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Of the very early history of the region which now embraces Lake County but little can be written. The Mound Builders had occupied it and passed away, leaving no written language and but little even as tradition. They had erected their piles of earth, usually from the surface soil, and underneath them had deposited the remains of their dead, together with bits of pottery and a few rude implements of husbandry and warfare. These mounds were quite numerous along the rivers and in the vicinity of the inland lakes. That they were of great antiquity is evident from the fact that huge forest trees had come to maturity upon their summits and were awaiting the ax of the pioneer. Excavations of these piles of earth have revealed the crumbling bones of a mighty race. Samuel Miller, who has resided in the county since 1835, is authority for the statement that one skeleton which he assisted in unearthing was a trifle more than eight feet in length, the skull being correspondingly large, while many other skeletons measured at least seven feet. There were extensive burial grounds on the shore of Lake Michigan, mainly south of the stream known as Waukegan River; also at various points all through the county. Often the graves in these primitive cemeteries, when uncovered by the force of the elements or by relic hunters, were found to contain quantities of beads, ear-rings, arrow points and silver trinkets. In 1889, while workmen were excavating for the foundation of the sugar refinery, several Catholic and Masonic emblems were gathered up and carried away by relic hunters. Many of the skeletons found near the lake shore were of unusual size, but were probably those of Indians rather than Mound Builders.
Like their predecessors, the Indians left little or nothing in the way of a written language. Tradition has it that this was a favorite region, because of the abundance of fish and game here to be found, and that great battles were fought for its possession. The Pottawatomies, a numerous and warlike people from the Green Bay region, drove off the less energetic races, and for a long period prior to their displacement by the whites occupied all the territory on the west border of Lake Michigan. Their first exploration this section may have been in 1674, when, as noted in his dairy, Marquette induced a few of them, skilled in the management of canoes, to row him up Lake Michigan from the vicinity of Green Bay when he set out for his second visit to Chicago. Charles Dilg, of Chicago, who is not only a careful student of the Indian language and traditions, but has also made a special study of Marquette's writings, reaches what seems to be a logical conclusion, that Marquette, because of a fog upon the lake which foretold a storm, landed about where Waukegan now stands and made the remainder of the trip to Chicago on foot. It is the opinion of this careful student that the Dead River region, near the North boundaries of the city mentioned, was the spot whence he set out December 4, 1674. The idea gathered from the diary is that it took a second day to complete the trip. It may be fairly concluded, therefore, that more than a century before the Revolutionary War, Marquette, the intrepid explorer and faithful missionary, had traversed this region on foot, where probably no white man had been before him. La Salle and Hennepin are believed to have visited here in 1679.
Pioneers found the decaying remnant of a huge wooden cross at a point near the south county line, not far from Highland Park. This they replaced, and near it established a cemetery and built St. Mary's log church. Indians present at the time the new cross was raised,-probably in 1835 or 1836-stated that the old cross which was then replaced had been erected by the red men, at the behest of a "black gown," as they were accustomed to denominate the priests and missionaries. They further declared that the cross put up by them! many years prior to the opening of the nineteenth century, replaced still another. It is a fair inference, therefore, that Marquette, or some of the French missionaries and explorers, erected this first cross during the seventeenth century.
In 1840, while cutting and splitting a redoak tree in the township of Newport, Alvin Ames cut out an ounce leaden ball, seventy grains below the surface, indicating that it had been lodged there about the year 1770, and was probably discharged from some French or English musket. The Winterbotham map of 1783 shows a river in this section, at the mouth of which is placed the inscription "Little Fort." An English map, published in 1795, shows practically the same outline, with "Old Fort River" as the name of the stream. From his investigations Hon. E. M. Haines reached the conclusion that the Little Fort trading post was established by the French in 1695. Other students and writers fix the approximate date at 1721-5
Early settlers tell of a small earth-work, with decaying timber to mark the rude enclosure constructed for the protection of the traders, at a point on the bluff in the present city of Waukegan, about where Sheridan Road and Water Street intersect. It is a fair conclusion that here the traders bartered with the Indians-for furs, which were abundant, and that for a considerable period, and perhaps up to the time of the Revolutionary War, this was one of their best stations.
From Little Fort was the short portage from stormy Lake Michigan, to the waters south and west. The streams and sloughs contained much water, and with very little carrying of canoes the Indians could reach the Des Plaines River and make their way westward to the interior lakes and to Fox River, or southward to the Illinois or Mississippi.
There were Indian cornfields of considerable extent, notably about the interior lakes and on the island in Fox Lake. There was an attempt at raising squash or pumpkins, potatoes, and beans, all by the most primitive methods conceivable. In the main the Indians lived upon flesh and fish, which were abundant in all this region. Their tepees and wigwams, covered with bark and skins, were their only dwellings. Ancient fire-places here and there indicated a rude effort to combat the cold.
Indian villages were in existence at Half Day, at Wynkoop's Point, along Mill Creek, at Pistakee and other lakes, on the Des Plaines River near the State line, at Little Fort and other places.
Old records at the State Capitol show that Lucius Lyon, as Commissioner on the part of the United States, and John Messenger, as Commissioner on the part of the State of Illinois, met at Galena in October, 1831, with authority to mark the northern boundary of the State, which had been fixed by statute at 42 degrees 30 minutes north latitude. The setting of the stone upon the east bank of the Mississippi accomplished, the line was extended due east to Lake Michigan, which point was reached on Saturday, December 15, 1832, and the survey completed January 17, 1833. The distance between the stone which marked the north-western boundary of the State and the post which they set up at its northeastern boundary they reported as 144 miles, 48 chains and 80 links. In the report they say that at its intersection with the western shore of the Lake it was their intention to establish a permanent stone monument, similar to the one set up at the beginning of the line, on the Mississippi. The scarcity of stone compelled them to relinquish their plan. It was mid-winter, and in a wilderness, at a point where there were at best but rough boulders, perhaps covered by snow or frozen in the soil. As the best practicable substitute they set an oak post, which, with its location, they proceed to describe. The post was one foot square and nine feet in length, and was planted five feet in the ground in a thicket of willows, about one chain from the water's edge. The trees in the vicinity were described, and a record of their size, distance end direction from the post was carefully noted. Some of these trees were blazed, others notched and into others nails were driven, three feet from the ground. They further state that the post stands at a bend in the Lake known to the Indians as Black Oak Point, mention a prairie one-half mile north, state that Point Mich-epe-cot-ton is in a given direction fifteen and one-fourth miles distant, estimate the distance to Chicago at forty miles and to "a place known as Little Fort" at ten miles. In closing the report they say: "The soil is almost invariably good, the surface rolling, the water pure and abundant, and it requires not the spirit offered for sale the whole country will, within a few years, attract and sustain a numerous and thriving population."
The report was dated and signed at Galena, January 26, 1833.
Long prior to the coming of permanent white settlers the Indians had learned the use of firearms, and only the little boys among them were using bows and arrows. Be it said to their credit that there is no record of any serious violence having befallen any pioneer or his family in what is now Lake County during the years in which the whites were encroaching upon the lands of the Indians. True, they were persistent beggars, and once in a while they would steal a horse or shoot a hog, but this was usually when intoxicated and in a measure irresponsible. In the main, however, their conduct was as commendable as the pioneers could have reasonably expected. For years they had been accustomed to the presence of the whites in Chicago and at other military and trading posts.
Through this immediate section was the "Green Bay Trail," over which the troops passed in going from Chicago, and along which supplies were drawn. This main trail, or road, passed along the west bank of the Des Plaines from near Wheeling to Gurnee, where this stream was forded. Another and minor trail passed along the higher ground between the Des Plaines and Lake Michigan. From an early history of Wisconsin it is learned that in 1825 a Mr. Hamilton took a drove of cattle from Springfield, Illinois, by way of Chicago, to Green Bay. The narrative of this trip states that he kept east of the river and passed Little Fort. A log shelter stood upon this easterly trail, a little north of the present Highland Park railway station, when the first settlers came, and was undoubtedly erected by the soldiers for protection on their trips to and from Green Bay in the early days of the nineteenth century.
There were many well-defined Indian trails all through the county. A principal one followed the west bank of the Des Plaines to Gurnee, where it crossed the river and bore to the northeast. Another, known as the "St. Charles and Green! Bay Trail," entered the county a little east of where the village of Barrington is located, running east of north, near to Lake Zurich, Gilmer, Ivanhoe, Druce's Lake and Rosecrans. In a pasture on the Huntington farm in Section 9 Township of Ela, this trail may still be seen. The ground has never been ploughed, and the customary three hollows appear. In the center and deeper track the ponies traveled in single file, and behind and on either side dragged the long poles of the tepees, wearing away the grass and making tracks almost equal in depth to the one in which the heavily laden ponies were led or driven. This trail, like many others, was almost an air line, and even though a swerving of a few rods to right or left might have avoided a hill or a ravine, the straight course was the one followed. At Half Day the river trail divided, one branch running past the west shore of Diamond Lake straight on to Nippersink Point. Another well remembered trail led a little north of west from the lake shore at about the present north limits of the city of Waukegan, crossed the Des Plaines at a gravelly ford a few rods north of the present Gurnee bridge and continued west past Druce's Lake to Fox Lake. From Diamond Lake to Wynkoop's Point there was still another; also one from near Libertyville northwesterly to Cedar Lake. Along the ridge between the Des Plaines and Lake Michigan the military road followed the course laid out by the Indians. Indeed, in many instances the trails of the red men were adopted as wagon roads by the pioneers. By some method, difficult to comprehend, the red man, without scientific instruments and with no knowledge of the surveyor's art, in a country dotted with lakes and sloughs, laid out long routes of travel in a way to avoid and pass between the numerous undrained ponds and marshes, and allow travel in a straight line.
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