Saturday, February 25, 2012

What About Lake County's Real Early History?

From the Fall/Winter 2011 Hometown Heritage bulletin of the Fox Lake-Grant Township (Il) Area Historical Society.

That would be Lake County, Illinois, in the northeastern corner of the state.

Many of the lakes in the Chain of Lakes were created when the Wisconsin Glacier melted. Indians of the central Algonquin Indian tribes lived in the area for many years. This would include the Miami, Mascouten Fox and Potawatomi. They led a semimobile life hunting, fished gathered wild plants and grew corn.

In 1673, Joliet and Marguette passed through what is today the Chain of Lakes State Park during their Illinois explorations. French trappers and traders were the first Europeans to explore the area. The first European settlement was at Fort Hill, near Mundelein. This was a large mound formerly used as a lookout post by the Indians.

In the 1800s, Europeans began settling in the area, especially after the Indian removal. But there were few settlements because of the transportation difficulty.

A Quick Lake County Background. --DaCoot

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