It was in the year 1816 (the same year of the rebuilding of the fort, after its destruction by the Indians), that the tract of land on which Chicago stands, together with the surrounding country, was ceded to the United States, by the Pottowattamies.[[70]] They remained the peaceful occupants of it, however, for twenty years longer. It was not until 1836 that they were removed by Government to lands appropriated for their use on the Upper Missouri.[[71]]
In the year 1830 the town of Chicago was laid out into lots by commissioners appointed by the State. At this time the prices of these lots ranged from ten to sixty dollars.[[72]]
Mr. Kinzie, who from the geographical position of this place, and the vast fertility of the surrounding country, had always foretold its eventual prosperity and importance, was not permitted to witness the realization of his predictions. He closed his useful and energetic life on the 6th of January, 1828, having just completed his sixty-fifth year.
A SERMON
Chicago was not, at the period of my first visit, the cheerful, happy place it had once been. The death of Dr. Wolcott, of Lieut. Furman, and of a promising young son of Mr. Beaubien, all within a few weeks of each other, had thrown a gloom over all the different branches of the social circle.
The weather, too, was inclement and stormy, beyond anything that had been known before. Only twice, during a period of two months, did the sun shine out through the entire day. So late as the second week in April, when my husband had left to return to Fort Winnebago, the storms were so severe that he and his men were obliged to lie by two or three days in an Indian lodge.