"Ancient Chicago" Day Trip May 3, 2008

The Mitchell Museum of the American Indian will host a daylong bus tour of significant early Native American sites in the Chicago area Saturday, May 3, 2008, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., including the location of a historic canoe portage vital to Chicagos growth and development.

Fred Christensen, college history lecturer from downstate Illinois and a frequent speaker at the Mitchell Museum, will accompany the Ancient Chicago tour and provide interpretive commentary.

Evidence found in LaBagh Woods, a point of interest near Foster Avenue and the Edens Expressway on Chicagos Northwest Side, indicates the area had been occupied by successive civilizations of Native peoples for thousands of years. According to Christensen, some archaeological finds have been traced to the mound-building Hopewell and Mississippian cultures. The areas riverside location and abundant natural resources made it a magnet for Native settlements, Christensen says.

The tour includes two stops in Forest Park: the Forest Home Cemetery, where a Potawatomi trail, village, and burial ground existed until the tribe was forcibly removed in the 1830s; and the History Room at the Forest Park Library, housing a collection of local Indian artifacts.

Another stop on the tour is the Chicago Portage National Historic Site near Harlem Avenue and Interstate 55. This was the location of a short land route between the Des Plaines River, part of the extended Mississippi River system, and the Chicago Rivers South Branch, connecting to the Great Lakes and ultimately the Atlantic Ocean. For centuries, Native Americans carried their canoes and goods overland across this portage. The first Europeans to traverse the linkage were French explorers Marquette and Joliet in 1673, led by Native guides.

Historians credit this site for establishing Chicago as a major trade center. The linchpin of a key water route across the continent, its been called the birthplace of Chicago.

In nearby Riverside, the Ancient Chicago tour will visit the site of the Laughton Ford and Trading Post. In 1827, Indian traders David and Bernardus Laughton set up business at this location. Just downstream is a shallow ford where several Potawatomi Indian trails crossed the Des Plaines River.

The Mitchell Museums Ancient Chicago bus outing costs $45 per person ($40 for museum members).

The tour bus will leave from the parking lot of the Mitchell Museum, 3001 Central Street, Evanston, at 9:00 a.m. and will return at approximately 6:00 p.m.

Reservations are required and should be made no later than April 25. For information, phone the museum at (847) 475-1030. On the Net: www.mitchellmuseum.org.

Event submitted by Eventful.com on behalf of natsilv.