Loop Station Post Office Murals – Chicago, IL - Murals on Waymarking.com

Paraphrased initially from (visit link) and expanded upon:
“The Great Indian Council, Chicago - 1833” is a mural painted by Gustaf Dalstrom, who was a Swedish-American artist who attended the Art Institute of Chicago and at one point was the President of the Chicago Society of Arts.

Dalstrom painted many murals for the Treasury Department Section of Painting and Sculpture, known as The Treasury Section of Fine Arts, in the 1930s. “The Great Indian Council, Chicago - 1833” was originally painted for the Post Office at 840 North Clark Street where it hung from 1938 (year it was finished) until 1983 when the Post Office was converted to a movie theater. The mural is 15’ long by 5’ tall, oil-on-canvas. The colors are earth tones. It features Native Americans who are sitting, standing and on horseback, focused on a speaker at the right who has his hands extended as if pleading his case. Wigwams and a tree-dotted landscape are visible in the background. Parma Conservation company (Chicago, IL) restored this mural in 2017.

The Council was probably debating the 1833 Treaty of Chicago. This second Treaty of Chicago granted the United States government all land west of Lake Michigan to Lake Winnebago in modern-day Wisconsin. The treaty included lands that are part of modern-day Illinois, as well. The treaty promised the Native Americans (Potowatomi) in return various cash payments and tracts of land west of the Mississippi River.

The above mural also originally hung with another mural titled “Advent of the Pioneer, 1851” which was actually painted by Dalstrom’s wife Frances Foy. (“Advent of the Pioneer, 1851” was also commissioned by the Treasury Department Section of Painting and Sculpture.) When the Post Office was converted in 1983, the murals were separated. Now they have been reunited. This mural is also 15’ long by 5’ tall, oil-on-canvas. The colors are also earth tones, but a bit more vibrant to include the dress of male and female settlers. Numerous men, women and children, along with two Native Americans, span the mural. They appear to be waiting to board a recently arrived locomotive and its attached passenger car. The locomotive looks like the “Pioneer” which you can see restored at the Chicago History Museum (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pioneer_(locomotive) ) so this must be the origin of the name of this mural – the coming of age of rail travel in America.

More information on the restoration and reuniting of the murals at: (visit link)
and
(visit link)

Since you are inside a government building, photography is at the discretion of the staff.

City: Chicago Location Name: Loop Station Post Office - 219 S. Clark Street Artist: Gustaf Dahlstrom and Frances Foy Date: 1938 Media: oil on canvas Relevant Web Site: [Web Link]

Visit Instructions:
Please give the date and description of your visit. One original photo of the mural must also be submitted. GPSr photo NOT required.

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Date Logged Log User Rating   01/06/2020 libbykc visited it