DuSable Bridge/Fort Dearborn Site
INTRODUCTION
The DuSable Bridge (formerly the Michigan Avenue Bridge) stands at one of the most important sites in
Chicago history. Aspects of this history are represented in sculptures and plaques located on or near the
bridge. After acquiring the land at the mouth of the Chicago River from Indians in 1795, the United States
government established Fort Dearborn in 1803. The outpost, near the southwest end of the bridge, was the
first permanent settlement of Euro-American people on land that is now part of the city of Chicago. The
approximate footprint of the fort is indicated by bronze markers in the pavement near the intersection of
Michigan Avenue and Wacker Drive. The army demolished the fort in 1857 after its military value had
waned, but the site has continued to serve as a vital economic and symbolic point for Chicago into the 21st
century.
In the 19th and early 20th centuries, the river cut off the section of the lakefront to its north from the
bustling center of the city to its south. The completion of the DuSable Bridge in 1920 connected the two
areas, opening the way for the development of North Michigan Avenue into a major commercial district.
The creation of the esplanade in 1926 and the artistic embellishments of the bridge pylons in 1928 combined
to fashion a monumental gateway to the “Magnificent Mile.” The artworks on the bridge represent
Chicago history as it was understood at that time.
View of the site of Fort Dearborn from the northwest pylon of the bridge
Activities and Questions for Students
1.
Why do you think this site was so important to the US military in the late 1700s and early 1800s?
2. Who would have valued the site besides the military?
© 2012 by the Chicago Metro History Education Center
DuSable Bridge/Fort Dearborn Site
THE RELIEF SCULPTURES
The artworks on the DuSable Bridge are relief sculptures. In contrast to sculpture-in-the-round, which one
can walk completely around and view from all sides, relief sculptures project from a flat background and
are intended to be viewed only from the front. Artists create stone relief sculptures by chiseling away the
stone to create a raised design. To create relief sculptures in bronze, they carve the design in wood to
create a mold and then cast the form in hot metal.
The American artists who created the four relief sculptures on the bridge pylons were inspired by 19thcentury French artistic styles and subjects, which were popularized in the United States by artists who had
studied in Paris at the famous École des Beaux Arts, the French national art school, then the most
prestigious art school in the world. More specifically, the pylon reliefs were inspired by the French artist
Francois Rude’s La Marseillaise (created between 1833 and 1836) on the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, which
features an angel flying above a group of soldiers. Each of the four pylon sculptures includes a similar
angel. Although the angels on the bridge sculptures were all inspired by Rude’s example, they take on a
different meaning in each of the four historical scenarios represented in the individual relief sculpture.
© 2012 by the Chicago Metro History Education Center
DuSable Bridge/Fort Dearborn Site
THE ARTISTS AND PATRONS
The sculpture was created by James Earle Fraser (1876–1953). Born in Winona, Minnesota, Fraser spent his
early boyhood on the Dakota frontier before moving to Chicago with his family. He gained his early artistic
training at the Art Institute of Chicago, in 1891, and by working as an assistant to Richard Bok. Fraser went
on to create many public sculptures, including numerous monuments in Washington, DC. Several of his best
-known works memorialize American Indians, notably the Indian-head nickel and a sculpture entitled The
End of the Trail (1894). He was inspired to create the latter, featuring the figure of a fatigued Indian
slumped over on his horse, after seeing the Indian-themed sculptures at the 1893 World’s Columbian
Exposition. At the time of Fraser’s death in 1953, The End of the Trail was probably the most widely-known
work of sculpture in the United States.
Henry Hering was born and died in New York City, but made significant contributions to Chicago’s public
art. After studying with Augustus St. Gaudens and Philip Martiny in New York, he trained at the École des
Beaux Arts in Paris. When he returned to the United States, he worked as an assistant to St. Gaudens. In
addition to the relief panels for the two DuSable Bridgehouses discussed here, Hering created sculptures
for several monumental public buildings in Chicago. He produced seated allegorical figures for Union
Station, a pediment for the Civic Opera Building, exterior figures for the Museum of Science and Industry,
and sculptures for the interior and exterior of the Field Museum of Natural History.
The two southern pylons (featuring sculptures by Henry Hering) were paid for by the BF Ferguson
Monument Fund. A Chicago lumber merchant, Benjamin F. Ferguson died in 1905. He left his fortune in a
trust, instructing his trustee to establish a fund for “the erection and maintenance of enduring statuary and
monuments, in the whole or in part of stone, granite or bronze, in the parks, along the boulevards or in other
public places, within the city of Chicago, Illinois, commemorating worthy men or women of America or
important events of American history.” Administered by the Art Institute of Chicago, the Ferguson Fund has
financed, wholly or partly, the erection of approximately 20 works of art, many of which are located in the
vicinity of the downtown loop.
The two northern pylons (decorated with sculptures by James Earle Fraser) were paid for by William
Wrigley, Jr., the chewing gum manufacturer. These pylons are adjacent to the dazzling white terra cotta
skyscraper that Wrigley built between 1919 and 1924 to serve as the headquarters for the William Wrigley,
Jr. Company.
© 2012 by the Chicago Metro History Education Center
DuSable Bridge/Fort Dearborn Site
THE DISCOVERERS BY JAMES EARLE FRASER
The central figures in Fraser’s sculptural group are Father Jacques Marquette and René Robert Cavalier,
Sieur de La Salle. Although Fraser shows Marquette and La Salle side by side, the two men did not actually
travel together. Both explored the Chicago region, but at different times with other companions. In
showing the two surrounded by Indians, Fraser acknowledged the Europeans’ dependence on the local
Indians for travel advice as well as food and furs.
Father Marquette
explored the Great
Lakes and Mississippi
River Valley in 1673, in
the company of Louis
Joliet. In 1674 and
1675, they traveled
through the Illinois
Country. Marquette
was the first
European to spend a
winter in the Chicago
area. In the winter of
1674, he was too sick
to travel so he
camped on the south
branch of the Chicago
River. His journal from
this period highlights
the importance of
Lake Michigan and
the Chicago River as
transportation routes,
as well as the
kindness of the local
Indians. Although
Marquette was a
Jesuit priest, Fraser
mistakenly depicted
him wearing the garb
of a Franciscan father.
René Robert Cavalier,
Sieur de La Salle,
followed up on
Marquette and
Joliet’s exploration of
the Mississippi. While
Marquette and Joliet,
© 2012 by the Chicago Metro History Education Center
DuSable Bridge/Fort Dearborn Site
THE DISCOVERERS BY JAMES EARLE FRASER
had traveled south as far as Arkansas, in 1682 La Salle ventured all the way to the river’s mouth in the Gulf
of Mexico and claimed all of Louisiana for the King of France.
This sculpture honors the 17th century French explorers of the region where Chicago now stands. French
coureurs du bois (French for “wood runners”) were the first Europeans to penetrate the North American
interior west of the Great Lakes.
Activities and Questions for Students
1.
How are the two central figures, Marquette and La Salle, portrayed? What might the way they are
shown in the sculpture say about the artist’s view of their character and roles in the expedition? How,
specifically, does the artwork convey this information?
2. In comparison to the European men, how are the Indians portrayed? What might the way they are
shown in the sculpture say about the artist’s view of their character and roles in the expeditions? How,
specifically, does the artwork convey this information?
3. How does the sculpture portray the relationship between the French explorers and the Indians? How
do the poses of the bodies of all the figures help communicate this relationship?
© 2012 by the Chicago Metro History Education Center
DuSable Bridge/Fort Dearborn Site
ACTIVITIES AND QUESTIONS
This bronze plaque, inserted on the wall at the
east end of the north pedestrian walkway of
the bridge, shows Father Jacques Marquette,
Louis Joliet and the other members of their
expedition party in a canoe. Joliet stands in the
center, Father Marquette is seated next to him,
and trios of Indians occupy the front and rear
of the boat.
The early French coureurs du bois traveled in
canoes from the St. Lawrence River in Canada
through the Great Lakes, and then paddled
through rivers and streams to explore the
region that is now the Midwestern United
States. The goals of the earliest explorers were
economic. They sought trade with Indians,
looking to obtain animal furs that brought high
prices in Europe. Louis Joliet focused on such trade, while his companion, Father Marquette, aimed to
convert the Indians to Christianity.
Activities and Questions for Students
1.
How are the two central figures, Joliet and Marquette, portrayed? What might the way they are shown
in the sculpture say about their character and roles in the expedition? How, specifically, does the
artwork convey this information?
2. In comparison to the European men, how are the Indians portrayed? What might the way they are
shown in the sculpture suggest about their character and roles in the expedition? How, specifically,
does the artwork convey this information?
3. How does this depiction of Joliet
and Marquette compare to the
portrayal of French explorers in
the stone relief sculpture The
Discoverers on the nearby pylon?
4. More generally, what are the
similarities and differences
between the stone relief
sculptures on the pylons and the
bronze relief sculptures on the
walkway walls? Which of these
two sculptures do you find more
eye-catching and why? Which of
the two do you think tells us
more about history? Explain.
5.
What does the text on the
plaque tell us?
© 2012 by the Chicago Metro History Education Center
DuSable Bridge/Fort Dearborn Site
ACTIVITIES AND QUESTIONS
This bronze plaque is placed on the wall of the south pedestrian walkway of the bridge. It shows the
explorers René Robert Cavalier, Sieur de La Salle, his lieutenant Henri de Tonti, as well as other members of
their expedition walking next to a canoe. Like other early travelers through the Chicago region, the party
had to carry their canoe and equipment across stretches of land, often swampy, between water routes.
These sections of the trip were called portages (a term derived from the French verb porter, meaning to “to
carry.”)
Activities and Questions for Students
1.
Why do you think the figures are shown walking next to the canoe rather than riding inside it?
2. Who are the two figures at the far back (farthest left in the composition)?
3. Why do you think the Indian woman and her baby are included here?
© 2012 by the Chicago Metro History Education Center
DuSable Bridge/Fort Dearborn Site
JAMES EARLE FRASER’S THE PIONEERS
The Pioneers, located on the northwest pylon of the bridge, depicts a family of Euro-American settlers
traveling to the area where the city of Chicago now stands. The pylon is located very near the site where
John Kinzie, the first permanent Euro-American resident of the Chicago area, moved in 1804, so the
sculpture refers, at least in a general way, to Kinzie and his family.
The Kinzies lived in a cabin that had been built by John Baptiste du Sable in the 1770s. John Kinzie was a fur
trader who traded with the Indians who lived in or passed through the Chicago area. He also supplied the
soldiers at Fort Dearborn with food and other necessities, as well as luxury goods.
Activities and Questions for Students
1.
Who do you think all of the different figures in the sculpture are?
2. Are these figures literal or symbolic representations? How can you tell?
3. Have you seen any other images (in the form of paintings, sculptures, or other kinds of art) that
feature a figural composition similar to this one?
© 2012 by the Chicago Metro History Education Center
DuSable Bridge/Fort Dearborn Site
ACTIVITIES AND QUESTIONS
The figure portrayed in the sculptural bust at the
left of this photograph is Jean Baptiste Pointe
DuSable. He was a “free Negro” who was born
within the French empire in North American in the
mid-eighteenth century. Many people have
speculated that he was born in the Caribbean
islands, but there is no historical evidence
documenting the year or place of his birth. By the
1770s, DuSable had developed trading
relationships with the French, the British, and
several Indian groups in the Great Lakes region. He
married a Potawatomi woman named Catherine,
and her family network aided DuSable’s
commercial dealings. By 1778, DuSable and
Catherine had settled in Chicago, residing in a
cabin on the north bank of the Chicago River near
where the northwest pylon of the DuSable Bridge
now stands. The DuSable cabin was furnished with
expensive goods, attesting to the success of his
trading business. After Catherine died (sometime
before 1800), DuSable sold his possessions and
moved to St. Charles, Missouri, where he died in
1818.
Until recently, DuSable’s important role in the
early history of Chicago was overshadowed by the
greater attention paid to John Kinzie and the EuroAmerican soldiers at Fort Dearborn. To begin to
address this historical error, in 2009 the bronze
bust in the photograph was installed near where
his cabin had stood. Because no portraits of
DuSable were made during his lifetime, the artist
who made the bust could only speculate as to how
he looked. In 2010 the Michigan Avenue Bridge
was officially renamed the DuSable Bridge by the
City of Chicago. The sign indicating the name is on
the outside of the bridge span near the bottom, so it is visible from the river but not from the street.
Activities and Questions for Students
1.
Do you think the bust of DuSable serves adequately to establish his place in Chicago history? Why or
why not?
2. How does the bust of DuSable compare to the representations of the men and women on the relief
sculptures on the bridge? Think about the relative size of the artworks, their materials, and their specific
placement.
© 2012 by the Chicago Metro History Education Center
DuSable Bridge/Fort Dearborn Site
HENRY HERING’S DEFENSE
Defense is the title of the relief
sculpture on the southwest pylon.
It presents a highly romanticized
depiction of one of the most
notorious and controversial events
in Chicago history: the so-called
“Fort Dearborn Massacre” during
the War of 1812.
On August 9, 1812, the US
government ordered Captain
Nathan Heald to evacuate Fort
Dearborn. A few days later,
Captain William Wells arrived from
Fort Wayne with 30 Miami Indians
to escort the evacuees. The group
set out south along the lakeshore,
but only traveled about a mile and
a half before they were attacked
by a force of 400–600
Potawatomis, who were allied with
the British against the United
States. In less than an hour of
fighting, 52 Americans and 15
Indians were killed. The 41
surviving Americans returned to
Fort Dearborn as prisoners and
several more lost their lives before
the Indians burned the fort.
The scene shown in the sculpture
is largely imaginary. The most
prominent figure is Captain Wells,
whose outstretched arm and
raised sword act to push back a hostile Indian, thus protecting the Heald family at the right. Hering’s
understanding of the incident was probably based on the account of Heald’s wife, Rebekah (who was also
the niece of William Wells), which had been published in the Chicago Tribune in 1892.
Activities and Questions for Students
1.What do you think is going on in the sculpture? Who are the lead actors in the drama? Who are the
supporting cast? Why might the sculptor have chosen to feature these individuals in particular?
2.From whose perspective does the sculpture narrate the notorious “massacre”?
3. Can you think of (or sketch visually) other ways that this famous historical incident could be
represented visually?
© 2012 by the Chicago Metro History Education Center
DuSable Bridge/Fort Dearborn Site
HENRY HERING’S REGENERATION
The theme of Regeneration, the relief
sculpture on the southeast pylon, is the
recovery of Chicago from the Great Fire of
1871. The central figure is a personification of
the city in the form of a strong and
determined woman.
The woman on the relief is based on a
drawing by Charles Holloway, the winning
entry in a contest orchestrated in 1892 by
one of the city’s major daily newspapers of
the 19th and early 20th centuries the Chicago
Inter-Ocean. The newspaper staged the
competition to inspire artists to create a
symbol of the city that would “appropriately
represent Chicago’s restless energy and
spirit.” The words “I Will” on the woman’s
crown and her forceful step upon a
salamander (a mythological fire spirit)
proclaim the city’s can-do attitude toward
bouncing back from the crisis of the great
conflagration. On either side of the woman,
big-shouldered construction workers are
shown starting to rebuild the city even
before the fire is fully extinguished.
Activities and Questions for Students
1.
What gender roles are represented in
this sculpture? Why do you think the
symbolic figure of the city is shown as a
woman rather than a man? How does
the “I Will” figure relate to the male
figures in the sculpture? How does the “I
Will” figure compare to the figure of the
angel flying overhead?
2. The Great Fire took place in 1871, the
Inter-Ocean contest to design the “I Will”
figure in 1892, and the bridge sculpture
was completed in 1920. Why do you
think Chicagoans were so focused on
remembering the fire in 1892 and 1920?
© 2012 by the Chicago Metro History Education Center
DuSable Bridge/Fort Dearborn Site
ACTIVITIES AND QUESTIONS
Activities and Questions for Students
1.
What does the Chicago Landmark
plaque tell us about Chicago history?
2. What is the purpose of this plaque?
4. What famous engineering feat in
Chicago history does the Chicago
River plaque below refer to?
5. How does the information on the
Chicago River plaque relate to the
sculptures and other plaques on the
bridge?
6. Why do you think this plaque was
installed on the bridge?
7. Who paid for it?
© 2012 by the Chicago Metro History Education Center