01a - Vintage Postcard, Michigan Avenue Bridge, Wrigley Building and Tribune BuildingChicago's first permanent non-Native American settler, Jean Baptiste Point du Sable (commonly spelled DuSable), had his home and estate on the northern bank of the river where the Wrigley and Equitable buildings sit. Little is known about him and accounts diverge wildly, but apparently he was born around 1745 in what is now Haiti. His father was French (perhaps a sea captain), his mother was African (probably an ex-slave), and he was educated in France. [Some recent scholars posit an alternate version with him being born in Montreal, Canada, but historians are going to have to "slug it out" a bit before it becomes widely accepted.]
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01b - Vintage Postcard Folder View of the "New" Michigan Boulevard BridgeReturning from France, du Sable became shipwrecked in New Orleans, where he narrowly avoided being enslaved (due to his dark skin). He traveled up the Mississippi, working as a trader, and eventually settled at the mouth of the Chicago river around 1788. He married his wife Catherine (a Native American) and set up a trading post which expanded into an impressive set of buildings. He sold his estate in 1800 and moved to Missouri, where he lived until his death in 1814. He spoke several languages, had refined tastes in art, music and decor, and was by all accounts (French, British, American, and several Native American tribes) an extremely righteous dude (I'm paraphrasing here).
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01c - Pylon Sculpture, Northeast CornerThe Discoverers, by sculptor James Earle Fraser, which depicts 17th-century French explorers Marquette, Joliet, LaSalle and Tonti.
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02 - Pylon Sculpture Detail, Northeast CornerThe Discoverers, by sculptor James Earle Fraser
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03 - Pylon Sculpture Detail, Northeast Corner, Plaque "The Discoverers"
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04 - Pylon Sculpture, Northwest CornerThe Pioneers, by sculptor James Earle Fraser. This depicts an early settler, fur trader John Kinzie, "rolling with his peeps."
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04a - Vintage Postcard View of the Pioneers (c.1933)From the verso: "John Kinzie, Fur Trader, settled near this spot in the early years of the nineteenth century. One of a band of courageous Pioneers, who with their lives at stake, struggled through the wilderness breaking soil for seeds of a future civilization."
An accurate account: That is, if you consider rolling into town and buying a nice estate with a thriving trading post to be "struggling through the wilderness" and "breaking soil."
Unused Max Rigot white border divided back postcard #359, published in advance of the Chicago World's Fair of 1933.
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05 - Pylon Sculpture Detail, Northwest CornerThe Pioneers, by sculptor James Earle Fraser. I wonder why DuSable isn't depicted on the bridge, since he was the true "Pioneer" of Chicago? Must be because he spoke French.
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06 - Pylon Sculpture Detail, Southwest Corner, Placque "Defense"Uhhm, not exactly. Here's a more accurate account of the Fort Dearborn Massacre culled from some more balanced sources. During the War of 1812 (between the US and Great Britain) the British were using certain Indian tribes as anti-American mercenaries in this area, particularly the Winnebago. As the war began heating up, a group of Winnebagos raided a farm near Fort Dearborn, killing two people. The terrified white settlers in the region all fled to the fort. (cont'd next photo)
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07 - Pylon Sculpture, Southwest CornerDefense by sculptor Henry Hering. Bands of Winnebagos and a few recalcitrant Pottawatomie (most Pottawatomie were friendly) began looting and burning the abandoned homesteads. It was feared the thinly manned outpost would soon be overrun by hostile Indians and British troops, so the fort was ordered to be evacuated. A small group of friendly Miami Indians were hired as escorts from the area, but hundreds of hostile tribesmen had arrived by that time. (cont'd)
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08 - Pylon Sculpture Detail, Southwest CornerDefense, by sculptor Henry Hering. The Pottawatomie had brokered safe passage in exchange for the fort's remaining supplies of liquor and ammo. But Captain Heald reneged and destroyed it all before they left. Over 600 angry Indians then swooped down on the fleeing party about 1 1/2 miles to the south and began slaughtering them. Some Pottawatomie broke in and saved several settlers (including Kinzie and family) but about 60 (out of an original group of 94 Americans and Miamis) were brutally slain.
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09 - Pylon Sculpture, Southest CornerRegeneration by sculptor Henry Hering, depicting the city rebuilding after the Great Fire of 1871. A process which, unbeknownst to most people, was apparently supervised by a buxom woman holding a T-square.
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10 - Pylon Sculpture Detail, Southeast CornerRegeneration, by sculptor Henry Hering
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11 - Pylon Sculpture Detail, Southwest Corner, Placque "Regeneration"
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12 - Plaque Commemorating Discovery of the Chicago RiverThis relief on this plaque depicts Native Americans taking Joliet and Marquette to the Chicago River so they could "discover" it. (I know, it's easy to play "Monday morning Post-Colonialist" but really). Actually, Joliet and Marquette weren't even the first white men to discover the Chicago River, as several fur traders had previously been through the area, although they were the first to map it.
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View from the north, Michigan Avenue Bridge c. 1930From the verso: "Michigan Avenue and Wacker Drive, Chicago. Prominent Buildings shown are the 333 Building [far left], London Guarantee & Accident Co. Bldg., [center front] and the Mather Tower [tallest center tower]." Also pictured are the Carbide & Carbon Building [center left in background] and the Jeweler's Building [or Pure Oil Building], far left.
Unused Gerson Bros. white border divided back postcard, c. 1930.
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Vintage Postcard View, NE Corner Pylon, Michigan Avenue Bridge c. 1928"The Discoverers," by James Earle Fraser. From the Verso: "Joliet, Father Marquette, LaSalle and Tonti will live in American History as fearless explorers who made their way through the Great Lakes and across this water shed to the Mississippi in the late seventeenth century and typify the spirit of Brave Adventure which has always been firmly planted in the character of the middle West." Uh huh.
Max Rigot white border divided back postcard, published in advance of the Chicago World's Fair of 1933; postmarked March 10, 1933.
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Vintage Postcard View, North Approach to Michigan Avenue Bridge c. 1928From the verso: "Sculptural treatment of four Michigan Ave. bridge houses commemorating Fort Dearborn and the first white man's house in Chicago--donation of William Wrigley, Jr. and Ferguson Fund Trustees."
Max Rigot white border divided back postcard, unused, no postmark. Since the sculptures on this postcard bear only minor resemblance to the actual Fraser sculptures, this was probably printed in advance of the sculptures' completion in 1928.
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