Buffalo Grove is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

in the Ogle County

township A township is a form of human settlement or administrative subdivision. Its exact definition varies among countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, this tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Canad ...

of Buffalo,

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

, United States. It was the first settlement in Ogle County, and was once a bustling frontier town that attracted many of Ogle County's early residents. The creation of the

Illinois Central Railroad The Illinois Central Railroad , sometimes called the Main Line of Mid-America, is a railroad in the Central United States. Its primary routes connected Chicago, Illinois, with New Orleans, New Orleans, Louisiana, and Mobile, Alabama, and thus, ...

, caused most of the residents and businesses to move to

Polo Polo is a stick and ball game that is played on horseback as a traditional field sport. It is one of the world's oldest known team sports, having been adopted in the Western world from the game of Chovgan (), which originated in ancient ...

. Today this former hub of business comprises a few dozen homes.

History

During the early 19th century, many settlers from the east coast of the United States traveled to

Galena Galena, also called lead glance, is the natural mineral form of lead(II) sulfide (PbS). It is the most important ore of lead and an important source of silver. Galena is one of the most abundant and widely distributed sulfide minerals. It crysta ...

after the establishment of

lead Lead () is a chemical element; it has Chemical symbol, symbol Pb (from Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a Heavy metal (elements), heavy metal that is density, denser than most common materials. Lead is Mohs scale, soft and Ductility, malleabl ...

mines in the area.History of Buffalo Grove
Retrieved on August 01, 2007 Many of the trails from Dixon's Ferry (originally called Ogee's Ferry) passed through what would later become Ogle County. John Ankeny marked Ankeny's Trail from Dixon's Ferry to Galena in 1829, and while doing so claimed an areas of trees as his own. In the spring of 1830, Ogle County's first settler, Isaac Chambers, erected the first cabin near the Galena Trail. Chambers intended to build and manage an inn, or tavern as a stopping point on the way to Galena. When Ankeny returned a controversy arose over the land's ownership. Chambers prevailed, and Ankeny moved further down the trail and opened an opposing tavern. By the spring of 1831, Oliver W. Kellogg arrived at Buffalo Grove, and bought his claim from Chambers. Another settler, Samuel Reed, planted of corn in 1831, and by 1832 he also included

wheat Wheat is a group of wild and crop domestication, domesticated Poaceae, grasses of the genus ''Triticum'' (). They are Agriculture, cultivated for their cereal grains, which are staple foods around the world. Well-known Taxonomy of wheat, whe ...

on the first farm in Ogle County. Later that spring, 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 ...

began with the first armed confrontation at the Stillman's Run. The Sauk were victorious during this confrontation with Colonel Isaiah Stillman's militia. Dispatches were sent to all settlers, ordering them to the military headquarters near Dixon's Ferry. Buffalo Grove's settlers first went to Dixon's Ferry, then moved on to Peoria where they remained until September. While the settlers were away, a group of men returned to their homes to look after some of the stock that remained in the settlement. When the men returned to Buffalo Grove, they found the body of William Durley in the road near the woods. The event became known as the Buffalo Grove ambush or massacre. Durley was originally buried near the spot he died at by a party who would become the victims of the St. Vrain massacre the next day.Stevens, Frank E.
The Black Hawk War
'', Frank E. Stevens 1903, pp. 169-171. Available online at Northern Illinois University Libraries Digitization Project. Retrieved July 30, 2007.The Killing of Felix St. Vrain
," Historic Diaries: Black Hawk War, ''Wisconsin Historical Society''. Retrieved July 30, 2007. In 1910 the Polo Historical Society moved Durley's remains and erected a historical marker and memorial over his new grave.William Durley Monument
" Illinois Digital Archives, ''Illinois Secretary of State/State Librarian'', to access (

PDF Portable document format (PDF), standardized as ISO 32000, is a file format developed by Adobe Inc., Adobe in 1992 to present documents, including text formatting and images, in a manner independent of application software, computer hardware, ...

) click access this item. Retrieved July 30, 2007. The settlement continued to grow, including the establishment of the Buffalo Grove Post Office on February 12, 1833.Post Offices in northern Illinois, 1837
Retrieved on August 05, 2007
Retrieved on August 05, 2007 There is some discrepancy as to the date of the post office's establishment and at least one source asserts the date as 1835. The area's first merchant, Colonel John D. Stevenson, arrived from Louisiana to set up a store in 1834. The following year the town was platted and named St. Marion, but when the post office was established it was called Buffalo Grove. The name of the settlement was officially changed in 1839 by the residents. In 1836, the area's first

sawmill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logging, logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes ...

was built along Buffalo Creek, and some traces of it remain extant. When construction of the

(ICRR) began in 1852, the village population was nearly 1,000 residents; in 1835 15 families lived in the vicinity of Buffalo Grove. Also in 1852, a steam sawmill was built in order to supply the ICRR with railroad ties. Following the construction of the Illinois Central Railroad, the new town of

was founded along the tracks in March 1853.Founding of Polo
Retrieved on August 05, 2007 Nearly all residents from Buffalo Grove moved their homes and businesses to Polo in order to take advantage of the new railroad. The Buffalo Grove Post Office was moved in the dead of night in January 1855 to avoid trouble. The office was opened in its new location the next morning. One notable Buffalo Grove resident was naturalist

John Burroughs John Burroughs (April 3, 1837 – March 29, 1921) was an American naturalist and nature essayist, active in the conservation movement in the United States. The first of his essay collections was ''Wake-Robin'' in 1871. In the words of his bi ...

, who taught in Buffalo Grove from 1856 to 1857 before moving back East to marry.John Burroughs in Buffalo Grove
Retrieved on August 04, 2007
Retrieved on August 04, 2007 Today, Buffalo Grove no longer remains as a true village, instead having about a dozen homes in its area.

Nomenclature

Native Americans who originally lived on the lands of Buffalo Grove, called the area "Nanusha" (Na-noo-sha), which means "buffalo." When white settlers came to the lands they found no buffalo, instead they found buffalo bones. In the winter of 1778, a heavy snow descended on the

Mississippi Valley The Mississippi River is the main stem, primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. It is the second-longest river in the United States, behind only the Missouri River, Missouri. From its traditional source of Lake Ita ...

. Fluctuating temperatures caused the snow to melt and refreeze and the snow crusted over, thus the buffalo were unable to access their food supply and many starved to death.

Church and cemetery

Buffalo Grove is home to one cemetery; the Reed cemetery is located west of the unincorporated village. The cemetery derived its name from Samuel Reed Sr. who died suddenly on August 17, 1833. Reed was the first to be buried in the new cemetery, and the cemetery was named after him.History and Reminiscences Vol. II
Retrieved on August 05, 2007 In the fall of 1843, Elder Alexander Conlee established the Buffalo Grove Church. Originally the congregation met at the Doty School, which was built to serve as both a school and church.
Retrieved on August 05, 2007

References

External links

* {{authority control Unincorporated communities in Ogle County, Illinois Unincorporated communities in Illinois Populated places established in 1830 Black Hawk War 1830 establishments in Illinois