The Monmouth inquirer., 1926-10-07


it was not only the first great catastrophe IN our
history to send It's thrill of horror and sympathy
for its victims all over the nation, but it was the
most overwhelming calamity that had ever visited
any community.
Perhaps the better reason is that Its after
math was what we like to think is so typically
American. Here was city that by persistent
energy, daring enterprise and far-reaching plans
had been built up to high position with unllm-
tied possibilities for the future. In one night all
the effort of A years was swept away. hun
cred thousand people were homeless and out Of
employment, 10000 buildings had been destroyed
and property worth nearly two hundred millions
of dollars had vanished. In the face Of all this
1T would seem that human nature would give
way to despair
But the hardy pioneer stock of Chicagos citi-
zenry was not the kind that was easily daunted.
For them there was no sitting down among the
tesolation Of their city and giving themselves up
to mourning over their shattered hopes The mo-
ment the telegraph wires had been repaired, her
bankers, with nothing but the future greatness
of their city to offer security, were borrowing
millions from eastern capitalists and her mer-
chants were ordering new stocks of goods. The
case of one merchant was typical Before the
smoldering ruins of his store had cooled, he
put up sign on the site which read: "All gone
but wife children and energyl"
Out of her travail Chicago with her motto of
II Will" arose to begin building again and within
lake new in brick and stone and new In spirit
Within twenty years congress had chosen Chicago
as the site for the worlds fair to celebrate the
four hundredth anniversary OF the discovery Of
America and the Worlds Columbian exposition of
1893 set new mark In such celebrations Fifty
five years later finds Chicago citizens planning
an even greater exposition for 1881, one which
will celebrate her centennial and will show to
the world that in a hundred years she has arisen
to a position which challenges the achievements
of any city, matter how many hundreds OF
years Of history It has behind It
To appreciate how great was the disaster that
overlook this city on October O. 1871, it is neces-
sary to review her brief history before the blow
fell The first permanent inhabitant on the site
of Chicago was Jean Baptiste Point au Sable a
West Indian negro, who built a rude cabin at the
mouth of the Chicago river in 1896. A Frenchman
Jumped his claim and later sold it to John
Kinzie who is often called "the father Of
Chicago" In 1903 the War department built "a
fort on the banks of the river-the first Fort
Dearborn whose history to end so tragically
In the massacre of 1912. A second Fort Dearborn
was built in 1915 and occupied for 80 years But
even the protection it afforded failed to attract
settlers and in 1927 Chicago could claim only
three families. First plated and named in con.
nection with the survey for canal route in 1880,
the town covered only some threeeights Of
square mile and when it was Incorporated in 1887
its population was only AGO. although there had
been a boom after the Black Hawk war
The panic Of 1887 caused period of stagnation
and al that kept Chicago alive was the canal
project and the indomitable grit or men who
foresaw great future for the city. A steady
growth began after 1912, with temporary set
back by the panic Of 1857 and continued through
the Civil war. By this time the entrance Of rail-