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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
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Before the Taking
Before Chicago had a name, it was a threshold of mud, fire, and shifting power. Explorers paddled past danger, nations moved through the Portage, and the land itself seemed to brace for a future that would carve it open. This is the story of the city before the city existed. Continue reading
The Creative Quill 