Fortunately we have an indication of the character of its contents in the recital by Darius Heald of his mother's story as he remembered it from hearing her tell it "a hundred times." His narrative has been recorded in two forms, with an interval of many years between them. In 1868 he was interviewed by Lyman Draper, the famous collector in the field of western history, who at the time was on one of his tours in search of historical information. Draper's record of the interview was, however, buried away among his papers, and has until the present time been unknown to workers in the field of Chicago history.[935] In ignorance, therefore, of the Draper interview, Darius Heald was again interviewed, almost a quarter of a century later, by Joseph Kirkland, and the story which he obtained was considered by him sufficiently important to lead him to write his book. The Chicago Massacre.[936] A comparison of the two versions affords in some degree a test of the reliability of the Darius Heald narrative. It reveals, as might be expected, discrepancies in matters of detail, but the final impression left by the comparison is that neither Darius Heald nor his mother was animated by any conscious purpose to deceive. Produced under such circumstances as have already been described, the limitations of the narrative are obvious, and proper caution must be preserved and due allowance for error made in the use of it. Subject to these limitations it may be regarded as a valuable contribution to our knowledge of the massacre.
[935] The narrative is printed for the first time as Appendix V.
[936] The entire narrative is printed in the Magazine of American History, XXVIII, 111-22. For the use which Kirkland made of it see his book, The Chicago Massacre.
We may now direct our attention to the Kinzie family narrative of the tragedy as told by Mrs. Juliette A. Kinzie, the daughter-in-law of John Kinzie, the trader. Like the narrative of Rebekah Heald, as told by her son Darius, it comes down to us in two forms. Put forth at first anonymously in pamphlet form in 1844,[937] it appeared twelve years later as a part of the author's book Wau Bun, or The Early Day in the Northwest. It was published at a time when the consciousness of Chicago's future destiny was already dawning on its citizens. To a developing popular interest in the city's past was joined a general lack of information concerning her greatest tragedy. Mrs. Kinzie's narrative, claiming to be based on the testimony of eye-witnesses, spoke with assurance and precision on a subject about which all others were ignorant. Its statements have commonly been accepted without question or criticism, and have constituted the foundation, and usually the superstructure as well, of almost all that has been written upon the Fort Dearborn massacre. Sober historians and fanciful novelists alike have made it the quarry from which to draw the material for their narratives. Says Moses in his Illinois, published in 1889: "Without exception, historians have relied for their facts in regard to the massacre upon the account given of the event by Mrs. Juliette A. Kinzie ...."; and although he points out the possibility of an undue criticism of Captain Heald, he concludes that its statements "bear upon their face the appearance of truth and fairness."[938] While it is true that some dissent from the general chorus of confidence in Mrs. Kinzie's narrative has been voiced,[939] the statement made by Thwaites in 1901 that it "has been accepted by the historians of Illinois as substantially accurate, and other existing accounts are generally based upon this,"[940] still stands as entirely correct.
[937] Narrative of the Massacre at Chicago, August 15, 1812, and of Some Preceding Events (Chicago, 1844).
[938] Moses, Illinois, Historical and Statistical, I, 251-52.
[939] Notably by Hurlbut, Chicago Antiquities, and Kirkland, Chicago Massacre. Carl Dilg and William R. Head, two recent workers in the local antiquarian and historical field, both repudiated it. Both men were unscientific in their methods and animated by violent prejudices, however. Dilg's papers are now owned by the Chicago Historical Society, while most of Head's were destroyed a few months after his death in 1910. A few fragments are in the Chicago Historical Society library, while a considerably larger number are still in the possession of the widow, Mrs. William R. Head, of Chicago.
[940] Kinzie, Wau Bun, Caxton Club edition, p. xix.
A critical examination of Mrs. Kinzie's narrative is, then, essential to any study of the Fort Dearborn massacre. The author was born at Middletown, Conn., in September, 1806, and seems to have enjoyed educational advantages unusual for girls in her generation. Her uncle. Doctor Alexander Wolcott, was for almost a dozen years prior to his death in 1830 government Indian agent at Chicago. Through the circumstance of his having married the daughter of John Kinzie, the niece became acquainted with her brother, John Harris Kinzie, and in August, 1830, the young couple were married.[941] Shortly afterward the bride was brought by her husband to Wisconsin, where he held the position of sub-Indian agent at Fort Winnebago. Here they resided until 1834, when Chicago became their permanent home. Mrs. Kinzie, therefore, possessed no contemporary or personal knowledge of the Fort Dearborn massacre, her information being derived from members of her husband's family subsequent to her marriage. Of these the ones best qualified to give her first-hand information were her mother-in-law and her husband's half-sister, Mrs. Helm. Since the older woman did not witness the actual conflict, for this part of her narrative Mrs. Kinzie purports to quote directly the words of Mrs. Helm, though it is evident that not all that passes for direct quotation from the latter was actually derived from her.
[941] A sketch of the early life of Mrs. Kinzie by her daughter is appended to the Rand-McNally 1903 edition of Wau Bun.