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In 1816, Mr. Kinzie and his family again returned to Chicago.  The fort was rebuilt on a somewhat larger scale than the former one.  It was not until the return of the troops that the bones of the unfortunate Americans who had been massacred four years before, were collected and buried.

An Indian Agency, under the charge of Charles Jewett, Esq., of Kentucky, was established.  He was succeeded in 1820 by Dr. Alexander Wolcott, of Connecticut, who occupied that position until his death in 1830.

The troops were removed from the garrison in 1823, but restored in 1828, after the Winnebago war.  This was a disturbance between the Winnebagoes and white settlers on and near the Mississippi.  After some murders had been committed, the young chief, Red Bird, was taken and imprisoned at Prairie du Chien to await his trial, where he committed suicide in consequence of chagrin and the irksomeness of confinement.  It was feared that the Pottowattamies would make common cause with the Winnebagoes, and commence a general system of havoc and bloodshed on the frontier.  They were deterred from such a step, probably, by the exertions of Billy Caldwell, Robinson, and Shaw-bee-nay, who made an expedition among the Rock River bands, to argue and persuade them into remaining tranquil.

The few citizens of Chicago in those days, lived for the most part a very quiet, unvaried life.  The great abundance of game, and the immense fertility of the lands they cultivated, furnished them with a superabundance of all the luxuries of garden, corn-field, and dairy The question was once asked by a friend in the “East countrie,”

“How do you dispose of all the good things you raise?  You have no market?” “No.”  “And you cannot consume them all yourselves?” “No.”  “What then do you do with them?”

“Why, we manage, when a vessel arrives, to persuade the captain to accept a few kegs of butter, and stores of corn and vegetables, as a present, and that helps us to get rid of some of our overplus.”

The mails arrived, as may be supposed, at very rare intervals.  They were brought occasionally from Fort Clark (Peoria), but more frequently from Fort Wayne, or across the peninsula of Michigan, which was still a wilderness peopled with savages.  The hardy adventurer who acted as express was, not unfrequently, obliged to imitate the birds of heaven and “lodge among the branches,” in order to insure the safety of himself and his charge.

Visitors were very rare, unless it was a friend who came to sojourn for several months and share a life in the wilderness.  A traveller, however, occasionally found his way to the spot, in passing to or from “parts unknown,” and such a one was sure of a hospitable and hearty welcome.

A gentleman journeying from the southern settlements once arrived late in the evening at Wolf Point, where was then the small trading-establishment of George Hunt and a Mr. Wallace.  He stopped and inquired if he could have accommodation for the night for himself and his horse.  The answer was, that they were ill provided to entertain a stranger—­the house was small, and they were keeping “bachelor’s hall.”