is brought +in to be "doctored" and then the widow marries again and lives on "in +great happiness." + + The fate of Nau-non-gee, one of the chiefs of the Calumet village, + and who is mentioned in the early part of the narrative, deserves to + be recorded. + + During the battle of the 15th of August, the chief object of his + attack was one Sergeant Hays, a man from whom he had received many + acts of kindness. + + After Hays had received a ball through the body, this Indian ran + up to tomahawk him, when the Sergeant, collecting his remaining + strength, pierced him through the body with his bayonet. They fell + together. Other Indians running up soon dispatched Hays, and it was + not until then that his bayonet was extracted from the body of his + adversary. + + The wounded chief was carried after the battle to his village on + the Calumet, where he survived for several days. Finding his end + approaching; he called together his young men, and enjoined them in + the most solemn manner to regard the safety of their prisoners after + his death, and to take the lives of none of them, from respect to + his memory, as he deserved his fate from the hands of those whose + kindness he had so ill-requited. + +[Illustration: From: "Cyclopædia of United States History."--Copyright, +1881, by Harper & Brothers. + +TECUMSEH.] + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +JOHN KINZIE'S CAPTIVITY. + + +We are, and always were (and I hope always will be), anything but a +"military nation." 1813 opened very gloomily for the United States; +but, as our quiet country has shown in several times of trial, it takes +some disaster to wake up Americans to the claims of the land they love +and the government they themselves have made. Bunker Hill was a defeat, +in form, but the patriots only fell back a little way; then halted +and quietly remarked: "We have several more hills to sell at the same +price," the price being such a loss as the British army had rarely met. +The war of 1812 began with the loss of Mackinaw and Detroit on land +and the frigate Chesapeake at sea; but Scott at Chippewa and Lundy's +Lane, Harrison at the Thames and Jackson at New Orleans caused all land +reverses to be forgotten; while Perry's victory on Lake Erie, together +with a splendid cluster of triumphs on the ocean, gave our navy a +lustre which it has never lost or suffered to become tarnished. + +Curiously enough, Mr. Kinzie, our own Chicago pioneer, was a witness +to the finish of the glorious day at Put-in-bay, in announcing which +Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry added to our war-cries the immortal +words, "We have met the enemy and they are ours." + +Here is Mrs. Kinzie's narrative of the captivity of her father-in-law, +embodying his experiences at that time: + + +CAPTIVITY OF JOHN KINZIE. + + It had been a stipulation of General Hull at the surrender of Detroit + that the inhabitants of that place should remain undisturbed in their + homes. Accordingly the family of Mr. Kinzie took up their quarters + with their friends in the old mansion which many will still recall as + standing on the northeast corner of Jefferson Avenue and Wayne Street. + + The feelings of indignation and sympathy were constantly aroused in + the hearts of the citizens during the winter that ensued. They were + almost daily called upon to witness the cruelties practiced upon + American prisoners brought in by their Indian captors. Those who + could scarcely drag their wounded, bleeding feet over the frozen + ground, were compelled to dance for the amusement of the savages, and + these exhibitions sometimes took place before the government house, + the residence of Colonel McKee. Some of the British officers looked + down from their windows at these heart-rending performances; for the + honor of humanity we will hope such instances were rare. + + Everything that could be made available among the effects of the + citizens were offered, to ransom their countrymen from the hands + of these inhuman beings. The prisoners brought in from the River + Raisin--those unfortunate men who were permitted, after their + surrender to General Proctor, to be tortured and murdered by inches + by his savage allies, excited the sympathies and called for the + action of the whole community. Private houses were turned into + hospitals, and every one was forward to get possession of as many as + possible of the survivors. To effect this even the articles of their + apparel were bartered by the ladies of Detroit, as they watched from + their doors or windows the miserable victims being carried about for + sale. + + In the dwelling of Mr. Kinzie, one large room was devoted to the + reception of these sufferers. Few of them survived. Among those + spoken of as the objects of deepest interest, were two young + gentlemen of Kentucky, both severely wounded, and their wounds + aggravated to a mortal degree by subsequent ill-usage and hardships. + Their solicitude for each other and their exhibition in various ways + of the most tender fraternal affection created an impression never to + be forgotten. + + The last bargain made was by Black Jim, and one of the children, + who had permission to redeem a negro servant of the gallant Colonel + Allen, with an old white horse, the only available article that + remained among their possessions. + + A brother of Colonel Allen afterward came to Detroit, and the negro + preferred returning to servitude rather than remaining a stranger in + a strange land. + + Mr. Kinzie, as has been related, joined his family at Detroit in the + month of January. A short time after, suspicions arose that he was in + correspondence with General Harrison, who was now at Fort Meigs, and + who was believed to be meditating an advance upon Detroit. Lieutenant + Watson of the British army waited upon Mr. Kinzie one day with an + invitation to the quarters of General Proctor on the opposite side + of the river, saying he wished to speak with him on business. Quite + unsuspicious, he complied with the invitation, when to his surprise + he was ordered into confinement, and strictly guarded in the house + of his former partner, Mr. Patterson of Sandwich. Finding he did not + return to his home, Mrs. Kinzie informed some of the Indian chiefs, + his particular friends, who immediately repaired to the headquarters + of the commanding officer, demanded their "friend's" release and + brought him back to his home. After awaiting a time until a favorable + opportunity presented itself, the General sent a detachment of + dragoons to arrest him. They had succeeded in carrying him away and + crossing the river with him. Just at this moment a party of friendly + Indians made their appearance. + + "Where is Shaw-nee-aw-kee?" was the first question. + + "There," replied his wife, pointing across the river, "in the hands + of the red-coats who are taking him away again." + + The Indians ran to the river, seized some canoes that they found + there, and crossing over to Sandwich compelled General Proctor a + second time to forego his intentions. + + A third time this officer was more successful, and succeeded in + arresting Mr. Kinzie and conveying him, heavily ironed, to Fort + Maiden in Canada, at the mouth of the Detroit river. Here he was at + first treated with great severity, but after a time the rigor of his + confinement was somewhat relaxed, and he was permitted to walk on the + bank of the river for air and exercise. + + On the 10th of September, as he was taking his promenade under the + close supervision of a guard of soldiers, the whole party were + startled by the sound of guns on Lake Erie at no great distance + below. What could it mean? It must be Commodore Barclay firing into + some of the Yankees. The firing continued. The time allotted the + prisoner for his daily walk expired, but neither he nor his guard + observed the lapse of time, so anxiously were they listening to what + they now felt sure was an engagement between ships of war. At length + Mr. Kinzie was reminded that the hour for his return to confinement + had arrived. He petitioned for another half hour. + + "Let me stay," said he, "until we can learn how the battle has gone." + + Very soon a sloop appeared under press of sail, rounding the point, + and, presently, two gun-boats in chase of her. + + "She is running--she bears the British colors," cried he--"yes, yes, + they are lowering. She is striking her flag! Now," turning to the + soldiers, "I will go back to prison contented, I know how the battle + has gone." + + The sloop was the Little Belt, the last of the squadron captured by + the gallant Perry, on that memorable occasion, which he announced in + the immortal words: "We have met the enemy and they are ours!" + + Matters were growing critical, and it was necessary to transfer all + prisoners to a place of greater security than the frontier was now + likely to be. It was resolved therefore to send Mr. Kinzie to the + mother country. Nothing has ever appeared which would explain this + course of General Proctor in regard to this gentleman. He had been + taken from the bosom of his family, where he was living quietly + under the parole which he had received, and was protected by the + stipulations of the surrender. He was kept for months in confinement. + Now he was placed on horseback under a strong guard, who announced + that they had orders to shoot him through the head if he offered to + speak to a person on the road. He was tied upon the saddle in a way + to prevent his escape, and thus they set out for Quebec. A little + incident occurred which will help to illustrate the course invariably + pursued toward our citizens at this period, by the British army on + the northwestern frontier. + + The saddle upon which Mr. Kinzie rode had not been properly fastened, + and owing to the rough motion of the animal on which it was, it + turned so as to bring the rider into a most awkward and painful + position. His limbs being fastened he could not disengage himself, + and in this manner he was compelled by those who had charge of him, + to ride until he was nearly exhausted, before they had the humanity + to release him. + +[Illustration: NEW FORT, RIVER, KINZIE HOUSE, ETC., AS GIVEN IN +WAU-BUN.] + + Arrived at Quebec, he was put on board a small vessel to be sent + to England. The vessel when a few days out at sea was chased by an + American frigate and driven into Halifax. A second time she set sail + when she sprang a leak and was compelled to put back. + + The attempt to send him across the ocean was now abandoned, and he + was returned to Quebec. Another step, equally inexplicable with his + arrest, was now taken. This was his release, and that of Mr. Macomb, + of Detroit, who was also in confinement at Quebec, and the permission + given them to return to their friends and families, although the war + was not yet ended. It may possibly be imagined that in the treatment + these gentlemen received, the British commander sheltered himself + under the plea of their being "native born British subjects," and + perhaps when it was ascertained that Mr. Kinzie was indeed a citizen + of the United States, it was thought safest to release him. + + In the meantime General Harrison at the head of his troops had + reached Detroit. He landed on the 29th of September. All the citizens + went forth to meet him.--Mrs. Kinzie leading her children by the + hand, was of the number. The General accompanied her to her home + and took up his abode there. On his arrival he was introduced to + Kee-po-tah, who happened to be on a visit to the family at that time. + The General had seen the chief the preceding year, at the council at + Vincennes, and the meeting was one of great cordiality and interest. + +Additional particulars about the interesting career of this remarkable +man are given further on. (See Appendix D.) + +[Illustration] + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +CONTEMPORANEOUS REPORTS. + + +HARDLY any one institution existing four score years ago, shows so +wondrous a change as does the American newspaper. The steamboat, +railroad, telegraph, telephone, power-press and other mechanical aids +to the spreading of news have all been invented and perfected within +that time, while gas and electric light have aided in the prompt +reproduction of intelligence, and penny-postage in its dissemination. +So that which was then an infant--say rather an embryo--is now a giant. + +[Illustration: MASSACRE TREE, 18th STREET.] + +The very first published narrative of the massacre which is now at hand +is the following account, very short and full of errors, taken from +the Buffalo Gazette (date not given) and published in Niles' Weekly +Register of October 3, 1812.[AG] + +[AG] This paper, published in Baltimore, was the best general chronicle +of events reported by correspondents or appearing in the few and meager +outlying journals of the day. + + _Fall of Fort Dearborn, at Chicago._--Yesterday afternoon the Queen + Charlotte arrived at Fort Erie, seven days from Detroit. A flag of + truce soon landed, at Buffalo Creek, Major Atwater and Lieut. J. + L. Eastman, who gave the following account of the fall of Fort + Dearborn: On the first of September a Pottowatomie chief arrived at + Detroit and stated that about the middle of August Captain Wells, + from Fort Wayne [an interpreter], arrived at Fort Dearborn to advise + the commandant of that fort to evacuate it and retreat. In the mean + time a large body of Indians of different nations had collected + and menaced the garrison. A council was held with the Indians, in + which it was agreed that the party in the garrison should be spared + on condition that all property in the fort should be given up. The + Americans marched out but were fired upon and nearly all killed. + There were about fifty men in the fort beside women and children, and + probably not more than ten or twelve taken prisoners. Captain Wells + and Heald [the commandant] were killed. + +This brief report interests us in various ways. Detroit was in the +British hands, and the Queen Charlotte a British ship, for Perry's +victory had not yet been won. Major Atwater and Lieut. Eastman, here +liberated by the British under flag of truce, were probably part +of the army surrendered by General Hull on August 16, and paroled; +these officers having remained in Detroit for some unexplained +reason--perhaps because they were citizens of that city, as Atwater is +an old Detroit name. (It has been given to a street there.) The Queen +Charlotte was one of the ships captured by Perry on Sept. 10, 1813, and +was sunk in Put-in-Bay, and twenty years later she was raised, repaired +and put again in commission, this time as a trading-vessel, and it was +on her that John Dean Caton, later Chief Justice of Illinois, and now +(1893) an honored resident of Chicago, took passage at Buffalo with his +bride, in 1834, and came to the land which was to be their home for +sixty years.[AH] + +[AH] Mrs. Caton died in 1892. + +Regarding the rest of the fugitives we have very scanty reports. The +next item we find is an utterly wild, false and fanciful statement of +Mrs. Helm's vicissitudes, contradicting in every particular her own +narrative, as given in Wau-Bun. + + [From Niles' Weekly Register, Saturday, April 13, 1813.] + + _Savage Barbarity._--Mrs. Helm, the wife of Lieutenant Helm, who + escaped from the butchery of Chicauga by the assistance of a + humane Indian, has arrived at this place [Buffaloe]. The account + of her sufferings during three months' slavery among the Indians + and three months' imprisonment among their allies, would make a + most interesting volume. One circumstance alone will I mention. + During five days after she was taken prisoner she had not the least + sustenance, and was compelled to drag a canoe (barefooted and wading + along the stream) in which there were some squaws, and when she + demanded food, some flesh of her murdered countrymen and a piece of + Col. Wells' heart was offered her. + + She knows the fact that Col. Proctor, the British commander at + Maiden, bought the scalps of our murdered garrison of Chicauga, and + thanks to her noble spirit, she boldly charged him with his infamy in + his own house. + + She knows further, from the tribe with whom she was a prisoner, and + who were the perpetrators of those murders, that they intended to + remain true, but that they received orders from the British to cut + off our garrison, whom they were to escort. + + Oh, spirits of the murdered Americans! can ye not rouse your + countrymen, your friends, your relations, to take ample vengeance on + those worse than savage bloodhounds? + + An Officer. + + March 18th, 1813. + +This is manifestly written to "fire the patriotic heart" of the country +to rally to the defence of "Buffaloe," a frontier town in deadly fear +of its Canadian neighbors, in sight beyond the Niagara River. Mrs. Helm +herself must have learned with surprise that while she, with the rest +of the Kinzie family, was hospitably entertained at "Parc-aux-vaches," +on the St. Joseph, she was suffering "three months' slavery among the +Indians;" and later, while living in Detroit, she was enduring "three +months' imprisonment among their allies," the English. Also that +during the five days after the massacre, when she tells us she was, +with much discomfort and more alarm, living in the Kinzie mansion with +her relatives, she was really dragging a canoe, barefooted, wading +along the stream, deprived of all sustenance except the flesh of her +murdered countrymen, especially poor Wells's carved-up and bleeding +heart--which, by the way, she had only heard of; never seen! Such +things serve very well to prove to us that, as creators of imaginative +fiction, newspaper correspondents of those days were equal even to +those of our own. + +More absurd, if possible, is a letter printed in Niles' Register of +May 8, 1813, purporting to have been written by one Walter Jordan, a +non-commissioned officer of regulars, stationed at Fort Wayne, to his +wife, in Alleghany County, dated Fort Wayne, October 19, 1812. In the +first place, it is most unlikely that any such white man should have +been in Captain Wells's company and remained unmentioned. We hear of +nobody as arriving but Captain Wells and his thirty Miami Indians. In +our day, it is true, a captain would be likely to be accompanied by +an orderly; but Wells had been brought up in too stern a school to be +provided with such an attendant. Then, too, the narrative bristles with +absurdities. The story is as follows: + + I take my pen to inform you that I am well, after a long and perilous + journey through the Indian country. Capt. Wells, myself, and an + hundred friendly Indians, left Fort Wayne on the 1st of August to + escort Captain Heald from Fort Chicauga, as he was in danger of + being captured by the British. Orders had been given to abandon the + fort and retreat to Fort Wayne, a distance of 150 miles. We reached + Chicauga on the 10th of August, and on the 15th prepared for an + immediate march, burning all that we could not fetch with us. On the + 15th at 8 o'clock we commenced our march with our small force, which + consisted of Captain Wells, myself, one hundred Confute Indians, + Captain Heald's one hundred men, ten women, twenty children--in all + 232. We had marched half a mile when we were attacked by 600 Kickapoo + and Wynbago Indians. In the moment of trial our Confute savages + joined the savage enemy. Our contest lasted fifteen minutes, when + every man, woman and child was killed except fifteen. Thanks be to + God, I was one of those who escaped. First they shot the feather off + my cap, next the epaulet off my shoulder, and then the handle from + the sword; I then surrendered to four savage rascals. The Confute + chief, taking me by the hand and speaking English, said: "Jordan, I + know you. You gave me tobacco at Fort Wayne. We won't kill you, but + come and see what we will do to your captain." So, leading me to + where Wells lay, they cut off his head and put it on a long pole, + while another took out his heart and divided it up among the chiefs + and ate it up raw. Then they scalped the slain and stripped the + prisoners, and gathered in a ring with us fifteen poor wretches in + the middle. They had nearly fallen out about the divide, but my old + chief, the White Racoon, holding me fast, they made the divide and + departed to their towns. They tied me hard and fast that night, and + placed a guard over me. I lay down and slept soundly until morning, + for I was tired. In the morning they untied me and set me parching + corn, at which I worked attentively until night. They said that if I + would stay, and not run away they would make a chief of me; but if I + would attempt to run away they would catch me and burn me alive. I + answered them with a fine story in order to gain their confidence, + and finally made my escape from them on the 19th of August, and + took one of the best horses to carry me, being seven days in the + wilderness. I was joyfully received at Wayne on the 26th. On the + 28th day they attacked the fort and blockaded us until the 16th of + September, when we were relieved by General Harrison. + +One is uncertain whether to rate this as a yarn made by some +penny-a-liner out of such scraps as might be picked up from common +rumor and the tales of returned stragglers of the thirty Indians who +ran away when the attack began, or the lying story of a fellow who was +really of the party, and one of the leaders, not in the fight, but in +the flight. His enumeration of "one hundred Confute Indians," (no tribe +of that name being known to history) in place of the band of thirty +Miamis, his estimate of Captain Heald's "one hundred men, ten women and +twenty children," his march of "half a mile," his statement that all +were killed except fifteen, which would make the loss of life over two +hundred, in place of Captain Heald's estimate of fifty-two, all tend to +force the conclusion that there was no Walter Jordan in the matter. +The latter part of the story, representing himself as heroically losing +feather, epaulet and sword-hilt to the rascally savages, who still +refrained from inflicting bodily injury on him, his then being kindly +but firmly led to the place where poor Wells, in the presence of his +niece, was waiting to have his head cut off and set up on a pole, and +his heart cut out and divided among the chiefs, etc., tends to the +belief that Walter Jordan was present, ran away, saved himself, reached +Fort Wayne and devised this cock-and-bull story to explain his long +absence, his personal safety and his possession of a horse which did +not belong to him. Another hypothesis is that he started from Fort +Wayne with Wells, deserted on the road, hung around until he got the +story as told by the Indian fugitives, and (finding that his captain +was dead) put a bold face on the matter and came in, bringing a horse +he had been lucky enough to "capture" when its owner was not looking. + +The next item is dated more than a year later; a year during which the +wretched captives seem to have suffered miseries indescribable. The +story bears the stamp of truth so far as the escaped fugitives knew it: + + [From Niles' Weekly Register, 4th June, 1814.] + + Chicago.--Among the persons who have recently arrived at this place, + says the Plattsburg [N. Y.] paper of the 21st ultimo, from Quebec, + are: James Van Horn, Dyson Dyer, Joseph Knowles, Joseph Bowen, Paul + Grummond, Nathan Edson, Elias Mills, James Corbin, Phelim Corbin, + of the First Regiment of U. S. Infantry, who survived the massacre + at Fort Dearborn, or Chicago, on the 15th August, 1812. It will be + recollected that the commandant at Fort Chicago, Captain Heald, was + ordered by General Hull to evacuate the fort and proceed with his + command to Detroit; that having proceeded about a mile and a half, + the troops were attacked by a body of Indians, to whom they were + compelled to capitulate. + + Captain Heald, in his report of this affair, dated October 23d, 1812, + says: "Our strength was fifty-four regulars and twelve militia, out + of which twenty-six regulars and all the militia, with two women and + twelve children, were killed in the action. + + "Lieut. Linai T. Helm, with twenty-five non-commissioned officers + and privates, and eleven women and children, were prisoners when + we separated." Lieut. Helm was ransomed. Of the twenty-five + non-commissioned officers and privates, and the eleven women and + children, the nine persons above mentioned are believed to be the + only survivors. They state that the prisoners who were not put + to death on the march were taken to the Fox River, in the Indian + territory, where they were distributed among the Indians as servants. + Those who survived remained in this situation about nine months, + during which time they were allowed scarcely a sufficiency of + sustenance to support nature, and were then brought to Fort Chicago, + where they were purchased by a French trader, agreeable to the + directions of General Proctor, and sent to Amherstburg, and from + thence to Quebec, where they arrived November 8th, 1813. + + John Neads, who was one of the prisoners, formerly of Virginia, died + among the Indians between the 15th and 20th of January, 1813. + + Hugh Logan, an Irishman, was tomahawked and put to death, be not + being able to walk from excessive fatigue. + + August Mott, a German, was killed in the same manner for the like + reason. + + A man by the name of Nelson was frozen to death while a captive with + the Indians. He was formerly from Maryland. + + A child of Mrs. Neads, the wife of John Neads, was tied to a tree to + prevent its following and crying after its mother for victuals. Mrs.. + Neads perished from hunger and cold. + + The officers who were killed on the 15th of August had their heads + cut off and their hearts taken out and boiled in the presence of the + prisoners. Eleven children were massacred and scalped in one wagon. + + Mrs. Corbin, wife of Phelim Corbin, in an advanced stage of + pregnancy, was tomahawked, scalped, cut open, and had the child taken + out and its head cut off. + +Turning to the latest muster-roll of the force, dated 1810, we identify +among these survivors the names of Dyson Dyer, Nathan Edson, Paul +Grummow, James Van Home, James Corbin and Phelim Corbin. Among the +perished, August Mott, John Neads and Hugh Logan. To this sad list must +be added four still more pitiable victims--the wife and unborn child +of Phelim Corbin, and the unhappy Mrs. Neads, to whom death must have +been welcome after seeing her little one "tied to a tree to keep it +from following her and crying for victuals." + +[Illustration: THE SECOND BLOCK-HOUSE IN ITS LAST DAYS.] + +Mrs. John Kinzie, in a sketch of the life of her husband (Chic. Hist. +Society, July 11, 1877. Fergus' Hist. Series No. 10) says: + + In 1816 the Kinzie family returned to their desolated home in + Chicago. The bones of the murdered soldiers, who had fallen four + years before, were still lying unburied where they had fallen. The + troops who rebuilt the fort collected and interred these remains. + The coffins which contained them were deposited near the bank of the + river, which then had its outlet about at the foot of Madison Street. + The cutting through the sand-bar for the harbor caused the lake to + encroach and wash away the earth, exposing the long range of coffins + and their contents, which were afterward cared for and reinterred by + the civil authorities. + +There is good reason to believe that Mrs. Kinzie was mistaken in +thinking that the coffins exposed on the lake shore by the action of +the waves, contained the bodies of those who perished in the massacre. +The fort burying-ground certainly was at the place indicated, and the +exposed coffins doubtless contained the bodies of those buried in that +ground; but that does not include the massacre victims. Mr. Fernando +Jones believes them to have been buried at where Seventeenth Street, +extended, would cross Prairie Avenue. + +A letter on the matter (kindly furnished me while these pages are in +preparation) reads as follows: + + Upon my arrival in Chicago, in the spring of 1835, being fifteen + years of age, I became acquainted with a number of Indian and + half-breed boys, as well as older persons, and visited many times + the location of the Indian massacre of 1812. The spot was pointed + out by some who were children at the time, and by others who had + been informed by their parents. The burial-place where the victims + were interred was quite distinct at that time. There was a mound in + the prairie southwest of the massacre-ground, that was pointed out + as the grave of the vidette, or soldier in advance of the retreating + garrison. + + The tradition was that the soldier ran west into the prairie, + thinking to hide in the tall grass, but was pursued and killed and + scalped and his body afterward buried by friendly half breeds. + + In the summer of 1836 a number of youngsters, accompanied by some + young Indians and half-breeds, proceeded to examine the lonely + hillock in the plains. The turf still preserved the shape of a + grave. There were in the party as I remember, besides myself, Pierre + Laframbois, Alex Beaubien, Charles Cleaver, J. Louis Hooker and + John C. Haines. After digging about three feet into the ground we + unearthed a skeleton surrounded by bits of woolen cloth, pieces of + leather, brass military buttons and buckles and a brass plate with U. + S. upon it. We became convinced that this was undeniably the grave + of the traditional vidette, and reverently returned the remains into + the grave where they had lain for a quarter of a century, and where + I suppose they still remain. The spot was about a block south of + the Calumet Club-House, near the S. E. corner of Indiana Ave. and + Twenty-first Street. I kept watch of the place until streets were + laid out and the property improved, having resided near it for over + twenty-five years. + + Fernando Jones. + +No remains of any coffin were found, a fact which would indicate a +battle-field burial; but on the other hand, it seems most improbable +that the Indians would have left belt-plate, buttons and cloth on any +of their victims. + + * * * * * + +The Indian Problem is solved at last, and by the Indians' own and only +means for the solution of problems--the cutting of the knot. It has +been a long struggle, marked by wrong on both sides and by shame on +ours--theirs was not capable of shame. They had many friends and only +one formidable enemy--themselves. + +The Americans met them with the sword in one hand and the olive +branch in the other. They declined the branch and defied the sword. +The English offered them gifts in both hands, and they took all that +was offered, rendering in exchange services disgraceful to the more +civilized party to the contract. The French offered them love, and won +theirs in return. While other whites held aloof, the gay Frenchman +fraternized with them, became one with them, shared their lives and +their pursuits, won their religious allegiance--nay, more; in a gentler +and more irresistible way prevailed over them, for he formed with their +women alliances which furnished the inferior race a hybrid, partly like +themselves, but superior, and able and willing to be their leaders +against the more grasping, less loving Americans. These hybrids have, +in many cases, continued the race on its enlightened side, and there +are not wanting among ourselves splendid specimens of manhood and +womanhood, whose fine figures, flashing eyes, and strong, grave faces, +proclaim the proud possession of the blood of the only really "first +citizens" of our democratic republic. + +It is now hard to trace the Indians who departed hence in 1835, +fifty-eight years ago. They are almost "lost tribes." The report for +1890 of the Commissioners of Indian Affairs, gives Pottowatomies of +various descriptions scattered in many places. This same is true of the +Ottawas and Chippewas. + +The larger part of the Pottowatomies (known of old as the "Woods Band," +in contradistinction to the "Prairie Band") have renounced tribal +relations and are known as the "Citizen Band." They number scarcely two +thousand souls, and occupy a tract nearly thirty miles square (575,000 +acres) in Oklahoma. + +The Commissioners' report says but little about them, giving more +attention to the "Prairie Band," since they are still a tribe, and +thus, "wards of the nation." They number only 432, and hold in common +77,357 acres in Kansas, where they are doing fairly, but are pestered +with the dregs of the "Citizen Band," who fall back on the tribe like +the returned prodigal--but unrepentant, and still fit company only for +the husk-eating swine. + +Of the "Citizen Band," Special Agent Porter says: + +"The Pottowatomies are citizens of the United States, thoroughly +tinctured with white blood. Nearly all of them speak English and read +and write. Some of them are quite wealthy, being good farmers, with +large herds of stock. Their morals are below the standard, considering +their advanced state as a civilized' people." + +This is not high praise; still, it gives hope for better things. Peace +and industry coming first, civilization and morality will follow. The +savage Indian is essentially a being of the past (notwithstanding +the survival of a few wild Apaches, a few "ghost-dancers" among the +Sioux, and some other exceptional bodies) and he is succeeded by the +truly civilized Indian (of whom the Cherokees are a splendid example), +a self-respecting, self governing, self-educating, prosperous human +being; not particularly different from the frontiers-man, except by a +slight and diminishing shade of color and by the possession of the best +characteristics of his savage ancestors. It may perhaps be said that +no race of men has ever made as much progress in five generations as +have the "civilized Indians." It is only one hundred and sixty years +since d'Artaguiette, Vinsenne, the Jesuit Senat, and young St. Ange, +son of the French commandant in the Illinois country (Fort Chartres), +were defeated in the Arkansas country and were burned at the stake +by the unconquered Chickasaws, who were "amazed to see the fortitude +with which white men could die." And now, in the territory adjoining +Arkansas on the west, the descendants of the torturers are cultivating +farms, maintaining governments, courts, schools and churches, and +in short, setting an example worthy to be followed by many who have +been "civilized" from the time ages back of the year 1492; when the +innocent, luckless Haytians learned of the existence of the unspeakable +Spaniards, in cruelty the only rivals of the North American aborigines. + + * * * * * + +What is the reason for the intense interest and curiosity which +clusters about this story of violence and rapine, of heroism, anguish +and death? Other massacres have blotted with blood the pages of +American history. From Deerfield and Schenectady to the Little Bighorn, +our devoted bands have perished at the hands of the American Indian; +and each dark day is suffered to rest as a mere tradition, buried in +the half-forgotten folk-lore of its time and place. Why does the Fort +Dearborn massacre, involving only a few score souls, hold a different +rank in our hearts? + +It is because the footsteps of millions are passing over the spot +where it all happened; steamers are churning its peaceful waters; +bells and steam-whistles are rending the air that bore away the sound +of gun-shots, war-whoops and dying cries; and the sculptors' art is +putting into immortal bronze the memory of its incidents. Thus does it +gain an _ex post facto_ importance and a posthumous fame. + +[Illustration: BLOCK-HOUSE TABLET] + +Transcription of Block-House Tablet: + + BLOCK HOUSE OF FORT DEARBORN + + This building occupies the site of old + Fort Dearborn which extended a little + across Mich. Ave. and somewhat into the + River as it now is. + + The Fort was built in 1803 & 4. Forming + our outmost defense. + + By order of Gen. Hull it was evacuated Aug. + 15, 1812 after its stores and provisions + had been distributed among the Indians. + + Very soon after the Indians attacked and + massacred about fifty of the troops and + a number of citizens including women and + children and next day burned the Fort. + + In 1816 it was re-built, but after the + Black-hawk War it went into gradual disuse and + in May 1857 when it was torn down, excepting a + single building, which stood upon this site + till the Great Fire of Oct. 9, 1871. + + At the suggestion of the Chicago Historical + Society this tablet was erected by + Nov. 1889. W. M. Hoyt. + +Among the world's great cities, Chicago should be the one most +thoroughly recorded. No other that counts her denizens by the million +has among them those born before her annals fairly began. No other has +had such startling vicissitudes. Laid low by slaughter in her infancy +and by fire in her youth, she has climbed with bounding steps, upward +and onward. Toiling, enduring, laughing, prospering, exulting; she has +taken each scourge as a fillip to her energy, each spur as a stimulus +to her courage. Hers is the enthusiasm of youth with the strength of +maturity. + +The early days of Paris and London are lost in half-mythical shadow. +Even if told, their incidents might fail to match in interest those +which have befallen their young sister. So much the more zealously +should we who love this youthful aspirant for fame, take care that +the romance of her childhood shall be preserved and handed down to +posterity. + +The spirited figure of La Salle (given by Lambert Tree) and Martin +Ryerson's Indian group, are both fine memorials of the dawn of things +in the North-West. Eli Bates's matchless statue of Lincoln is devoted +to a page in the history of the whole Union. Now comes Chicago's latest +treasure, the magnificent group commemorating the massacre of 1812; +a purely civic work, to keep in the minds of Chicago's citizens, for +untold generations, the romance and reality of her struggling infancy. + +Honor to the men who, in the intense pressure of the present, still +have thoughts for the past and the future. + + * * * * * + +At the unveiling, (1881) of the Block-House Tablet (designed by the +Chicago Historical Society) set by William M. Hoyt in the north wall +of his warehouse, facing Rush Street Bridge from the south, Mr. Eugene +Hall read some stanzas of original verse so musical, so poetic and so +apt for the occasion, that I venture (with his permission) to repeat +them here, as a finish to our story. + + * * * * * + +[Illustration: BEAUBIEN FIDDLE AND CALUMET, IN POSSESSION OF THE +CALUMET CLUB.] + + + FORT DEARBORN, + CHICAGO, + 1881. + + Here, where the savage war-whoop once resounded, + Where council fires burned brightly years ago, + Where the red Indian from his covert bounded + To scalp his pale-faced foe: + + Here, where grey badgers had their haunts and burrows, + Where wild wolves howled and prowled in midnight bands, + Where frontier farmers turned the virgin furrows, + Our splendid city stands. + + Here, where brave men and helpless women perished, + Here, where in unknown graves their forms decay; + This marble, that their memory may be cherished, + We consecrate today. + + No more the farm-boy's call, or lowing cattle. + Frighten the timid wild fowl from the slough: + The noisy trucks and wagons roll and rattle + O'er miles of pavement now. + + Now are our senses startled and confounded. + By screaming whistle and by clanging bell. + Where Beaubien's merry fiddle once resounded + When summer twilight fell. + + Here stood the fort with palisades about it. + With low log block-house in those early hours; + The prairie fair extended far without it. + Blooming with fragrant flowers. + + About this spot the buildings quickly clustered; + The logs decayed, the palisade went down. + Here the resistless Western spirit mustered + And built this wondrous town. + + Here from the trackless plain its structures started. + And one by one, in splendor rose to view. + The white ships went and came, the years departed, + And still she grandly grew. + + Till one wild night, a night each man remembers. + When round her homes the red fire leaped and curled. + The sky was filled with flame and flying embers. + That swept them from the world. + + Men said: "Chicago's bright career is ended!" + As by the smouldering stones they chanced to go, + While the wide world its love and pity blended, + To help us in our woe. + + O where was ever human goodness greater? + Man's love for man was never more sublime. + On the eternal scroll of our Creator + 'Tis written for all time. + + Chicago lives, and many a lofty steeple + Looks down today upon this western plain; + The tireless hands of her unconquered people + Have reared her walls again. + + Long may she live and grow in wealth and beauty, + And may her children be, in coming years, + True to their trust and faithful in their duty + As her brave pioneers. + +[Illustration] + + + + +APPENDIX. + + + A--John Baptiste Pointe de Saible. + + B--Fort Dearborn in the War Department. + + C--The Whittier Family. + + D--The Kinzie Family. + + E--The Wells and Heald Families. + + F--The Bones of John Lalime. + + G--Letters from a. H. Edwards. + + H--Billy Caldwell, "The Sauganash." + + I--Indian War Dance. + + K--The Bronze Memorial Group. + + + + +APPENDIX A. + + +JEAN BAPTISTE POINTE DE SAIBLE, THE HAYTIAN NEGRO WHO WAS THE FIRST +"WHITE MAN" TO SETTLE IN CHICAGO (1776-77). + +[Illustration: COCK-CROW.] + +NOT IN JEST, but in grave, sober earnest, the Indians used to say +that "the first white man in Chicago was a nigger." In their view, +all non-Indians were "whites," the adjective having to them only a +racial significance. Then, too the aborigines had no jests--no harmless +ones. Peering into the dim past for early items concerning what is now +Chicago, one comes first to the comparatively clear (though positively +scanty) records of the French--La Salle, Marquette, Tonti, Hennepin, +St. Cosme and their bold associates--who came in by way of the St. +Lawrence in the seventeenth century--1672 to 1700. + +From that time there occurs a great blank. Scarcely a ray of light +or word of intelligence pierces the deep gloom for just one hundred +years. Detroit, Mackinaw, Lake Superior, Green Bay, Fort Duquesne and +St. Louis are kept in view. Even Kaskasia and Fort Chartres, both in +Illinois territory, are on record; a circumstance due to the fact, not +generally known, that they were points of importance in John Law's +famous Mississippi scheme. But Chicago was almost as though it had sunk +below the waves of Lake Michigan when La Salle, Marquette and St. Cosme +bade it good-bye. + +[Illustration: ROBERT CAVELIER, SIEUR DE LA SALLE.] + +Suddenly, in 1778, in the midst of the Revolutionary War, the name +reappears in literature in a curious way. It comes to us through a +poetical allusion from the pen of Colonel Arent Schuyler de Peyster, +commandant at Michilimackinac. De Peyster, as his name suggests, was a +New Yorker of the ancient Dutch stock He entered the English army and +in 1757 was commissioned lieutenant in the Eighth, or King's Regiment +of Foot. Necessarily he was and continued to be a royalist, and when +war broke out served King George against Gen. George. + +Fortunately for our knowledge of the West during Revolutionary times, +Colonel de Peyster was a scholar and a gentleman as well a soldier and +a Tory He left a volume of "Miscellanies," which was first published +(1813) in Dumfries, Scotland, whither the old soldier retired when the +bad cause for which he made a good fight came to a disastrous end by +the peace of Paris in 1783.[AI] An edition, edited by General J. Watts +de Peyster, of Yonkers, was published in 1888. + +[AI] After his return to Scotland, Colonel de Peyster commanded the +"fencibles" (militia), of which Robert Burns was a member, and it was +in his honor that the poet wrote his poem, "To Colonel de Peyster," +beginning: + +"My honored Colonel, deep I feel Your interest in the poets' weal." + +and ending, after several stanzas: + +"But lest you think I am uncivil To plague you with this draunting +drivel. Abjuring a intentions evil, I quat my pen: The Lord preserve us +frae the devil, Amen! Amen!" + + +[Illustration: From "Cyclopædia of United States History."--Copyright, +1881 by Harper & Brothers. + +GEORGE ROGERS CLARK (LATE IN LIFE).] + +Colonel de Peyster's post of loyal service was Mackinaw, whither, as +the "Miscellanies" tell us, he was sent early in 1774, "to command +the post, with the painful task of superintending the lake Indians." +"Canoes arrived with passes signed by the American General Wooster, and +Dr. Benjamin Franklin, wherein it was stipulated that those traders +should not afford any succor whatever to the British garrison." + +He adds that "in the spring following they [the Indians] were sent +down to assist General Burgoine in his expedition across Lake +Champlaine"--an entry which recalls the fate of poor Jane McCrea, whose +death at the hands of the Indians, near Saratoga, used to draw tears +from our childish eyes in the good old times before patriotism was no +more. + +In that expedition they seem to have done no valuable service to King +George (except the killing of Miss McCrea), and on their return they +were assembled at Mackinaw for the purpose of making a diversion in +favor of the English General Hamilton, whom George Rogers Clark, our +paragon of Western soldiers, had defeated already (though de Peyster +did not know it) and sent across the Alleghanies, a prisoner, to +Patrick Henry, Governor of Virginia. + +Now comes in the mention of Chicago. De Peyster made a speech to +the assembled redskins, which speech he next day turned into rude +rhyme at the request of a fair lady whom he calls, in gallant French +phrase, "une chère compagne de voyage." The poem is included in the +"Miscellanies."[AJ] + +[AJ] The lady was his wife. The marriage was childless, and General J. +Watts de Peyster (1892) says in a private note: "She was _chère_ indeed +to de P's lineal heirs, for her cajolery of the Colonel transferred his +property from his nephew, protege and namesake. Captain Arent Schuyler +de Peyster, to her own people, McMurdo's, or whatever was the name of +her nephews." General de Peyster says that he himself got the story +from Captain Arent Schuyler de Peyster, the namesake in question, and +the discoverer of the "De Peyster Islands," in the Pacific Ocean. + +The entire versified speech is too long to quote, interesting though +it be as an unstudied sketch of things of that time and place. Any one +wishing to know more of it can find it in the "Miscellanies," of which +a copy should be easily found in any large library. + + +SPEECH TO THE WESTERN INDIANS. + + Great chiefs, convened at my desire + To kindle up this council-fire, + Which, with ascending smoke shall burn, + Till you from war once more return + To lay the axe in earth so deep + That nothing shall disturb its sleep. + + I know you have been told by Clark + His riflemen ne'er miss the mark; + In vain you hide behind a tree + If they your finger-tip can see. + The instant they have got their aim + Enrolls you on the list of lame. + + But then, my sons, this boaster's rifles, + To those I have in store are trifles: + If you but make the tree your mark + The ball will twirl beneath the bark. + Till it one-half the circle find, + Then out and kill the man behind. + + Clark says, with Louis in alliance + He sets your father at defiance; + That he, too, hopes, ere long, to gain + Assistance from the King of Spain. + + Suppose, awhile, his threats prove true. + My children, what becomes of you? + Your sons, your daughters and your wives, + Must they be hacked by their big knives? + Clark, soon repulsed, will ne'er return, + While your war-fire thus clear doth burn. + + At Fort St. Joseph and the Post, + Go, lay in ambush for his host, + While I send round Lake Michigan + And raise the warriors to a man. + Who, on their way to get to you. + Shall take a peep at Eschikagou.[AK] + + Those runagates at Milwackie + Must now perforce with you agree. + Sly Siggernaak and Naakewoin + Must with Langlade their forces join, + Or he will send them, _tout au diable_ + As he did Baptiste Pointe de Saible.[AL] + +[AK] A river and fort at the head of Lake Michigan. + +[AL] A handsome negro, well educated and settled in Chicago, but much +in the interest of the French. + +So steps upon the stage of history the earliest non-Indian settler +of Chicago; a man who built, at about the time of our Declaration +of Independence, the house which was standing within the memory of +hundreds of Chicagoans of 1892--the well-known "Kinzie Mansion," that +faced the north bank of the river where Pine Street now ends. + +Mrs. John H. Kinzie, in her delightful book, "Wau-Bun, the Early day +in the North-West," calls him "Pointe au Sable," and says he was a +native of San Domingo, and came from that island with a friend named +Glamorgan; who had obtained large Spanish grants in or about St. Louis. +She adds that Jean Baptiste sold his Chicago establishment to a French +trader named Le Mai, and went back to Peoria where his friend Glamorgan +was living, and died tinder his roof, presumably about 1800. From Le +Mai, the property passed in 1803, to John Kinzie, the real pioneer of +Chicago. + +Hispaniola (Hayti and San Domingo) was discovered and even colonized, +by Columbus, in 1492. It had then some two million inhabitants, living +like our first parents in Eden (Genesis I, 27), but the unspeakable +cruelty of the Spaniards so depopulated the splendid and happy island, +that in 1517--twenty-five years later--it was requisite to import negro +slaves to carry on the mining, and to-day not one soul of the original +race survives. + +The French began to come in 1630, and by the treaty of Ryswick +[1697] the island was divided between France and Spain. Then began +the greatness of the Haytian negro, which culminated in Toussaint +L'Ouverture, liberator of his race from French slavery and his land +from French domain; and later, victim to Napoleon's perfidy. Under the +French rule many free negroes were educated in France, very probably +Baptiste Pointe de Saible among the rest. At any rate he was of the +adventurous spirit which would rather be first in a new sphere than +last in an old, and so, with Glamorgan, he came over to Mobile or New +Orleans. Then (probably on one of John Law's "Compagnie de l'Occident" +bateaux) he came up the Mississippi to Kaskaskia, Cahokia, St. Louis, +and at last to Peoria, on the Illinois, where he left Glamorgan, and +pushed on to the Pottowatomie outposts where we find him in 1778, the +object of Colonel de Peyster's admiring dislike. + +Edward G. Mason, in an address before the Historical society, gives +a tradition in regard to Pointe de Saible's welcome on Chicago soil, +which tradition appears in "Early Western Days," a volume published +by John T. Kingston, formerly a state senator of Wisconsin. It runs +thus: An Indian living south of the Portage River--now called the +Chicago--being out hunting, suddenly came upon a strange object, +half hidden by the underbrush. It was a black face with white eyes +and woolly hair! (Probably no Indian of his tribe had ever seen a +negro.) After gazing at the novel sight awhile, he grunted, "Ugh! +Mucketewees!" (black meat.) He captured the odd animal and carried him +to the village, whither came the Indians from far and near to gaze, to +wonder, and to speculate. Fortunately for Baptiste, for Chicago and +for history, the consensus of opinion called it "bad meat," and so the +creature's life was spared. + +Shaubena, a chief of the Pottowatomies, was in and about Chicago long +after their war dance of 1836. He had seen Pointe de Saible, but +unfortunately his knowledge concerning him is not on record. Mr. Mason +says regretfully: + + In 1855, at the old Wells Street station, I saw old Shaubena wearing + moccasins, leggins, coat and plug hat with colored strings tied + around it. He was gazing with great delight at the Galena Railway + engine, named for him, and calling the attention of the people on the + platform to it. He doubtless thought that a much more wonderful sight + than old Jean Baptiste. + +[Illustration: SHAUBENA IN OLD AGE. (ABOUT 1856.)] + +One other mention of Pointe de Saible is thrown up from the almost +barren shore of Western history. The third volume of the Wisconsin +Historical Society's collection contains certain "Recollections" +of Augustin Grignon (a grandson of Sieur Charles de Langlade), who +became the first permanent white settler of Wisconsin about 1735, and, +as we have seen, is named by de Peyster in his verses, among which +"Recollections" occurs the following precious bit: + +"At a very early period there was a negro who lived here (Chicago) +named Baptiste Pointe de Saible. My brother, Perish Grignon, visited +Chicago about 1794 and told me that Pointe de Saible was a large man, +that he had a commission for some office, but for what particular +office or for what government I cannot now recollect. He was a trader, +pretty wealthy, and drank freely. I do not know what became of him." + +With these bits of chance allusion--touches here and there--we get a +quite distinct impression of the lonely Baptiste. His origin shows +possibility of greatness, for it was the same with that of François +Dominique Toussaint, surnamed l'Ouverture. Like him, he was a French +West-Indian mulatto. He was large, handsome, well-educated and +adventurous, traits which mark pretty clearly his migrations and his +fortunes. Neither in Mobile, New Orleans, Kaskaskia, nor St. Louis +could he probably feel at home, for at each of these places nigritude +was associated with servitude. Among the Peoria Indians he probably +found scanty elbow-room, especially if his friend and rival trader, +Glamorgan, was, as his name implies, of Welsh blood--a race which +gleans close, and thrives where others starve. + +Not unnaturally would he, as tradition suggests, aspire to headship of +the great tribe of Pottowatomies, for he knew how vastly superior he +was to the best of them; and quite as naturally would he fail, seeing +that the red strain of blood and the black have even less in common +than has each with the white. At the same time, considering the state +of domestic relations at that time and place, we may be very sure that +he did not fail to "take some savage woman"--one or more--to rear +his dusky race in large numbers and much rude, half-breed gaiety and +contentment. + +As to his office, one would like greatly to know something about it, +and is prone to wish that somebody would look it up--in the general +government archives, or those of the North-West Territory, which had +been established in 1788, General St. Clair being its first governor, +and Cincinnati (Losantiville) its capital. Why should it not have been +under Harrison and Wells? It would scarcely have been an English office +in view of the unpleasant allusion by de Peyster, though the English +maintained emissaries hereabouts--fomenters of discontent--away on +almost to the war of 1812. Still, it might be worth while to try the +Canadian records. Barring swell a discovery, it seems probable that the +last word has been written about him. + +Jean Baptiste's name "Pointe de Saible" (or Sable) might be suspected +of being a description of his residence rather than an inheritance +from his forefathers, for the cabin of squared logs, so early built +and so lately destroyed, stood at the head of the great sand-point +which of old interrupted the course of the Chicago river lakeward, and +turned it south for about half a mile to where it flowed over a long, +fordable, narrow bar formed by the ceaseless sandstream that moves +from north to south along the western shore of Lake Michigan. But the +records and traditions are old enough and exact enough to uphold the +name as a patronymic, and leave the place as a mere coincidence. One +might almost as easily trace it to his lack of grit and perseverance, +seeing that he put his hand to the plow and looked back; that he came +to Chicago in hope and moved away in despair; that having a "homestead +location" he did not stay and "prove up;" that, owning, by occupation, +a thousand million dollars worth of real estate, he sold it for a song +instead of waiting for a "boom." _Point de sable_--"no sand." + +The two other characteristics of Chicago's first merchant-prince, which +are preserved for us by lucky chance, are that he was "pretty wealthy" +and that he "drank freely." Only one of these traits has come down to +his successors of a century later. [From "Liber Scriptorum," published +by the Authors' Club, New York.] + + Joseph Kirkland. + +[Illustration: CHICAGO RIVER. JUNCTION OF NORTH AND SOUTH BRANCHES +(1830).] + +[Illustration: Proposed Plan for Improving the Mouth of Chicago River] + + + + +APPENDIX B. + +FORT DEARBORN RECORDS AT WASHINGTON. + + +[Illustration] + +WAR Department records, back of the war of 1812, are few and +poor; partly, no doubt, for the reason that during that short struggle +a British force, sailing up the Potomac, seized upon the defenceless +little city of Washington and burned its public buildings with their +contents. The Hon. Robert Lincoln, Secretary of War (under President +Garfield) at the time of unveiling the Block House Tablet, May 21, +1881, kindly furnished to Mr. Wentworth copies of all documents on file +relating to Fort Dearborn and its garrison, (Fergus' Hist., Series No. +16.) + + * * * * * + +Extract from a letter written June 28, 1804, by General Henry Dearborn, +Secretary of War under President Jefferson: + + Being of opinion that, for the general defence of our country, + we ought not to rely upon fortifications, but on men and steel; + and that works calculated for resisting batteries of cannon are + necessary only for our principal seaports, I cannot conceive it + useful or expedient to construct expensive works for our interior + military posts, especially such as are intended merely to hold + the Indians in check. I have therefore directed stockade works + aided by block-houses to be erected at Vincennes, at Chikago, at + or near the mouth of the Miami of the lakes, and at Kaskaskia, in + conformity with the sketch herewith enclosed, each calculated for a + full company; the block-houses to be constructed of timber slightly + hewed, and of the most durable kind to be obtained at the respective + places; the magazines for powder to be of brick, of a conic figure, + each capable of receiving from fifty to one hundred barrels of + powder. Establishments of the kind here proposed will, I presume, + be necessary for each of the military posts in Upper and Lower + Louisiana, New Orleans and its immediate dependencies excepted. I + will thank you to examine the enclosed sketch, and to give me your + opinion on the dimensions and other proposed arrangements You will + observe the block-houses are to be so placed as to scour from the + upper and lower stories the whole of the lines. The back part of the + barracks are to have port-holes which can be opened when necessary + for the use of musketry for annoying an enemy. + + It will, I presume, be proper ultimately to extend palisades round + the block-houses. + + * * * * * + +Statement compiled from the Records of the Adjutant General's office in +the case of Fort Dearborn, with copies of orders: + + Fort Dearborn, situated at Chicago, Ill., within a few yards of + Lake Michigan. Latitude 41° 51' North; Longitude 87° 15' West. Post + established by the United States forces in 1804. (From 1804-12 no + records are on file.) + + August 15th, 1812, the garrison having evacuated the post and were + _en route_ for Ft. Wayne, under the command of Captain Nathan Heald, + 1st U. S. Infantry, composed of 54 Regular Infantry, 12 Militia + men, and one interpreter, was attacked by Indians to the number of + between 400 and 500, of whom 15 were killed. Those of the garrison + killed were Ensign George Ronan, 1st Infantry, Dr. Isaac Van Voorhis, + Captain Wells, Interpreter, 24 enlisted men, U S. Infantry, and 12 + Militia-men; 2 women and 12 children were also killed. The wounded + were Captain Nathan Heald and Mrs. Heald. None others reported. The + next day, August 16th, 1812, the post was destroyed by the Indians. + Reoccupied about June 1816, Capt. Hezekiah Bradley, 3rd Infantry, + commanding. The troops continued in occupation until October, 1823, + when the post was evacuated and left in charge of the Indian agent; + It was reoccupied Oct. 3rd, 1828. + + Capt. Hezekiah Bradley, 3rd Infantry, commanded the post from June + 1816, to May 1817, Brevet Major D. Baker to June 1820; Captain + Hezekiah Bradley, 3rd Infantry, to January 1821, Major Alex Cummings, + 3rd Infantry, to October, 1821; Lieut. Col. J. McNeal, 3rd Infantry, + to July 1823; Captain John Greene, 3rd Infantry, to October, 1823; + post not garrisoned from October 1823, to October 1828. No returns of + post on file prior to 1828. + + * * * * * + + +Copies of Orders. + + +ORDER NO. 35. + + Adjutant General's Office, Washington, 27 May, 1823. + + The Major-General commanding the army directs that Fort Dearborn, + Chicago, be evacuated, and that the garrison thereof be withdrawn to + the headquarters of the 3rd regiment of Infantry. + + One company of the 3rd regiment of Infantry will proceed to Mackinac + and relieve the company of artillery now stationed there, which, with + the company of artillery at Fort Shelby, Detroit, will be withdrawn + and ordered to the harbor of New York. + + The commanding General of the Eastern department, will give the + necessary orders for carrying these movements into effect, as well as + for the security of the public property at Forts Dearborn and Shelby. + + By order of Major-General Brown. + + (Signed) Chas. J. Nourse, _Act'g Adjutant-General_. + + +ORDER NO. 44. + + Adjutant-General's Office, Washington, 19 August, 1828. + + (Extract.) In conformity with the directions of the Secretary of War, + the following movements of the troops will be made. + + Two companies of the 5th regiment of Infantry to reoccupy Fort + Dearborn, at the head of Lake Michigan; the remaining eight companies + to proceed by the way of the Wisconsin and Fox rivers to Fort Howard, + Green Bay, where the headquarters of the regiment will be established. + + Four Co's of the Reg't to constitute the garrison of Fort Howard; two + Co's for the garrison of Michilimackinac, and two for that of Fort + Brady. + + 4. The Quartermaster-General's department to furnish the necessary + transportation and supplies for the movement and accommodation of the + troops. + + The subsistence department to furnish the necessary supplies of + provisions. + + The Surgeon-General to supply medical officers and suitable hospital + supplies for the posts to be established and reoccupied. + + 5. The Commanding Generals of the Eastern and Western departments + are respectively charged with the execution of this order as far as + relates to their respective commands. + + By order of Major General Macomb, Major-General Commanding the Army. + + (Signed) R. Jones, _Adjutant-General_. + + +ORDER NO. 16. + + Adjutant-General's Office, Washington, 23 Feb., 1832. + + (Copy.) The headquarters of the 2nd Regiment of Infantry are + transferred to Fort Niagara. Lieut. Col. Cummings, with all the + officers and men composing the garrison of Madison Barracks, + Sackett's Harbor, will accordingly relieve the garrison of Fort + Niagara; and Major Whistler, on being relieved by Lieut.-Col. + Cummings, with all the troops under his command, will repair to Fort + Dearborn (Chicago, Illinois) and garrison that post. + + Assistant Surgeon De Camp, now on duty at Madison Barracks, is + assigned to duly at Fort Dearborn, and will accompany the troops + ordered to that post. These movements will take place as soon as the + navigation will permit. + + By order of Major-General Macomb. + + (Signed) R. Jones, _Adjutant-General_. + + +GENERAL ORDER HEADQUARTERS OF THE ARMY. NO. 80. + + Adjutant-General's Office, Washington, Nov. 30th, 1836. + + (Extract) I. The troops stationed at Fort Dearborn, Chicago, will + immediately proceed to Fort Howard and join the garrison at that + post. Such public property as may be left at Fort Dearborn will + remain in charge of Brevt-Major Plympton, of the 5th Infantry; who + will continue in command of the post until otherwise instructed. + + By order of Alexander Macomb, Maj.-Gen. Com'd'g-in-Chief. + + (Signed) R. Jones, _Adjutant-General_. + + * * * * * + +[Illustration: INTERIOR OF NEW FORT (1850), LAKE HOUSE IN THE DISTANCE.] + +When the last fort was being demolished [1856] an old paper was found +which bore internal evidence of being a survival from the first fort. +How it could have survived the flames of 1812 is a mystery. Perhaps +some brick bomb-proof magazine chanced to shelter it, and the builders +of the new fort, finding it, laid it in a closet, where it remained, +hidden and forgotten. One would like to see it to-day--if it also +survived October 9, 1871! + + Permission is hereby given for one gill of whiskey each: Denison,[A] + Dyer,[A] Andrews,[A] Keamble (?), Burman, J. Corbin,[A] Burnett, + Smith,[A] McPherson, Hamilton, Fury[A], Grumond[A] (?), Morfitt, + Lynch,[A] Locker,[A] Peterson,[A] P. Corbin,[A] Van Horn,[AM] Mills. + + (Signed), + + [Illustration: G Ronan (signature)] + +November 12th, 1811. + +[AM] Appear on the nuster-roll given on page 150. Several of the names +recur in the Plattsburg story of the nine survivors (21 May 1814). + +On December 29, 1836, the garrison was finally withdrawn from Fort +Dearborn, and after its thirty-three years of stirring vicissitudes it +passed into a useless old age, which lasted a score of years before +its abandonment as a government possession. In fact, one of its +buildings--a great, barn-like, wooden hospital--was standing, in use as +a hospital storehouse, up to 1871, when the great fire obliterated it, +with nearly all else that was ancient in Chicago. + + * * * * * + +[Illustration: WAUBANSA STONE WITH GREAT FIRE RELICS.] + +An exception to this destruction and the fast gathering cloud of +oblivion, is to be found in an old red granite boulder, with a +rude human face carved on it, which stood in the center of the +fort esplanade, and which is now (1891) one of our few antiquarian +treasures. It is nearly eight feet high by three feet in greatest +diameter, and weighs perhaps 4,000 pounds. In prehistoric times the +Indians used the concave top for a corn-mill, and for many, many weary +hours must the patient and long-suffering squaws have leaned over it, +crushing the scanty, flinty corn of those days into material for the +food of braves and pappooses. + +Many persons have looked on it as a relic of prehistoric art--the +sacrificial stone of an Aztec teocalli perhaps--but Mr. Hurlbut gives +the cold truth; more modern, though scarcely less romantic. He says +it was set up in the fort, and soldiers, sick and well, used it as +a lounging-place. Sometimes it served as a pillory for disorderly +characters, and it was a common expression or threat, that for certain +offenses the offender would be "sent to the rock." Waubansa was a +Chicago chief, and a soldier-sculptor tried to depict his features on +the stone; and (to quote Mr. Hurlbut): + +"The portrait pleased the Indians, the liege friends of the chief, +greatly; for a party of them, admitted into the block-house to see it, +whooped and leaped as if they had achieved a victory, and with uncouth +gestures they danced in a triumphant circle around the rock." + + In 1837 ... Daniel Webster paid a visit to the West, and took Chicago + in his route.... The conveyance was a barouche with four elegant + creams attached. Mr. Webster was accompanied by his daughter and + son. Every wheel-vehicle, every horse and mule in town, it is said, + were in requisition that day, and the senator was met some miles + out by a numerous delegation from this _new city_, who joined in + the procession.... It was the fourth of July, the column came over + Randolph Street bridge, and thence to the parade-ground within the + fort. There were guns at the fort, which were eloquent, of course, + though the soldiers had left some weeks before. The foundation of + all this outcry about Mr. Webster is, that the base and platform on + which that gentleman stood when he made the speech within the fort, + was the rock, the same Waubansa stone.... Justin Butterfield (who + stood directly in front of the senator) swung his hat and cheered the + speaker. + +The "statue" was pierced to form the base of a fountain, and was set up +as one of the curiosities of the great Sanitary Commission Fair, held +in 1865, in Dearborn Park, in aid of the sick and wounded in the war +for the Union. In 1856 it was adopted as a relic by the Hon. Isaac N. +Arnold--member of Congress during the war and one of the staunchest and +ablest of patriots, and most devoted of friends to the soldiers--who +moved it to his home, in Erie street. Mr. Arnold's house was burned +with the rest in the great fire of 1871, and old "Waubansa" passed +through the flames with the same unmoved look he had preserved through +his earlier vicissitudes. Afterward numerous fire relics were grouped +about him and a photograph taken, wherein, for the first time, he looks +abashed, as if conscious of the contrast between his uncouthness and +the carvings which surround his antique lineaments. The stone stands +open to the public view in the grounds adjoining the new home (100 Pine +Street), which Mr. Arnold built after the fire, and in which he lived +up to the time of his lamented death, in April, 1884. + + * * * * * + +Who were the victims of August fifteenth, 1812? What were the names of +the killed, the wounded, the tortured, the missing? This is a question +to which only the merest apology for an answer can be given. In tens +of thousands of cases the very act of dying for one's country forbids +the possibility of becoming known to fame. Nameless graves dot our +land from north to south, and from east to west, especially from the +Susquehanna to the Rio Grande and from the Ohio to the Gulf. Heaven +knows who were those dead, and who they might have become if they had +not died when and where they did. Let us hope that somewhere in the +universe they have their record--on earth they are forgotten. + +I have aimed at recording every surviving name of the dwellers in +Chicago up to the massacre. As an effort toward that end, I give, on +the next page, the last muster and pay-roll of the troops at the old +fort, as shown by existing records. It is headed: + +"Muster roll of a company of Infantry under the command of Captain +Nathan Heald, in the First Regiment of the United States, commanded by +Colonel Jacob Kingsbury, from Nov. 30, when last mustered, to December +31, 1810." + +It concludes with a certificate in the following form, identical, by +the way, with the formula in use in our army to this day (1893): + + Recapitulation.--Present, fit for duty, 50; sick, 5; unfit for + service, 3; on command, 1; on furlough, 1; discharged, 6. Total, 67. + + We Certify on honor that this muster-roll exhibits a true statement + of the company commanded by Captain Nathan Heald, and that the + remarks set opposite their names are accurate and just. + + J. Cooper, S. Mate. + + Ph. O'Strander, Lieutenant commanding the Company, + + Names. Rank. Appointed or Remarks and changes + enlisted. since last muster. + + *Nathan Heald Captain 31 Jan. 1807 On furlough in Mass + Philip O'Strander 2nd Lieut. 1 May 1808 { Present Of Capt. Rhea's + { Co. Asst M y Agt. Sick. + Seth Thompson " 18 Aug. 1808 Present + *John Cooper Surg Mate 13 June 1808 " + Joseph Glass Sergeant 18 June 1806 " + *John Crozier " 2 July 1808 " + Richard Rickman " 10 May 1806 " + Thomas Forth Corporal 6 July 1807 " + *Asa Campbell " 26 Jan. 1810 " + *Rhodias Jones " 9 Dec. 1807 " + * Richard Garner " 2 Oct. 1810 " + George Burnet Fifer. 1 Oct. 1806 " + John Smith " 27 June 1806 " + *John Hamilton Drummer 5 July 1808 " + *Hugh McPherson " 20 Oct. 1807 " + *John Allen Private 27 Nov. 1810 " + George Adams " 21 Aug. 1806 " + Presley Andrews " 11 July 1806 " (sick.) + Thomas Ashbrook " 29 Dec. 1805 Term expired 29 Dec. 1810. + Thomas Burns " 18 June 1806 Present. + Patrick Burke " 27 May 1806 " (sick.) + Redmond Berry " 2 July 1806 " + William Best " 22 April 1806 Present unfit for service + James Chapman " 1 Dec. 1805 Time expired 1 Dec. 1810. + James Corbin " 2 Oct. 1810 Present. + Fielding Corbin " 7 Dec. 1805 Time expired 7 Dec. 1810. + Silas Clark " 15 Aug. 1806 On command at Ft. Wayne + James Clark " 4 Dec. 1805 Time expired 4 Dec. 1810. + *Dyson Dyer " 1 Oct. 1810 Present (sick). + Stephen Draper " 19 July 1806 " + *Daniel Dougherty " 13 Aug. 1807 " + Michael Denison " 28 April 1806 " + *Nathan Edson " 6 April 1810 " + *John Fury " 19 March 1808 " + "Paul Grummo " 1 Oct. 1810 " + *William N. Hunt " 18 Oct. 1810 " + John Kelsoe " 17 Dec. 1808 Time expired 17 Dec. 1810 + *David Kennison " 14 March 1808 Present. + *Sam'l Kirkpatrick " 20 Dec. 1810 Re-enlisted 20 Dec. 1810. + *Jacob Laudon " 28 Nov. 1807 Unfit for service. + *James Lutta " 10 April 1810 ......................... + *Michael Lynch " 20 Dec. 1810 Re-enlisted 20 Dec. 1810. + *Michael Leonard " 13 April 1810 Present. + Hugh Logan " 5 May 1806 " + *Frederick Locker " 13 April 1810 " + Andrew Loy " 6 July 1807 " + August Mott " 9 July 1806 " + Ralph Miller " 19 Dec. 1805 Term expired 19 Dec. 1810 + Peter Miller " 13 June 1806 Present, unfit for service. + *Duncan McCarty " 2 Aug. 1807 Present. + Patrick McGowan " 30 April 1806 " + James Mabury " 14 April 1806 " + William Moffit " 23 April 1806 " + John Moyan " 28 June 1806 " + *John Neads " 5 July 1808 " + *Joseph Noles " 8 Sept 1810 " + *Thomas Poindexter " 3 Sept. 1810 " + William Pickett " 6 June 1806 " + *Frederick Peterson " 1 June 1808 " + *David Sherror " 1 Oct. 1810 " + *John Suttonfield " 8 Sept. 1807 " + *John Smith " 2 April 1808 " + *James Starr " 18 Nov. 1809 " + Phillip Smith " 30 April 1806 " + *John Simmons " 14 March 1810 " + *James Van Home " 2 May 1810 " (sick). + Anthony L. Waggoner " 9 Jan. 1806 " (sick). + +* Men who are likely to have been in service at the time of the +massacre. + + + + +APPENDIX C. + +THE WHISTLER FAMILY. + + +[Illustration: WILD ONION.] + +ACCORDING to Gardner's Military Dictionary, Captain John +Whistler was born in Ireland. He was originally a British soldier, and +was made prisoner with General Burgoyne at the battle of Saratoga, +in 1777, where our General Henry Dearborn was serving as Major. +The captives were conducted to Boston, where, by the terms of the +capitulation, they should have been paroled; but for some reason (which +the English, by considered no sufficient excuse for not complying with +the military agreement) the Continental Congress held them as prisoners +of war until the peace of 1783. + +John Whistler did not return to England, but joined the American army +and became first sergeant, and then won his way to a captaincy in the +First Infantry, in which capacity he came, in 1804, and built the first +Fort Dearborn. He was brevetted major in 1812, and served with his +company until it was disbanded after the close of the war (June, 1815). +He died in 1827 at Bellefontaine, Missouri, where he had been military +storekeeper for several years. John Wentworth (Fort Dearborn; Fergus' +Historical Series, No. 16, p. 14) says: + + Some writers contend that had Captain Whistler been in charge of the + fort instead of Captain Heald, the massacre would not have taken + place. Captain Heald has had no one to speak for him here. But he was + appointed from Massachusetts a second lieutenant in 1799, and could + not be supposed to have that acquaintance with the characteristics of + the Indians which Whistler had, who had been in his country's service + ever since Burgoyne's surrender in 1777, and principally against the + Indians, and frequently participating in the campaigns of General + Arthur St. Clair, in one of which he was wounded. + +Of him Captain Andreas says (Hist. Chi. Vol. I, p. 80): + + After the war he married and settled in Hagerstown, Md., where his + son William was born. He enlisted in the American army and took + part in the Northwestern Indian War, serving under St. Clair and + afterward under Wayne. He was speedily promoted, rising through the + lower grades to a lieutenancy in 1792, and became a captain in 1794. + He rebuilt the fort in 1815[AN] [after the destruction and massacre + in 1812] and removed to St. Charles, Mo., in 1817. In 1818 he was + military storekeeper at St. Louis, and died at Bellefontaine. Mo., in + 1827. He was a brave and efficient officer, and became the progenitor + of a line of brave and efficient soldiers. + +[AN] Apparently an error. The second fort was built by Captain Hezekiah +Bradley, who was sent here for that purpose with two companies of +infantry, arriving July 4, 1816. + +His son, George Washington Whistler, was with Captain John when the +family came to Chicago, being then three years old. This is the Major +Whistler who became a distinguished engineer in the service of Russia. +Another son. Lieutenant William Whistler, with his young wife (Julia +Ferson) came to Chicago with Captain Whistler. He will be mentioned +later as one of the last commandants of Fort Dearborn, holding that +post until 1833. He lived until 1863. + +Julia Ferson, who became Mrs. William Whistler, was born in Salem, +Mass., 1787. Her parents were John and Mary (La Dake) Ferson. In +childhood she removed with her parents to Detroit, where she received +most of her education. In May, 1802, she was married to William +Whistler (born in Hagerstown Md., about 1784), a second lieutenant +in the company of his father. Captain John Whistler, U. S. A., then +stationed at Detroit. (Fergus' Historical Series No. 16.) She visited +Chicago in 1875, when, at eighty-seven, her mind and memory were +of the brightest, and conversation with her on old matters was a +rare pleasure. Mrs. General Philip Sheridan is her grand niece, and +cherishes her relationship as a patent to high rank in our Chicago +nobility. No portrait of John Whistler is known to exist. For +likenesses of Major and Mrs. William Whistler see pages 58 and 59. + +[Illustration: MRS GWENTHLEAN [WHISTLER] KINZIE (1891).] + +A daughter of William and this charming old lady was born in 1818, and +named Gwenthlean. She was married at Fort Dearborn, in 1834, to Robert +A. Kinzie, second son of John Kinzie, the pioneer. Mrs. Gwenthlean +Kinzie is now living in Chicago, and has been consulted in the +preparation of this narrative.[AO] + +[AO] On mentioning to Judge Caton that Mrs Robert Kinzie was again +living here following a long absence, the venerable Chief-Justice, +after a moment's thought, sad: "Yes, I remember the marriage, and that +the bride was one of the most beautiful women you can imagine. I have +never seen her since that time. Ladies were not plentiful in this part +of the world then, and we were not over particular about looks, but +Gwenthlean Whistler Kinzie would be noted for her beauty anywhere at +anytime." And on looking at the lady herself, one can well believe all +that can be said in praise of her charms in her girlish years--sixteen +when she was married. + +Mr. Hurlbut (Chicago Antiquities, p. 83) gives the following spirited +account of a visit made in 1875 to Mrs. Julia (Ferson) Whistler, wife +of William and daughter-in-law of old John, the whilom soldier in +the army of General Burgoyne. (It will be observed that Mr. Hurlbut +slightly mistook his war record). + + Very few of the four hundred thousand reasonably adult individuals + now residing in Chicago are aware that the person of whom we + are going to speak is now a visitor in Chicago. After so long a + period--since early in the century; before those of our citizens + who have reached their "three-score years and ten" were born, when + she came, a trustful wife of sixteen, and stepped a shore upon + the river-bank--it is not a little remarkable that she is to-day + again passing over and around the locality of her early home. Under + the gentle supervision of this married maiden's blue eyes our + stockade-fortress, then so far within the wilderness, was erected. + Yet, of all those who came in that summer of 1803; the sailor-men + of that vessel, the oarsmen of that boat, the company of United + States soldiers, Captain and Mrs. Whistler and their son, the + husband and his bride of a year; all, we may safely say, have bid + adieu to earth excepting this lone representative. These are some + of the circumstances which contribute to make this lady a personage + of unusual interest to the dwellers here. A few particulars in the + life of Mrs. Whistler, together with some of the facts attending + the coming of those who arrived to assist in the building of Fort + Dearborn, will certainly be acceptable. + + It was a coveted pilgrimage which we sought, as any one might + believe, for it was during the tremendous rain-storm of the evening + of the 29th of October, 1875, that we sallied out to call at Mrs. + Colonel R. A. Kinzie's, for an introduction to the lady's mother, + Mrs. Whistler. When we entered the parlor, the venerable woman was + engaged at the center table, in some game of amusement with her + grand-children and great grand-children, seemingly as much interested + as any of the juveniles. (We will remark here that five generations + in succession of this family have lived in Chicago.) She claimed + to enjoy good health, and was, apparently, an unusual specimen of + well preserved faculties, both intellectual and physical. She is + of tall form, and her appearance still indicates the truth of the + common report, that in her earlier years she was a person of uncommon + elegance. A marked trait of hers has been a spirit of unyielding + energy and determination, and which length of years has not yet + subdued. Her tenacious memory ministers to a voluble tongue, and we + may say, briefly, she is an agreeable, intelligent, and sprightly + lady, numbering only a little over 88 years. "To-day," said she, + "I received my first pension on account of my husband's services." + Mrs. Whistler resides in Newport, Kentucky. She has one son and + several grandsons in the army. Born in Salem, Mass., July 3rd, 1787, + her maiden name was Julia Ferson, and her parents were John and + Mary (LaDake) Ferson. In childhood she removed with her parents to + Detroit, where she received most of her education. In the month of + May, 1802, she was married to William Whistler (born in Hagerstown, + Md., about 1784), a second lieutenant in the company of his father, + Captain John Whistler, U. S. A., then stationed at Detroit. In the + summer of the ensuing year, Captain Whistler's company was ordered + to Chicago, to occupy the post and build the fort. Lieutenant James + S. Swearingen (late Col. Swearingen of Chillicothe, O.) conducted + the company from Detroit overland. The U. S. Steamer "Tracy," Dorr + master, was despatched at same time for same destination, with + supplies, and having also on board Captain John Whistler, Mrs. + Whistler, their son George W., then three years old [afterwards the + distinguished engineer in the employ of the Russian government] + Lieutenant William Whistler, and the young wife of the last named + gentleman. The schooner stopped briefly on her route at the St. + Joseph's river, where the Whistlers left the vessel and took a + row-boat to Chicago. The schooner, on arriving at Chicago, anchored + half a mile from the shore, discharging her freight by boats. Some + two thousand Indians visited the locality while the vessel was here, + being attracted by so unusual an occurrence as the appearance, in + these waters, of a "big canoe with wings." Lieutenant Swearingen + returned with the "Tracy" to Detroit. + + There were then here, says Mrs W., but four rude huts or traders' + cabins, occupied by white men, Canadian French with Indian wives; of + these were Le Mai, Pettell and Ouilmette. No fort existed here at + that time, although it is understood (see treaty of Greenville) that + there had been one at a former day, built by the French, doubtless, + as it was upon one of the main routes from New France to Louisiana, + of which extensive region that government long held possession by + a series of military posts. [It is said that Durantaye, a French + official, built some sort of a fortification here as early as 1685.] + + Captain Whistler, upon his arrival, at once set about erecting a + stockade and shelter for their protection, followed by getting + out the sticks for the heavier work. It is worth mentioning here + that there was not at that time within hundreds of miles a team of + horses or oxen, and, as a consequence, the soldiers had to don the + harness, and with the aid of ropes drag home the needed timbers. + The birth of two children within the fort we have referred to + elsewhere. Lieutenant Whistler, after a five years' sojourn here, + was transferred to Fort Wayne, having previously been made a first + lieutenant. He distinguished himself at the battle of Maguago, Mich., + August 9th, 1812; was in Detroit at the time of Hull's surrender, + and, with Mrs. Whistler, was taken prisoner to Montreal; was + promoted to a Captain in December, 1812, to Major in 1826, and to + Lieutenant-Colonel in 1845. At his death he had rendered sixty-two + years continuous service in the army, yet Mrs. W. says she remembers + but six short furloughs during the whole time. He was stationed at + various posts, besides those of Green Bay, Niagara, and Sackett's + Harbor; at the last named post General Grant (then a subaltern + officer) belonged to the command of Colonel W. In June, 1832, Colonel + Whistler arrived again at Fort Dearborn, not the work which he had + assisted to build twenty-eight years before, for that was burned in + 1812, but the later one, erected in 1816-17. He then remained here + but a brief period. + + Colonel William Whistler's height at maturity was six feet two + inches, and his weight at one time was 250 pounds. He died in + Newport, Kentucky, December 4th, 1863. + + Captain John Whistler, the builder and commandant of the first + Fort Dearborn (afterwards Major W.) was an officer in the army of + the Revolution. We regret that we have so few facts concerning his + history; nor have we a portrait or signature of the patriot. It is + believed that when ordered to Chicago he belonged to a regiment of + artillery. He continued in command at Fort Dearborn until the fore + part of 1811, we think, for we notice that his successor. Captain + Heald, gave to the Pottowatomie chief "Little Chief" a pass to St. + Louis, dated July 11, 1811. Mrs. Whistler expressed to us her opinion + that had Captain W. been continued in command, the Chicago massacre + would not have happened. Major John Whistler died at Bellefontaine. + Mo., in 1827. + + Colonel James Swearingen was a second lieutenant in 1803, when + he conducted the company of Captain Whistler from Detroit across + Michigan to Chicago. The regiment of artillery, with which he was + connected, is understood to have been the only corps of that branch + of defence. Lieutenant Swearingen continued in the service until + about 1816, attaining the rank of colonel, when he resigned his + commission and made his residence in Chillicothe, O., where he died + on his eighty-second birthday, in February, 1864. + +Mrs. Julia (Ferson) Whistler died at Newport, Ky., in 1878, at the ripe +age of ninety years. + +James McNeil Whistler, the eccentric and distinguished London artist, +is descended from old John, the Burgoyne British soldier, through +George Washington Whistler, the great American engineer in the Russian +service. + +It is interesting to observe that both our old leading families, the +Whistlers and the Kinzies, have furnished successive generations of +soldiers to their country. The heroic death of John Harris Kinzie, +second, will be noted in the Appendix D, which is devoted to the Kinzie +family. Of the Whistlers, some of the name have been constantly in the +military service, and when the two families joined by the marriage of +Robert Kinzie and Gwenthlean Whistler the racial tendency continued. + +General Garland Whistler, son of Colonel William Whistler, was a +graduate of West Point, and a soldier in the war for the Union. He +is now on the retired list. His son. Major Garland Whistler, also a +graduate, was in the late war and is still in the service. Major David +Hunter Kinzie, son of Robert (uniting the two families), left West +Point for active service in the Union war. He is now at the Presidio, +California. Captain John Kinzie, another son of Robert, is stationed at +Omaha. + + + + +APPENDIX D. + +THE KINZIE FAMILY. + + +[Illustration] + +BEGINNING at a point even further back in the dim past than the +building of Pointe de Saible's cabin, we take up the narrative of +the lives of its latest owners, John Kinzie was born in Quebec about +1763, son of John McKenzie, or McKinzie, a Scotchman, who married Mrs. +Haliburton, a widow, with one daughter,[AP] and died when his son +John was very young. Mrs. McKenzie made a third marriage, with one +William Forsyth, who had served under General Wolfe in the taking of +Quebec. William Forsyth, with wife, children and step-children, lived +many years in New York, and later in Detroit. While they lived in New +York, John McKinzie, afterward John Kinzie, was sent, with two Forsyth +half-brothers, to school in Williamsburgh, just across the East river; +a negro servant, or slave, going every Saturday night to bring the +three boys home. One Saturday there was no Johnnie to be found--the +embryo frontiers-man had runaway. He got on board a sloop bound for +Albany and fell in with some one who helped him on to Quebec, where he +found employment in the shop of a silver-smith; and there he remained +three years and learned the trade which later gave him the Indian +name, "Shaw-nee-aw-kee"--silver-smith. + +[AP] This daughter, half-sister of John Kinzie, is said in Wau-Bun to +have possessed beauty and accomplishments, and to have lived to become +the mother of General Fleming and Nicholas Low, both very well known in +New York and Brooklyn. + +We next find him in Detroit, with his mother and step-father, who +had moved thither with their Forsyth children.[AQ] Robert Forsyth, a +grandson of William, was well known in Chicago in the decade before the +Union War. He was an officer of the Illinois Central Railway, and his +tall, handsome figure, his bluff, hearty manners and his unquestionable +ability', made him a general favorite. + +[AQ] William Forsyth kept a hotel in Detroit for many years and died +there in 1790 Robert, one of his sons, was in the service of the +American government during the war of 1812. Thomas, who became Major +Thomas Forsyth, U. S. A., was born in Detroit, December 5, 1771. Before +the war of 1812, he was Indian Agent among the Pottowatomies at Peoria +Lake. After the war of 1812 he was sent as U. S. Indian Agent among +the Sauks and Foxes, with whom he remained many years. He died at St. +Louis, October 29, 1833. Colonel Robert Forsyth, an early resident of +Chicago, was the son of Major Thomas Forsyth; George, another son of +William Forsyth, was lost in the woods near Detroit, August 6, 1778. +(Andreas' Hist. Chic.) Mrs. Kinzie quotes from the record in an old +family Bible, as follows: "George Forsyth was lost in the woods 6th +August, 1778, when Henry Hays and Mark Stirling ran away and left +him. The remains of George Forsyth we're found by an Indian the 2d of +October, 1776 close by the Prairie Ronde." Family tradition gives some +particulars of the disaster, adding the touching fact that after its +fourteen months' exposure there was nothing to identify the body but +the auburn curls and the little boots. + +While at Detroit, John Kinzie began his long career as Indian-trader, +beginning with the Shawnees and Ottawas in the Ohio country. In this +way he made the acquaintance of two Indian girls, who, when young, +had been captured on the Kanawha River and taken to Chillicothe, the +headquarters of the tribe. Their names were Margaret and Elizabeth +McKenzie, and their story is thus romantically told by Rufus Blanchard +in his admirable "Discovery of the Northwest and History of Chicago." +(R. Blanchard & Co., Wheaton, Ill. 1881.) + + Among the venturesome pioneers of Virginia was a backwoods-man + named McKenzie. He, with a number of his comrades, settled at the + mouth of Wolf's creek, where it empties into the Kanawha. During + Dunmore's War on the frontier [about 1773] the Shawanese, in one of + their border forays, came suddenly upon the home of McKenzie, killed + his wife and led two of his children into captivity. The names of + the young captives were Margaret, ten years old, and Elizabeth; + eight years old. They were taken to Chillicothe, the great Indian + Town of the Shawanese, where they were adopted into the family of + a high-bred Indian chief and raised under the tender care of his + obedient squaw, according to custom. Ten years later Margaret was + allowed to accompany her foster-father on a hunting-excursion to + the St. Mary's River, near Fort Wayne. A young chief of the same + tribe became enamored by the graces and accomplishments of the + young captive, but Margaret recoiled from her swarthy lover and + determined not to yield her heart to one who had no higher destiny + for her than to ornament his leggings with porcupine quills--one of + the highest accomplishments of which a squaw is capable. Margaret's + lover approached the camp where she was sleeping, intending to force + her to become his wife. According to the Indian custom, a din of + yells and rattle of a drum announced the intentions of the would-be + bridegroom to the terrified victim. The heroine fled to the forest + for protection. + +[Illustration: JOHN K. CLARK.] + + Fortunately her dog followed her as she fled down the bank of the + St. Mary's River, to the stockade, half a mile distant, where + the horses were kept. The footsteps of her detestable lover were + close behind. She turned and set her dog at him, and reached the + stockade, unhitched a horse, leaped upon his back and took her flight + through the wilderness, seventy-five miles, to her Indian home at + Chillicothe. The horse died the next day after he had performed so + wonderful a feat without rest or sustenance. This heroic girl and + her sister, Elizabeth, became afterward mothers of some of the first + pioneers of Chicago. + + After the adventures of Margaret, as just told, she, with her sister, + Elizabeth, were taken to Detroit by their foster-father, and there + they became acquainted with John Kinzie--and they were married. + Elizabeth at the same time met a Scotchman named Clark and married + him. The two young couples lived in Detroit about five years, during + which time Margaret (Kinzie) had three children, William, James and + Elizabeth; and Elizabeth (Clark) had two, John K. and Elizabeth. + + The treaty of Greenville, 1795, having restored peace on the border, + Mr. Isaac McKenzie, the father, received tidings of his children, + and went to Detroit to see them. The two young mothers, with their + children, returned with their father to their old home, to which + arrangement both of their husbands consented. A final separation was + not intended, but time and distance divorced them forever. Mr. Kinzie + afterwards moved to St. Joseph's, where he married a Mrs. McKillip, + the widow of a British officer. Margaret married Mr. Benjamin Hall, + of Virginia, and Elizabeth married Mr. Jonas Clybourn of the same + place. David, the oldest son of Benjamin Hall and Margaret, made a + journey to Chicago in 1822, and he remained there three years. On + his return to Virginia his flattering account of the place induced + a number of persons to emigrate thither. The first of these was + Archibald Clybourn, the eldest son of Elizabeth, who remained a + permanent resident and an esteemed citizen, well known to thousands + of the present inhabitants of Chicago. His mother was Elizabeth the + captive, who, with her second husband, Mr. Clybourn, soon afterwards + came to Chicago. Mr. Benjamin Hall was another of the Chicago + pioneers who emigrated to Chicago in consequence of David Hall's + commendations of its future promise. Margaret, the captive, was his + aunt, and to him the writer is indebted for the detail of Margaret's + and Elizabeth's history. Mr. Hall is now a resident of Wheaton. He + came to Chicago in 1830 and was the proprietor of the first tannery + ever established there. + +[Illustration: ARCHIBALD CLYBOURN.] + +[Illustration: James Kinzie (signature)] + + Elizabeth Kinzie, daughter of John Kinzie, became the wife of Samuel + Miller, of a respectable Quaker family in Ohio. She was highly + respected by all who knew her. Her husband kept the Miller House, at + the forks of the Chicago River. James Kinzie came to Chicago about + 1824, and was well received by his father. [James is mentioned by Mr. + Kinzie in a letter written in 1821, given later in this article]. + +This is the romantic story taken by Mr. Blanchard from the lips of +the nephew of one of the captive girls, and given in his valuable +history. Some of the circumstances stated as fact may be questionable, +especially the "marriage" of the girls to Mr. Kinzie and Mr. Clark. +Their summary removal by their father, and their marriage to other +men, considered with the marriage of Mr. Kinzie and Mr. Clark to other +women, seems to cast doubt upon the occurrence of any ceremonies, civil +or religious. Those relations were lightly held at that time and place. +There is doubtless a "bend sinister" somewhere, but it seems unlikely +that James Kinzie and Elizabeth and Samuel Miller would have left the +legitimacy of the more distinguished branch of the family unassailed if +it had been assailable. (It is said that Mrs. Miller did chafe under +the scandal.) + +[Illustration: Samuel Miller (signature)] + +In 1800 John Kinzie married Eleanor (Lytle) McKillip, widow of a +British officer, who had one daughter, Margaret, afterward Mrs. +Lieutenant Helm. In the same year he moved to the St. Joseph's River, +which empties into Lake Michigan on its eastern side, nearly opposite +Chicago, and there set up his trading-house. His son, John Harris +Kinzie, was born at Sandwich, opposite Detroit, where his mother +chanced to be spending a day when he made his unexpected appearance. + +In 1803 John Kinzie visited Chicago, having probably learned of the +approaching establishment of Fort Dearborn, and bought the Le Mai +house, built by Jean Baptiste Pointe de Saible, some twenty-five +years before. He moved into it with his family in the following year. +From that time to his death, in 1828, he is the most conspicuous and +unique figure in Chicago history, and fairly deserves the name of the +father of the city. His branch trading-posts existed in Milwaukee, at +Rock River, on the Illinois and Kankakee Rivers, and in the Sangamon +country. To quote again Andreas (Hist. Chic. Vol. I, P. 73): + + This extended Indian trade made the employment of a large number of + men at headquarters a necessity, and the Canadian voyageurs in the + service of Mr. Kinzie were about the only white men who had occasion + to visit Chicago during those early years. He was sutler for the + garrison at the fort in addition to his Indian trade, and also kept + up his manufacture of the ornaments in which the Indians delighted. + During the first residence of Mr. and Mrs. John Kinzie in Chicago, + three children were born to them--Ellen Marion in December, 1805; + Maria Indiana in 1807, and Robert Allen, February 8, 1810. Margaret + McKillip, Mr. Kinzie's step-daughter, who married Lieutenant Linai T. + Helm of Fort Dearborn, and also Robert Forsyth, nephew of Mr. Kinzie, + were at times members of his family, the latter being the first + teacher of John H. Kinzie. + +Henry H. Hurlbut in his delightful "Chicago Antiquities,"[AR] says: + + By what we learn from a search in the county records at Detroit, + John Kinzie seems to have been doing business there in the years + 1795-97 and '98. In May, 1795, some portion of the Ottawa tribe of + Indians conveyed lands on the Maumee to John Kinzie, silver-smith, of + Detroit; also in the same year to John Kinzie, merchant, of Detroit. + It appears, also, from the same records, that in September, 1810, + John Kinzie and John Whistler Jr. were lately copartners in trade at + Fort Dearborn, and in the same year John Kinzie and Thomas Forsyth + were merchants in Chicago. We are told by Robert A. Kinzie that his + father was sutler at Fort Dearborn when he came to Chicago in 1804; + possibly Mr. Whistler Jr. was his partner in that enterprise. In + October, 1815, John Kinzie and Thomas Forsyth were copartners in + trade in the District of Detroit, Territory of Michigan. In March, + 1816, appear on the records the names of John Kinzie, silver-smith, + and Elenor, his wife, of Detroit. By these items it seems that though + Mr. Kinzie took up his residence in Chicago in 1804 [the first entry + here upon his books bore date May 12, 1804] and that he left here + after the battle of August, 1812, returning in 1816, yet he was + still identified with Detroit, certainly until the summer of 1816. + We notice that he was a witness at the treaty of Spring Wells, near + Detroit, in September, 1815. He was one of the interpreters. + +[AR] A book full of bits of old-time gossip, traditions and skeptical +notes on other traditions, controversial criticism on Wau-Bun and +other books, and good-humored raillery, aimed at persons and things of +the early day. Only five hundred copies were printed, and the book is +becoming scarce, but some copies remain for sale in the family of its +author, 27 Winthrop Place, Chicago. + +Wau-Bun gives a long and romantic biography of John Kinzie and his +progenitors; such a sketch as would naturally (and properly) be made +by a daughter-in-law, writing during the lifetime of many of the +persons directly interested in the facts related, but omitting things +which would shock the sensibilities of those persons, and mar the +literary symmetry of the picture set forth in her pages. She does not +allude to the Margaret McKenzie episode, never mentions James Kinzie, +well-known Chicagoan as he was, and also ignores another matter which +the integrity of history requires to be stated, and which the lapse +of almost three generations should disarm of the sting which might +attach to it at the time of Wau-Bun. This matter is the killing, in +self-defense, of John Lalime, by John Kinzie. (See Appendix F.) + +[Illustration: MRS. JULIETTE KINZIE (1856). + +Author of "Wau-Bun."] + +After the massacre and the subsequent events so romantically described +in Wau-Bun, Mr. Kinzie returned, probably in the autumn of 1816, to +Chicago, where he reoccupied the historic house. To sit on his front +porch and watch the building of a new fort in the old spot must have +been a mingling of pleasure and pain. All that had passed since the +original incoming of twelve years before must have seemed like a dream. +The lake to the eastward, the river in front, the prairie beyond and +the oak woods behind him were all as of old; but here around him were +the children born and reared in the intervening years; here were new +soldiers to take the place of the little band sacrificed four years +ago. There, scattered over the sand-hills, were the bleaching bones of +the martyred dead, and within dwelt an enduring memory of the horrors +of their killing. + +[Illustration: JOHN HARRIS KINZIE (1827). + +From a miniature in possession of the Kinzie family.] + +And where were the savings of a lifetime of industry, courage and +enterprise? Gone beyond recall. He made heroic efforts to redeem +something from the wreck, traveling in Indian fashion and in Indian +dress from one to another of the places where he had had branch +trading-posts, and where debts were due to him. But it takes only a +slight knowledge of affairs in a new country to see clearly that after +war has disturbed and ravaged a district, and four years of absence +have wasted the goods and scattered the debtors, every dollar saved +would have cost in the saving two dollars' worth of work and sacrifice +of strength and time. That his salvage was small and his later days +quite devoid of the ease and comfort which his hard-won early success +should have guaranteed him, we have the testimony of a letter written +by him August 19, 1821, to his son John H., after he had placed the +latter with the American (Astor's) Fur Company at Mackinaw: + + Dear Son--I received your letter by the schooner. Nothing gives me + more satisfaction than to hear from you and of you. It does give + both myself and your mother a pleasure to hear how your conduct is + talked of by every one that hopes you every advantage. Let this + rather stimulate you to continue the worthy man, for a good name is + better than wealth, and we cannot be too circumspect in our line of + conduct. Mr. Crooks speaks highly of you and try to continue to be + the favorite of such worthy men as Mr. Crooks, Mr. Stewart and other + gentlemen of the firm. Your mother and all of the family are well and + send their love to you. James[AS] is here, and I am pleased that his + returns are such as to satisfy the firm. + +[AS] John's half-brother, son of the captive girl, Margaret McKenzie. + + I have been reduced in wages, owing to the economy of the government. + My interpreter's salary is no more and I have but $100 to subsist + on. It does work me hard sometimes to provide for your brothers and + sisters on this and maintain my family in a decent manner. I will + have to take new measures. I hate to change houses, but I have been + requested to wait Conant's arrival. We are all mighty busy, as the + treaty commences to-morrow and we have hordes of Indians around us + already. My best respects to Mr. Crooks and Stewart and all the + gentlemen of your house. + + Adieu. I am your loving father, + +[Illustration: John Kinzie (signature)] + +This is said to be the only letter of John Kinzie's that is known to +exist. (A large and invaluable collection of papers were given in 1877 +to the Historical Society by John H. Kinzie, and perished with the +society building in the great fire of 1871). No portrait of John Kinzie +has ever been found. + +He assisted in negotiating the treaty of 1821, before mentioned; +addressing the Indians to reconcile them to it, and signing it as a +sub-agent, which post he filled under his son-in-law, Dr. Alexander +Wolcott, Indian agent. In 1825 he was appointed Justice of the Peace, +for Peoria county. + +Captain Andreas remarks on John Kinzie's standing with the Indians as +follows: + + The esteem in which Mr. Kinzie was held by the Indians is shown by + the treaty made with the Pottowatomies September 20, 1828, by one + provision of which they gave to Eleanor Kinzie and her four children + by the late John Kinzie $3,500 in consideration of the attachment of + the Indians to her deceased husband, who was long an Indian trader + and who lost a large sum in the trade, by the credits given them and + also by the destruction of his property. The money is in lieu of a + tract of land which the Indians gave the late John Kinzie long since, + and upon which he lived. + +There is no doubt that the Indians had a warm feeling for the Kinzies. +At the same time it seems probable that the treaty in question, like +all other treaties, was carefully arranged by the whites and merely +submitted to the Indians for ratification. The Indians did not give any +money, all payments came from the United States, and were made to such +persons (other than Indians) as the commissioners thought best to care +for. As to the land given by the Indians to Mr. Kinzie and on which he +lived, where was it? The Indians had parted with the Chicago tract, six +miles square, nine years before Mr. Kinzie arrived at Fort Dearborn. It +is true that in May, 1795, the Ottawas (not the Pottowatomies) conveyed +land in Ohio to John Kinzie and Thomas Forsyth; but he certainly never +lived on it. He also lived at Parc-aux-vaches, on the St. Joseph's +river, from 1800 to 1804. It is possible, though not probable, that the +Indians made him a grant there. + +[Illustration: JOHN HARRIS KINZIE IN LATER LIFE.] + +Everyone who visited the hospitable "Kinzie mansion" was glad to do so +again. Let us follow the good example. + +The structure, as put up by Pointe de Saible, and passed through the +hands of Le Mai to John Kinzie, was a cabin of roughly squared logs. +In Kinzie's time it was beautified, enlarged, improved and surrounded +by out-houses, trees, fences, grass plats, piazza and garden. "The +latch string hung outside the door,"[AT] and all were free to pull it +and enter. Friend or stranger, red-man or white could come and go, eat +and drink, sleep and wake, listen and talk as well. A tale is told of +two travelers who mistook the house for an inn, gave orders, asked +questions, praised and blamed, as one does who says to himself, "Shall +I not take mine ease in mine inn?" and who were keenly mortified +when they came to pay their scot and found that there was none to +pay. In front (as the picture shows) were four fine poplars; in the +rear, two great cotton-woods. The remains of one of these last named +were visible at a very late period. (Who knows just how lately?) In +the out-buildings were accommodated dairy, baking-ovens, stables and +rooms for "the Frenchmen," the Canadian engages who were then the +chief subordinates in fur-trading, and whose descendants are now +well-known citizens, their names perpetuating their ancestry--Beaubien, +Laframboise, Porthier, Mirandeau, etc. + +[AT] This odd expression of welcome came from the old style of +door-fastening; a latch within lifted by the hand or by a string which +was poked through a gimlet hole, so that it could be pulled from the +outside. To lock the door the household simply pulled in the string and +kept it inside. + +Captain Andreas says: + + The Kinzie house was no gloomy home. Up to the very time of their + forced removal, the children danced to the sound of their father's + violin and the long hours of frontier life were made merry with sport + and play. Later the primitive court of Justice Kinzie must have been + held in the "spare room"--if spare room there was. + +[Illustration: ROBERT ALLEN KINZIE.] + +Hurlbut, in his "Chicago Antiquities," says: + + The last distinguished guest from abroad whom the Kinzies entertained + at the old house was Governor Cass; in the summer of 1827. This was + during the Winnebago Indian excitement. Gurdon Hubbard says: "While + at breakfast at Mr. Kinzie's house we heard singing, faint at first + but gradually growing louder as the singer approached. Mr. Kinzie + recognized the leading voice as that of Bob Forsyth, and left the + table for the piazza of the house, where we all followed. About where + Wells Street crosses, in plain sight from where we stood, was a light + birch bark canoe, manned with thirteen men, rapidly approaching, the + men keeping time with the paddles to one of the Canadian boat-songs; + it proved to be Governor Cass and his secretary, Robert Forsyth, and + they landed and soon joined in." + +The visit of Governor Cass was just before the "Winnebago scare" of +1827. He it was that informed the lonely, unarmed and defenceless +post of Fort Dearborn of the Winnebago uprising. Gurdon Hubbard at +once proposed to ride down the "Hubbard Trail" for help. The others +objected for fear they might be attacked before his return; but it +was finally decided that he should go, and go he did. At Danville he +raised, within about a day, fifty volunteers, armed and mounted, and +started for Fort Dearborn. They reached the Vermilion, then at flood +and running "bank-full" and very rapidly. The horses on being driven +in would turn and come back to shore. Hubbard, provoked at the delay, +threw off his coat, crying: "Give me old Charley!" Mounting the horse +he boldly dashed into the stream, and the other horses crowded after +him. "The water was so swift that Old Charley became unmanageable; but +Hubbard dismounted on the upper side, seized the horse by the mane, +and, swimming with his left hand, guided the horse in the direction of +the opposite shore. We were afraid he would be washed under, or struck +by his feet and drowned, but he got over."[AU] + +[AU] See "the Winnebago Scare" by Hiram W. Beckwith, of Danville. +Fergus' Historical Series No. 10. + +[Illustration: KINZIE MANSION AS GIVEN IN WAU-BUN.] + +The brave rescuers arrived and stayed, petted and feasted by the +Chicagoans of that day, until a runner came in from Green Bay, bringing +word that Governor Cass had made peace with the Indians. + +According to Mr. Hurlbut, as the old master neared his end the old +homestead also went to decay. The very logs must have been in a +perishing condition after fifty years of service, and the lake sand, +driven by the lake breezes, piled itself up against the north and east +sides. Then, too, the standard of comfort had changed. Son-in-law +Wolcott had rooms in the brick building of the unoccupied fort. Colonel +Beaubien had a frame house close to the fort's south wall (now Michigan +Avenue and River Streets), and thither the Kinzies moved. What more +natural than that the ancient tree, as it tottered to its fall, should +lean over toward the young saplings that had sprung up at its foot? It +is the way of the world. + +[Illustration: GURDON SALTONSTALL HUBBARD, IN MIDDLE LIFE.] + +It was in 1827 that Mr. Kinzie, and whatever then formed his household, +quitted the historical log house for the last time. In 1829, it was +(says Andreas) used for a while by Anson N. Taylor as a store. In +March, 1831, Mr. Bailey lived in it and probably made it the post +office, its first location in Chicago, as he was the first postmaster. +The mail was then brought from Detroit on horseback, about twice a +month. + +Captain Andreas says: + + After 1831 and 1832, when Mark Noble occupied it with his family, + there is no record of its being inhabited. Its decaying logs were + used by the Indians and immigrants for fuel, and the drifting sands + of Lake Michigan was fast piled over its remains. No one knows when + it finally disappeared, but with the growth of the new town, this + relic of the early day of Chicago passed from sight to be numbered + among the things that were. + +Mrs. Robert Kinzie says now (1893) that she is sure that the house was +standing when she was married in the fort, in 1834, and she thinks long +afterward She scouts the idea that those solid logs were used by the +Indians or immigrants for fuel. + +The following account of Mr. Kinzie's death was learned from Mr. Gurdon +S. Hubbard: "He remained in full vigor of health in both body and +mind, till he had a slight attack of apoplexy, after which his health +continued to decline until his death, which took place in a few months, +at the residence of his son-in-law. Dr. Wolcott, who then lived in the +brick building, formerly used as the officers' quarters in the fort. +Here, while on a brief visit to Mrs. Wolcott (Ellen Marion Kinzie), he +was suddenly attacked with apoplexy. Mr. Hubbard, then living in Mr. +Kinzie's family, was sent for, and on coming into the presence of the +dying man he found him in convulsions on the floor, in the parlor, his +head supported by his daughter. Mr. Hubbard raised him to a sitting +position and thus supported him till he drew his last breath. The +funeral service took place in the fort and the last honors due to the +old pioneer were paid with impressive respect by the few inhabitants of +the place." + +Mr. Kinzie's remains were first buried in the fort burying ground +on the lake shore south of the old fort (about Michigan Avenue and +Washington Street) whence they were later removed to a plot west of the +present water-works (Chicago Avenue and Tower Place) and finally to +Graceland, where they now rest. + +Unfortunately there exists no portrait of John Kinzie. The portrait +of John H. Kinzie, taken from a miniature, and that of his wife, the +author of Wau-Bun, are kindly furnished by their daughter, Mrs. Nellie +Kinzie Gordon. There has also been copied an oil portrait of the last +named lady herself, painted by Healy in 1857, when she was about to +quit her native city for her home in Savannah, Georgia, which departure +was a loss still remembered and regretted by her many Chicago friends +and admirers; in other words by all of the Chicago of 1857 which +survives to 1893. + +[Illustration: MRS. NELLIE (KINZIE) GORDON.] + +A fourth portrait of this honored branch of the pioneer stock is +that of the son, John H. Kinzie, Jr., who died for his country in a +manner which must endear his memory to every Union loving patriot. The +following touching sketch of his life and death is contributed by a +near relative of the brave young martyr. + +John Harris Kinzie, Jr., was born in 1838. He was educated as a civil +engineer at the Polytechnic Institute of Ann Arbor, Mich. He served in +the navy during the war and met his tragic fate in 1862, while master's +mate on the gun-boat Mound City, commanded by Admiral Davis. + +While attacking a fort on the White River, a shot from the fort's +battery penetrated the boiler of the Mound City. In the terrific +explosion that followed, young Kinzie and more than ninety others were +scalded and blown overboard. + +The hospital boat of the fleet immediately set out to rescue the +wounded men. As Kinzie struck out for the boat, his friend Augustus +Taylor, of Cairo, called out to him to keep out of the range of the +fort as the sharp-shooters were evidently picking off the wounded men +in the water. This proved to be true; young Kinzie was shot through the +legs and arras by minié balls as he was being lifted into the boat. + +[Illustration: JOHN HARRIS KINZIE, JR] + +He soon heard the shouts of his comrades; and turning to one of his +friends, he said: + +"We have taken the fort. I am ready to die now." + +He sank rapidly and died the following morning, June 18, just as the +sun was rising. He left a young wife barely eighteen years old, a +daughter of Judge James, of Racine, Wisconsin, and his own little +daughter was born three months after his death. + +It was necessary to put a guard over the person of Colonel Fry (who +was captured with the fort) to save him from being sacrificed to +the indignation the men felt against him for having ordered his +sharp-shooters to pick off the scalded men and shoot them in the water. + + + + +APPENDIX E. + +WILLIAM WELLS AND REBEKAH WELLS HEALD. + + +[Illustration] + +GRATITUDE to our first hero and martyr calls for a somewhat +extended study of his life, and it will be found interesting enough to +repay the attention. + +Colonel Samuel Wells and his brother Captain William Wells were +Kentuckians; the family being said to have come from Virginia. William, +when twelve years old, was stolen by the Indians from the residence of +Hon. Nathaniel Pope, where both brothers seem to have been living. He +was adopted by Me-che-kan-nah-quah, or little Turtle, a chief of the +Miamis, lived in his house and married his daughter Wa-nan-ga-peth, by +whom he had several children, of whom the following left children: + +Pe-me-zah-quah (Rebekah) married Captain Hackley, of Fort Wayne, +leaving Ann and John Hackley, her children. + +Ah-mah-qua-zah-quah (a "sweet breeze"--Mary) born at Fort Wayne May 10, +1800, married Judge James Wolcott March 8, 1821; died at Maumee City, +(now South Toledo,) O., Feb. 19, 1834, leaving children as follows: +William Wells Wolcott, Toledo; Mary Ann (Wolcott) Gilbert, South +Toledo; Henry Clay Wolcott, South Toledo, and James Madison Wolcott, +South Toledo. + +Jane (Wells) Grigg, living at Peru, Indiana; has children. + +Yelberton P. Wells, St. Louis, died leaving one child. + +William fought on the side of the Indians in the campaign of 1790 +and 1791, when they defeated the Americans under Generals Harmer and +Saint Clair. The story of his reclamation, as told by Rebekah (Wells) +Heald to her son Darius, and repeated by him to a stenographer, in my +presence, in 1892, is quite romantic. + +Rebekah was daughter of Samuel Wells, elder brother of William, and was +therefore niece of the latter. She must have been born between 1780 and +1790. We learn from the story of her son, the Hon. Darius Heald, as +follows: + + She was fond of telling the story of her life, and her children and + her friends were never tired of listening to it. [Her son thinks he + has heard her tell it a hundred times.] She would begin away back in + her girlhood, spent in the country about Louisville, Kentucky, when + her father. Colonel Samuel Wells, was living there; and tell how + they all wanted uncle William Wells, whom they called their "Indian + uncle," to leave the Indians who had stolen him in his boyhood, and + come home and belong to his white relations. He hung back for years, + and even at last, when he agreed to visit them, made the proviso that + he should be allowed to bring along an Indian escort with him, so + that he should not be compelled to stay with them if he did not want + to. + + Young Rebekah Wells was the one who had been chosen to go to the + Indian council with her father, and persuade her uncle William to + come and visit his old home; she, being a girl, very likely had more + influence with him than any of the men could have had. William Wells + was at that time living a wild Indian life, roaming up and down the + Wabash river, and between the lakes and the Ohio. Probably the place + where the battle of Tippicanoe was fought, in 1811, near the present + site of La Fayette, Indiana, was pretty near the center of his + regular stamping ground. + + After much hesitation he consented to get together a party of braves, + somewhere from seventy-five to a hundred, and visit his relatives. + Little Turtle, whose daughter he had married, was along, very likely + commanding the escort. They went down to the falls of the Ohio river, + about opposite Louisville, and camped, while William Wells, with a + picked band of twenty-five, crossed the river and met with his own + people. Then the question arose as to whether he was the brother of + Colonel Samuel Wells, and he asked to be taken to the place where + he was said to have been captured, to see if he could remember the + circumstances. When he reached there, he looked about and pointed + in a certain direction and asked if there was a pond there; and + they said: "Well, let's go and see." So they went in the direction + indicated, and to be sure they saw the pond; and he said that he + could remember that pond. Then he saw a younger brother present, whom + he had accidentally wounded in the head as a child, and he said to + his brother: + + "Now if you are my brother there ought to be a mark on the back of + your head, where I hit you with a stone one day;" and the brother + held up his head, and William lifted the hair and found the scar, and + he said: "Yes, I am your brother." + + William was now convinced for the first time that he was the brother + of Colonel Samuel Wells, but he went back with his Indian friends, + his father-in-law, Little Turtle, and the rest, and it was not until + sometime later that he told Little Turtle that, although he had + fought for his Indian friends all his life, the time had now come + when he was going home to fight for his own flesh and blood. It was + under a big tree on the banks of the Miami that he had this talk, and + he pointed to the sun and said: "Till the sun goes up in the middle + of the sky we are friends. After that you can kill me if you want + to." Still they always remained friends, and agreed that if in war, + if one could find out on which side of the army the other was put, + he would change positions so as not to be likely to meet the other + in battle; and if one recognized the other while fighting, he would + never aim to hit him. They also had the privilege of meeting and + talking to each other, it being understood that nothing was to be + said about the opposing numbers of their armies. They were not to act + as spies but simply to meet each other as friends. + +It was at about the time when General Wayne, "Mad Anthony," came into +command that Wells left his red friends and began to serve on the side +of his own flesh and blood. He was made captain of a company of scouts, +and must have done good service, for, in 1798, he accompanied his +father-in-law, Little Turtle, to Philadelphia, where the Indian (and +probably Wells also) was presented to President Washington, and in 1803 +we find him back at Chicago signing an Indian trader's license: "W. +H. Harrison, Governor of Indian Territory, by William Wells, agent at +Indian affairs." Little Turtle lived usually at Fort Wayne. Of him his +friend John Johnston, of Piqua, Ohio, said: + + "He was a man of great wit, humor and vivacity, fond of the company + of gentlemen and delighted in good eating. When I knew him he had two + wives living with him under the same roof in the greatest harmony. + This distinguished chief died at Fort Wayne of a confirmed case of + gout, brought on by high living, and was buried with military honors + by the troops of the United States." + +He died July 14, 1812, and was buried on the west bank of the river at +Fort Wayne. His portrait hangs on the walls of the War Department at +Washington. + +In 1809 Captain Wells took his niece, Rebekah, with him to Fort Wayne +on a visit. Captain Heald was then on duty at Fort Wayne, and it +was doubtless there that the love-making took place which led to the +marriage of the two young people in 1811. + +The following interesting bits concerning Captain Wells are taken from +a letter written by A. H. Edwards to Hon. John Wentworth (Fergus' Hist. +Series No. 16), the remainder of which letter is given later in this +volume. (See Appendix G.) + + Captain Wells, after being captured by the Indians when a boy, + remained with them until the treaty with the Miamis. Somewhere about + the year 1795 he was a chief and an adopted brother of the celebrated + chief Little Turtle. Captain Wells signed the marriage certificate, + as officiating magistrate, of my father and mother at Fort Wayne, + June, 1805. The certificate is now in my possession. + + "Fort Wayne, 4th June. + + "I do hereby certify that I joined Dr. Abraham Edwards and Ruthy Hunt + in the holy bonds of matrimony, on the third instant, according to + the law. + + "Given under my Hand and Seal, the day and year above written. + + "William Wells, Esq." + + * * * Captain Wells urged Major Heald not to leave the fort, as he + did not like the way the Indians acted, and was well acquainted with + all their movements as learned from his Indian allies, who deserted + him the moment the firing commenced. Captain N. Heald's story is as + I heard it from the mouth of one who saw it all, the girl and her + mother, the one living in our family for many years, and the mother + in Detroit. Their name was Cooper. + + Captain Wells, soon after leaving the Indians, was appointed + interpreter at the request of General Wayne, and was with him in his + campaign against the Indians as captain of a company of spies, and + many thrilling accounts were given me of his daring and remarkable + adventures as such, related by one who received them from his own + lips, and in confirmation of one of his adventures pointed at an + Indian present, and said: "That Indian," says he, "belongs to me, + and sticks to me like a brother," and then told how he captured him + with his rifle on his shoulder. This Indian was the one who gave + Mrs. Wells the first intimation of his death and then disappeared, + supposed to have returned to his people. + + Captain William Wells was acting Indian Agent and Justice of the + Peace at Port Wayne at the time he married my father and mother, and + was considered a remarkably brave and resolute man. I will give you a + sketch of one of his feats as told me by my mother, who was present + and witnessed it all. The Indians were collected at Fort Wayne on + the way for the purpose of meeting the Miamis and other Indians in + council. While camped there they invited the officers of the fort to + come out and witness a grand dance, and other performances, previous + to their departure for the Indian conference. Wells advised the + commander of the fort not to go, as he did not like the actions of + the Indians; but his advice was overruled, and all hands went out, + including the officers' ladies. But the troops in the fort were on + the alert, their guns were loaded and sentries were doubled, as it + was in the evening. A very large tent was provided for the purpose + of the grand dance. After many preliminary dances and talks, a large + and powerful chief arose and commenced his dance around the ring, and + made many flourishes with his tomahawk. Then he came up to Wells, who + stood next my mother, and spoke in Indian and made demonstrations + with his tomahawk that looked dangerous, and then took his seat. + But no sooner than he did so Wells gave one of the most unearthly + war-whoops she ever heard, and sprang up into the air as high as her + head, and picked up the jaw bone of a horse or ox that lay near by, + and went around the ring in a more vigorous and artistic Indian style + than had been seen that evening; and wound up by going up to the big + Indian and flourishing his jaw-bone, and told him that he had killed + more Indians than white men, and had killed one that looked just like + him, and he believed it was his brother, only much better looking + and a better brave than he was. The Indians were perfectly taken by + surprise. Wells turned to the officers and told them to be going. + He hurried them off to the fort, and had all hands on the alert + during the night. When questioned as to his action and what he said, + he replied that he had told the Indians what I have related. Then + he enquired of those present if they did not see that the Indians + standing on the opposite side of the tent had their rifles wrapped up + in their blankets. + + "If I had not done just as I had, and talked to that Indian as I did, + we would all have been shot in five minutes; but my actions required + a council, as their plans were, as they supposed, frustrated, and + that the troops would be down on them at the first hostile move they + made." He saw the game when he first went in, as his Indian training + taught him, and he waited just for the demonstration that was made + as the signal for action. Wells saw no time was to be lost, and made + good his resolve, and the big Indian cowed under the demonstration + of Wells. My mother said he looked as if he expected Wells to make + an end of him for what he had said to Wells in his dance. "I had + to meet bravado with bravado, and I think I beat," said Wells. You + could see it in the countenances of all the Indians. The same advice + given to Heald, if attended to, would have saved the massacre of Fort + Dearborn. * * * * + + A. H. Edwards. + +James Madison Wolcott, grandson of Captain Wells (through +Ah-mah-quah-zah-quah, who married Judge James Wolcott) wrote to Mr. +Wentworth as follows: + + We are proud of our Little Turtle [Indian] blood and of our Captain + Wells blood. We try to keep up the customs of our ancestors, and + dress occasionally in Indian costumes. We take no exception when + people speak of our Indian parentage. We take pleasure in sending + you the tomahawk which Captain William Wells had at the time of his + death, and which was brought to his family by an Indian who was in + the battle. We also have a dress-sword which was presented to him + by General W. H. Harrison, and a great many books which he had; + showing that even when he lived among the Indians, he was trying to + improve himself. He did all he could to educate his children. Captain + Wells, in the year of his death, sent to President Madison, at Little + Turtle's request, the interpretation of the speech that that chief + made to General W. H. Harrison, January 25, 1812. + +Captain Heald never got rid of the effect of his wound. The bullet +remained embedded in his hip and doubtless is in his coffin. He +resigned shortly after the war, and the family (in 1817) settled at +Stockland, Missouri. The new name of the place, O'Fallon, recalls +the fact that the well known Colonel O'Fallon, of St. Louis, was an +old friend of the family, and himself redeemed the things which the +Indians had captured at the massacre (the same articles now cherished +as relics of the historic event) and sent them to Colonel Samuel Wells +at Louisville, where they arrived during the interval when all supposed +that Nathan and Rebekah had perished with the members of the garrison +and their fellow-sufferers. + +Among the articles captured by the Indians and, after their +transportation from Chicago to Peoria and from Peoria to Saint +Louis, bought by Colonel O'Fallon and sent to the Falls of the Ohio +(Louisville) to Samuel Wells, are the following, all of which were +brought to Chicago by the Hon. Darius Heald, exhibited to his relatives +(the family of Gen. A. L. Chetlain), and their friends, and here +reproduced. + + Captain Heald's sword. + + A shawl-pin he wore which, when recovered, had been bent to serve as + a nose-ring. + + Part of his uniform coat, which seems to have been divided among his + captors. + + Six silver table-spoons and one soup-ladle, each marked "N. R. H.," + doubtless the wedding-present made by Colonel Samuel Wells to Nathan + and Rebekah Heald. + + A hair brooch marked "S. W.," supposed to contain the hair of Samuel + Wells. + + A finger-ring marked "R. W." (Probably one of the girlish treasures + of Rebekah Wells.) + + A fine tortoise-shell comb, cut somewhat in the shape of an eagle's + beak and having silver ornaments representing the bird's eye, + nostril, etc. + +[Illustration: DARIUS HEALD, WITH SWORD AND OTHER MASSACRE RELICS.] + +Mr. Wentworth further says: + + In the biographical sketches of the members of the Corinthian Lodge + of Masons, at Concord, Mass., I find the following: + + Nathan Heald, initiated in 1797, died at Stockland (now O'Fallon) in + St. Charles County, Missouri, where he had resided some years, in + 1832, aged 57 years. He was born in Ipswich, N. H., September 29, + 1775, was the third sou of Colonel Thomas and Sybel (Adams) Heald + and in early life joined the U. S. Army. Mrs. Maria (Heald) Edwards, + of this city, born at Ipswich, N. H, in 1803, mother of Mrs. General + Chetlain, was the eldest child of his brother, Hon. Thomas Heald, one + of the Associate Judges of the Supreme Court of Alabama. (Fergus' + Hist. Series No. 16.) + +A considerable part of Captain Heald's first report of the massacre +appears in our old friend Niles' Weekly Register, Nov. 7, 1812. (I +have quoted it, to a great extent, in connection with the story of the +event.) + + Extract of a letter from Captain Heald, late commandant at Fort + Chicago, dated at Pittsburg, October 23, 1812: + + On the 9th of August, I received orders from General Hull to evacuate + the post and proceed with my command to Detroit, by land, leaving + it at my discretion to dispose of the public property as I thought + proper. The neighboring Indians got the information as soon as I did, + and came in from all quarters to receive goods in the factory-store, + which they understood were to be given to them. On the 13th, Captain + Wells, of Fort Wayne, arrived with about thirty Miamis, for the + purpose of escorting us in, by request of General Hull. On the 14th + I delivered to the Indians all the goods of the factory-store, and a + considerable quantity of provisions which we could not take with us. + The surplus arms and ammunition I thought proper to destroy, fearing + they would make bad use of it, if put in their possession. I also + destroyed all liquor on hand soon after they began to collect. + + The collection was unusually large for that place, but they conducted + with the strictest propriety until after I left the fort. On the + 15th, at 9 A. M., we commenced our march. A part of the Miamis were + detached in front, the remainder in our rear, as guards, under the + direction of Captain Wells. The situation of the country rendered it + necessary for us to take the beach, with the lake on our left and + a high sand-bank on our right at about one hundred yards distance. + We had proceeded about a mile and a half when it was discovered + that the Indians were prepared to attack us from behind the bank. I + immediately marched up, with the company, to the top of the bank, + when the action commenced; after firing one round we charged, and the + Indians gave way in front and joined those on our flanks. In about + fifteen minutes they got possession of all our horses, provisions, + and baggage of every description, and, finding the Miamis did not + assist us, I drew off the men I had left and took possession of a + small elevation in the open prairie, out of shot of the bank or any + other cover. The Indians did not follow me but assembled in a body + on the top of the bank, and after some private consultation among + themselves, made signs for me to approach them. I advanced toward + them alone and was met by one of the Pottowatomie chiefs called + Black-bird, with an interpreter. After shaking hands, he requested + me to surrender, promising to spare the lives of all the prisoners. + On a few moments consideration I concluded it would be most prudent + to comply with his request, although I did not put entire confidence + in his promise. After delivering up our arms we were taken back to + their encampment near the fort, and distributed among the different + tribes. + + The next morning they set fire to the fort and left the place, taking + the prisoners with them. Their number of warriors was between four + and five hundred, mostly from the Pottowatomie nation, and their + loss, from the best information I could get, was about fifteen. + Our strength was about fifty-four regulars and twelve militia, + out of which twenty-six regulars and all the militia were killed + in the action, with two women and twelve children. Ensign George + Ronan and Dr. Isaac Van Voorhis of my company, with Captain Wells + of Fort Wayne, to my great sorrow, are numbered among the dead. + Lieutenant Linai T. Helm, with twenty-five non-commissioned officers + and privates and eleven women and children, were prisoners when we + separated. + + Mrs. Heald and myself were taken to the mouth of the river St. + Joseph, and, being both badly wounded, were permitted to reside + with Mr. Burnett, an Indian trader. In a few days after our arrival + there, the Indians went off to take Fort Wayne, and in their absence + I engaged a Frenchman to take us to Michilimackinac by water, where + I gave myself up as a prisoner of war, with one of my sergeants. The + commanding officer, Captain Roberts, offered me every assistance + in his power to render our situation comfortable while we remained + there, and to enable us to proceed on our journey. To him I gave my + parole of honor, and came to Detroit and reported myself to Colonel + Proctor, who gave us a passage to Buffalo, from that place I came by + way of Presque-Isle, and arrived here yesterday. + + Nathan Heald. + + +The following letter from Captain Heald, written three years after +taking up his residence in Missouri, speaks for itself: + + St. Charles, Missouri Territory May 18th, 1820. + + Sir:--I had the honor of receiving your letter of the 30th of March, + a few days since. The garrison at Chicago commanded by me at the time + Detroit was surrendered by General Hull, were every man paid up to + the 30th of June, 1812, inclusive, officers' subsistence and forage + included. + + The last payment embraced nine months, and was made by myself as + the agent of Mr. Eastman, but I cannot say what the amount was. + Every paper relative to that transaction was soon after lost. I am, + however, confident that there was no deposit with me to pay the + garrison for the three months subsequent to the 30th of June, 1812. + + The receipt-rolls which I had taken from Mr. Eastman, together with + the balance of money in my hands, fell into the hands of the Indians + on the 15th of August, 1812, when the troops under my command were + defeated near Chicago; what became of them afterwards I know not. I + have no papers in my possession relative to that garrison, excepting + one muster-roll for the month of May, 1812. By it I find that the + garrison there consisted of one captain, one 2nd lieutenant, one + ensign, one surgeon's mate, four sergeants, two corporals, four + musicians and forty-one privates. I cannot determine what the + strength of the garrison was at any other time during the years 1811 + and 1812, but it was on the decline. Monthly returns were regularly + submitted to the Adjutant and Inspector-General's office, at + Washington City, which, I suppose, can be found at any time. + + I am respectfully sir, your most obedient servant, + + Nathan Heald. + + Peter Hagner, Esq., } + 3rd Auditor's Office, Treasury } + Department, Washington City. } + + * * * * * + + This brings up to the mind of every officer the terrors of the + "Auditors of the Treasury." Not victory or defeat, not wounds or + even death--nay, not old Time himself can clear a soldier from the + terrible ordeal of the "Accounting Department." Poor Heald had + evidently been asked: "Where is the money which was in your hands + before the savages surrounded you, slaughtered your troops, wounded + yourself and your wife, massacred the civilians under your care, + tortured to death your wounded and burned your fort?" At the same + time the ordnance bureau doubtless asked what had become of the + arms, ammunition, accoutrements and cooking utensils; the commissary + bureau asked after the stores and the quartermaster's bureau after + the equippage. Scores of thousands of volunteer officers in the Union + war found to their cost that their fighting was the only thing which + the War Department kept no record of; that their account-keeping + and reporting was what must be most carefully looked after if they + would free themselves, their heirs, executors and assigns, from + imperishable obligations. For the government knows no "statute of + limitations"--takes no account of the lapse of time any more than + does Nature in her operations. "Contra regem tempus non occurret." + + Yet, paradoxical as it may seem, this is right. If all men were + honest, "red tape" could be done away with; but as men are, + individual accountability is indispensable. Without it, the army + might fall into negligence leading to corruption, instead of being, + as it is, the very example of administrational honor and probity. + + * * * * * + +It so happens that the death of Mrs. Maria (Heald) Edwards, niece of +Captain Nathan Heald and mother of Mrs. General Chetlain, is announced +after the above matter had been put in print. She died on May 6, 1893, +at the residence of General Chetlain, in this city, at the ripe age of +ninety years. + +It stirs the heart to think that, almost up to this very day, there +was living among us so near a relative to the gallant and unfortunate +captain; a woman who was a girl nine years old when her uncle passed +through the direful ordeal. + +[Illustration] + +[Illustration: MASSACRE TREE AND PART OF PULLMAN HOUSE.] + + + + +APPENDIX F. + +THE BONES OF JOHN LALIME.--SUBSTANCE OF A PAPER READ BY JOSEPH +KIRKLAND BEFORE THE CHICAGO HISTORICAL SOCIETY, ON THE OCCASION OF THE +PRESENTATION TO THE SOCIETY OF CERTAIN HUMAN RELICS, JULY 21, 1891. + + +[Illustration] + +SOME ominous threatenings were heard at old Ft. Dearborn +before the bursting of the storm of August 15, 1812. Among them was the +killing of the interpreter for the government, John Lalime. + +John Kinzie arrived at Fort Dearborn in 1804, and with his family +occupied a house built of squared logs, which, up to about 1840, +stood where the corner of Cass and Kinzie streets now is. He was an +Indian-trader, furnishing what the savages desired and taking furs in +exchange. The government also had an Indian agent, or trader, there. + +Various circumstances tend to show that before 1812 considerable +rivalry existed between the government fur-trading agency and the +civilian dealers. The former had certain advantages in the cheapness of +purchase and transportation, but were restricted as to selling liquor. +The latter were nominally under the same restriction, but practically +free, and the Indians, like other dipsomaniacs, hated every man who +tried to restrain their drinking. The short-sighted savages mistook +their friends for their enemies, their enemies for their friends. They +loved the poison and the poisoner. + +[Illustration: Remains unearthed April 26th and presented to the +Historical Society July 27, 1891.] + +Mrs. Kinzie, in Wau-Bun, says that there were two factions in the +garrison, the Kinzies sympathizing with the opposition. Also that, +though the garrison was massacred, no Kinzie was injured, the immunity +extending even to Lieutenant Linai T. Helm, who had married Mr. +Kinzie's step-daughter. Also that while the fort was burned, the Kinzie +mansion was left untouched, and remained standing up to within the +memory of living men. + +For several years before 1812, John Lalime, a Frenchman, had been +the government's salaried interpreter at Fort Dearborn. The earliest +mention of the name occurs in a letter written from St. Joseph by +William Burnett to his Detroit correspondent, which begins with the +words: "When Mr. Lalime was in Detroit last you was pleased to tell +him that if I should want anything at your house, it should be at my +service." The next intelligence about him is in two letters he wrote +concerning Indian matters. The first was to Wm. Clark, Governor of +Missouri, and reads as follows: + + Chicago, 26th May, 1811. + + 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 Kaskasia 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 Foe. + He is residing on the Peoria, or a little above it, at a place they + call "Prairie du Corbeau." By the express going to Fort Wayne I + will communicate this to the agent. I presume, sir, that you will + communicate this to the Governor of Kaskasia and General Harrison. I + am sir, with respect, + + Y'r h'ble serv't, + J. Lalime. + +The second letter is the one mentioned in the first. It is written to +John Johnson, United States factor at Fort Wayne, dated July 7th, 1811, +and reads as follows: + + 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 brother-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 in part is from + the Little Chief that came last fall to see Governor Harrison under + the feigned name of Wapepa. He told the Indians that he had told the + governor that the Americans were settling on their lands, and asked + him what should be done with them. He told the Indians that the + Governor had told him they were bad people. + +We observe that the Peoria chief, Main Poc, is mentioned as blameworthy +for these wrongs. It may be interesting to know Main Poc's side of the +question. Said he: + + You astonish me with your talk! Whenever you do wrong there is + nothing said or done; but when we do anything you immediately take + us and tie us by the neck with a rope. You say, what will become of + our women and children if there is war? On the other hand, what will + become of your women and children? It is best to avoid war. + +Lalime's letters show that he was a man of ability and education. We +also guess, from a clause in Article III of the treaty of 1821, that +Lalime lived after the manner of those days, and left at least one +half-breed child. The clause reserves a half-section of land for "John +B. Lalime, son of Noke-no-qua." + +Miss Noke-no-qua is not otherwise known to history. + +The next knowledge we have of Lalime relates to his violent death in +the spring of 1812, about five months before the massacre, at a point +on the south bank of the river within a stone's throw of where is now +the south end of Rush Street bridge. + +[Illustration: GURDON SALTONSTALL HUBBARD. (Last picture taken of him.)] + +In a letter written by the lamented Gurdon Hubbard to John Wentworth, +June 25th, 1881, we read: + + As regards the unfortunate killing of Mr. Lalime by Mr. John Kinzie, + I have heard the account of it related by Mrs. Kinzie and her + daughter, Mrs. Helm. Mr. Kinzie never, in my hearing, alluded to or + spoke of it. He deeply regretted the act. Knowing his aversion to + conversing on the subject, I never spoke to him about it. + + Mrs. Kinzie said that her husband and Lalime had for several years + been on unfriendly terms, and had had frequent altercations; that at + the time of the encounter Mr. Kinzie had crossed the river alone, + in a canoe, going to the fort, and that Lalime met him outside the + garrison and shot him, the ball cutting the side of his neck. She + supposed that Lalime saw her husband crossing, and taking his pistol + went through the gate purposely to meet him. Mr. Kinzie, closing with + Lalime, stabbed him and returned to the house covered with blood. He + told his wife what he had done, that he feared he had killed Lalime, + and probably a squad would be sent for him and that he must hide. + She, in haste, took bandages and with him retreated to the woods, + where as soon as possible she dressed his wounds, returning just + in time to meet an officer with a squad with orders to seize her + husband. He could not be found. For several days he was hid in the + bush and cared for by his wife. + + Lalime was, I understand, an educated man, and quite a favorite with + the officers, who were greatly excited. They decided he should be + buried near Kinzie's house, in plain view from his front door and + piazza. The grave was enclosed in a picket fence, which Mr. Kinzie, + in his lifetime, kept in perfect order. My impression has ever been + that Mr. Kinzie acted, as he told his wife, in self-defence. This + is borne out by the fact that, after a full investigation by the + officers, whose friend the deceased was, they acquitted Mr. Kinzie, + who then returned to his family. + + In some of these details I may be in error, but the fact has always + been firm in my mind that Lalime made the attack, provoking the + killing, in self-defence. Mr. Kinzie deeply regretted the result, and + avoided any reference to it. + + Yours, + G. S. Hubbard. + +Mr. Hubbard does not say he remembers having seen the grave. He did not +come to Chicago to live until 1836. Judge Blodgett, as we shall see +hereafter, describes its position as not on the river bank, but back in +the timber. + +A somewhat different account of the affair was given by Mrs. Porthier +(Victoire Mirandeau,) and printed in Captain Andreas' History of +Chicago, Vol. II, page 105. + + My sister Madeline and I saw the fight between John Kinzie and + Lalime, when Lalime was killed. It was sunset, when they used to + shut the gates of the fort. Kinzie and Lalime came out together, + and soon we heard Lieutenant Helm call out for Mr. Kinzie to look + out for Lalime, as he had a pistol. Quick we saw the men come + together. We heard the pistol go off and saw the smoke. Then they + fell down together. I don't know as Lalime got up at all, but Kinzie + got home pretty quick. Blood was running from his shoulder, where + Lalime had shot him. In the night he packed up some things and my + father took him to Milwaukee, where he stayed until his shoulder + got well and he found he would not be troubled if he came back. You + see, Kinzie wasn't to blame at all. He didn't have any pistol nor + knife--nothing. After Lalime shot him and Kinzie got his arms around + him, he (Lalime) pulled out his dirk, and as they fell he was stabbed + with his own knife. That is what they all said. I didn't see the + knife at all. I don't remember where Lalime was buried. I don't think + his grave was very near Kinzie's house. I don't remember that Mr. + Kinzie ever took care of the grave. That is all I know about it. I + don't know what the quarrel was about. It was an old one--business, I + guess. + +This bears all the thumb-marks of truth. It comes at first hand from a +disinterested eye-witness. Even if we suppose Mrs. Kinzie to have seen +the affray, which she does not say, it was doubtless from the opposite +side of the river, while Victoire and her sister were in the fort +itself. No other account, direct from an eye-witness, has ever been +published. + +Now, without pretending to certainty, it strikes me as probable that +up to this time Kinzie stood on the Indian side of the irrepressible +conflict between white men and red men, while the army and Lalime took +the other. Mrs. Helm's narrative in Wau-Bun is decidedly hostile to +the good sense of the commandant of the fort, and even to the courage +of some of his faithful subordinates, while obviously friendly to the +mutinous element in his command. Therefore it seems to me quite likely +that Lalime's crazy attack on Kinzie was not entirely disconnected with +that irrepressible conflict, that this long-standing quarrel had more +than appears on the surface to do with the admitted success of Kinzie's +trade and the well-known unprofitableness of the business carried on by +the government agency. + +On April 29th, 1891, there was unearthed at the southwest corner of +Cass and Illinois streets, a skeleton. Workmen were digging a cellar +there for a large new building, and were startled by having the shovel +stopped by a skull, wherein its edge made a slight abrasion. Further +examination brought to light some spinal vertebrae, some fragments of +ribs, some remains of shoulder-blades and pelvis-bones, some bones +of the upper and lower arms and the hip-bones, besides two bones of +the lower part of one leg; also fragments, nearly crumbled away, of +a rude pine coffin. The rumor of the discovery spread through the +neighborhood, and luckily reached the ears of Mr. Scott Fergus, son of +the veteran printer, Robert Fergus, whose establishment stands within +ten feet of the place where these relics of mortality had so long lain +unnoticed. + +Mr. Fergus at once tried to save and collect the bones, and finding +some disposition on the part of the laborers to disregard his requests, +he rang for the police-patrol wagon, which bundled the little lot into +a soap-box and carried them to the East Chicago Avenue station. + +I was out of town at this time and did not hear of the interesting +occurrence until Mr. Fergus told me of it upon my return, about a month +later. I then went to the station, only to learn that the bones, being +unclaimed, had been sent in the patrol-wagon to the morgue at the +County Hospital, on the West Side. However, on looking up the officer +who carried them over, he freely and kindly offered to try to reclaim +them, and have them delivered to the Historical Society. The morgue +officials, after a few days, at a merely nominal expense, complied with +the request, and they are now here. Was this, _is_ this the skeleton of +John Lalime? + +The place where the bones were found is within a stone's throw of the +exact spot indicated by Gurdon Hubbard as the place where the picket +fence marked the grave, "two hundred yards west of the Kinzie house." + +Dr. Arthur B. Hosmer, and Dr. Otto Freer, who have examined the relics +independently of each other, and assisted me in arranging them in human +semblance, consider them to be the skeleton of a slender white man, +about five feet and four inches in height. + +The color, consistency and general conditions indicate that they had +lain in the ground (dry sand) for a very long time, reaching probably +or possibly the seventy-nine years which have elapsed since Lalime's +death. + +Now, admitting their expert judgment to be correct, this man died not +far from 1812. At that time there had not and never had been in all +these parts more than some fifty to one hundred white men, nearly all +of whom were soldiers, living in the fort and subject to burial in the +fort burying-ground, adjoining the present site of Michigan Avenue and +Randolph street. At a later date, say fifty years ago, isolated burials +were not uncommon, but even then they could scarcely have occurred in +so public a spot as the north bank cf the river, close to the docks +and warehouses which had been by that time built there. + +John C. Haines, Fernando Jones and others remember perfectly the +existence of that lonely little fenced enclosure, and even that it was +said to mark the resting-place of a man killed in a fight. They and all +others agree that no other burials were made thereabouts, so far as +known. Another point, favorable or otherwise to this identification, is +the fact that the place where the skeleton was found is the lot whereon +stood the first St. James Church, and that the attendants there, as I +was informed by one of them, Mr. Ezra McCagg, never heard of any burial +as having taken place in the church-yard. + +On the other hand, Mr. Hubbard designates "the river bank" as the place +of burial, and the memory of Mr. Fernando Jones is to the effect that +the fenced enclosure was nearer to the place of Rush Street bridge than +is the spot of finding. + +But in contradiction to this view. Judge Blodgett tells me that he +was here in 1831 and 1832, which was several years before either Mr. +Jones or Mr. Haines, and before Mr. Hubbard came here to live, he being +then trading at Danville. The Judge adds that with the Beaubien and +Laframboise boys he paddled canoes on the creek, played in the old +Kinzie log-house and wandered all about the numerous paths that ran +along the river bank, and back into the thick, tangled underbrush which +filled the woods, covering almost all the North Side west of the shore +sand-hills. He says that one path over which they traveled back and +forth ran from the old house west to the forks of the river, passing +north of the old Agency house--"Cobweb Castle"--which stood near the +northeast corner of Kinzie and State Streets. Also that from that path +behind Cobweb Castle the boys pointed further north to where they said +there was a grave where the man was buried whom John Kinzie had killed, +but they never went out to that spot, and so far as he remembered he +never saw the grave. A kind of awe kept him quite clear of that place. +All he knows is that it was somewhere out in the brush behind the +Agency house. + +This seems to locate the grave as nearly as possible at the corner of +Illinois and Cass streets, where these relics were found. Fernando +Jones suggests that even if the grave was originally elsewhere, the +remains might have got into the church lot in this way: In 1832 +Robert Kinzie entered and subdivided Kinzie's Addition, bounded by +Chicago Avenue on the north, the lake on the east, Kinzie Street on +the south and State Street on the west, and gradually he and his +brother John sold the lots. In 1835 they gave the St. James Society +the two lots where the church was built and wherein this skeleton +was found. What more likely than that on selling the lot whereon the +original interment took place (supposing it to be other than where +the bones were unearthed) the sellers were compelled, either by the +buyer's stipulation or their own sense of duty to their father's +manifest wishes, to find a new place for the coffin of poor Lalime, and +thereupon selected the spare room in the new church-yard? + + * * * * * + +It is worthy of note, that as, with the skeleton, were found the +remains of a coffin--a single bit of pine board, showing the well-known +"shoulder angle," though decayed so that only a crumbling strip half an +inch thick was left--this could not have been a secret interment, made +to conceal the death of a man. It would seem utterly improbable that +two men's bodies should have been coffined and buried within the little +space of ground, in the few years of time pointed out by all these +circumstances. We learn that Lalime was so buried; also that, so far +as known, all other excavations thereabouts have failed to expose his +remains; also that these relics have now come to light. Everyone must +draw his own conclusion. I have drawn mine. If it be erroneous, this +exploitation of the subject will be likely to bring out the truth. + + * * * * * + + +LETTER FROM FERNANDO JONES. + + Chicago, July 20th, 1891. + + Joseph Kirkland, Esquire: + + _Dear Sir_--In answer to your inquiry as to any incidents coming to + my knowledge as to the grave of John Lalime, who was buried near the + mouth of the Chicago River in the year 1812, I furnish the following + statement: + + When I arrived in Chicago, on my sixteenth birthday, May 26th, 1835, + I landed on the north side of the present river, near its mouth, very + near to the old John Kinzie homestead. I was escorted to the historic + Cobweb Castle and the Dearborn Street bridge by the children of an + old friend of my father's, Samuel Jackson, who was employed upon the + north pier harbor work, and who had been an old neighbor in Buffalo, + New York, where he had also been employed upon the government harbor. + The little boy, Ezra, and the girl, Abigail, pointed out a grave + situated a little to the north of our path and several hundred feet + west of the Kinzie house. The grave was surrounded by a neat white + picket fence. I passed it many times afterward, during that and the + succeeding summer, and often visited it with children about my own + age. The history of this lonely grave, as detailed by them, gave it + a peculiar fascination to me, and to them, and to others who saw + it. I recall now, after an interval of mere than half a century, a + number of persons who visited this grave with me, among whom were + the Indian wife of Captain Jamison; the wife of Lieut. Thompson, a + half-breed woman; Virginia Baxley, daughter of Captain Baxley, of the + fort; Pierre Laframboise, son of a chief and interpreter; Alexander + Beaubien, son of a trader, and John C. Haines, who was also a clerk + near me on South Water Street. + + The tradition in regard to this grave was that it was the last + resting-place of a Frenchman named Lalime, who was government + interpreter at the fort, and who was killed in an encounter with the + old Indian-trader, John Kinzie. It was said that the officers of + the garrison had the body buried in sight of Mr. Kinzie's house in + resentment for his murder. But it seems that old Mr. Kinzie took the + sting from this reproach by carefully tending the spot during his + lifetime, and his son, John H. Kinzie, continued the same care over + it. + + Soon after the erection of St. James Episcopal Church, about the + year 1838, a grave was noticed on the north side of the lot and in + the rear of the church, which was situated on the southwest corner + of Cass and Illinois Streets, and opposite the new house of John H. + Kinzie. The lot upon which the Frenchman was buried had been sold + by Mr. John H. Kinzie, and was built upon, and Mr. Kinzie had given + the lot upon the corner for the church. Mr. Alonzo C. Wood, the + builder of the church, who still survives, informs me that the grave + appeared there mysteriously, and his remembrance is that the Rev. + Mr. Hallam, the priest in charge, informed him that the remains were + placed there by the direction of Mr. Kinzie, or Mrs. Kinzie, but he + has no further distinct recollection in regard to it. I, myself, + never mentioned the subject to Mr. John H. Kinzie, but remember a + conversation with his brother, Robert A. Kinzie, U. S. Paymaster, in + which he expressed satisfaction that his brother had taken care of + the bones of poor Lalime. It was understood by the few conversant + with the history of Lalime's death that both the elder Kinzie and + his son, John H., were averse to speaking of the matter, but "Bob" + was very like an Indian, and not at all reticent on the question, + and that the legend among those who took any interest in the matter + has always been that this solitary grave in the church-yard was the + grave of the "little Frenchman" who was first buried near the spot. + Under the circumstances, it is not strange that the removal should + have been quietly made, and I have little doubt in my own mind that + the tradition is correct. + + Very sincerely yours, + + Fernando Jones. + + * * * * * + + +LETTER FROM THE HON. J. C. HAINES. + + Chicago, 15 July, 1891. + + Major J. Kirkland: + Without very definite recollection as to just where the grave of John + Lalime stood in 1835, when I came to Chicago, I can say that I knew + of its existence and have an impression it stood in St. James' Church + lot, corner of Cass and Michigan Streets. + + John C. Haines. + + * * * * * + + +DR. HOSMER'S LETTER. + + 108 Pine Street, Chicago, } + July 11, 1893. } + + The bones shown me at this date at the Chicago Historical Society, + constitute the major portion of a human skeleton--that of an adult + white male of slender build and about five feet four to five inches + in height. There is evidence of a partial or complete fracture of the + left femur, at some time in his life, thoroughly repaired and with + some permanent thickening of the bone. + + Judging by the color, weight and rotten condition of the bones, I + believe that they have been in the ground (supposing it to be sandy + and above water-level) at least sixty (60) but not to exceed one + hundred (100) years. + + A. B. Hosmer, M. D. + + * * * * * + + +DR. FREER'S LETTER. + + The skeleton shown me by Mr. Joseph Kirkland is without doubt of + great age and resembles in appearance fragments of others that have + lain for many years in sandy soil. All animal matter has departed + from the bones, leaving them very light and consisting of the mineral + portions alone. + + The type of skeleton is that of a man of moderate stature and light + build. The skull is that of a white man and of great symmetry. The + lower jaw is missing, but the upper perfect, barring loss of all + teeth but one. The presence of the third molar's sockets speaks + for the complete maturity of the man. It is impossible exactly to + estimate the exact time that the skeleton has been in the ground, but + its appearance would tally well with the eighty years it is supposed + to have lain there. + + Dr. O. T. Freer. + + July 20th, 1891. + +[Illustration: THE LATE CALUMET CLUB-HOUSE.] + + + + +APPENDIX G. + +IMPORTANT REMINISCENCES OF AN OLD SETTLER (A. H. EDWARDS).--[from "FORT +DEARBORN"; FERGUS' HISTORICAL SERIES, NO. 16.] + + + Sheboygan (Wis.), May 24th, 1891. + + Hon. John Wentworth: + + _Dear Sir_--I have had the pleasure of reading your account and also + the remarks of others in regard to Chicago and Illinois history. I + am acquainted with some facts derived from conversation with one who + was there, and witnessed the fight and killing of many of those who + lost their lives on that memorable day. She was a daughter of one of + the soldiers, and was one of the children who, with her mother and + sisters, occupied the wagons, or conveyances that was to convey them + from the fort. She told me she saw her father when he fell, and also + many others. She, with her mother and sisters, were taken prisoners + among the Indians for nearly two years, and were finally taken to + Mackinac and sold to the traders and sent to Detroit. On our arrival + in Detroit, in 1816, after the war, this girl was taken into our + family, and was then about thirteen years old, and had been scalped. + She said a young Indian came to the wagon where she was and grabbed + her by the hair and pulled her out of the wagon, and she fought him + the best she knew how, scratching and biting, till finally he threw + her down and scalped her. She was so frightened she was not aware of + it until the blood ran down her face. An old squaw interfered and + prevented her from being tomahawked by the Indian, she going with + the squaw to her wigwam, and was taken care of and her head cured. + This squaw was one that often came to their house. The bare spot on + the top of the head was about the size of a silver dollar. She saw + Captain Wells killed, and told the same story as related in your + pamphlet. + + My father was well acquainted with Captain Wells; was stationed with + him at Fort Wayne, Indiana, where I was born, in 1807, and he was + surgeon of the post. My mother was a daughter of Col. Thomas Hunt of + the Fifth Infantry. + + I think there must be a mistake as to the year the Kinzies returned + to Chicago. My father and family arrived in Detroit in June, 1816; + the Kinzies were there then, and I was schoolmate of John, Robert, + Ellen and Maria during that year, and I think they returned to + Chicago in 1817. Mr. Kinzie went in the fall of 1816, and the family + in the spring of 1817. + + I was in Chicago in 1832 in the Black Hawk War time, as First + Lieutenant of cavalry, from Michigan. The regiment was commanded by + General Hart L. Stewart, now living in Chicago. + + During the Black Hawk War, and when in Chicago, we heard of the + killing of the Hall family and the carrying off of the two girls. Our + company camped that night at the mouth of the Little Calumet, and + next morning went into Chicago, and the fort was occupied by women + and children of the surrounding country. + + Then I saw for the last time my schoolmate, R. A. Kinzie. My brother. + Col. L. A. H. Edwards, was in command of the fort after we left, and + had a Cass County regiment of military from Michigan. We met him on + our return at Door Prairie. He remained there until the arrival of + Major Whistler, in June, 1832; he retired from the fort before the + landing of any of the U. S. troops, on account of cholera being among + them, and he wished to avoid any contact with them on that account. + His command camped on the prairie, about a mile from the fort, and + remained only a day or two. Fearing the cholera might get among his + men, he left for home, as he saw they were not needed any longer, and + was so informed by Major Whistler. + + Captain Anderson, Ensign Wallace and myself camped under the + hospitable roof of General Beaubien, on the bank of the lake, not + very far from the fort, who had kept the only house there. Mark + Beaubien Jr. went into Chicago with us, he having joined us at Niles, + on his way home from school. He was the son of the one called the + fiddler. + + Our family lived in Detroit and were well acquainted with the + Whistlers. My father. Major Edwards, was in Detroit at the surrender + of Hull, as Surgeon-General of the Northwestern Army. He went from + Ohio, and arriving in Detroit, received his appointment. Our family + was then living in Dayton, Ohio. At the close of the war he resigned, + and in 1816 removed to Detroit and was appointed sutler to all + Northwestern posts--Fort Gratiot, Mackinac, Green Bay [Fort Howard], + and Chicago [Fort Dearborn]--his books, now in my possession, + showing his dealings with each of these stores, and all the officers + mentioned in your paper. + +It is pleasant to note that at the disastrous fire at the Calumet Club, +which occurred while these pages were preparing, the Beaubien fiddle +and the Wells hatchet were saved. + + * * * * * + + Sheboygan (Wis.), Jan. 10, 1881. + + Your letter of the 5th came to hand to-day. The person I named as + being present at the massacre, was a daughter of Cooper,[AV] one + of the soldiers who was killed in the fight. Her account, as given + to me, as also her mother's, was that as soon as all the soldiers + were disposed of, the Indians made a rush for the wagons, where + the women and children were. Her mother, and sister younger than + herself, were taken from the wagon and carried away. A young Indian + boy about fourteen or fifteen years old dragged her by the hair + out of the wagon, and she bit and scratched him so badly that he + finally scalped her and would have killed her if an old squaw had + not prevented him. I think she married a man by the name of Farnum + and lived many years in Detroit. Her mother died there about the + year 1832. The sisters were living in Detroit in 1828. I have since + heard they were living in Mackinac. I do not know the first name of + Cooper. He was killed and the girl said she saw her father's scalp + in the hands of an Indian afterward. He had sandy hair. I think she + said they were Scotch. Isabella had children. The girl said she saw + Wells when he fell from his horse, and that his face was painted. + What became of her sister I do not know, as I left Detroit in 1823, + but my father and mother remained there until 1828. You will receive + with this a statement written by my father regarding himself, a short + time before his death, which occurred in October, 1860, at Kalamazoo, + Mich., where he had resided for many years. The statement will give + you all the information in regard to himself as well as who my + mother was. Her father, Thomas Hunt, was appointed a surgeon in the + army directly after the battle of Bunker Hill, where he was brought + into notice by an act of gallantry, then only a boy of fifteen. He + remained in the army until his death, in 1808, in command of his + regiment, at Bellefontaine, Missouri. His sons and grandsons have + been representatives in the army ever since. Captain Thomas Hunt, + mentioned in your letter, was a son, and the present General Henry + J. Hunt, of the Artillery, and General Lewis C. Hunt, commanding the + Fourth Infantry, grandsons, whose father (my mother's brother) was + Captain Samuel W. Hunt of the army. + + My grandfather, Thomas Hunt, was a captain under Lafayette, and was + wounded at Yorktown in storming a redoubt of the British. Afterward + he was with General Anthony Wayne in his campaign against the + Indians, and was left in command of Fort Wayne as its first commander + after the subjection of the Indians. + + A. H. Edwards. + +[AV] "John Cooper, Surgeon's Mate," is found in the muster-roll shown +on page 150. He also signed the certificate to the roll. + +For other extracts from this interesting paper see Appendix E--"The +Wells and Heald families." + +[Illustration: THE SAUGANASH (1833).] + + + + +APPENDIX H. + +BILLY CALDWELL, THE SAUGANASH. + + +[Illustration: T]HE Sauganash had qualities, good and bad, appertaining +to each of his parent races. He had fighting courage and coolness in +danger, he had physical endurance, he had personal faithfulness to +personal friends, he had a love of strong drink. There is now (1893) in +this city, an account-book kept which was at a Chicago grocery store in +the thirties, wherein appear many charges reading: "One quart whisky +to B. Caldwell." The book is in possession of Julian Rumsey, Esq., a +relative of Mrs. Juliette (Magill) Kinzie, author of "Wau-Bun." + +When the inevitable separation came, and the Indians, after a grand +farewell war-dance (August 18, 1835),[AW] departed on their migration +toward the setting sun, Caldwell went with them, and died September +28, 1841, at Council Bluffs, Iowa. His old friend Mark Beaubien, had +named after him the first and most noted of Chicago's real hotels, the +"Sauganash," lovingly remembered by many of the "first families." + +[AW] See Appendix I. + + * * * * * + +Letter written by the Sauganash [Billy Caldwell] and Shabonee [Chambly]. + + + Council Bluffs, March 23rd, 1840. + + _To General Harrison's Friends:_ + + The other day several newspapers were brought to us; and peeping over + them, to our astonishment we found that the hero of the late war was + called a coward. This would have surprised the tall braves, Tecumseh, + of the Shawnees, and Round Head and Walk-in-the-water of the late + Tomahawkees. The first time we got acquainted with General Harrison, + it was at the council fires of the late Old Tempest, General Wayne, + on the headquarters of the Wabash at Greenville, 1796. From that + time till 1811 we had many friendly smokes with him; but from 1812 + we changed our tobacco smoke into powder smoke. Then we found that + General Harrison was a brave warrior and humane to his prisoners, as + reported to us by two of Tecumseh's young men, who were taken in the + fleet with Captain Barclay on the 10th of September, 1813, and on the + Thames, where he routed both the red-men and the British, and where + he showed his courage and his humanity to his prisoners, both white + and red. See report of Adams Brown and family, taken on the morning + of the battle, October 5th, 1813. We are the only two surviving of + that day in this country. We hope the good white men will protect the + name of General Harrison. We remain your friends forever. + + Chamblee [Shabonee], Aid to Tecumseh. + +[Illustration: Billy Caldwell (signature)] + +[Illustration: ME-TEE-A; A SIGNER OF THE TREATY OF 1821.] + + + + +APPENDIX I. + +FAREWELL WAR-DANCE OF THE INDIANS. + + +[Illustration: E]ARLY in 1833 Indians to the number of five thousand or +more, assembled at Chicago, around the fort, the village, the rivers +and the portage, to treat for the sale of their entire remaining +possessions in Illinois and Wisconsin. John Joseph Latrobe, in his +"Rambles in North America," gives the following realistic sketch of the +state of things hereabouts just sixty years ago: + + A mushroom town on the verge of a level country, crowded to its + utmost capacity and beyond, a surrounding cloud of Indians encamped + on the prairie, beneath the shelter of the woods, on the river-side + or by the low sand-hills along the lake, companies of old warriers + under every bush, smoking, arguing, palavering, pow-wowing, with no + apparent prospect of agreement. + +The negotiations dragged on for weeks and months, for the Indians +were slow to put an end to their jollification, an occasion when they +were the guests of the Government, and fared sumptuously with nothing +to pay. The treaty had still to be ratified by the senate before its +provisions could be carried out and the settlement made. This took +about two years. + +[Illustration: FAREWELL WAR-DANCE OF THE INDIANS, AUGUST 18, 1835.] + +The money paid and the goods delivered, the Indians shook the dust off +their feet and departed; the dust shaking being literal, for once, as +they joined, just before starting, in a final "war-dance." For this +strange scene, we fortunately have as witness Ex-Chief-Justice Caton, +previously quoted herein. He estimates the dancers at eight hundred, +that being all the braves that could be mustered, out of the five +thousand members then present of the departing tribes. The date was +August 18th, 1835. He says: + + They appreciated that it was their last on their native soil--that + it was a sort of funeral ceremony of old associations and memories, + and nothing was omitted to lend it all the grandeur and solemnity + possible. They assembled at the Council House (North-east corner of + Rush and Kinzie Streets). All were naked except a strip of cloth + around their loins. Their bodies were covered with a great variety + of brilliant paints. On their faces particularly they seemed to have + exhausted their art of hideous decoration. Foreheads, cheeks and + noses were covered with curved strips of red or vermillion, which + were edged with black points, and gave the appearance of a horrid + grin. The long, coarse black hair was gathered into scalp locks on + the tops of their heads and decorated with a profusion of hawks' + and eagles' feathers; some strung together so as to reach nearly + to the ground. They were principally armed with tomahawks and war + clubs. They were led by what answered for a band of music, which + created a discordant din of hideous noises, produced by beating on + hollow vessels and striking clubs and sticks together. They advanced + with a continuous dance. Their actual progress was quite slow. They + proceeded up along the river on the North side, stopping in front + of every house to perform some extra antics. They crossed the north + branch on the old bridge, about Kinzie Street, and proceeded south + to the bridge which stood where Lake Street bridge is now, nearly in + front of, and in full view from the Sauganash Hotel ("Wigwam" lot, + Lake and Market Streets). A number of young married people had rooms + there. The parlor was in the second story pointing west, from the + windows of which the best view of the dancers was to be had and these + were filled with ladies. + +The young lawyer, afterward Chief Justice, had come to the West in +1833, and less than a year before this had gone back to Oneida County, +New York, and there married Miss Laura Sherrill. They were among the +lookers-on from those upper windows, a crowd all interested, many +agitated and some really frightened at the thought of the passions and +memories that must be inflaming those savage breasts and that were +making them the very picture of demoniac fury. + + Although the din and clatter had been heard for some time, they did + not come into view from this point of observation till they had + proceeded so far West (on the North side) as to come on a line with + the house. All the way to the South Branch bridge came the wild band, + which was in front as they came upon the bridge, redoubling their + blows, followed by the warriors who had now wrought themselves into a + perfect fury. + + The morning was very warm and the perspiration was pouring from + them. Their countenances had assumed an expression of all the worst + passions--fierce anger, terrible hate, dire revenge, remorseless + cruelty--all were expressed in their terrible features. Their + tomahawks and clubs were thrown and brandished in every direction, + and with every step and every gesture they uttered the most frightful + yells. The dance consisted of leaps and spasmodic steps, now + forward, now back or sidewise, the whole body distorted into every + imaginable position, most generally stooping forward with the head + and face thrown up, the back arched down, first one foot thrown + forward and withdrawn and the other similarly thrust out, frequently + squatting quite to the ground, and all with a movement almost as + quick as lightning. The yells and screams they uttered were broken + up and multiplied and rendered all the more hideous by a rapid + clapping of the mouth with the palm of the hand. When the head of + the column reached the hotel, while they looked up at the windows + at the "Chemo-ko-man squaws," it seemed as if we had a picture of + hell itself before us, and a carnival of the damned spirits there + confined. They paused in their progress, for extra exploits, in + front of John T. Semple's house, near the northwest corner of Lake + and Franklin Streets, and then again in front of the Tremont, on the + northwest corner of Take and Dearborn Streets, where the appearance + of ladies again in the window again inspired them with new life and + energy. Thence they proceeded down to Fort Dearborn, where we will + take a final leave of my old friends, with more good wishes for their + final welfare than I really dare hope will be realized. + +The Indians were conveyed to the lands selected for them, (and accepted +by a deputation sent by them in advance of the treaty) in Clay County, +Missouri, opposite Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. The Missourians were +hostile to their new, strange neighbors, and two years later they were +again moved, this time to a reservation in Iowa, near Council Bluffs. +Once more the fate of the poor waif, "Move on, move on," was theirs, +and then they halted in Kansas for many years. Their present condition +has been already sketched. + +Judge Caton is an ardent, devoted friend of the Indians. He knew many +of them personally, they having been his faithful companions--by night +and day, in summer and winter--in hunting, which was the passion of his +early years. Yet here, we observe, he says sadly, that his wishes for +their welfare go beyond any confident hope he can feel. + + + + +APPENDIX K. + +THE BRONZE MEMORIAL GROUP. + + +History places the scene of the Massacre adjacent to the shore of Lake +Michigan, between the present 16th and 20th Streets. The Memorial +Group, now (1893) newly erected, stands at the eastern extremity of +18th Street, overlooking the lake (nothing intervening save the right +of way of the Illinois Central Railway); and is therefore in the midst +of the battle-field. + +I think it well here to put in evidence unanswerable testimony as to +the identity of the spot selected for the group with the place where +the short and fatal struggle took place. Regarding it, Munsell's +history observes: + + The attack, the charge, the subsequent advance, etc., seem all to + point to about the spot where is now Eighteenth Street; and to the + Massacre tree, a tall cottonwood, still standing when these lines are + penned (1892), though dead since about five years ago. + + For conclusive evidence of the identity of the tree and its + trustworthiness as marking the battle-field, see certificates of old + citizens given on page 31, Vol. I, Andreas' History of Chicago. + +The letters quoted by Captain Andreas are all from persons not only +well-informed, but also of the highest social character and standing. +They are as follows: + + +Letter from Mrs. Henry W. King. + + 151 Rush Street, Chicago, } + January 25, 1884. } + + A. T. Andreas, Esq. + + _Dear sir:_--I am very happy to tell you what I know about the tree + in question, for I am anxious that its value as a relic should + be appreciated by Chicago people, especially since the fire has + obliterated nearly every other object connected with our early + history. Shortly before the death of my friend Mrs. John K. Kinzie, I + called upon her and asked her to drive with me through the city and + point out the various locations and points of interest that she knew + were connected with the "early day" of Chicago. She said there were + very few objects remaining, but localities she would be happy to show + me. + + She appointed a day, but was not well enough to keep her appointment; + went East soon after for her health and died within a few weeks. + However, at this interview I mention, she said that to her the most + interesting object in our city was the old Cottonwood tree that + stands on Eighteenth Street, between Prairie Avenue and the lake. + She remarked that it, with its fellows, were saplings at the time of + the Indian Massacre, and that they marked the spot of that fearful + occurrence; though she was not sure but that the smaller one had + either died or been cut down. I expressed surprise at the location, + imagining that the massacre occurred further south, among the small + sand-hills that we early settlers remember in the vicinity of Hyde + Park. I remember that her answer to this was: + + "My child, you must understand that in 1812 there was no Chicago, + and the distance between the old fort and Eighteenth Street was + enormous." Said she: "My husband and his family always bore in mind + the location of that massacre, and marked it by the Cottonwood trees, + which, strange to say, have stood unharmed in the middle of the + street to this day." + + The above facts I communicated to the Historical Society soon after + Mrs. Kinzie's death, and believe through them was the means of + preventing the cutting down of the old tree, which the citizens of + the South Side had voted to be a nuisance. I sincerely hope something + may be done to fence in and preserve so valuable a relic and reminder + of one of the most sad and interesting events in the life of Chicago. + + Believe me, sir, yours most respectfully, + Mrs. Henry W. King. + + +Letter from Hon. Isaac N. Arnold. + + Chicago, January 25, 1884. + + Captain A. T. Andreas. + + _Dear sir:_--I have your note of this morning, asking me to state + what I know relating to the massacre at Chicago in 1812. I came to + Chicago in October, 1836; the Fort Dearborn reservation then, and + for several years afterward, belonged to the government, and there + were but a few scattering houses from Fort Dearborn south to [the + present location of] the University, and between Michigan Avenue and + the beach of Lake Michigan. The sand-hills near the shore were still + standing. The family of John H. Kinzie was then the most prominent + in Chicago, and the best acquainted with its early history. From + this family and other early settlers, and by Mr. and Mrs. Kinzie, I + was told where the attack on the soldiers by the Indians was made. + There were then growing some cottonwood trees near which I was told + the massacre occurred. One of those trees is still standing in the + street leading from Michigan Avenue to the lake and not very far from + the track of the Illinois Central Railway. This tree was pointed out + to me by both Mr. and Mrs Kinzie, as near the place where the attack + began. As the fight continued, the combatants moved south and went + over considerable space. Mrs. John H. Kinzie was a person of clear + and retentive memory and of great intelligence. She wrote a full and + graphic history of the massacre, obtaining her facts, in part, from + eye-witnesses, and I have no' doubts of her accuracy. + + Very respectfully yours, + Isaac N. Arnold. + +Letter from A. J. Galloway. + + Chicago, February 8, 1884. + + Captain A. T. Andreas. + +_My dear sir:_--At your request I will state my recollections +concerning the cottonwood tree in the east end of Eighteenth Street. +When I removed from Eldredge Court to the present 1808 Prairie Avenue, +in 1858, the tree was in apparent good condition, though showing all +the marks of advanced age. The large lower branches (since cutoff), +after mounting upward for a time, curved gracefully downward, so that a +man riding under them could have readily touched their extremities with +his whip at a distance of twenty or twenty-five feet from the body. +From an intimate knowledge of the growth of trees, I have no doubt but +its sapling life long ante-dated the time of the massacre of the Fort +Dearborn garrison. I will venture the opinion that if it were cut down +and the stump subjected to a careful examination, it would be found +that the last two inches of its growth cover a period of fifty years at +least. + + Yours truly, + A. J. Galloway. + +To these highly convincing letters. Captain Andreas adds verbal +testimony as follows: + + Charles Harpell, an old citizen, now living on the North Side, says + that as far back as he can remember this locality was known as "the + Indian battle-ground;" that years ago, when a boy, he with others + used to play there (the place, from its very associations, having + the strongest attractions) and hunt in the sand for beads and other + little trinkets, which they were wont to find in abundance. Mr. + Harpell relates, also, that he, while playing there one day, found an + old single-barreled brass pistol, which he kept for many years. + + Mrs. Mary Clark Williams, whose father, H. B. Clark, purchased in + 1833, the land on which the tree now stands, says that nearly fifty + years ago she played under the old cottonwood, and that it was then + a large and thrifty tree. In 1840 an old Indian told her that the + massacre occurred on that spot. + +On the same branch of the subject, and in absolute conformation of the +Clark testimony, see the following letter, later than the other, which +I am glad to be able to give as "the conclusion of the matter." + + Aspen, Colorado, March 15, 1890. + + _Editor of the Tribune:_ + + I notice your interesting article on the subject of the Chicago + Massacre of 1812. I was born on what is now Michigan Avenue (then a + farm) and within 1,200 feet of this awful affair. Your article is in + the main correct, though not exactly so as regards the tree at the + foot of Eighteenth Street. This was one of a grove, consisting of + perhaps fifty to seventy-five large cotton-woods, extending from a + little north of Sixteenth to a little south of Eighteenth Street. + Almost in the center of this grove--I think the exact location would + be two hundred and fifty to three hundred feet north of Eighteenth + Street, on the east end of Wirt Dexter's lot--stood a "clump" of + eight or nine trees.... + + The sand-hills extended from about where the Illinois Central + round-house now is south to about Twenty-Fifth Street. They were + covered with low cedar trees, ground pine, and sand cherry bushes, + together with a perfect mat of sand prickers, to which the soles of + our feet often gave testimony when in swimming. The old cemetery, + where many of the old settlers were buried, was located near + Twenty-Second Street and Calumet Avenue. I think the McAvoy brewery + stands about the centre of it. + + I sincerely hope something will be done to commemorate this awful + affair and perpetuate the memory of our ancestors, who fought the + Indians, the fleas and the ague to make so grand and beautiful a city + as Chicago. + + Robert G. Clarke. + +So much for the place selected for the bronze group, now for the work +itself. + +Carl Rohl-Smith, a Danish sculptor who had already won distinction +in Europe and in America, and who came to Chicago under the strong +attraction which the preparation of the World's Columbian Exposition +offered for all artists, won notice and praise by his statue of +Franklin, cast for the entrance of the Electrical building. This work +pleased those interested highly, and the sculptor was invited to +prepare the model for a group to commemorate the Fort Dearborn Massacre +of 1812. Mr. Rohl-Smith, by the help of his accomplished wife, made a +study of the historical facts connected with the event, and naturally +concluded that Black Partridge saving the life of Mrs. Helm was the +portion of the sad story which presented the most picturesque, dramatic +and artistic features for reproduction. To this he added the killing +of Surgeon VanVoorhees, which Mrs. Helm details almost in the same +breath with the story of her own experience. The study, when completed +in clay, won the approval of all observers (this acceptance being +fortified by the warm admiration the group elicited from the best +art-critics to whom it was submitted), and orders were at once given +for the work; to be in bronze and of heroic proportions; the figure +group to be nine feet high, set on a granite pedestal ten feet high. + +Mr. Rohl-Smith set himself to work with the utmost diligence. Fortune +favored him; for there happened to be just then some Indians of the +must untamed sort at Fort Sheridan (only a few miles away), in charge +of the garrison as prisoners of war, they having been captured in the +Pine Ridge disturbance whereof the affair of Wounded Knee creek was the +chief event. By General Miles's permission, Mr. Rohl-Smith was allowed +to select two of these red-men to stand as models for the principal +savage figures of the group. The two best adapted were "Kicking Bear" +and "Short Bull." Concerning them Mr. Rohl-Smith says: + + Kicking Bear is the best specimen of physical manhood I have ever + critically examined. He is a wonderful man and seems to enjoy the + novelty of posing, besides evidently having a clear understanding of + the use to which his figure will be put. The assailant of Mrs. Helm, + the one with the uplifted tomahawk [Short Bull] fills the historical + idea that the assailant was a "young" Indian, naturally one who + would not be as fully developed as the vigorous, manly chief, Black + Partridge. The presence of these Indians has been of great value to + me in producing the figures. I have been enabled to bring out some of + their characteristics not otherwise possible. + +The savages were accompanied by an interpreter, and the newspapers of +the day gave some amusing accounts of their demeanor in the studio; +their mixture of docility and self-assertion, etc. It chanced that +the real dispositions of the two principal models were the reverse +of their assumed characters; and Kicking Bear (who, when wearing his +native dress and war-paint, carried a string of _six scalps_ as part +of his outfit), was much amused at the fact that he was assigned the +more humane part. "Me, good Injun!" he cried; "him bad Injun!" And he +laughed loudly at the jest. + +The four faces of the granite pedestal bear appropriate _bas-reliefs_ +cast in bronze. The front (south-west) shows the fight itself; the +opposite side represents the train--troops, wagons, etc.--leaving the +fort; one end gives the scene when Black Partridge delivered up his +medal to Captain Heald, and the opposite end the death of the heroic +Wells. + +The various scenes bear descriptive inscriptions; and on the North-West +face is the dedication, as follows: + + Presented May, 1893, to the Chicago Historical Society, in Trust for + the City of Chicago and for Posterity. + +The group stands on the scene of the fight, just one hundred and +twenty feet east of the "Massacre tree" spoken of in chapter VII, and +earlier in this appendix. Its position is admirable in the artistic +point of view as well as in the historical, for it occupies the eastern +extremity of Eighteenth Street and the northern of Calumet Avenue; +separated from Lake Michigan only by the right of way of the Illinois +Central railway. The hillocks which shielded the Indians in making +their attack have been leveled down, but their sandy base forms an +admirable foundation for the massive pedestal, which may well keep its +place, unmoved, for a thousand years. + +[Illustration] + + + + +INDEX. + + +=A.= + + Abbott, Dr. Lucius; 49. + Agency House; 48, 67, 79, 192. + Ah-mah-qua-zah-quah; 35, 173. + Allen, Colonel; 109. + American Fur Co.; 65, 164. + Anderson, Capt. Thomas C.; 66. + Andreas, Capt. A. T. quoted; 153, 163, 165, 167, 170, 216-218. + Andrews, Presley; 146, 150. + Arnold, Hon. I. N.; 148-149, 217. + Artaguiette; 124. + Astor's Fur Co.; 56, 65, 164. + Atwater, Major; 113, 114. + + +=B.= + + Baker, B'vt Major D.; 144. + Bates, Eli, 126. + Battles, Joe; 63. + Baxley, Virginia; 194. + Beaubien, Alex.; 121, 194. + Beaubien, J. B.; 169. + Beckwith, H. W.; 168. + Bisson, Mrs.; 45, 46. + Black Bird; 40, 180. + Black Hawk; 32. + Black Partridge; 29, 30, 44-46, 90, 104, 220. + Black Partridge Medal; 91. + Blanchard, Rufus; 67, 158-161. + Block-House; 120. + Block-House Tablet; 125, 126. + Blodgett, Hon. H. W.; 189, 192. + Bowen, Joseph; 118. + Braddock's Defeat; 61. + Bradley, Capt. H.; 144. + British and Indians; 30, 77-79. + Brock, Gen.; 78. + Bronze Group; 29, 220, 221. + Brown, Maj. Gen.; 145. + Bunker Hill, Battle of; 107. + Burgoyne, Gen.; 58, 135. + Burman (soldier); 146. + Burnett, Geo.; 146, 150. + Burns, John and family; 72, 80, 103. + Burns, Robert; 134. + Butterfield, Justin; 148. + + +=C.= + + Cahokia; 138. + Caldwell, Billy (Sauganash); 46, 47, 201, 203. + Callis, Mrs.; 48. + Calumet Club; 35. + Calumet Lake; 55. + Cass. Lewis; 83, 167, 168. + Caton, Hon. J. D.; 114, 153, 203-206. + Caton, Laura Sherrill; 205. + Chandonnais; 37, 38, 42, 43, 97, 102. + Chetlain, Mrs. Gen.; 180. + Chicago; _passim_; see table of contents. + Chicago in 1812 and in 1892; 95. + Chicago, the name; 54. + Chicago, Treaty of; 47. + Clark, Elizabeth; 159. + Clark, Geo. Rogers; 53, 54, 135. + Clark, H. B.; 218. + Clark, John K.; 159. + Clarke, Robert G.; 220. + Cleaver, Charles; 121. + Clybourn, Archibald; 160. + Clybourn, Jonas; 160. + Cobweb Castle; 48, 192. + Conflict of Authorities; 83, 84, 87. + Confute Indians; 116. + Cooper, Isabella; 197-9. + Cooper, John, Surg. Mate; 149, 150. + Corbin, James; 118, 146, 150. + Corbin, Phelim; 20, 118, 146, 150. + Corbin, Sukey; 20, 48, 119. + Cummings, Maj. Alex.; 144. + Custer slaughter; 33. + + +=D.= + + Dearborn, Fort; see Fort Dearborn. + Dearborn, Gen. Henry; 57, 143. + Debou (Frenchman); 72. + Defence, possible; 192. + De Peyster, Col. A. S.; 53; 56, 134-136. + De Peyster, J. Watts; 134. + Du Pin, Madame; 104. + Durantaye; 155. + Dyer, Dyson; 118, 146, 150. + + +=E.= + + Eastman, Lieut. J. L.; 113, 114. + Eastman, Jonathan, Paymaster; 189. + Edson, Nathan; 118, 150. + Edwards, J. H.; 176-7, 197-9. + Edwards, Maria (Heald); 183. + English employment of Indians; 77-79. + "Epeconier;" 35, 36. + Erie Canal; 210. + Evacuation of Fort Dearborn; 81, 88. + + +=F.= + + Farnum, Isabella (Cooper); 197. + Fergus Hist. Series, quoted; 68, 120, 151, 152, 168. + Fergus, Robert; 190. + Fergus, Scott; 190, 191. + Ferson, Julia, 152. + Forsyth, Geo.; 158. + Forsyth, Robert; 158, 167. + Forsyth, Thomas; 158, 162, 166. + Forsyth, William; 157. + Fort Chartres; 133. + Fort Dearborn, _passim_; see table of contents. + Fort Dearborn, Records of; 143-150. + Fort Dearborn Verses; 127-129. + Fort George, Canada; 102. + Fort Maiden, Canada; 109. + Fort Meigs, Canada; 109. + François, half-breed; 100. + Franklin, Statue of; 220. + Free Masonry; 98, 178. + Freer, Dr. Otto; 191, 195. + French Period; 53. + Fry, Col.; 172. + Fury, John; 146, 150. + + +=G.= + + Galloway, A. J.; 218. + Gardner's Military History, quoted; 151. + George III; 79, 84, 135. + Gilbert, Mary Ann; 173. + Glamorgan; 137. + Gordon, Mrs. Nellie Kinzie; 171. + Grade of streets changed; 210. + Grant, Gen. U. S.; 155. + Great Fire; 213, 214. + Greene, Capt. John; 144. + Greenville, Treaty of; 47, 54, 57, 90, 155, 159. + Griffith, Quartermaster; 100. + Grigg, Jane Wells; 173. + Grignon, Augustin; 139. + Grummond, Paul; 118, 146, 150. + "Grutte;" 24. + Guarie River; 57. + + +=H.= + + Hackleys, Ann and John; 173. + Haines, Hon. John C.; 121, 192, 194, 195. + Hall, Benjamin; 160. + Hall, David; 160. + Hall, Eugene; 127. + Hallam, Rev. Mr.; 194. + Haliburton, Mrs.; 157. + Hamilton, Gen.; 135. + Hardscrabble; 71, 105. + Harmer, Gen.; 174. + Harpell, Charles; 218. + Harrison, W. H.; 44, 65, 107, 109, 201. + Hays, Sergeant; 105. + Hayti, Island of; 137. + Heald family; 173-183. + Heald, Hon. Darius; _passim_; see table of contents. + Heald manuscript lost; 99. + Heald, Captain Nathan; _passim_; see table of contents. + Heald, Rebekah (Wells); _passim_; see table of contents. + Heald, Rebekah, quoted; 31-38, 69, 83, 93, 97-99. + Helm, Lieut. Linai T.; 23, 33, 39, 41, 48, 49, 162, 181. + Helm, Margaret; _passim_; see table of contents. + Helm, Margaret, quoted; see Wau-Bun. + Hennepin; 133. + Henry, Patrick; 135. + Hispaniola; 137. + Historical Society; 29, 45, 165, 191. + Hooker, J. Lewis; 121. + Hosmer, Dr. A. B.; 191, 195. + House-raising; 209, 210. + Hoyt, William M.; 127. + Hubbard, G. S.; 57, 167, 169, 170, 188. + Hull, Gen.; 78, 80, 93, 114, 118, 180. + Hunt family, the; 199. + Hunter, Gen. David; 23. + Hurlbut's Antiquities; 54, 58, 62, 148, 154, 155, 162, 167. + + +=I.= + + Indians; _passim_; see table of contents. + Indian Agency; 62, 63. + Indian Atrocities; 38. + Indian Group, (Ryerson's); 126. + Indian Treaties; 165. + + +=J.= + + Jackson, Andrew; 107. + Jackson, Samuel; 194. + Jamison, Capt.; 194. + Jefferson, President; 57. + Jerked beef; 85. + Johnston, John; 175. + Jones, Fernando; 121, 192-195. + Jones, R. Adjt. Gen.; 145, 146. + Jordan, Walter; 116-118. + Jouett, Charles, 48, 61, 62. + + +=K.= + + Kaskaskia; 133, 138. + Keamble, (soldier); 146. + Kee-ge-kaw or swift-goer; 66. + Kee-po-tah; 44, 100, 103, 112. + Kickapoos; 116. + Kicking Bear; 221. + King, Mrs. Henry W.; 217. + Kingsbury, Col. Jacob; 149. + Kingston, John T.; 138. + Kinzie family; 23, 46, 61, 68, 100, 120, 157-170. + Kinzie House; 19, 44, 46, 61, 64, 73, 80, 111, 167. + Kinzie, John; _passim_; see table of contents. + Kinzie, Mrs. John; 23, 43, 61, 165. + Kinzie, John Harris; 23, 61; 161, 164, 165, 171, 194. + Kinzie, Mrs. John Harris; 21, 28, 42, 82, 120, 163, 171, 216. + Kinzie, John Harris Jr.; 171, 172; + Kinzie, Ellen Marion; 23, 170. + Kinzie, Maria Indiana; 23. + Kinzie, Robert Allen; 23, 167. + Kinzie, Mrs. Robert Allen; 153, 170, 194. + Knowles, Joseph; 118. + + +=L.= + + Laframboise, Josette; 24. + Laframboise, Pierre; 121, 194. + La Geuness, J. B.; 65. + Lake Erie, battle of; 109, 110. + Lalime, John; 70, 80, 163, 185. + La Salle, Robert Cavelier; 53, 54, 126, 133, 134. + Latrobe, John Joseph; 203. + Law, John, 133, 138. + Lawe, Judge John; 65. + Leclerc, Peresh; 30, 39. + Lee's place and family; 70-72, 80, 104, 105. + Le Mai; 57, 60, 137, 155. + Liber Scriptorum; 133-141. + Lincoln, Hon. Robert; 68, 143. + Little Belt, Sloop; 110. + Little Turtle (Me-che-kan-nah-quah); 32, 35, 55, 173-177. + Locker, Frederick; 146, 150. + Logan, Hugh; 119, 150. + Lord Liverpool's Government; 78, 79. + Lundy's Lane, battle of; 107. + Lynch, Michael; 146, 150. + + +=M.= + + Macomb, Mr.; 112. + Macomb, Maj. Gen; 146. + Mackinaw; 53, 80, 102, 103. + Mad Anthony; see Wayne. + Maguago, battle of; 155. + Main Poc; 187. + Marquette; 53, 54, 71, 105, 133. + Mason, E. G.; 49, 138. + Massacre; 19-50 and _passim_. + Massacre tree; 33, 113, 216-219. + McCagg, Ezra; 192. + McCoy, Isaac; 63. + McCrea, Miss Jane; 135. + McKee, Col.; 100. + McKenzie, Elizabeth; 158, 159. + McKenzie, Isaac; 159. + McKenzie, John; 157. + McKenzie, Margaret; 158, 159, 163, 164. + McKillip, Eleanor; 160, 161. + McKillip, Margaret; 161. + McNeil, Col. J.; 144. + McPherson, Hugh; 146, 150. + Me-che-kan-nah-quah; 32, 35, 55, 173. + Miami Indians; 20, 24, 25-27, 89, 93, 116, 180. + Militia-men; 23, 38, 40. + Miller, Samuel; 161. + Mills, Elias; 118, 146. + Min-na-wack or Mill-wack-ie; 66, 103. + Mirandeau, Victoire; 189. + Morfitt, William; 146, 150. + Mott, August; 119, 150. + Mound City (gun-boat); 171. + Munsell's History, quoted; 45. 63, 67, 71, 80, 82. + + +=N.= + + Napoleonic years; 63. + Nau-non-gee; 77, 105. + Neads, John, wife and child; 119, 150. + Nelson (soldier); 119. + Nee-scot-nee-meg; 45. + New Orleans, battle of, 107. + Niles Register, quoted; 108, 113, 115, 116, 118, 180. + Noble, Mark; 170. + Noke-no-qua, Miss; 187. + Nourse, Charles J.; 145. + + +=O.= + + O'Fallon, Col.; 37, 178. + O'Fallon, Mo.; 38, 99, 178. + O'Strander, Philip; 149, 150. + Ottawas; 77. + Ouillemette; 19, 45, 46, 57, 155. + + +=P.= + + Parc-aux-vaches; 23, 115, 166. + Patterson, Mr.; 109. + Pee-so-tum, 30, 41, 142. + Pe-me-zah-quah; 173. + Perry, Commodore; 107, 110. + Peterson (soldier); 146. + Pettell, M.; 80, 155. + Plattsburgh paper, quoted; 103. + Pointe de Saible, J. B.; 44, 53, 55-57, 60, 133-141, 157, 166. + Pope, Nathaniel; 173. + Porthier, Victoire Mirandeau; 189, 190. + Pottowatomies; 24, 25-27, 30, 40, 44, 46, 57, 88, 103, 123, 166. + Proctor, Gen.; 101, 108, 115, 119. + Posterity of Pioneers; John Whistler, John Kinzie, William Wells and + Nathan Heald; see appendix C, D and E. + Put-in-bay; 107, 114. + + +=Q.= + + Queen Charlotte, (schooner); 113, 114. + + +=R.= + + Relics recovered; 178. + Reveille; 19. + Roberts, Capt.; 181. + Robinson, Chief; 63, 101. + Rohl-Smith, Carl; 29, 220, 221. + Ronan, Lieut. George; 22, 28, 33, 40, 70, 83, 83, 144, 146, 181. + Round Head; 201. + Rumsey, Julian; 201. + Russell family; 80. + Ryerson, Martin; 126. + Ryswick, treaty of; 137. + + +=S.= + + Sand-dunes; 25; 29, 31, 180. + Sauganash, the; 46, 47, 201, 202. + Scalped girl; 197. + Scott, Winfield; 107. + Senat, Jesuit; 124. + Shaubena; 138, 139, 202. + Shaw-nee-aw-kee, (Silver-smith); 68, 109, 158. + Shawnee Indians; 77, 201. + Sheaffe, Col.; 102. + Sheridan, Mrs. Gen.; 152. + Short Bull; 221. + Skeletons juried; 120, 121. + Skeleton in Hist. Society; 186. + Sleeping-car system; 212-214. + Smith, John; 146, 150. + St. Ange; 124. + St. Clair, Governor; 140, 174. + St. Cosme; 133. + St. Domingo; 137. + St. James' Church; 194. + St. Joseph's; 23, 59, 98, 100-102. + Stuart, David; 164. + Swearingen, Col. James S.; 58. + Sword of Capt. Heald; 99. + + +=T.= + + Tanner, Dr. H. B.; 65. + Taylor, Augustus; 172. + Tecumseh; 32, 47, 106, 201. + Thames, battle of; 107. + Thompson, Lieut.; 194. + Tippecanoe, battle of; 44, 74, 77. + Tonti; 54, 133. + To-pee-nee-be; 24, 25, 27, 63, 100, 102. + Torture of wounded prisoners; 38, 43, 98. + Toussaint L'Ouverture; 138, 139. + "Tracy," schooner; 59, 67, 155. + Tree, Lambert; 126. + + +=V.= + + Van Home, James; 118, 146, 150. + Van Voorhees, Dr. Isaac; 28, 33, 40, 144, 181, 220. + Vinsenne; 124. + + +=W.= + + Wabash Indians; 44. + Wabash River; 144. + Wa-bin-she-way; 48. + Waggoner, Anthony L.; 150. + Wah-bee-nee-mah; 30. + Walk-in-the-water; 201. + Wa-nan-ga-peth; 35, 173. + War-dance; 203. + War of 1812; 80. + Washington, President; 175. + Wau-ban-see; 41, 44. + Waubansa stone; 147, 148. + Wau-Bun, quoted; 21, 23, 28, 81, 39, 41, 42, 44, 45, 62, 71, 72, 80, 82, + 85, 86, 88, 90, 99-106, 108-110, 137, 186. + Wayne, Gen. Anthony; 47, 55, 56, 175, 202. + Webster, Daniel; 148. + Weem-tee-gosh; 100. + Wells family; 173-183. + Wells, Rebekah; 69, 70, 173. + Wells, Samuel; 36, 37, 69, 99, 173. + Wells, William; _passim_; see table of contents. + Wells Street; 35. + Wentworth, John; 68, 151, 152. + Whisky; 63, 87, 88. + Whistler family; 151-156. + Whistler, John; 58-61, 66, 69. + Whistler, John Jr.; 162. + Whistler, Major Geo. W.; 152. + Whistler, William; 58, 59. + Whistler, Mrs. Wm.; 59, 60, 61. + White Elk; 48. + White, Liberty; 71. + Williams, Mrs. Mary Clark; 118. + Wilmette; 57. + Winnebagoes; 77, 88, 116, 167. + Winnemeg; 41, 80, 81. + Wolcott, Alexander; 165, 169. + Wolcott, Henry Clay; 173. + Wolcott, James Madison; 35, 173, 177. + Wolcott, William Wells; 173. + Women and Children; 40, 49, 64. + Wood, Alonzo C.; 194. + Woodward, Augustus B.; 49. + Wounded for torture; 38, 43, 98. + + +DIBBLE PUBLISHING CO., +334 Dearborn Street, +CHICAGO. + + * * * * * + + MAJOR KIRKLAND'S FIVE BOOKS. + + * * * * * + +Historical Works: + +THE STORY OF CHICAGO. Cloth, $3.50; Half Morocco, $5.00; Full Morocco, +Gilt Edged, $7.00. + +THE CHICAGO MASSACRE OF 1812. Paper, 50 cts. Cloth, $1.00 + +Novels: + +ZURY, THE MEANEST MAN IN SPRING COUNTY. Paper, 50 cts.; Cloth, $1.50. + +THE McVEYS, AN EPISODE. Cloth, $1.25. + +THE CAPTAIN OF COMPANY K. Illustrated. Paper, 50 cts.; Cloth, $1.00. + +Each of the above books sent, carriage free, on the receipt of the +price named. All three of the novels, in cloth, for $3.00. + + * * * * * + +The two histories are devoted to a topic which the whole world agrees +to consider, on the whole, the most interesting of all now offered for +its attention, namely, the young giant of the West:--Chicago. + +The last named, "The Chicago Massacre of 1812," is here, within these +covers, to speak for itself. The first named, "The Story of Chicago," +has been published for about a year, meeting a success without parallel +among the books on this subject. + +The publishers have received (beside hundreds of favorable reviews) the +following eloquent personal letters, worth many ordinary critiques: + + + WHAT THE FOUR + + [Illustration] OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES, + LOUISA CHANDLER MOULTON, + FRANCES E. WILLARD, + EDMUND C. STEDMAN, + + HAVE TO SAY ABOUT + + + THE STORY OF CHICAGO: + + Boston, March 19, 1892. + +My Dear Mr. Dibble: + +I have waited a few days to become acquainted with your beautiful book, +"The Story of Chicago." It is indeed a story worth telling, and I thank +you most heartily for giving me the opportunity of reading it and the +privilege of placing it upon my shelves. + +They used to tell us that the age of miracles had passed, but few +recorded miracles compare with the wonder of this great city, springing +up like a mushroom and hardening and spreading its branches until it +stands like a mighty oak, king of the forest, with the promise of +countless ages before it. + +I have had great pleasure in looking at the splendid architectural +monuments as they are figured in your pages. I have looked with the +deepest interest on the portraits of the men who have wrought all these +marvels, and I only wish that I could promise myself the delight of +beholding Chicago as she will appear in her more than royal robes when +the world is flocking to look at her, the Empress City of the West; it +may be, by and by, of the Continent. + + I am, dear sir. Very truly yours, + Oliver Wendell Holmes. + + + 22 Rutland Square, } + Boston, Mass., April 11, 1892. } + +Dear Mr. Dibble: + +I have delayed to thank you for "The Story of Chicago" until I could +find time to make myself thoroughly familiar with it; and I can now +say, without hesitation, that it has interested me more than any other +story of a town that I have ever read. + +I congratulate you on having secured as its author so accomplished a +writer as Major Kirkland, whose novels are a memorable delight, and +who proves himself, in this fascinating "Story of Chicago," no less +successful as a historian. + +Your very numerous and beautiful illustrations add greatly to the value +of the book; and surely this Story, (which reads like a chapter of +miracles,) is a contribution to American history of which no one can +afford to be ignorant. + + Yours very sincerely, + Louise Chandler Moulton. + + + Rest Cottage, } + Evanston, Ill., June 23, 1892. } + + The Dibble Publishing Co., + Chicago, Ill. + +Kind Friends:--"The Story of Chicago" is Major Kirkland's masterpiece. +He has comprehended what envious New York has called the "Windy City," +but which is in reality the Magic City, not only of America but of +the world. Whoever helps to put this book under eyes that have not +been blessed by its fair, inspiring pages and choice photogravures has +helped to increase the sum of human happiness, for as the brain of man +is creation's masterpiece so Chicago is the planet's whispering gallery +of whatever is most hopeful, progressive and inspiring to humanity. +Her history is the epic of the Great Lakes and the wonder-book of the +prairies. Long may its crisp pages rustle in the breeze. + + Frances E. Willard. + + + 137 West 78th Street, } + New York, July 12th, 1892. } + +Dear Mr. Dibble: + +When you prevailed upon Major Kirkland to write the "Story of Chicago." +you displayed once more your acumen. You induced the brilliant author +of "Zury" to forego his imaginative work for a while, and to devote his +talent to the narration of an "o'er true tale"--a tale, however, as +strange and absorbing as any romance. I know he will get his reward, +and I hope you will get yours. + +But let me compliment you, heartily, upon the book itself, and upon the +liberality and taste with which you have illustrated it. Every American +is proud of Chicago, of her history, her great ambition, her financial +and intellectual progress. Her record is faithfully set forth in your +handsome volume. Whoever designs to visit Chicago and the Columbian +Exposition should own and thoroughly read "The Story." + + Ever sincerely yours, + Edmund C. Stedman. + + +Following the good practice of "letting other men do the talking," here +are some of the countless public praises which came crowding in after +the publication of each of the three novels: + + +KIRKLAND'S THREE NOVELS. + + +[Illustration: O]NE NOVEL ("Zury") tells of life on Zury's farm, and +another ("The McVeys") tells of life at Springville and early Chicago, +with glimpses of Lincoln, Douglas, David Davis, etc., and bring +together Zury and Anne Sparrow, the hero and heroine of both novels: Of +these two books Hamlin Garland in _The Boston Transcript_ says: + + "The full revelation of inexhaustible wealth of native American + material ... will come to the Eastern reader with the reading of + "Zury" ... It is as native to Illinois as Tolstoi's "Anna Karenina" + and Torguenieff's "Father and Sons" are to Russia, its descriptions + are so infused with real emotion and so graphic. The book is + absolutely unconventional ... not a trace of the old-world literature + or society,--and every character is new and native ... The heroine is + a Boston girl, ... a bouncing, resolute, and very frank personage, + able to care for herself in any place. The central figure ... is + Zury.... This a great and consistent piece of character painting.... + He fills the book with his presence and his inimitable comments upon + life and society.... A man whose better nature flowered late." + + "The McVeys; An Episode," has the sincerity of history, and when one + reads it he is in the very atmosphere of Spring County. The surveying + crew, the railroad building and final jubilee, the lead mining all + go on under the eye.... The story of Anne and her children forms the + connecting thread of a book of great power and freshness. + +The War novel won the first prize ($1,600) in the famous competition +got up by the Detroit Free Press. In gaining favorable notices it quite +equalled its two predecessors. + + "The Captain of Company K." There is nothing in the nature of + artistic writing within the covers of "The Captain of Company K," + by Maj. Joseph Kirkland, nor is there any of that kind called real + because it is ugly, but there is a good story of life in a volunteer + company in active service. The hero is a fine specimen of those + countless citizens to whom their country's need revealed their best + selves, and the heroine is an admirable likeness of the girls of her + time. The publishers compare the story to the work of Tolstoi and De + Maupassant, which is unjust to the author, whose mind is as free from + Russian morbidity as it is of French artistic instinct, and, being an + American, he is to be congratulated on both deficiencies. It is not + the most truthful writers, or the authors of the most wholesome books + who are carried away by the influence of contemporary foreigners, + any more than it is the manliest men who imitate the social caprices + of other countries. Maj. Kirkland has written an American story for + Americans, and has written it well.--_Boston Herald._ + + "The Captain of Company K," by Joseph Kirkland, is one of the very + few later stories of '61 which cannot fail to interest everybody. To + those readers who are already acquainted with Mr. Kirkland's "Zury" + and the "McVeys," and they are not a few, "Company K" will be a + double treat, as it carries some of the characters he has portrayed + in them through the scene of the great rebellion. The style of the + book is clearly hinted at in its unique dedication to "The surviving + men of the firing line; who could see the enemy in front of them with + the naked eye, while they would have needed a field glass to see the + history makers behind them." The private's impressions of war, formed + in the teeth of musketry, may be of less value to accurate history + than the view from the the epaulette quarter, but for dramatic + purposes the foot soldier's story is best, as Mr Kirkland proves by + his success with a military novel.--_Kingston (N. Y.) Freeman._ + + I read the story at one sitting, and morning found me closing the + volume. You have written a true book. That intimate image of certain + phases of the Civil War, which the mind's eye of the soldier alone + retains, and which, already dimmed by years, would soon have been + blotted forever, has been caught and fixed in literature.--_Major + Henry A. Huntington._ + + +DIBBLE PUBLISHING CO., + +Sell on easy payments "A Library of American Literature," "New +Chambers' Encyclopedia," "Webster's International Dictionary," and +other standard illustrated publications, giving employment to hundreds +of intelligent instructors and solicitors. Our friends, subscribers, +solicitors and customers are cordially invited to make our office their +headquarters during their stay at the World's Fair. Call or address, + + Dibble Publishing Co., + 334 Dearborn St., Chicago. + + +=DIBBLE PUBLISHING COMPANY'S= + + =World's Columbian Exposition= + + =.......Pocket Record Book= + +is alphabetically arranged, with maps, floor-plans and charts, so as +to answer as a guide as to what is best worth seeing and how to see it +and keep a perfect record, from day to day, of what you have inspected, +with ample room for memoranda all through the book. Sent by mail, +postage paid, on receipt of 10 cents. + + +"BUNKER HILL TO CHICAGO." + +BY MRS. ELOISE O. RANDALL RICHBERG. + +Is a charming story, of interest from start to finish. So cleverly is +the tale unfolded there is no point at which to rest until the end is +reached. The compassionate author closes on page 160. In paper covers, +50 cents, and will be sent postage paid to any address on receipt of +price. + + +"FAY BANNING." + +BY WILL J. BLOOMFIELD. + +Speaks for itself in a language and style of its own, drawing the +reader on, page after page, fully occupying the mind with dramatic +scenes of exquisite taste and ever changing variety, in so clear and +vivid a form the reader is inclined to feel he is really participating +in, and helping to tell the story of his adventures and those of his +friends who are leading characters in this beautiful drama of real +life. 288 pages handsomely printed from close, clear type, neat cloth +covers, $1.00; paper covers 50 cents, and will be sent, postage paid, +to any address on receipt of price. + + + +"LILY PEARL AND THE MISTRESS OF ROSEDALE." + +BY THE BLIND BARD OF MICHIGAN. + +This sweet singer, though blind, has so beautifully told the story of +"Lily Pearl" that one of our leading authors says of her: "Sightless +she is not, for in her the mind's eye is of a brilliancy that seems +to make our mere physical vision useless by comparison. Better the +soul's sight without eyes, than the eyesight without soul." 458 pages +handsomely illustrated and neatly bound in cloth, $1.25. Address + + + =DIBBLE PUBLISHING CO.= + 334 Dearborn St., Chicago. + + + * * * * * + + +Transcriber Note + +Images were moved so as to not split paragraphs. Hyphenation, outside +of quoted passages, was standardized to the most prevalent form used. +Minor typographical errors were corrected. To preserve the look of the +original, the muster-roll on page 150 retains an asterisk rather than +using a repeated footnote letter. + + + + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Chicago Massacre of 1812, by Joseph Kirkland + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 59624 *** |