$2 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY: 
memorating the first American soldier that fell in the ser- 
vice of his country, on our Iowa soil. This retreat of Ma- 
jor Taylor (thirty-two years later the hero of Buena Vista,) 
ean hardly be considered under the ‘circumstances as any 
reflection on his military character; evidently it was"not7the 
painted guns that frightened him. We only learn”further 
from one of the participants in this expedition that Major 
Taylor stopped for repairs on the Illinois shore, three miles 
below the mouth of Rock river, from which point he re- 
turned to St. Louis. It is hardly necessary? to state that 
the account of this affair contained in “Davenport Past and 
Present” is in almost every item incorrect. 
No doubt the circumstances attending this expedition, as 
well as the location of the populous Indian villages on Rock 
river, called‘attention to the position of Rock Island as a 
desirable point for the establishment of a'frontier military 
post. Accordingly after the war, in 1816, Fort Armstrong 
was built and occupied, being so named after Gen. John 
Armstrong, the efficient secretary of war, under Madison’s 
administration. 
In the year 1823, Major Long’s expedition to the sources 
of the St. Peters and the Red River of the North was car- 
ried out. The report of this exploration, published in Lon- 
| don in 1825, gives an interesting view of the country along 
the line of travel, and is particularly full in its account of 
the Indian tribes of the northwest. The notice there given 
of Chicago fifty years ago does not compare very well with 
the accomplished result of half a century, and would excite 
the risibilities of a Chicagoan of 1873. It may be worth 
while to quote a few remarks here on this head as showing 
how scientific men may be often greatly deceived in their 
estimates. I quote from pp. 164-5-6, viz:— 
“We were much disappointed at Chicago and its vicinity. 
We found in it nothing to justify the greatjeulogium lay- 
i 
ished upon the place by a late traveler (Schooleraft), who 
