All my life, I've lived in the northern suburbs of one of the biggest cities in the world: Chicago. And I've hated most of it. I admit, I'm a country boy at heart. I need the fresh air, green trees, and mountains. I need a place with history from before it was a concrete jungle. My impression of the Chicago region has always been that it was an uninhabitable swamp, and then it was a bustling metropolis, with little in between. Little ancient history, and an obliterated environment. It has architecture. That's about it.
As I've grown into adulthood and fatherhood I've expanded my interests in the historical and environmental realm, and within these interests my knowledge of ancient Chicago and its recovering ecological environment has been increasing. I was all wrong about my city.
It was an ancient sea before it was the stomping ground of mastadons before it was the home of the earliest Americans 12,000 years ago. It was home of the ancient moundbuilding Hopewell people before it was the site of a full fledged Missippian Pyramid before it was home of the historical Miami and Potowatomi. These people lived here, died here, and their descendants live here still.
Since becoming a father I've taken my children all over this place, particularly in the northside, to explore the numerous and continuously improving forest preserves and historical sites of this city. Most of them are not marked, or even known about. This blog will take you on the journeys I take my family on, past and present. Hopefully you too can retrace our steps, or find new paths of your own. This place is more than concrete. Its more than sirens, apartment buildings and high taxes. Its our home, and our predecessor's home. Lets explore together and find out what really happened here.
No comments:
Post a Comment