Dakota Diary - 3 - Chicago and Springfield

May 28-30, 1883

Our hotel was in a block that was bounded by Clark Street, LaSalle, Quincy and Jackson. We walked down Rush Street, known for its night life, then to the business district, called the Loop as the streetcars converge in this area and then turn around to go back again. The main store we visited, and spent quite considerable amount of our money in was on State Street and Washington, Marshal Fields.

We were quite exhausted after our sightseeing and shopping trip, and were pleased to be asked to join Mr. Lester at his table in the hotel that evening.

When we told each other how we had spent our days, Mr. Lester said he had been reading about the dress rehearsal for the Wild West show that had taken place in Omaha a few weeks before.

The article was written by J C Bush the Telegraph editor in the May 3rd issue.
Mr. Bush had gone on an excursion to North Platte, Nebraska, which included a May 1st visit to Buffalo Bill’s ranch.

Here is what it says, "In the afternoon in company with Mr. James McNulty and Hon. W. F. Cody we visited the germ of the great show which is to spring into existence the latter part of this month at
Omaha and which will sweep all before it when once fairly started. On a piece of level meadow land was pitched the tents for the men while the buffalo and a large number of horses were grazing in an adjoining pasture. A number of elk were expected in a day or two and men were  engaged purchasing the most famous bucking horses that Nebraska afforded. 'Buck' Taylor, who is
to be one of the star riders of the combination, gave an exhibition on a wall-eyed calico horse that would astonish the effeminate easterners, and if he lives long enough the performance will be
repeated for their benefit during the summer. Another wing of the show is getting under way at Omaha, where the Indians will join it, and about the 17th of the present month the western Nebraska wonder will give its opening exhibition at the state's metropolis."

Mr. Lester firmly recommended that we go to Springfield a day early, in order to take in the sights
of what is, of course, the state capitol of Illinois, and the home of our former president, Abraham Lincoln.

But we still had Tuesday to fill. Mr. Lester said he intended to visit the Mackenzie House, the
oldest building in Chicago, and asked if we wished to join him, and we readily agreed.

Tuesday May 29

At breakfast, Mr. Lester said that in his walking through the city the day before, he had come across a newly published book, calledChicago’s First Half Century.
He read some of it out to us.

“The first surprise in the history of Chicago was its settlement. It has been said that the first
white settler was a Negro. This was Jean Baptiste Point au Sable, who came from San Domingo in 1796, and staked his claim on the site of the present business center, rearing his rude hut in the neighborhood of Dearborn and Water streets. This first ‘white settler’ was, however, ambitious to become an Indian chief, notwithstanding his Negro blood, and tried to ingratiate himself into the affections of the Indians; but, meeting with poor success, he removed to Peoria, where he died, and with him the hope of planting a San Domingo colony on the banks of the Chicago River.

“Then came a Frenchman, Le Mai, a trader, who ‘jumped’ the Negro settler’s claim, and took
possession of his cabin, and, after several years’ residence, sold his interest in Chicago to John Kinzie, who was then the agent of Astor’s American Fur Company. The cabin was enlarged and improved, and in 1804 became the home of Mr Kinzie and the first house in Chicago.

After our visit to the house in question, we went to the train station to inquire about which train
we should attempt to get the next day. The first convenient one left at 8 a.m. and would take until 5 p.m. to reach the town, which was some 190 miles away. We were recommended to get rooms at the Station Hotel, close by the train.

 I must just update my expenses record. We spent just over $10 on our shopping - which seems
extravagant, now I look back on it. But we wanted to get presents for the family back home, as well as not being able to resist some blouses of very fine voile, which will be saved for some special
occasion on our trip. We were very fortunate that Mr. Lester paid for our expenses on our little jaunt out today. The tickets to Springfield cost us $7.60, and our hotel there will be $2 a night,
but we shall have to buy food and our tickets for the performance. 

We hoped we would be able to get tickets for the 1st of June performance as soon as we got there, as Mr. Lester had said that there had been as many as 7000 at a time attending the shows in
Omaha.

It seemed very early when we boarded the train south. We had said goodbye to Mr. Lester the previous evening after dinner, but he said that if we came back to Chicago, we should look him up again before we went on to La Crosse.

The view was rather boring during the long hot crossing of Illinois. There were farms with crops growing well, but not many trees and not many towns. The first town we came to was called Summit, which was set on a gentle rise between the Chicago and the Des Plaines Rivers. It apparently was an important portage point for Indian tribes over the ages, and Father Marquette and Louis Jolliet used it during their return from the Mississippi in 1672. Now there is a canal in the
town, part of the Illinois and Michigan Canal built in 1845. But as a farming community it was important for shipping vegetables from there to Chicago.

We were given potted histories of the various towns along the route by other passengers, and we also had a book about Illinois that Mr. Lester had lent us. We were interested in a man called Mr. Paige, who came to Jolliet, from our own county in Wisconsin, and developed a process for bottling
flavored drinks under pressure using carbonic acid gas. We each bought one of these drinks when the train stopped at Joliet - Soda Pop it was called - and very refreshing it was, too.

Another place we went through was called Lincoln, and we were told it is the only town in the
United States which was named for Abraham Lincoln before he became president. He practiced law there from 1847 to 1859. The town was officially named on August 27, 1853, in an unusual ceremony. Abraham Lincoln, having assisted with the platting of the town and working as
counsel for the newly laid railroad which led to its founding, was asked to participate in a naming ceremony for the town. During the proceedings, Lincoln chose a ripe watermelon from a nearby wagon, broke it open, and squeezed the juice on the grounds, as an informal rite of baptism.

Finally we arrived in Springfield, whichbecame the capitol for the state of  Illinois, moving it from
Vandalia. The designation was largely due to the efforts of Abraham Lincoln who moved to Springfield and spent the next 17 years rising in political importance there.

We checked into the Station Hotel, and immediately inquired as to whether we could get tickets.
We were in luck, and as it happened, we were told that Mr. Cody himself was staying at our same hotel. Feeling that we had nothing to lose, and armed with the knowledge that we had been sent by Mr. Barnum to see him, we inquired at the reception if we might have a few words with Mr. Cody.

After several moments he came down to the lobby and we met the legendary Buffalo Bill. He is a
handsome man - slim as you would expect from his horse riding expertise - and with skin dark and well weathered. His hair is long and curly and he sports a long mustache.

He seemed somewhat in a fuss, no doubt with many arrangements yet to be made for the next day’s show, but when he heard that we had been sent by Phineus Barnum, his attitude changed completely.

“That old codger. How is he? I can remember the fun we had buffalo hunting together. Have you seen
his circus? Of course, you have. Everyone has. Now, you girls must come to the show. You can have complimentary seats in the special tent.” He pulled some out of his jacket pocket and wrote something on them. “And I would be pleased to talk to you again tomorrow night, after the show, to see what you thought of it all.”

Because it would be our only opportunity to see anything of Springfield itself, we walked into the
center to view the capitol building. It was built about 15 years ago, and is certainly impressive. Apparently it is the tallest capitol building in the United States. We were just in time to get in
to view the main hall. The building is shaped like a Latin Cross. The dome, we were told, is plated in zinc to provide a silver facade that does not weather. Inside the dome is a plaster frieze, showing points in Illinois history, and stained glass windows, with one of them showing the Illinois flag.

We had a quick meal at a cafe in the town, and made our way back to our hotel.