Episode 7: Jolliet & Marquette by Reenactment
Perhaps nothing in Chicago history is as fundamental as Louis Jolliet and Jacques Marquette’s expedition of 1673. Their voyage by canoe from St. Anglace down Lake Michigan to the Fox and Wisconsin Rivers and the mighty Mississippi was of epic scale. On the way back north they paddled up the Illinois River passing through the...
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 59:36 — 54.6MB)
Episode 8 : The First Settler
The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines settler as, “a person who goes to live in a new place where usually there are few or no people”. Native Americans have lived in the greater Chicago area for approximately 10,000 years dating back to the last ice age. Dependent on long lost oral histories we have no clear records...
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:06:47 — 61.2MB)
Episode 9: The First Scandal
Early settlement of Chicago begins, Fort Dearborn is established at this outpost in Indian Country and it gets entangled in Chicago's first scandal.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:00:21 — 55.3MB)
Episode 10: The First Murder
Founded in 1803, Chicago’s Fort Dearborn is the western most outpost on the frontier, and by 1812 still the most isolated fort in Indian Country. The garrison and few settlers are outnumbered five-to-one by the neighboring tribes within a day’s ride. A pivotal year in Chicago history the corner of today’s Wacker Drive and Michigan...
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:01:14 — 56.1MB)
Episode 11: The First Star
Did you realize each of the four stars on the Chicago Flag represent important dates in Chicago history? The two blue stripes on the flag have a special meaning as well. In this Episode we will discuss the events running up to the Fort Dearborn Massacre which is represented by the first star on Chicago’s...
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 59:49 — 54.8MB)
Episode 12: The First Star – part two
Fort Dearborn at the beginning of the War of 1812 . . . is it a Battle or a Massacre? How should we, in the twenty-first century, talk about the events that occurred on Chicago’s lakefront on August 15, 1812 — a month-and-a-half after the declaration of war? How do we describe what happened to...
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:03:07 — 57.9MB)
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