John Whistler-- Part 2: Completed and Commanded Fort Dearborn

John Whistler joined the United States Army and was sent to the Western Frontier and was in the Hamar Campaign in 1790 and was severely wounded at St. Clair's Defeat in 1791.  He became a lieutenant in the Legion of the United States and helped build U.S. forts in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

In 1797 he was promoted to captain and transferred to Fort Lemoult in Detroit.  In the summer of 1803, he and his company of the 1st United States Infantry moved from Fort Detroit to the southern shore of Lake Michigan where he completed Fort Dearborn, on the future site of Chicago.

He became the fort's first commandant.

--Brock-Perry