A Century of Wolf Hunts

The American frontier of northeastern Illinois posed many challenges for settlers leaving behind established communities in the eastern United States and Europe. Here they faced the task of forging a new life in a land they perceived as "wilderness."

One of the greatest threats in that "wilderness" were wolves and coyotes, who preyed on their livestock.

"Hunting Prairie Wolves in an Early Day." Published by Wm. LeBaron & Co., Chicago, 1877.

The first county bounties (cash payments) for wolves' scalps were issued in 1838. By 1874, the Lake County board offered "twenty dollars for the scalp of a wolf slain." ($440 in today's currency). The bounties were to encourage the extermination of wolves, coyotes and even crows—which were all felt to impact a farmer's livelihood.

Predators were hunted year round, but mainly in the winter months when they were easy to spot on the snowy landscape, and their pelts were thicker and more valuable. Hunters presented scalps for the bounty and retained the pelts to use or sell.

In 1854, farmer John Herrick (1806 - 1890) of Half Day (now Lincolnshire), announced he was offering a bounty of $8 for each "old" wolf and $1 for each "young one." Much of Herrick's farm was within the heavily forested Des Plaines River valley, which at the time was "much infested with wolves" that had committed "many depredations."

By the 1860s, sheep farming had increased to the point that Lake County was ranked third in the State of Illinois in number of sheep. In 1865, the county boasted 82,382 sheep. The more sheep, the more enticement for predators.

Nelson Landon's farm, Benton Township, 1885.

Illustrated Atlas of Lake County, Illinois. H.R. Page & Co., Chicago.

In Benton Township, to curb the wolves being "very destructive among the sheep," a "great wolf drive" was held on March 14, 1868. Hunts typically involved hundreds of men, in this instance 350, walking in a line "with guns." The day-long hunt ended at the sprawling sheep farm of Nelson Landon (1807-1884). In all, only three wolves were killed, but a "large number" broke through the lines and escaped.

While most hunts were undertaken by men, women settlers also did their part to protect family and livestock. Maria Randolph Sibley (1821-1901), who had come to Lake County from Massachusetts with her husband and young children in the 1850s, tracked a wolf that was getting their cattle. The incident may have occurred while her husband was enlisted in the 64th Illinois during the Civil War. Sibley went into the family's grain field with her gun, and a wolf came "bounding over the shocks" of cut grain-stalks, frightening her so much that she was unable to shoot. The wolf saw her, "turned and trotted away."

The last known large-scale wolf hunt took place on January 27, 1930.

The Lewis A. Mills "wolf" hunt with plane hired from Palwaukee Airport, January 27, 1930.

Gordon Ray Collection, Dunn Museum (95.28.42)

Modern times called for modern measures, and sheep farmer, Lewis A. Mills (1894-1986), hired a plane from Palwaukee Municipal Airport (today's Chicago Executive Airport) in Wheeling to search for wolves from the air. For two years wolves had "ravaged sheep and poultry flocks of the county without check." Mills's flocks and that of business magnate, Samuel Insull (1859-1938), whose estate (today's Cuneo Museum) was adjacent to Mills had been "among those suffering heaviest from the wolves."

Hunters and bystanders posing with the kill. Left to right: Bill Poulton, Leroy Kane, Donald Poulton, 

Bob Rouse, Gordon Ray, Lewis Mills, Clayton Tiffany (police chief of Mundelein), and Gordon K. Ray. 

Chicago Tribune, February 4, 1930.

Assisting in the hunt from the ground were Gordon Ray (1893-1987) and Bob Rouse (1892-1963). Rouse shot and killed one of the wolves. When the plane landed to pick up the wolf, it overturned in the snow making it necessary to get another plane from Palwaukee. In the second round, the plane "chased" a wolf to a fence line, and Gordon Ray and Lee Kane shot it.

The hunters described their prey as "wolves," but in actuality were coyotes.

January 27, 1930. Gordon Ray Collection, Dunn Museum (95.28.44)

According to Gordon Ray, whose wife Marie Schanck Ray is seen at right, 

the hunt "caused considerable excitement, even making the Chicago papers." 

Gordon Ray Collection, Dunn Museum (95.28.45)

Though these farmers identified their prey as "wolves" they were actually coyotes. This is one example of how accounts can be misleading. In researching historic wolf hunts unless details were given such as "large," "big," or "gray," it's unclear whether the animal was a wolf or coyote. To add to the historical confusion, pioneers commonly used the term "prairie wolf" for coyote.

While wolf sightings have been rare in Lake County for a century, coyotes have successfully adapted to development and changes in their environment.

The Lake County Forest Preserves encourages everyone to learn more about coyotes and the important role they play in the ecosystem. Check out frequently asked questions about coyotes. Homeowner groups and other Lake County organizations can book a free informational presentation about coyotes by contacting Allison Frederick at afrederick@LCFPD.org.


Sources:
Past and Present of Lake County, Illinois, Elijah M. Haines, 1877.
History of Lake County, Illinois, John A. Halsey, 1912.
"Wolves in Chicago Now," E. Hough, January 27, 1901, Chicago Tribune. 
"Farmers of Two Counties Unite to Kill Wolves," January 2, 1928, Chicago Tribune. 
"Farmer in Plane Trails Wolves; Two Are Killed," February 4, 1930, Chicago Tribune. 
"Gordon Ray recalls the wolf hunt back in '28 on the Lewis Mills farm," Kathy Rosemann, February  2, 1984, Mundelein Review. [Ray, who was nearly 90 years old when he gave this interview, mistakenly noted the hunt taking place in 1928.]
Gordon Ray His Life and Times (1893-1987): An Autobiography, edited by Gordon K. Ray.
Dickertown School and Benton Township History, 1918. School History Collection, Bess Bower Dunn Museum of Lake County. 

Native American Place Names

It has been 190 years since the Treaty of Chicago (1833) forced the removal of the Potawatomi, Chippewa, and Ottawa peoples from their lands and their relocation west of the Mississippi River. 

Today, local place names hold reminders of Native peoples, the original stewards of the land on which we live. 

The Fox River is a major waterway and tributary of the Illinois River, and its' headwaters are northwest of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The Fox enters Illinois and passes through Lake County by way of the Chain O' Lakes and meanders through western Cuba Township on its way south to the Illinois River at Ottawa, Illinois. 

The river is named for the Fox Tribe (Menominee) of Wisconsin, whose self-given name was "Red Earth People." In the 17th century, explorers Louis Jolliet and Jacques Marquette interpreted their name as "Renard," meaning "Fox" in French, referencing the red color of foxes. Fox Lake is the progeny of the Fox River. (Source: Encyclopedia of Native Tribes of North America, Michael Johnson, 1993; Place Names of Illinois, Edward Callary, 2008). 

Photo postcard view of Fox Lake with the Illinois Hotel and Willis Inn resort in the distance at center and right respectively, circa 1910. BBDM M-86.1.165.

The name for Nippersink Lake in Grant Township, north of Grand Avenue, is probably of Potawatomi origin and signifies "at the little water/lake." The post office at Fox Lake was called Nippersink until 1901.

Photo postcard of the iron bridge over Indian Creek, Half Day (today's Lincolnshire), circa 1910. BBDM 92.27.82.

The village of Indian Creek was named for the creek of the same name, which runs through Lincolnshire. The creek is apparently named in remembrance of the Native American villages found in this vicinity before settlement by newcomers. There is an Indian Lake in Lake Barrington, presumably named to honor Native Americans.

Sequoit Creek in Antioch got its name from early settlers from Oneida County, New York where there is a Sauquoit Creek. "Sauquoit" is Iroquois and possibly means "smooth pebbles in the bed of a stream." 

The Skokie River was historically a large meandering stream that included sedge meadow and wet prairie and ran from Waukegan Township south to Chicago. During early non-Native settlement in the mid-1800s, farmers partially drained the area to plant crops. In the early 1900s, the river became a drainage ditch. The name "Skokie" comes from the Potawatomi word Chewab Skokie for "big wet prairie." 

The village of Mettawa adopted its name in 1960 to avoid such common appellations as grove, lake, and woods. Mettawa was a Potawatomi leader/chief whose village was near the junction of the Des Plaines River and Indian Creek. Mettawa was unable to attend the signing of the Treaty of Chicago in 1833, but his friend, Aptakisic, wore his moccasins to represent him at the proceedings.

Wauconda large letter postcard, Curt Teich Company, 1950. OCH1780.

Wauconda is a term used by American Indians (spelled Wakonda) to signify "when the power believed to animate all natural forms is spoken to or spoken of in supplications or rituals." (Source: Frederick W. Hodge, Handbook of American Indians North of Mexico, 1912).

Village residents claim Wauconda was a young Native American chief who is buried on the south shore of Bangs Lake. There is no evidence of such a person. The town's first non-native settler, Justus Bangs, is reported to have selected the name from a character in a book he was reading.

Waukegan large letter postcard, Curt Teich Company, 1946. 6BH1342.

The largest community with a Native American appellation is Waukegan. The city of 87,000 was once known as Little Fort for its 17th-century trading post (speculated to have been built by the French or American Indians). In 1849, when the community increased to about 2,500 inhabitants, it became clear that "little" no longer fit. Native American language experts John Kinzie and Solomon Juneau were consulted, and the Algonquin word for trading post, "Waukegan," was selected.

The name that sounds the least Native American and causes the most confusion about its origin is Half Day. Though people believe the town was given the name in relation to its distance from Chicago (which it was not), it actually honors Aptakisic, a Native American chief whose tribe lived near there from about 1830 to 1834. As discussed in a previous post on Aptakisic - Half Day, Half Day is named for Aptakisic, whose name can be translated to "sun at meridian" or "half day."

The name Aptakisic remains in use as Aptakisic Creek and Aptakisic Road. However, the town of Aptakisic–once located south of Prairie View–no longer exists.

Native American place names that are no longer in use include Indian Grove, which referred to a grove of trees near today's Forest Lake in Ela Township (circa 1839). The name was also formerly associated with the area around Sylvan Lake. Indian Point referred to an area on the northwest side of Fox Lake, and Round Lake Heights was first known as Indian Hills subdivision.

The newest name for a place in Lake County is Manitou Creek. The U.S. Board of Geographic Names approved the name change in December 2021. According to the U.S. Department of the Interior, among the most used place names in the U.S. with a derogatory term is "squaw," which historically was used as a slur for Native American women. 

Since the 1840s, the name Squaw Creek was used for a tributary of the Fox River (via Fox Lake) in Lake County's Grant Township near Ingleside. The Manitou (formerly Squaw) Creek Drainage District worked with local organizations, historians, individuals, and tribal nations with historic ties to the region, to find an appropriate name for the creek. After much consideration, Manitou Creek was selected. "Manitou" is the spiritual and fundamental life force among Algonquin Native American groups and honors the spirit of the waterway.

Native peoples from many different nations call this region home and continue to sustain their cultures, languages, and traditions. 

Aptakisic - Half Day

The historic town of Half Day claims many firsts in the annals of Lake County history—the first post office (1836), the first school (1836) taught by Laura Sprague in her family's log cabin, and the county's first non-native settler, Daniel Wright.

Perhaps most intriguing about Half Day is its name, which provokes more interest and debate than any other place name in the county.

You may wonder why there's debate. Ask anyone and they'll tell you it got its name because, "It took half a day to get there from Chicago." That may have been true back in the day of horsedrawn transportation, but Half Day was named for Aptakisic, a Native American leader of great standing.

Aptakisic's name (also spelled Aptegizhek), was translated as "center of the sky," "sun at meridian" or "half day." He was known to the settlers as Half Day. Both Daniel Wright (1778-1873) and Henry Blodgett (1821-1905), who knew Aptakisic, documented that he was "known as Half Day." Wright went on to say that the village took its name from Aptakisic.

A depiction of Aptakisic (Half Day) waving goodbye to the settlers he had led to Fort Dearborn in 1832. Painting by Les Schrader, courtesy of Naper Settlement. For more on Les Schrader: https://www.napersettlement.org/138/Les-Schrader-Painting-Collection.

Blodgett had met Aptakisic in 1832, during the Black Hawk War, when Aptakisic protected the settlers in Downer's Grove from an impending attack.

Wright became acquainted with Aptakisic and his tribe of Potawatomi in 1833 when he settled along the Des Plaines River.

Wright remembered: "When I stuck my stake in the banks of the Aux Plain [Des Plaines] River I was surrounded by the native tribes of Pottawatamies [sic]. They helped me raise my first rude cabin, being the first house built in the county." These native people also assisted Wright in planting crops, and tending to his family when they became ill.

According to James A. Clifton in The Prairie People: Continuity and Change in Potawatomi Indian Culture 1665-1965, Aptakisic was present at the negotiations for the Treaty of Chicago, which took place in September 1833. "Apparently wearing Meteya's [Mettawa's] moccasins, Aptegizhek stood and informed Commissioners Porter and Owen that the Potawatomi had no wish to consider moving west of the Mississippi until they had been given the opportunity to inspect the country there... He insisted the Potawatomi had assembled merely to enjoy their Great Father's beneficence and liberality. Could the annuities due the Potawatomi be distributed quickly so that they might go back to their villages to tend their gardens?"

Ultimately, the treaty was signed by Aptakisic (twice!) and other leaders of the United Chippewa, Ottawa and Potawatomi Indians on September 26, 1833.

In 1918, the students of Half Day School wrote a history of their school and community. In it, they recounted that "Half Day was named so in honor of an Indian chief, Hefda, who some people say is buried in this locality." They went on to say that Half Day was a "half way station" between Chicago and the northern part of Lake County.

Excerpt from the Half Day School history, 1918. Dunn Museum Collections. 

When and how did the origin of the name change?

Postcard of "Hotel Halfday," circa 1910. Dunn Museum 97.18.3

It is my assertion that the confusion was started by visitors to Half Day, possibly as early as the 1840s. In 1843, the Half Day Inn (shown above) was established on the Chicago and Milwaukee Road (today's Route 21) as a stagecoach stop. The rutted and muddy road would have most certainly made for slow travel, leading travelers to surmise the town's name came from its distance from Chicago.

The Wisconsin Central Railroad arrived in Prairie View in 1886. It later became the Soo Line. Postcard view circa 1900. 

Dunn Museum 94.47.5

In 1886, train service was available on the Wisconsin Central Railroad to Prairie View, several miles west of Half Day. That trip would have taken at least two hours, and then a buggy ride over to Half Day, again leaving visitors to believe the name was a matter of travel time. Even with the advent of the automobile, travel was slow until roads were paved in the 1930s and beyond.

Travelers not knowing the true origin of the name, adopted a new meaning. As the people who knew Aptakisic died, and generations passed, the connection to Aptakisic faded, and the new tradition took root with no one around to contradict it.

In a letter written late in his life, Henry Blodgett once again recalled his friend, Aptakisic:

"In the fall of 1837, Aptakisic's band was removed to a reservation on the west side of the Missouri River near the mouth of the Platte and later were moved into what is now a portion of the state of Kansas, south of the Kansas River. I well remember the sad face of the old chief as he came to bid our family goodbye. ... We all shed tears of genuine sorrow ... his generous kindness to my parents has given me a higher idea of the red man's genuine worth." 

Photograph of Henry W. Blodgett from the Autobiography of Henry W. Blodgett, Waukegan, Illinois, 1906.

Dunn Museum Collections. 

Aptakisic's legacy continued in the names Aptakisic Road, Aptakisic Creek, and the former community of Aptakisic located in today's Buffalo Grove. Aptakisic was a railroad stop on the Wisconsin Central line at Aptakisic Road (west of Route 21), and had its own post office from 1889 to 1904.

The town of Half Day never incorporated, and in recent years was absorbed into the Villages of Lincolnshire and Vernon Hills.

You may also be interested in my post on the Treaty of Chicago 1833.