Chicago
The area that would one day become Chicago was originally inhabited by various tribes of the Algonquin people. The city's name is actually a French corruption of shikaakwa, meaning "stinking onion" which referred to wild onions growing along what is now the Chicago River.Two French explorers are given credit for being the first Europeans to visit the area. Both were traveling together, but Louis Jolliet was searching for gold, and Père Jacques Marquette was out to save souls. Although they were only passing through, they noted the area because of the short portage between Lake Michican and the Des Plaines River, which is part of the Mississippi River System. At the time, the region was characterized by prairies and swampland. The swamp linked two of North America's great waterways: the Mississippi River (via the Des Plaines and Illinois rivers) to the south and west, and the Great Lakes...
