• Home
  • About
  • Blog
  • Historical Chicago
  • Personal Essays
  • Published Works

The Creative Quill

The Creative Quill

Writing that speaks louder than words



  • 11.12.2025

    When silence became a warning

    When silence became a warning

    Before the French and Indian War reached the frontier, Chicago felt it coming. Silence thickened, alliances trembled, and warnings traveled through the marsh long before the first shots were fired in the east. This chapter uncovers the quiet dread that shaped Chicago’s world on the brink of a continental conflict. Continue reading

    books, canoeing, Chicago history, Chicago Portage, Colonial America, DuSable Origins, Early Chicago, French and Indian War, Frontier Conflicts, Fur Trade Era, Great Lakes Stories, history, Indigenous Midwest, nature, Potawatomi History, travel
  • 08.12.2025

    Before anyone called it a war

    Before anyone called it a war

    Before the French and Indian War had a name, Chicago listened. From 1696 through the early 1750s, chaotic trade, Potawatomi power, firewater, and broken alliances turned the marsh into a warning ground, one that felt the war coming long before the first shot was fired. Continue reading

    american-revolution, canada, Chicago history, Chicago Portage, Colonial North America, Early Chicago, fiction, Firewater trade, Fox Wars, French and Indian War, French fur trade, Great Lakes history, history, Indigenous Midwest, Potawatomi History, Pre-Revolutionary America, travel
  • 20.11.2025

    Firewater, forbidden trade and Potawatomi power

    Firewater, forbidden trade and Potawatomi power

    Chicago didn’t roar into history; it whispered. From 1696 to the early 1750s, the marsh watched French traders vanish into corruption, Potawatomi power rise like a steady flame, firewater burn through villages, and the Fox Wars shake the north. These were the years the land waited, listening, as empires began to crack. Continue reading

    17th century Chicago, 18th century Chicago, Chicago history, Chicago origins, Chicago Portage, Early Chicago, Firewater trade, Fox Wars, French and Indian War, French fur trade, Great Lakes history, Indigenous Chicago, Jesuit missionaries, Potawatomi History, Voyageurs
  • 12.11.2025

    The Hidden Secret That Started It All

    The Hidden Secret That Started It All

    Long before skyscrapers, Chicago was a wild, garlic-scented crossroads where tribes traveled a treacherous portage that connected two vast water worlds. This muddy vein tested the strong, swallowed the unworthy, and shaped the destiny of nations. Chicago didn’t rise by chance; fate had already chosen its future. Continue reading

    American Origins, art, books, Chicago history, Early Chicago, fiction, Forgotten Places, Great Lakes Stories, Historical Chicago, Indigenous History, Mythic History, Portage Paths, Prairie Stories, reflective storytelling, Shikaakwa, writing
  • 11.11.2025

    Mud, Money, and the Making of Chicago

    Mud, Money, and the Making of Chicago

    Chicago wasn’t just built on a swamp. It was built on secrets. Long before deep dish and the Cubs, real estate barons, rail kings, and quiet schemers carved their empires in the mud. This isn’t the Chicago on postcards, it’s the one written between the lines of history. Continue reading

    art, Bertha Palmer, chicago, Chicago history, Chicago mansions, food, forgotten Chicago, George Pullman, Gilded Age, illinois, Marshall Field, Potter Palmer, power and politics, real estate barons

  • Home
  • About
  • Blog
  • Historical Chicago
  • Personal Essays
  • Published Works

The Creative Quill

contactcreativequill@gmail.com
  • Facebook
  • X


  • Subscribe Subscribed
    • The Creative Quill
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • The Creative Quill
    • Subscribe Subscribed
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar