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The Creative Quill

The Creative Quill

Writing that speaks louder than words



  • 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

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