When you think of Chicago what comes to mind? Towering glass and steel structures? Bitter cold temperatures and overpowering winds? Da Bears? How about wild garlic and onions? No? That's where Chicago got its name. While traveling to Lake Michigan by way of the Chicago River, Canadian explorers Louis Jolliet and Jacques Marquette discovered that the Potawatomi Indians called the area around the mouth of the river 'Checaugou' after the wild garlic and onions growing there.
When the Revolutionary War ended, the US decided to focus the majority of their attention on the West. They wanted to create a strong military presence and they decided Lake Michigan was the perfect location. Thus, in 1803, Fort Dearborn was constructed on the south bank of the Chicago River. Only thirty years after Fort Dearborn was born it had grown into a fully functional town called Chicago.
Three years after that, construction began on the Illinois and Michigan Canal, an inland waterway designed to link the Great Lakes to the Illinois River. Chicago's population exploded. Real estate lots that had sold for $33 in 1829 were going for well over $100,000. The adolescent town had officially matured into a city. The canal opened in 1948, leading to the founding of the Chicago Board of Trade, who's goal was to handle the sale of grain after the canal improved Illinois farmers' access to Eastern markets.
In 1851, Chicago donated land to the Illinois Central Railroad. Workers who had worked on the canal were snatched up to start work on the first land-grant railroad. Similar railroads soon followed, all emanating from Chicago, which quickly blossomed into America's freight and passenger train hub. It kept that title for the next one hundred years.
October 8, 1871 marked a turning point for the city of Chicago. The city had continued to flourish during the Civil War and the opening of the Union Stockyards, but on October 8, everything changed. The Chicago fire burned for three days. It left 300 people dead, 90,000 people homeless, and 18,000 buildings destroyed.
But the people of Chicago had built grand canals and revolutionary railroads and mammoth skyscrapers. Their city may have burned down, but their spirits remained standing tall. "By morning 100,000 people will be without food and shelter. Can you help us?" Mayor Roswell Mason pleaded into a television camera as flames danced mockingly behind him. Millions of Americans decided they could help. They sent money and prayers to the people of Chicago, who used both to rebuild their glorious city. By the end of the 1800's the windy city's population had skyrocketed to almost two million people. Ed Kelly became mayor in 1933, creating a Democratic "Machine" that held the political power for the next fifty years. Then, in 1974, the people who stood tall during the devastating fire constructed a building that stood taller than any other in history. The Sears Tower created countless jobs that led to even more growth and prosperity, solidifying Chicago's place as one of the greatest cities in the United States.
Sources:
http://www.chicagotraveler.com
(Accessed February 18, 2004)
http://www.chicago-travel-services.com/
(Accessed February 18, 2004)
http://www.lonelyplanet.com
(Accessed February 18, 2004)