[338] Ibid., entry for June 14, 1806.
[339] Supra, p. 19.
In the summer of 1820 John Tanner, who had been for thirty years a captive among the Indians, passed through Chicago with his family, going by canoe from Mackinac to St. Louis.[340] His progress was halted here for a time by the low stage of water in the Illinois River. During this time he suffered greatly from illness and destitution; he was rescued from his plight by a Frenchman who had been to carry some boats across the portage. His wife, who was an Indian, usually accompanied him on such expeditions. Although his horses were much worn from their long journey, he agreed for a moderate price to transport Tanner and his canoe sixty miles, and, if his horses should hold out, twice this distance, the length of the portage at this stage of the river. In addition he lent Tanner, who was weak from illness, a young horse to ride. Before the sixty miles had been traversed the Frenchman was himself taken sick, and as there was now some water in the river Tanner dismissed him and attempted to descend the river in his canoe. That this Frenchman was Ouilmette seems probable. If so, the narrative throws an interesting light upon both his business and his character. It shows that the transporting of travelers over the portage was a common occupation of Ouilmette, and further that he was not inclined to take an unfair advantage of a weak and destitute traveler.
[340] Tanner's Narrative, 257-58.
Mrs. Kinzie represents that in 1812 Ouilmette was "a part of the establishment" of John Kinzie, and relates a remarkable story of the rescue by his family of Mrs. Helm and Sergeant Griffith from impending slaughter at the hands of the Wabash Indians.[341] That Ouilmette may have been employed more or less by Kinzie is not unlikely; but the details of the rescue story, however creditable to his family, are so improbable as to challenge belief. It has been said that Ouilmette remained in Chicago after the massacre, being the only white inhabitant during the next few years.[342] However this may be, the new garrison which came in 1816 found him living here in serene possession.[343] With him, too, was the half-breed chief, Alexander Robinson, and the two were engaged by the soldiers to harrow the ground for a vegetable garden for the garrison. That Ouilmette continued to reside here after this time is shown by the occasional mention of his name by travelers and others as one of the inhabitants of the place.[344] In 1825 he was credited with taxable property to the amount of four hundred dollars, according to the earliest known Chicago assessment roll, and his name is found the following year on the first Chicago poll list.[345]
[341] Kinzie, Wau Bun, 182-86.
[342] Hurlbut, Chicago Antiquities, 452; Andreas, History of Chicago, I, 184. I have found no indication of the authority on which these statements rest.
[343] Head Papers, Narrative of Moses Morgan.
[344] See, for example, Hubbard, Life, 37; John H. Fonda, "Recollections," in Wisconsin Historical Collections, V, 216.
[345] Blanchard, The Northwest and Chicago, I, 516-17.