Red Lodge daily news combined with Carbon County news., 1934-05-09

and named Capt. John Whistler as commandant.
Accordingly the fort was built In the summer
OF 1908, given the name OF Fort Dearborn, In
honor OF Gen. Henry Dearborn, then secretary
of war. and thus Capt. John Whistler became
the real father of Chicago" The original draft
for the plans Of the fort, drawn by Captain
Whistler, is still In the archives Of the War de-
%partment at Washington-a good soldierly lob.
1t La, but revealing none of the artistic qualities
| which were later to make the name of Whistler
so famous.
For the next nine years John Whistler, as
builder OF the fort and Its commandant, DOM
mated the little community In this lonely out
post of civilization which was to become the
second largest city In the United States. But the
building and the commanding were not the only
contributions he made to the history of Fort
Dearborn and the beginnings OF Chicago. He
brought with him a growing family, some Of
whose members were destined for renown even
greater than his.
His eldest son, william Whistler. accompanied
him to Chicago as a second lieutenant and
served there throughout the elder Whistler's
term of service. His eldest daughter, Sarah, was
married In November, 1904, to James Abbott, a
trader of Detroit, thus becoming Chicago's first
bride. Another daughter married Lieut.. Joseph
Hamilton, who was also a subaltern under
Whistler at Fort Dearborn.
But our chief interest is In a toddling child
of three who came with his father to Chicago In
1908. His name was George washington Whist
Ter. Thus did the ex-British soldier honor the
great commander of the rebels" against whom
he had fought under Burgoyne. Young George
Washington Whistler grew up into sturdy boy
hood along the marshy banks Of the Chicago
river and on the sandy shores of Lake Michigan.
He was only ten years old when, as the result
Of a garrison feud, the War department thought
1t advisable to scatter the officers at Fort Dear
born to various posts In the Middle West and
the boy accompanied his father back to Detroit.
And there, two years later, young George Wash
ington Whistler probably witnessed the scene
which made his father unique In American-and
perhaps In any other-history.
For Capt. John Whistler and his elder son,
Lieut.. William Whistler, were officers In General
Hulls army when that tiustered American COM
mander surrendered the fort at Detroit to the
British at the outbreak of the War of 1872, and
tradition says that the captain was SO enraged
over the capitulation that he broke his sword
over his knee rather than surrender 1t to the
enemy. Perhaps 1t was only the shame of a
surrender without firing a shot that caused him
to do 1t. Or perhaps 1t might have been his
realization that he was destined to 90 down In
history as the only British officer who, having
once surrendered to a victorious American army,
became In turn an American officer who surren-
dered to q victorious British army.
In due time John Whistler was exchanged for
a British prisoner, and the choleric old captain
remained In the American army only until the
close of the war when he was honorably dis
charged. He died September 8, 1929, but he
lived long enough to see his son, William, win
some renown as an officer In the Indian and
Mexican wars.
Old Capt John Whistler also lived long enough
to see his youngest son, George Washington
Whistler, graduate from West Point at the age
of nineteen and assigned to the artillery branch.
But he was not to have the satisfaction of know
ing to what heights his son would rise In another
profession, nor to what greater heights this sons
son would rise In still another.
While George Washington Whistler was still a
cadet at West Point he once visited, while on
leave, the home OF a classmate, william Gibbs
Mcneil. 1t was a great brick mansion which
had been built on a plantation near the Cape
Fear river In North Carolina before the Revolu-
ton by one Donald Mcneil. scion of a Scotch
family that had emigrated to America from the
isle OF Skye In 1879. There Cadet Whistler made
the acquaintance Of Anna Mathilda McNeill, the