OF COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS 



15 



DESPLAINES RIVER IN NORTHFIELD TOWNSHIP. 



Trails easily definable for amateurs and unmistakable rem- 

 nants of village habitation bear evidence to the activities of the 

 Pottowatomies, Ottawas, Chippewas, Winnebagoes and Iroquois, 

 chiefly the first named Indians who might be styled the na- 

 tives of Cook County. 



There, also, are found the marks that tell of white man's 

 first venture into our domain the explorations of the French- 

 men. Ruins of French forts furnish the story of their struggles 

 to hold the territory against the Indians who were making a 

 fight for their native land. 



Then in the northern end of the county we likewise find 

 trace of the French effort in the short-lived development of the 

 territory which was theirs by virtue of their exploring tendency. 

 It is the site of Father Francois Pinet's Jesuit Mission founded 

 in 1696 Cook County's first religious institution. 



That was located near the present Gross Point, west of 

 Wilmette, at what were then the headwaters of the North Branch 

 of the Chicago River. The site overlooked what the Indians 

 styled "Quiet Lake" from which we have today the picturesque 

 Skokie Marsh. 



