The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1890-02-28
A "REMINISCENCES OF CHICAGO.
4 Savannah Lady Who is Glad the
Worlds Fair viii Go There.

thuslastlc over Cnlcago having been de-
clared the site for the worlds fair is Mrs.
William w. Gordon. Mrs. Gordon has a
book called "Seyen Days in Chicago
which is full of interesting sketches of that
western city before it became famous as a
metropolis. The book is yellow with age.
but the older it gets the more
highly it is priced. MRS. Gordon's
father, the late Col. John H. Kinzie. was
born near Detroit, aad was carried to Chi
cago in an Indian cradle in 1903. Her aunt.
Ellen Kinzie, was the first white child born
outside Of Fort Dearborn in 1906, and the
Kinze family Owned what is still called
'Kinze's addition comprising the entire
north side OF the early city of Chicago.
The agency where the elder Mr.. Kinzie
resided was the first house built outside of
the fort. Cobweb Castle was built by Col.
John II. Kinzie about the year 1881. and
stood at the foot of Kinzie aud Cass streets
up to 1850.
At the close Of 1880 Chicago contained
twelve houses and three country residences.
with population Of 100. The town was
organized in 1888, with Col John H.
Kinzie as president of the village, and it
WAS incorporated as a city in 1887, with
William b. Ogden as mayor. The first
brick house was built in 1883 The first
vessel entered the barbor June II, 1884. and
July l, 1887, the population was 4, 10. In
1875 the census placed the population at
100000.
The name "Chicago' has been variouslv
Interpreted to mean ''skunk," or polecat, an
animal supposed to have abounded there.
and wild onion" after an herb which is
known to have grown on the banks of the
creek. Historians say, however, that the
word had a much nobler meaning, and in the
Indian tongue it was interpreted to mean
'strong."
hos fcO Y,aIx Al
first white man who became q resident of
Chicago was negro. The first amendment
of the copper color settled there
in 1896. His name was Jean Bap-
tiste Point au Sable. He built a rude
cabin on the north bank of the main river
and laid claim to a tract Of land surround
ing it He disappeared from the scene, and
his claim was Jumped" by a Frenchman
named LeMol who commenced trading
with the Indians. A few years later he
sold out to John Kinzie, Mrs. Gordon's
grandfather. Mr.. Kinzie was then agent
for the American Fur Company. The
company had traded at Chicago with the
Indians for some time, and this fact had
probably more than anything else to
90 with the determination of the
government to establish fort
there. The Indians were growing numer-
Gus in that region, being attracted by the
facilities for selling their wares, as well as
beng pressed northward by the tide of im-
migration setting in from the south. 1t
was judged necessary to have some force
near that point to keep them in check, as
wen as to protect the trading in
tereSts. 1t was at this time that
Fort Dearborn was named in honor of a
general, was built and garrisoned by fifty
men and three pieces of artillery The same
year MIR. klnzle removed his family to the
place and improved the Jean Baptiste cabin
into tasteful dwelling. His son, John H.,
Mrs. Gordon's father. was then a few
months, old. and he subsequently became
one OF the most prominent men of the CITY.
AS young man, Col. Kinzie was in the
American Fur Company. both at Mack
mac and Chicago. He spoke not only
French, but thirteen Indian languages, and
was the only white man except French
priest, who ever succeeded in learning and
speaking the Wtnnebago; of which Ian
guage ne framed a dictionary. which is
now In the historical Society in Chicago
A trouble between Great Britain and the
United States, eliminating in war
lame, IN which the Indians were prominent
Is graphically described in the book. When
Capt. Head, who was in command at the
Tort, was about to evacuate the fort be-
cause OF It's remoteness from headQuart ers
Mr.. Kinzie endeavored to dissuade Capt
Head from evacuating the fort, but finding
that his efforts were futile he offered to
accompany the troops, in the hope that his
influence and presence might restrain the
unfriendly Indians from making an attack.
de did so, but this did not avail to prevent
the massacre, although it undoubtedly mlti-
gated its effects.
Capt Head promised the Indians all
the liquor and ammunition he had upon con-
dltlon that they were to escort him safely to
fort wayne. They agreed to this, but Mr.
klnze, knowing their treachery, persuaded
Capt Head to destroy all the ammunition
and whisky by throwing it into the river.
This enraged the Indians, and they went
about threatening to begin general scalp
ing The next day the Indians put
into execution their threats. A
bloody fight ensued, and the whites we're
reduced to twenty men. When the fight
began Nh. Klnzie's stepdaughter, who had
married one of the officers, Lieut.. Helm,
accompanied her father and husband on
horseback: During the fight a young In
dian seized her and tried to drag her from
her horse. She was torn from him by
larger and older Indian, who carried her
INTO the lake III order, as she thought, to
drown her. But she found that he held her
just to her chin in the water, and then
she recognized him. in spite of all
MS war paint, as Black Partridge,
one OF the warmest friends of their family
lie saved her life. aud she was afterward
ransomed and restored to her family. All
The whites were captured. and young
Indian tomahawked twelve white children
before the soldiers eyes. The whites were
spared and taken into Chicago, waere Mr.
Ainze did duty as surgeon, extracting
bullets with his penknife. Just
before the fight Mrs. Kinzie,
with her four children, domestics and two
Indians, took a boat, intending to cross the
lake st. Joseph, but remained at the mouth
Oh the harbor during the carnage, and then
returned home. The prisoners taken by the
Indians were ransomed, and the whites left
chicago, the Kinzie family going back to
Detroit.
For four years Chicago was left in the
hauds of the Indians, no whites choosing to
90 there. After thai time the fort was re-
Dallt, and the Indians moved to the far
west. Mr. Kinzie did not return to Chicago
until sometime after the reconstruction of
The fort. Gordon S. Hubbard. Esq, agent
Tor John Jacob Aston in the fur trade, used
70 go down to Chicago once
year to carry provisions
TO The soldiers in the FORT and upon his first
arrival there he writes tnat only two white
families were residents Of Chicago outside
the fort. John Kinzie, he said, lived on
Ihe north side of the river. nearly on the
me mne. of Michigan avenue, and Antoine
%-oI 5I,n,