Chapter VII: Nine Years of Garrison Life

The privations and loneliness of life at the new post on the Chicago River in the years following 1803 can be imagined by most readers only with difficulty. Only those who have experienced the deadly dullness of military routine at an isolated station can appreciate it properly. All witnesses agree in testifying to the overpowering loneliness of life under such conditions as prevailed at Fort Dearborn from 1803 to 1812. "In compassion to a poor devil banished to another planet," wrote Governor St. Clair, from Cincinnati, to Alexander Hamilton, in 1795, "tell me what is doing in yours, if you can snatch a moment from the weighty cares of your office."[373] One day in October, 1817, a year after the establishment of the second Fort Dearborn, Samuel A. Storrow, who was making a tour through the Northwest, appeared on the north bank of the Chicago River, and shortly after entered the fort, where he was received "as one arrived from the moon."[374] A British officer, writing from Mackinac in 1796, laments as follows: "You talk of your place being duller than ever, &c, believe me it cannot be put in competition with ours for dullness, jealousy, and envy, with all the etceteras mentioned in yours."[375] And Captain Heald, writing from Fort Dearborn in June, 1810, within a few days of his taking command there, announces that unless he can obtain a leave of absence to go to New England the coming autumn he will resign the service, and leave the command to another. It is a good place for a man with a family, who can be content to "live so remote from the civilized part of the world."

[Footnote 373: Smith, _The St. Clair Papers_, II, 318.]

[Footnote 374: _Wisconsin Historical Collections_, VI, 179.]

[Footnote 375: _Michigan Pioneer Collections_, XII, 211.]

The little establishment at Fort Dearborn constituted a miniature world, with interests and ambitions quite detached from those of the larger world outside. The principal means of contact with the latter was afforded by the traders who passed through Chicago, proceeding with their merchandise to the Indian country or returning therefrom with the fruits of their barter. They brought the news of the outside world to the inmates of the garrison and surrounding cabins. Each year a vessel from Detroit or Mackinac brought a supply of merchandise to the traders at Milwaukee, Chicago, and St. Joseph, and took back the stock of furs accumulated by them.[376] Aside from these visits there were official communications from time to time between the commanding officers of the little group of northwestern posts, to which Fort Dearborn belonged, and advantage was taken of the opportunity thus presented to transmit letters and items of private import. Occasionally, too, the brig, "Adams," constituting the chief part of Commodore Brevoort's "navy of the lakes," would pay a visit to Chicago. It must have been an occasion of rare excitement in the lives of the inmates of Fort Dearborn when Kingsbury passed through Chicago with a company of troops in the spring of 1805, on his way to superintend the establishment of Fort Belle Fontaine near the mouth of the Missouri River.[377]

[Footnote 376: Antoine le Claire's statement in _Wisconsin Historical Collections_, XI, 239-40.]

[Footnote 377: For the facts concerning this expedition see the _Kingsbury Papers_, letter book, _passim_.]

Only belated rumors of the events of the outside world ordinarily penetrated the seclusion of Fort Dearborn. From November until May it was as isolated as though on another planet. We have in epitome the story of the failure of one attempt, made by Captain Whistler in December, 1809, to break this isolation. He obtained a month's leave of absence to journey to Cincinnati.[378] Today the round trip may be made and a fair day's business transacted in twenty-four hours. Whistler left Chicago the last of November and reached Fort Wayne December 10, "much fatigued after 11 days wairy traveling through rain and snow." The water was so high that his further progress was prevented. Finding it impossible, should he proceed, to be back at his post by the end of the month, he prepared to return to Fort Dearborn, grateful to his superior for the opportunity accorded him as though he had succeeded in making the journey.

[Footnote 378: _Ibid._, Whistler to Kingsbury, December 12, 1809.]

Kingsbury's letter books, whose contents relate to the several northwestern posts in general, are the best source of information upon the conditions that prevailed at Fort Dearborn in this period. In October, 1804, Kingsbury writes from Mackinac to an eastern correspondent urging him to reply immediately, in which case the answer will reach Mackinac by the first vessel in the spring, which will probably arrive in May or June.[379] The answer is to be directed to Detroit, the postmaster there having agreed to forward his mail to him at Mackinac. A year later, when Kingsbury is at Fort Belle Fontaine, a St. Louis friend sends him a bundle of newspapers, but requests him to preserve them in order that the writer may have a file of "Steady Habits" to peruse in a "Hypochrondichal hour."[380] How the inmates of Fort Dearborn sometimes received their mail is shown by a letter of William Burnett, the St. Joseph trader, to his Detroit correspondent in January, 1804, in which, among other things, he mentions the receipt of the letters and newspapers for "the doctor at Chicagou" and promises to forward them at the first opportunity.[381]

[Footnote 379: _Ibid._, Kingsbury to Benjamin Ellis, October 16, 1804.]

[Footnote 380: _Ibid._, E. Hempstead to Kingsbury, October 17, 1805.]

[Footnote 381: _Michigan Pioneer Collections_, VIII, 547.]

The observations of the frontier officers upon the public news of the outside world constitute an interesting part of their correspondence. In August, 1805, Kingsbury is informed by a Mackinac correspondent that the French and English fleets have not met, "which we consider an Unfortunate Circumstance," as no doubt is felt of the triumph of the British in the event of a combat.[382] The French have captured a rich American ship near Charleston, and the public prints are full of complaints against the President for suffering such depredations upon American commerce. Bonaparte has gone to Italy "to extort much money from the Italians." Another correspondent of Kingsbury sends news late in February, 1805, of the election of Jefferson to the presidency.[383] An item which has a familiar ring relates that "Congress have done nothing since in Session worth mentioning that have come to our knowledge."[384]

[Footnote 382: _Kingsbury Papers_, David Mitchell to Kingsbury, August 24, 1805.]

[Footnote 383: _Kingsbury Papers_, Clemson to Kingsbury, February 24. 1805.]

[Footnote 384: _Ibid._]

Thus the public news items run. Bonaparte has been proclaimed "Emperor of the Gauls";[385] the death of Hamilton is announced, with regret. Burr has fled from New York, fearing assassination. The probabilities of a war with Spain and of a revolt in Louisiana are gravely discussed. The traders, too, had their disputes. Shortly before Kinzie removed to Chicago, he became involved in a business dispute with an associate named Pattinson. The latter addressed an acrid letter to him "dictated in such terms of impertinency that he pointly brings in question Kenzie's character, relative to their concerns. In a word he calls him everything but a gentleman."[386] Burnett of St. Joseph who, though not directly implicated in the Pattinson-Kinzie quarrel, seems to have sympathized with the latter, also became involved in the dispute. Pattinson claimed that Burnett had insulted him by speaking disrespectfully to his brother of his government, and by calling his house a "hog-sty." Burnett replied that it was not his intention to have "hurted their tender feelings," but that in the course of an argument over the relative greatness of Great Britain and America, in which Pattinson had made extravagant claims for the former, he took it upon himself to contradict "this high flier." It is refreshing to discover that at a time when our government was humiliating itself before those of Great Britain and France, the honor of America was thus valiantly upheld in an obscure corner of the northwestern frontier.

[Footnote 385: _Ibid._, Kingsbury to Whistler, September 10, 1804.]

[Footnote 386: _Michigan Pioneer Collections_, VIII, 546-47.]

The garrison at Chicago made what progress it might to complete the fort and prepare for the coming winter. The work of construction was seriously impeded, however, by the lack of necessary tools, and even the supplies of provisions and clothing for the men were inadequate. In July, 1804, a year after the arrival of the troops, Kingsbury learned from Major Pike and Doctor Smith that Whistler's men were almost destitute of clothing.[387] That the destitution extended to other things as well is shown by his letter to Whistler informing the latter that he has ordered a supply of clothing, kettles, stationery, hospital stores, a whip-saw, and other things to be sent to Chicago by the brig, "Adams." At the same time Kingsbury congratulates Whistler upon having accomplished so much with his meager resources, with "no clothing for the men," and without the necessary tools with which to work.

[Footnote 387: _Kingsbury Papers_, Kingsbury to Whistler, July 12, 1804.]

That the construction of the fort was not yet completed would seem to be indicated by numerous entries in Kinzie's account book during the summer of 1804 of the names of men who are designated as sawyers.[388] Two weeks after Kingsbury's letter informing Whistler of the shipment of supplies, the latter writes that they have been received.[389] But the whip-saw can be of little use without files, for oak is the only saw timber available at Chicago. There is clothing for the sergeants, but no invoice of it has been sent, and until this arrives the clothing cannot be used. Fifty-six suits of clothing have been received, but he has sixty-six men to supply. He has two fifers but the only fife has been lost. Watch coats are needed very badly. There has been no corn for the public oxen all summer and none can be procured here. All of these things may be sent by Kinzie, who is coming from Detroit in about a month.

[Footnote 388: _Barry Transcript._]

[Footnote 389: _Kingsbury Papers_, Whistler to Kingsbury, July 26 and 27, 1804.]

Along with these homely details of toil and privation are others of more private interest, ranging in character from grave to gay. On the first of November, 1804, occurred the first recorded wedding of white people at Chicago. It was, too, a society affair, for the contracting parties were Sarah, the eldest daughter of Captain Whistler, and James Abbott, the Detroit merchant. The proud father-in-law in announcing the event, states that he has long known and "had a great opinion of" the bridegroom.[390] The family genealogist records that the marriage ceremony was performed by John Kinzie, and that the bridal couple indulged in an overland wedding journey to Detroit, traveling on horseback and tenting at night.[391]

[Footnote 390: _Kingsbury Papers_, Whistler to Kingsbury, November 3, 1804.]

[Footnote 391: Whistler family genealogy, MS in the Chicago Historical Society library.]

The next day after Chicago's first wedding the family of Kingsbury at Mackinac was gladdened by the appearance of a new daughter.[392] In announcing the event to Colonel Hunt at Detroit, the happy father hopes to hear of the latter being in a similar situation, unless he happens to prefer that Mrs. Hunt should present him with a son. Shortly afterward Kingsbury ordered from Detroit, by the first vessel in the spring, some walnut and cherry boards and a cow and calf.[393] He had already requested Whistler to send him some walnut planks from Chicago.[394] Whistler responded by sending him two, but explained that these were all he could procure and that he had not yet made a single table for himself.[395]

[Footnote 392: _Kingsbury Papers_, Kingsbury to Hunt, November 11, 1804.]

[Footnote 393: _Ibid._, Kingsbury to Clemson, November 21, 1804.]

[Footnote 394: _Ibid._, Kingsbury to Whistler, October 16, 1804.]

[Footnote 395: _Ibid._, Whistler to Kingsbury, November 3, 1804.]

Less pleasing than the marriages and births are the reports of fever and other ills which beset the occupants of the garrisons in the new country. Fort Dearborn was only a year old when Whistler reported that more than half of his men had been ill. Whipple at Fort Wayne, writing in September, 1804, praises his new surgeon; since his arrival the sick list which had numbered twenty-five has been materially reduced.[396] "We have all been sick since you left this," wrote Clemson from Detroit in October of the same year.[397] The writer had not yet recovered from the severe attack of the fever, but expected with the assistance of the frosty nights to regain his strength. At the same time Lieutenant Rhea's little garrison on the Maumee was in a desperate condition. On July 31 he reported that in addition to himself ten men out of his force of twenty-one were ill.[398] A month later the number of sick men remained about the same; the wife of a corporal was at the point of death, and Rhea had sent to the River Raisin for a physician, expecting to pay the expense himself.[399] He appeals urgently for help and for removal. The "musketoes" are so thick that a well person cannot sleep at night; the place was never intended "for any Christian to be posted at."

[Footnote 396: _Ibid._, Whipple to Kingsbury, September 1, 1804.]

[Footnote 397: _Ibid._, Clemson to Kingsbury, October 27, 1804.]

[Footnote 398: _Ibid._, Rhea to Kingsbury, July 31, 1804.]

[Footnote 399: _Ibid._, Rhea to Kingsbury, August 31 and September 8, 1804.]

A year later, in July, 1805, a pathetic letter from Whistler at Fort Dearborn announces that Mrs. Whistler is at the point of death.[400] She is in constant pain, and frequent bleeding is the only thing that affords her any relief. The anxious husband bravely reflects that while there is life there is hope, but laments his unhappy state, with so large a family of children, should he lose "so good a companion."

[Footnote 400: _Ibid._, Whistler to Kingsbury, July 12. 1805.]

In Captain Heald's journal[401] occurs the entry, "On the 4th of May, 1812, we had a son born dead for the want of a skilful Midwife." The picture of the sorrow and tragedy concealed behind these few words may appropriately be left, as it has been by the parent, to the imagination. Three months later the young Kentucky bride, still grieving we may well believe over the loss of her first-born, conducted herself with such spirit during the terrible scenes of the massacre as to arouse the admiration of even the savage foe.

[Footnote 401: For it see Appendix III.]

The diversions of the garrison were, naturally, but few. Fishing and hunting, and an occasional athletic contest with the Indians who visited the fort were the chief outdoor amusements. From its first discovery by the French until well into the nineteenth century the region around Chicago was a perfect hunter's paradise. When Cooper came to Fort Dearborn in 1808 the officers and most of the civilians possessed horses, cows, and dogs.[402] Cooper himself had two good saddle horses, two cows, and a hunting dog. There was an abundance of game in the immediate vicinity. Within a week of Cooper's arrival, his dog and several others chased three deer past the post into the river. A young soldier who was in a canoe without any weapon sprang into the water as the deer were swimming past, caught one by the neck, and held its head under water until it was drowned. Cooper's dog seized the second, but the third, a large stag, gained the north bank and escaped.

[Footnote 402: Wilson, _Chicago from 1803 to 1812_.]

Not long after this Cooper and Captain Whistler, while riding out together, came upon a large wolf within half a mile of the fort. Their dogs took up the chase and soon brought him to bay. The officers had no pistols, and the dogs manifested a wholesome respect for the formidable looking teeth of the wolf, and so they were called off and the animal allowed to go his way without further molestation. The howling of wolves at night was a common occurrence during these years. Grouse and other game birds were abundant, as were fish in the river and lake, so that in the hunting season the officers spent much of their leisure time with gun and rod.

We are indebted to Surgeon Cooper for the story of a notable athletic contest at Chicago, the description of which stirs the blood, even after the lapse of a hundred years.[403] Lieutenant William Whistler was a splendid specimen of physical manhood, over six feet in height and famous for his strength and powers of endurance. Among the visitors at Fort Dearborn was a Pottawatomie chief of similar physique and about the same age as Whistler. He was a great runner and enjoyed the reputation of never having been defeated in a race. A five-mile foot race between the two men was arranged, Whistler wagering his horse and accouterments against the horse and trappings of the chief. Both the red men and the soldiers of the garrison were confident of the prowess of their respective champions. The Indians staked their ponies and other available property on the chief and the soldiers accepted the wagers as fast as offered. The contest, which was witnessed by several hundred Indians and the entire garrison, was won by Whistler, after a superb struggle, by a margin of a few yards.

[Footnote 403: _Ibid._]

The final sequel of the race, according to the same authority, came some years later and was even more thrilling. During the War of 1812 the same chief, now serving with the British, sent a challenge to individual combat to Lieutenant Whistler or any officer or soldier in his command. It was promptly accepted by Whistler himself, and as the result of the ensuing hand-to-hand combat with knife, sword, and tomahawk, firearms not being allowed, the red man departed for the happy hunting ground.

An account of the garrison life at Fort Dearborn in this period would be incomplete without some reference to a drearier subject than any yet mentioned. The personnel of the army at this time was far from high. A considerable proportion of the men were foreigners,[404] and a far larger number were illiterate.[405] The life at the frontier posts was monotonous, drinking and desertions were common, and the punishment for infractions of discipline was atrocious. We have no record of the court martial proceedings at Fort Dearborn, but the records for some of the other northwestern posts are painfully abundant, and a sketch of their contents will answer as well for Fort Dearborn. The orderly book of Anthony Wayne, who has been well described as a "furious disciplinarian,"[406] presents a picture of corporal punishments meted out to the soldiers at Detroit in 1797, worthy of the palmiest days of the army of Frederick the Great.[407]

[Footnote 404: Of the fifty-nine men in Captain Whistler's company at Fort Detroit in 1812 eighteen were foreigners. Of the fifty men in Captain Rhea's company at Fort Wayne in 1810 fourteen were foreigners (_Kingsbury Papers_, quarterly returns of the companies in question).]

[Footnote 405: Approximately 60 per cent of the members of Captain Heald's company at Fort Dearborn at the close of the year 1811 were unable to sign their names to the payroll receipts (payroll receipt of Fort Dearborn garrison for last quarter of the year 1811, in _Heald Papers_, Draper Collection, U, VIII, 92).]

[Footnote 406: _Detroit Tribune_, April 5, 1896.]

[Footnote 407: The orderly book is printed in Michigan Pioneer Collections, XXXIV, 341-734. It covers the five-year period from 1792 to 1797. The cases which I have chosen for illustration all occurred at Detroit in the last-mentioned year.]

The commonest offense charged was drunkenness, the usual penalty for which was the public infliction of from twenty-five to one hundred lashes, and in the case of petty officers reduction to the ranks. Occasionally resort was had to other methods to punish and humiliate the guilty one. One culprit, a corporal, charged with desertion, was sentenced to walk the gauntlet six times between double ranks of soldiery, both ranks striking at the same time.[408] Two camp followers, a man and a woman, charged with selling liquor to a soldier were sentenced to be drummed out of camp to the tune of the Rogues' March, with a bottle suspended around the neck of each and the man's left hand tied to the woman's right. In this plight they were to be paraded past the citadel and through the barracks of the soldiery and the principal streets of the town.[409] The man's sentence was remitted, but that against the woman was carried into execution the same afternoon. Still another culprit, guilty of enticing a soldier to desert, was ordered to be given fifty lashes with "wired Catts," to have the left side of his head and his right eyebrow close shaved, and to be drummed with a rope around his neck through the citadel and fort and the principal streets of the town.[410]

[Footnote 408: _Ibid._, 704.]

[Footnote 409: _Ibid._, 701-9.]

[Footnote 410: _Ibid._, 715.]

It may be supposed that the punishments inflicted under Wayne's command were severer than those meted out at Fort Dearborn a few years later. Yet they show what might be done by an army officer at that time in the maintenance of discipline. The records of courts martial at Fort Detroit under Kingsbury's régime, after Whistler's removal thither from Fort Dearborn in 1810, probably reflect fairly the state of affairs at Fort Dearborn.[411] In general the punishments are milder than those formerly meted out under Wayne. The common crimes were still drunkenness and desertion. For the former sentences of from twenty-five to fifty lashes on the "bear back" were commonly decreed. It should be noted that Whistler and Helm, both of whom served at Fort Dearborn, were often members of the court by which these sentences were imposed.

[Footnote 411: _Kingsbury Papers_, records of court martial proceedings, _passim_.]

Two specific instances will be cited, in both of which Captain Whistler acted as president of the court martial. On May 23, 1811, Peter Sendale, a private soldier, was tried for drunkenness. The accused pleaded guilty, but advanced the ingenuous excuse by way of extenuation that he had worked hard all day in the Colonel's garden, that he had the latter's permission to go and get a drink, and that he "took a little too much." Notwithstanding this plea he was sentenced to receive twenty-five lashes on the "bear back." In the other case two men were charged with desertion. They admitted the offense, but pleaded in mitigation of it that they had repented of the act and were returning to their post of duty when arrested. The testimony given satisfied the court of the truth of this, yet the prisoners were sentenced to pay the cost of their apprehension and to be confined at hard labor with ball and chain for a period not to exceed one year. The court took occasion to observe that the punishment was not proportioned to the heinousness of the offense, and that its mildness was due solely to the testimony concerning the prisoners' belated repentance.

We may now direct our attention to Fort Dearborn itself and to those persons who composed its official family from 1803 to 1812. There exist two contemporary pictures of the fort and its surroundings in the year 1808, one the verbal account of Surgeon Cooper as recorded by James Grant Wilson,[412] the other a diagram carefully drawn to scale by Captain Whistler, and accompanied by a summary verbal description.[413] The river at that time made a sharp turn about an eighth of a mile from the lake, and after running in a general southerly direction lost itself in the lake a mile south of its present mouth. The fort was built on a slight elevation close to the bend of the river, which enveloped it on its northern and eastern, and to some extent on its western, sides. The barracks and other structures for the accommodation of the garrison were built around the four sides of a quadrangle, facing inward toward the center. Two blockhouses, one containing two small cannon, the other containing one, stood at the northwestern and southeastern corners of the quadrangle, and the whole was inclosed within a double row of palisades, so arranged that the blockhouses commanded not only the space without the four walls, but also that inclosed between the two rows of palisades. Thus if an enemy should scale the first row he would only find himself within a narrow inclosure between that and the second which was swept at every point by the fire from the blockhouses. From the northwest corner of the stockade to the river was a distance of eighty feet, and from a point midway of the eastern side it was sixty yards.

[Footnote 412: Wilson, _Chicago from 1803 to 1812_.]

[Footnote 413: The original is in the files of the War Department at Washington. Because of its historical value the verbal description which accompanies the drawing is reproduced here:

INDEX ANNEXED TO THE DRAUGHT OF FORT DEARBORN &C.

No.
1 Block Houses
2 Port Holes for Cannon
3 Loop Holes for small arms
4 Magazine
5 Inward Row of pickets
6 Outward Row of pickets
7 Main Gate
8 Wicket Gate
9 Guard House
10 Comm'g Officers Barracks
11 Officers Barracks
12 Soldiers Barracks
13 Contractors Store
14 Hospital Store
15 Asst. Military Agt. Store
16 Small Houses in the garrison
17 Agents House
18 Factors House
19 Interpreters House
20 Armerers Shop
21 Merchants Shop
22 Bake House
23 House in Factors Dept.
24 Stables
25 River Cheykago
26 Banks of said River
27 Wharf of said River
28 Low ground between said bank & River.
29 Beach between Sd. River and Lake.
30 John Kinzie Esq. House on the opisite side River
31 Oather Dwelling Houses on opisite side River
32 Old Grist Mill Worked by Horses

{ N. 33 Covered Way to procure Water } Omited in their places
{ N. 34 Gutters to carry off the Water }

Note. the Barracks are two storeys high with shingled Roofs and
Galliaries fronting the parade. The measurement of the Garrison
including the Block Houses And Barrick are laid down at' twenty
feet to the Inch the Cupolas are not yet built on the Block
Houses as laid down. The Dwelling houses mentioned in the Indian
Department are laid down at forty feet to the Inch, the oather
houses without any Regular rule. The River is not regularly
surveyed but still gives a strong Idea of Its Courses it is about
six miles in length, except in high water, at which time there is
no portage to the Illinois River.

The distances from the defirant places to the Garrison as mentioned
with Red Ink on & red lines, are accurately measured, but not laid
down by a scale. The woodland on the reserve Lyes on the north, &
west, sides of the Garrison except a small strip of woods about one
mile in length and two hundred yards in breadth. Lying on the bank
of the river south west of the Garrison. Along the Margin of Said
Woods, is good medow and supplyes the Garrison with hay. On the
North and west sides of the Garrison there has been a quantity of
underwood and shruby Bushes such as prickly Ash &c. they are now
cut down and cleared off, all within one Fourth of a Mile of the
Garrison.

On the south and southwest sides of the Garrison is a large
parraria on which stands The aforesaid strip of woods as laid down
in the Draught, and the distance from the Garrison three fourths of
a Mile. On the East side is the Lake. There has been A picket fence
on the Opisite side of the river, northwest of the Garrison as laid
Down, this fence might serve as a Barrier against the Garrison as
the pickets were five feet in length, sufficient in thickness to
prevent a Musket Ball from doing execution to an Enemy lying behind
them. I thought it proper for the safety of the Garrison to have
them taken up and replaced with a common rail fence. At this time
the Garrison (except the Houses on the Opisite side of the river
being somewhat in the way) is perfectly secure from any ambuscade
or Barrier.

The Branch that emptys into the Cheykag is considerably the
longest, and has the greatest current. The parraria on the south
and southwest as already mentioned is of great extent.

Fort Dearborn 20.th Feb.y 1808. J. Whistler Capt.
]

From the original draft by Captain Whistler in the archives of the War Department at Washington]

Within the stockaded inclosure were the barracks for the officers and men. They were two stories in height, with shingled roofs and covered galleries, and occupied the middle of each side of the inclosure facing toward the parade ground, in the center of which stood a lofty flagstaff. The commanding officer's quarters stood on the east side, and directly opposite were those for the subordinate officers. The main gateway of the stockade was at the middle of the south side and was flanked on either side by the main barracks for the common soldiers. The building opposite was in part devoted to barracks for the soldiers and in part to housing the contractor's store of supplies. Between this building and the northwestern blockhouse stood the magazine, a small structure made of brick. This alone defied the fire which destroyed the fort at the time of the massacre. Two small houses, one near the northeast corner of the inclosure and the other in the corner diagonally opposite, completed the list of structures within the stockade. The parade ground was surrounded by gutters for carrying off the water. A small wicket gate in the stockade gave ingress and egress near the northwestern blockhouse. From the northeast corner of the stockade a covered way led to the river, securing thus to the garrison access in safety to the water in time of attack.

To the south of the fort were the commanding officer's gardens in which, in Cooper's time, melons and other small fruit and vegetables were raised. Somewhat to the east, between the fort and the mouth of the river, was a smaller garden and an Indian graveyard. A short distance to the southwest were two log houses, one occupied by Matthew Irwin, the United States factor, and the other by Charles Jouett, the Indian agent. On the north side of the river, almost directly opposite the fort, was the house of John Kinzie, with outbuildings and a "Kitchen" garden. Whistler's diagram represents three houses to the westward of Kinzie's establishment, but omits the names of their owners. The omission is supplied by Cooper, however, who says that in his time there were four houses on the north side, occupied by Kinzie, Ouilmette, La Lime, and Le Mai. La Lime and Ouilmette were Frenchmen; Le Mai was a half-breed, married to a Pottawatomie squaw.

In addition to these houses Whistler's drawing represents a considerable number of houses and outbuildings ranged around the fort devoted to various purposes. Among these are houses for the interpreter and for the factor's department, an armorer's shop, a merchant's shop, and a bake shop, besides several stables on the south side; and on the north side, near Kinzie's place, a "Grist Mill Worked by Horses."

In the rear of the group of houses on the north side, the space between the lake and the north branch of the river was covered with timber. Along the east side of the South Branch, stretching southward from the forks of the river, was another strip of timber, two hundred yards in width and a mile long. Except for this strip of woodland, the area to the south and southwest of the fort constituted what Whistler quaintly designates as "a large Parraria." Along the inner margin of this woodland lay a good meadow which supplied the garrison with hay. Close to the forks on the south side of the main river a small field of eight or nine acres had been reduced to cultivation and made to serve as the company gardens and public cornfield.

It is evident from Whistler's description that he took careful measures to prepare the fort against the possibility of a hostile attack. The ground to the north and west was clear as far as the woodland mentioned, which lay at a distance of three-fourths of a mile from the fort. The east side was protected, of course, by the river and the lake. To the west and the north the ground had originally been covered with an undergrowth of prickly ash and other scrubby bushes, but this had been cleared away to a distance of a quarter of a mile from the stockade. On the north side there had been erected a heavy picket fence, four feet in height and sufficiently strong to afford an enemy protection against musketry fire from the fort. This Whistler caused to be removed and replaced by a common rail fence. At the time of making this diagram, in the winter of 1808, Whistler announced with satisfaction that the garrison was now perfectly secure from an ambuscade or barrier, except for the houses on the north side, which were somewhat in the way.

It is evident that the number of civilians clustered around the fort in the years prior to the massacre was considerably greater than has ordinarily been supposed. Cooper says there was a house a mile to the southeast of the fort, owned by a farmer who supplied the garrison with butter and eggs, and one near the forks of the river occupied by a man named Clark who was a cattle dealer. Whistler's drawing represents two houses at the forks, one occupied by a discharged soldier, and a house and inclosed field north of the river, belonging to Mr. "Coursoll." There were two Courselles, one of them a well-known trader, but the only other record of either of them being at Chicago is the recurrence of their names in Kinzie's account books. The farmer mentioned by Cooper was probably Lee, at whose farm on the South Branch the preliminary massacre of April, 1812, occurred. But Cooper does not mention the Burns family, which Mrs. Kinzie describes as living on the North Side at the time of the massacre. In addition to these were the houses which Whistler shows belonging to the Indian agent's and the factor's departments. The conclusion drawn from these various bits of evidence concerning the number of dwellers around Fort Dearborn is confirmed by the fact that after the murders at the Lee farm, Captain Heald enrolled fifteen militiamen from the civilian population outside the fort. It should be noted, too, that three of the long-time residents of Chicago, La Lime, Ouilmette, and Kinzie, were not included in this number.

Of the officers stationed at Fort Dearborn before the massacre, the régime of Captain John Whistler was the longest and in many respects the most important. Whistler was descended from an old English family, but he himself was born in Ireland, whither his immediate ancestors removed, in 1758.[414] In a youthful freak he ran away from home and joined the army, coming to America during the Revolution with the troops under Burgoyne. He was thus one of the members of that general's ill-fated army captured by the Americans at Saratoga. On his return to England Whistler received his discharge from the army, and soon after, forming an attachment for the daughter of one of his father's friends, eloped with her, coming a second time to America and settling at Hagerstown, Maryland. He entered the American army in 1791 and served continuously on the northwestern frontier under St. Clair, Wayne, and others, from that time until the breaking out of the War of 1812. He was commander at Fort Dearborn from 1803 to 1810, when he was transferred to Fort Detroit, under circumstances which will shortly demand our attention. He served under Hull in 1812 and, if family tradition is to be credited, was so enraged over the capitulation that he broke his sword rather than surrender it to the enemy.

[Footnote 414: Whistler family genealogy, MS in Chicago Historical Society library.]

The founder of Fort Dearborn thus enjoyed the unique experience of having been captured, along with the British army in which he served, by the Americans, and thirty-five years later, as a member of Hull's army, of being taken by the British. His connection with Chicago history is not limited to building and commanding Fort Dearborn. His eldest son served under him here as lieutenant for several years; his eldest daughter, as we have seen, became Chicago's first bride; and another daughter married Lieutenant Joseph Hamilton, who also served under Whistler at Fort Dearborn.

William Whistler came with his father to Fort Dearborn as second lieutenant in 1803, accompanied by his bride of a year. She was even now but sixteen years of age, and was destined to be the last surviving witness of the building of the first Fort Dearborn. After several years of service here, Lieutenant Whistler was transferred to Fort Wayne. His term of service in the army lasted sixty years, during which time he had, according to Mrs. Whistler, but six short furloughs.[415] Like his father he was captured along with Hull's army at Detroit. In 1845 he became colonel of the Fourth Infantry, the regiment to which General Grant belonged during the Mexican War; and in after life the famous general told many anecdotes concerning his former commander.[416]

[Footnote 415: Hurlbut, _Chicago Antiquities_, 27.]

[Footnote 416: Heitman, _Dictionary of the United States Army_, I, 470, 1026; Wilson, _Chicago from 1803 to 1812_.]

Two other descendants of Captain John Whistler demand attention at this point. George Washington Whistler was a toddling child three years of age when the commander brought his family to the new home in the summer of 1803. Here, on the banks of the Chicago River, during the next few years the child developed into sturdy boyhood. At the age of nineteen he graduated from West Point and was assigned to the artillery branch of the service. Until 1833, when he resigned his commission, he was engaged largely in engineering and topographical enterprises. After his resignation from the army he rose to eminence as an engineer, and during the remainder of his life was engaged in many important enterprises. In 1842 he went to Russia to enter the service of the Czar in the construction of the railroad from St. Petersburg to Moscow. In recognition of his services in this and other engineering enterprises in Russia Emperor Nicholas in 1847 conferred upon him the decoration of the Order of St. Anne.[417]

[Footnote 417: On George Washington Whistler see Vose, _Sketch of the Life and Works of George W. Whistler, Civil Engineer_.]

A son of the famous engineer, James Abbott McNeil Whistler, achieved in the realm of art an even greater reputation than had his father in that of engineering. Whistler's artistic achievements are so well known that there is no need to discuss them here. His connection with Fort Dearborn is not so commonly understood, although the very names he bore served constantly to advertise it. James Abbott was Chicago's first bridegroom, who, as we have seen, married Sarah Whistler here in the fall of 1804. The artist himself never saw Chicago, but with the exception of West Point there was no other place in the United States in which he was so much interested.[418] He regarded his grandfather as the founder of Chicago, and more than once lamented his failure to visit the place.

[Footnote 418: Statements of General James Grant Wilson, January 7, 1908, in letter to Chicago Historical Society library. Wilson was a personal acquaintance of Whistler.]

The connection of James Strode Swearingen, the youthful second lieutenant who conducted the troops from Detroit to Chicago in the summer of 1803, with Fort Dearborn was but brief. Because of the physical infirmity of Captain Whistler, Swearingen offered to lead the troops from Detroit to Chicago for him, and this made it possible for Whistler to proceed around the lakes on the sailboat, "Tracy."[419] With the arrival of the troops at Chicago Swearingen's duty was discharged. He accordingly returned to Detroit on the "Tracy" and there rejoined his company. He retired from the army in 1815, owing to the importunity of his wife, and settled at Chillicothe. Ohio, where he lived in affluence until his death in 1864.[420]

[Footnote 419: Swearingen's account of the expedition from Detroit to Chicago in 1803, MS in Chicago Historical Society library, _Proceedings_, 1856-64, 348.]

[Footnote 420: Heitman, _Dictionary of the United States Army_, I, 939; Wilson, Chicago from 1803 to 1812.]

Doctor William C. Smith, the first surgeon at Fort Dearborn, was succeeded in 1808 by John Cooper, who was sent here immediately after he entered the service. Cooper's grandfather fought under Wolfe at Quebec, and was near his leader when he fell.[421] The grandson was born at Fishkill, New York, in 1786. He came to Fort Dearborn by way of Albany and Buffalo, where he boarded the brig, "Adams," commanded by Commodore Brevoort. The voyage across Lake Erie consumed a week, and another week, including stops, was spent in passing through the River and Lake St. Clair and on to Mackinac. After several days' delay at the latter place the brig proceeded by way of Green Bay to Chicago, which was reached in three days. After three years' service at Fort Dearborn, Cooper resigned from the army and returned to the East by way of the overland route to Detroit, which had been followed by the troops under Swearingen eight years before. The journey to Detroit required fourteen days. From Detroit he went by way of Fort Wayne and Pittsburgh to Poughkeepsie, New York, where he made his home and practiced his profession for over half a century, dying in 1863.[422]

[Footnote 421: Wilson, _op. cit._]

[Footnote 422: _Ibid._]

The year 1810 saw the culmination at Fort Dearborn of a garrison quarrel which resulted in the dispersion of the official family far and wide and the appearance of a new set of officials at the post. It might be supposed that the sense of isolation and the need of mutual assistance would bind together the little group of inmates of a frontier post, such as Fort Dearborn, as with bands of steel. But, alas for erring human nature, all too often conditions quite the contrary prevailed. "When society is thin," wrote the same British officer from Mackinac whose complaint in 1796 of the dullness, envy, and jealousy in existence there has already been noted, "I agree with you. They should make the most of it, but I don't know how it is. I have always found it the reverse...."[423] "The Amusements have not been general this Winter in Detroit. Indeed there has been none worth mentioning. Society a good deal divided," runs a letter to Kingsbury in the winter of 1805.[424]

[Footnote 423: _Michigan Pioneer Collections_, XII, 211.]

[Footnote 424: _Kingsbury Papers_, Clemson to Kingsbury, February 24, 1805.]

As early as the autumn of 1804 a quarrel developed among the garrison officers of Fort Dearborn. The details left us are meager, but we know that Lieutenant Campbell raised charges against Doctor Smith,[425] who in turn preferred charges against Lieutenant Whistler,[426] and that Captain Whistler placed Smith under arrest.[427] Thus, to quote from a contemporary letter, "a flame" was "kindled at Chicago."[428] Unfortunately for the historian. Captain Whistler found the affair "to disagreeable" for him to report, further than the bare announcement of the surgeon's arrest.[429] Possibly the difficulty was settled by the elimination of Lieutenant Campbell, for he resigned from the army a few months later,[430] while both Smith and the Whistlers continued to serve at Fort Dearborn for several years.

[Footnote 425: _Ibid._, Smith to Kingsbury, November 3, 1804; Clemson to Kingsbury, October 27, 1804.]

[Footnote 426: _Ibid._, Clemson to Kingsbury, October 27, 1804.]

[Footnote 427: _Kingsbury Papers_, Whistler to Kingsbury, November 3, 1804.]

[Footnote 428: _Ibid._, Clemson to Kingsbury, October 27, 1804.]

[Footnote 429: _Ibid._, Whistler to Kingsbury, November 3, 1804.]

[Footnote 430: Heitman, _Dictionary of the United States Army_, I, 276.]

The feud which culminated in 1810 was far more serious. Our sources of information are scanty as to the origin of the quarrel, but fuller and more satisfactory for its course and conclusion. That there existed a rivalry at Fort Dearborn over the garrison trade, and that this rivalry was the cause of the feud, is clear. As early as the summer of 1807 Kinzie and John Whistler, Jr., a younger son of the commander, entered into a partnership for the purpose of supplying this trade.[431] The connection lasted until August 21, 1809, when for some reason not now known it was dissolved.[432] That some discord had developed is, however, reasonably apparent from what followed. Six weeks after the dissolution, Doctor Cooper, who had become the firm friend of Captain Whistler,[433] sought and obtained permission from the Secretary of War to suttle for the garrison.[434]

[Footnote 431: _Barry Transcript_, entry for July 26, 1807; _Kingsbury Papers_, Matthew Irwin to Kingsbury, April 29, 1810. That it was John Whistler, Jr., who was Kinzie's partner is apparent from the county records at Detroit cited by Hurlbut, _Chicago Antiquities_, 469.]

[Footnote 432: _Barry Transcript_, entry for August 21, 1809.]

[Footnote 433: Wilson, _Chicago from 1803 to 1812_. On leaving Fort Dearborn in 1810, Whistler presented Cooper a pistol and a copy of Shenstone's poems. The latter was given by Cooper to General James Grant Wilson, and he in turn presented it to the Chicago Historical Society. Cooper wrote to Kingsbury at the time of the quarrel that he was willing to sell his life to prove Whistler's innocence of the charges against him (_Kingsbury Papers_). The date and salutation of this letter have been cut off, but it was evidently written soon after May 26, 1810.]

[Footnote 434: _Drennan Papers_, Nicoll to Whistler and Cooper, November 1, 1809.]

To "suttle" meant to supply the soldiers with articles not furnished them by the government. Shortly after Cooper's arrival at Fort Dearborn Matthew Irwin had been appointed Government factor, to conduct the Indian trading establishment at Chicago.[435] He seems also to have held, as did Varnum, the former factor, the appointment of Government contractor for supplying the garrison with such provisions as were furnished the soldiers by the government.[436] The privilege which Cooper had obtained of suttling for the garrison interfered not only with Irwin's profits but also with those of Kinzie, who, until the dissolution of the partnership with the younger Whistler, had enjoyed this trade. Irwin and Kinzie soon drew together in opposition to Captain Whistler, whom they seem rightly to have regarded as the real power behind Cooper. For some reason Jouett, the Indian agent, and Lieutenant Thompson joined the Irwin-Kinzie coalition; Lieutenant Hamilton, who was Whistler's son-in-law, of course sided with the latter, and the quarrel soon became furious.

[Footnote 435: _Wisconsin Historical Collections_, XIX, 326.]

[Footnote 436: That Irwin held this appointment is shown by his letters to Kingsbury; _e.g._, see letter of April 29, 1810, in _Kingsbury Papers_. My conclusion that Varnum had been contractor as well as factor is based on certain entries in the _Barry Transcript_.]

Irwin claimed that Whistler and his adherents combined in a policy of persecution calculated to force him to give up his position as contractor in order that Whistler's son might regain it.[437] Whistler, on the other hand, asserted that the "malignant wretches" opposed to him, particularly Jouett, were guilty of defrauding the public; as for Lieutenant Thompson, he was a mere tool in the hands of his associates, who despised him even while they used him.[438] Jouett had told of his running away to escape paying his landlord, and Whistler stated he had acknowledged himself a "Liar" in the presence of all the gentlemen of the fort and its vicinity. Cooper bore a challenge to a duel from Lieutenant Hamilton to Kinzie, which the latter declined to accept, contenting himself with roundly cursing both principal and second.[439] Half a century later Cooper described the trader as a man of ungovernable temper, who frequently engaged in bitter quarrels.

[Footnote 437: _Kingsbury Papers_, Irwin to Kingsbury, April 29, 1810. The obnoxious conduct of Whistler, Hamilton, and Cooper is detailed at considerable length in this letter.]

[Footnote 438: _Ibid._, Whistler to Kingsbury, May 27, 1810.]

[Footnote 439: Wilson, _Chicago from 1803 to 1812_.]

The opposition to Whistler, determined to drive him from Chicago if not from the army, preferred charges against him to Kingsbury and demanded a court martial. Among other things, aside from the claim that he had conspired with Hamilton and Cooper to force Irwin to give up his office, it was claimed that he had beaten a soldier for not trading with his son,[440] and had defrauded the government by raising ten acres of corn,[441] apparently by the labor of soldiers. On the other hand Cooper preferred charges against Thompson which he believed would inevitably "brake" him.[442] It is not possible with the information available to decide the question of right between the two warring parties, but it is significant that Whistler and later Captain Heald, both of whom incurred the enmity of Kinzie, repeatedly received testimonials of confidence from their brother officers. Captain Heald, who succeeded Whistler at Fort Dearborn, reported that he had found everything in good condition and believed that Whistler had paid "particular Attention to every Part of his duty" during the time he had commanded there.[443] He also refuted the charge of Whistler's enemies that he had been in the habit of raising large quantities of corn. Kingsbury, Whistler's immediate superior, also testified to his belief in his integrity, and in the falsity of the charges against him, and Varnum, who had been factor at Fort Dearborn from 1805 to 1808, expressed approval of Whistler's conduct during that time.[444] In harmony with this favorable testimony are the observations of William Johnston,[445] who journeyed from Fort Wayne to Chicago in the spring of 1809. He recorded that Fort Dearborn was "the neatest and best wooden garrison in the United States," a fact which did "great honor to Capt. John Whistler who planned and built it." The observant visitor also records that Whistler had under him, at the time of his visit, the same men as when he built the fort. Although their term of enlistment had expired they had all re-enlisted--a sure sign that Whistler was a good officer.

[Footnote 440: _Drennan Papers_, Kingsbury to Nicoll, February 15, 1811.]

[Footnote 441: _Kingsbury Papers_, Heald to Kingsbury, May 31, 1810; Kingsbury to Heald, June 11, 1810.]

[Footnote 442: _Kingsbury Papers_, letter of Cooper to Kingsbury cited in note 433.]

[Footnote 443: _Ibid._, Heald to Kingsbury, May 31, 1810.]

[Footnote 444: _Drennan Papers_, Kingsbury to Nicoll, February 15, 1811.]

[Footnote 445: "Notes of a Tour from Fort Wayne to Chicago, 1809," MS in Chicago Historical Society library.]

The outcome of the quarrel was, on the whole, a triumph for Whistler's enemies. Rather than bring Whistler and Thompson to trial on the charges preferred against them, the War Department decided on a general scattering of the officers at Fort Dearborn. In April, 1810, Whistler was sent to Detroit, and Hamilton to Fort Belle Fontaine. Captain Rhea, whose company at Detroit was given to Whistler, was sent to Fort Wayne to relieve Captain Nathan Heald, who, in turn, succeeded Whistler at Fort Dearborn.[446] Thompson and Cooper remained at Fort Dearborn, but the latter's privilege to suttle was withdrawn by special order of the Secretary of War.[447] Jouett and Irwin, the Indian agent and the factor, remained at Fort Dearborn. The atmosphere was now thoroughly uncongenial to Cooper, who soon resigned from the army in disgust, being unwilling to remain in a service where one could be so easily injured in the opinion of the heads of the department.[448]

[Footnote 446: _Kingsbury Papers_, Kingsbury to Irwin, June 11, 1810; _Drennan Papers_, Nicoll to Heald, April 11, 1810; Nicoll to Whistler, April 11, 1810; Nicoll to Kingsbury, April 11, 1810; Nicoll to Gansevoort, April 12, 1810.]

[Footnote 447: _Drennan Papers_, Nicoll to Whistler, March 30, 1810.]

[Footnote 448: _Kingsbury Papers_, letter of Cooper to Kingsbury cited in note 433.]

Thus in gloom and defeat departed the man who, with more propriety than any other, may be called the father of Chicago. That he felt keenly the blow that had been dealt him is shown by his letters to Kingsbury.[449] He was old and infirm, his wife was ill, and he had a large family of young children to support, with little property, and burdened with debt.

[Footnote 449: _Kingsbury Papers_, Whistler to Kingsbury, May 27, 1810; _Drennan Papers_, Kingsbury to Nicoll, February 15, 1811.]

Nathan Heald, the new commander at Fort Dearborn, was born at Ipswich, New Hampshire, in 1775.[450] He entered the army as an ensign in 1799, serving continuously at various places on the frontier and in the recruiting service until January, 1807, when he was promoted to the rank of captain and given command at Fort Wayne. That he was chosen to succeed Whistler at Fort Dearborn under the circumstances which have been described may fairly be regarded as an indication of confidence on the part of his superiors in his ability and good judgment. Rhea, who succeeded him at Fort Wayne, reported that he found everything had been going on "very correct" there, and that he intended to "take the Track of Captain Heald" as nearly as possible.[451] Rhea was much pleased with his new post and expressed the hope he might continue there. Heald, on the contrary, was dissatisfied with Fort Dearborn, and at once announced his intention of spending the coming winter in New England.[452] If the necessary leave of absence were not granted him he would resign the service rather than remain at Fort Dearborn.

[Footnote 450: Nathan Heald's Journal printed as Appendix III. The original is among the Heald papers in the Draper Collection.]

[Footnote 451: _Kingsbury Papers_, Rhea to Kingsbury, May 17, 1810.]

[Footnote 452: _Ibid._, Heald to Kingsbury, June 8, 1810.]

Unfortunately for Heald the furlough was granted,[453] and thus he returned to Chicago to participate in the massacre two years later. After spending the winter in Massachusetts, Heald returned to the West by way of Pittsburgh and the Ohio River, stopping at Louisville to marry Rebekah Wells, the daughter of Colonel Samuel Wells and the niece of Captain William Wells, with whom Heald had long been associated at Fort Wayne.[454] The wedding occurred on May 23, 1811, and in June the commander reached Chicago with his bride, after an absence of seven months. The bridal journey was made from Louisville to Chicago on horseback through the wilderness which lay between the two places. Mrs. Heald's slave girl, Cicely, accompanied them on their journey, and was an inmate of Fort Dearborn from this time until the massacre the following year. The statement preserved in the Heald family chronicle that the bridal party was received by the garrison with all the honors of war may well be believed, for the addition of a woman like Mrs. Heald to the garrison circle was an event of rare interest in the life of the little community.

[Footnote 453: Heald's Journal; Kingsbury Papers, Heald to Kingsbury, December 31, 1810, and May 1, 1811; Wentworth, Early Chicago, 88.]

[Footnote 454: Heald's Journal; Darius Heald's narrative of the Chicago massacre, in _Magazine of American History_, XXVIII, 114.]

In March, 1811, George Ronan, a young cadet direct from West Point, was given the rank of ensign and ordered to repair at once to Fort Dearborn.[455] On the fourth of the same month Lieutenant Thompson died. With him the last military officer involved in the quarrel of the preceding year disappeared from Fort Dearborn. Three months later his place was filled by the transfer of Lieutenant Linai T. Helm from Detroit to Fort Dearborn. The transfer was made at Helm's own request, the reasons for his desiring it being, apparently, his straitened financial circumstances and the cheaper cost of living at Fort Dearborn as compared with Detroit.[456] During the summer the place made vacant by Doctor Cooper's resignation was filled by the appointment of Isaac Van Voorhis, like Cooper a native of Fishkill, New York, born a few years after his predecessor, but a member of the same class in college.[457] The officers of Fort Dearborn were now the same as on the fatal day of evacuation, August 15, 1812.

[Footnote 455: _Drennan Papers_, Nicoll to Ronan, March 27, 1811; Nicoll to Heald, March 27, 1811; Heitman, _Dictionary of the United States Army_, I, 844.]

[Footnote 456: _Drennan Papers_, Kingsbury to Nicoll, April 18, 1811; Nicoll to Kingsbury, May 24, 1811; _Kingsbury Papers_, Helm to Kingsbury, March 16, 1811.]

[Footnote 457: Van Voorhis, _Notes on the Ancestry of Wm. Roe Van Voorhis_, 143.]