Last Camp Site of the Potawatomie Indians in Cook County - Western Springs, IL
Posted by: 
adgorn
N 41° 46.764 W 087° 53.826
16T E 425447 N 4625672
A bronze marker on a granite boulder placed by the Daughters of the American Revolution in 1930.
Waymark Code: WM10M6Y
Location: Illinois, United States
Date Posted: 05/26/2019
Views: 4
Marker Text: LAST CAMP SITE OF THE POTAWATOMIE INDIANS IN COOK COUNTY 1835 ERECTED BY LAGRANGE-ILLINOIS CHAPTER DAUGHTERS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION MAY 15TH 1930
From the nearby Village of Indian Head Park History site: (
visit link)
"...it was one of the last remaining camp sites of the Native American tribe, the Potawatomi. In 1833 thousands of Potawatomi, Ojibwe, and Ottawa gathered in Chicago to relinquish their land in northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin in the Treaty of Chicago. Over several years the Potawatomi left Illinois in small groups. As the last Potawatomie left Chicago, they camped on the Joseph Vial farm along what is now Plainfield Road west of Wolf Road, or Timber Trails Subdivision. On May 5, 1930 the La Grange chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution held a commemorative ceremony to dedicate a historic marker noting the last camp site of the Potawatomi in Cook County. During the ceremony, Alice Vial read entries from her grandfather Joseph Vial’s diary that described life as a pioneer. Joseph Vial’s great grandchildren Muriel and William Vial drew the ribbons to unveil the granite boulder used as the historic marker. This marker still stands at the northwest corner of Wolf and Plainfield Roads. "
A long delayed waymark posting for me! My interest in this location began when I first noticed it back in November 2005. At that time the marker was placed on the golf course that was on this site. Finding this led to a continuing interest in Illinois history.
The marker was relocated just down the road to this spot in about 2006 when the land was sold for redevelopment into the current subdivision.
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