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.

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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

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other standard illustrated publications, giving employment to hundreds

of intelligent instructors and solicitors. Our friends, subscribers,

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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=

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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