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The Narrowing
The story has reached a point where Chicago stops being a landscape and starts being people. Fort Dearborn in 1812 was small, small enough that every contract mattered, every loyalty showed, every disagreement carried weight. Before the fort burned, something else happened. Continue reading
Battle of Fort Dearborn, books, Chicago before the skyline, Chicago frontier, Chicago history, Chicago River 1812, Du Sable homestead location, Early Chicago history, factor definition, federal factory system, Fort Dearborn, Fort Dearborn 1812, Fort Dearborn massacre, frontier trading post, hiking, history, Jean La Lime, Jean LaLime, John Kinzie, Matthew Irwin, Nathan Heald, nature, Pioneer Court Chicago history, sutler definition, travel, War of 1812, War of 1812 Chicago -
Freaking Unreliable Dirt-Loving Squirrel
Punxsutawney Phil says six more weeks of winter, but his track record says otherwise. A snarky rant about unreliable rodents, boots I love, sweaters I avoid, and why cold without snow feels like a personal insult. Continue reading
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When silence became a warning (Part I)
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
The Creative Quill 