Transcriber Note Text emphasis denoted by _Italics_. [Illustration: _Henry Dearborn was born in New Hampshire in 1751. He was an officer in the American army, took part in the battle of Bunker Hill, was present at the capture of Burgoyne's army, and remained in the service until the end of the war. In 1801 he was appointed Secretary of War under President Jefferson, and held that office for eight years._ _In 1812 Dearborn was appointed Major-General and did excellent service on the Niagara frontier during the Second War with Great Britain. John Wentworth said of him that "history records no other man who was at the battle of Bunker Hill, the surrender of Burgoyne and Cornwallis, and then took an active part in the War of 1812."_] THE STORY OF OLD FORT DEARBORN BY J. SEYMOUR CURREY WITH ELEVEN ILLUSTRATIONS [Illustration] CHICAGO A. C. McCLURG & CO. 1912 Copyright A. C. McCLURG & CO. 1912 ------ Published August, 1912 W. F. HAL PRINTING COMPANY, CHICAGO This Volume is Dedicated to NELLY KINZIE GORDON _PREFACE_ THERE were two Fort Dearborns, the first one having been built in 1803. This was occupied by a garrison of United States troops until 1812, when it was destroyed by the Indians immediately after the bloody massacre of that year. The second Fort Dearborn was built on the site of the former one in 1816, and continued in use as a military post, though at several intervals during periods of peaceful relations with the surrounding tribes the garrisons were withdrawn for a time. In 1836 the fort was finally evacuated by the military forces. The events narrated in the succeeding pages of this volume concern the first or Old Fort Dearborn. The name "Chicago," as descriptive of the river and its neighborhood, was in use for more than a century before the first Fort Dearborn was built; it appears on Franquelin's map printed in 1684 as "Chekagou," and is mentioned in various forms of spelling in the written and printed records of that and succeeding periods. It has been said that Chicago is the oldest Indian town in the West of which the original name is retained; thus its name enjoys a much greater antiquity than that of Fort Dearborn, familiar as the latter name is in our local annals.