, 1879-08-10
CHICAGO.
Origin and Morning Of tile Name

tn re Editor OF 1hE iF1huRe-
. In preparing an article on Chicago, had oe-
cason recently to investigate the oFiglnat s'en1-
fication aud use Of the word Chicago.
we hare had more than score OF lectures
and historical sketches, in which the origin OF
this word has been given, with quotations from
various authorities: but found the d'scFcp-
ancies IN these different statements so great
that it vas not easy to decide on the real mean
ine of the original word, without looking beyond
them. l accordingly directed my inq uiries to
q master OF the Indian tongues, and obtahea
from him the information desired.
Before presenting his letter, Will tlrst M
troduce some Of the most Important notices o1
the name Chicago that have been puhlished'
together with several statements which nave
been kindly furnished by those who have made
this question matter OF special study.
. The Chicago Magazine for: Aay, 1851 has the
following: a.,
se3CY grass. the wild onions grew IN great
abundance The Indian name for these pecu-
liarly native productions is tht-sa'qo; y "us
very natural that the Indians should, give to
this locality that name which more than any
thing else to their minds gave It characters
therefore they called it chicago. Chi~ea.go-"a"k,
in the Pottawatomie language, would mean
Chicago ta,.d, or place"
The Hon. Sidney Breese, who settled in
Kaskaskia in 1878, recently wrote the Hon. John
Wentworth:
"1 have a copy Of map. whichl made from
one in the Congressional Library. which 1ounu
among the papers Of President Jefferson made
in 1855: in which is place on the lake shore,
about where your city now is, marked 'Cnlca-
rou' !: and Father Louis Vivier, who was q
priest at Kaskaskia in 1752, in letter to MS
superior, saws: 'Chtkagou was celebrated IN
dian Chief who went to Paris, aud the UaensSS s;s
OF Orleans, at Versailles, gave him spenai!u
suuff-oox, which he was proud to exn1olt' On us
return to his brother-redskins.'
Airs. John H. Kinzie, who had peculiar faciIf-
ties for studying the early history OF Ch'caso'
writes in 1Vau-bun:
"The origin of the name Chicago is sub
iect Of discussion, some Of the Indians derlVinE
It from the fitch, or polccat. Others from the
Wild onion with which the woods formerly
abounded; but all agree that the place rccelVod
its name from an old Chief who was drowned
in the stream in former times. That this event.
although so carefully preserved by traultlon,
must hare occurred u very remote penoo. p,ls Is
evident from an Old French manuscF4pt pfouSn1
By Gen Cass from France.
~ In this paper, which purports to DC letter
from II. de Ligney, at Green Bay to n: ~
Sietre, among the Illinois, dated as early rs
@ tie place is ds9gnatsa {Nad as +; o faniv
letters Of the beginning Of the present cen-
Lury.''
! From "Discoyery and Conquests OF the
Northwest, with the History OF Chicago" ~
Rufus Blanchard:
.sThese unlettered photographers gave SYM
bolic names to their rivers, Lakes, ISLANDS, an0
to themselves, and in their vocabulary they hau
the name Chicago, which, in the language OF me
illinois tribes, meant an oniou. This is all 1t
meant in . positive sense, and bv thls name 1ne
place where our CITY stands has been Known
from a period antedating lis history: II IS
highly probable that it was thus named because
wild onions grew in great profuslon there"
scboo1craft. in his Thirty Years with the
Indian Tribes" under date OF 1884, says:
"The etymolo@y Of Chicago appears to be
this:
4 Chi-caq, Animal of the Leek, or Wild Onion.
s'CAi-cag- Il -o-,runz, The Wild Leek, or Pole-tat
= 81 Chicago, u Place Of the Wild 1eek.'
From Chamberiin's 1t Chicago and Its Subj
urbsn:
"A popular but superficial writer makes even
the name Chicago an aboriginal memorial OF the
reuulsiye site. So the phrase OF cuchre-players.
se,,t TO ChicdQo Instead OF rhe coarser word
sEuukel, embodied the same error. But phil
ologists recognize the word ChtcdYua, through
various corruptions, as one Of the Indian names
Of irate Deity the thunder god, much nke me
a;i IS pIaced besond dispute not only By its ETY.
molony, but by the frequency with which; IN the
Old French maps Of 1854, 1857, 1858, 1896, etc,
the great Mississippi himself is called Cha
caqua or Divine River"
Statement Of the Hon. William Bross:
"A1l nv information gained from the early
settlers Of the city and from an examination and