The Chicago Massacre of 1812: With Illustrations and Historical DocumentsKirkland, Joseph
History
The Chicago Massacre of 1812: With Illustrations and Historical Documents
Kirkland, Joseph
Chicago (Ill.) -- History; Fort Dearborn Massacre, Chicago, Ill., 1812
History places the scene of the Massacre adjacent to the shore of Lake
Michigan, between the present 16th and 20th Streets. The Memorial
Group, now (1893) newly erected, stands at the eastern extremity of
18th Street, overlooking the lake (nothing intervening save the right
of way of the Illinois Central Railway); and is therefore in the midst
of the battle-field.
I think it well here to put in evidence unanswerable testimony as to
the identity of the spot selected for the group with the place where
the short and fatal struggle took place. Regarding it, Munsell's
history observes:
The attack, the charge, the subsequent advance, etc., seem all to
point to about the spot where is now Eighteenth Street; and to the
Massacre tree, a tall cottonwood, still standing when these lines are
penned (1892), though dead since about five years ago.
For conclusive evidence of the identity of the tree and its
trustworthiness as marking the battle-field, see certificates of old
citizens given on page 31, Vol. I, Andreas' History of Chicago.
The letters quoted by Captain Andreas are all from persons not only
well-informed, but also of the highest social character and standing.
They are as follows:
Letter from Mrs. Henry W. King.
151 Rush Street, Chicago, }
January 25, 1884. }
A. T. Andreas, Esq.
_Dear sir:_--I am very happy to tell you what I know about the tree
in question, for I am anxious that its value as a relic should
be appreciated by Chicago people, especially since the fire has
obliterated nearly every other object connected with our early
history. Shortly before the death of my friend Mrs. John K. Kinzie, I
called upon her and asked her to drive with me through the city and
point out the various locations and points of interest that she knew
were connected with the "early day" of Chicago. She said there were
very few objects remaining, but localities she would be happy to show
me.
She appointed a day, but was not well enough to keep her appointment;
went East soon after for her health and died within a few weeks.
However, at this interview I mention, she said that to her the most
interesting object in our city was the old Cottonwood tree that
stands on Eighteenth Street, between Prairie Avenue and the lake.
She remarked that it, with its fellows, were saplings at the time of
the Indian Massacre, and that they marked the spot of that fearful
occurrence; though she was not sure but that the smaller one had
either died or been cut down. I expressed surprise at the location,
imagining that the massacre occurred further south, among the small
sand-hills that we early settlers remember in the vicinity of Hyde
Park. I remember that her answer to this was:
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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