The Fortnightly Club of Chicago, for Women, was founded in 1873.

The Fortnightly Club of Chicago is a venerable and esteemed private women's club, founded in the year 1873 by Kate Newell Doggett (1828–1884) was an American botanist and suffragist, with the express purpose of providing a convivial and intellectually stimulating environment for women to engage in academic discussions, cultural enrichment, and community service. The club's nomenclature, "Fortnightly," is a nod to its original meeting schedule, which took place every fourteen days, or fortnightly, hence the name. It is the oldest women's association in Chicago. The club aims to enrich the intellectual and social lives of its members. In 1874, Doggett translated the French book The Grammar of Painting and Engraving into English.

Throughout its illustrious history, the club has been a bastion of intellectual and artistic pursuits, attracting a membership comprising some of Chicago's most accomplished, discerning, and philanthropically inclined women. The club's activities foster a sense of community, camaraderie, and cultural sophistication among its members, who gather regularly to engage in lively discussions, lectures, performances, and other events that showcase the city's rich cultural heritage.

Literary reviews and discussions are a hallmark of the club's programming, with members delving into the works of celebrated authors, poets, and playwrights, both past and present. Additionally, the club features lectures on various subjects, including art, history, science, and technology, delivered by experts in their respective fields. Musical performances, concerts, and recitals are also an integral part of the club's cultural offerings, showcasing the talents of local and international artists.

Philanthropy and community service are core components of the club's mission. Members actively support local arts organizations, educational initiatives, and social service projects that benefit the greater Chicago community. The club's commitment to giving back is reflected in its numerous charitable endeavors, impacting countless individuals and families throughout the city.

Membership in The Fortnightly Club of Chicago is by invitation only, extended to women who share the club's values, interests, and passion for lifelong learning. Members include professionals, artists, writers, and community leaders who are united by their desire to engage in stimulating conversations, expand their knowledge, and contribute to the betterment of society.

The club's clubhouse in the heart of Chicago is a warm and welcoming gathering place for members who share ideas, exchange perspectives, and forge lasting friendships. With its rich history, vibrant culture, and dedication to community service, The Fortnightly Club of Chicago remains a beloved and respected institution cherished by its members and the community at large.

Notable members Included Jane Addams, founder of Hull House and the first Juvenile Court in the nation; Bertha (Mrs. Potter) Palmer, society figure, art collector, and head of the Board of Lady Managers at the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893; and Dr. Sarah Hackett Stevenson, the first female member of the American Medical Association. 

The Fortnightly owns and meets in this stately landmarked Helen and Bryan Lathrop House at

120 E. Bellevue Place in Chicago's Gold Coast community. FortNightlyChicago.org

The club's activities include:

• Literary reviews and discussions
• Lectures on art, history, and science
• Musical performances and concerts
• Philanthropic activities and community service

The Fortnightly Club of Chicago is very active today. Its focus is on fostering a sense of community and intellectual exploration among its members.

Membership:

Membership is by invitation only and is extended to women who share the club's values and interests. Members include professionals, artists, writers, and community leaders.

Meetings:

The club meets regularly at its clubhouse in Chicago, with meetings often featuring guest speakers, performances, or discussions on topics of interest to members.

Philanthropy:

The club is involved in various philanthropic activities, including supporting local arts organizations, educational initiatives, and community service projects.

Compiled by Dr. Neil Gale, Ph.D.

Ford's Theatre vs. Ford’s Opera House, Washington, DC

Ford's Athenaeum was a theatre located at 511 10th Street NW, Washington, D.C., which opened in 1861. After a fire destroyed it in 1862, he rebuilt a new building on the same site and named it Ford's Theatre, which opened in 1865. 

Ticket Color Determines the Seating Section.

 

Ford's Theatre Ticket, Late 1860s.

The building is now named "Ford's Theatre National Historic Site."

The Two Theatres Owned By John Thompson Ford (1829-1894).

Ford's Opera House was a theatre at the southwest corner of 6th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington, DC., which opened in 1871. Ford's Opera House closed in 1928 and was demolished in 1930.

Ford's Opera House, 1928

The brainchild of renowned theatre manager John T. Ford, the opera house opened its doors to the public on October 2, 1871. It was a magnificent structure, boasting a grand Italianate facade, a spacious auditorium with plush seating for 1,700, and a state-of-the-art stage equipped for elaborate productions. 

Ford's Opera House Stationary Header.

The opera house quickly became a popular destination for Washingtonians, offering diverse performances, from grand operas and operettas to Shakespearean plays, vaudeville acts, and even political rallies. Notably, the famous newspaper publisher Horace Greeley was nominated as the Liberal Republican presidential candidate in 1872.

As the years passed, the opera house faced increasing competition from other theatres and entertainment venues in the city. The rise of vaudeville and musical comedy further eroded its audience for traditional operas.

By the early 20th century, the opera house was struggling financially. Attempts were made to revive its fortunes by hosting silent films and other popular attractions, but the success was short-lived.

After a final performance on April 29, 1928, the curtain fell on Ford's Opera House for the last time. The building was eventually demolished in 1930 to make way for a parking garage, sadly erasing a piece of Washington's cultural history.

While the physical structure is no more, the legacy of Ford's Opera House remains. It was a pioneering venue that brought world-class entertainment to Washington, D.C. and played a significant role in the city's cultural life. Its demise serves as a reminder of the ever-evolving nature of the arts and the importance of preserving our cultural heritage.

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John Thompson Ford worked as a bookseller in Richmond, Virginia. Ford wrote a comedy play poking fun at Richmond society. The farce was entitled "Richmond As It Is," and was produced by a minstrel company called the Nightingale Serenaders. It focused on humorous aspects of everyday life. This type of play is termed "observational comedy," which is exactly the type of humor that Jerry Seinfeld has used to established one of the most successful comedy careers of our era. He worked in management with the Nightingale Serenaders, traveling around the country. During his career, Ford managed theatres in Alexandria, Virginia; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Charleston, South Carolina; and Richmond, Virginia.

Ford was the manager of this highly successful theatre at the time of the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln. He was a good friend of Lincoln's assassin, John Wilkes Booth, a famous actor. Ford drew further suspicion upon himself by being in Richmond, Virginia, at the time of the assassination on April 14, 1865. Until April 2, 1865, Richmond had been the capital of the Confederate States of America and a center of anti-Lincoln conspiracies.

An order was issued for Ford's arrest, and on April 18, he was arrested at his Baltimore home. His brothers, James and Harry Clay Ford, were thrown into prison along with him. John Ford complained of the effect that his incarceration would have on his business and family, and he offered to help with the investigation. Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton made no reply to his two letters. After 39 days, the brothers were finally fully exonerated and set free since there was no evidence of their complicity in the crime. The government seized the theatre, and Ford was paid $88,000 ($1.7 Million  today) for it by Congress.

Compiled by Dr. Neil Gale, Ph.D.

The Newberry Library and Walter Loomis Newberry's History.

Walter Loomis Newberry died on November 6, 1868, during a return trip from France for medical treatment. His bequest of $2.1 million ($46 million today) would eventually result in the foundation of the Newberry Library on July 1, 1887.

Walter Newberry was a businessman and philanthropist who was a prominent figure in the early development of Chicago, Illinois. He was born in East Windsor, Connecticut, on September 18, 1804, and moved to Chicago in 1833. 

Walter Loomis Newberry (1804-1868)

Newberry quickly established himself as a successful businessman with interests in land development, banking, shipping, and railroads. He was also a civic leader, serving as an alderman on the Chicago Common Council and President (1863-1863) of the Chicago Board of Education.

Newberry was a generous philanthropist, and he donated large sums of money to support education, culture, and social welfare causes. In 1887, his will established the Newberry Library, a research library that is one of the leading independent research libraries in the Nation. 

Postcard of the Newberry Library in Chicago from Washington Square (aka Bughouse Square) c.1910 from the "I Will" series of postcards, Acmegraph Company, Chicago, ca.1910.

Today, the Newberry Library, at 60 West Walton Street, Chicago, stores tens of thousands of digital files from its collection, which consists of over 1.6 million books, 600,000 maps, and 1,300 distinct archival collections containing approximately 5 million manuscript pages. The number of digital image files stored by the Newberry Library is not publicly disclosed, but it will likely be in the millions.

Early Interior of the Newberry Library, Chicago.

Newberry was also a patron of the arts and sciences. He was a founding member of the Chicago Historical Society and the Chicago Academy of Sciences. He also donated money to support the construction of several public buildings in Chicago, including the old Chicago Main Public Library and the Chicago Art Institute. 

Newberry was one of the founders of the First Chicago Bank, which morphed into (The First National Bank of Chicago in the 1860s, which financed the Civil War; Union National Bank in 1900; Metropolitan National Bank in 1902); and today it is the Chase Bank.

The Newberry Library was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1965.

Newberry died at the age of 64. He is buried in Graceland Cemetery, 4001 North Clark Street in Chicago.

Newberry's legacy continues to benefit the city of Chicago and the world. The Newberry Library is a vital resource for scholars, students, and the general public.

Compiled by Dr. Neil Gale, Ph.D.

Mary Lincoln Surprised Abraham with a Home Remodeling Project.

In 1856, Mary Todd Lincoln pulled off the greatest surprise on Abe. Mrs. Lincoln apparently was no exception to the rule of women being admittedly the prime movers in home improvement. In fact, she had the Lincoln home in Springfield, Illinois, completely remodeled from a story and a half to a big two-story house while Circuit Lawyer Abe was out of town. She wanted to surprise her husband when he came home, and she certainly did. She had spent $1,300 ($375,000 today) on her modernization project. That was a lot of money in those days. It was about as much as Lincoln had originally paid for the house. Keep in mind that Lincoln traveled the Eighth Judicial Circuit for nearly six months of the year.

According to the story, Lincoln came striding up to his property at the corner of Eighth and Jackson Streets (413 South 8th Street, Springfield), carrying a beefsteak under his arm, and he didn't know his own house. But he got to like it all right. The family sitting room, which measured 16 by 20 feet, and the adjoining formal parlor that opened through a large double door, soon became a frequent meeting place for Abe's political associates.

Mary Todd Lincoln had that house remodeled because she didn't like it. You've probably heard that reason in connection with modern remodeling jobs. And she seemed to be a woman who could get what she wanted. She always said Lincoln would land in the White House. 

But Mrs. Lincoln had been very disappointed when Abe bought the house in 1844 from the Rev. Charles  Dresser. Even though her husband would show her the solidity of its hand-hewn oak construction, wooden pegs, walnut clapboards, and shingles, she thought the house was ugly and wanted a bigger house.

However, the house had seven rooms and several fireplaces and occupied a lot 50 by 152 feet, which also contained a woodshed, privy and carriage shed. In order to save up enough money to buy the place, Lincoln spent virtually nothing on himself, even giving up his handball games which had cost him 10¢ per game. 

One drawback to the house was that the two bedrooms upstairs had such low ceilings that Lincoln could stand erect only in the center under the ridge of the roof. Mrs. Lincoln fixed that. She raised the roof 12 feet, added several bedrooms upstairs, installed new wood stoves in place of fireplaces, and had bookshelves built for Abraham's law library. 

The exact amount that Lincoln paid for the house is not entirely clear. Carl Sandburg in "The Prairie Years" says the deal involved $750 in cash, plus a lot Lincoln owned which was valued at $300. However, Sandburg notes there was a mortgage for $900 on the 'property which was not mentioned in the deed, Lincoln apparently trusting the Rev. Mr. Dresser to get rid of it.

A contract in Lincoln's handwriting mentions $1,200 as the price, but some historians say the final price was actually $1,500. 

We asked Myron Matthews of the Dow Service Building Reports to give us an estimate of what it would cost to build that house today. He figured that $20,000 might do it, with $5,000 added for the lot. In some ways, this puts a pretty low value on the 1850s dollar.

Compiled by Dr. Neil Gale, Ph.D.

The History of Fort Abraham Lincoln near Mandan, North Dakota (1872-1891).

Constructed in June 1872 by Companies B and C of the 6th U.S. Infantry to protect the construction of the Northern Pacific Railroad. The initial post was located on a high bluff overlooking the confluence of the Missouri River and the Heart River and was known as Fort McKeen. Fort McKeen, named for Colonel H. Boyd McKeen, who was a Pennsylvanian officer and brigade commander killed at the Battle of Cold Harbor during the Civil War, was built as an infantry post with three blockhouses and a partial palisade, unsuited for cavalry operations. It was soon realized that the mission required mounted cavalry and that the new post was unsuited for those troops. 

A second post, Fort Abraham Lincoln, was constructed just south of Fort McKeen. The new post was begun in late 1872 as a six-company cavalry post and on March 3, 1873, Fort Abraham Lincoln was authorized by act of Congress. The newly created fort encompassed both the infantry post and the cavalry post.

Fort Abraham Lincoln was built to protect the Northern Pacific Railroad[1] and to contain the local Indian tribes, including the Sioux. A post office also operated at the fort.

Fort Abraham Lincoln Cavalry Post Blockhouse.

The first commander of the combined post was Lieutenant Colonel (brevetted Major General[2]) George Armstrong Custer. Custer had fought in the Civil War in the 1860s and had been given the temporary rank of “General” at that time. The commander’s house at Fort Abraham Lincoln was very large and fancy. It had a bathroom, expensive carpets, drapes, and fine furniture.

Fort Abraham Lincoln Cavalry Post Custer House.

Fort Abraham Lincoln Cavalry Post Custer House Interior.

By 1874 the fort housed nine companies with about 650 men, three companies of the 6th Infantry, and 17th Infantry, and six companies of the 7th Cavalry. The fort was among the largest and most important on the Northern Plains.

Hunting camp party of Custer (standing in center) and guests at Fort Abraham Lincoln on the Heart River, Dakota. Territory, 1875. Note Custer's fringed leather coat.

The Lakota were made up of several bands that were related to the Dakota nation. In 1876, Lakota leaders Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse, Rain-in-the-Face, and Gall led a large band of Lakota to Montana to hunt bison and celebrate a summer feast. The U.S. government ordered the Indians to return to their reservations, but they ignored this order. The Lakota were angry about treaties being broken and their lands being taken over by settlers and gold seekers. The Indians were forced to live on reservations. Provisions promised to them were often not available.

Fort Abraham Lincoln, Dakota Territory, 7th Cavalry Band.

The Army ordered troops to Montana to move the Lakota back to their reservations. On May 17, 1876, Custer and his troops prepared to leave Fort Lincoln. Giovanni Martino (John Martin), Custer’s Bugler, details the brigade’s make-up and disposition. "The troops for this expedition consisted of twelve troops of the Seventh Cavalry, four companies of infantry, ten of fifteen Indian scouts, and twenty-five or thirty civilians. We took the field at 6:30 AM 'Boots and Saddles' was sounded, and at 7 AM, stand, horse, and mount was called. Then we passed in review and bade farewell to our friends and though the band was playing "The Girl I Left Behind Me," it seemed like a funeral procession.

American Marching Song:

"The Girl I Left Behind Me."

Then they started off for Montana. Libby Custer and other officers’ wives rode with the troops part of the first day. Then they stopped to say their goodbyes. Later they played Custer’s favorite tune, “Garyowen” [Garry Owen].” 

"Garyowen" - Song of the 7th Cavalry

Martin continues, “After leaving the post, the march was taken up in columns of fours, route step, General Terry and staff in the front, followed by General Custer and staff (Mrs. Custer rode on the left of the General). That day we made Little Heart River and camped for the night. After pitching camp assembly was sounded (I was a bugler) and we fell in for payment. It was a pretty sober crowd, everybody felt the position we were in. Some made deposits for their money, and I, for one, put $50 with the Paymaster. The next morning general call was sounded at 6:30, boots and saddles at 7, and we took up the march again. The paymaster went back to Fort Abraham Lincoln.”

Group portrait of officers in uniform, from the 7th Cavalry and 6th Infantry, and ladies, standing and seated in front of building at Fort Abraham Lincoln, North Dakota, circa 1874. Lt. Colonel Custer is the third person from the left.

Identified persons by number are: 1) Lt. Bronson, 6th Infantry; 2) Lt. George D. Wallace, 7th Cavalry; 3) General George Armstrong Custer, 7th Cavalry; 4) Lt. Benjamin H. Hodgson, 7th Cavalry; 5) Mrs. Elizabeth B. Custer (wife of General Custer); 6) Mrs. Thomas McDougall, 7th Cavalry; 7) Capt. Thomas; McDougall, 7th Cavalry;  8) Capt. Badger, 6th Infantry; 9) Mrs. George W. Yates; 10) Capt. George W. Yates, 7th Cavalry; 11) Charles Thompson (civilian clothing); 12) Mrs. James Calhoun, wife of Lt. Calhoun (and sister of General Custer); 13) Miss  Annie Bates; 14) Col. Poland, 6th Infantry; 15) Lt. Charles A. Varnum, 7th  Cavalry; 16) General Carlin, 6th Infantry; 17) Mrs. Myles Moylan; 18) Capt. Thomas W. Custer, 7th Cavalry; 19) Col. William Thompson; 20) Lt. James.

The Indian tribes had come together at the Little Bighorn River at the behest of Chief Sitting Bull to discuss what to do about the white man.

Scouts who were sent ahead came back and reported to Custer that there were huge numbers of Indians camped beside the Little Bighorn River (the Lakotas called this river the Greasy Grass). Custer did not believe that there could be so many. He decided to go ahead and attack without waiting for the two other units.

Custer's command came upon this large encampment, he split his forces into three battalions and attacked. A series of missteps and an underestimation of Indian strength caused the initial attack by Major Marcus Reno to falter then fail. Thousands of Indians then attacked the remaining men who were forced to ground by the overwhelming force. Custer and all his men were killed in the final stand. Other units also failed to defeat the Lakotas and their Cheyenne Indian allies.

Wounded soldiers from the other units were quickly taken to the Yellowstone River where the steamboat "Far West" was waiting with supplies. The boat’s pilot, Captain Grant Marsh, steamed as fast as he could back to Bismarck. Ten days after the battle, the Far West reached Bismarck, and word quickly spread that over 250 men had lost their lives.

Though the Lakota had defeated the U.S. Army in battle, they knew more soldiers would come after them. They left the Greasy Grass River. Several bands traveled all the way to Canada where they were safe from the U.S. Army.

It seemed like everybody criticized Custer for being reckless and leading his troops to death. Libby Custer wanted people to believe that her husband was a brave hero. She spent the next 57 years, until her death at age 91, writing books, articles, and letters defending her husband’s memory.

Fort Abraham Lincoln remained the headquarters of the 7th Cavalry until June of 1882 when the 7th and its headquarters were transferred to Fort Meade in South Dakota. After the railroad to Montana was complete the fort gradually declined in importance and was finally abandoned in 1891.

After the fort was abandoned, settlers took apart the buildings and used the lumber to build houses and farm buildings. They also made good use of other items they found, like the fancy bathtubs in the officers’ quarters made good feeding troughs for the farmers’ pigs.

At its height, Fort Abraham Lincoln had 78 separate buildings. Many of those original buildings were dismantled by settlers and used in the construction of homes and farms. 

Today, several of the buildings at Fort Abraham Lincoln, including Custer’s house, have been reconstructed. The site is located in Fort Abraham Lincoln State Park near Mandan, North Dakota.

MORE UNIQUE LINCOLN ARTICLES

Compiled by Neil Gale, Ph.D. 

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[1] The Northern Pacific Railway, founded in 1864, was a transcontinental railroad that operated across the northern tier of the western United States, from Minnesota to the Pacific Northwest.

[2] A brevet was a warrant giving a commissioned officer a higher rank title as a reward for gallantry or meritorious conduct but may not confer the authority, precedence, or pay of real rank. An officer so promoted was referred to as being brevetted.

The History of the Union Stock Yards and Transit Company, Chicago (1865-1971).

The Stock Yard Entrance Gate

THE UNION STOCKYARDS SUMMARY
The Union Stock Yard & Transit Co., or "The Yards," was the meatpacking district in Chicago for more than a century, starting in 1865. The district was operated by railroad companies that acquired swampland and turned it into a centralized processing area. By the 1890s, the railroad money behind the Union Stockyards was Vanderbilt's money. The Union Stockyards operated in the New City community area for 106 years, helping Chicago become known as "hog butcher to the world," coined by poet Carl Sandburg, and the center of the American meatpacking industry for decades.

It was called "Union" because seven separate stockyards contributed the $1.5 million it took to build enough pens to house 100,000 hogs and 10,000 heads of cattle. Priding itself as an "open, free, public market," the Stock Yards housed more than 1 billion animals in the 105 years it operated. This was significant because, in its early years, the Stock Yards were merely a way station for cattle intended to be marketed as fresh meat. After being sold in Chicago, live cattle shipped by rail in boxcars to New York, Boston, and other eastern cities. (They were shipped live because meat, once killed and dressed, spoiled easily.)

The stockyards became the focal point of the rise of some of the earliest international companies. These companies refined novel industrial innovations and influenced financial markets. Both the rise and fall of the district owe their fortunes to the evolution of transportation services and technology in America. The stockyards have become an integral part of the popular culture of Chicago's history.

From the end of the Civil War in 1865 until the end of the 1920s, peaking in 1924, more meat was processed in Chicago than elsewhere. Construction began in June 1865, with an opening on Christmas Day in 1865. The Yards closed at midnight on Friday, July 30, 1971, after several decades of decline during the decentralization of the meatpacking industry.

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In 1906, Upton Sinclair published "The Jungle" (PDF), which uncovered the horrid conditions in the stockyards around the beginning of the 20th century.

THE BEGINNING
Before the various private stockyards were constructed, tavern owners provided pastures and care for cattle herds waiting to be sold. With the spreading service of railroads, several small stockyards were created in and around the City of Chicago. In 1848, a stockyard called the Bulls Head Market was opened to the public. The Bulls Head Stock Yards were located at Madison Street and Ogden Avenue and opened in 1848.

Several small stockyards were scattered throughout the City in the years that followed. Between 1852 and 1865, five railroads were constructed in Chicago. The stockyards that sprang up were usually built along various rail lines of these new railroad companies. Some railroads built their own stockyards in Chicago. The Illinois Central and the Michigan Central railroads combined to build the largest set of pens on the lakeshore east of Cottage Grove Avenue from 29th Street to 35th Street. In 1878, the New York Central Railroad managed to buy a controlling interest in the Michigan Central Railroad. In this way, Cornelius Vanderbilt, owner of the New York Central Railroad, got his start in the stockyard business in Chicago.

Original Plan of the Stockyards.

Several factors contributed to the consolidation of the Chicago stockyards: the westward expansion of railroads between 1850 and 1870, which drove incredible commercial growth in Chicago as a major railroad center, and the Mississippi River blockade during the Civil War that closed all north-south river trade. The United States government purchased much beef and pork to feed the Union troops fighting the Civil War. As a consequence, hog receipts at the Chicago stockyards rose from 392,000 hogs in 1860 to 1,410,000 hogs over the winter butchering season of 1864-1865; over the same period, beef receipts in Chicago rose from 117,000 head to 339,000 head.

With an influx of butchers and small meat packing concerns, many businesses significantly increased to process the livestock shipped to the Chicago stockyards. The goal was to butcher and process the livestock locally rather than transferring it to other northern cities for butchering and processing. Keeping up with the vast number of animals arriving each day proved impossible until a new wave of consolidation and modernization altered the meatpacking business in the post-Civil War era.

Union Stock Yards Illustration, by Louis Kurz. September 1866

The Union Stock Yards, designed to consolidate operations, was built in 1864 on swampland south of the City. It was south and west of the earlier stockyards in an area bounded by Halsted Street on the east, South Racine Avenue on the west, with 39th Street as the northern boundary and 47th Street as the southern boundary. Led by the Alton, Chicago & St. Louis Railroad and the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway, a consortium of nine railroad companies (hence the "Union" name) acquired the 320-acre swampland area in southwest Chicago for $100,000 in 1864. The stockyards were connected to the City's main rail lines by 15 miles of track. In 1864, the Union Stock Yards were located just outside the southern boundary of the City of Chicago. Within five years, the area was incorporated into the City.

The Union Stock Yards in Chicago, 1878.

Eventually, the 375-acre site had 2300 separate livestock pens, room to accommodate 75,000 hogs, 21,000 cattle, and 22,000 sheep at any time. Additionally, hotels, saloons, restaurants, and offices for merchants and brokers sprang up in the growing community around the stockyards. Led by Timothy Blackstone, a founder and the first President of the Union Stock Yards and Transit Company, "The Yards" experienced tremendous growth. Processing two million animals yearly by 1870. In two decades, the number rose to nine million by 1890. Between 1865 and 1900, approximately 400 million livestock were butchered within the confines of the Yards.

By the start of the 20th century, the stockyards employed 25,000 people and produced 82 percent of the domestic meat consumed nationally. In 1921, the stockyards employed 40,000 people. Two thousand men worked directly for the Union Stock Yard & Transit Co.; the rest worked for companies such as meatpackers, which had plant plants in the stockyards. By 1900, the 475-acre stockyard contained 50 miles of road and 130 miles of track along its perimeter. The Yards covered nearly 1 square mile of land, at its largest area, from Halsted Street to Ashland Avenue and from 39th (now Pershing Rd.) to 47th Streets.

At one time, 500,000 US gallons a day of Chicago River water were pumped into the stockyards. So much stockyard waste drained into the South Fork of the river that it was called Bubbly Creek due to the gaseous products of decomposition. The creek bubbles to this day. When the City permanently reversed the flow of the Chicago River in 1900, the intent was to prevent the Stock Yards' waste products, along with other sewage, from flowing into Lake Michigan and contaminating the City's drinking water.

The meatpacking district was served between 1908 and 1957 by a short Chicago 'L' line, with several stops devoted primarily to the daily transport of thousands of workers and even tourists to the site. The line was constructed when the City of Chicago forced the removal of surface trackage on 40th Street.

Evolving transportation and distribution methods led to declining business and the closing of the Union Stock Yards in 1971. National Wrecking Company negotiated a contract whereby National Wrecking cleared a 102-acre site and removed some 50 acres of animal pens, auxiliary buildings, and the eight-story Exchange Building. It took approximately eight months to complete the job and prepare the site for building an industrial park.

EFFECT ON THE INDUSTRY
The area and scale of the stockyards, along with technological advancements in rail transport and refrigeration, allowed for the creation of some of America's first truly global companies led by entrepreneurs such as Gustavus Franklin Swift and Philip Danforth Armour. 

Philip Armour was the first to build a modern large-scale meatpacking plant in Chicago in 1867. The Armour plant was built at 45th Street and Elizabeth Avenue immediately west of the Union Stockyards. This new plant employed the modern "assembly line" (or rather disassembly line) work method. The mechanized process with its killing wheel and conveyors helped inspire the automobile assembly line Henry Ford popularized in 1913. For a time, the Armour plant, located on a 12-acre site, was renowned as the largest factory in the world.

But Gustavus Swift went further. Arriving in Chicago from New England in 1875, he saw the inefficiency and extra cost of shipping cattle on the hoof and set out to change the practice. He was opposed by railroad executives because whole animals filled many more boxcars than dressed meat and brought enormous revenue to the railroads. Swift convinced one railroad to cooperate with him, and the first dressed, unpreserved beef was sent by train from Chicago to Boston in 1877. However, shipments were made only in winter until Swift introduced the refrigerated boxcar in 1881. Eventually, the company owned 6,000 of them.

Leading the World – Pork and Beef Packing in Chicago, Showing the Great Process of Curing the Great Staple for the Markets of the World.

① Coopering Department, ② Bird's Eye View of the Great Packing Houses of Messrs. Armour & Co. located at the Union Stockyards, ③ The Lard Tanks, ④ Cooling Room for Hams, ⑤ Hanging Room for Beeves, ⑥ Interior of Ham House, ⑦ General View of Cellar and Bulking Rooms, ⑧ Hog Cutting, ⑨ Hanging Room for Hogs, ⑩ Beef Cutting By Steam Power, ⑪ Exterior View of Smoke Houses. 1873

In addition, hedging transactions by stockyard companies was pivotal in establishing and growing Chicago-based commodity exchanges and future markets. Selling in the futures market gives the seller a guaranteed price for a future date. This was extremely helpful to those sellers who expected their cattle or hogs to come to market with a glut of other cattle or hogs when prices might be substantially lower than the guaranteed futures price.

Following the arrival of Armour in 1867, the Swift company built another modern large-scale meatpacking plant at 42nd Street and South Justine Street. The Morris Company built a meatpacking plant at 42nd Street and Elizabeth Street. The Hammond Company and the Wilson Company also built a meatpacking plant west of the Chicago stockyards. Eventually, meatpacking byproduct manufacturing of leather, soap, fertilizer, glue (such as the large glue factory located at 44th Street and Loomis Street), pharmaceuticals, imitation ivory, gelatin, shoe polish, buttons, perfume, and violin strings prospered in the neighborhood. Additionally, there was a "Hair Factory," located at 44th Street and Ashland Avenue, which processed hair from butchered animals into saleable items.

Next to the Union Stock Yards, the International Amphitheatre building was built on the west side of Halsted Street at 42nd Street in the 1930s, initially to hold the annual International Live Stock Exposition, which began in 1900. It became a venue for many national conventions.

Before and after the Great Fire of 1871, cattle ranchers, pig farmers, and cowboys from nearby states and as far away as Montana and Texas, some wearing "buffalo coats" or "bearskins," mingled with members of the Livestock Traders Exchange, the traders who bought and sold animals daily, thus establishing prices. By the turn of the 20th century, the meatpacking industry in Chicago produced 82% of all the meat eaten in the United States. 

ABOUT PACKINGTOWN
Packingtown was the residential portion of the Union Stock Yards, just to its west. Packingtown had a baseball league. According to the Trib's scorecard, on opening day 1918, the Wilsons beat the Soap Works, 14-8.

A typical Packingtown residential street is under construction.

Packingtown had its own police chief and department and an elevated "L" train loop. A branch of the South Side elevated servicing the yards had stops named Swift and Armour, after major packers.

Packingtown had its natural disasters — like the 1910 fire that took the lives of 24 firefighters, including the department's chief, and the 1934 fire that raged across much of the yards and the surrounding area. It had its own unnatural wonder, Bubbly Creek, a stub of the Chicago River where the slaughterhouses dumped animal entrails and internal organs. But Packingtown also had an upscale restaurant, the Stockyards Inn, where steaks were branded with patrons' initials. Its International Amphitheater hosted an annual livestock exhibition and national political conventions.

THE 1910 FIRE
Read about the December 22, 1910, Chicago Union Stockyard Fire, which destroyed $400,000 of property and killed twenty-one firemen, including Fire Marshal James J. Horan. 

THE 1934 FIRE

An aerial photograph shows fire moving eastward across the northern portion of Union Stockyards. The view is northeastward, with the World's Fairgrounds and the lake in the upper left corner.

A more significant fire on Saturday, May 19, 1934, burned almost 90% of the stockyards, including the exchange building, stockyard inn, and the International Livestock Exposition building. This larger fire was seen as far away as Indiana and caused approximately $6 million in damages. While only one watchman was killed, a few cattle also perished, but the yards were in business the following Sunday evening.

The 1934 Stockyards Fire - The shading indicates the district was swept by flames.

Numbers show principal buildings. ① Office building. ② Saddle and Sirloin Club. ③ The Stockyards Inn. ④ Drovers' National Bank. ⑤ International amphitheater. ⑥ Another International Live Stock show building. ⑦ Horse auction barns. ⑧ Transportation Agencies building. ⑨ Illinois Humane Society building. ⑩ the United States Department of Agriculture building. ⑪ Exchange building and radio station WAAF. ⑫ Buying offices of Armour & Co. ⑬ Old Exchange building. ⑭ Stores and offices. ⑮ The Drovers' Journal. ⑯ Live Stock National Bank. ⑰ Warehouses. ⑱ Stock pens.

THE UNIONS AND THE WORKERS
Following the new Union Stockyards opening on December 25, 1865, a community of workers began living in the area just west of the packing plants between Ashland Avenue and South Robey Street. It is bounded on the north by 43rd Street and on the south by 47th Street. At first, the residents were overwhelmingly Irish and German—60% Irish and 30% German. 

The overwhelming sensation about the neighborhood was the smell of the community caused not just by the packing plants located immediately to the east but also by the 345-acre Chicago Union Stock Yards containing 2,300 pens of livestock, located further east from the packing plants.

During the Great Depression, although volume had begun to ebb as packers moved west to be closer to their sources, the Stock Yards employed 55,000 people and were responsible for one-sixth of the hourly wages in Chicago.

BACK OF THE YARDS COMMUNITY
Officially designated the "Town of Lake" until its annexation into the City of Chicago in about 1870, the neighborhood was known locally as "Packingtown." It was the first pioneers, S.S. Crocker and John Caffrey, to the area that first called it "Town of Lake." Indeed, Crocker earned the nickname "Father of the Town of Lake." By February 1865, the area was incorporated officially as the "Town of Lake," but the area still consisted of fewer than 700 persons. In the early 1860s, the meatpacking industry of the United States was still located in Cincinnati, Ohio, the original "Porkopolis" of the pre-Civil War era. However, with the end of the American Civil War, the meatpacking industry started to move westward along with the westward migration of the population of the United States. For the meatpacking industry, moving west meant coming to Chicago. As early as 1827, Archibald Clybourn had established himself as a butcher in a log slaughterhouse on the north branch of the Chicago River and supplied most to the garrison of Fort Dearborn. 

Other small butchers came later. In 1848, the Bull's Head Stockyard began operations at Madison Street and Ogden Avenue on the West Side of Chicago. However, operations for this early stockyard still meant holding and feeding cattle and hogs in transit to meatpacking plants further east—Indianapolis and Cincinnati.

Settlement in the area that was to become known as the "Back of the Yards" began in the 1850s before there were any meat packers or stockyards in the area. At this time, the area was known as the "Town of Lake." Indeed, the area would continue to be called the Town of Lake until 1939. Witness that the area newspaper was called the Town of Lake Journal. Only with the founding of the community organization called the "Back of the Yards Neighborhood Council" in 1939 did the neighborhood west and south of the meat packinghouses start being called the "Back of the Yards." It was a name that the residents proudly claimed as their own. In 1939, the Town of Lake Journal officially changed its name to Back of the Yards Journal.

THE DECLINE OF THE STOCKYARDS
The stockyards' prosperity was due to the concentration of railroads and the evolution of refrigerated railroad cars. It declined due to further advances in post-World War II transportation and distribution. Direct sales of livestock from breeders to packers, facilitated by advancement in interstate trucking, made it cheaper to slaughter animals where they were raised and excluded the intermediary stockyards. At first, the major meatpacking companies resisted change, but Swift and Armour surrendered and vacated their plants in the Yards in the 1950s.

The Union Stock Yards closed on July 31, 1971. The area bounded by Pershing Road, Ashland, Halsted, and 47th Street became The Stockyards Industrial Park. The neighborhood to the west and south of the industrial park is still known as Back of the Yards and is still home to a thriving immigrant population.

THE ENTRANCE GATE
A remnant of the Union Stock Yard Gate still arches over Exchange Avenue, next to the firefighters' memorial, and can be seen by those driving along Halsted Street. This limestone gate, marking the entrance to the stockyards, survives as one of the few relics of Chicago's heritage of livestock and meatpacking.

The steer head over the central arch is considered "Sherman," a prize-winning bull named after John B. Sherman, a Union Stock Yard and Transit Company founder. The Union Stock Yard Gate was designated a Chicago Landmark on February 24, 1972, and a National Historic Landmark on May 29, 1981.

Compiled by Dr. Neil Gale, Ph.D. 

The Village of La Vantum (aka: The Grand Village; Old Kaskaskia Village), is the best documented historic Indian village in the Illinois River valley.

The French called the village La Vantum ("the washed") and the Grand Village de Kaskaskia near present-day Utica, Illinois.

It was a large agricultural village of Indians of the Illinois Confederacy  [aka Illiniwek; Illini] (Kaskaskia, Cahokia, Peoria, Tamaroa, Moingwena, Michigamea, Chepoussa, Chinkoa, Coiracoentanon, Espeminkia, Maroa, and Tapouara), located on the north bank of the Illinois River near the present town of Utica, Illinois.

Old Kaskaskia Village is located on the north bank of the Illinois River east of North Utica, Illinois. The road on the left is Dee Bennett Road. The river is out of the frame to the right, about 1,000 feet south of the road. The building with three rows of windows to the right of the road is the Sulphur Springs Hotel.

On a clear, warm day in September of 1673, two bark canoes were seen slowly gliding up the Illinois River, whose placid waters had never before reflected the face of a white man. These canoes were propelled upstream by sails and oars, and as they went forward, the voyageurs caused the wild woods along the shore to resound with songs of praise. Various devices were painted on the sail of the foremost canoe, representing a coat-of-arms, a pipe of peace, and a cross, emblematical of power, friendship, and Christianity.

The voyageurs were delighted with the country along the placid stream and commented on the beauty of the surrounding country. Large herds of buffalo were seen feeding on the green meadows, and at the sound of the oars, elk, deer, and antelope would rise from their lair and bound away across the distant plains. Wild geese and swans were swimming in the river while flocks of parrots made merry the lonely waters with their songs.

Father Marquette and his Symbol of Peace.

This party of travelers consisted of nine persons, Louis Joliet, Jacques Marquette, five oarsmen, and two Indian interpreters. While forcing their light crafts upstream, they were surprised to come suddenly upon a large town on the left bank of the river, while back of it, the fantastic meadow was covered with camping tents and swarming with human beings. This was the great Illinois town called La Vantum, situated near the present site of Utica (Starved Rock) and known for years as the significant landmark of the West.

As the voyageurs approached the town, the Indians in great numbers collected on the river bank to see these strange people, never before having looked upon the face of a white man. Warriors armed with war clubs, bows, and arrows lined the shore, prepared to give the strangers battle if enemies or greet them kindly if friends. The canoes stopped when Joliet displayed the "wampum" (beads used as currency and trade), a token of friendship, at the sight of which the warriors lowered their weapons and motioned the voyageurs to come ashore. Father Marquette, with a pipe of peace in one hand and a small gold cross in the other, approached the Indians, who, in astonishment, collected around him, offering up mementos to appease the wrath of the great Manitou, from whom they believed the strangers had come. The tourists left their canoes and were taken to the head chief's lodge, Chassagoac, where they were kindly entertained for the night.

On the following day, in the presence of all the chiefs and principal warriors, Joliet took formal possession of the country in the name of Louis XIV, after which Marquette preached to this vast assembly. Under Marquette's preaching, many were converted and baptized by the Catholic Church. Among the converts was Chassagoac, the head chief of the Illinois Indians, who continued in the faith and, after years, was a friend of the early pioneers on the Illinois River. Marquette gave this chief several Christian mementos, consisting of crosses, crucifixes, etc., all of which he wore on his person for more than fifty years, and at the time of his death, they were buried with him.

On the third day, the canoes of the explorers were again on the river, and they continued their journey eastward. On reaching the mouth of the Chicagou River, Jolliet, with three companions, continued to Canada to report to the governor. In contrast, Marquette and two others went to Green Bay to convert the Indians. As Jolliet passed down the rapids of the St. Lawrence River near Montreal, his canoe upset, and his journal, with all other valuables, was lost.

These explorers published no account of their travels. The world was but little wiser for their journey, except to establish that the Mississippi River did not flow into the Pacific Ocean, and Illinois was a rich country.

Although terminally ill, Marquette returned to the Grand Village in early 1675 to celebrate Mass and founded the mission of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin.

La Vantum proliferated after a mission and fur trading post was established there in 1675 to a population of about 6,000 people in about 460 houses. After the 1680 massacre from the Iroquois, the surviving Indians moved further south, abandoning the site due to fear of another Iroquois invasion.

Read The 1680 La Vantum Village Massacre of the Illinois Indians by the Iroquois and its Aftermath.

A prominent local landmark, Starved Rock, stands on the river's south bank directly opposite the Grand Village site. Explorer René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle (Sieur de La Salle is a title only), built Fort Saint Louis du Rocher in 1682 to be near this village.

Later, English-speaking European pioneers had no idea what had happened to the people of the Grand Village. Long after the Indians dispersed, a tale was repeated in local folklore that members of the Illinois tribe had been driven to the top of Starved Rock by the Potawatomi, who wanted revenge for Chief Pontiac's murder. Hopelessly surrounded, the brave villagers refused to surrender and supposedly perished of starvation. This was said to be how "Starved Rock" got its name. 

Read The Starved Rock Massacre of 1769 - Fact or Fiction, a research article analyzing whether this massacre occurred.

The historic site is owned by the State of Illinois. The state has conducted archaeological excavations there. The site was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1964.

Compiled by Dr. Neil Gale, Ph.D. 

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Suggested reading:
French Life in the Illinois Country, from Canada to Louisiana, in the 1700s.