Inscription
August 15 ,1812
From roughly 1620 to 1820 the territory of the Potawatomi extended from what is now Green Bay Wisconsin, to Detroit Michigan, and included the Chicago area. In 1803 the United States Government built Fort Dearborn at what today is Michigan Avenue and Wacker Drive.As part of a strategic effort to protect lucrative trading in the area from the British. During the War of 1812 between the United States and Great Britain, some Indian tribes allied with the British to stop the westward expansion of the United States and to regain lost Indian lands. On August 15 1812 more than 50 U.S.soldiers and 41 civilians, including 9 women and 18 children were ordered to evacuate Fort Dearborn. This group almost the entire population on U.S citizens in the Chicago area, marched south from Fort Dearborn along the shoreline of Lake Michigan until they reached this approximate site, where they were attacked by about 500 Potawatomi. In the battle and aftermath, more than 60 of the evacuees and 15 native Americans were killed. The dead included army Captain William Wells,who had come from Fort Wayne with Miami Indians to assist in the evacuation, and Naunongee, chief of the village of Potawatomi, Ojibwe, and Ottawa Indians known as Three Fires Confederacy in the 1830's. The Potawatomi of Illinois were forcibly removed to lands west of the Mississippi. Potawatomi Indian Nations continue to thrive in Michigan, Indiana, Wisconsin, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Canada, and more than 36,000 American Indians from a variety of tribes reside in Chicago today.Details
| HM Number | HM1A6V |
|---|---|
| Series | This marker is part of the Illinois: Illinois State Historical Society series |
| Tags | |
| Historical Period | 19th Century |
| Historical Place | Park |
| Marker Type | Other |
| Marker Class | Historical Marker |
| Marker Style | Interpretative Marker / Sign |
| Year Placed | 2009 |
| Placed By | Alderman Robert Fioretti, U.S Daughters of 1812, Prairie District Neighborhood Alliance, Glessner House Museum ,American Indian Center, Dr. John N. Low on behalf of himself and his tribal community (Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians). InIllinois |
| Marker Condition | No reports yet |
| Date Added | Sunday, October 5th, 2014 at 5:10pm PDT -07:00 |
Pictures
Photo Credits: [1] MJR1943
Locationbig map
| UTM (WGS84 Datum) | 16T E 448596 N 4634169 |
|---|---|
| Decimal Degrees | 41.85776667, -87.61930000 |
| Degrees and Decimal Minutes | N 41° 51.466', W 87° 37.158' |
| Degrees, Minutes and Seconds | 41° 51' 27.9600" N, 87° 37' 9.4800" W |
| Driving Directions | Google Maps |
| Area Code(s) | 312, 773, 630 |
| Can be seen from road? | Yes |
| Is marker in the median? | No |
| Which side of the road? | Marker is on the right when traveling North |
| Closest Postal Address | At or near 1801 S Calumet Ave, Chicago IL 60616, US |
| Alternative Maps | Google Maps, MapQuest, Bing Maps, Yahoo Maps, MSR Maps, OpenCycleMap, MyTopo Maps, OpenStreetMap |
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Maintenance Issues
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