Nature Bulletin No. 386-A   September 12, 1970
Forest Preserve District of Cook County
George W. Dunne, President
Roland F. Eisenbeis, Supt. of Conservation

****:WILDLIFE IN CHICAGO

In August of 1803, when a detachment of soldiers came here from 
Detroit to build Fort Dearborn, they found only four crude cabins, 
situated on the north bank of the Chicago River. Three were occupied 
by French fur traders -- LeMaie, Ouilmette and Pettle -- and one was 
vacant.

In 1833, when Chicago was incorporated as a village, there were only 
200 people here. Wolves were still a problem, especially in winter. On 
October 6, 1834, a black bear -- the last wild one seen in Chicago was 
killed near the intersection of LaSalle and Adams Streets. Game was 
so plentiful that the region was a hunter's paradise .

Long before 1803, all the beaver had been taken by trappers, but 
LaSalle, describing the portage to the DesPlaines, in 1682, mentions a 
beaver dam across Mud Lake. Father Marquette's diary of the winter in 
1674, which he spent in a hut at about where Damen Ave. crosses the 
South Branch, relates how his assistants and the Indians killed plenty 
of buffalo, deer, wild turkey, prairie chicken and ruffed grouse. 
Buffalo, elk and panther (cougar) had almost disappeared by 1803. 
The best record of the wild animals found in early Cook County is 
contained in a report published in 1854 by the Illinois Agricultural 
Society. It was written by Robert Kennicott, a famous naturalist who 
had grown up in "The Grove" along what is now Milwaukee Ave., 
north of Glenview Road.

Kennicott listed the gray wolf, Canada lynx, bay lynx or wildcat, 
badger, gray fox, the marten and another large member of the weasel 
family, the fisher, as being "formerly common". Otter were "not 
common". The prairie wolf or coyote was becoming abundant; 
woodchucks and the little red squirrels were increasing. Opossum were 
much more numerous in southern Illinois. White-tailed deer, red fox, 
mink, weasels, muskrat, skunk, fox squirrel, rabbit and many smaller 
mammals were abundant .

The golden eagle was rare but the bald eagle, the osprey and the turkey 
vulture nested here. Snowy owls were common in winter, preying on 
prairie chicken, and four other kinds, including the great horned owl, 
commonly nested here. Chimney swallows were becoming more 
numerous. Horned larks were abundant. The cardinal, or redbird, was 
common farther south but rare here. He listed the magpie, the raven 
and the pileated woodpecker but apparently the Carolina parakeet had 
disappeared. There were, of course, vast flocks of passenger pigeons 
and, especially during the migration seasons, innumerable swans, 
geese and wild ducks. Flocks of 100 or more sandhill cranes were 
often seen "engaged in their uncouth dance". Egrets nested in  Cook 
County. Kennicott said, "Eighteen years ago there were no woodcock 
here, now they are abundant and still increasing.

Quail, very abundant in Illinois, were introduced here within the past 
20 years. " Willow grouse and sharp-tailed grouse were common, and 
prairie chicken were abundant but rapidly decreasing because the 
settlers burned the prairies in late spring, whereas the Indians always 
burned in autumn.

Lake Michigan is the only place that looks like it did in 1674.