Don Wildman

And this is a good summary point.

There are two Chicago treaties.

This is the one that comes after the Indian Removal Act of 1830.

So the national government, federal government has created this whole idea of Oklahoma being where all these people are going to be sent.

That's what the difference is here than the first one in 1821.

So if 1821 opens the land of Chicago area for American settlement, 1833 clears it.

Yeah.

1837, Chicago is officially incorporated as a city.

Surprisingly recent, but that's the story of America, as we mentioned before.

You've got all those old cities on the East Coast, old for our standards, but this is why Chicago is still a very new city.

It is the railroad that will establish Chicago as the modern American city, however.

And that all comes later on.

1848, the completion of the Illinois and Michigan Canal creates a water link between the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River.

That is soon overtaken, as all canals are, by the railroads.

1850, the railroad moves out.

Aurora Branch Railroad laid the first tracks into West Chicago.

1860, Chicago is established as America's leading railway center.

Fascinating story.

Who gets the railroad?

Not St.