George Streeter
Encyclopedia
George Wellington "Cap" Streeter (1837 - January 22, 1921) was born near the town of Flint, Michigan
. From 1886 to 1921 Streeter spun lies, forged legal documents and used violence to wrest 186 acre (0.75271596 km²) of Lake Michigan shoreline away from its rightful owners. Failing in his efforts to defraud the wealthy landowners, he then turned to robbing the poor by selling them land that he did not own.
boat captain and circus owner ran his steamboat, the 35-ton Reutan , onto a sandbar 451 feet (137.5 m) off Chicago's north shore near the foot of Superior Street.
Unable to move the vessel, which slowly silted into place, Streeter claimed it made up the independent "United States District of Lake Michigan" and thereby was not subject to the laws of Illinois or Chicago.
Ever since the downtown clean-up after the Great Fire in 1871, Lake Michigan
had been used as a dump by building contractors looking to get rid of backfill and general rubble
. Streeter invited such contractors to dump their rubble on the sandbar where the Reutan sat, extending the size of his land considerably. Over time, this landfill connected the Reutan to the city. As the landmass grew, collecting more dumped rubble as well as silt from the lake, Streeter began to issue deeds to the land to others who saw themselves as "homesteaders" in the growing city of Chicago. City planners and founders saw otherwise.
In 1889, Streeter and his common-law wife, Maria, moved into a larger ship that had run aground in the District and named it the Castle.
That summer, industrialist N.K. Fairbank, who claimed rights to the area, arrived to inform Streeter he was an illegal squatter and would have to leave. Streeter chased Fairbank off with a shotgun. Shortly thereafter, Streeter also chased away the constables who had come to evict him. Further attempts to remove them were met with gunfire and pots of scalding water. After one such raid resulted in his arrest for assault with a deadly weapon, Streeter was acquitted on the grounds that buckshot was not considered deadly.
Although Fairbank sued Streeter in 1890 and won, Streeter maintained his hold on the District, which was now home to prostitutes, the homeless and other "undesirable
s." In 1892, it was estimated that the land was worth around $300,000, a substantial sum in that era.
During the World's Columbian Exposition
, Streeter refloated the Reutan and used it to ferry passengers between Streeterville and the exposition grounds at Jackson Park
.
From 1894 on, there were many attempts to forcibly remove Streeter from the District, often for violating laws that prohibited the sale of liquor on Sunday. In cases in which police were injured by axes and gunfire, Streeter and his men were invariably found not guilty due to acting in self-defense. Streeter's fight for what he considered his land continued until his death on January 22, 1921, although he and his second wife had left Streeterville to move to East Chicago
, Indiana
, in 1918. The Streeters' heirs continued to lay claim on the land until April 1928, when the courts ruled in favor of Chicago Title and Trust. Even despite all the bad blood, the Mayor of Chicago attended the Captain's funeral.http://www.thelocaltourist.com/cities/chicago/cap-streeter
Streeter clearly lied about his discovery of the "District of Lake Michigan" in 1886, referencing a map published in 1821 to determine that his "District" was outside of City limits. A storm did not smash Streeter's ship into a sandbar on the night of July 10, 1886. Weather reports for that night make no mention of a storm. Streeter did not really believe that he could fill in the shoreline and legally claim the new land; a witness in Streeter's 1902 land fraud trial testified that Streeter had purposely set out to contest the claims of the wealthy shoreline owners. Contractor Hank Brusser told the court that Streeter asked him to fill in portions of the shoreline in order to create confusion over land titles. According to Brusser, Streeter said that: "They (the owners of the shoreline) will have to buy us off" and that "We'll get a million out of it". The recorder of the general land office, Chester H. Brush, testified that Streeter's title was "a clumsy forgery" with signatures mismatched with offices. Silas Lamoreaux was commissioner and not recorder; Hoke Smith
was Secretary of the Interior, not secretary to sign patents...
In reality, Streeter orchestrated an elaborate scheme to steal valuable shoreline property. He did not crash his ship on a sandbar, he piloted it to the foot of Superior Street and then obtained permission from the shoreline owner, Fairbank, to leave his ship there temporarily. He left it there for years. Streeter refused to move his ship insisting that he had title to the shoreline, producing a forged land title, concocted his story of crashing on a sandbar, and then proceeded to sell lots that he did not legally own. He even began collecting property taxes for the lots he sold and kept detailed tax records.
In 1893 police removed Streeter and his boat from Fairbank's land. Streeter then moved to the posh Tremont Hotel from where he proceeded to expand his operations. He sold shoreline belonging to Fairbank, the William Ogden
estate, the Farwell family, Potter Palmer
, the Pine Street Land Association and the Chicago Title and Trust Company. In all, Streeter claimed to own 186 acre (0.75271596 km²) of land between the mouth of the Chicago River
and Oak Street
. The reality was that the Lincoln Park
Board had worked to fill in the shoreline in that area, allowing them to build Lake Shore Drive
on the infill.
Streeter continued to sell lots to people who either believed his story or believed his forged federal land grant. To bolster his claims, pressure owners to pay him off and to assuage those who had bought lots from him in earnest, Streeter staged a series of "invasions", when he would lead a small group of squatters carrying shacks to the lake shore to quickly set up settlements. The shoreline owners would respond by sending thugs and/or police to evict them. Streeter would then vociferously complain that he was a victim of a capitalistic conspiracy to rob him of his land. This repeated itself again and again until Streeter was convicted of manslaughter, in 1902, and sent to prison. Streeter died at the age of 84 in 1921 of pneumonia.
The site of Streeter's shanty is currently occupied by the John Hancock Center
, and the surrounding Chicago neighborhood is known as Streeterville
.
Flint, Michigan
Flint is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and is located along the Flint River, northwest of Detroit. The U.S. Census Bureau reports the 2010 population to be placed at 102,434, making Flint the seventh largest city in Michigan. It is the county seat of Genesee County which lies in the...
. From 1886 to 1921 Streeter spun lies, forged legal documents and used violence to wrest 186 acre (0.75271596 km²) of Lake Michigan shoreline away from its rightful owners. Failing in his efforts to defraud the wealthy landowners, he then turned to robbing the poor by selling them land that he did not own.
Streeter in Legend
During a storm on July 10, 1886, the former Mississippi RiverMississippi River
The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...
boat captain and circus owner ran his steamboat, the 35-ton Reutan , onto a sandbar 451 feet (137.5 m) off Chicago's north shore near the foot of Superior Street.
Unable to move the vessel, which slowly silted into place, Streeter claimed it made up the independent "United States District of Lake Michigan" and thereby was not subject to the laws of Illinois or Chicago.
Ever since the downtown clean-up after the Great Fire in 1871, Lake Michigan
Lake Michigan
Lake Michigan is one of the five Great Lakes of North America and the only one located entirely within the United States. It is the second largest of the Great Lakes by volume and the third largest by surface area, after Lake Superior and Lake Huron...
had been used as a dump by building contractors looking to get rid of backfill and general rubble
Rubble
Rubble is broken stone, of irregular size, shape and texture. This word is closely connected in derivation with "rubbish", which was formerly also applied to what we now call "rubble". Rubble naturally found in the soil is known also as brash...
. Streeter invited such contractors to dump their rubble on the sandbar where the Reutan sat, extending the size of his land considerably. Over time, this landfill connected the Reutan to the city. As the landmass grew, collecting more dumped rubble as well as silt from the lake, Streeter began to issue deeds to the land to others who saw themselves as "homesteaders" in the growing city of Chicago. City planners and founders saw otherwise.
In 1889, Streeter and his common-law wife, Maria, moved into a larger ship that had run aground in the District and named it the Castle.
That summer, industrialist N.K. Fairbank, who claimed rights to the area, arrived to inform Streeter he was an illegal squatter and would have to leave. Streeter chased Fairbank off with a shotgun. Shortly thereafter, Streeter also chased away the constables who had come to evict him. Further attempts to remove them were met with gunfire and pots of scalding water. After one such raid resulted in his arrest for assault with a deadly weapon, Streeter was acquitted on the grounds that buckshot was not considered deadly.
Although Fairbank sued Streeter in 1890 and won, Streeter maintained his hold on the District, which was now home to prostitutes, the homeless and other "undesirable
Low-life
A low-life or lowlife is a term for a person who is considered morally unacceptable by their community, especially those who exploit others for their own selfish purposes...
s." In 1892, it was estimated that the land was worth around $300,000, a substantial sum in that era.
During the World's Columbian Exposition
World's Columbian Exposition
The World's Columbian Exposition was a World's Fair held in Chicago in 1893 to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World in 1492. Chicago bested New York City; Washington, D.C.; and St...
, Streeter refloated the Reutan and used it to ferry passengers between Streeterville and the exposition grounds at Jackson Park
Jackson Park (Chicago)
Jackson Park is a 500 acre park on Chicago's South Side, located at 6401 South Stony Island Avenue in the Woodlawn community area. It extends into the South Shore and Hyde Park community areas, bordering Lake Michigan and several South Side neighborhoods...
.
From 1894 on, there were many attempts to forcibly remove Streeter from the District, often for violating laws that prohibited the sale of liquor on Sunday. In cases in which police were injured by axes and gunfire, Streeter and his men were invariably found not guilty due to acting in self-defense. Streeter's fight for what he considered his land continued until his death on January 22, 1921, although he and his second wife had left Streeterville to move to East Chicago
East Chicago, Indiana
East Chicago is a city in Lake County, Indiana. The population was 29,698 at the 2010 census.-Geography:East Chicago is located at ....
, Indiana
Indiana
Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...
, in 1918. The Streeters' heirs continued to lay claim on the land until April 1928, when the courts ruled in favor of Chicago Title and Trust. Even despite all the bad blood, the Mayor of Chicago attended the Captain's funeral.http://www.thelocaltourist.com/cities/chicago/cap-streeter
Streeter in Reality
'Cap' Streeter was born in Flint, Michigan in 1837, he served in the Civil War but he wasn't a captain. He was a salesman, the owner of a traveling circus, a logger, and a miner. After his first wife left him to join a vaudeville troupe, he moved to Chicago and acquired the steamship Reutan. He and his new wife planned to use the Reutan to run guns to Latin America. But fuel was expensive, and the distances great, and he saw an opportunity close by, in Chicago.Streeter clearly lied about his discovery of the "District of Lake Michigan" in 1886, referencing a map published in 1821 to determine that his "District" was outside of City limits. A storm did not smash Streeter's ship into a sandbar on the night of July 10, 1886. Weather reports for that night make no mention of a storm. Streeter did not really believe that he could fill in the shoreline and legally claim the new land; a witness in Streeter's 1902 land fraud trial testified that Streeter had purposely set out to contest the claims of the wealthy shoreline owners. Contractor Hank Brusser told the court that Streeter asked him to fill in portions of the shoreline in order to create confusion over land titles. According to Brusser, Streeter said that: "They (the owners of the shoreline) will have to buy us off" and that "We'll get a million out of it". The recorder of the general land office, Chester H. Brush, testified that Streeter's title was "a clumsy forgery" with signatures mismatched with offices. Silas Lamoreaux was commissioner and not recorder; Hoke Smith
Hoke Smith
Michael Hoke Smith was a newspaper owner, United States Secretary of the Interior , 58th Governor of Georgia , and a United States Senator from Georgia.-Biography:...
was Secretary of the Interior, not secretary to sign patents...
In reality, Streeter orchestrated an elaborate scheme to steal valuable shoreline property. He did not crash his ship on a sandbar, he piloted it to the foot of Superior Street and then obtained permission from the shoreline owner, Fairbank, to leave his ship there temporarily. He left it there for years. Streeter refused to move his ship insisting that he had title to the shoreline, producing a forged land title, concocted his story of crashing on a sandbar, and then proceeded to sell lots that he did not legally own. He even began collecting property taxes for the lots he sold and kept detailed tax records.
In 1893 police removed Streeter and his boat from Fairbank's land. Streeter then moved to the posh Tremont Hotel from where he proceeded to expand his operations. He sold shoreline belonging to Fairbank, the William Ogden
William Butler Ogden
William Butler Ogden was the first Mayor of Chicago.Ogden was born in Walton, New York. When still a teenager, his father died and Ogden took over the family real estate business...
estate, the Farwell family, Potter Palmer
Potter Palmer
Potter Palmer was an American businessman who was responsible for much of the development of State Street in Chicago.-Retailing career:...
, the Pine Street Land Association and the Chicago Title and Trust Company. In all, Streeter claimed to own 186 acre (0.75271596 km²) of land between the mouth of the Chicago River
Chicago River
The Chicago River is a system of rivers and canals with a combined length of that runs through the city of the same name, including its center . Though not especially long, the river is notable for being the reason why Chicago became an important location, as the link between the Great Lakes and...
and Oak Street
Oak Street (Chicago)
Oak Street is a short street on Chicago's Gold Coast at 1000 North in Chicago's street numbering system, running from 138 east to 648 west in the Near North Side community area of Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, United States. It ends without crossing the North Branch of the Chicago River...
. The reality was that the Lincoln Park
Lincoln Park, Chicago
Lincoln Park, is one of the 77 community areas on Chicago, Illinois North Side, USA. Named after Lincoln Park, a vast park bordering Lake Michigan, the community area is anchored by the Lincoln Park Zoo and DePaul University...
Board had worked to fill in the shoreline in that area, allowing them to build Lake Shore Drive
Lake Shore Drive
Lake Shore Drive is a mostly freeway-standard expressway running parallel with and alongside the shoreline of Lake Michigan through Chicago, Illinois, USA. Except for the portion north of Foster Avenue , Lake Shore Drive is designated as part of U.S...
on the infill.
Streeter continued to sell lots to people who either believed his story or believed his forged federal land grant. To bolster his claims, pressure owners to pay him off and to assuage those who had bought lots from him in earnest, Streeter staged a series of "invasions", when he would lead a small group of squatters carrying shacks to the lake shore to quickly set up settlements. The shoreline owners would respond by sending thugs and/or police to evict them. Streeter would then vociferously complain that he was a victim of a capitalistic conspiracy to rob him of his land. This repeated itself again and again until Streeter was convicted of manslaughter, in 1902, and sent to prison. Streeter died at the age of 84 in 1921 of pneumonia.
The site of Streeter's shanty is currently occupied by the John Hancock Center
John Hancock Center
John Hancock Center at 875 North Michigan Avenue in the Streeterville area of Chicago, Illinois, is a 100-story, 1,127-foot tall skyscraper, constructed under the supervision of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, with chief designer Bruce Graham and structural engineer Fazlur Khan...
, and the surrounding Chicago neighborhood is known as Streeterville
Streeterville
Streeterville is a neighborhood in the Near North Side community area of Chicago, Illinois, United States, north of the Chicago River in Cook County...
.