Discovery and Conquests OF THE NORTHWEST WITH THE HISTORY OF CHICAGO IN TWO VOLUMES VOL. II. BY Rufus Blanchard. CHICAGO: R. BLANCHARD AND COMPANY 169 RANDOLPH ST. 1900 INTRODUCTION TO VOLUME II. The first link in the chain of our history was forged by Greece. Passing down through the uncoil of centuries, link by link, this chain can be traced through the civilizing process in Europe, which began, at first, in Greece; but this process was far short of completion, according to our present standard, when America was discovered. Here an unoccupied field for its finishing touches was presented, and the work went on with accumulated force and timely speed. The American colonists forged an advanced link in this chain when they astonished Europe by improvising new principles in national policy. That these principles were an improvement on the old is proven from the fact that, in substance, they have been adopted by the leading nations of Europe. In the westward course of empire the great Northwest poses as the ideal type of the principles essential to our integrity as a Nation. This is the last link in the chain, none of which are missing, in the pages of history, from Greece, across the Atlantic; and from its rugged shores to the Northwest. Here it is our mission to reproduce, on our own soil, with improvements, all that is worth copying in Europe. Chicago has begun this work here, and the records of this volume would be imperfect without their contemporary history. Prominent among them are the Armour Institute, the Field Columbian Museum, the Chicago University, the Academy of Sciences, the Yerkes Observatory, the Newberry Library, the John Crerar Library, the Art Institute, the Public Library, the Lewis Institute and the Chicago Institute. They decorate our city, as the advanced student in science is decorated with a title. The inspiration of the people was the incentive to building them, and their founders honored the call. Each of them will be described by such persons connected with them, respectively, as are qualified to do it successfully and faithfully. No other city in the wide world, of Chicago's age, has ever been the beneficiary of such magnanimous gifts. These institutions are indispensable to the fame and credit of our city, in the estimation of the literati of the world and their kindred associations. Other portions of this volume will be made up with things pertaining to our history, chosen according to the best judgment of the writer and his assistants, some of whose autographs may be seen at the end of Volume I, and others will appear at the end of Volume II. So Chicago, since its first discovery, has been identified with the growth of the whole country; it is now brought into relations with the whole world, not only by its tutelary institutions, but by the laws of commerce. versatile are its interests, and its provisions to fulfill its obligations incumbent upon a great metropolis, that, without the aid of many persons familiar with the required knowledge of them, their history could not be written. I thank such persons for this aid, and that posterity will thank them will be the conviction of the statistician and the book worm. CHICAGO, January, 1900. RUFUS BLANCHARD. THE PRESS OF CHICAGO. In the club rooms of London, in the sixteenth century, old English ale stimulated gossip on the few topics of the day that excited public attention at that time-few, because inalienable allegiance to hereditary rulers, then the unchallenged policy of the state, had relieved the masses from responsibility as to anything but the bread and butter question, hence the small number of issues to discuss. How blue blood found its way into the veins of ignoble skins to bait them with the food of the tree of knowledge can only be left to speculation, but it did, and begat a hybrid offspring that conceived the doctrine of inalienable rights, in lieu of inalienable allegiance. Then the newspaper began to grow from seeds that this innovation had planted; but it grew slowly in England, its political soil having been exhausted for lack of rotation of executive crops, until the whig party made parliament superior to the crown; then it grew faster. In America a virgin soil was well adapted to its culture, and it grew as fast as settlements grew, and made its acorn planted here the monarch of the forest, like the oak. Its field fills every avenue of thought-nothing escapes its notice. Its pen of criticism is dipped in gall, if occasion requires it, and its approval fires the heart of the bright side of man. Every interest of the country is amenable to the standard of the types, and the place that stands nearest to the center of power holds the helm in our hive of industry. This is Chicago, from |