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Fort Dearborn was a United States
fort A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...
built in 1803 beside the
Chicago River The Chicago River is a system of rivers and canals with a combined length of that runs through the city of Chicago, including its center (the Chicago Loop). Though not especially long, the river is notable because it is one of the reasons for ...
, in what is now Chicago, Illinois. It was constructed by troops under
Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...
John Whistler John Whistler (ca. 1756 – 3 September 1829) was a soldier, born in County Londonderry, Ireland. He ran away from home when a boy, enlisted in the British army, and served as a colour sergeant under General John Burgoyne during the American Rev ...
and named in honor of
Henry Dearborn Henry Dearborn (February 23, 1751 – June 6, 1829) was an American military officer and politician. In the Revolutionary War, he served under Benedict Arnold in his expedition to Quebec, of which his journal provides an important record ...
, then
United States Secretary of War The secretary of war was a member of the U.S. president's Cabinet, beginning with George Washington's administration. A similar position, called either "Secretary at War" or "Secretary of War", had been appointed to serve the Congress of the ...
. The original fort was destroyed following the
Battle of Fort Dearborn The Battle of Fort Dearborn (sometimes called the Fort Dearborn Massacre) was an engagement between United States troops and Potawatomi Native Americans that occurred on August 15, 1812, near Fort Dearborn in what is now Chicago, Illinois (at that ...
during the War of 1812, and a second fort was constructed on the same site in 1816. By 1837, the fort had been de-commissioned. Parts of the fort were lost to the widening of the Chicago River in 1855, and a fire in 1857. The last vestiges of Fort Dearborn were destroyed in the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. The site of the fort is now a
Chicago Landmark Chicago Landmark is a designation by the Mayor and the City Council of Chicago for historic sites in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Listed sites are selected after meeting a combination of criteria, including historical, economic, archit ...
, located in the
Michigan–Wacker Historic District The Michigan–Wacker Historic District is a National Register of Historic Places District that includes parts of the Chicago Loop and Near North Side community areas in Chicago, Illinois, United States. The district is known for the Chicago ...
.


Background


Historic events

The history of human activity in the Chicago area prior to the arrival of European explorers is mostly unknown. In 1673, an expedition headed by Louis Jolliet and Jacques Marquette was the first recorded to have crossed the Chicago Portage and traveled along the Chicago River. Marquette returned in 1674, and camped for a few days near the mouth of the river. He moved to the portage, where he camped through the winter of 1674–75. Joliet and Marquette did not report any Native Americans living near the Chicago River area at that time. But archaeologists have discovered numerous historic Indian village sites dating to that time elsewhere in the Chicago region. Two of de La Salle's men built a stockade at the portage in the winter of 1682/1683. In 1682, René Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle had claimed a large territory (including the Chicago area), for France. In 1763, following defeat in the French and Indian War, the French ceded this area to Great Britain. It became a region within their Province of Quebec. Great Britain later ceded the area to the United States (at the end of the
American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...
), although the Northwest Territory remained under '' de facto'' British control until about 1796. Following defeat of several Native American tribes in the Northwest Indian War of 1785–1795, the Treaty of Greenville was signed between the US and several chiefs at Fort Greenville (now Greenville, Ohio), on August 3, 1795. As part of the terms of this treaty, a coalition of Native Americans and Frontiers men, known as the Western Confederacy, ceded to the United States large parts of modern-day Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Wisconsin, and Illinois. This included "six square miles" centered from the mouth of the Chicago River.


Local events

A French-Jesuit mission, the
Mission of the Guardian Angel The Mission of the Guardian Angel () was a 17th-century Jesuit mission in the vicinity of what is now Chicago, Illinois. It was established in 1696 by Father François Pinet, a French Jesuit priest. The mission was abandoned by 1700; its exact lo ...
, was founded somewhere in the vicinity in 1696, but was abandoned around 1700. The
Fox Wars The Fox Wars were two conflicts between the French and the Fox (Meskwaki or Red Earth People; Renards; Outagamis) Indians that lived in the Great Lakes region (particularly near the Fort of Detroit) from 1712 to 1733.In their book ''The Fox Wars ...
effectively closed the area to Europeans in the first part of the 18th century. The first non-native to re-settle in the area may have been a trader named Guillory, who might have had a trading-post near
Wolf Point Wolf Point ( asb, šųktógeja oʾípa) is an incorporated ranchingtown in, and the county seat of, Roosevelt County, Montana, United States. The population was 2,517 at the 2020 census, down 4% from 2,621 in the 2010 Census. It is the larges ...
on the Chicago River around 1778. Jean Baptiste Point du Sable, a colonist of French name and visible ethnic African descent, built a prosperous farm and trading post near the mouth of the Chicago River in the 1780s, at a site, directly across the river from the future fort. A settlement developed there and he is widely regarded as the founder of Chicago.
Antoine Ouilmette Antoine Ouilmette (c. 1760–1841) was a fur trader and early resident of what is now Chicago, Illinois. He was of French Canadian and possibly Native American ancestry. The village of Wilmette, Illinois (phonetic spelling of ''Ouilmette'') is nam ...
is the next recorded resident of Chicago; he claimed to have settled at the mouth of the Chicago River in July 1790.


First Fort Dearborn

On March 9, 1803,
Henry Dearborn Henry Dearborn (February 23, 1751 – June 6, 1829) was an American military officer and politician. In the Revolutionary War, he served under Benedict Arnold in his expedition to Quebec, of which his journal provides an important record ...
, the Secretary of War, wrote to Colonel Jean Hamtramck, the commandant of Detroit, instructing him to have an officer and six men survey the route from Detroit to Chicago, and to make a preliminary investigation of the situation at Chicago. Captain John Whistler was selected as commandant of the new post, and set out with six men to complete the survey. The survey completed, on July 14, 1803, a company of troops set out to make the overland journey from Detroit to Chicago. Whistler and his family made their way to Chicago on a schooner called the ''Tracy''. The troops reached their destination on August 17. The ''Tracy'' was anchored about half a mile offshore, unable to enter the Chicago River due to a sandbar at its mouth. Julia Whistler, the wife of Captain Whistler's son, Lieutenant William Whistler, later related that 2000 Indians gathered to see the ''Tracy''. The troops had completed the construction of the fort by the summer of 1804; it was a log-built fort enclosed in a double
stockade A stockade is an enclosure of palisades and tall walls, made of logs placed side by side vertically, with the tops sharpened as a defensive wall. Etymology ''Stockade'' is derived from the French word ''estocade''. The French word was derived f ...
, with two
blockhouse A blockhouse is a small fortification, usually consisting of one or more rooms with loopholes, allowing its defenders to fire in various directions. It is usually an isolated fort in the form of a single building, serving as a defensive stron ...
s (see diagram above). The fort was named ''Fort Dearborn'', after
U.S. Secretary of War The secretary of war was a member of the U.S. president's Cabinet, beginning with George Washington's administration. A similar position, called either "Secretary at War" or "Secretary of War", had been appointed to serve the Congress of t ...
Henry Dearborn Henry Dearborn (February 23, 1751 – June 6, 1829) was an American military officer and politician. In the Revolutionary War, he served under Benedict Arnold in his expedition to Quebec, of which his journal provides an important record ...
, who had commissioned its construction. A fur trader, John Kinzie, who bought the old Du Sable property, arrived in Chicago in 1804, and rapidly became the civilian leader of the small settlement that grew around the fort. In 1810, Kinzie and Whistler became embroiled in a dispute over Kinzie supplying alcohol to the Indians. In April, Whistler and other senior officers at the fort were removed; Whistler was replaced as commandant of the fort by Captain Nathan Heald.


The Battle of Fort Dearborn

During the War of 1812, General William Hull ordered the evacuation of Fort Dearborn in August 1814. Capt. Heald oversaw the evacuation, but on August 15 the evacuees were ambushed along the trail by about 500 Potawatomi Indians in the
Battle of Fort Dearborn The Battle of Fort Dearborn (sometimes called the Fort Dearborn Massacre) was an engagement between United States troops and Potawatomi Native Americans that occurred on August 15, 1812, near Fort Dearborn in what is now Chicago, Illinois (at that ...
. The Potawatomi captured Heald and his wife, Rebekah, and ransomed them to the
British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...
. Of the 148 soldiers, women, and children who evacuated the fort, 86 were killed in the ambush. The Potawatomi burned the fort to the ground the next day.


The second fort

Following the war, a second Fort Dearborn was built (1816). This fort consisted of a double wall of wooden palisades, officer and enlisted
barracks Barracks are usually a group of long buildings built to house military personnel or laborers. The English word originates from the 17th century via French and Italian from an old Spanish word "barraca" ("soldier's tent"), but today barracks are u ...
, a garden, and other buildings. The American forces garrisoned the fort until 1823, when peace with the Indians led the garrison to be deemed redundant. This temporary abandonment lasted until 1828, when it was re-garrisoned following the outbreak of war with the
Winnebago Winnebago can refer to: * The exonym of the Ho-Chunk tribe of Native North Americans with reservations in Nebraska, Iowa, and Wisconsin ** Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska, a federally recognized tribe group in the state ** The Winnebago language of the ...
Indians. In her 1856 memoir, ''Wau Bun'', Juliette Kinzie described the fort as it appeared on her arrival in Chicago in 1831: The fort was closed briefly before the
Black Hawk War The Black Hawk War was a conflict between the United States and Native Americans in the United States, Native Americans led by Black Hawk (Sauk leader), Black Hawk, a Sauk people, Sauk leader. The war erupted after Black Hawk and a group of ...
of 1832 and by 1837, the fort was being used by the Superintendent of Harbor Works. In 1837, the fort and its reserve, including part of the land that became Grant Park, was deeded to the city by the Federal Government. In 1855, part of the fort was demolished so that the south bank of the Chicago River could be dredged, straightening the bend in the river and widening it at this point by about ; and in 1857, a fire destroyed nearly all the remaining buildings in the fort. The remaining
blockhouse A blockhouse is a small fortification, usually consisting of one or more rooms with loopholes, allowing its defenders to fire in various directions. It is usually an isolated fort in the form of a single building, serving as a defensive stron ...
and few surviving outbuildings were destroyed in the Great Chicago Fire of 1871.


Legacy and monuments

The southern perimeter of Fort Dearborn was located at what is now the intersection of Wacker Drive and Michigan Avenue in the Loop community area of Chicago along the
Magnificent Mile The Magnificent Mile, sometimes referred to as The Mag Mile, is an upscale section of Chicago's Michigan Avenue, running from the Chicago River to Oak Street in the Near North Side. The district is located within downtown, and one block ...
. Part of the fort outline is marked by
plaque Plaque may refer to: Commemorations or awards * Commemorative plaque, a plate or tablet fixed to a wall to mark an event, person, etc. * Memorial Plaque (medallion), issued to next-of-kin of dead British military personnel after World War I * Pla ...
s, and a line embedded in the sidewalk and road near the
Michigan Avenue Bridge The DuSable Bridge (formerly the Michigan Avenue Bridge) is a bascule bridge that carries Michigan Avenue across the main stem of the Chicago River in downtown Chicago, Illinois, United States. The bridge was proposed in the early 20th century as ...
and Wacker Drive. A few boards from the old fort were retained and are now in the
Chicago History Museum Chicago History Museum is the museum of the Chicago Historical Society (CHS). The CHS was founded in 1856 to study and interpret Chicago's history. The museum has been located in Lincoln Park since the 1930s at 1601 North Clark Street at the in ...
in Lincoln Park.
First Presbyterian Church (Chicago) The First Presbyterian Church (Chicago) is the first Presbyterian Church (USA), Presbyterian Church in Chicago, Illinois, in the United States. It is arguably the first church organized in Chicago. It is the oldest continuously operating instituti ...
, the longest continuously-operating institution in Chicago was founded in the carpentry shop of Fort Dearborn on June 26, 1833 and today is located in
Woodlawn, Chicago Woodlawn, on the South Side of Chicago, Illinois, is one of Chicago's 77 community areas. It is bounded by Lake Michigan to the east, 60th Street to the north, Martin Luther King Drive to the west, and 67th Street to the south. Both Hyde Park ...
On March 5, 1899, the '' Chicago Tribune'' publicized a
Chicago Historical Society Chicago History Museum is the museum of the Chicago Historical Society (CHS). The CHS was founded in 1856 to study and interpret Chicago's history. The museum has been located in Lincoln Park since the 1930s at 1601 North Clark Street at the in ...
replica of the original fort. In 1933, at the Century of Progress Exhibition, a detailed replica of Fort Dearborn was erected as a fair exhibit. As part of the celebration, both a United States one-cent postage stamp and a souvenir sheet (containing 25 of the stamps) were issued, showing the fort. The individual stamp and sheet were reprinted when Postmaster General James A. Farley gave imperforated examples of these, and other stamps, to his friends. Because of the ensuing public outcry, millions of copies of "Farley's Follies" were printed and sold. In 1939, the Chicago City Council added a fourth star to the
city flag The list of city flags lists the flags of cities. Most of the city flags are based on the coat of arms or emblems of its city itself, and city flags can be also used by the coat of arms and emblems on its flag. Most of the city flags are flown o ...
to represent Fort Dearborn. This star is depicted as the left-most, or first, star of the flag. The site of the fort was designated a
Chicago Landmark Chicago Landmark is a designation by the Mayor and the City Council of Chicago for historic sites in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Listed sites are selected after meeting a combination of criteria, including historical, economic, archit ...
on September 15, 1971. An elementary school in the Chicago Public Schools system is named after Fort Dearborn.


Gallery

File:Fort Dearborn 1808.jpg, Fort Dearborn 1808 layout File:20070530 360 North Michigan Entrance.JPG, London Guarantee Building with large relief above the entrance commemorating Fort Dearborn File:Fort Dearborn Plaque.jpg, A plaque on Michigan avenue File:Fort Dearborn Chicago 2012-0238.jpg, A marker showing the fort's southern perimeter


See also

* Fort Chécagou * History of Chicago


References


Bibliography

* * * * * *


External links

* {{Authority control 1803 establishments in Indiana Territory Central Chicago Chicago Landmarks Dearborn Government buildings completed in 1803 History of Chicago Military installations established in 1803 Dearborn