John Kinzie Clark (1792–1865) was a trader, trapper and a prominent early settler in the
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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area. He was raised by
Native Americans, who called him ''Nonimoa'' or Prairie Wolf. Clark first arrived at
Fort Dearborn
Fort Dearborn was a United States fort built in 1803 beside the Chicago River, in what is now Chicago, Illinois. It was constructed by troops under Captain John Whistler and named in honor of Henry Dearborn, then United States Secretary of War. ...
in 1818. In 1830, Clark settled in the vicinity of today's
Jefferson Park area where he built a log cabin on the prairie. Hired to carry mail by horseback between
Chicago
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and
Milwaukee
Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee is ...
, he would make stops in
Deerfield with provisions for early settlers there. Clark eventually moved to
Deerfield, where he is buried at the Deerfield Cemetery.
Prairie Wolf Slough, a forest preserve in
Deerfield, Illinois
Deerfield is a north shore suburb of Chicago in Lake County, Illinois, United States, with a small portion extending into Cook County, Illinois. The population was 19,196 at the 2020 census. Deerfield is home to the headquarters of Walgreens Boo ...
just north of
Deerfield High School is named for Clark using his Native American name.
According to New York Times science writer William K. Stevens, Clark was the first owner of a part of Somme Woods in Northbrook. He sold that property to John Frederick Werhane in 1853. The site was farmed by the Werhane family until it was acquired as a forest preserve in the 1930s. It is currently known for its prairie, savanna, and woodland restoration, as featured in Stevens' book.
[Stevens, William K. "Miracle Under the Oaks". Pocket Books. 1995]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Clark, John Kinzie
1792 births
1865 deaths
People from Chicago
People from Deerfield, Illinois