It takes thousands and thousands of
dead animals before one of them dies in such a way that will produce a fossil.
In the same way, much more has come and gone than will ever be recorded by
documents or archeology. Be that as it may, there is occasionally a moment
captured in time, often carelessly or haphazardly, that despite the odds
against it are recorded for us for reflection.
Such a thing happened in my home
town of Wheeling. It contributed little to the larger history of the region nor
did it create a stir at the time. Nevertheless it was one of the few times that
a violent encounter between the Potawatomi and the early settlers occurred and it
happened at the intersection of Dundee Road and Route 21, near the bank of the
Des Plaines River in the early 1830s.
The American man from whom this
story was passed down did not record these words himself, but told his friends
and family verbally. Within a couple generations it finally made its way to
print in the History of Cook County, published in 1880, about 45 years after it
happened. As such, there is no way to know if he warped the story to make
himself look good, or if the people who recounted it in the next generation
warped it. Certainly the story bears enough historical accuracy that it rings
of truth.
 |
| Strong Family Grave, Wheeling Cemetery. Photo by the author. |
The story goes that there was a man
named Mr. Sweet (they don’t know his first name) who was the first settler in
what is now Wheeling. He lived there for some months, apparently without
trouble with the Potawatomi, but moved away, selling the tract (even though it
was in tribal land) to George Strong. At the time the lands were all owned by
the Potawatomi, and this may have been the point at which the Potawatomi were
tired of encroachments on them, banishing all white men south of the boundary
line.
Strong was eager to seat “his” new
land, and asked the local Indian agent at Fort Dearborn about the propriety of
moving onto it. His was met with stern warning, that it was a fool’s errand to
do so, and that if the Potawatomi retaliated against him, he would have to
assist the Potawatomi in such a conflict.
Undeterred, Strong made his way to
the plot and began setting up his cabin and fields. This would have been on the
western bank of the river, where the prairie began, currently under the
concrete of a strip mall. It was not long before a large body of Potawatomi
warriors, fully armed and painted for battle came upon him and demanded his
departure. In what may have been a fabricated part of the story, he remained true
to his name and held his ground, even knocking one of them down. After they saw
that he wouldn’t be intimidated, they stormed off and he kept his land. It is
difficult to say which elements of this story are true or false, but he
certainly did remain there as he was a town official in Wheeling years later.
The Potawatomi were likely bluffing, trying to scare him off without true
violence, because they knew if they actually harmed him, it might be
interpreted as an act of war and the whole of the Potawatomi people would suffer.
George Strong may have known that too.
In exploring this site I took along
all my children. Seeing the strip mall
parking lot where this all went down is both something I pass by every day and
is frankly rather unexciting. However, by going to the Dam No. 1 woods across
the river, one can see the site from the opposite bank, giving a more rewarding
experience.
We parked as near as we could but
it was still a bit of a hike since there weren’t any paths. Much of it was open
forest but much else was also thick brambles. I have tough kids. Before too
long we made our way along the riverbank to the Dundee Road bridge and gazed
across the water to the other side. In all, there isn’t much to see if you don’t
know the history. It looked like any other riverbank I had seen on the Des
Plaines. But knowing the story, it was much easier to imagine the Strong cabin,
smoke rising from a cook fire, and the sound of chopping woods being suddenly
interrupted by a war cry meant to startle. The scuffle was brief, but clearly
showed how fiercely our predecessors cherished their land here. There are many
Indian people in Chicago today, the Potawatomi among them, who still do.
 |
| Bank of Des Plaines River below Dundee Road, opposite original site of the Strong Cabin. Photo by the author. |
