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From October 8th to 10th, 1871, the Great Chicago Fire
burned out of control, quickly spreading far and wide across the city. The
scarcity of fire personnel combined with the strong winds sweeping through the
dry, wooden environment effectively doomed the city. Eventually, rains came to
help put out the fire, but the devastation was massive.

The Chicago Board of Police and Fire Commissioners conducted
an official investigation into the cause of the fire, focusing on the O’Leary
family and their barn, but the commissioners never determined a definite cause.
The traditional account of the origin of the fire is that it was started by a
cow kicking over a lantern in the barn owned by Patrick and Catherine O'Leary,
but the false story was later attributed to an anti-Irish journalist trying to
lay the blame for the fire entirely on the immigrant family. Many other theories have circulated about the start of the fire,&nbsp;but the exact cause of the fire
remains unknown to this day.&nbsp;

1961 sculpture in front of the Fire Academy, by Egon Weiner's , near where the O'Leary cottage once stood and the Great Chicago Fire began. 

"In Old Chicago" - a 1937 American drama film directed by Henry King. Story about O'Leary's family and the start of the Great Chicago Fire. 

Video

The Chicago Fire of 1871 is largely considered the worst disaster in Chicago’s history. Starting on the night of October 8 and finally ending early on October 10, the fire burned out of control and consumed 17,450 buildings over a 3.5-mile swath, took about 300 lives, and caused $200 million in damages (equal to $4.6 billion dollars in 2018). A recent drought over the summer combined with strong southerly winds and a built infrastructure of mostly wood fueled the fire. The cause of the fire has never been determined, but legend has always placed the blame on Mrs. O’Leary’s cow who allegedly kicked over an oil lamp in the barn at 137 DeKoven Street.

Origin of Great Chicago Fire

This driving tour of the Chicago metropolitan area explores sites related to the history of Native peoples and early settlers of European descent. The tour starts with sites related to Native American history and concludes with the  Graue Mill and Museum. The tour also includes a variety of sites related to the early history of Chicago prior to the Great Fire of 1871.

19th Century History of Chicago Driving Tour

This virtual field trip explores sites related to the history of the Great Chicago Fire of 1871.

The Great Chicago Fire Virtual Tour

The Indian Boundary Park and Field House enjoys two histories, one attached to the broader theme that is Native American-United States relations, and a local history that involves Chicago's urban growth and a renewed effort to preserve the people that provided the city with its name.&nbsp; The official history of the park, according to the Chicago Park District, is explained: <blockquote>Indian Boundary Park takes its name from a territorial boundary established by the Treaty of 1816 between the Pottawattomie Indians and the U.S. government. The boundary line, which ran through the land that is now the park, remained in effect only through 1833, when the Pottawattomies were forced entirely from the area in the face of white settlement.Indian Boundary Park was the second and largest of the four parks created by the Ridge Avenue Park District. The others were Morse (now Matanky), Chippewa, and Pottawattomie. The Ridge Avenue district was the first of 19 neighborhood park commissions established after 1896 to serve areas recently annexed to the city. Chicago's three original park districts had authority only to create parks within the 1869 city limits.The Ridge Avenue Park District began acquiring land for Indian Boundary Park in 1915. Richard F. Gloede, a designer of North Shore estate landscapes, developed an early plan for the park. In the mid-1920s, the Ridge Avenue Park District opened a small zoo, one of only two zoos in Chicago and initially housing only a lone Black bear. The 1929 Tudor-Revival fieldhouse designed by architect Clarence Hatzfeld features Native American-themed ornament inspired by the park's name. Indian Boundary Park is unusual in that its eastern lawn flows seamlessly into the front yards of neighboring apartment buildings. This park feature was so well-received that in the 1960s the Chicago Park District closed off part of adjacent Estes Avenue as well.In 2005 Indian Boundary Fieldhouse was designated a Historical Landmark by the City of Chicago and is also listed in the National Register of Historical Places.1</blockquote>In 2012, the Indian Boundary Fieldhouse suffered from a fire, but the insurance policy taken by the Park District on the building, listed on the National Register for Historic Places, covered the nearly $1.5 million renovation, which included restoring&nbsp;Native American relief artwork, sculpted from plaster and wood trim, by a restoration specialist.2 The Native American aspect of this park may exist as one of nostalgia to some, but it truly represents the complicated nature of the Chicago area. For centuries (or more), Native Americans occupied the Chicago-area, using its swampy lands, prairie grasses, and navigable rivers for its own purposes comprised of trapping, hunting, fishing, trading, social activities, and sometimes war. In the 16th century to early 19th century, it became part of what Richard White famously called, the Middle Ground, both representing its geographic location and representative of the need for Europeans (notably French and English) and Native Americans to coexist. Indeed, one of Chicago's original European settlers, John Kinzie, was a trapper and friend of many Natives.3 The United States victory over the the British during the American Revolution, and again in the War of 1812 -- most Native Americans sided with the British, removed any semblance of the Middle Ground. Instead, Natives routinely looked to simply save its land against aggressive westward advancement by the U.S. Whereas the natives could play the French against the British, or vica versa, the U.S. had no real threats, notably after France signed over Louisiana. &nbsp;The treaty of 1816, for which the park draws its name, was one of countless treaties that proved to be temporary pauses in the otherwise broader strategy of the U.S pushing Natives out of the land.4 Many know of President Andrew Jackson's&nbsp;Even such presidents as Thomas Jefferson developed strategies that would result in Native Americans departing the land. It was, in essence, the accepted idea of American's natural progression westward.5&nbsp; This park, in particular, through the 1816 Treaty of St. Louis, was the demarcation line that&nbsp;provided land and safety for the&nbsp;Ottawa, Ojibwa, and Potawatomi while the U.S. could use a 20-mile swatth of land for trading fur and safe navigation.&nbsp;fur traders to safely pass through or settle in this area. &nbsp;The boundary line of that treaty cut through the park.6&nbsp; Today, the park serves as a reminder of that struggle between Natives and Anglo-Americans, but also a modern society looking to preserve the culture -- and even accept some wrongs committed, as shown by the admission on the official government website. The park also exists as place to avoid the typical urban ills with a specious park that hosts numerous activities, fests, and otherwise daily leisure.&nbsp;

Now part of the Chicago Park District, fittingly a government-owned land, it once existed in an area where the Treaty of St. Louis (1816) provided rights & land to the Odawa, Ojibwe, and Potawatomi by the United States. As with most treaties, it was short lived - Native Americans eventually were pushed west. The park itself has been open since 1922 and the Field House served a home to Native American artwork and history. 

Indian Boundary Park & Field House

Graceland Cemetery is a private cemetery established on the North side of Chicago in 1860 by lawyer Thomas Bryan. Because of concerns with potential water contamination due to the original city cemetery being on the front of Lake Michigan, the development of Graceland Cemetery was needed. The original 80 acres of land used for the cemetery were outside of Chicago's city limits at the time in what was then Lake View, Illinois. As the city expanded, the neighborhood has retained the nickname Lakeview. Bryan hired prominent architect H.W.S. Cleveland to design the park-like concept for the cemetery. Cleveland designed the paths and uniformly-sodded burial plots to resemble more of a pastoral landscaped park as opposed to the impersonal, poorly-maintained cemeteries common to the era. In addition, landscape architect Ossian Simonds added native plant life to the cemetery to enhance the ambiance and create a Victorian park feel. The cemetery is bordered with stone walls topped with wrought iron steel point fencing that is quintessentially Victorian. Graceland Cemetery has expanded from 80 acres at its original development to 119 acres today and is owned and operated by the Trustees of the Graceland Cemetery Improvement Fund, a not-for-profit trust. It features a historic chapel that was originally designed by Holabird &amp; Roche which has been restored to its original appearance with the addition of 500 hand-carved niches for the placement of cremated remains. There is also an outdoors area reserved for the in-ground burial of cremated remains near the chapel called the Columbarium Garden, which features a beautifully designed stone wall and bronze plaques.Graceland Cemetery is the final resting place for many notable Chicagoans. Charles Wacker(1856-1929), for whom Chicago's famous Wacker Drive is named, is buried there. Dr. Daniel Hale Williams (1856-1931), who was not only one of the first African-American surgeons but also one of the first surgeons to perform an open-heart procedure, is also buried in Graceland Cemetery. Retailer and business man Marshall Field was also laid to rest there. There are many prominent architects (Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, David Adler, George Elmslie), businessmen (Philip Danforth Armour, Cyrus McCormick), and several famous athletes who have been laid to rest there. There have also been several mayors of Chicago buried there, including Fred A. Busse, Carter Harrison Sr., Carter Harrison Jr., and Joseph Medill.The cemetery is also the home of a local ghost story, Inez Clarke. Legend has it that little Inez was only six when she died in 1880 after being struck by lighting during a family picnic. In response to their shock and grief, her parents commissioned a life-size statue to be placed on her grave a year after her death and after its completion, was placed in a glass case for protection. Some of the most common ghost stories surrounding the statue are that the figure of the little girl disappears from inside the glass case during thunderstorms, scared by the threat of lightning, as well as visitors claiming to hear the sound of a child weeping nearby. Cemetery records show no history of an Inez Clarke ever being buried there, despite the plaque on the statue bearing her name. It is believed that there may have been a mix-up with the child's name on paperwork for the cemetery, with "Amos Briggs" being used accidentally due to Inez Clarke's mother's maiden name on the forms. Despite this, visitors still flock to pay their respects to the little girl forever young inside her glass case, often leaving behind small toys and stuffed animals for her.

Graceland Cemetery is the final resting place of many notable Chicagoans, including Charles Wacker, Dr. Daniel Hale Williams, and Marshall Field, among many others. Located on the North side of the city, Graceland Cemetery has become a tourist attraction thanks to its beautiful Victorian landscaping. The cemetery still offers individual and family plots for burial, as well as cremation plots. Graceland Cemetery is one of the most peaceful and beautiful attractions in the city of Chicago.

Graceland Cemetery

The Chicago Historical
Society was formed in 1856 and formally incorporated by the Illinois state
legislature the following year. The Society soon developed an impressive
collection of mostly historic documents for research purposes; it opened its
first museum building on the corner of Ontario and Dearborn Streets. In 1871
the Society was devastated by the Great Chicago Fire that ravaged the city. The
vast majority of its collection was destroyed, including Abraham Lincoln’s
final draft of the Emancipation Proclamation. A second fire destroyed nearly
the remainder of the original collection in 1874. The Society worked to rebuild
its collection, and in 1896 it erected a new, stone structure on the site of
its original building. The building, which still stands today, was designed by
Chicago-based architect Henry Ives Cobb, whose work included the Newberry
Library. In 1978 the building was added to the National Register of Historic
Places.

One of the Society’s most
important additions to its museum was the acquisition of the personal
collection of Charles F. Gunther in 1920. Gunther, a local wealthy
confectioner, accumulated thousands of items from around the world, with a
particular focus on the Civil War. Among the artifacts in his collection is the
bed in which Abraham Lincoln died and the table on which Robert E. Lee signed
his surrender agreement at Appomattox. The purchase of Gunther’s collection
transformed the Society from a local history research facility into a
full-fledged national museum. 

In 1932 the growing museum
moved into a new building in the Lincoln Park district, where it remains to
this day. The building has undergone three major expansions and renovations in
1972, 1988, and 2006. Following the 2006 renovation, the Chicago Historical
Society changed its name to The Chicago History Museum as part of a rebranding
effort. Today the museum boasts an impressive and expanding collection of over
20 million artifacts relating to Chicago, Civil War, and American history. It
includes multiple permanent exhibitions on Chicago history, and temporary
exhibits on other topics. It has a large research center containing documents,
images, books, and other printed materials that can be examined for research.
The museum also operates other programs such as lectures, online exhibits, and
the Encyclopedia Chicago project. Since
1995 the Chicago History Museum has also hosted the annual Making History
Awards, honoring individuals and groups that have made remarkable contributions
to Chicago’s history.

The Chicago History Museum is dedicated to the preservation and promotion of Chicago's rich and varied history, as well as American history. The museum is located at the southwestern corner of the city's famous Lincoln Park and housed in a building constructed in 1932; the modern addition was built in 1988. The museum was founded in 1856 as the Chicago Historical Society and given its current name in 2006. Its collection is very large, amounting to 20 million items. The museum features several permanent exhibits including: "Chicago: Crossroads of America," "Sensing Chicago," "Chicago Authored," and "Lincoln's Chicago," which explores President Abraham Lincoln's political rise in Chicago, his presidency, assassination, and legacy. The museum offers many temporary exhibitions as well.

The Chicago History Museum

In 1965, a plaza called Pioneer Court was built on the site of Point Du Sable's homestead as part of the construction of the Equitable Life Assurance Society of America building. In October 2010, the Michigan Avenue Bridge was renamed DuSable Bridge in honor of Pointe DuSable. Previously a small street named De Saible Street had been named after him. The sculptor&nbsp;Erik Blome used the original author of this statue&nbsp;(Savalas Williams) as the "outline"&nbsp;model for this historic statue of the founder of Chicago. No portrait of&nbsp;DuSable is known to exist, so&nbsp;the sculptor&nbsp;had only a&nbsp;picture of what DuSable might have looked like that was&nbsp;created for a book about the history of Chicago in&nbsp;the late 19th century.&nbsp;As a result, Mr.&nbsp;Blome wanted to find a young&nbsp;African American to serve as a model. This&nbsp;allowed the sculptor&nbsp;to blend some of the features of imagined caricature of DuSable with an actual person. Savalas Williams recorded his memory of his first meeting with Blome:&nbsp;"So at the time I was working at McDonald's (2009) and Mr. Blome pulls up to pay for his food and said, 'you would be great! have you ever modeled?' Of course I said no, and he explained to me who he was and who Mr. DuSable was and I told Mr. Blome that I would love to help him create the statue." A vandal defaced the statue on Martin Luther King Jr. Day in 2015. The statue was quickly restored and led to the following comment by Chicago mayor&nbsp;Rahm Emanuel.&nbsp;"The Jean Baptiste DuSable statue commemorates our city's founding father, and the defacement of this treasure disrespects all Chicagoans and attacks the heritage of our heroes and the common values that they stood for — values that we stand behind as a city and that we also celebrate today by honoring Dr. Martin Luther King's legacy,"1 <h2> </h2><h2>About Jean Baptiste Point DuSable</h2> It states in the Chicago Historical Society's Encyclopedia of Chicago: <blockquote>&nbsp;In the late eighteenth century the small Native American and métis community that had settled at Chicago retained close ties to the French community in southern Illinois as well as to communities in Mackinac and Detroit. Among the most prominent was Jean Baptiste Point DuSable, an Afro-French fur trader whose partners traded along the Illinois River from Peoria to Cahokia. DuSable himself was trading during the 1770s near present-day Michigan City, where he was arrested briefly in 1779 by British officials who suspected him of rebel sympathies. By the late 1780s he began developing a farm near the mouth of the Chicago River, where he also did some trading. He erected a spacious five-room “mansion” with a long covered porch modeled after French creole homes in the American Bottom. DuSable prospered during the 1790s, entertained travelers who passed over the portage, and was highly respected by both Native American and métis inhabitants. In 1800, however, he sold his holdings at Chicago and moved to Spanish Upper Louisiana near present-day St. Charles, Missouri. Most houses at Chicago were less imposing than the DuSable residence. Houses were constructed of logs, but generally following the old French-Canadian fashion, with roughhewn logs set vertically in a trench rather than placed horizontally. The logs were chinked with grass and mud, then covered with either bark or lumber. The structures featured high-pitched, thatched or shingled roofs, with a fireplace and rude chimney in the center rather than at one end of the dwelling. In 1803, the United States built&nbsp;Fort Dearborn&nbsp;on the south side of the Chicago River. By 1810 settlement at Chicago clustered at several places. North of the river's mouth were the Kinzie family, whose patriarch John Kinzie occupied DuSable's old mansion.2</blockquote>

Fur trader Jean-Baptiste Pointe DuSable became the first non-Native American resident of the area that is now known as Chicago. DuSable was of African descent and came to the region from the French colony of Saint Domingue (After winning independence from France, the Saint Domingue became known as Haiti). History books have recognized DuSable as the first settler of non-European descent in the area, having established a fur-trading outpost in 1779 when the area was a largely uninhabited swamp. The state of Illinois officially recoginzed DuSable as "the father" of the city of Chicago in 1968. Decades later, Chicago's Haitian-American community raised funds and hired sculptor Erik Blome to create a statue to honor DuSable. The statue was dedicated in 2009 and is one of several landmarks in Chicago that honor the city's founder.  

Founder of Chicago statue Jean-Baptiste Pointe DuSable

With the Treaty of Greenville, 1795, the Potawatomies, Miamis, and their allies, relinquished their right to a parcel of land at the mouth of the Chicago River. This piece of navigable water way became even more important after the Louisiana Purchase, therefore, Captain John Whistler arrived in 1803 to build Fort Dearborn. The fort derives its name from President Thomas Jefferson’s secretary of war, Henry Dearborn. It consisted of two block houses, one at the southeast and the other at the southwest corner of the enclosure, which was surrounded by a stout palisade of timber. There was a subterranean passage to the river, which might have been used as a means of escape in an emergency, or to supply water to the garrison in case of a siege (Dearborn).As the War of 1812 was underway, what has become known as the Fort Dearborn Massacre happened on August 15,1812. After the fall of Fort Mackinac on July 17, 1812, Fort Dearborn was cut of from supplies and reinforcements. Orders from General William Hull, the commander of all U.S. troops in the Old Northwest, ordered Captain Nathan Heald to evacuate the fort Fort (Chicago Mag). Captain Heald was to lead the men and women to Fort Wayne in Indiana. With 55 soldiers, 12 Militia, 9 women, and 18 children on the march to Fort Wayne, they soon encountered a hostile force of around 500 Potawatomi indians. The Indians would kill more than 60 men, women, and children in the Massacre and burn the fort down the next day.A second Fort Dearborn was built four years later on the very same site. The U.S. Army returned to rebuild the Fort after a treaty in 1816, in which the Potawatomies ceded to the United States all the country around the region. The new fort was the center for military activity during the Black Hawk War in 1832, and served as a refuge for the area residents. By the 1840 the U.S. Army had no more use for it, and was now in the possession of the city of Chicago. Fort Dearborn was demolished in 1857. Fort Dearborn is commemorated as one of the four red stars on the Chicago Flag. The fort established Chicago’s core and its early pattern of growth. More than 200 years after it was built, Chicago is still centered on the few acres just south of where Fort Dearborn once stood(Architecture).

At this very site, the wooden stockade known as Fort Dearborn was constructed in 1803. Fort Dearborn was built on the south side of the Chicago River on top of a small hill overlooking the mouth of the river. The present day intersection of Michigan Avenue and Wacker Drive marks where the fort once stood. Fort Dearborn was used from 1803 until it was abandoned and burned down in 1812, then rebuilt in 1816 and used until 1857. Fort Dearborn was an American occupied fort that was used during the War of 1812 and the Black Hawk War of 1832.

Site of Fort Dearborn

<div><div><div><div>Migrants and some immigrants began to populate what is now Chicago by the 1820s and 1830s, leading to Chicago's incorporation in 1837, which is also indicative growing rapidly in population and size and intent on settling the West. One of Chicago's new residents, who gambled on Chicago's potential, was Henry Brown Clarke, who moved his family from Utica, New York, to the the Chicago-Fort Dearborn area in 1835. Clarke enjoyed success selling hardware and building supplies, a booming business for a city enjoying a population increase. The success allowed him to build his home near 16th St and Michigan Ave in 1836 on the south end of the city, which at the time consisted of nothing but open land. Today, it's the concrete-and-steel haven known as the South Loop.&nbsp;Many in the nation, in the midst of settling the frontier and removing Native Americans in the process, continued to champion Roman and Greek ideals as symbols of democracy as demonstrated by its architecture.&nbsp;&nbsp;Clarke’s house personified that trend with its ancient Greek style. &nbsp;The Clarke house enjoyed elements of a Greek temple including a grand staircase entrance and&nbsp;substantial&nbsp;columnns. As well, the house had a substantial timber that provided it durability, which in part,&nbsp;allowed it to survive to this day.&nbsp;Henry Clarke died in 1849 and his widow, Caroline, sold off much of the house’s surrounding land to support their family, though work on the house continued.&nbsp;Decades later, after Chicago's Great Fire in 1871, the Clarke house was purchased and, as was common in the day, moved several miles to the south to 45th Street and Wabash, where it remained for more than a century. The house, in its new location, served as both a residence and part Bishop Henry Ford’s church.</div></div><div>When the church no longer needed the house, the City of Chicago sought to claim the building and keep it secure. The plan to move it again was delayed by a small fire and a harsh Chicago winter in 1977. Nonetheless, the move did eventually take place, moving it to its current location in Chicago Women’s Park. Efforts to restore the building have allowed the house to take on its original appearance, which can be enjoyed by visitors; the building now exists as a museum where Chicagoans and tourists can gaze into Chicago's early history.&nbsp;</div></div><div></div></div><div></div>

Arguably Chicago’s oldest residential house, the building has survived two moves, a fire and decades of tremendous growth. The historic structure now serves as a local history museum that offers exhibits and programs about the early history of the city and influential Chicagoans such as hardware and building magnate Henry Clarke. Like many of Chicago's founding mothers and fathers, the Clarkes arrived a few years prior to Chicago gaining its charter and both promoted and profited from the city's growth. The museum and its architecture also interpret the significance of Greek and Roman architecture found in many of the homes and buildings in and beyond the city.

Henry B. Clarke House and Museum

The U.S. built&nbsp;Fort Dearborn -- named for Henry Dearborn, Secretary of War --&nbsp;&nbsp;in 1803&nbsp;on the swampy&nbsp;southeast bank of the mouth of the&nbsp;Chicago
River where it fed&nbsp;Lake Michigan.1&nbsp;General Anthony Wayne, member of the&nbsp;U.S House of Representatives at the time, had requested its construction.&nbsp;From 1803 until 1812, life at the fort and the nearby settlement was fairly quiet. However, Ft. Dearborn's significance grew substantially during the&nbsp;War of 1812 between the British (who still controlled Canada to the north of the Great Lakes) and United States. The British, aided by its Indian allies, took Ft. Detroit and Ft. Michilimackinac (located in today's Michigan) with relative ease.. It appeared the Fort Dearborn would be next, as the British attempted to control the Great Lakes, and the arrival of roughly 1,000 Potawatomis and their allies in early August of 1812 confirmed that belief. The fort's location far from the main populace of the U.S coupled with internal dissension and disorganization made Fort Dearborn an easy target.2John Kinzie, Chicago's first non-military permanent resident remained in the fort and served as a consultant (friend) to the fort's Captain Nathan Heald. Kinzie was a longtime trapper who befriended many Native Americans, and largely remained a man free of any national allegiance, be it France, England, or the U.S. However, in this case he existed as an American citizen - he and his family were in danger.3Captain Heald received orders to abandon the fort and head to Fort Wayne. Heald, Kinzie, the fort's Indian agent, William Wells, and their Indian allies (Miami nation) left on August 15th, along with an estimated 90&nbsp;people, and headed to Fort Wayne. However, the Potawatomi's attacked them a mile after they fled, leaving 52 dead. Those who survived were taken as prisoners of war, but&nbsp;John Kinzie and his family, escaped. The following day the fort was burned to the ground. Many years passed before settlers returned to the area.4The battled quickly turned into a rallying cry for Americans, who deemed it a "massacre," notably by the nation's newspapers. It is a legacy that remains, as the first of four stars on the Chicago flag serve as a reminder of the fallen victims. Much of the memory is provided to Americans by the words of Juliette M. Kinzie's 1856&nbsp;Wau-Bun: The "Early Day" in the North-West.&nbsp;Her descriptions led to the creation of the 1893 monument that symbolized the "brutal" nature of the "massacre."&nbsp;5Debate ensues over the true descriptions or how the event is remembered. As is often the case, the memory of the event has its own history.&nbsp;In truth, it was a battle that existed as a larger-scale war. It was also part of a lengthy, complicated&nbsp;history between English, French, Americans, and the many Indian nations that existed in the region.6&nbsp; More than that, this had been Indian country for hundreds (and more) years prior to the arrival of Americans - the vast majority of&nbsp;established roads and navigation networks were built and organized by Native Americans.7 To wit: the monument represents the legacy of "memory," more than the true events that occurred on August 15, 1812.8

The Battle of Fort Dearborn was a short and bloody battle fought during the War of 1812, between the Potawatomi tribe and U.S. garrison of the Fort. The Battle occurred on August 15, 1812, near Fort Dearborn, Illinois Territory (in what is now Chicago, Illinois). The result of the battle was an overwhelming victory for the Potawatomi tribe. The victorious Potawatomie burned Fort Dearborn to the ground and the region remained empty of U.S. citizens until after the war had ended. 

Battle of Fort Dearborn

In a location that once was deemed the Black Metropolis - the Bronzeville neighborhood of Chicago, it now has King Drive traveling through it. The Black-American culture is celebrated today in that region, and President Obama hailed from that region. However, before all that, it was the site of Camp Douglas, home to nearly 40,000 Union troops that trained for war, as well as a Confederate Prison where multitudes suffered and died due to poor conditions and treatment..&nbsp; HIstorian&nbsp;Theodore J. Karamanski notes on the&nbsp;Encyclopedia&nbsp;of Chicago: <blockquote> Founded in the fall of 1861 as a training camp and staging center for Union forces, Camp&nbsp;Douglas&nbsp;was named after Stephen A. Douglas, whose property south of the city provided its site. In 1862 the camp was hastily adapted to serve as a prison for rebel soldiers captured by Ulysses S. Grant at Fort Donelson. Due to occasional prisoner exchanges during the first two years of the&nbsp;Civil War, the number of prisoners in the camp fluctuated, although for a time it was the largest military prison in the North. By the end of the war a total of 26,060 men had been incarcerated there. Escapes were frequent from the camp, but only the abortive November 1864 “Chicago Conspiracy” roused broad concern. Federal informants foiled an ill-conceived attempt by local&nbsp;antiwar&nbsp;activists and die-hard prisoners to disrupt the 1864 election with a mass prison break. Like all Civil War prisons, Camp Douglas had a high mortality rate: one prisoner in seven died in Chicago. Poor sanitation, hastily constructed buildings, and harsh weather conditions were to blame. In June 1862 a U.S. Sanitary Commission agent decried the camp's “foul sinks,” “unventilated and crowded barracks,” and “soil reeking with miasmatic accretions” as “enough to drive a sanitarian to despair.” By the end of the war more than 4,000 rebels had died in the camp. </blockquote>Douglas was one of the first major&nbsp;speculators in Chicago and a huge proponent of both a northern route to the Transcontinental Railroad, as well as its route into Chicago, He made&nbsp;substantial investments 160 acres near 31st Street and Cottage Grove Avenue on Chicago's south side. Senator Douglas was also significant in securing&nbsp;Chicago's place as the northern terminus of the Illinois Central Railroad; The Illinois Central traveled through his south-side Chicago property.1&nbsp;<div>Chicago's burgeoning railroad presence, and its location far north of the front, made it ideal for a training camp and, later, a prison. Eight railroads crisscrossed the region and into Chicago, allowing for easy movement of troops and goods -- both necessary for training troops and harboring prisoners (although most were not treated well). &nbsp;One line, in particular, made Camp Douglas a prime spot for growing as a prison --&nbsp;the Illinois Central Railroad. It was, at the time, the longest railroad in the world .It started in Cairo, IL, a location General Grant used as a staging area for Union troops and carrying out missions. The railway ended in Chicago, thus, when&nbsp;prisoners arrived to Cairo&nbsp;they were easily shipped to Chicago.2 The Camp Douglas Restoration Foundation,&nbsp;aided&nbsp;by&nbsp;DePaul University,&nbsp;have performed seven archaeological digs in the area of Camp Douglas between 2012 and 2016. Numerous&nbsp;findings&nbsp;have arisen, including building, tools, military artifacts -- an abundance of evidence that&nbsp;demonstrates the existence of the camp --&nbsp;the largest military installation in Illinois during the Civil War.3 &nbsp; The archaeological investigations are also looking for hints of the Bronzeville/Black&nbsp;Metropolis&nbsp;days that highlighted&nbsp;the region during the 20th century. &nbsp;To Wit: The area has a rich, deep history.4&nbsp; In the end, the area is dotted with dig sites, most of it to uncover Chicago's urban infancy. With St. Louis and Cincinnati close to the front, Chicago grew as city most easy to stage troops, process meat -- "hog butcher to the world," started here, and more. The railroads arrived with the help of Stephan A. Douglas and those trains brought in troops and prisoners. They also helped Blacks migrated from the south in later years, which brought in the Blues culture still celebrated today in Chicago. The development of the Black Metropolis made it popular for leaders like Martin Luther King to arrive, hence one of the roads traversing the region today is named after the deceased civil rights leader.&nbsp;&nbsp;In one area, a ton of U.S cultural history exists, starting with a spot where the country dealt with its most divisive time in history.&nbsp; </div>

Camp Douglas was located between 31st Street, 33rd Place, Cottage Grove Ave and Giles Ave on the near-south side of Chicago. The camp operated between 1861 and 1865 receiving and training nearly 40,000 Union soldiers, including African American troops. From 1862 through 1865 the camp also served as a prison camp housing nearly 30,000 Confederate prisoners. Archaeological digs are underway and discovering many of the old structures. 


Camp Douglas

Stephen A. Douglas was born in Vermont in 1813 but, after studying law at the Canandaigua Academy in New York, moved to Illinois, where he opened his a law practice in the town of Jacksonville. Not long thereafter, Douglas entered the political arena; Douglas was elected to the state legislature in 1836. He went on to become a judge for the Illinois Supreme Court and member of the U.S. House of Representatives. Douglas gained a reputation as an eloquent and passionate public speaker. His speeches proved to be quite persuasive and compelling, and he soon gained the nickname "Little Giant" because of his small stature yet powerful presence.  Douglas demonstrated his deft political skills in his work towards securing a northern route for the Transcontinental Railroad, helping Chicago become a important train hub. His dealings simultaneously provided the town of Omaha a terrific opportunity to grow into a major city -- Omaha now exists in Douglas County for that reason.  Douglas had a long history of involvement of railroad matters and invested heavily in Chicago's railroads. Thus, it is no surprise that he was a proponent of Chicago serving as the hub for a trans-continental railroad. As far back as 1845, when Douglas was a member of the US Congress, a New York merchant, Asa Whitney, proposed, on numerous occasions a railroad plan to the US Congress that would connect the Michigan railroads to Milwaukee – crossing Lake Michigan. Douglas passionately responded to the proposal in an open letter to Asa Whitney. Douglas stated that he was “unable to comprehend the reasons which induce you to fix your starting point at Milwaukee” and later argued that crossing Lake Michigan meant the trains would “be interrupted by ice about four months in the year, and during that time, the connexion [sic] with the Atlantic cities destroyed."1 Instead, he proposed a plan where trains from the East and West would converge in Chicago. Douglas also proposed the establishment of the Nebraska Territory and allowing a train to traverse it to the Rocky Mountains, then beyond to the Pacific.2  That plan failed in 1845, and again in 1853. However, by 1854, he had worked several railroad deals that benefited Chicago, often with the backing of New York businessmen – Chicago’s growth benefited New York.3Also, in 1854, Douglas offered the South a deal when he proposed to split the Nebraska territory into two territories and let “popular sovereignty" dictate each territory's fate regarding the allowance of slavery. The possibility of enhanced political power with the addition of a new slave state enticed the southern states to vote yes on the measure. In return, Douglas helped secure a northern route for the Trans Continental Railroad. The Kansas-Nebraska Act, as it came to be known, explicitly repealed the Missouri Compromise of 1820.4 , The results of this controversial act compounded the slave-expansion problem facing the U.S. since the late 1848 acquisition of land from Mexico after the US-Mexican War. The Kansas-Nebraska Act created political and regional upheaval that eventually propelled the country to civil war.However, Douglas' name more famously is attached to his debates with his political rival, Abraham Lincoln, which started while the two men were running for the same position as United States Senator from Illinois in 1858.  Douglas won the race and held the senate job until his death.Lincoln and Douglas faced each other again during the heated presidential election of 1860. This time Douglas had to compete with two other candidates though, and Lincoln easily won the race. As the southern states began to secede from the Union after the election, Douglas fought hard to keep the country together, making speeches about the importance of the Union remaining intact and backing Lincoln when the Civil War began. However, Douglas died in 1861, only two months after the firing on Fort Sumter. He was buried in Chicago near Lake Michigan. His tomb, which was designed by the sculptor Leonard Volk, began construction in 1866 and was completed in 1881. It contains a stone mausoleum, which houses a sarcophagus of marble from Vermont, bronze statues representing history, eloquence, and justice, and 46-ft columnn with a statue of Douglas on top of it. The park around the tomb can be visited any time of day, but visitors wanting to look inside the tomb must come during hours of operation. Staff at the tomb are available to answer any questions.  ..

The 96-ft tall tomb that towers over the shore of Lake Michigan is the final resting place of Stephen A. Douglas, famous Illinois politician and rival of Abraham Lincoln.  During his lifetime, Douglas was a powerful political figure not only in Illinois but in the rest of the United States.  His tomb is now an Illinois State Historic Site, as well as a Chicago Landmark and a member of the National Register of Historic Places.  Visitors can come and see the tomb on weekends from 9 to 5.

Tomb of Stephen A. Douglas

The limestone gate depicts a steer and has been listed as a Chicago landmark since the early 1970s. Representing how historical interpretations change over time, the gate now includes a historical marker sharing the history of the perspective of laborers.

While all that remains of the former sprawling stockyard is the former gate, on December 25, 1865, this area began receiving the first of millions of cattle that would be processed and shipped in a centralized facility that would be the largest early example of applying scale and industrial techniques to beef production. Beginning shortly after the Civil War, these Chicago stockyards became the center of the meatpacking industry. The flat land and railroads allowed for the establishment of centralized processing, becoming essential to Chicago's growth. Upton Sinclair's 1906 classic, The Jungle, refers to the stockyards' conditions by the turn of the century. While the stockyards closed in 1971, the former Union Stock Yard gate remains along with a few other buildings and associated landmarks. The gate was constructed about ten years after the stockyards opened.

Union Stock Yards

The Chicago Portage is often referred to as Chicago's "Plymouth Rock" because it exists as the place where French explorers Père&nbsp;Jacque Marquette and Louis Jolliet (in 1673) met Native Americans and discovered the portage served as the&nbsp;connection between the Great Lakes and the Mississippi waterways. The discovery provided the realization that the Chicago region provided an easy connection between the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico through the Great Lakes. For a European and American society predicated on market economies, trade, and a need for navigation, the portage existed as potential profits&nbsp;whereas the Native Americans had used Chicago for far different needs. Today's Chicago represents what the portage meant to settlers, and how the area has changed since Europeans arrived to the region.&nbsp;1Upon discovering the portage, Jolliet&nbsp;suggested then a that a short canal cut through the portage area would create a&nbsp;vital transportation and trade connection.2 The realization of that vision manifested itself, much later,&nbsp;in the creation of the Illinois &amp; Michigan Canal (I&amp;M Canal), that was completed in 1848. The modern canal connected the Chicago River to the&nbsp;Illinois River, intrinsically connecting the East Coast to the Gulf of Mexico through Chicago.&nbsp;Speculators and investors who gambled on Chicago's potential as a transportation hub also helped spur its potential as a railroad hub, which helped turn Chicago into a major city during the Industrial Revolution. To Wit: The portage showed Chicago had potential, and then humans invested in that potential, notably once marketplaces expanded in association with growing industry and transportation.3A small portion of the historic&nbsp;connection between the Great Lakes and the Mississippi&nbsp;waterways, including a plaque,&nbsp;is preserved&nbsp;in the Forest Preserve District of Cook County’s Portage Woods&nbsp;and Ottawa Trail. It is one of only two National Historic Sites in Illinois and&nbsp;one of the few in the country that is not owned by the National Park Service.4 However, similar to many historical locations, the Portage Trail forged by Native Americans, and utilized by European trappers&nbsp;is completely paved over and old “Mud Lake," and now hosts the the world’s largest sewage treatment plant. As such,&nbsp;The Chicago Portage National Historic Site is the only major remnant of the European's&nbsp;discovery and settlement of Chicago and it is the only place where one can stand on the same ground walked upon by European explorers.5The Friends of the Chicago Portage, a group dedicated to the sites preservation and history, notes, "You can stand on the footbridge over the short remnant of Portage Creek, stretch out your arms and know that Jolliet, Marquette, LaSalle, Tonti, Point du Sable, Kinzie, Hubbard, Ogden, and countless anonomous others from the discovery, exploration and creation of Chicago passed within an arm's length of you."The site reminds one that Chicago, as an major urban center,&nbsp;&nbsp;did not emerge as a natural phenomenon. It was, for thousands and millions of years, a prairie, swamp, and natural source of drainage. Native Americans used the location for one purpose, but European settlers, and eventually residents of the United States, looked at the region much differently. For Europeans and Americans, Chicago existed as a prime area of real-estate that could be used to maximize navigation, transportation, and industrial needs - the type of needs associated with the free market. Over time, Chicago proved to be a major home to industry, and the home to many labor battles as workers and entrepreneurs collided. Jolliet could not have envisioned that Chicago would grow to host several millions of people or be where skyscrapers would take shape, but he certainly knew that the connection of the Atlantic to the Gulf of Mexico was significant to the needs of an European, and eventually American, society. The Portage is just a plot of land, but it represents Chicago's, if not much of the globe's, history since the 1600s.&nbsp;<div> </div>

The "Plymouth Rock" of Chicago the portage was originally utilized by Native Americans. In 1673, Natives revealed the portage to French explorers Jacques Marquette and Louis Jolliet. By walking their canoes over this portage, Native Americans had found a way to connect the Great Lakes (which connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the St. Lawrence River) to the Northern tributaries of the Mississippi River and the Gulf of Mexico. 

Jolliet recognized that a canal in the portage area would create a vital transportation and trade connection, but it would be nearly two centuries before his vision would be realized. In 1848 the 97-mile Illinois & Michigan Canal connected the Chicago River to the Illinois River.

Chicago Portage National Historic Site 

In 1842, Frederick Graue came to the US and settled in
Illinois.1 Then in 1849, started the construction of the mill.1&nbsp;When the
mill opened in 1952, local farmers would come and have their wheat or other
grains ground.1 The mill became a huge part of life for everyone in this
area. It was even visited by Abraham Lincoln.1 Frederick and one of his
sons, F.W. Graue, both operated the mill for almost seventy year.1 Only quitting
because modern milling method made it obsolete and then they abandoned the
building.1

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The
mill was even used my Fred Graue as part of the Underground Railroad.1 It was a
safe haven for runaway slave on their way to Canada. He housed them in the
basement of the mill.1&nbsp;Today, they have the mill set up with photos,
documents, and interactive activity for people of all ages to learn about the
Underground Railroad.1

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; DuPage
County Forest Preserve District eventually took over the property.1 They
started restoration of the mill in 1934 to what it was like during the
1852-1868 time period.1 This was the time period that the waterwheel was
operational.1 In 1950, the mill was leased to DuPage Graue Mill Corporation
and they opened the museum.1 In May 1975, Graue Mill was listed in the
National Register of Historic Places.1 It was recognized as the Illinois
Historic Mechanical Engineering Landmark in 1981 by the American Society of
Mechanical Engineers.1

The Graue Mill and Museum is located in Oak Brook, Illinois. It is a operating waterwheel grist mill and homestead. It was constructed in 1849 by Frederick Graue. Today, the museum provides programs for children to learn what life was like between 1850 ad 1890. The mill was also part of the Underground Railroad. 

19th Century History of Chicago Driving Tour

Origin of Great Chicago Fire

Introduction

Images

Backstory and Context

Sources

Additional Information