Francois Leclaire on the Actions of Thomas Craig and His Men

Francois Leclaire was of one of the French families in the former village at Peoria that Thomas Craig's men destroyed.  This is his account of what happened:

After the Indians were defeated by the forces of Governor Edwards at the head of Peoria Lake, they (the Indians) threatened to kill the French people and proceeded to  rob the houses and kill the oxen.

Then a party of men under Captain Thomas E. Craig arrived in two boats and took everything they could get their hands on.  Then they made the people prisoners.  While a prisoner he saw several structures burned by Craig's men.  he also saw articles belonging to the villagers on the boats.

In 1813, he went up to Sandy Creek on the Illinois River with Thomas Forsyth and others and heard from the Indians that they had burned the Kinzie and Forsyth house and bakehouse at Peoria.

These were the damages done by Craig and his men.

--Brock-Perry

Early History of Peoria-- Part 2: The Coming of the War of 1812

During 1810, a series of raids were launched by Illinois Indians which resulted in a great deal of anxiety among the settlers.  Throughout the next year, British representatives from Canada; still upset  over their defeat in the American Revolution, continued to encourage the Indians to attack the white settlers throughout the Illinois Territory.

The War of 1812 began in June of that year and that caused the French settlers in Peoria to be at war with the British and their Indian allies, including the Potawatomi.  Because the French settlers at Peoria had a close relationship with the Potawatomi, their position was extremely difficult.

In August of 1812,  the American post at Chicago, Fort Dearborn, was taken by the Potawatomi, and many of the soldiers and residents  were killed or taken prisoner. Thomas Forsyth of Peoria, half brother and  partner of Chicago trader John Kinzie, went north to negotiate with the Indians for the return of the prisoners.

In the meantime, Governor Ninian Edwards had been receiving reports that Peoria was a hotbed of Indian troubles.  In October, 1812, just a few months after Fort Dearborn, the governor led an attack  of mounted troops across the prairies from Fort Russell near Edwardsville (no one is sure where this fort's actual location was), and destroyed the Potawatomi village of Chief Black Partridge at the upper end of Lake Peoria, on the east side of the river.

Although the soldiers found the village deserted, they plundered and burned it.  In clashes with nearby Indians, 25 to 30 were killed.

--Brock-Perry

The Fort Dearborn Massacre-- Part 6

The U.S. Army determined to shorten its defensive perimeter and orders were sent to Fort Dearborn to evacuate, according to General Hull, if it was safe to do so.  Captain Heald said he was simply told to proceed to Detroit.  Either way, the orders came at the same time as 500 Indian warriors arrived, who had learned of the order.

I have read that Heald was going to Fort Wayne in Indiana and that the main reason orders to evacuate the fort happened because of the fall of Fort Mackinac earlier in the summer.

Some of the Indian chiefs argued against attacking the Americans.  One brave, Nuscotnumeg, argued: "Now's the time--we have them within our grasp; we must kill them all."  This answers my earlier thought, news of the fall of Fort Mackinac swayed the Indians to attack and Heald was going to Fort Wayne and then from there to Detroit.

The Americans left the fort and into history on August 15th.  The site of the tragedy is now covered with high rises along Lake Shore Drive, just west of Soldier Field, where the Chicago Bears play.  The Americans were following the lake shore, but it has since been filled in considerably.

In the middle of the buildings is the Battle of Fort Dearborn Park.

In 1835, the Potawatomis assembled in Chicago to receive a final payment from the government for agreeing to move westward.  Before leaving, in full regalia, 500 warriors brandishing tomahawks had a procession through the city and past the rebuilt Fort Dearborn.

Brock-Perry