The mouth of the Chicago River had been a favorite meeting place for Indians and French trappers long before permanent settlement began. In 1777 a negro from San Domingo, who had come to trade with the Indians, built a log store on the north bank of the river. This store was bought in 1803 by John Kinzie, another trader and Chicago's first white settler.
The next year the United States government built Fort Dearborn on the south side of the river, not far from the lake. Though Fort Dearborn was nothing more than a stockade with blockhouses at the corners, a little settlement gradually grew up around it.
WHERE CHICAGO WAS FOUNDED
During the War of 1812 the Indians attacked the fort, burned it to the ground, and either massacred or captured most of the settlers while they were fleeing to Detroit for safety.
Fort Dearborn was rebuilt after the war, but settlers were slow in coming. By 1830 there were scarcely a hundred people in Chicago, then a little village of log houses scattered over a swampy plain. Fur trading was still the chief occupation.
A change was soon to come. The southern part of Illinois was by this time being settled and dotted with farms, and each year larger crops were produced. The farmers saw that they must get their products to the Atlantic coast if they wished to prosper, and the Great Lakes were the most convenient route over which to send them.
Lake Michigan extended into the heart of the fertile prairie lands, but its shores were almost unbroken by harbors. Men early saw the possibilities of the mouth of the Chicago River. It could be made into an excellent harbor with little expense, and if once this were done, Chicago would be the natural port of the rich Middle West.