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THE

ANNALS oF CHICAGO:

ee eed A Ly Re

DELIVERED BEFORE

THE CHICAGO LYCEUM,

JANUARY 21, 1840,

BY

FOSEPE IN. BALESTIER.

REPUBLISHED FROM THE ORIGINAL EDITION OF 1840,
WITH

AN INTRODUCTION,

WRITTEN BY THE AUTHOR IN 1876,
AND ALSO %
A REVIEW OF THE LECTURE,
PUBLISHED IN THE

CHICAGO TRIBUNE IN 1872.

CHICAGO:

FERGUS PRINTING COMPANY,
244-8 ILLINOIS STREET,

1876,

MT he

EAE oh
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1876, by
Fercus PrinTING COMPANY,

In the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.

2464578

Ae
ee
INTRODUCTION.

 

My old friend, Mr. Robert Fergus, of Chicago, has
applied to me to say some words introductory to his
re-publication of a lecture delivered by me in that
city, in the year 1840, entitled ‘The Annals of
Chicago.”

Mr. Fergus having incurred the expense of causing
that lecture to be copied in manuscript at the Wis-
consin State Library, from the original edition printed
by Edward H. Rudd, in 1840, it would be ungracious
in me to refuse his request.

The existence of a copy of the original edition at
Madison was made known through a clever article
published in the Chicago Tribune, August 25th, 1872,
which Mr. Fergus intends to make a part of his pres-
ent pamphlet. Many years ago, the British Museum
advertised for a copy, which I then tried to obtain,
but, after diligent efforts, I was unable to find one;
which would seem to argue that hardly anybody—
not even the author—thought such a trifle worth pre-
serving. Mr. Joseph Sabin, the eminent bibliophile
of New York, whose labors to perpetuate the memory
of even the small and obscure things appertaining to
American history are entitled to all praise, lately
showed me copies of the title pages of this and
another of my vagrant bantlings, in a. proof-sheet of
4 INTRODUCTION.

one of the numbers of his invaluable Dictionary-
He knew that he had obtained the title of the
Chicago lecture directly from a copy of the original
publication, but he did not recollect where that
copy could be found.

Up to the present time, therefore, I may justly
rank myself among the very rare authors of the
world, and I ought, perhaps, to regret that I am now
to be:made cheap and common. But, inasmuch as
a conflagration in the State, Library of Wisconsin
might cause my “Annals” to share the fate of the
lost “Annals,” of my brother historian, Livy, I not
only forgive my friend Fergus for taking my coat,
but shall proceed to give him my cloak also.

Mr. Fergus is a typographical pioneer in Chicago.
He was connected with Rudd when the “Annals”
were printed, in 1840. I find his ‘imprint in Mrs.
Kinzie’s Narrative of the Chicago Massacre, pub-
lished in 1844. But, since then, he has grown even
faster than the city; from being a simple citizen, he
has expanded into a corporation, and I am told it
requires a large building to contain the Fergus Print-
ing Company. May his shadow never be less, and
may he earn the gratitude of future generations by
rescuing from oblivion the history of Ancient Chi-
cago—part of which he was.

In speaking of young Mr. Balestier’s lecture, I am
conscious of no personal feeling; I knew the young
man well in 1840, when he and I were five-and-
twenty, but I know him only historically now, when
he and Tr are one-and-sixty. I, therefore, feel little
delicacy in alluding to his performance in 1840.

At that day, all that remained to support life in
INTRODUCTION. ' 5

Chicago was hope. The poverty of the place was
visible and unfeigned. The more land a man had,
‘the worse off he apparently was. Money and the
‘people had long been strangers. But there were
few who despaired, for the Genius of the place for-
bade. To the dullest eye it was evident that a great
destiny awaited our muddy little town, squatted upon
the low banks of its sluggish bayou. The converts
of Brother Hinton, who were baptised in shoals—
generally in cold weather—in a sort of cove or
slough which came in from the river near State
Street, were not more-hopeful of heaven than the
-average Chicago citizen of its manifest destiny. But
the people were very poor, and none more so than
the younger members of the bar. If, therefore, in
1841, the author of the “Annals” left the city for
his ancient home, it was not that he loved Chicago
less, but his family moré—not that his will, but his
poverty, consented. But his heart has ever been with
the home of his earliest manhood, and he has always
rejoiced in its immense prosperity and gloried in its
marvellous achievements.

How much has come and gone in the intervening
years! What exultations, what heart-aches, what labors
of the brain, what strains of the nerves and senses,
what joys, what sorrows, what errors, what atonements,
what hopes, what disappointments, what regrets, what
‘satisfactions, what serene calms, what wild emotions,
what anxious days, and, perhaps, remorseful nights,
have done their ceaseless work .upon our bodies
and minds, and fashioned us to be what we are!
How often have we envied those of our old number
who died young, and so escaped the cares and tur-
6 INTRODUCTION.

moils and temptations of life, bearing only their
youthful sins to the feet of the Divine Compassion |
And yet how, in the main, we have wished to live
on, and, as a body, have lived on, to see our. little
wooden hamlet become a mighty city; to see that
city swept away in a day; and, after the tears of
the world had been poured upon its smouldering
ruins, and the benevolence of the world had fed its.
hungry and clothed its naked, to see it rise again,
in five-fold majesty and grandeur!

Perhaps those of us who have lived outside of
all this marvellous growth, and anxiously watched it,
can, better than those who have dwelt in the midst
of it, appreciate the Chicago of to-day.

It was the boast of Augustus that he found Rome
a city of brick, and should leave it one of marble.
Long before Augustus, wooden Rome was swept by
frequent conflagrations, and, perhaps, the fire-proof
Rome of to-day may owe something to that circum-
stance. It may be doubted whether the people of
Chicago sufficiently value the lesson twice taught
them, and, perhaps, yet again to be taught them,
through the discipline of fire. The present popula-
tion found a city of wooden shanties, and will leave
behind them one of brick and stone. But numbers
still sigh for the liberty to build fire-traps, in which to
catch their neighbors’ houses, and it will yet require
nerve and decision: to resist their selfish efforts to
reinstate the pine shanty in its ancient glory. But
such efforts should be resisted to the utmost in a
city whose winds are fierce and unbridled, and whose.
lots are so laid out as to admit of the closest packing.

The people of Chicago, as a whole —of course,,
INTRODUCTION. 7

there are many exceptions—have never been lodged
according to their means, and it is time they learned
to appreciate the amenities of life which flow from
pleasant and elegant household associations. The
first step is to eschew wooden homes, which are
suited only to the country. The idea that the pro-
hibition of wooden exteriors for dwellirgs retards any
desirable growth, is not well founded. The general
use of brick, stone, and iron will of itself draw to

the city a large and valuable population of skilled —

artisans and laborers, and establish numerous perma-
nent industries connected with house building. It
will add vastly to the visible wealth and beauty of
the city, unless a penuriously cheap and wretched
class of brick buildings, like those in English manu-
facturing towns, shall be erected. A mean, wooden
town to live in, surrounding a city of palaces to trade
in, would disappoint visitors and disturb the com-
placency of residents. Of course, the time has not
come for Chicago to build whole streets of palatial
mansions, as New York has done. Not for many a
year will Chicago be able to rival New York in solid
wealth, and the consequent costliness of houses and
lands. But comely and comfortable dwellings, built
of materials which do not feed, but resist, the flames,

can be built at a moderate cost, and their substantial,

city-like air will impart a sense of solidity, security,
and self-respect to the whole community.

I observe that the writer of the ‘‘Annals” spoke
kindly of the Press of Chicago, as it existed in his
early day, and praised the impoverished public for its
liberal support of newspapers. I have a dim recol-
lection of a young man who wrote a good deal for
8 INTRODUCTION.

the ‘‘American—published. daily.” In those days
editors wrote sharp-—not to say abusive —squibs,
-against their brethren; and, perhaps, they were not
too fond of fair play in their treatment’ of each other.
Among the moral prodigies of the past thirty-five
years, is the total disappearance of all scurrility and
injustice from the newspapers. This is notably the
case in Chicago, where all. is courtesy and respect
between editors; where everything is fair in politics};
and the scriptural question, “Art thou in health,
my brother?” is always scripturally put. Whether
we owe this growing amenity and fraternal suavity
to the increasing civilization and enlightenment of
the age, or to the efforts of the. clergy to advance
Christian fellowship, and cultivate -Christian . graces,
is a problem for casuists.

Be that as it may, the Chicago Press of to-day is
an absolute marvel. No material wonder which the
city has wrought is so wonderful as its Press. To
say nothing of several good evening papers, there
are three large morning dailies—literally dailies, pub-
lished every day in the year-—which supply a mass
of news, correspondence, statistics, and all else that
goes to make up a first-rate metropolitan journal.
The editorial ability displayed is not a whit behind
the general excellence of these papers. Only a most
intelligent community would support such an array
of talent as is employed upon the Chicago Press.

It is not my purpose to talk about statistics.
Are they not written down in a hundred books and
pamphlets? and do wonders ever cease in Chicago?

and can the wonderer say which wonder is the most
wonderful?
INTRODUCTION. 9

The Water-works, the Parks, the Tunnels, the Stock
Yards, the Schools, the Churches, the Elevators, the
Railroads, the Lumber Yards, the Packing Houses,
the new city of Commercial Palaces, the unequalled
Hotels, the enormous growths of Population, Manu-
factures, Railway and Maritime Commerce, and the
Wholesale Trade: these and many other things are
marvels which point unerringly to the time when
Chicago will be—next to New York and its suburbs
—the largest and most important city on the Amer-
ican Continent.

What she most needs now is capital belonging to
herself, to be used only for herself. Capital to fur-
nish money to agricultural producers as far west as
the Rocky Mountains—to foster the ever-increasing
industries which cluster around her walls—-to store
and control the surplus products of the boundless
west—to deal directly with Europe—to share directly
in the overland Asiatic trade—to intercept the min-
eral riches.of the western mountains, and draw the iron
and copper and silver ores of Lake Superior into her
furnaces. Every year adds something to the home-
owned capital of Chicago. Small, indeed, is it now,
compared with that of the great eastern metropolis.
But it will grow and expand, and the city with it, so
that another thirty-five years will astonish the man now
twenty-five years old, as much as the retrospect of
thirty-five years astounds the sexagenarian of to-day.

But what are the people of Chicago doing to keep
intelligent rich men, and their cultivated families,
among them? Poor young attorneys can easily—
perhaps thankfully—be spared. But what are the
people doing to keep among them their millionaires
10 INTRODUCTION.

of taste and culture? or those of them who wish to
improve the taste and culture of themselves and their
children? Why is it that so many of this impor-
tant class have taken wing and fled away with their
wealth to more genial abodes, drawing their rents
from Chicago tenants, but spending them elsewhere?
This is a question worthy of all consideration. The
answer is, that certain attractions are needed to hold
such men. ‘The more Chicago fosters literature, art,
the drama, and music, for the public, and the more
generally culture, elegance, and even luxury are to be
found in private circles, the more desirable Chicago
will become as a residence for the rich. Parks are
of no use, unless ample means and skilled men are
provided for their immediate improvement. Boule-
vards are frauds, unless they are speedily and thor-
oughly finished, and then kept in order. Artists are
a superfluity, unless they are generously patronized.
The drama is a nuisance, unless managers are liber-
ally sustained and encouraged to be enterprising, and
so to the end of the chapter.

Perhaps Chicago may be ‘remiss in none of these
things. Perhaps her Parks, her Boulevards, her stu-
dios, her theatres, her concert-halls are all in a flourish-
ing condition. None deny that her social life pre-
sents great attractions, but it may Nor be true that
the opulent do all in their power to make it brilliant
and fascinating to the extent of retaining those citi-
zens who have withdrawn from active life. Perhaps
they do not even sustain a first-rate club of the best
people, with a first-class reading-room attached—a
club which provides exquisitely and at moderate cost
for the inner man bodily, and which caters liberally
INTRODUCTION. ll

for the inner man mentally, by furnishing not only the
best newspapers, but also the best magazines and pic-
torial publications of the entire world.

Finally, what has been the effect of the Great
Fire upon Chicago? At this hour, in the midst of a
fresh spasm of “hard times,” caused by the collapse
of gigantic eastern speculations, and the clamor of
the equally cocksure, and, perhaps, equally mistaken,
rival financial doctrinaires, we find Chicago rich
‘ and prosperous. Those who can do so are holding
on to their property. Perhaps they remember that
Cormelia bought the house of Marius for $12,000,
and a short time after sold it to Lucullus for $80,000.
What would have been the condition of the city now,
had no abnormal drain been made upon her resources
by the utter destruction of more than a hundred mil-
lion dollars’ worth of property, over and above outside
insurances, besides a vast temporary loss of trade?
Who can say?’ Perhaps at this time she might have
been able to drive back the tide of disaster, and
measurably restore general confidence. At all events
her position, although strong, would have been vastly
stronger, and the increase of her wealth and popu-
lation very much greater.

But, in the end, both the greater and the lesser
conflagrations will have proved of general benefit,
although to many, calamities without remedy. The
new grade of the streets, with the greatly increased
facilities of conforming to it in practice, is of in-
calculable importance. The magnificent city of
commercial palaces and princely hotels, built with
_a certain approach to uniformity and mutual fitness,
which has taken the place of the medley of grand
2 INTRODUCTION.

and mean structures, built on varying planes, will
enure to the permanent advantage of the city. And
especially, the annihilation of masses of inflammable
hovels, in places where they were most dangerous
and least wanted, and the future exclusion of wooden
houses from the entire city, cannot fail to prove im-
mensely beneficial to the common welfare.

If, in the year 1911, the belated traveller, who
has just missed the air-boat at Sitka, shall curiously
look over the volumes in the Alaska State Library
—warmly bound in seal-skin—he may chance_to
alight upon this modest pamphlet. He will be a
Chicago man, and will have left behind him, a week
before, a proud and opulent city of two million in-
habitants; a city built of non-inflammable materials,
partly within and partly without the forty miles of
boulevard which the foresight of the present has
wisely and liberally provided for the use of the future.
Will it be too much to ask of him to telegraph a
sprightly review of these then forgotten pages to the
Chicago Tribune, by the new process? My heirs will
cheerfully pay the expense.

And so I conclude the pleasant task assigned to
me by my friend Fergus, and if I have said aught
to offend, let it be laid to his charge.

J. N. BALESTIER.

BRATTLEBORO, VT., Jan. 1, 1876.
J. N. BALESTIER, Esa.,

S1r,—Having with much gratification ‘listened to your
lecture on the Annals of Chicago, delivered before the Lyceum,
on the 21st inst., and being desirous to preserve it for future
reference, as well as anxious to place it in the power of others
to participate in the gratification and instrtiction which it has
already imparted to us, we would respectfully solicit a copy
for publication.

Respectfully yours,
GRANT GOODRICH,
WM. B. OGDEN,
SIDNEY SAWYER,
MARK SKINNER, ©
DAVID HUNTER,

JNO. S. WRIGHT.
CHICAGQ, Jan. 24, 1840.

CHICAGO, Jan. 24, 1840.

GENTLEMEN,—I take pleasure in complying with the
request conveyed by your communication of this date. You
will however permit me to say, that the flattering terms, in
which your note is couched, are attributable rather to the kind-
ness of your feelings towards myself, than to the merits of the |
humble production which I now place at your disposal. I
have taken the liberty to add a few notes to the lecture, which
I trust will meet with your approbation.

I am, Gentlemen,
Very faithfully yours,
J. N. BALESTIER.

To GRANT GOODRICH, Esq,
President of thé Lyceum, and Others.
ANNALS OF CHICAGO.

 

Mr. PRESIDENT, AND GENTLEMEN OF THE LYCEUM:

In presenting this hurried and imperfect sketch,
I make no pretension to the name of a historian.
The means of preparing the historical parts of it,
have been limited and inadequate:—the original
sources of information have not been within my
reach, and my materials are drawn from those who
have had access to the ancient records. So much,
therefore, as may be said of the Early History of
Chicago, is necessarily superficial. It shall be my
endeavor to treat the subject as concisely as may be
consistent with its full development, avoiding all de-
tails which can be properly dispensed with.

Chicago is probably one of the oldest settlements.
in the Far West. Before it was inhabited by the
Whites, it had been, from time immemorial, occupied
by the Aborigines. Major Long remarks, “that the
number and apparent antiquity of the trails center-
ing in this spot, indicated that Chicago had, for a
long time, been the site of an Indian village.”

The French were the original discoverers and set-
tlers, not only of this place, but also of nearly all the
important points in the original North-west Territory.

oh
It is an honorable and enduring monument to that
great nation, that her sons should have abandoned
their happy homes, three hundred years .ago, for the
wild forests and desert prairies of savage America,

And it is an imperishable honor to universal philan-
thropy, that her religious ministers, vindicating their
tight to the proud name of Jesuits, should have
braved the stormy sea in small, frail vessels, to en-
counter, upon the land, the savages of the forest.
We hear much of the toils and sufferings of the
Pilgrim Fathers; but the hardships endured by the
French emigrants, many years before, and in a region
more remote from the seaboard, are passed over in
comparative silence. When. we reflect, that the
French left their country from the impulses of en-
terprise and religious zeal, while the English pilgrims
were driven from their native shore by persecution;
that the French came over nearly one hundred years
before the Puritans, settling far in the interior, and
pushing their discoveries midway between the oceans:
much as we may admire the heroism and _ sublime
energy of the Fathers of New England, we cannot.
withhold the palm from the dauntless sons of France.
As early as 1534, more than three hundred years ago,
the French began their discoveries and settlements in
America. Two ships, each of only 60 tons burthen,
left France on the 2oth of April, 1534, and arrived
at St. Malo on the 15th of September, in the same
year,—having spent nearly five months upon the
ocean. This expedition was under the command of
Admiral Cartier, who, on that occasion, surveyed the
northern codst of } Newfoundland. On the 15th of
May, 1535, Cartier made a second expedition, his
THE ANNALS OF CHICAGO. 17

squadron consisting of three vessels, one of 120, one
of 60, and one of 40 tons burthen. In September,
1535, he ascended the St. Lawrence, as far as the Isle
of Orleans; the Indians opposed his farther progress,
but he continued to advance, until he reached Mont-
real, which he founded by the name of Mont-royal.
In 1540, King Francis I. granted an extensive charter
to Francois de la Roque, Chevalier de Roberval, and
in the summer of that yedr a squadron of five vessels
sailed, under the command of the gallant Cartier.

For the next sixty years, nothing was done towards
exploring that part of America. But in 1603, Samuel
Champlain led another expedition, and, in 1608,
founded Quebec. In 1612, Champlain made his
second expedition, under the patronage of the Prince
de Contd, who assumed the title of Vice-Roy of New-
France. Setting a good example to the emigrants, by
taking his family with him, he continued the settle-
ment of the country, notwithstanding the hostility of
the Indians. In 1622, a number of Jesuits were sent
to Canada by the Duc de Ventadour for the purpose
of converting the Indians 'to Christianity.

In 1627, Cardinal de Richelieu organized the com-
pany of New France, and Champlain was appointed
Governor. In 1629, Champlain was compelled to
surrender Canada to the English, but it was restored
in 1632. Again appointed Governor, Champlain put
forth the powers of his enlarged mind, and under his
administration the colony flourished. The indefati-
gable Jesuits came over in great numbers, bearing the
cross and the olive branch, preaching the gospel and
extending civilization. Many of them afterwards fell

2
18 THE ANNALS OF CHICAGO.

victims to their holy zeal, and sealed their faith with
the blood of martyrdom.

The first visit of the French to this place was,
probably, as far back as 1572, being two hundred
and sixty-eight years ago. In that year, Mons. Joliet
and Father Marquette paddled up the Illinois river
from its mouth, and crossed over to Michigan. From
the fact that a great number of trails led to this spot,
we may infer that these early explorers passed through
Chicago on their way to Michigan. For a century
after this period I find no evidence that this place was
revisited by the French.

But about the year 1670, Count de Frontenac, then
Governor of Canada, caused an exploration of the
shores of the great lakes, and it is not improbable
that the surveying party touched at Chicago.

Perrot is said to hdve been here in 1671.* At that
remote period it was the residence of a chief of the
Miamies, and bore the same name which it does at
present—a name which ought to savor of antiquity,
as it signifies something exceedingly odoriferous.

The expeditions of LaSalle and Hennepin, about
the year 1680, are well known. The generous spirit
of enterprise could be carried no further. If toils
cheerfully encountered, and sufferings, borne without
a murmer; if ‘courage that danger and disaster could
not tame, and perseverance that difficulty and dis-
appointment could not subdue, are worthy of com-
mendation—then may these men command our
admiration and gratitude. Far distant be the day
when we forget these heroic deeds of the men of
France; let us imitate their virtues while we emulate

* Hoffman.
THE ANNALS OF CHICAGO. 19

their enterprise. The fame of those bold navigators
and explorers, of those far-sighted statesmen, those
patient priests of the order of Jesus, should be dear
to us, who reap joys from their sorrows, and ease from
their sufferings. We owe to France an older debt
than we incurred in our revolution, and it were worse
than ungrateful not to acknowledge. it.

It is said that the French, at one time, occupied
Chicago as a military and trading post. Their dis-
cernihg judgment could not fail to appreciate its im-
portance. They doubtless remarked that it was the
eye of the lower lakes, an eligible commercial site,
and a commanding military position. How surely
has time, in numerous instances, attested the sagacity
of those early emigrants! Let us now pass to a later
period, and confine ourselves more immediately to
the subject under consideration.

In the year 1795, the Indians ceded to the United
States six miles square of territory, which embraced
Chicago. In 1804, the United States established here
a military post, which was called Fort Chicago, and
about the same period the American Fur Company
established a trading station under the guns of the
Fort. Until 1812, nothing occured to disturb the
tranquility of this remote and forlorn military and
trading station; but that year was marked by the
perpetration of a deed, black even in the records of
savage ferocity.

After the capitulation at Detroit, orders were sent
to Captain Heald to adandon the Fort at this place.
On the rsth of August, the troops evacuated it. The
Americans numbered about seventy-five, including
women and children; and about thirty Miamies, com-
20 THE ANNALS OF CHICAGO.

manded by Captain Wells, of Fort Wayne, acted as
their escort. The road lay along the beach of the
lake. The devoted little band had proceeded scarcely
a mile and a-half, when they discovered the Indians
lying in ambush, behind the sand hills which skirted
the beach. Heald at once led his men to the top of
the hill, and after firing one round, charged the enemy
in front. It was in vain. Greatly superior in num-
bers, the foe formed on the flanks as fast as they were
repulsed in front. The- small but gallant foyce of
the Americans was surrounded, while the escort of
Miamies took no part in the conflict. The result may
be readily foreseen; not only were more than half the
troops slaughtered, but the helpless and unoffending
women and children were butchered in cold blood!

Mr. Hoffman, in a note to his “Winter in the West,”
imputes the blame of this horrid tragedy to Captain
Wells, whom he erroneously styles “the credulous
Indian Agent.” He alleges that the retreat was
precipitated by Wells, who had been duped by the
Indians.* ~

Mr. Lanman, the ingenious historian of Michigan,
to whom I am chiefly indebted for the foregoing his-
torical data, remarks, on the other hand, that Wells
was not at that time connected with the Indian
Department; that doubting the good faith of the
Potawatamies, he advised an immediate evacuation
before they should have time to concentrate around
the Fort, but that Heald disregarded his counsel ;
that four hundred Indians collected around the Fort
before the troops retreated; that Heald exasperated
the Indians by destroying the surplus stores and

* See note A.
THE ANNALS OF CHICAGO. 2Y

ammunition which had been promised to them; that
Capt. Wells and Mr. John Kinzie, the Indian Agent,
then remonstrated against a retreat, but that Heald
determined to evacuate, because the destruction of
the ammunition and stores impaired the means of
-defense. There can be no doubt that this is the true
version of the story. Wells had been bred an Indian
warrior, and was perfectly familiar with the habits of
the savages; he was a bold and intrepid man, a tried
and skilful soldier; he fell among the first in the con-
flict, and his body was found with the face blackened,
after the manner of the savages when they meet with
disappointment.

After the consummation of this revolting massacre,
the Indians burned down the Fort. It was rebuilt
in 1817, and its name changed to Fort Dearborn.
In the spring of 1837, Fort Dearborn was aban-
doned, and since that time the barracks have been

“occupied by private families.

Let us now glance at Chicago, as it appeared to
Major Long, in 1823. This gentleman has published
a history of his expedition; his description of Chicago
is far from alluring. “The village,” says he “presents
no cheering prospect, as, notwithstanding its antiquity,
it contains but few huts, inhabited by a miserable race
-of men, scarcely equal to the Indians, from whom they
are descended. Their log or bark houses are low,
filthy, and disgusting, displaying not the least trace of
-comfort. As a place of business, it offers no induce-
ments to the settler, for the whole amount of the trade
-of the lake did not exceed the cargo of five or six
-schooners, even at the time when the garrison received
cits supplies from Mackinac.”
22 ' THE ANNALS OF CHICAGO.

Such, Mr. President, is the picture of Chicago in
1823. It may be too broad and unqualified, but the
sketch is substantially true.* Such was the germ from.
which has sprung this vigorous and growing city; and
such did Chicago continue to be until only eight years.
ago. Well may we exclaim

; ‘Can such things be,
And overcome us like a summer’s cloud,
Without our special wonder?”

Within so brief a space, within eight short years,.
and during a period when commercial calamity has
whelmed the land in comparative ruin, can we realize,
Sir, that Chicago has sprung, as it were, from the very
mire, and assumed the aspect of a populous city?—
That she has awakened from the slumbers of ages,
and gone forth like the strong man in the armor of
enterprise and perseverance, until her name is in-
scribed among the cities of the earth?

You, Sir, I believe, are among the oldest settlers..
Within less than eight years, you have witnessed this
magic change. Scarce a day has passed within that.
period that has not brought with it some improvement.
The memory is at fault when it attempts to keep pace:
with this rapid progression. Well may we rejoice in
a result so glorious! Well may we inquire for that
Chicago which, within our memory, was but a wet
plain, intersected by a narrow river, lying desolate
and silent upon the edge of yonder waste of waters!
Then the voice of the waves, as they rolled heavily
upon the beach, was feebly answered by the voices of
men; now, the hum of business drowns the music of
the waters, and the air resounds with the cheering
echo of labor. Capacious warehouses and commo-

* See note B.
THE ANNALS OF CHICAGO. 23

dious dwellings have taken the place of “the log and
bark houses, low, filthy, and disgusting.”—“The mis-
erable race of men” have been superseded by a popu-
lation distinguished for its intelligence and enterprise ;
and all the comforts of our Eastern homes are gath-
ered around us.

And, Sir, the superficial and contemptuous dictum
that, ‘‘as a place of business, Chicago offers no induce-
ments to the settler,”—where shall we find it verified?
Even at, this proximate period, we laugh to scorn the
discernment of the narrator. And our commerce—
who can realize the change within the last seven
years? Then the arrival of a fore-and-aft schooner
was an event worthy of being chronicled; it resembled
the visit of a ship to some remote and desert island;
and when the little craft stood in for the dangerous
shore, the inhabitants all turned out to witness the
prodigy! Sir, the garrison is gone—the vessels from
Mackinac bring it no more supplies—yet wonderful
to relate! our commerce still survives. The garrison
is gone—but the vessels still come; not at the rate
of five or six in a year, but’ at the rate of five or six
hundred; and, in a few years, hundreds will be thou-
sands. No curiosity is excited by the advent of a
schooner, and even the vapor-driven monsters, which
frequent our harbor, have ceased to call forth our
wonder!

In 1828, and perhaps until 1830, that part of the
original town, which lies east of the South Branch,
and south of the main river, was fenced in and used
by the garrison for pasture land. In 1830, the canal
commissioners sold.a number of lots, some of the best
in the city bringing from fifty to one hundred dollars,
24 THE ANNALS OF CHICAGO,

At that time, the place contained only five or six
houses, built of logs, and the population was less
than one hundred. One of those houses is still
occupied by Col. Beaubien, and was formerly the
property of the Fur Company. About eighty rods
to the south of that, there formerly stood a house
occupied by Col. Owings, the Indian Agent, but the
remorseless lake has washed it away. An “old set-
tler,” formerly occupied by DY Alexander Wolcott,
and, at a later day, Sir, by yourself, is still standing
on Block No. 1—its ancient name, ‘“‘Cobweb Castle,”
is known to few of the present generation. Another
old dwelling is on the point of land known as Block
14, which it is intended to excavate for a Canal basin.
The dwelling of Mr. John Kinzie, formerly Indian
agent, and also agent for the Fur Company, stood near
the spot where the north pier commences. There was
also a cabin at Wolf Point, in which Robinson the
Indian Chief resided. Another log building formerly
stood near the corner of Dearborn and South Water
streets, which was occupied as a store by Medard
B. Beaubien. The celebrated tavern of Mr. Mark
Beaubien, known as the Eagle, stood on the site of
the Sauganash. I grieve to say that no trace of
this model of Chicago Inns can now be found, so
unsparing is time! The first frame building in Chi-
cago was a store at Wolf Point, built for Robert A.
Kinzie, in 1832. Several brick buildings were erected
in the year 1834.

The Indian war in 1832, first brought Chicago into
general notice. General Scott was deeply impressed
with its importance, and was among the first to rec-
ommend a harbor, in a letter which was laid before
Congress.
THE ANNALS OF CHICAGO. 25

At the session of 1833-4, Congress made an appro-
priation for our harbor, and its progress, thus far, has
been slow but steady. Several superintendents have
had charge of this important work, among whom
Capt. James Allen deserves particular notice. It
may be proper to remark here the changes effected
in the land marks since the construction of the piers.
Formerly, the river made a bend, and ran south about
half a mile, along what is now the beach of the’ lake.
The mouth of the river was then on section 15, and
a wide sand-bar lay between the river and the lake.
The present mouth of the river is entirely artificial,
having been created by cutting though the sand-bar.
Of late years, the bar has entirely disappeared, partly
by reason of the rising of the lake, and partly bya
change in the action’ of the water, caused by the ©
piers. The consequence has been, that several acres
of the Fort Dearborn Addition, deprived of the pro-
tection afforded by the bar, have been washed away,
and deposited in the old bed of the river, which is~
rapidly filling up.

In 1833, a great Indian payment took place, at
which some of the inhabitants distinguished them-
selves by their dexterity in basely stealing blankets
from fhe ignorant and besotted Indians.

The year 1836, is especially memorable in the
annals of Chicago. An unregulated spirit of specu-
lation had manifested itself very decidedly throughout
the whole country in the year 1835, which in the
succeeding year, attained its acme. The cities of
the East were visited with an epidemic madness,
which found its way into every hamlet in the Atlantic
States. It was suddenly discovered that the Amer-
26 THE ANNALS OF CHICAGO.

ican people had labored under serious misapprehen-
sions with regard to the value of land, especially that
which lay in cities and villages. No sooner was
this startling discovery made, than the price of real
property suddenly rose a hundred, and, frequently, a
thousand fold. Sagacious men, looking far into the
future, now perceived that cities and villages, cover-
ing only a few acres of land, were soon destined to
extend over an illimitable domain. Visions of the
glorious future filled the imaginations of the mulitude;
wherever the surveyor took the magic chain and com-
pass—no matter how remote from population—there
it became certain, that a mighty city would, at no
distant day, arise. Paper cities flourished in a man-
ner unparalleled, and the public mind became utterly
diseased.

This unwholesome spirit was confined to no clesses
—it extended itself into every walk of life. The
farmer forsook the plow, and became a speculator
upon the soil, instead of a producer from beneath
the sod. If happily a city or a village were in the
vicinity, the farm was_laid off in lots, and exhibited
on a map. The mechanic laid aside his tools and
resolved to grow rich without labor. The lawyer
sold his books and invested the proceeds in lands.
The physician ‘threw physic to the dogs,” and wrote
promissory notes instead of prescriptions. Even the
day-laborer became learned in the mysteries of quit-
claim and warranty, and calculated his fortune by-
thousands.

When the mass of the community ‘thus abandoned
or neglected their proper pursuits, it may readily be
assumed that the ignoble few, who were willing to
THE ANNALS OF CHICAGO. 27

work, received an ample reward for their pains. The
price of labor was exorbitant; the simplest service
was purchased at a dear rate. Even the barbers,
who, since the days of Abraham, had shaved for six-
pence, discovered that they had been working at half-
price. The great increase of consumers, and the
proportionate decrease of producers, rendered the
price of provisions enormous.

To the merchant especially, this appeared to be
the golden era; but alas! he soon learned that it
was the age of dross. Had he been prudent—had
he confined himself to his proper vocation, and kept
clear of over-expansion, he might have done well..
But the spirit of the times drowned the voice of
reason. Credit, reckless and indiscriminate, was the
master-principle of those wild and maddening days.
Overleaping every barrier, disdaining restraint, tempt--
ing the inexperienced and unwary, laughing to scorn.
the calculating and prudent, alluring the ignorant andi
avaricious—the evil spirit went forth, sowing at broad-
cast the prolific seeds of bankruptcy and ruin.

To the abuse of credit then, did the country, in
a great degree, owe its disaster. Already had the
banks, which greatly multiplied at this period, issued,
sufficient paper promises to create a spirit of wild
extravagance; but the property of the country rose,
too rapidly in value to be represented by an inflated
bank-note circulation. Individuals, therefore, in hum-
ble imitation of the banks, issued their notes without
stint or limit. The merchant trusted, without djs-
crimination, all who chose to buy, and he gloried in
the fictitious profits which appeared upon his ledger,
He thought it prudent to diversify his pursuits by
28 THE ANNALS OF CHICAGO.

purchasing land on credit, confiding in his surplus
profits as a means of payment. ‘In this manner,
obligations to the amount of millions were contracted
for an imaginary consideration.

If old established communities were thus frightened
from their propriety, it can hardly be supposed that
the rising village of Chicago could escape the con-
tagion. The year 1835 found us just awakened to
a sense of our own importance. A short time before,
the price of the best lots did not exceed two or three
hundred dollars; and the rise had been so rapid, that
property could not, from the nature of things, have
acquired an ascertained value. In our case, there-
fore, the inducements to speculation were particularly
strong; and as no fixed value could be assigned to
property, so no price could, by any.established stand-
ard, be deemed extravagant. Moreover, nearly all
who came to the place expected to amass fortunes
by speculating. The wonder then is, not that we
speculated so much, but rather that we did not rush
more madly into the vortex of ruin. Well indeed
would it have been, had our wild speculations been
confined to Chicago; here, at least, there was some-
thing received in exchange for the money of the pur-
chaser. But the few miles that composed Chicago,
formed but a small item among the subjects of specu-
lation. So utterly reckless had the community grown,
that they chased every bubble which floated in the
speculative atmosphere; madness increased in propor-
tion to the foulness of its aliment; the more absurd
the project, the more remote the object, the more
madly were they pursued. The prairies of Illinois,
the forests of Wisconsin, and the sand-hills of Michi-
THE ANNALS OF CHICAGO. 29

gan, presented a chain almost unbroken of suppositi-
tious villages and cities) The whole land seemed
staked out and peopled on paper. If a man were
reputed to be fortunate, his touch, like that of Midas,
was supposd to turn everything into gold, and the
crowd entered blindly into every project he might
originate. These worthies would besiege the land
offices, and purchase town sites at a dollar and
a-quarter per acre, which in a few days appeared on
paper, laid out in the most approved rectangular
fashion, emblazoned in glaring colors, and exhibiting
the public spirit of the proprietor in the multitude
of their public squares, church lots, and school lot
reservations. Often was a fictitious streamlet seen
to wind its romantic course through the heart of an
ideal city, thus creating water lots, and water privi-
leges. But where a rea/ stream, however diminutive,
did find its way to the shore of the lake—no matter
what was the character of the surrounding country—.
some wary operator would ride night and day until
the place was secured at the government price. Then
the miserable waste of sand and fens which lay un-
conscious of its glory on the shore of the lake, was
suddenly elevated into a mighty city, with a projected
harbor and light-house, railroads and canals, and in
a short time the circumjacent lands were sold in lots
50 feet by 100 under the name of “Additions.” Not
the puniest brook on the shore of Lake Michigan was
suffered to remain without a city at its mouth, and
whoever will travel around that lake shall find many a
mighty mart staked out in spots suitable only for the
habitations of wild beasts.

If a man were so fortunate as to have a disputed
32 THE ANNALS OF CHICAGO.

formed. Thus far this noble work has made good
progress—with its great resoures there is reason to
hope, notwithstanding the narrow spirit of some of
our legislators, that it will be urged to a speedy com-
pletion. Then shall we see Chicago take her stand
among the proudest cities of the nation; and, by the
blessing of God, no obstacle can impede her onward
march to greatness.*

In the winter of 1836-7, Chicago became an incor-
porated city. In April, 1837, William B. Ogden
was chosen the first Mayor; in 1838, he was suc-
ceeded by Buckner S. Morris, and, in 1839, Benjamin
W. Raymond, the present incumbent, was elected.

It would be tedious and unprofitable to detail the
growth of the city—suffice it to say that it is probably
without a parallel in the history of the world.t

It is honorable to the place, that while the commu-
nity were struggling for the goods which are of this
world, they were not unmindful of their future welfare.

Six churches were organized before or during the
year 1836, viz.: The Catholic, Episcopal, Baptist,
Presbyterian, Methodist, and Unitarian.

The character of the people was liberal, and they
contributed generously towards the- support of relig-
ion. To this day, all the churches, before enumerated,
_are in a flourishing condition. It is true the buildings
in which the congregations assemble are of mean
‘ architecture ; but whoever is conversant with the
monetary derangements of the last three years, will
admit that the absence of costly temples is no evi-
dence of a lack of devotion or liberality.

Nor was education wholly neglected, although woe-

* See note C. + See note D.
THE ANNALS OF CHICAGO. 33

fully mismanaged. By good fortune, the School Sec-
tion lay adjoining the city; and, although this land,
when sold, had not attained its greatest value, a very
considerable fund’ was raised for the support of
schools.

In 1836, a sale was made of a large number of
Canal lots. Strangers flocked in from distant quar-
ters, and the prices obtained were foolishly extrava-
gant.

The public spirit of the community is exhibited in
its patronage of the press. In 1834, the Cuicaco
DeEMOocRAT was started by JoHN CaLHoun, and, in
1835, THos. O. Davis commenced the publication of
thé Cuicaco AMERICAN. These papers still exist,
and the AMERICAN is now published daily.

In accommodations for the travelling public, Chi-
cago has made remarkable progress. In 1835, the
taverns were miserable in the extreme. The Sau-
ganash was esteemed the best; but the crowd of
strangers and the scarcity of provisions rendered
every tavern in the place an abode of misery. The
luxury of a single bed was almost unknown and the
table had no charms for the epicure. But now, a
man may “take his ease in his Inn,” and indulge in
all the luxuries of the East.

In. 1834, a bridge was built across the river at
Dearborn street, which proved a great public conven-
lence. It was repaired in 1837, at an enormous ex-
pense, and, in 1839, was demolished, and a miserable
ferry at Clark street substituted. The stock for a
new bridge at Clark street, has lately been subscribed,
and, it is to be hoped, that the community will not
again be compelled to cross the river in mud-scows.

3
34 THE ANNALS OF CHICAGO.

In 1836, a branch of the State Bank was estab-

lished here, but hitherto that institution has not em-
bellished the city with a banking-house.
* In Literature and the Fine Arts, Chicago cannot
be said to rank high. The Drama has flourished to
some extent, and the place contains a pretty theatre;
but, at present, the city cannot afford to sustain a
good play-house. ,

The Institution I have the honor to address, is the
only literary association in the City. I trust I shall
give no offence when I say that, as at present sus-
tained, the Lyceum does not meet the intellectual
wants of the community.

Mr.. PRESIDENT, it is necessary that new life dnd
spirit should be breathed into this praiseworthy un-
dertaking. A building should be erected for its use;
additions should be made to the library; a well-
stocked reading-room should ,be provided. Then,
Sir, would the community become more moral and
intelligent; literary enjoyment would take the place
of frivolous and injurious pursuits, and the rising gen-
eration would shower blessings upon our memories.

I had intended, Mr. PRESIDENT, to touch on various
other topics connected with our annals—our valiant
and invincible militia—our daring firemen—our en-
lighted judiciary—our august conimon council—but
I feel that I have already trespassed too far upon the
patience of the Lyceum.

In conclusion, then, let me express the hope that
our future annals may be worthy of the past. It is
true that the elements of prosperity surround us; but
let us remember that mere physical greatness is as
nothing compared with moral and mental culture. It
THE ANNALS OF CHICAGO, 35

is essential, to both, that we should be a UNITED
people. We should aim at unity of spirit and unity
of action; sectional jealousies should be forgotten;
selfish considerations should yield to the public good;
and, like a band of brothers, we should march onward
to that brilliant destiny which the God of nature has
ordained for us. Especially should we promote. the
interests of religion, morality, and education. Then,
indeed, shall we arrive at true greatness, and our chil-
dren will point with honest pride to the Annals of
Chicago.

POPULATION.

1835.... 3,265 1849.... 23,047 1863... .160,000
1836.... 3,820 1850.... 28,269 1864... . 169,353
1837.... 4,179 1851.... 34,437 1865... .178,900
1838.... 4,000 1852.... 38,733 1866... .200,418
1839.... 4,200 1853.... 60,652 1867... .220,000
1840.... 4,479 1854.... 65,872 1868... . 252,054
1841.... 5,752 1855.... 80,028 1869... .273,043
1842.... 6,248 1856.... 84,113 1870... . 298,977
1843.... 7,580 1857.... 93,000 1871... .334,270
1844.... 8,000 1858.... 00,000 1872... .364,377
1845.... 12,088 1859.... 90,000 1873... .465,650
1846.... 14,169 1860... .112,172 1874... .475,000
1847.... 16,859 1861... .120,000 1875... .525,000
1848.... 20,023 1862... .138,835

1885, (estimated by Jno. S. Wright,) 1,000,000.
1911, (estimated by J. N. Balestier,) 2,000,000.
NOTES.

A. The following letter from Captain Heald, contains a con-
densed account of the action. The reader will notice that the
retreat was delayed six days after the receipt of orders to
evacuate, and that four of these days had elapsed before the
arrival of Capt. Wells. ‘
PITTSBURGH, Oct. 23, 1812.

On the 9th of August last, I received ‘orders from Gen.
Hall, 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 fit.

The neighboring Indians got the information, as early as
I did; and came in, from all quarters, in order to receive the
goods in the factory store, which they understood were to be
given them. On the 13th, Capt. Wells, of Fort Wayne, ar-
rived, with about thirty Miamies, for the purpose of escorting
us in, by the request of Gen. Hall. On the 14th, I delivered the
Indians all the goods in the factory store, and a considerable
quantity of provisions, which we could not take away with us.
The surplus arms and ammunition, I thought proper to destroy,
fearing they would make a bad use of it, if put in their posses-
sion; I also destroyed all the liquor on hand, soon after they
began to collect. The collection was unusually large for that
place, but they conducted with the greatest propriety until I
left the fort.

On the 15th, at 9 in the morning, we commenced our march;
a part of the Miamies were detached in front, and the remain-
der in our rear, as guards, under the direction of Capt. Wells.
The situation of the country rendered it necessary for us to
THE ANNALS OF CHICAGO. 37

take the beach, with the lake on our left, and a high sand-
bank on our right, at about 100 yards distance. We had pro-
ceeded 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 flank. In about 15 minutes, they got possession of
all our horses, provisions, and baggage of every description ;:
and, finding the Miamies did not assist us, I drew off the few
men I had left, and took possession ‘of a small elevation, in the
open prairie, out of shot of the bank, and every other cover.
The Indians did not follow me, but assembled in a body, on
the top of the bank, and after some consultation among them-
selves, made signs for me to approach them.

I advanced towards them, alone, and was met by one of
the Potawatamie chiefs, called the Black-bird, with an inter-
preter; 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 con-
fidence 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 400 and 500, mostly of the Potawatamie nation, and
their loss about 15. Our strength was 54 regulars and 12
militia, out of which, 26 regulars and all the militia were
killed in the action, with two women and twelve children.
Ensign Ronan and Doctor Voorhis, of my company, with Capt.
Wells, of Fort Wayne, to my great sorrow, numbered among
ithe dead. Lieut. Helm, with 25 non-commissioned officers and
privates, and 11 women and children, were prisoners when we
were 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. Barnett, an Indian trader.
In a few days after our arrival there, the Indians all went off to
take Fort Wayne; and, in their absence, I engaged a French-
38 THE ANNALS OF CHICAGO.

man to take us to Mackinac, by water, where I gave myself
up as a prisoner of war, with one of my sergeants. The com-
manding officer, Capt. 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 on to Detroit, and reported
myself to Col, Procter, who gave us a passage to Buffalo; from
that place, I came by way of Presque-Isle, and arrived here

yesterday.
J. HEALD, Chaplain.

B. I am since informed, that the picture is entirely over-
charged, and so far as it relates to the buildings and population
of Chicago in 1823, is gratuitously false. The only iamilies
here at the time (except the immates of the fort) were those of
John Kinzie, Esq., Doct. Alex. Wolcott, and Col. Beaubien.
These gentlemen resided in comfortable log houses, and no
“bark house” was to be found in the place, except such as
were used by the Fur Company. A more respectable, peace-
ful, and comfortable little community could not be found. So
much, therefore, of the ‘‘narrative” as relates to these particu-
lars, should be placed to account of Major Longbow.

C. This is not a mere outpouring of enthusiasm. The TIli-
nois and Michigan Canal, when completed, will render Chicago
a place of vast importance. I will briefly advert to a few of the
advantages, which will be derived from that great work.

It is well known that no dependence can be placed on the
Ohio River as a channel of transportation, while the Lakes
afford a certain means of conveyance. All the forwarding
business for towns lying on the Illinois River, and for the
interior of Illinois, must be done through Chicago. Indeed
this is already’ the case to a considerable extent. But the
Canal will also open to us the forwarding business to St. Louis,.
and all the great towns which are springing up on the upper
Mississippi and its branches. Thus will Chicago be the grand
avenue for the transportation of merchandise bound westward.

Again, the Chicago market can furnish an almost inexhaust-
ible supply of pine lumber, from the forests of Michigan and
Wisconsin. The lumber trade is already very considerable,
THE ANNALS OF CHICAGO, 39

and the supply can be increased in proportion to the demand.
The towns on the upper Mississippi and its branches, are chiefly
supplied with lumber brought from the Alleghany River, a
distance of upwards of 1200 miles. The price of pine lumber
at St. Louis, I am informed, generally averages $40, while at
Chicago, the average price is about $14 per thousand. Our
lumber trade must consequently be immense.

But the produce of the soil will be the great and unfailing
source of prosperity to Chicago. An immense region of country,
unsurpassed in fertility, will send its produce to this market.
The lines of railroads connecting with the Canal, will bring
into cultivation large tracts of country now considered valueless.
As a stock country, Illinois is unsurpassed; for her vast prairies
are capable of sustaining innumerable herds of cattle. It is
doing no violence to truth to say, that Chicago will, at no dis-
tant day, be the great produce mart of the western world.
Wheat, corn, beef, pork, butter, cheese, etc., etc., will come into
the place in great abundance. The mines of northern Illinois,
Missouri, and Wisconsin will pour a portion of their treasure
into the lap of Chicago. An immense traffic will grow out of
‘the interchange of commodities, and no limit can be assigned
to the prosperity of the place. Emigration will open new fields
of enterprise ‘‘beyond the swelling flood” of the Mississippi,
and the influence of Chicago will extend to the base of the
Rocky Mountains. We may form some idea of the future
growth of the country by looking into the past. Ten years ago,
there was scarcely a farm to the north of Chicago. This con-
gressional district then contained only 54,213 inhabitants;. it
now contains a population of more than 200,000 souls, and
numbers over 40,000 voters. Until the last year, we depended,
in a great measure, on the East for supplies of provisions. Our
pork, flour, butter, etc., were brought from the states of New
York and Ohio. Last year, we exported some pork and a
small quantity of wheat. When navigation opens in the spring
of 1840, we shall send forward a large amount of produce.
Every year will increase the value of our exports, and never
again will the East supply us with provisions.

Chicago is also destined to be a great thoroughfare. Already
have our splendid steamboats attracted travelers from all the
40 THE ANNALS OF CHICAGO.

large towns on the Mississippi, including New Orleans, and
every year brings with it an increasing throng.

The Illinois and Michigan Canal, connecting the waters of
Lake Michigan with the Illinois River, and completing an
inland communication by water between the Atlantic Ocean
and the Gulf of Mexico, is nearly half completed. According
to the last report of the commissioners, it can be finished in
1843, if the necessary means are procured. The Canal will be
almost 100 miles in length, 60 feet wide at surface, and 6 feet
deep. It will be fed with the pure waters of Lake Michigan,
and for that reason will be very expensive. About $2,750,000
have already been expended upon the work, and it will require
upwards of $5,000,000 to complete it. Of the amount already
expended, about $500,000 have been derived from the resources
of the Canal. These resources consist of farming lands, town
lots, wood, timber, etc. The Governor, in his last message, esti-
mates the total cost of the Canal at $8,118,616.38; the amount
of canal property at $7,034, 102.35, leaving a balance of $1,-
084,513.93 against the Canal, the greater part of which, he
thinks, can be realized, from contingent resources. The amount
of canal lands not sold is 270,182 acres, which the Governor
estimates at $5,500,000, being sufficent to complete the work.
It should be remembered that these lands include several valu-
able town sites, among which are Chicago, Lockport, Joliet,
Ottawa, and LaSalle, the terminating point. The lands lie in
alternate sections of a mile square, and extend back five miles
on each side of the entire length of the canal. Near LaSalle
are large beds of coal, which may be classed among the re-
sources of the canal.

The Chicago River is to be used, for the purpose of a Canal,
for a distance of about 4 miles. Then, for about 18 miles, the
cutting is very deep, averaging about 20 feet, and that through
a clay stratum of the heaviest character. Rock excavations
follow, and, doubtless, the quarries laid open by the Canal will
hereafter supply Chicago with an indefinite quantity of good
building materials. From Chicago to the mouth of the Kanka-
kee, a distance of 50 miles, the whole work is under contract.
About 25 miles of comparatively light work, are not as yet
laid out, but the remaining portion is under contract, The
THE ANNALS OF CHICAGO. 41

revenue which will be derived from tolls, water privileges, coal,
etc., cannot fail to be very great.

D. A few facts will illustrate the rapid growth of Chicago.
In 1832, the population was less than 100, in 1835, it had reach-
ed 2000, and at this time the population exceeds 5000. The
increase of population is not now so great as it has been here-
tofore, but it is sure and steady. In 1835, the number of build-
ings was very small, Now they amount to upwards of 1000,
more than thirty of which are brick. There are about 100 mer-
cantile firms, and lawyers, physicians, and mechanics in due
proportion. In the department of manufactures are found a
steam sash factory, a steam flour mill, a wind mill, and paper
factory. There is a company chartered, for supplying the City
with water, two newspaper and job printing offices, and one job
and book printing office, one engraver, one bookbinder, one
dyer, and, in short, every sort of trade, from the master builder
down to the dealer in second-hand clothing. ;

The increase of commerce may be judged of from the fact,
that in 1833, there were only four arrivals of vessels, whose
aggregate burthen was only 700 tons, while in 1836, there were
456 arrivals of vessels, whose aggregate burthen amounted to
60,000 tons. Every year adds to the commerce of the place,
and several steamboats: of the first class ply constantly during
the season of navigation, between Buffalo and Chicago. There
are also two steamboats owned in the place, which run between
Chicago and the several ports of Lake Michigan.
[From the Chicago Tribune, Nov. 25, 1872.]

A RELIC OF 1840.

Balestier’s ‘Annals of Chicago’—His Address
Before the Chicago Lyceum.

Review of the Trade and Aspects of the Period.
Facts and Features of Mayor Raymond’s Administration.
Local Issues of the Year.

How the North-Side Was Cut Off, Etc., Etc.

On the evening of Jan. 24, 1840, the Chicago Ly-
ceum had gathered in the Lyceum Hall, in the Saloon
Buildings, third story, on the corner of Clark and
Lake streets, to listen to the address of J. N. Bales-
tier, a member of the Chicago bar, on a theme that
came literally home to all his listeners; “The Annals
of Chicago;”’ which expression sounds to us, of the
present mature period, like the antiquity of early
garden-sauce. It was not until a decade since that
the Saloon Buildings, originally built by Captain J. B.
F. Russell, in 1836, retired their modest three-story*
frontage of plain brick in favor of the modern block
occupied for years by the telegraph-offices. For a
long time, Judge Drummond held the ‘Federal Courts
in the same old Lyceum Hall.

Many of the active men of this present period of

* The cut shows a brick building, three stories high, with a

front of four stores, three windows each, and the building is
80 feet deep.
4 RELIC OF 180. 43

our rebuilding, looked up at young Balestier, on the
occasion referred to. Grant Goodrich, who will not,
for several years to come, patiently allow any one to
call him venerable, was the President of the Lyceum,
and filled the Chair on that memorable night, on
which, in that wintry weather, the people gathered,
with their wives and daughters. The bosoms of the
auditory fluttered with honest pride, as Balestier went
through his manuscript, and held the mirror up to the
straggling, forlorn, but hopefil, Garden City. They
liked it so well that they did a very good thing for
posterity in first passing unanimously a vote of thanks,
and then choosing a committee to procure the publi-
cation of the “Annals.” It was neatly enough
brought into typography by Edward Rudd, and, with
the not unbecoming selfsatisfaction of an author so
honored, Balestier took a fair copy, wrote on the
margin of the title-page a pleasant note to General
George P. Morris, of the New Vork Mirror, asking
his acceptance of the small brochure “from one of his
correspondents.” The little pamphlet had a mail-
journey of three weeks before the great New York
editor turned over its modest pages, with much the
same feeling, probably, with which a New York jour-
nalist of to-day would glance at the cheaply-printed,
cheerful chirpings of a local lyceum lecture in Sitka.
This identical copy, so addressed, drifted back again
beyond the lakes, to be stitched into a bound volume
in the State Library of Wisconsin, where a sum-
mer rambler among the interior lakes of our sister
State came acroés it, the other day. All honor to the
machiney that, superior to political cliques and ca-
bals, has created such a treasure-house of history in
44 A RELIC OF 18.

our neighboring State, filled with records of which
this waif is one, albeit its antiquity is small alongside
some that fill adjoining cases, their years told by cen-
turies.

So, in the breezy capitol that dresses its plumage in
the mirrors of three lakes, we turned over Balestier’s
“Annals.” He was an attorney, is still active in his
profession in New York City, and was a kinsman of
our Kinzies. We judge from his “Annals” that he
tried to like Chicago as well as possible; but he cer-
' tainly did not sit down here to see his predictions
come to pass. Prophets seldom do. Jonah tried it
at Nineveh, you remember, and failed utterly in sit-
ting out the doom he announced. When the disci-
ples of the Lyceum had gone home, Grant Goodrich,
William B. Ogden, Sidney Sawyer, Mark Skinner,
John S. Wright,* and David Hunter drew up one of
those graceful, complimentary letters, which Rudd,
for Balestier, inserted to front the “bastard title,” and
the earliest annals of Chicago became a published
fact. It is gratifying to record that all these parties
named are still living; all are active citizens; several
of them are busy in our Great Rebuilding.

The lecturer wisely touches very lightly on the old
French parties who used to go stumbling about this
New France of-two hundred years ago. Probably he
foresaw that future generations were to be terribly
tried by local annalists who could not box the com-
pass of dates for an almanac, or a handbill, without
dragging in poor old Marquette and LaSalle, and the
Jesuit fathers. Balestier took Chicago as he found it,
a neigborhood only recently disturbed and depressed

* John S. Wright died, Sept. 26, 1874.
A RELIC OF 1840. 45

by the heaviest cart-wheels of misfortune in the crash
of 1837. He makes a capital and wise review of the
great speculative era of 1835, when he was happiest
who was able to get deepest in debt; when money
was printed like handbills; when paper towns and
cities abounded throughout the West; when a future
great lake port was confidently located and staked
out at the mouth of every creek and streamlet that
emptied into Lake Michigan; when the scrambling,
racing, chasing crew of land-operators were literally
monarchs of all they surveyed, unless somebody
jumped their claim. Balestier was happy that all
this was past; was thankful that the local crash was
no worse; and bravely reckons up the Chicago of the
period, which had, he very confidently stated, over
five thousand inhabitants, one hundred mercantile
firms, two excellent newspaper offices, (here Long
John, in a front seat, drew one of his longest smiles,
and took two-thirds of the compliment for the Demo
crat), one job office, one engraver, one bookbinder,
and one dyer (not counting Thomas and the Doctor).
“Of the thousand buildings, upwards of thirty are
brick,” continues the lecturer; at which we trust civic
pride blossomed into applause. He praises the Ly-
ceum; tells what it may become; urges its value to
the youth of the place, where yet dramatic shows are

only lightly successful, he says. — The absolute cer-

tainty was presented that the Illinois and Michigan

Canal, which, for eighteen years, had been, in some

form or other, a matter of public policy and wrangle,

would eventually be finished, and be made of incalcu-

lable value to the State, and especially to the city.

And this, while the sad, melancholy ditch lay the
46 A RELIC OF 1840.

open grave and Slough of Despond of contractors’
hopes and operatives’ wages, not to enter upon its
only half-completed. destiny as a thoroughfare until
seven years later. We say half-completed destiny,
for the original canal proposed was a “deep cut,”
whereas “shallow cut” prevailed, enforced by the
actual poverty of the times, helped by chicane that
struck its roots far back into the animosity against
having any canal at all. Something of this opposi-
tion is reflected in the shining courage with which
Balestier refers to the canal, though he may not have
dug down, as we may as well do here, to the twin
foundation facts, that, in the Illinois Legislature of
1820 and ’21, a movement to bring the canal scheme
before the Federal Government as a State measure
was openly opposed by Southern Illinoisans, one of
whom bitterly denounced any and all such “dylets
Sor blue-bellied Yankees.” And, when Congress made
«the first canal land-grant, in 1822, it contained no
more nor less than the magnificent concession of ‘‘a
strip of land ninety feet wide through the public lands
from the Illinois River to Lake Michigan,” with the
express stipulation that the Federal Government
should be at no expense for necessary surveys. All
honor to the men who, from such poor beginnings,
wrought so effectively that, in 1827, the fresh grant
donated 300,000 acres in alternate sections along the
same route. But, in 1840, even these acres could
not finish the Canal; and the Chicago Lyceum could
only take home the cheerful assurance of Balestier on
the subject.
Then he went on to tell what might be looked for
presently in the way of exports, this population hay-
aA RELIC OF 184o. 47

ing begun to depend less and less each year upon
supplies by way of Michilimackinac, and from the
Lower Wabash. In that day, a Chicago wheat-cor-
ner could have been kept and maintained each day
by a half-hour’s use of a scoop shovel; but no man
dreamed of such an enormity in commercial practice.

The lecture wound up with a graceful wreath of
compliment to “our valiant and invincible militia”
(the Beaubien march to the Bourbon Spring at River-
side must have been fresh in his mind), “our daring
firemen” (the chief terror of whose lives was to drag
their hand-engines through prairie mud), “our enlight-
ened Judiciary, our excellent Mayor and august Com-
mon Council.” And then the janitor blew out the
oil-lamps, and stumbled home across the prairie, with
a tallow dip in a punched tin lantern,—that “light of
other days.”

We learn, even at this lapse of time, that these
“Annals” made their impression, and were talked of
as a very good thing actually among the more solemn
business of the august Common Council, twelve in
number, who met, with Mayor Benjamin W. Ray-
mond, in the Common Council Chamber in the old
City Hotel (late the first Sherman House.) This was
generous in them, too, for Balestier abused them
slightly on the subject that had, in Mayor Raymond’s
administration, distracted and literally rent the city
in twain—“the Bridge question.” The lecturer was
of the straitest North Side persuasion, by kinship and
sympathy. The huge flaps of the first Dearborn street
bridge, that used to stand erect, when open, like two
insane barn doors, had fallen from decrepitude, and a
scow-ferry had been substituted at Clark street.
48 A RELIC OF 71840.

There were twelve Aldermen, and the South Side act-
ually menaced the over-the-river population with hav-
ing no bridge at all, ‘‘and sarve ’em right,” for certain
freshly-remembered warehouse schemes on the north
bank of the river. But Mayot Raymond was no such
man, and he threw the casting vote for Clark street
bridge,—a low float affair, which an intoxicated
skipper actually drove his schooner sheer over,
one inclement fall night, coming up the river with
full. sheet—besides his own three sheets in the
wind. It is amusing to record, in this same con-
nection, though the river is bearing us away from
Balestier’s address, that a few years later, the West
Side, then becoming a power in city control, actu-
ally essayed to defeat any and all increase of bridges
across the South Branch, the better to secure country
trade, in the days when the grain came in country
teams. ‘These things read strangely enough in our
present Millennial epoch, when jealousy between
the great divisions of our city is a thing of the past,
and we help one another to parks and street im-
provements, and other municipal good things, with-
out wrangling and stint. Mayor Raymond has lived
to see, even before leaving active and useful life, a
new city rising on the site where stood the “thirty
brick buildings” of 1840, and from which 18,000
goodly structures were, in a day and night, swept
away. The Chicago Lyceum lived to expand into
the Young Men’s Association, later the Chicago Li-
brary Association, from whose "ashes is springing the
grand Phoenix of a Public Library, plumed with the,
generosity of ‘the world’s bookmakers. And when,
in its new Public Library building, to be erected, set
all about with the shelved treasures of the world’s
best literature, some lecturer arises before a Lyceum
audience to give the new “Annals of Chicago,” he
cannot handle his theme more thoughtfully and sen-
sibly than the annalist of 1840, who should be among
the invited guests, if J. N. Balestier be still in the
land of the living.
SOON TO BE ISSUED!

 

 

 

 

FERGUS

DIRECTORY.

OF THE

CITY OF CHICAGO,

1830.

WITH CITY AND COUNTY OFFICERS, CHURCHES, PUBLIC
BUILDINGS, HOTELS, ETC., ALSO, LIST OF SHERIFFS |
OF COOK COUNTY AND MAYORS OF THE
CITY SINCE THEIR ORGANIZATION; :

TOGETHER WITH
Pou.-List or THE First Crty ELEction—Tugspay, May 2p, 1837;
- AND ALSO
List or Purcuasers or Lots in GovERNMENT RESERVATION, © 3] F
THE No. oF THE Lots, AND THE Prices Parp, 1839. :
Etc., Etc.

CHICAGO:
FERGUS PRINTING COMPANY,
244—8 ILLINOIS STREET.
1876.

 

 

 

   

 
 

ornell University Library

Cc
F 5484 B181876
Ann:

iii

olin