Cook County IL Archives History - Books .....Chicago Antiquities - Part 3 1881
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Book Title: Chicago Antiquities

FORMER SPORTS OF THE PRAIRIE.

We copy below, from an old Maryland periodical, several letters written many 
years ago, giving some account of the out-door amusements here in those days. 
One of the communications, in the spirit of prophecy, refers to a future 
railway from Baltimore to Rock River, before there was any railroad west of 
the Alleghanies. Some names of localities will not, perhaps, be recognized at 
the present time; we do not know anything of the "Guilleroi," and we are 
unable to place the "little woods," or the "Big Wabiskokie." The "little 
woods," however, were some where on the south side, and the "Guilleroi" on the 
north. We have sometimes known the De-plaines River referred to as "the 
Kickapoo branch of the Illinois;" we are here told that the "Aux Pleins" means 
soft maple. One of the marshes near that river, it seems, was known as the "Sa-
gua-nash." Possibly one of these letters presents the earliest known poetical 
effusion from Chicago; the quality of the stanzas we are not of course called 
to pass upon; but after presenting the relic, we have, it is supposed, done 
our part. In these letters we detect, from certain initials, various names 
familiar no doubt to the reader. The "Capt. S." was, we believe, the noted 
Martin Scott, who was afterward killed, at the head of his regiment, at the 
battle of El Molino del Rey, 8th Sept., 1847. We add the names of Dr. Clement 
A. Finley, Major Robert Kinzie, Dr. Philip Maxwell, and Hon. James Grant, now 
of Davenport, Iowa. The "Mr. B." and "Mr. C." may have been Mr. Beaubien and 
Mr. Clyboum, or possibly others. J. G. F., the writer of four of these 
letters, was 2d Lt. John G. Furman, of the 5th Inf'y, U. S. A., who died at 
Fort Dearborn, that same year, Aug. 29, 1830. "J. F. G.," the writer of the 
last letter, we do not positively identify; but "Suminecatha, or Big Wood 
Wolf," who wrote the one preceding, we learn, by a communication from Judge 
Grant, was Lt. James Thompson, of the Army. The Judge says: "We hunted that 
winter, twice a week when the weather was favorable, and killed many wolves in 
the present city limits." "Thompson," he says, "had the fastest horse, except 
when Dr. Maxwell changed horses with me and allowed me to ride his big 
horse, 'Emperor.'"

"Fort Dearborn, Chicago, Ill., March 26th, 1830.
"Mr. Editor: One fine morning in December last, while the dew drops were yet 
lingering on the faded foliage, we marshalled our forces, and sallied forth to 
the chase, in pretty respectable numbers for this wild, western region. We 
were in all nine huntsmen. A leash of greyhounds, owned by Capt. S., of the U. 
S. A., his excellent fox-hounds, and those of Dr. F. and Mr. C. formed a very 
efficient pack of five couples.

"The day was lovely—'the sky so cloudless, clear, and purely beautiful, that 
God alone was to be seen in heaven,'—the broad, blue face of the lake, 
(Michigan) unruffled by a breath of air, shone in the morning sun like one 
vast mirror of polished silver. And the woods were so silent, that the 
cheering cry of the huntsmen and the wild melody of the hounds were echoed 
from a thousand points. Every thing thus being propitious, we crossed the 
Chicago, and pursued our route through the thick woods on its north side. We 
had not proceeded quite a half mile, when the whole pack made a simultaneous 
burst, and went off eagerly on the track.

"'A wolf,' said one; but another, who had hunted more with the hounds, 
answered 'no—a deer'—clapped rowels into his horse's sides and dashed off for 
the prairie to head the animal. The hounds at first ran off toward the river, 
in a westerly direction, and went nearly out of hearing, but soon turned and 
took up a northeast course, the whole pack in full concert. Having ridden 
about two miles from the starting point, and hearing the quick, savage bark of 
the ground-hound slut (Cora) close by, I stopped. Mr. R was about thirty yards 
in advance of me, and glancing my eye around, I caught glimpse of Capt. S., 
some little distance behind, urging his horse to the utmost. These 
observations were the work of an instant only, however, for scarcely had I 
alighted when a spike buck dashed through the thicket in full sight, and 
within shooting distance,—Cora within five or six rods of him. Mr. B. and 
myself both levelled. The first shot was his, by the courteous rules prevalent 
among hunters on like occasions. He fired, but the buck did not fall; and I 
instantly followed his example. The shots struck on opposite sides, and were 
both mortal; but so rapid was the speed of the animal after we had fired, that 
a gentleman coming up the instant exclaimed, 'By heavens, he is not touched!' 
He darted for the thicket, but the black greyhound (Nero) got sight of him 
before he reached it, and the most beautiful chase I ever recollect to have 
witnessed took place. The trial of speed was nobly contested for about three 
or four hundred yards, the deer having about thirty-yards start. The distance 
between them lessened by insensible degrees until the greyhound seized his 
prey, and sunk his fangs into his ham. After a severe struggle, the buck broke 
loose before Capt. S. and myself, who had dismounted, could get up to Nero's 
assistance. Another chase, not less beautiful than the first, took place; but 
Nero again seized the buck and held him till we got up. We knocked him on the 
head with a tomahawk, and drew the knife across his throat. As soon as the 
pack came up we started, and the hounds gave tongue again. Most of us went off 
to the prairie, to station ourselves along the points of the wood. The hounds 
went off to the west, and after running about a mile divided—some of them 
drove a deer toward the point almost at which they had taken up the trail. Mr. 
C. shot at it, but as no blood was found we presume it was not injured. The 
rest of the pack (with the exception of Dr. F's beautiful black tan pup 
Ringwood—and well he deserves the name—who drove three deer across the prairie 
to the lake,) followed a track leading along the Guilleroi, and did not return 
until late at night. On my return from the head of the prairie, I heard the 
report of a gun, and on inquiry, found that Mr. S. had killed a fine doe.

"Our sport for the day was now over; we called in skirmishers and took our way 
home rejoicing. At the garrison, our spoil was divided. We then retired to 
spend the evening with that flow of generous feelings which a fine day's sport 
never fails to inspire. J. G. F." 

"Fort Dearborn, Chicago, Ill., June 7, 1830.
"Mr. Editor: We principally hunt, in this section of the country, the 'prairie 
wolf/ the canis latrans' of naturalists, sometimes also called the 'barking 
wolf' or 'wolverine.' Generally speaking, it is not larger than a common sized 
dog, and is more slim. Its eyes are very brilliant, its ears short, upright, 
and well set back. Its tail is long and bushy, and darker than the body, which 
is tawny grey. Its senses of sight and smell are remarkably acute. It is swift 
of foot and very long-winded. Wolves seldom approach the habitation of man, 
except when driven in by hunger. This happens oftenest during the winter, when 
the ground is covered with snow. They are then quite ferocious, and will 
attack calves, and sheep, and hogs. They have been known to lay waste 'fields 
of corn' which they are very fond of in a green state. In the summer, 
generally, they live on prairie mice, snakes, etc., in fact, whatever they can 
find, in their wanderings, like animal food. They are very destructive to deer 
in a hard winter, when a crust forms upon the snow, and I have been told that 
they will frequently drive deer into the lake, and sit down behind the sand-
hills on shore watching until the exhausted animals return and fall an easy 
prey to their pursuers. The large black wolf is seldom seen here, but there is 
a kind intermediate between it and the 'prairie wolf' which is not 
unfrequently met with. A description of this kind has not been published by 
any naturalist that I know of. Whether it springs from the intercourse of the 
large wolf and the prairie wolf, or whether it is a distinct species, I do not 
know. Certain it is that they are much larger, more muscular and ferocious 
than the wolverine. I have never yet seen a dog that could catch and kill a 
wolf without assistance,* though I have heard of dogs that could—often. The 
wolf will seldom give battle of its own accord, but when stopped or overtaken, 
it fights with all the fury of a coward driven to despair.

"One day last December we mounted and took the field, three in number, 
accompanied by four couples of stag and a leash of greyhounds. We first drew 
the 'little woods,' on the east side of Chicago River, and started in it one 
of those midnight prowlers which I have just described. He was trailed up 
handsomely by the hounds, the woods echoing and re-echoing with their 'loud, 
deep notes.' After seeking safety in the wood for half an hour, but finding it 
an insecure retreat, he dashed out and attempted to cross the frozen stream. 
But before he could reach the friendly protection of the high grass on the 
opposite bank, 'old Nero,' the black greyhound, fastened his fangs in his 
haunch, and kept him in durance until the other dogs came up and completed the 
work. Nero was pretty well marked, though it would have been hard for a 
stranger to distinguish this scar among the many that seamed his 'iron 
visage,'— the honorable memorials of many a hard-fought conflict. Having 
ornamented one of the neighboring trees with the countenance of the vagrant, 
we continued to hunt up the river. The prairie is very level, and objects can 
be distinguished at a great distance upon its surface when it is, as it was 
then, covered with snow. About a mile and a half off, a small black object was 
seen upon the shining white. It was unanimously agreed to be a wolf, and our 
horses were urged to the utmost of their speed to cut him off from the wood, 
as he had smelt us and was making for cover. It was some time before the 
greyhounds saw him, but the stag-hounds were coming up radidly on, his trail. 
As the wolf rose upon a gentle eminence in

* Perhaps the writer meant the large, not the prairie wolf; else his 
communication bearing date a few days later, describing the feats of the 
dog "Nero," would seem to contradict what is said here.

the prairie, Nero got a glimpse of him, and the 'levin in its wrath' is not 
quicker than he started and flew,—Rolla pushing hard after,
and Cora a little further behind. After a severe run of a mile, Nero ran 
against the wolf and knocked him 'head over heels' in the snow, and ere he 
could recover his footing, seized him by the neck. Rolla and Cora soon came up 
to aid him. How they fought until I came up I don't know, but when I arrived 
the common hounds had throttled the gentleman, and so—he died. Turning to the 
right, among some patches of grass, one of the old dogs (Sir Walter, a most 
famous wolf-dog I assure you, but he cannot kill a wolf alone!) stopped, and, 
after mature deliberation, gave notice that there was something ahead. It was 
a wolf's trail, and it grew warmer every instant. Having trailed about two or 
three miles, up jumped Barrabas a little distance before us. Hid from sight by 
the high grass, and favored by the difficulties of the ground, which was miry 
and full of holes, he gained on us a little. Eager to get up first, and, more 
over, being somewhat too careless, I got pitched into the snow, but felt 
consoled on looking up to find that I had company. However, we were all there—
up in time to see the fight and death. It was a bloody affair. Several of the 
dogs were well marked. Having 'done enough for glory in one day,' we set out 
on our return home. The dogs soon gave tongue again in a thicket beyond the 
river. We crossed, but the trail was too cold to be followed with profit. So 
we called them off. But we had gone only a short distance further before they 
went off in full cry, and, to our astonishment, stopped all of a sudden. On 
coming up, we found three 'coons,' as they are called here, in a tree. We 
shook them down to the dust, 'to herd with earth's meaner things,' and reached 
home safe in wind and limbs. Your obedient servant,
J. G. F."

"Fort Dearborn, Chicago, Ill., June 13, 1830.
"Mr. Editor: In the month of April, 1829, I was ordered to proceed from this 
post, to pursue several deserters, with a party of five men in a canoe. We 
passed up the left branch of the Chicago to its source, and thence, in a heavy 
snow-storm during a night 'as black as Erebus,' through 'Lac Marais' into the 
riviere Aux Pleins (Soft Maple River.)

"The prairie between these streams is at all times swampy; but during the 
spring floods, a considerable lake is formed, the waters of which, flow 
simultaneously through the Chicago, the Aux Pleins, and Illinois Rivers, into 
the great northern lakes, and into the Mississippi. Here, after the waters 
have subsided, vast quantities of aquatic fowl congregate to feed upon the 
wild-rice, insects, etc., that abound in it. Swan, geese, and brant, passing 
to and fro in clouds, keep an incessant cackling; ducks of every kind, from 
the mallard and canvass-back, down to the tiny water-witch and blue-winged 
teal, add their mite to the 'discord dire,' while hundreds of gulls hover 
gracefully over, ever and anon plunging their snowy bosoms into the circling 
waters. In April, myriads of plover and snipe take the place of the 
aforementioned; still later, great quantities of woodcock, grouse, and 
ortolans, make their appearance in its neighbourhood. Of these, we may 
hereafter send you some account; and when the 'railroad' is finished between 
Baltimore and Rock river, perhaps you may be induced to come out and take a 
week's sport with us, or if you cannot spare time, we must try and pack up 
some of our good things in ice and send on a locomotive steam-propelled car. 
But my present object is not to speculate on what may happen, but to relate 
something that has occurred. 'Arma, virumque cano,' 'be silent that you may 
hear.' One of the five men accompaning me in the trip mentioned above is named 
Harthaway. While descending the Aux Pleins river, I saw this man, on the 27th 
of April, shoot six shots in succession, off hand, with a smooth bored rifle, 
loaded each time with a single ball, standing in the canoe while it was 
descending with the current, the men stopping paddling only long enough to 
give him time to shoot. In the first five shots he killed five blue-winged 
teal,—one at each shot,—the ball striking either on the head or on the neck, 
not half an inch below the junction of the head with the neck; in the sixth 
shot he killed a plover flying, shooting it through the body. Of course, I 
cannot be accurate as to the distances, but as near as I recollect, he was not 
nearer at any time than thirty yards. This shooting I never saw equalled; and 
as it may appear almost 'too good' to some of your readers, I herewith forward 
the affidavit of the only two men now remaining at the post, who went with me, 
in confirmation of my statement. "Respectfully, your obedient servant,
J. G. F." 

"We certify, that having carefully perused the above account of Harthaway's 
shooting, we find it true and accurate in all its parts. Given under our 
hands, at Chicago, this 14th day of June, 1830.
DAVID VANDIGRIST, JOHN VAN ALSTINE."
Witness—A. B. Foster.	

"Fort Dearborn, Chicago, Ill., June 13, 1830.
"Mr. Editor: Having been gratified with the perusal of the notices of one or 
two remarkable dogs in former numbers of the Sporting Magazine, I do not know 
how to return the obligation better than by sending you one of Capt. S.'s 
greyhound Nero.

"This dog was of English blood, and was pupped in the fall of 1823, near 
Nashville, Tennessee. Of his origin, we know nothing further. He came into 
Capt. S.'s possession when about a year old, and was, at that time, an 
exceedingly cowardly pup. His colour was a perfect black, with the exception 
of a small white spot in the middle of the breast. His limbs were remarkably 
clean and delicate, and his body well compacted, an uncommon but harmonious 
union of agility and strength. His eye was black and glazed, which gave a 
peculiar air of savageness to his aspect; and he did not belie his looks to 
strangers and others against whom he had a grudge. The captain twice placed 
him under the care of other gentlemen, for short periods, and both times his 
keepers gave Nero some deep offence. Every time they approached him he growled 
and grumbled and straightened his tail. In spite of clogs, chains, and 
persuasion, he took up his line of march to the tune of 'over the hills and 
far away;' and, at one time remained absent above a year, on the Missouri, 
until his master came for him. But in spite of all this ill humour to others, 
there never was a creature more obedient and affectionate to his master than 
Nero.

"To relate all the feats of this noble animal would require a large volume; I 
must therefore content myself with relating a few anecdotes of him which have 
come under my immediate observation. In hunting wolves last winter and fall, 
it was not unusual for us to set the pack in at the northern extremity of 
the "little woods," so as to drive the animal through the southern point, and 
thus have a fair flight across the prairie. It was his constant practice, as 
soon as the hounds were heard in the woods, to hasten to station himself at 
the last point, and watch with the greatest interest and anxiety for the 
appearance of the wolf. If any did appear, the thread of his existence was 
soon cut short. I have often known him when running at wolves, deer, and 
foxes, instead of going directly at them, as is usual with greyhounds, to 
steer either to the right or left, as the case might have been, and place 
himself between the animal and the thicket, so as to cut him off from cover. 
One day last November, after a splendid chase, we drove a fine doe into the 
lake. The hounds, as soon as they saw the deer driven fairly in, returned to 
look for more game, and, of course, left the coast clear. We got to the spot 
just as the doe was approaching the shore, after being in the water a short 
time. None of us had guns. As soon as she got a footing, I urged Nero on. He 
went in, but the deer immediately made out, and outswam the dog. Nero 
perceived this, and attempted to swim round her, so as to drive her in shore, 
but could not accomplish it; so after using his best endeavors for some time, 
we called him back until the deer should return, hiding behind the sand-hills 
in the interim. Our vigil was a long one. This time I was more wary, and held 
my tongue, leaving the direction to others more skilled than myself. As soon 
as the animal reached the beach, we let loose the dogs and rushed from our 
concealment. The deer ran back into the water, all the dogs in full chase. 
Nero again swam round and met her, seizing her by the tail, two other dogs 
went ahead, and took each hold of an ear. Nero then left his former hold and 
seized her by the nose, which hold he did not relinquish until life was 
extinguished, ducking her head under water whenever she attempted to bleat. At 
another time, I saw Nero catch, and throw twice, a wounded buck, an exploit 
which few single dogs can perform. In 1828, I am informed, he caught and 
killed four deer at Green Bay, neither of them being previously injured. The 
bones of the wolves which he has slaughtered are bleaching on the prairies 
about fort Crawford, Green Bay, and around us here in every direction.

"On the 14th May, the morning being fine, we rode out to enjoy it; and it was 
judged best to take the dogs along, as they had been languishing in the kennel 
for want of exercise for some time. Having gone as far as the Big Wabiskokie, 
we turned to the right and went up the 'long ridge' towards Blue Island, where 
we bounced a large grey wolf out of the brushwood and dry grass. We gave the 
war-whoop, and attempted to head him, but did not succeed. The wolf took to 
the open prairie, and ran for the upper point of Blue Island, the greyhounds 
being some distance in rear, and the hounds and horsemen hard after. It was 
miserable riding; the soil being as soft as mush. The grass was not very high, 
and we could see every step and turn that was taken. After a run of three 
miles, Nero came up to the wolf. 'Now,' thought we, 'he has him!' but in the 
next moment the wolf passed on, and Nero was seen no more; and he was doomed 
to rise no more, upon earth, poor fellow. We rode up and found him trying to 
get up, but he could not. The exertions he had made, and the heat, were too 
much for him. I took up the old veteran in my arms and carried him to Blue 
Island, where I endeavored to recover him, but it was all in vain;—he died, 
and we laid him down on the field which had so often beheld him in all the 
glory of his triumphs. After ruminating and ransacking my brains for about an 
hour, all that I got out, by way of an epitaph, is what follows. If you think 
it will not disgrace your pages, it may as well be tacked on here as 
elsewhere. If you think it is too much in the 'prose run mad' style, please 
consign it to the 'tomb of all the capulets,' and oblige your obedient servant.
J. G..F. 

"Like a swift speeding bolt of thunder you flew,
Leaving scarce a trace of your path behind; 
From the green bough you swept not the diamond dew,
But lightly passed by as the summer wind.

"In the prairie full oft in the pride of your speed, 
I have seen thee press on like a hero; 
Displaying your courage by many a deed, Winning gallant green laurels old Nero.

"Thou wast light-footed, keen-sighted, gentle, and brave, 
From the battle thou never didst turn aside; 
And the wolves may rejoice that the dark willows wave 
O'er the spot where now you are resting in pride.

"On the field of your glory, where you fought and fell, 
Where your ashes repose in honour apart;
When the chase is all over the huntsman will tell, 
How Nero ran on till he bursted his heart."


"Fort Dearborn, Chicago, Dec. 9, 1835.
"Mr. Editor: Reflecting upon our numerous excursions on the prairies in this 
neighborhood, last fall, in pursuit of wolves, one marked by some peculiarity 
of incident frequently occurs to me, though doubtless with much less force 
than to some of my brother sportmen of that day.

"The afternoon was fine, and party large and agreeable, forming a line of 
about two miles in extent, the intervals generally of a few hundred yards 
between files, but so regulated as to leave no part of the ground unsurveyed. 
Advancing in this order, three wolves bounced, almost at the same instant, in 
front of different parts of the line, and ran in various directions. It fell 
to my lot to pursue one, assisted only by a greyhound slut. After a run of 
about three miles, the slut, being rather fat, and overcome by heat, fagged, 
and fell to the rear. Seeing I was thrown upon my own resources, I made a 
desperate push to run over the wolf, when, just grazing his brush, my horse 
plunged both forefeet into a narrow, grass-covered ditch, and fell as suddenly 
as if he had been shot, and threw me some distance ahead. I fell at full 
length on my belly, and saved myself from the rolling of my horse by a brisk 
movement—between a scramble and a dog-trot. In an instant we were both up and 
under way. Scarcely conscious of what had happened, after a run of five miles, 
the wolf sought refuge in a dense cluster of juniper on the lake shore, but 
soon found their fragile branches a poor protection from old hickory. Anxious 
to learn the success of the other portion of the field, (the heaving sides and 
distended nostrils of my good horse plead in vain for a momentary respite,) 
bedecking his brow with his hard-won trophy, I sprung on and struck up a brisk 
canter to rejoin the party; and had proceeded but a short distance, when two 
figures appeared rising over a gentle swell of the prairie, about two miles 
distance, and as they approached more closely, I discovered they were at full 
speed and bearing down toward me. While viewing the apparent contest, one of 
them suddenly dropped below the horizon and disappeared, raising an immense 
cloud of dust to mark the spot; a badger's hole had received a foot and leg of 
Emperor, and hurled him and master, Dr. M., headlong to the earth. Mr. R. K., 
taking advantage of his fallen adversary, passed him sprawling on the ground, 
(fair play in a wolf-chase,) but he enjoyed only a momentary triumph. The 
noble Emperor, finding himself disencumbered of his 230 pounds rider, sprung 
to his feet and renewed the contest with redoubled vigor. He soon passed his 
competitors, and was closely pressing the wolf, with ears thrown back, when I, 
very unsportsmanlike, came in ahead of the game and turned its course. Emperor 
was momentarily thrown out, but soon regained his advantage, passing Mr. K. 
and myself, following the wolf in his windings and doublings for a mile and a 
half, till he skulked in a ditch. Here Emperor drew up on the crest of the 
ditch, with head and tail elevated, ears pricked forward, repeatedly snorting, 
and fiercely gazing at the spot where the wolf lay concealed, till I abandoned 
my horse for the wonted use of old hickory, when, finding good company, both 
horses moved off toward home on a trot. Esq. G. (full of blood) fortunately 
arrived to the assistance of Mr. K. just as the game was routed from his 
lurking place, whence he pushed for the lake, where he was soon forced to 
lower his flag to the superior prowess of Esq. G., who plunged in on his 
foaming steed, and in a regular built sea-fight, closed the day's sport with 
the existence of the fifth wolf.

"It gives me pleasure to be able to add, in conclusion, that Dr. M., though 
severely injured by a contusion on the shoulder, escaped without the loss of 
life or limb; and although, for some weeks, deprived of the pleasure of 
participating in the chase, he has seldom failed to accompany the party to the 
field as a looker-on.

"The number of wolves taken by the party during the season, as taken from the 
journal, was 157,—19 wolves and a bear in one day; by straggling parties in 
the neighborhood, probably 50; in all not less than 200. The season was 
unusually dry and fine for running, and wolves abundant, probably attracted by 
the slaughter-houses in the suburbs; but from whatever cause, we never may see 
such days again.
SUMINECATHA, or Big Wood Wolf."


"Chicago, Illinois, May 3, 1840.
"Dear Sir: In looking over your valuable magazine, I observed your pages were 
not confined exclusively to reporting the sports of the Turf; and presuming 
you will be interested to hear from the 'wild west,' I have taken the liberty 
of giving you an account how we are getting along, and what we are doing.

"In December last, four of us started from this place in 'military array,' 
fully equipped for encampment, for the Sag, (an abreviation for the Sa-gua-
nash, a low, marshy ground, made by the overflowing of the DesPlaines River,) 
and arrived at 5 o'clock P. M. Next morning, as 'Aurora began to reflect her 
liquid fire,' we started in pursuit: our dogs were all 'in trim'; we had not 
been out but ten minutes, before we were told, by the note of a favorite 
bitch, that 'game was there.' After chasing a large buck about three 
miles, 'up hill and through the valley,' I shot him; and coming up to where he 
lay, I cut a gambrel and hung him up to a tree. About twenty rods further on 
we 'scared up' three more, two of which we killed in less than an hour. We 
then returned to camp, bearing the trophies of victory; and after partaking of 
the needful, to warm the inward man, we started again, and returned at 1 
o'clock P. M. with five more. Thinking we had enough venison, we put up our 
hounds and went in search of grouse or prairie hens, taking along two favorite 
pointers. After traversing the prairie three hours, we killed sixty grouse; on 
the second day, we killed four deer and thirty-seven grouse; and on the third 
day, we killed two deer, eighteen grouse, and six ducks: making in all 14 
deer, 115 grouse, and 6 ducks.

"There is no part of this country where game is so plentiful as on the 
Prairies of Illinois. During this last winter, the citizens of this place and 
the neighboring farmers, have killed 500 deer, besides grouse, ducks, geese, 
etc., 'too numerous to mention'; such are the sports of the West.

"The improvement of the breed of horses has received more attention for a few 
years past. Could I prevail upon the farmers to subscribe to your 'Register,' 
I should be glad; they then could detect 'counterfeit' from blood horses. Our 
country is inundated every season by the most worthless blood, which is passed 
off as genuine, hence the worthlessness of our stock.

"Col. James M.. Strode, formerly of Kentucky, has this season brought a horse 
here, from the blood of old Rob Roy, of the John Randolph stock; he is a 
beauty, and I hope now we may have some good horses.

"You will observe that I use the phrases current among us Suckers. 
Unaccustomed to writing for public prints, I am also unacquainted with the 
language of the Turf.
" I am respectfully yours,	J. F. G."


JOE BAIES; OR, A SABBATH-DAY INCIDENT IN CHICAGO, IN 1832.

Joseph Baies, or as the English call it, Bailly, a French or Canadian fur-
trader, was living on Grand River, Mich., probably as long ago as the first 
year of the present century, for the late Col. J. B. Beaubien, of Chicago, it 
is said, when a young man, learned the rudiments of his education of him while 
at Grand River. Afterward, and possibly before also, Bailly lived some time at 
what is now Bertrand, Mich., and when, in sundry business adventures, he had 
the late Alex. Robinson as an employe or associate. Wm. Burnett, the fur-
trader of St. Joseph River, in a letter dated January, 1787, speaks of a 
trader named Balie, perhaps the same gentleman of whom we are speaking. In 
1821, when Mr. B. bought goods of the American Fur Company, at Mackinaw, he is 
called of Lake Michigan, without the designation of any particular point. In 
1833, he was the proprietor of a house of entertainment, at the station called 
Baillytown, on the road from Michigan City to Chicago, and is well remembered 
by many travelers of that day, who were journeying around the head of the 
Lake. At that time he was considerably advanced in years, perhaps near 
seventy. His wife, (we have heard her called Mau-ne, probably for Mary) was of 
the Indian race, and they had two intelligent and fine-looking daughters, who 
had been educated at Detroit or Montreal. Esther, one of the daughters, 
married John H. Whistler, and Rozanne, the other, became the wife of Frank 
Howe, formerly a clerk in the Branch of the Illinois State Bank at Chicago.* 
But of the incident.

In the year 1832, a rather common custom at Chicago, was to make a holiday of 
the Sabbath, and to do more business, perhaps, on that day than on any other. 
Outsiders took occa-

* We did not succeed, as we hoped to, in getting particulars concerning Mr. 
Bailly's biography from a source which we made some attempt to reach, and to 
show how adversely very honest efforts after historical items regarding 
Chicago and its early residents sometimes result, we detail one case of 
decided though somewhat ludicrous failure. Aware of the fact, that the two 
daughters of Mr. Bailly married Chicago gentlemen, we addressed a note to a 
niece of the husband of one of those ladies, for a reference to some one who 
might impart to us the information sought. The lady politely suggested that 
from Mrs. H. (a daughter of Mr. B.) we would be able to get all the facts 
desired, and that Mr. C. at the City Engineer's Office, would favor us with 
the address of Mrs. H. aforesaid. An application to Mr. C. however, only 
brought the response, that Hon. Mr. S. was attorney for Mrs. H., "and can 
perhaps give you her address." There seemed to be something of a doubt implied 
in the "perhaps" of Mr. C. yet we boldly confronted Mr. S. with a modest 
missive, requesting the address of the lady, just that and nothing more. Alas 
for the simplicity of those that essay the task to glean a few straws from the 
historic field, expecting to find some kernels of neglected grain; such 
artless individuals are scarcely fitted to encounter the mounted huzzars of 
worldly business strife, ready to ride down every pedestrian, as though 
tainted with complications, plots, intrigue, and fees. Mr. S. vouchsafed us an 
answer to the effect, that Mrs. H. resided in the State of Kentucky, but if we 
had any business with that lady, it must be by and through him as agent. It 
was no matter that we explained our humble aims, devoid of covetousness and 
the like, for no words came back; if, therefore, any names and facts shall in 
consequence here fail to be immortalized, it is certainly not our fault.

sion then to come to the village to look about and make purchases, and many 
shopkeepers were quite ready to accommodate them. But our informant, then a 
merchant here, held sentiments somewhat at variance with this, and when the 
old trader, Joe Baies, who was frequently at Chicago, in looking about the 
settlement, saw the door open at the store of our informant, who sat reading 
therein, he stepped inside and began to inspect some portions of the stock, 
inquiring prices, etc. The merchant explained to him the condition of affairs, 
telling him that he sold no goods on Sunday, having been raised in the east, 
where the propriety of such observance was inculcated, but if he would call 
upon any other day, he would be happy to wait on him. Baies was taken by 
surprise, being quite unused to meeting persons of so strict a creed; in fact, 
he became suddenly disgusted, and disgust culminated in a fit of towering 
anger. Lavish with insulting language and profanity, calling our citizen a 
fool; he asked him if this was the way to make money, and what he came here 
for if it was not to make money. Yet, as often happened in the days of the 
patriarchs, "a soft answer turneth away wrath," and as there was on this 
occasion none else, Mr. B. came back to the store before many days, and made 
ample apologies for his hard words, his rudeness and ill-temper, allowing that 
our citizen had a perfect right to his opinions, as well as to follow the 
guidance of his own conscience. After this, he was one of his best customers. 
We will here add, that Mr. B. was an intelligent and keen business man, of 
good education, and usually of courteous and gentlemanly manners.


"LITTLE TURTLE" AND THE QUAKERS.

It is not of a late date merely, that that respectable class or religious body 
of citizens known as Quakers, have made earnest efforts to improve the 
condition, moral as well as physical, of the American Indians. That key-note 
from the voice of humanity, was sounded when William Penn met the natives on 
the banks of the Delaware near two centuries since. It is the common impulse 
of our nature to be courteous to them that treat us kindly, and the trait is 
quite as marked in the savage as the civilized man.

The speech of Little Turtle given below, is copied from a manuscript found 
among the papers of Judge Jouett, formerly Indian Agent at Chicago, by whom it 
was preserved at the time of its delivery, something over three score years 
ago. It seems proper that this speech should not be lost; and though it may 
seem to the reader prolix and tame, lacking the fire and passion that we 
usually expect in the speech of an Indian orator, yet the subject matter was 
one of peace, and refers to the comparatively quiet and dull life of 
civilization. The speaker, however, believed it involved the best interests of 
his people.

Little Turtle frequently sojourned at Chicago, but whether this reply was made 
here or at some other point in the west, we cannot say.
Early in the year 1798, accompanied by Captain William Wells, (who, it has 
been said, was his adopted son,) he was visiting in Philadelphia,* and it is 
told by Volney, the French traveler, that the Chief made known his wishes to 
the "benevolent Society of Friends," as to "the necessity of turning the 
attention of his people from hunting and fishing to tillage."

Mechecunnaqua, or Little Turtle, was a Miami, and though but little is known 
of his early history, in his maturer years he was a brave and able warrior. He 
once said of the Miamis, "My forefather kindled the first fire at Detroit; 
from thence he extended his lines to the head waters of the Scioto; from 
thence to its mouth; from thence down the Ohio to the mouth of the Wabash; and 
from thence to Chicago over Lake Michigan. These are the boundaries within 
which the prints of my ancestors' houses are everywhere to be seen." Little 
Turtle

*It was during this visit to Philadelphia that Little Turtle paid his respects 
to Gen. Washington, as well as to our Polander patriot Kosciusko; the last 
named, presented to the Indian chief his elegant brace of battle pistols. 
Little Turtle again visited the seat of Government, then at Washington, in 
company with several other Indians, in 1802.

was the leader of the Indians at Harmer's defeat, on the Maumee, in October, 
1790, as well also as that of St. Clair, the year following. It has been 
claimed by the family of Joseph Brant, that he (Brant) was the head and 
General of the Indian forces which destroyed St. Clair's army, but the main 
weight of evidence is to the contrary.

In June, 1794, at the head of a force of a thousand Indians or more, Little 
Turtle attacked Fort Recovery, (built by Gen. Wayne on the field of St. 
Clair's defeat,) but was repulsed; and the crushing blows given the Indians 
by "mad Anthony," in the autumn of that year, was followed by a peace and the 
Treaty of Greenville, (in June, 1795,) to which Treaty Little Turtle was a 
signer. It is believed that this Chief had received some education in Canada, 
and until the Treaty of Greenville, was attached to British interests, which 
interests
seemed to find gratification in cultivating in the savages a hatred of the 
Americans. John Johnston, of Piqua, Ohio, who was well acquainted with Little 
Turtle, said of this "celebrated orator and chief," that he was "a man of 
great wit, humor, and vivacity, fond of the company of gentlemen, and 
delighted in good eating. When I knew him, he had two wives, living with him, 
under the same roof, in the greatest harmony. *  *  *  * This distinguished 
chief died at Fort Wayne, of a confirmed case of the gout, brought on by high 
living, and was buried with military honors by the troops of the United 
States."

Mrs. Callis, daughter of Judge Jouett, tells us that her mother often spoke of 
the chief, for whose oratorical powers she had great admiration. She 
particularly referred to a speech of that chief which she heard delivered at 
some council held at Chicago. A sentence of that speech is remembered; 
speaking of an enemy upon whom he (Little Turtle) had taken deadly vengeance, 
he said, "We met! I cut him down! and his shade, as it passes on the wind, 
shuns my walk."

The death of Little Turtle, it is understood, occurred, not "in the year 1804 
or 1805," as stated in the Narrative of Major S. H. "Long's Expedition of 
1823, but on the 14th, July, 1812, and he was buried on the west bank of the 
river at Fort Wayne.


SPEECH OF LITTLE TURTLE IN REPLY TO AN ADDRESS FROM THE QUAKERS—GEORGE ELLIOTT 
AND GERARD T. HOPKINS.

Brothers: It appears to me necessary that I should give you an immediate 
answer, as you are about to return to your families from whence you came.

Brothers and Friends: We are all pleased to see you here, and to take our 
Brothers, the Quakers, through you, by the hand. We rejoice that the Great 
Spirit has appointed that we should this day meet, for we believe this meeting 
will be of the utmost consequence to your Red Brethren.

Brothers: What you have said we have carefully gathered up; we have placed it 
in our hearts, in order that it may be communicated to our posterity. We are 
convinced that what you have said is for the good of your Red Brethren. We are 
also convinced that our Chiefs and Warriors, our women and children, will be 
all of our opinion, and will be glad when they hear what you have said.

Brothers: We take you by the hand, and through you take the people who sent 
you by the hand, and assure you that we are pleased that the Great Spirit has 
let us see each other, and converse together upon the subjects that have been 
communicated to us.

Brothers: You see that there are but few of us here; what you have said to us, 
will not remain with the few that are here alone; it will be communicated to 
all your Red Brethren in this country, and I again repeat that I am convinced 
that they will be glad to hear what you have said to us, to our women and 
children.

Brothers: When we saw you with the rest of your Brothers in Baltimore upwards 
of two years ago, I expect you recollect perfectly the conversation between us 
at that time and place. I then, with my Brother Chiefs, told you that we were 
glad to find you so much disposed to assist us, our women and children; we 
told you that your good wishes should be made known to all your Red Brethren 
in this country, which has been done.

Brothers: Ever since that time, I, as well as some others of my Brother 
Chiefs, have been endeavoring to turn the minds of our people toward the 
cultivation of the earth, but am sorry to say we have not yet been able to 
effect anything.

Brothers: There are so few of us here present, we could not now undertake to 
give you any positive answer; we expect in a few moons, there will be many of 
our people together. At that time it will be proper that we should give you an 
answer to all the subjects you now mention to us.

Brothers: The things you have said to us require our greatest attention. It 
appears to be really necessary that we should deliberate upon them. In order 
to do so we must beg you to leave the paper on which they are written, that we 
may communicate them to the Chiefs when they assemble.

Brothers: All the words you said to-day, were certainly calculated for our 
good. You have enumerated to us the different kinds of grains and animals we 
ought to raise for our comfort. You have told us that if we all adopt the plan 
you have proposed, we shall want for nothing. This Brothers, myself and many 
of our people believe is true, and we hope we shall finally be able to 
convince our young men that this is the plan we should adopt to get our living.

Brothers: You have come a long distance to render service to us; we hope you 
will meet with the success you wish. You have been very particular in pointing 
out to us what will be for our good; you have been very particular in pointing 
out the duties of our women, and you have told us that in adopting your mode 
of living, our numbers would increase and not diminish. In all this I 
perfectly agree with you, and hope all the Chiefs will also agree with you.

Brothers: We are pleased to hear you say you are going to leave one of your 
Brothers with us, to show us in what manner you cultivate the earth. We shall 
endeavor, Brothers, to make his situation among us as agreeable to him as will 
be possible, for us	

Brothers: We are convinced the plan you propose will be advantageous to your 
Red Brethren. We are convinced you have observed very justly, that we shall 
not then be so liable to sickness. We are certain we shall then be able to 
make a more comfortable living with less labor than at present, and hope this 
will be the opinion of us all.

Brothers: I again repeat, I am extremely glad to hear the things you have 
said, and that we will keep them in our hearts for the good of our young men, 
our women and our children. I have now delivered to you the sentiments of our 
people that are present.

(After a short pause he added),
Brothers: Assure your people who have sent you here, tell your old Chiefs we 
are obliged to them for their friendly offers to assist us in changing our 
present mode of living. Tell them it is a work which cannot be done 
immediately, that we are all that way disposed, and we hope it will take place 
gradually.

(Sitting down a short space, he rises again.)
Brothers: My heart is so overjoyed and warm with what you have said, that I 
forgot to mention one of the most important things. At the time we first met 
at this place, the Five Medals* and myself formed some idea of your business; 
we expected you had come to do for us the things you proposed to us when in 
Baltimore, and consulted each other upon the answer necessary to return to you 
in every respect, and now find our idea was right. Brothers, the sentiments 
which I have delivered to you, were his sentiments. You have now told us that 
your Brother has a mind to live among us, to show us how to cultivate the 
earth, and has desired us to show him the spot where to begin. We agreed then 
that he should be at neither of our villages, lest our younger Brothers should 
be jealous of our taking him to ourselves. We have determined to place him on 
the Wabash, where some of our families will follow him; where our young men, I 
hope, will flock to him, and where he will be able to instruct them as he 
wishes. This is all I have to say. I could all day repeat the senti-

*Name of a Chief.

ments I have already expressed; also, how much I have been gratified in seeing 
and hearing from our Brothers, but that is not necessary. I am sorry the 
Chiefs of our country are not all present, that they might all hear what you 
have said, and have an opportunity to talk with you.


CHARLES JOUETT, THE FIRST U.S. INDIAN AGENT RESIDING AT CHICAGO.
 
Charles Jouett (not "Jewett," as it is often written) was born in Louisa 
County, Virginia, in 1772, and was the youngest of a family of four boys and 
five girls. His father was John Jouett, of Charlottesville, Va., and the 
maiden name of his mother was Harris. The father was with the Virginians at 
Braddock's defeat, and John, Jr., and Robert fought the enemy in many of the 
battles of the Revolution. John, Jr., or Jack as he was usually called, 
received a vote of thanks and a sword, it is said, from the Legislature of 
Virginia, for an exhibition of daring and timely notice to that body, whose 
capture by Col. Tarleton was determined on. Jouett having knowledge of the 
plan, and being mounted in the guise of a British dragoon, passed (a necessity 
under the circumstances) through the enemy's camp without detection, and gave 
the alarm. Another story has been told of Jack Jouett; while with Gen. Greene, 
in North Carolina, in the vicinity of Guilford Court House, on one occasion 
near a spring between the contending forces, he pounced upon an incautious 
Briton who had come for water, and easily carried him away under one arm a 
prisoner. It is proper here to say that John Jouett, Sen., and his four sons, 
were all of gigantic stature and strength. Charles Jouett is said to have been 
raised under the immediate notice and enjoyed the friendship of presidents 
Jefferson, Madison, and Monroe. He studied law and practiced a few years in 
Charlottesville, Va., but in 1802, he accepted from the Government the 
appointment of Indian agent at Detroit, Mich. Mr. J. ably filled this 
position, not only there, but after his transfer to the new and perhaps more 
important agency at Chicago. In 1804, while in Michigan, he took measures at 
the request of the Government, to learn the facts concerning the settlements 
at Detroit and vicinity, and submitted an extended report of the same, which 
appears in one of the printed volumes of American State Papers. Charles Jouett 
was the first Indian agent stationed at Chicago; and William Wells, (Captain 
Wells, subsequently killed at Chicago,) the Agent at Fort Wayne, had been 
advised by the Department, October 17, 1804, that the annuities of the 
Pottawatomie and Kickapoo Indians under his charge, would in future be sent to 
Chicago. Mr. Jouett under his new appointment removed here in 1805, and by 
instructions from the War Department, was informed, October 26, of that year, 
that there would be included in his agency here, the Sacs, Foxes, and 
Pottawatomies, as well as other tribes in the vicinity of Chicago.

Hon. John Wentworth, in a supplement to one of his lectures, gives the names 
of quite a number of Virginians who were early residents of Chicago; to those 
may be added that of Charles Jouett. Mr. J. had married in 1803, Miss Eliza 
Dodomead; she died in 1805. From the time of his first arrival at Chicago, we 
are unable to state precisely how often or how long he was absent from this 
post, yet we are advised of one furlough at least, reaching along through the 
holidays it is understood, in the winter of 1808-9. The occasion was his (2d) 
marriage, the lady being Miss Susan Randolph Allen, of Clark County, Ky., and 
we must characterize it as something extraordinary, that their wedding-tour 
was made on horseback, in the month of January, through the jungles, over the 
snow-drifts, on the ice, and across the prairies, in the face of driving 
storms, and the frozen breath of the winds of the north. They had on their 
journey, a negro servant named Joe Battles, and an Indian guide whose name was 
Robinson, possibly the late chief Alex. Robinson. A team and wagon followed, 
conveying their baggage, and they marked their route for the benefit of any 
future traveler.

After some six years residence here, Mr. Jouett, probably from Indian 
difficulties and complications, which rendered a continuance in the office 
impracticable, resigned his position in 1811, and removed to Kentucky, and 
settled in Mercer County, near Harrodsburg. In 1812, he was made one of the 
Judges of that county. After the close of the war with England, and the 
rebuilding of Fort Dearborn, Judge Jouett again occupied the position of 
Indian Agent at Chicago, having been re-appointed in 1815, and made the 
journey to this place across the country, accompanied by his family.

The first Agency Building, or United States Factory, as sometimes called, Mrs. 
Whistler told us, was near the river on the south side, a short space above 
the Fort; and in Mrs. Kinzie's "Waubun," we are informed that "it was an old-
fashioned log-building, with a hall running through the centre, and one large 
room on each side. Piazzas extended the whole length of the building in front 
and rear." This structure is understood to have been built soon after Mr. 
Jouett came; it did not of course survive the destruction of the first Fort 
Dearborn. The Agency House, during Judge Jouett's second term as Indian Agent 
here, and the home of his family during the period, was on the north side of 
the river. It was a log-building of two large rooms, standing some "two or 
three hundred yards from the lake," and close by the river. "It was about 
twenty steps from the river bank," says a lady now living, a daughter of Judge 
Jouett, and who, coming with her parents in 1816, remained here several years. 
The log-domicile referred to, was one built previous to the evacuation of Fort 
Dearborn, in 1812, and we much believe that it was the same frequently spoken 
of in connexion with an earlier date as "the Burns house." It stood where is 
now a freight depot of the N. W. Railroad, at corner of North State and Water 
Streets. The future building of the Indian Agency, sometimes called "Cobweb 
Castle," was afterwards erected close by it; indeed it was already commenced, 
but never occupied or completed during Judge Jouett's sojourn here. We will 
here remark that the timbers of the old log-building were a stolid witness to 
a deed of blood, supplementary perhaps to the massacre on the south side. Says 
Mrs. Callis (the daughter of Judge Jouett before referred to), "The house in 
which my father lived, was built before the massacre of J812; I know this from 
the fact that 'White Elk,' an Indian chief, and the tallest Indian I ever saw, 
was, frequently pointed out to me as the savage who had dashed out the brains 
of the children of Sukey Corbin (a camp-follower and washer-woman), against 
the side of this very house." We have reason to think that this savage was the 
same fiend that had previously tomahawked the dozen other children, after the 
action and surrender by the soldiers. Mrs. Jouett told her daughter of a 
frantic mother,* a former acquaintance of hers, who on that

*Perhaps the same Mrs. Corbin before referred to, and who is spoken of also in 
Mrs. Kinzie's "Waubun." In that work the name of Mrs. Corbin appears as part 
of the statement of Mrs. Helm, but in the earlier published account, from 
which much of the Waubun account is copied, Mrs. Corbin's name is not 
mentioned, nor is that part of the incident which is there, given as 
communicated by Mrs. Helm. This may possibly account for some little 
indefiniteness or confusion regarding the locality of the Corbin family 
murder. Yet the main facts of a horrid slaughter cannot be doubted.

occasion fought the monster all the while the butchery was being done, yet who 
in turn fell a victim herself. Says Mrs. C. "how I shuddered at the sight of 
this terrible savage." In Augustin Grignan's Recollections, (Wis. His. Soc. 
Colls, v. 3,) we find that he speaks of Op-po-mish-shah or the "White Elk" as 
a Menomonie chief of "considerable distinction." He may have been; yet if he 
was the same Indian before spoken of (of which, however, we are not sure, as 
we supposed the Menomonies did not take part in the attack at Chicago), his 
deeds of cowardly butchery here will ever distinguish this child murderer as 
eminent in brutality.* Mrs. C. remembers that Mr. Kinzie lived near the lake, 
opposite the Fort, at the old cabin or "Kinzie House," the picture of which is 
familiar to readers of Chicago history. She says, "between my father's house 
and Mr. Kinzie's was a house occupied by a gunsmith, a Mr. Bridges, who had 
been a silversmith. A man named Dean had a store near Mr. Kinzie's house; 
there may have been other houses which I do not remember. Just across the 
river from our house, and near the river bank, was a little space enclosed by 
a paling, where, on the surface of the ground, lay
bleaching, the bones of Non-no-ga, an Indian who had befriended some of the 
whites in their peril, at the time of the massacre, but was pursued and killed 
at that spot, it was said. My father's interpreter was James Riley.**

My mother was respected and loved by the Indians; many

*The "White Elk" referred to by Grignon, joined Tecumseh the following year 
(1813), from which it seems probable that he was the same as the one at 
Chicago.

**James Riley, and his brothers Peter and John, were sons of Judge Riley, of 
Schenectady, who was at one time a trader with the Indians at Saginaw. The 
boys were half-breeds, the mother being of the Indian race. Judge Witherell 
says, "They were educated men. When with white people, they were gentle manly, 
high-toned, honorable fellows; when with the Indians in the forest, they could 
be perfect Indians, in dress, language, hunting, trapping, and mode of living. 
* * * The three were thorough-going Americans in every thought and feeling." 
The British authorities, it is said, were so jealous of the active enmity of 
James Riley during the war of 1812, that they procured his capture, and sent 
him to Halifax for awhile. In what year we are not informed, but he finally 
lost his life by the explosion of a keg of gunpowder at Grand Rapids, Michigan.

were frequent visitors at her home, and were especially kind to her children, 
sister and myself. * * * Our nurse was an Indian girl, a faithful, devoted 
servant, who afterward married a soldier of the garrison."

We notice that the agents of the Indian Department, within the then Illinois 
Territory, were all in 1817, placed under the superintendence of this 
Territory. "The most strict and vigorous economy in the expenditures," was 
enjoined by the War Department, and "the whole amount of the expenditures for 
the Indian Department within the Illinois Territory, including rations, 
presents, contingencies of Agents," etc., etc., was "limited to $25,000 per 
annum."

Judge Jouett secured the confidence of the Indians by kind and honorable 
treatment; we add also that his commanding presence and physical strength 
doubtless added to his influence with them; his height was six feet and three 
inches; he was erect, broad-shouldered, and muscular. An incident is told of 
by Mrs. C. of a fearless encounter which her father had here with a drunken 
Indian chief named "Mar Pock," (so called from his face being badly disfigured 
by small-pox,) who was brandishing his scalping-knife with furious menaces, 
betokening bloody violence; but Jouett, confronting the savage sternly ordered 
him to give up his knife; we are told that Mr. Aborigine immediately quailed 
and surrendered.

The name given by the Indians to Judge Jouett was "The White Otter;" his negro 
servant they called "Blackmeat."

The following, relating to Judge J., written at the time of his decease, was 
not an unmerited tribute to his worth:

"Few men in the United States Indian Department ever showed more devotion to 
the interests of the Government, more unbending integrity of purpose or 
promptitude of action, or more impartiality and justice to the Indians; few 
had more the confidence of the Government. The management, finesse, and double-
dealing, by which so many Indian Agents have enriched themselves from the 
spoils of the Indians, whose rights it was their duty to maintain, had no 
place in the school of honor where he was educated."

Judge Jouett finally resigned the Agency in Chicago in 1818 (or '19), and 
returned to Mercer County, Ky. He was soon appointed by Mr. Monroe to the 
position of Judge of the U. S. Court for Arkansas, where he removed, and 
assisted in the organization of that Territorial Government, etc.; but the 
unhealthiness of that region at the time obliged him to relinquish the 
position within a half year. In 1820, he removed to Trigg County, Ky., which 
was afterward his home. His death occurred while on his way to Lexington, at 
the house of a friend in Barren County, Ky., May 28, 1834, being in his 62d 
year. His widow, Mrs. Susan R. Jouett, died near Hopkinsville, Ky., in 1871. 
Judge Jouett's children were (1st m.) Jane Harris, born 1804, died in 
Christian County, Ky., 1839. (2d m.) Charles La Lime, born in Chicago, Oct., 
1809, died 1810; Catharine, born in Mercer County, Ky., Feb. 8, 1811; Susan 
M., born in Mercer County, Ky., Nov. 1812; Mildred R., born in Mercer County, 
Ky., July, 1814; the two last named are living in Kentucky. Mr. William O. 
Callis, a grandson of Judge Jouett, now, 1876, resides in Chicago.


THE FIRST TEMPERANCE SOCIETY OF CHICAGO.

[The following, by the compiler of this book, appeared in the Chicago Times, 
perhaps we may as well insert it here, together with a few additional 
paragraphs:]

CHICAGO, June 20, 1876.
Ed. Chicago Times:—The efforts of the Hon. John Wentworth to place upon record 
the facts pertaining to early Chicago history, deserve much credit, and we 
wish many of our other early residents would do likewise, and write up their 
recollections of the rapidly receding past. For whether all such impressions 
may be strictly accurate or otherwise, it is better that they should be told 
now, when the statements may be examined and verified, or else corrected or 
denied, as the case may be. And just here, I wish to say, that the association 
referred to, called "The First Temperance Society" in "By-gone Days" of last 
Sunday's Times, is not entitled to such designation. The First Chicago 
Temperance Society did not date its organization in "1835." It had existence, 
January 30, 1834, and earlier, for on that day it met at the Presbyterian 
church, and had a new election of officers, as follows: Dr. John T. Temple, 
Pres.; Dr. Josiah C. Goodhue, Vice-President; Philo Carpenter, Sec. and 
Treas.; Capt. D. Wilcox, (U. S. A.), M. D. Harmon, Dr. H. Van Der Bogert; Lt. 
J. L. Thompson, (U. S. A.), Executive Committee. In 1833, J. Watkins was 
secretary of the same Society. From time immemorial, since the red-man's early 
acquaintance here with the whites, the firewater had tracked its serpent-like 
way without much restraint. Yet the Indians were not the only victims. In 
1812, when Capt. Heald, on evacuating Fort Dearborn, endeavored secretly to 
destroy the liquors in the Fort, by emptying them into the river, the keen 
nostrils of the savages detected that effort to smother the spirit-devil. The 
Indians (from white men's teaching) had an insuperable weakness and hankering 
after the demon, and considered themselves on that occasion, at least, robbed 
and wronged; and hence, perhaps, an extra spur and edge to the tomahawk and 
scalping-knife on that luckless August morning.

But just a score of years later, for it was in Father Walker's log-cabin at 
Wolf Point, in the year 1832, there gathered the first temperance meeting at 
Chicago. This was the initiative, leading to the formation of the Chicago 
Temperance Society. The prime mover and originator of the enterprise, we need 
scarcely add, was Philo Carpenter, who had arrived here that season. Mr. C. by 
the distribution of various tracts and papers bearing on the subject, prepared 
the Chicago public mind for the innovation and shock of so unusual an 
occurrence as a temperance meeting in the scattered, unfledged, and "rough-and-
tumble" settlement. Yet, Mr. C. had the aid of Col. R. J. Hamilton, Col. T. J. 
V. Owen, Mark Noble, and others, though at the meeting referred to, which was 
as large as the cabin could accommodate, the principal address devolved upon 
him. A pledge was also drawn up, which met with varied success, but not a few, 
alas, of those who signed it, went over soon or slowly, to the enemy. Among 
the names of the signers,* we may mention that of the Indian chief, Chee-chee-
bing-way —Alexander Robinson. Robinson received the appeal to sign the pledge 
with hesitation, and pointing to his whiskey bottle, acknowledged his 
attachment to the syren; he afterwards, however, allowed that he believed he 
had better join the Society and leave strong drink alone. Signing the pledge, 
or authorizing his name to be placed thereon, it was not without an exhibition 
of humor, when he attacked his bottle with a hostile weapon, knocking it this 
way and that, until effectually demolished.

It may not be out of place here to recall a few facts relative to the early 
history of the mad waters with the American Indians.

*John Noble, an early settler and respected citizen, still living in the 
vicinity, it is remembered, signed the pledge with the proviso, "wine 
excepted."

In 1609, when Henry Hudson made discovery of, and passed into the river which 
has since borne his name, he, at his first interview with the natives of the 
shore, gave them to drink of their first bowl of the misnamed "aqua-vita? 
Indeed, according to a tradition of the Delawares, the Indian name of 
Manhattan Island (now New York), in its literal interpretation, was "the place 
where we all got drunk!" Some three-fourths of a century later, Wm. Penn wrote 
to his friend, the Earl of Sunderland, and from which letter we extract the 
following :

PHILADELPHIA, 28, 5 mo.,* 1683.
MY NOBLE FRIEND:
****
"I have lay'd out the Province into Countys. Six are begun to be seated; they 
lye on the great River, and are Planted about six miles
back, the town platt is a mile long, and two deep,—has a navigable river on 
each side; the least as Broad as the thames at Woolwych, from 3 to 8 fathom 
water; there is built about 80 houses, and I have settled at least 300 farms 
contiguous to it.

The country is in soyle good, aire Sereen (as in Languedock) and sweet from 
the Ceder Pine, and sassefrax; 

For the people, they are savage to us; in their Persons and furniture all that 
is rude, but they have great shape, strength, agility; and in Councel, for 
they (tho in a kind of Community among themselves), observe Property and 
government, grave, Speak Seldom, inter spaces of Silence, short, elegant, 
fervent. The old sitt in a half moon upon the ground, the middle aged in a 
like figure, at a little distance behind them, and the young fry in the same 
manner behind them; none speak but the aged, they having consulted the rest 
before; thus in selling me their land, they ordered them selves; I must say 
that, their obscurity consider'd, wanting tradition, example, and instruction, 
they are an extraordinary People. Had not the dutch, Sweeds, and English, 
learn'd them drunkenness (in which condition they kill and burn one another), 
they had been very tractable, but Rum is so dear to them, that for 6 Penny 
worth of Rum, one may buy that fur
from them that five shillings in any other commodity shall not Purchase. Yet 
many of the old men, and some of the young People, will not touch with such 
spirits; and because in those fitts they mischief both themselves and our 
folks too, I have forbid to sell them any.     ***
WM. PENN."

We are told that the French king, having been informed

*July; the year beginning in March in those days.

of the ill effects upon the Indians of the west, from the sale of intoxicating 
drinks, issued, with the advice of the Catholic Bishops, and the court called 
Sarbonne, an edict forbidding the transportation of brandy to Michilimackinac, 
for the purpose of traffic.

Count Frontenac was governor of New France, in 1694, and that year M. de la 
Motte Cadillac (subsequently the founder of Detroit, governor of Louisiana, 
etc.) succeeded Louvigny in the command of the post of Michilimackinac and the 
surrounding region. We make the following extracts from a letter of Cadillac 
to a friend in Quebec. The language (evidently sincere) was written in behalf 
of sordid cupidity upon one side and of base abandonment in a degrading habit 
on the other, and constitutes a plea which will appear curious if not 
convincing:

"FORT BUADE, MICHILIMACKINAC, August 3, 1695.
MONSIEUR:—**In regard to the decision of the Court concerning the 
transportation of liquors to this place,

***It is important that you should know, in case you are not already informed, 
that this village is one of the largest in Canada. There is a garrison of well-
disciplined, chosen soldiers, consisting of about two hundred men, the best 
formed and most athletic to be found in the New World; besides many other 
persons who are residents here during two or three months in the year. This 
being an indubitable fact, it seems to me that this place should not be 
deprived of the privilege, which His Majesty has accorded to all the other 
places and villages in Canada —the privilege of furnishing themselves with the 
necessary drinks for their own use. * * The situation of the place and the 
food also require it. The houses are arranged along the shore of this great 
Lake Huron, and fish and smoked meat, constitute the principal food of the 
inhabitants, so that a drink of brandy after the repast, seems necessary to 
cook the bilious meats and the crudities which they leave in the stomach. * * 
What reason can there be for the prohibition of intoxicating drinks, in regard 
to the French who are now here? * * What reason can one assign that the 
savages should not drink brandy bought with their own money.*

*It is not surprising that the selfishness of men of that day, coveting the 
silver crowns of the French realm, should be regardless of the welfare of 
others, since even now, near two centuries later, when the world claims to be 
much wiser, and when this scourge of intoxicating drinks, the greatest curse 
of America, surpassing all war, debt, pestilence, and famine which our country 
has ever encountered, still seems not apparent to our rulers, our law-makers, 
and the majority who comprise their constituency.


This prohibition has much discouraged the Frenchman here from trading in 
future. It seems very strange that they should pretend that the savages would 
ruin themselves by drinking. The savage himself asks why they do not leave him 
in his beggary, his liberty, and his idleness; he was born in it, and he 
wishes to die in it,—it is a life to which he has been accustomed since Adam. 
Do they wish him to build palaces and ornament them with beautiful furniture? 
He would not exchange his wigwam, and the mat on which he camps like a monkey, 
for the Louvre!"
	
	
FIRST SUNDAY-SCHOOL IN CHICAGO.

It was in 1832, the year of the Black-Hawk war, the year that General Scott's 
army arrived, bringing with it that terrible scourge the Asiatic cholera, (its 
first year in America,) that occurred two notable events, which, though quiet 
and unobtrusive, yet not the less memorable, perhaps, as a portion of the 
history of the early town. We allude to the first sabbath-school, as well as 
the first temperance meeting, in Chicago. The last-named gathering has been 
already described, and the school we will speak of here.

It will be proper to say, that the spring of that year had not passed without 
finding Chicago in a condition of unusual excitement. Several murders had been 
committed by Indians (the Sauks, from the west side of the Mississippi,) among 
the whites of northern Illinois, and the scattering settlers had flocked in 
from various localities to Fort Dearborn, which they believed to be the only 
place of available security. No United States soldiers had occupied the Fort 
during the past winter, and Chicago, it is said, numbered then only about 
fifty residents. But the dangers and alarms referred to had sent in a crowd of 
refugees, and the forepart of the month of May found Fort Dearborn peopled 
with some six or seven hundred persons. But Illinois and Michigan troops, 
organized for protection against the foe, and General Scott, who arrived in 
the month of July with U. S. soldiers, though his force was more than 
decimated by the cholera, marched after the red-skins, and the settlers 
returned to their homes on the prairie. But the fatality which attended the 
fearful disease could not otherwise than awaken the minds of various 
individuals to the fact that death reigned in their midst.

We may say there were at least a few persons then here with decidedly 
religious proclivities, and hence, as may be supposed, there were prayer-
meetings as well as sabbath gatherings, where, if there was no preacher to 
discourse to them, there were yet printed sermons frequently read to an 
audience.

Of the Sunday-school, we have been told, by one of the parties in the 
enterprise, that it was on a fine summer Sunday, the 19th of August, 1832, 
when a few individuals, including Luther Childs, Mrs. Capt. Seth Johnson, Mrs. 
Charles Taylor, the Misses Noble, (daughters of Mark Noble,) and Philo 
Carpenter, organized the first sabbath-school in Chicago. The school was first 
gotten together in a small frame building lately put up by Mark Beaubien on 
the Reservation, near Mr. Noble's house. The building was incomplete, there 
being no doors hung or windows in, but there was a floor laid, and the 
structure was sided up, and some boards were on the rafters. The school, we 
will add, was afterwards held in various places, as accommodation offered, 
namely: in the Fort, as well as at Rufus Brown's house, Father Walker's cabin 
at the Point, and also in the upper part of Mr. Peck's store. From that first 
school to the present time, each recurring sabbath in Chicago has brought the 
children together for Sunday-school instruction.


TOWN OF CHICAGO; TRUSTEES' LEASE, 1835.
STATE OF ILLINOIS,)
                  )SS
COUNTY OF COOK.   )

This Indenture, made and entered into on the twenty-third day of the month of 
November, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and thirty-five, 
between Hiram Hugunin, George W. Dole, Samuel Jackson, Eli B. Williams, 
Francis C. Sherman, James Kinzie, Alexander Loyd, Walter Kimball, and Byram 
King, the Trustees of the Town of Chicago, being a body politic and corporate, 
duly elected, acting in their corporate name and capacity, of the first part, 
and Philo Carpenter, of the Town of Chicago in the County of Cook and the 
State of Illinois aforesaid, of the second part, Witnesseth, that for and in 
consideration of the sum of one thousand dollars, the sum of two hundred and 
fifty dollars parcel of the said sum is hereby acknowledged to have been 
received at and before the signing of these Presents, and the remaining three-
fourths part of the first aforesaid sum is to be paid to the said Trustees of 
the Town of Chicago and their successors by whatever name, character, or title 
their said successors may be hereafter known and distinguished, as follows, 
namely: The sum of two hundred and fifty dollars in one year from the date of 
these Presents; a like sum of two hundred and fifty dollars in two years from 
the date of these Presents, and a like sum of two hundred and fifty dollars in 
three years from the date of these presents; each of the said payments to bear 
interest at the rate of six per centum per annum, until the full and perfect 
payment of the same, and in consideration of the yearly rent, covenants, 
conditions, provisos, and agreements, hereinafter expressed and contained, the 
said Trustees of the Town of Chicago, in their said corporate name and 
capacity, have let, leased, and demised unto the said Philo Carpenter, party 
of the second part, his heirs, executors, administrators, or assigns, the lot, 
or wharfing privilege, in the said Town of Chicago, opposite to lot number 
three in block number Nineteen in the said Town of Chicago, as the same was 
heretofore laid out and described by the Canal Commissioners of the said State 
of Illinois, being part and parcel of section nine, in Township thirty-nine 
North, Range fourteen East, of third principal Meridian in the said State of 
Illinois, the said lot or wharfing privilege more particularly described as 
follows: the West half of the lot numbered three in the block lettered U, 
having forty feet upon South Water Street, and a like number of feet upon the 
Chicago river, and being forty feet in depth from the street to the river, as 
the same is marked, defined, and designated on the plan or profile of the said 
lots, or wharfing privileges, as the same has been prepared by Edward B. 
Talcott, Town Surveyor, under the direction of the said Trustees of the Town 
of Chicago, and by them filed and deposited in the Recorder's Office for the 
said County of Cook for public record and for reference in all time to come; a 
copy of which said plan or profile is also deposited of record, with the 
Treasurer of the said Trustees of the Town of Chicago, with all the liberties 
and privilege belonging to the same not herein otherwise provided against, to 
have and to hold the said described lot or wharfing privilege, and every part 
and parcel thereof to him, the said Philo Carpenter, party of the second part, 
his heirs, executors, administrators, or assigns, for, and during the full 
term and time of nine hundred and ninety-nine years from the date of these 
Presents, fully to be complete and ended, yielding and paying therefor, yearly 
and every year during said term, unto the said Trustees of the Town of 
Chicago, and their successors as aforesaid, the yearly rent of one barley corn 
at or upon the twenty-third day of the month of November in each and every 
year, if demanded,

Provided always, and upon condition that if it shall happen that the aforesaid 
sums of two hundred and fifty dollars, and the interest thereon as aforesaid, 
or any part thereof shall be behind and unpaid for the space of twenty days 
next after each of the said three payments shall become due, and ought to be 
paid as is herein mentioned, (being lawfully demanded,) that then it shall and 
may be lawful to, and for the said Trustees of the Town of Chicago, and their 
successors as aforesaid, to enter into and upon the said before described and 
hereby leased lot or wharfing privilege, and the same to retain and repossess.

And the said Philo Carpenter, party of the second part, for himself, his 
heirs, executors, administrators, and assigns, do hereby covenant, promise, 
and agree to and with the said Trustees of the Town of Chicago and their 
successors aforesaid, that he will, at his own proper costs and charges, erect 
and construct a good, sufficient, and permanent dock, five feet in width, 
along the whole length of the above described and hereby leased lot or 
wharfing privilege. upon the side thereof nearest the river, to be at all 
times properly and safely covered and left open at all times for the uses of 
the public as a tow and foot path; the top of said dock to be of an uniform 
heighth with the other docks along the whole length of the said river, the top 
or surface of the said dock to be three feet above ordinary high water mark, 
and to be completed and finished within two years from the date of these 
presents; and in default thereof this lease shall become null and void, and 
the said above described and hereby leased lot or wharfing privilege, shall 
revert to the said Trustees of the Town of Chicago and their successors 
aforesaid, who shall have full right and power to re-enter upon the same and 
take the entire and absolute possession thereof, and to re-let the same at 
their will and pleasure.

And the said Trustees of the Town of Chicago, do hereby covenant and agree to 
and with the said Philo Carpenter, party of the second part, that the said 
Trustees of the Town of Chicago, and their successors aforesaid, shall and 
will within four years from the date of these presents, dredge out or remove 
the earth or soil upon the margin and in the bed of said river, along the line 
of the said above described leased lot or wharfing privilege, so that the 
water in the said river shall be at the depth of ten feet at least.

And it is hereby further covenanted by and between the said Trustees of the 
Town of Chicago, and their successors aforesaid, and the said Philo Carpenter 
party of the second part, that the said above described and hereby leased lot 
or wharfing privilege, shall be liable to all such dues, taxation and duties 
as other lands, tenements and premises of the said Town of Chicago shall be 
subject and liable to by law, to be paid by the said Philo Carpenter party of 
the second part his heirs, executors, administrators, or assigns. And it is 
hereby covenanted and agreed by and between the said Trustees of the Town of 
Chicago, and their successors aforesaid, and the said Philo Carpenter party of 
the second part his heirs, executors, administrators, or assigns, that they, 
the said Trustees of the Town of Chicago, and their successors as aforesaid, 
shall not cause any building or buildings which the said Philo Carpenter party 
of the second part, his heirs, executors, administrators, or assigns, of the 
second part, may erect upon the said lot or wharfing privilege, for the 
greater benefit and better use of the said privilege, to be removed, 
destroyed, or demolished,

Provided Always, that every such building or buildings shall be subject to all 
laws and ordinances of the said Trustees of the Town of Chicago, and their 
successors aforesaid, in common with other buildings within the limits of the 
Town of Chicago.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, The parties to these Presents have interchangeably set 
their hands and seals in duplicate, the day and year above written, in 
presence of E. PECK, Clerk.

Trustees of the Town of Chicago:

[SEAL.] 
HIRAM HUGUNIN, 
GEORGE W. DOLE, 
ELI B. WILLIAMS, 
SAMUEL JACKSON, 
FRANCIS C. SHERMAN,
JAMES KINZIE, 
ALEXANDER LOYD, 
WALTER KIMBALL, 
BYRAM KING,

PHILO CARPENTER. [SEAL.]

RECORDER'S OFFICE, COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS. 
THIS IS TO CERTIFY, That the foregoing Lease was left for Record on the 6th 
day of January, 1836, and recorded on the 8th day of January, 1836, in Book L 
of Deeds, page 100.
RICH'D J. HAMILTON,
Rec'r, Cook Co., Ill.

Additional Comments:
CHICAGO ANTIQUITIES:
COMPRISING ORIGINAL ITEMS AND RELATIONS, LETTERS, EXTRACTS, AND NOTES.
PERTAINING TO EARLY CHICAGO;
EMBELLISHED WITH VIEWS, PORTRAITS, AUTOGRAPHS, ETC.

BY

HENRY H. HURLBUT,
Member of the Chicago Historical Society; Corresponding Member of the 
Wisconsin State Historical Society.

CHICAGO: PRINTED FOR THE AUTHOR.

1881.

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1881, by HENRY H. HURLBUT, 
In the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.

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