Fort Dearborn
Fort Dearborn, a military fort erected on what became the site of downtown Chicago. It was established in 1804 on land ceded by the Indians on the Chicago River near Lake Michigan. The fort was a wooden stockade with log blockhouses.
When the War of 1812 broke out, the garrison of 67 men and their dependents and resident settlers were ordered to evacuate the fort and proceed to Fort Wayne, Indiana. On August 15, 1812, just after leaving the fort, they were ambushed by Potawatomi Indians and most of them were massacred. The fort was burned the next day.
Fort Dearborn was rebuilt in 1816, and around it the settlement of Chicago began to grow. The fort was abandoned in 1837 and demolished in 1856.