A Brief History of Chicago The Early Years

Posted by Trina Quarles
4
Jun 15, 2007
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Hi Everyone,

I am a Chicago Native and would like to share a brief history of where I live.

Father Jacques Marquette, French-born missionary of the Jesuit order, and Louis Joliet, Canadian explorer and mapmaker, were the first Europeans to view the land on which the City of Chicago was to stand.

Returning with five other Europeans from exploration of the Mississippi River, Marquette and Joliet struck out alone and found a large Indian village near the present city of Ottawa. Guided by friendly Indians in the fall of 1673, the two men first traversed the region that is now Chicago.

Much of the journey was chronicled in Marquette's extensive journal. Joliet’s extensive records were lost when his canoe capsized in the Lachine rapids near Montreal.

Little is known about the Chicago area from 1700 until about 1779 when the pioneer settler of Chicago, Jean Baptiste Point du Sable, an African American from Sainte-Domingue (Haiti), built the first permanent settlement at the mouth of the river just east of the present Michigan Avenue Bridge on the north bank.

Records do not agree on the precise spelling of the name of the first settler and it may be found variously as Pointe de Sable, Au Sable, Point Sable, Sabre and Pointe de Sable. Du Sable, who appears to have been a man of good taste and refinement, was a husbandman, a carpenter, a cooper, a miller, and probably a distiller.

In Du Sable's home, which he shared with his Indian wife, the first marriage in Chicago was performed, the first election was held, and the first court handed down justice. The religion of the first Chicagoan was Catholic and every contemporary report about Du Sable describes him as a man of substance who started the story of Chicago as well as the story of the African American in Chicago.

On August 12, 1833, the Town of Chicago was incorporated with a population of 350. Incorporation was enabled by an act of the legislature, passed February 12, 1831, which provided that any community of over 150 inhabitants was authorized to incorporate as a town, with limits not to exceed one square mile in extent.

The first boundaries of the new town were Kinzie, Desplaines, Madison, and State streets, which included an area of about three-eighths of a square mile.

The name "Chicago" derived from the Indians but it is not known which tribe named the town and many theories have been advanced to explain the origin of the name. One generally accepted is that the name comes from the Indian words for either wild onion or skunk, but some historians believe that the word Chicago denoted "strong" or "great."

Dr. William Barry, first secretary of the Chicago Historical Society, wrote, "Whatever may have been the etymological meaning of the word Chicago in its practical use, it probably denoted strong or great.

The Indians applied this term to the Mississippi River, to thunder, or to the voice of the great Manitou." M. M. Quaife in his book Checagou asserts that the significance of the name was anything great or powerful.

Trina Quarles
VIP Member
Comments (2)
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Douglas Wolfe
8

Web Designer & Developer

Hi Trina,
I have always loved history and I just learned more than I thought I would ever know about Chicago. I can't wait to read your next installment.
Douglas Wolfe

Jul 18, 2007 Like it
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Beth Schmillen
10

Hi Trina!

that was a wonderful write up about Chicago. I was actually born there but raised up in McHenry County when the family moved out of the city... except my Grandfather, Tom Cantrell, had a tv repair shop on Chicago Ave well into the early 70s... around the 5400 block i think! Chris the greek had a soda shop that was only for coffee and lunch counter by the 60s...

Chicago is a great city and to think that's what it means too! I was taught it was a french word for the indian word for

Jun 15, 2007 Like it
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